Page 203 of Ash

You’ve seen it?

Yes. Now get your gorgeous scaly butt over here.

Keeping his tone light took effort. Even as he spoke, another tremor raced through Ash. He wanted to ease the tumult in Tyrez’s mind, if not, yet, his body. He wasn’t sure just how far he could take this, but his ability kept showing him, over and over, just how close they’d come to annihilation. That he’d been granted another opportunity to heal from his past was nothing short of a miracle.

It was almost enough to make even an Oracle believe in Fate.

45

And she dreamed:

She was rubbing her hands over muscles as hard as steel, sheathed in skin like silk. Not just rubbing—scrubbing. Removing the soot and blood and gore from the smooth skin, her fingers dancing behind the working sponge, tracing lazy shapes in the wetness.

The strong arms closed around her, and warm lips claimed her own. She moaned beneath them. Fingers reached to stroke—

Something wasn’t right. She didn’t have—she didn’t have one of those.

Dani blinked. She wasn’t in Tyrez’s arms. She was lying on a bed. Confusion reigned as she turned over, and her wings got in the way, hooking into the mattress. She eventually wrenched them up over her head, and rolled onto her back to stare up at the ceiling.

Another bloody bed. A poster bed, too, with the bedcurtains drawn shut. But the carvings on the bedposts weren’t Dragons.

They were Gryphons.

She trembled with the after effects of the dream, every nerve ending firing full bore, her senses recording things in exquisite detail. Her link with the Dragons pulsed with rapid-fire emotion that threatened to set her off all over again. Their murmuring was not clear—she realized they were speaking aloud. Out of her range of hearing.

That frustrated her, when it really shouldn’t. She hadn’t wanted them in her head, after all. She made an effort to push them out of her consciousness.

Ah, we are not alone. Good morning, Dragonfly. Or should I say, afternoon.

Dragonfly? It was Ash’s voice, crystal clear in her head. It was instinctive to reach for the contact, to welcome him in.

Then a sexy rumble rolled through her mind.Welcome, Dani.

Two simple words, but her heart pounded.Tyrez?

You know any other Dragon shifters who can talk in your head?

You can’t talk in my head.

Apparently, I can.He pushed her a pulse of pure emotion, powerfully laced with something else—and she sensed where Ash’s hands were... and what they were doing.

Everything with Tyrez was larger than life, even his presence through the link. His emotions swamped her, flooding her senses and threatening the inner walls she’d spent a lifetime building. Her heart fluttered in the early throes of a panic attack.

Get out of my head!

He must have sensed her anxiety, but instead of withdrawing, Tyrez pushed in. He cast his energy through her, attempting to soothe her.

Dani, just breathe. It’s okay.

No, it’s not. Back off.

In an effort to help Tyrez and her, Ash reached for her too. But it was Tyrez who dominated, his powerful presence engulfing her.

I won’t let you have an attack, not when I can stop it. There are advantages to this mental connection. I can control it.

It was exactly the wrong thing to stay. Remy had used their mental bond to controlher. And the things he’d done—

Her panic flared, and she screamed into the link.I don’t want either of you, or your stupid bond! Leave me alone! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!

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