Page 26 of Dragon's Flame
The small, delicate, obstinate human who he loved.
He couldn’t talk to her, not with his dragon’s jaw, but his dragon’s finer senses reveled at recognizing her again, lowering his head to breathe her in deeply.
Her eyes were shut because of his magic, but she wasn’t restrained, so she backed up, as if sensing him before reaching forward inquisitively, and he recoiled.
He didn’t want her to touch him like this yet, but he had no choice—he had to touch her. His massive clawed forepaw curled around her, pinning her arms at her sides as she let out a startled yelp, then he picked his pants up with the other forepaw and held the paw open for Rocky to jump inside.
The little dog bravely did so, and he caged his scaled fingers around the dog to keep him safe before launching himself into the sky.
21
KENNA
She was very fucking sure they were flying—as sure as she was that her name wasn’t Lois Lane.
And after she was done howling in disbelief and terror, hating being trapped by whatever-the-fuck bands of steel Tarian had used to wrap her—it was magical.
“Oh my God,” she whispered to herself as the wind burst all over her, anywhere her skin was exposed.
She felt weightless, like she was at the top of a rollercoaster. Then they soared down and she shrieked it again, as the words were torn from her mouth by the wind.
“Oh my God!” she shouted, howling with laughter—at the same time she was pretty sure she heard the little dog’s frenetic barks.
She had no idea how long they flew. But suddenly, they slowed. The wind eased, the light behind her eyelids dimmed, and then she was tilting, carefully set down.
The dog was free too; she could hear its barks echoing, as she heard another telltale zipper-zip, and then Tarian’s voice.
“You may look again,” he commanded, and she could finally open her eyes.
She found herself alone with him and the dog inside a cave. She was disoriented for a moment, but then caught her bearings quickly, such as they were.
“I’ve got it,” she announced, as his eyes narrowed. It was dim, but he was still close enough for her to tell the scars she knew he had were hidden. “You’re a centaur.”
He blinked, and looked affronted.
“Hmm. Maybe a squid thing?” she guessed again, waving her arms like tentacles, before bringing her fingers to dangle beneath her chin. “Cthulhu?”
“You—are teasing me?” he asked her, utterly uncertain.
“Yeah. I am. I’m also freezing,” she said, trying not to chatter her teeth, her heart still racing from the flight.
That, he seemed able to latch hold of. “I—I will be right back,” Tarian said, and disappeared, outside, the dog running after him.
They were near the ocean, she could hear the waves strumming up and down, so they’d just traveled down the coast.
How far? Were they to San Simeon? Could they make a stop at Hearst Castle?
And if they did . . . would Tarian fit right in?
Because the only thing she could think of that could fly while carrying her and the dog and probably stay sentient was a dragon.
Which would’ve seemed abso-fucking-lutely impossible, if she didn’t already know the man’s blood was green.
And him lugging back half a downed tree into the cave without breaking a sweat pretty much confirmed it.
Plus the part where he tore it into pieces with his hands for firewood, because he did not have an axe.
She stood off to one side, behind him, a hand clasped over her mouth, so she wouldn’t say anything inane.
