Page 40 of Wings of Frost and Fury
Ashvelon lets out a shuddering sigh, and glowing blue mist puffs from between his jaws. I keep stroking him with both hands, with no magic except my fingers, until his cock softens and grows smaller, retracting itself neatly into its pouch.
Staring at my dripping hands, I chuckle. “I need to wash up before Fortunix returns.”
“I have cleaning to do as well,” says Ashvelon. “He will smell my seed. I must burn it away.”
“Do what you need to do. But bring your stupid beautiful dragon face over here first.”
His great head approaches me, a blend of caution and devotion in his eyes. He doesn’t know what to expect from me.
“Well done, pet.” I pat his nose and plant a kiss between his nostrils.
“It was my fucking pleasure,” he responds.
I walk out of the barn and back to the cottage, the night air cool against my bare skin. The entire time I’m washing myself, I keep hearing his sonorous voice, like the richest and darkest velvet.
It was my fuckingpleasure.
10
When Thelise returns, I am sitting beside the pile of supplies she has prepared. She’s carrying a lantern and wearing a golden cloak with nothing underneath. As she walks, the cloak ripples open, showing me tantalizing glimpses of her breasts, belly, and legs.
She disappears into the stable and returns after several minutes, wearing the purple gown beneath the gold cloak. She sets the lantern on the ground and seats herself on my foreleg as if it is a chair. I could get used to her using me like this. I thoroughly enjoy it.
“You made quick work of the mess,” she says. “I can’t even tell where it happened.”
“One of many excellent uses for frost-fire when it is carefully controlled,” I reply.
“Hm.” She leans against my shoulder, and my heart thumps harder in response to her nearness.
“Will you tell me why you were banished?” I ask.
She laughs ruefully. “You know how to suck the peace and happiness right out of a moment.”
“You did the same thing to me earlier, with your talk of the men you’ve fucked.”
“We’ve been over this. You shouldn’t be jealous.”
“I can’t control it. I feel as if you were meant for me alone.”
“I don’t belong to you.” She straightens, rebelliously unsettled.
“No, but I feel as ifIbelong toyou, as if my duty and my joy are to serve you. If you find pleasure in others, it means I am not enough, that I have failed in my purpose. That troubles me.”
“Do you hear yourself, dragon?” She places one hand on my neck. “You only met me today.”
“My spirit has known you before,” I say confidently. “In some other life, long before the ones we now lead, I was the wind that played in your hair, or the fire that kept you warm. I was a frosty star that watched you on a winter’s night. Maybe I was indeed your pet—a dog who protected you, or a horse that carried you.”
She strokes my scales. “I’ve always thought the idea of past lives was silly, but maybe that’s only because beneath my flirting and my humor, I’m a cold skeptic at heart. Do dragons believe such things?”
“We believe that the Bone-Builder guides the cycles of our lives. We are spirits of sky and flame, of frost or fire, who leave the world in death only to return to it again after a few generations have passed. If I ever doubted such things, the bond I already have with you seems like proof.”
“What if I don’t feel the same way you do?”
“That does not change my heart. I will continue to adore you and serve you in all things.”
“Fuck.” Her laugh is shaky, broken at the end. “Promises, promises, dragon. What if I do something that enrages you? I telllies sometimes. In fact, I’m much better with lies than I am with secrets. What if I trick you or lie to you?”
“I will be angry, but my anger will not change my devotion. I have told lies as well. Sometimes they have a purpose.”
