Page 38 of Fate Promised

He picked her up like she weighed nothing, circling her waist with his huge hands, and she wrapped her legs around him. His mouth landed on her neck, and he purred louder. Deeper. A seductive, rich hum. She ran her hands up his shoulders and along the back of his neck, and he groaned. When his tongue dragged up the side of her neck, it seared.

Her bodice felt too tight, her nipples chafing against the fabric. She wanted to be bare, to feel his powerful body, his warm skin, against every inch of her. He shifted her in his arms, drawing her closer.

Yes. This was Juri. They were supposed to touch like this. Her heart fluttered, and her skin warmed, eager for his touch.

His breath fanned against the delicate shell of her ear. “You agreed to be mine a long time ago. You’re still mine.” And his mouth landed below her jaw, where her pulse jumped. He nibbled, his tongue hotter than the suns of Ulterra, and Triska groaned. She forgot where they were. What they were doing. Juri was all that existed.

She slid her hands up his arms, lingering over the defined slopes of his forearms and biceps. He stroked up her back with one hand, using the backs of his claws in the lightest of teases. “I want to get behind you and lick up your spine. Graze my teeth along your skin,” Juri whispered in her ear.

Her fingernails bit into his arms, and she leaned closer. “Yes.” It felt like the world was shaking.

With a jolt, Triska realized the wooden walkway underfoot was vibrating. Arrow crashed through the underbrush, his bulk making the walkway flex. Juri’s head lifted from her neck as Arrow yowled.

Juri growled. “Get out of here.”

The dragon ignored him and lowered his head. Going behind Juri, he rubbed his head along Juri’s back, forcing him to take a step forward.

Triska drew in a shaky breath. Could she even walk right now? Her legs felt like jelly, but they held her when Juri lowered her to the ground. “He doesn’t want us to fall behind,” she said.

Juri frowned, and one lip curled up an eyetooth. “Fantastic timing, the little pest.”

Arrow paused, and Triska swore his lower lip trembled.

“Och,” Juri said. He scratched the dragon under the chin. “All right, all right, you’re only a wee dragon, it can’t be helped.” Arrow yowled again, this time a thrumming sound, and he pushed his head into Juri’s hand, his lids fluttering. Triska wasn’t the only one who wanted Juri’s touch. Her skin still prickled with awareness, as if it had come alive for the first time, and she wanted more. A lot more.

Juri tickled him with his claws, and Arrow grunted and leaned farther, almost toppling over. “Someday, you’ll be the fiercest dragon in all the ocean, won’t you?” Juri crooned as if speaking to a puppy. “All boats will fear you.”

“He likes that,” she said.

Juri straightened. Arrow thwacked his tail on the path and scuttled forward again, looking back over his shoulder at them. “I suppose we should catch up,” Juri said. His hand reached for hers, and he tucked it securely into his palm, entwining his fingers with hers.

A sharp pang twisted in her chest. Part pain, part pure, sweet pleasure. She may wear the ring he’d given her when he promised to marry her long ago, but that promise could never be kept.

There was no future for them.

Even though she was sure that as a vulk he wouldn’t choose to take a mate, she needed to tell him why she never could either. Maybe it would help them both fight the intensity building between them. Because the longer she remained with him, the more she wanted him. In her bed. At her side. Pulling her into his lap to tell her tales.

If she succumbed to desire, it would only get worse. Much, much worse. “Juri, there’s something I need to—”

A low roar rippled through the forest as the skies opened up. Before, they’d experienced a trickle, now sheets of rain, the drops hard and insistent, pelted them. Triska yelped, and they raced down the path.

Out of the corner of her eye, a large bird dove through the boughs, winking into view as it seemed to … play … amid the rain. She swatted at her eyes to wipe the water away, but the bird had already darted up through the canopy, out of sight.

They rounded a bend in the path, and Koschei’s home spread in front of them, the door open and the magicwielder scowling, waiting for them. “Hurry.”

14

Juri caught a quick glimpse of Koschei’s home tucked among a tangle of trees with moss coating the shale roof and dripping off the eaves before leaping into the entryway with Triska. Rain drummed on the roof, creating a low din, as Koschei slammed the mahogany door behind them. “If you’d kept up, you’d have gotten here before that fool bird and wouldn’t be dripping all over my floors.”

Triska sagged next to him, her sweater a sodden mess and her hair plastered to her head. Juri growled. “We need towels and something dry for Triska to wear.” He hated the idea of her wearing one of the magicwielder’s garments, but it was better than her being cold and miserable.

“What do you mean you wanted us here before the bird?” Triska asked.

Koschei glowered at Juri, but he still answered, “A chatak, a rain drinker, lives on this island. It brings the rain. Every day it gets thirsty around lunchtime, but it lives on the other side of the island, so the heaviest rain is usually there.” He arranged his cloak. “You expect me to give away my clothing?”

Before Juri could respond, Koschei eyed Triska, and his expression softened. “All right, come this way.”

Despite what he’d said about his floors, Koschei didn’t complain further as water dripped off them in sheets onto the mahogany floor and woven rugs. “Tell me about this bird,” Juri said. “How can a bird call the rain?”

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