Page 59 of Caress of Fire
She chuckled, but the images from last night came back, making her slightly aroused. “Who says I want to walk out of here?” She smiled when he looked at her, his shirt still unbuttoned, his eyes dark and heavy.
“Don’t tempt me.” His lips curved dangerously and his eyes trailed down her naked body. “I don’t know what happened to those scouts, but after all that’s happened, it can’t be good. It’s a mission only Nyra and I can undertake.”
Marielle’s smile faded. She knew the border between the two kingdoms was vast and hard to defend, a landscape of dry rocks and canyons where Fedryc and Nyra would have a hard time seeing an attack coming.
“Be careful. Lord Anion wants to kill you.”
“He’s nothing but a pompous, spoiled boy.” Fedryc shook his head, desire gone from his features and anger showing instead. “Nyra can take him and his dragon in her sleep.”
“He could still be dangerous.”
“Nyra and I are more dangerous than anything you can imagine.” He flashed that wicked grin again, those silver eyes full of passion and need.
Marielle watched Fedryc finish getting dressed with a sinking feeling in her guts. He came and kissed her again before leaving but it was a distracted kiss, his mind already far gone, already focused on the troubles of the kingdom.
She stayed there for a long time after he was gone. Fear twisted inside her at the idea of Fedryc and Nyra in danger. It was strange, after only caring about one thing for so long.
Feeding Devan, keeping a roof over Devan’s head, protecting Devan from the gangs of wild kids running the streets.
Her care for her brother had taken over her entire life. But now, she truly cared about another person than him. A person who cared back. A person who wanted to protect and care for her as much as she did him.
Marielle pulled the covers close to her chin, because she knew. She knew her love and happiness were as fragile as a butterfly’s wing.
* * *
Fedryc lookeddown at the breathtaking view of the desert but didn’t see the beauty of it. Instead, frustration built up inside him, coming straight from Nyra as they flew along the border toward the location provided by Henron.
Then Nyra screeched as smoke rose in the desert sky, far away in the distance.
“Careful now, Nyra,” Fedryc cautioned her as the dragoness flew even faster toward the smoke. She landed a good fifty feet away from a sight that sent chills down his spine.
There on the desert sand was the hover transport used by his scouts, a faster, light engine without a roof that gave his men an edge to patrol and secure his vast territory. Its metal was torn and charred, smoke rising from the ruined engine.
And next to it were the six bodies of his men—or what was left of them. Blackened bones and ashes littered the sand around the hover transport, attesting to their violent deaths.
“You know what this means.” Fedryc turned to Nyra to see the dragoness staring at the bodies. Her reptilian mind didn’t process life’s value as Fedryc did but she recognized the danger all the same. “There is a dragon in our lands and it killed our people.”
Nyra looked up to the sky, then around before staring back at Fedryc. The message was clear. She wanted to hunt.
“We don’t have time for that.” Fedryc walked back to her, then climbed into the saddle. She answered with a wave of foul temper and he sat up, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure what was going on with Nyra, but his bond’s wild temper was taking a turn for the worse each day. “Let’s go back to the castle. I’ve already left Marielle for too long. This could be just another distraction to get at her.”
Nyra turned her head slightly toward him, her pupils shrinking and dilating convulsively. She took to the sky in a flash of red scales and anger, following his instructions reluctantly. The dragoness had obeyed him but there was something else there, something Fedryc was missing. Something that made Nyra grow wilder and wilder as the days passed.
And that could easily mean life or death for both of them. Their bond, the link that had shaped their entire lives, that had been at the source of their lives, was now being threatened by something he didn’t understand.
Then Nyra’s entire demeanor changed and her head turned up to the sky. Her pupils shrank until they became almost nonexistent and a piercing screech left her mouth.
Another screech answered Nyra’s and Fedryc’s head snapped up as a monstrous brown form overshadowed Nyra’s already large frame. Fedryc stared as the large beast looked down at Nyra.
No recognition shone in the brown beast’s black eyes as he stared at Fedryc atop the dragoness’ neck. No soul behind the savage façade.
Then the beast dropped into a free-fall, howling, aiming straight for Nyra and him.
There was no time for spoken words. Fedryc bent over Nyra’s neck, gripping the pommel with both hands, his skin in contact with the red scales. Nyra’s thoughts were muddled and a new kind of secrecy shielded a part of her mind from Fedryc as she maneuvered easily away from the large, aggressive male with her smaller, more agile frame. Fedryc blinked, confused as hurt replaced the surprise inside him. Nyra’s thoughts, usually crystal clear and open, were shadowed by a desire to keep something from him.
This wasn’t good. This was life-changing and he wasn’t sure either of them would live to see it through, not with the brown dragon flying in hot pursuit behind them.
What is with you?
