Page 37 of Wings of Frost and Fury
“Experimental?” His voice deepens, anger vibrating within it. “Did you fuck me as an experiment?”
“I transformed you as an experiment. And I promised myself I wouldn’t touch you, but I couldn’t resist. You were just too delightful.”
He growls deep in his great chest, but it’s more of a satisfied rumble than a sound of rage. After a moment he says, “I must beg you not to tell anyone what you did to me. How you transformed me, and how we mated. If you do, I could be exiled from the clan.”
“If there’s one thing I understand, it’s being banished for breaking the rules. I won’t say a word.” I hesitate, a horrible fear hollowing out my chest. “Do you regret it? Should I… should I not have done those things with you? If it made you feel bad—”
“It did not.” His scaly nose bumps my chest gently. “I’m glad you touched me. I have never experienced anything soincredible, not even during the mating heat. I loved every moment of it, and I have no regrets.”
“Oh.” I release a long sigh of relief. “Thank Fate for that.”
His tongue slithers out again, tracing along my neck this time. Its surface is wet, but not unpleasantly slimy. There’s a strength to its caress that makes me swallow hard and press my thighs together.
Ashvelon withdraws his tongue from my skin and says, “Perhaps, after you’ve finished performing your spell for Prince Kyreagan, you and I could find a secluded cave and you could work that transformation spell again. I could be human for a while, and we couldexperimentsome more.”
There’s a fervency in his gaze, a hectic desire that I know all too well. This dragon has a powerful affinity for physical and emotional pleasure, and I suspect I’ve become his new addiction. As much as I’d like to pretend otherwise, I’m charmed by him. Definitely not averse to more experiments.
“We will see what can be done,” I say lightly. “It all depends on whether or not you behave.”
“I will do anything you ask. I swear it on the bones of my mother.”
“Your mother? Oh shit, did you lose her because… because of the spell?”
“She was killed during the dragon hunts, when I was very young.”
“And your father?”
“I’ve never known which dragon fathered me,” he replies. “My mother did not have a bonded mate, and she produced only one egg in her three seasons of mating.”
“And after she was killed?” I move farther into the stable, cautiously approaching his shoulder.
Ashvelon rumbles again. This time it sounds like discomfort, embarrassment, or perhaps sorrow. “I lived alone in the seaside tunnels for two years afterward, hiding from human hunters and dragons alike. It wasn’t until the hunters were drivenfrom Ouroskelle for good that I rejoined my kind. The other dragons were shocked—they thought I had perished along with my mother, and that the humans had taken my bones with them.”
What must he have suffered during those years of solitary survival, isolated from his clan? It changed him; I can see that much.
“I’m sure they were pleased to see you alive.” I run my hand lightly over his scales. A submissive tremor ripples through him at my touch, and I can’t help smiling. “In our culture, orphaned children are taken in by other families. Were you adopted by older dragons after your return?”
“Since I’d proven that I could live on my own, I was given permission to take possession of my mother’s cave, even though I was not yet a Prime.”
“A Prime?”
“A fully mature adult. We are considered Primes at age twenty-four.”
My fingers sweep along the edge of his wing, and he extends it a little, stretching it out so I can access more of the thin, tough skin.
“I enjoy your touch, even in this form,” he murmurs. “Tell me why you were banished from your people.”
My hand drops to my side. “We should leave for Ouroskelle. I’ll remove the barrier and release Fortunix.”
Before he can respond, I walk out through the hole and continue around to the front of the stable.
When I fling the doors wide with a burst of my power, Fortunix startles up out of a sound sleep.
“I’m going with you,” I announce, before he can summon any fire to blast in my direction. “Your friend Ashvelon has convinced me that I can trust your prince. All the supplies are packed, and I’ll be ready to depart within the hour. I have to close up the cottage, and then we’ll leave.”
I press my palm against the stable wall and speak a charm of unraveling to remove the barrier keeping the dragons trapped, as well as the barrier of darkness and silence that encapsulated Fortunix within his half of the barn.
When the second barrier vanishes, Ashvelon comes into view. Fortunix moves stiffly, shifting his feet and peering toward his companion.
