Page 70 of That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human
He set the bowl down then retrieved the book. Its pages lit up when he held it to the hand the size of a bear paw. When the page finished, he held it out to me showing off the orc it belonged to. “The challenge is only to climb to the summit of the isle on your own and put your mark on the wall. No one said you had to be a dragon. Besides, it’s not uncommon to find your fated mate outside your race.”
My heart thumped heavily in my chest as I looked up at the wall of ancient handprints. “Where’s yours?”
He smiled and guided me further down the wall until we stopped at one hand in particular. It was clustered in a group of prints of similar size, but there was just enough room below it to fit my hand. I pressed my palm to the cool stone, holding it firmly in place before lifting away.
“It’s time,” he said, snatching my wrist. Dante pulled me over to the balcony.
“Time for what?” I asked.
He waved at the dark sky in front of us and darted away. “Just watch the sky.”
“… OK,” I said, turning back around. I leaned against the railing, scanning the sky for anything of note. Just before I turned back to asking him what to look for, it happened.
Sunrise came in a golden tunnel through an endless sea of clouds. Its first rays blanketing over the sky in time with the first string of a cello. Soft music joined the sun’s ascent as if welcoming home a dear loved one. The night’s chill died away in colors so warm it broke my heart. Tears fell down my face, but I didn’t dare wipe them away. Not wanting to miss a second.
Dante’s song quickened in tempo and the sky responded in a chorus of pink, purple and gold. Right before my eyes, a cloud swirled and took the shape of a massive stingray that glided over the sky as if drinking in the sun’s rays. I gasped as another swirled into a school of flying fish. They chased after the stingray in a playful dance, illuminated in a rainbow of colors.
“How…” the question died on my lips as I turned back to the dragon. His eyes were closed. Face serene in concentration as sure as he played his cello. Wisps of silver slowly rolled off him and into the sky.
Of course. This is the song of The Lord of Storms.
The stingray dove to burst through a fluffy cloud until it dispersed in fades of white. I blinked, trying to make sense of the lush green hill in the middle of the sky. When more clouds parted around it, my jaw fell open. “Is… that… is that islandfloating?”
Sunlight illuminated the world around me until I saw more tiny islands floating peacefully in the sky. I peered over the railing to try to see the ground below. But the mountain disappeared into the sea of clouds. Breathless, I gazed at the islands in wonder. “The floating isles.” The thought of six more of these spread across the continent was almost unthinkable. I wanted to see every last one.
Just above us, the stingray and flying fish swirled together to form a herd of unicorns. They galloped across the sky, some veering close enough to reach out and touch. I did, letting the cool wetness break against my palm. The cloud unicorn reared up, then raced down the side of the mountain. I ran after it, laughing away the tired ache in my legs. When its hooves hit the ground below the steps, the fog parted revealing—
“Oh, no fucking way.”
A unicorn. An actual unicorn stood in the meadow at the base of the mountain. It wasn’t until I felt his arms slide around me that I realized the music had died away. Dante brushed a braid behind my ear and kissed my temple. The action was so soft and gentle, my heart practically leaped out of my chest to beg to be held in his hand. His arm hooked beneath my knees, and he settled me against his chest before he leapt down the cliff.
I bit back my scream of surprise and clung to him when he set us down in the meadow. The unicorn flicked its head in our direction as if assessing a threat. I let Dante guide me down in the grass to sit between his legs. “I’m afraid this is as close as we can get before it runs off,” he said.
Tears choked my throat, so I simply nodded and clutched the arms around my waist. He pulled me in tighter to whisper in my ear. “I love you, Cherry. Our story may not have had the best beginning, and the middle has gone off the rails, I’ll admit. But we’re nowhere near the ending. I’ll have centuries to find out all the little things that make you tick. Then, just when I think I’ve finally got you figured out, you’ll do something outrageous to throw me off your tracks. And I’ll fall a little more in love with you each time.”
He lifted my hand to kiss my palm. “I only ask that you stay with me long enough for me to get the chance to make you love me too.”
This is it.
This was the feeling I’d been so desperate to find since that day in the river. The ache of isolation melted away with the warmth of his kiss. Arms strong enough to shatter the stone walls of my nightmares pulled me tight against him until all I could feel was safe.
I felt safe.
Something in me broke at the realization.
His nearness consumed my every thought until I shook with the need to touch him. To satiate the growing inferno of hunger and bliss that came anytime I caught sight of him. I broke free of his arms, turned around, and kissed him. His body shuddered, before he responded in kind. Unlike our frantic coupling in the maze, this kiss was gentle. Soft in a way that granted us the peace and time to get to know one another. The way his lips molded against mine, the taste of his tongue answering the call of my own.
Breathless and dazed, I pulled away. Gasping when his lips found my throat. My hand slid to the nape of his neck and tugged on his hair. “Dante…”
“Don’t tell me to stop,” he begged. “Please, not now.”
I held his face in mine, kissing away the furrow in his brow. “My name is Cherry Hotpepper. I live in a small village called Boohail in the tail end of Kinnamo. Please take me home.”
For a long moment, he simply stared. His mouth quirked, “Hotpepper, huh?” A small laugh escaped his throat, and he rested his head on my shoulder. “Do you have an older sister named Cinnamon?”
I stilled. “How do you know Cin?”
“I don’t know how I didn’t notice before. You two look so much alike.”
