Page 56 of Smoke and Moon

Marching across the room, she gripped the door handle and opened it in one smooth motion.

She gasped.Morlie stood there staring at the thick, stone door.Have I been struggling to open it because of my fear of the heavy door and thinking I couldn’t open it, so I struggled greatly to do it?

At the sound, Aine rose from her seat and faced Morlie.“Is there something I may assist you with, Morlie?”

Removing her hand and moving her gaze from the door, she glanced at the big and tall woman.The guard wasn’t any more towering than most of the female dragon-shifters, but with Morlie’s slim build and short stature, she felt a little intimidated around the adult men and women.They were just so massive.She’d seen their dragons in the sky or landing at a distance, which made sense.However, she didn’t have to like it.

“Your name is Aine, correct?”Even from her stance at the window on the other side of the room, she’d heard Kai greet the guard before she closed the door.

Aine’s face broke into a friendly smile, making her build seem much less menacing.“Yes.Do you need something?Want to go out?”

Not looking like a prisoner with their perfunctory hour of sunlight a day.“Uh, no.I’ll wait for my sister to return.But will you bank the fire, please?”

Aine’s face twisted in confusion briefly.

Morlie understood the woman’s mystification at her request.Since she had been living among them, one thing Morlie understood was that these dragon people loved fire and smoke in all its capacity and in ways that amazed Morlie.So, asking one of them to kill a fire instead of creating more would leave the guard stunned.

“Um.Sure.I’ll take care of it.”

“I appreciate it.”Morlie stepped back and pulled the door wider to allow Aine to pass.

When the guard entered the room and headed to the fire, Morlie momentarily stared at the empty passageway.The urge to jet down the flight of stairs and out the door slammed into her gut, so intense she moaned.

As Aine kneeled before the fire, the guard turned toward her.“Are you alright?”

Morlie nodded and rubbed her stomach as she attempted to release the tension.Her muscles were tight like she’d laid on the floor and performed a hundred sit-ups.“No worries.Pulling the door too fast caused me to strain myself.”

Still standing by the entrance to keep her distance from the Drahk and her scent, Morlie watched Aine lean forward real close to the wild, licking flames.Anyone else other than a dragon-shifter would have caught fire.

Aine closed her eyes and parted her lips before inhaling loud and long.The orange-and-gold flames danced and wavered around the woman, almost like a sensual caress along her face, before slinking around Aine’s lips then in her mouth continuously until every flicker had disappeared.Not even a wisp of smoke remained in the stone hearth.Aine closed her mouth and smiled like she’d just finished a delicious meal.

“Wow.”She’d seen Eilidh and many others start a fire but not put one out.“That was impressive.”

The guard opened her eyes as she resumed her immense height.The smile on her face had a tilt to it that Morlie thought of as cocky.“Anything else?”

“No.”Even if Morlie needed something else, she wasn’t in the mood to stroke this dragon woman’s ego.“Thank you.”

Aine left the suite and claimed her seat again.

Morlie closed the door with ease.She didn’t feel as if she missed an opportunity to go out by herself because she knew there was not only a guard posted at her door but at the bottom of the stairs at the entrance to the Mckenna.Getting past one Drahk when they weren’t paying attention may be possible, but with two positioned to guard her, she doubted she would get past one step in the purple-hazed sunlight.

Crossing to the couch, she plopped down and waited for Kai’s return.

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