Page 183 of Ash

No. I’ve bathed in the creek outside. Aphostra mentioned the bathing pools, but—as I said, I’m not big on caves.He tilted his head, as though considering something.At least, not these ones. I have one I need to show you. It has potential.

Ash caught a flashing series of images and glanced at Tyrez, surprised.A home in a mountain?

One corner of Tyrez’s lips lifted into a smile.Most Dragons do not like enclosed spaces, but this cave is different.

Ash stared at him.I lived in a lot of caves. Rindek liked them.

Did you like living in them?

I didn’t like living with Rindek.His eyes flashed silver.Living with you would be different.

Tyrez squeezed his hand.Your experiences make you unique.

I wasn’t raised a Dragon,Ash said with a twinge of sadness.

You are Dragon in every way that counts. Still holding Ash’s hand, Tyrez stepped into the pool.Come with me, my golden one.

Swallowing his nerves, Ash followed him in. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. He wanted this, longed for it.Neededit. But Demeti, and every cruel, demented thing he’d ever done to Ash, hovered just beneath the surface.

Tyrez hesitated, sensing something despite Ash’s attempts to keep it under wraps. He turned back to Ash, his gaze questioning, the turquoise eyes assessing.

“I don’t know what he did to you, but I’m pretty sure it was bad,” he said softly. “I would never do those things to you.”

Ash appreciated that Tyrez had spoken aloud. At the moment, being in his head seemed far too intimate. He took a deep breath, straightened, and raised his chin. Demeti was part of his past. Be damned if he’d let that cruel bastard ruin his future.

So he did his best to push those thoughts from his mind. He wouldn’t think of that, not now.

Tyrez locked his eyes on Ash, but he let go of his hand as he waded in. His scales slipped away from him, dotting the water like gleaming lily pads. The big Dragon grabbed his thick black hair as he turned away, pulling it over a shoulder.

For the first time, Ash saw the tattoo spanning the broad, muscled back. A Dragon, of course. Seen from above with wings spread to reach across the shoulder blades. The spine followed Tyrez’s own, the neck stretching beneath his hair to connect to his real head.

Ash’s gaze followed the spine down to the tail, which trailed along the curve of his lower back, and disappeared between the rounded, and now very bare, buttocks.

Heat suffused Ash. Tyrez was so damned stunning. Every muscle was clearly outlined as he moved, graceful with the power of a predator and the lightness that only a creature of the air could embrace.

The big Dragon shifter turned back and caught Ash staring at his butt. Embarrassed, Ash’s gaze drifted to something else now revealed with Tyrez’s position. And he realized the Dragon tattoo wound around to the front—the tip of the tail encircled his genitals, the pointed end trailing up...

Ash swallowed.

“Razir dared me,” Tyrez said in a voice gone hoarse. “All Legion Dragons have the soaring Dragon tattoo. But most are not quite so—extensive.”

He swallowed and ripped his gaze back to Tyrez’s eyes. “Didn’t it hurt?”

The lips twitched, and then the big Dragon smiled. Ash’s heart did odd gymnastics in his chest.

“Oh, yeah,” Tyrez said. “And I had to sniff Dragona pheromones during the process. It needed to be—uh, rigid.” He shrugged. “Teenagers can be rather stupid.”

Teenagers? Ash tried to imagine two teenaged Dragons, egging each other on to idiocy at a tattoo parlor.

Tyrez extended his hand. “You didn’t bring me all this way to stare at my tattoo, did you? I mean, it’s fine if you did—”

“I wasn’t staring at the tattoo,” Ash admitted.

A satisfied look came over the sculpted face. The light from the glowing crystals reflected off the intricate metal cuffs curled around his outer ear. “That is more than fine,” he purred.

Ash followed him into the cool water until it reached their hips. His golden scales mingled with the blue and green. They floated, glittering in the crystal’s glow.

Tyrez scrubbed the filth encrusting his body. He hadn’t waded deep enough to disguise much. Ash found himself having a difficult time keeping his gaze off certain assets as the water swirled and rippled.

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