Page 178 of Phoenix Rise

Instead of answering, he flapped hard to rise again, banking back the way we’d come. He strayed a hundred feet from the main falls to where the water dropped in a series of steps, each with its own small pool, and backwinged to land on the damp stones.

He offered his foreleg, and I slid off. I stared at him, but he seemed determined to admire the scenery as a Dragon.

It was pretty damned spectacular. Lit by the dying sunlight, the mist hovering over the falls offered myriad rainbows that danced like an aurora.

But I wanted much more. I trailed a hand over his forearm.Shift for me, Talakai.No command in my voice, merely a request.

Minutes later, I had trouble breathing as his scales chased over his naked body. The guy was so damned ripped. But he bore traces of Xumi—scars from her talons. All over his skin.

And his soul.

For a moment, our eyes met, and I read it all there. She might be dead, but she still stood between him and us.

Between him and me.

Matt and I had made a serious dent in the control the underlord had over him. But it wasn’t that simple. And Talakai knew it.

I looked out over the main waterfall.It is beautiful.Then my glance fell to the small pool at our feet, and the water cascading into it from above.

How cold is it?I asked, sending images of sinking into a warm bath. Naked. With him.

Not cold for a Dragon.His metallic gaze slid my way. The link vibrated with his acknowledgment that we might start something. And his fear that he couldn’t finish what we started.

I moved closer to him and looked down into the pool.Looks like heaven,I stated, stripping off the sword harness and my boots. I undid the zipper on my Wyvern bodysuit.

When I looked up from easing the tight armor down my thighs, my Dragon was watching me. His glowing eyes, and the bulge beneath his scales, revealed that it wasn’t just pain that turned him on. My heart accelerated as I kicked free from my armor and straightened to face him, as naked as the day I was born.

Well, at least, I assumed I had been born that way. I really didn’t remember...

The Dragon drank me in, nostrils flared.

Scales, Talakai. You’re not swimming in them.

I’m not swimming at all. Although I doubt fish monsters hide in this pool, it’s too small.

Fish monsters?

They lurk where you least expect them. His scales clinked as they fell to the rocks. First, the ones on his torso. Then those on his thighs—

Oh, man.The merits of dropping scales as a strip-tease act were definitely underrated. Something I was sure Matt would capitalize on once he had that kind of control.

Matt. My Dire had known that we needed this. I only hoped I was up to the task. Because our Dragon was in pieces that we were only just starting to stitch back together.

And for what was coming, we needed him as whole as possible.

He retained the scales over his groin, but I didn’t push. Not yet. Instead, I extended a hand to him, palm up. “Talakai, come with me,” I said aloud, purring his name.

He inhaled sharply and folded his big fingers around it. A huge gesture of trust that twisted my heart.

I led him along the rocks to the small waterfall.

The splashing water was cool, but not icy cold. I let it cascade over my skin with a sigh of bliss before I tugged him into it with me.

His gaze seemed riveted on the water sheeting over my breasts and cascading off my nipples. But he said,We shouldn’t be doing this. We need to focus on getting Sebastian free.

Everything that strengthens our bond, strengthens us,I insisted.And we will need to be strong for what comes.I grabbed his hands and placed them on my breasts.

His eyes half closed.What I need—her hooks are deep, Anna.

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