Page 32 of Smoke and Moon

It was a replica of those that covered Aodh and his people.

Her heart pounded at full force.There was no slow pick up of speed, just a strong boom, boom, boom in her chest.

She reached down and gingerly ran a shaky finger over the image.At first, she was nervous that she would feel the sharp burn from before.However, she felt no pain.She pressed firmly, but still nothing.Now, she wasn’t sure she would know it was there without looking at it.Her skin felt just as smooth as Aodh’s.

Aodh.Dragon.

“Am I becoming—?”

“Drahk.No.”

She snapped and stared at Aodh, who stood at the door.Even though his heat surrounded her and caressed her skin, she was so focused on staring at the change to her body in the mirror that she ignored the other sensations swimming through her body.He appeared relaxed as he leaned along the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his broad chest.Aodh’s intense gaze locked on her.A tinge of sapphire played at the edges of his markings, resembling the heat that danced in her core whenever she was in his presence—she wanted him.She always wanted him.Even now, as her mind was racing with too many questions and speculations about what was happening to her and sore from the incredible, odd sex they’d shared, if Aodh crooked his finger at her, she’d need no other encouragement to be in his arms.

Every part of her was heated and craved him.The blood in her body ran through her veins, guided by her lust for him.

However, it wasn’t the bluish glow that drew her, but the bright violet that radiated in a wave along his markings and roared in his eyes—joy.Many times, she’d seen the hue on him around her.When they were alone and talking during late meals or curled up in the bed first thing in the morning, it was there when he looked at her before the lust invaded.

The amethyst color captured her heart and took her breath away.She often thought, ‘I put that there.’And it made her hope that she meant more to Aodh than a warm body in his bed.

Kai was now seeing it.It was more infusing, and it caused her insides to fill with warmth and joy.Aodh’s emotions filled the whole room.

“What’s happening to me, Aodh?”She glided her fingers over the place on her skin again.“What does this mark mean for me?”

“It’s an indication of what we created.What is to come.”His gaze slid down her body and focused on her stomach.

She gasped.The mark thrummed below her fingertips as if the symbol could sense his stare.It felt alive in some way.For a moment, she pondered if it was how Aodh and those of his kind felt their markings in such a way as if the designs were a living entity on them and connected to something inside.

Since she had met the Dragon King who lived within Aodh, the thought of their scale-like marks being alive made sense.On them.But on her, she was only a human, in love with a dragon-shifter.

Astonished at the thought, she swallowed down those private words.For now, she needed to hold them close.Keep them to herself until she figured out where she and her sister belonged in this new world.

She looked to the mirror briefly, seeing herself, trying to comprehend how she would change, but feeling clueless, she turned back to the massive man taking up most of the doorframe.

“It’s our child.Our offspring is growing inside you.”

What?

Aodh continued to watch her, not saying anything.

Shaking her head, she realized she’d rolled her lips between her teeth and had not spoken aloud.She was trying to speak, but everything was rushing over her.Her ears filled with that same pounding that was going on in her chest.The heat in the room seemed to kick up to a suffocating level.She wanted to rush out of the small space and get some coolness and air because she could not breathe.All the oxygen got sucked out of the bathroom.However, she could not move a step because her legs became jelly, her vision was spotty, and everything darkened before her face.

“Kai!”

Hands grabbed her from somewhere, and the stone floor disappeared beneath her feet.That’s strange, she thought, because the way she felt, she would have assumed her body would have crumbled to the floor since it seemed impossible to hold herself up any longer.

“Breathe.”

A cool breeze blew over her face, her skin.

“Breathe.”

For a moment, her mind could not compute the word spoken to her enough to send a signal to her body and follow the instructions.

“Come on, little flame, breathe.”

A wisp of air brushed her skin as if she were caught in a fog.Finally, her lungs remembered their function, and she let in the first wheezy breath.

“Again.”

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