Page 33 of The Wrath of Ashes
“I’ve actually been asking around a bit. I can postpone my bathhouse for a few years.” A sly expression flitted across his face.
“Asking around about?” Rath fought a yawn as Jeron presented him with undergarments and loose linen trousers to sleep in.
“Well, first of all, I want to be prepared on how to serve a nesting Ashen. I also want education on how to tend hatchlings—which I will assume Asha will need, too. I cannot imagine a world in which you decide to hold off starting your own brood,” Jeron said, something else clearly on his mind. “And if I hang around a bit longer, I might live to see the fall of the Tippin Valley and procure enough whitestone at a reasonable price to adorn my bathhouse in the capital.”
“I always did appreciate that about you, always cunning and conniving, but honest. Your whitestone will come.” Rath fought into the pants and did his best to cover Asha with a blanket. Getting clothes on him wouldn’t happen, as Rath’s body failed him faster by the minute. “Thank you.”
“It is my absolute pleasure, my liege. I’ll have a late breakfast brought when you rouse.” Jeron stood and bowed before backing his way out with that same sly smile.
Rath couldn’t imagine anyone being able to think of food at a time like that. As the lamps dimmed and a whisper of voices petered out in his hallway, he snuggled against his Ashen mate, scales as white as snow. Over his ear, Rath brushed his lips in a whispered promise. “The only way you could be more beautiful is if you bore my eggs.”
Rath pawed lazily over Asha’s belly and snuggled in, their horns clacking gently. They were so beautiful, gleaming and unmarked. Rath couldn’t wait to have his adornments done, to watch the gentle sway and glimmer of fineries accentuate his being.
***
Rath woke as trembling movements stirred him from his leaden stupor. The rhythmic shudder of Asha’s body reminded him of crying, but when he stirred and sat up, staring at his mate, it was anything but. Breathless chuckles. Tears glistened in his eyes, certainly, but the white scaled tail he now possessedcurled between his legs and between that and his scaled fingertips leading to almond-shaped claws.
“Asha, are you okay?” Rath took a deep breath, inhaling Asha’s scent. Where before, he’d had a delicate scent that drew Rath in, at that moment, he had a stronger scent, sweet and cloying.
“I really am a dragon. I…” Asha clenched his fingers and released them. “My scales are white.”
“It’s not precisely white.” Rath stared at the sheen on them. It was difficult to tell at first, as opal dragons were difficult to pin on their subcategory, but he was truly a fire opal. “I believe you’re fire opal.”
Rath leaned down and ran his claws over Asha’s scales, relishing their new feel. “Your horns are spectacular.”
Asha glanced up and lifted his body to sit. “I’m scared to look.”
“Don’t be. Why would you?” Rath reached for his horns and hesitated before drawing his hand back. “May I?”
Asha hesitated as he leaned forward, presenting the pearlescent tines to Rath in a show of ultimate submission from one dragon to another. Unable to stand that sight, Rath tilted his chin up and stroked his fingers over the tines of them, a tremble caught in his throat. “Do not bow your head to me. You do not submit.”
“Sorry. I—” Asha silenced under the softest kiss Rath could give him.
“Do not apologize. You are my equal. Maybe even my better. Heckle thinks so.” Rath offered what he hoped was his most seductive grin.
Asha hesitated before pushing into Rath’s hold, locking their lips with a hungry breath and wandering hands that halted as Rath grabbed his wrists, pinning his hands between them. “Iswore I wouldn’t fuck you until we were mated before the courts. Do not tempt me, as my word is binding to my magic.”
“Then schedule our ceremony as soon as possible.” Asha’s voice held a note of a growl in it. His draconic nature barely contained.
“And that’s where I leave you this morning, my dearest. I have much to prepare for atop my usual duties. Expect Slath to come by later with Jeron to help you.” Rath leaned in and tucked a strand of hair behind Asha’s newly transformed ear. The point of it sent a shiver down his spine that ended in Rath’s.
“Don’t go.” Asha’s wheedling voice made Rath’s gut clench. “I don’t know what to do. And why do you trust Slath with me but none of your other brothers?”
Rath hesitated for a moment and frowned. Slath was different from the others. Slath was… “You understand that Slath does not have a bedservant, yes?”
“Slath said he had no need for the services one provided…” Asha twisted his lips.
“It is not uncommon, but among our family line—Slath is closer to what you are than what I am.” Rath chuckled.
“An Ashen?”
“A bearer. He is the nesting one that will lay eggs as you will. It’s been so long since our family produced a bearer. Oftentimes, it’s not clear who the bearer in a coupling will be. With Slath, it is obvious. He was born with a certain feature only bearers obtain.”
“I thought you said we wouldn’t know until…” Asha swallowed hard as Rath pushed him back and ran a finger down his chest, over his abdomen, and toward his navel, circling it. “What are you…”
Rath inhaled deeply and almost purred. “Opals are always bearers. When Slath shifts, you’ll see the sheen of his own scales. He’s a water opal.”
“What is your color called?” Asha shivered, unsurprised by the discovery.
