Chapter 18
ARDRUC
Elena’s little gasp made me turn my head to look at her.
As if that movement had broken a spell, the vision around us of threads and webs connecting the flora, air, and fungi of Hyderia vanished. The tendrils above us stilled in mid-dance and hovered, though the korae display continued unabated high above.
Elena swallowed hard and turned her head to look me, her beautiful blue eyes wide in what might have been shock combined with awe and bewilderment.
My own wonder battled with a strong sense of what now?—combined with relief that as far as we knew, the tendrils were not korae, and Hyderia’s korae were indeed upper-atmospheric plasma discharges. At least in all my many mistakes, I had not, in fact, been wrong about that.
“Well,” Elena croaked. “That was quite a sight.”
“It was.” I squeezed her hand. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She extracted her free hand from the vine and touched her chest where the symbol was hidden by her jumpsuit.
“I felt the threads tugging on this. I think I’m part of the ecosystem.
” She made a face. “Yes, I’m already part of the ecosystem because I live here, but I mean I’m really part of the ecosystem now.
I think I’ve been plugged into the network. ”
“I felt the tugs too,” I said, which seemed to surprise her. “When I took your hand, I felt a connection through you. Warmth and comfort and reassurance. The feeling was very welcoming, as you said earlier today when the vine in my bedroom touched your arm.”
She smiled. “It feels nice, doesn’t it?”
“It does.” Though not nearly as nice as holding her hand.
She looked up at the tendrils. “They stopped dancing. Are they watching us? Waiting to see what we do?”
“I do not know.” I studied them. “It does feel like they are waiting.”
Her mouth turned up at the corners. “Gut feeling?”
“Gut feeling,” I admitted.
Chuckling, she sat up. I followed suit, still cradling her hand. Forux yawned, stretched, and moved to the grass to sprawl out and warm his fluffy belly in the sun.
Looking up at the tendrils, I had an idea. I did not know how Elena might respond, though, and nervousness made my stomach churn worse than when I thought about playing my lat’sar for her.
Before I changed my mind, I asked, “I want to fly up to see the tendrils. Would you like to join me?”
Her mouth fell open. She craned her neck to look up. “Yes,” she breathed, returning her wide-eyed gaze to my face. “I would love that.”
My hearts soared. It was only a little thing for her to agree to fly just above the rooftop to try to get a closer look at our visitors. Even so, her trust filled me with joy and contentment.
Beaming with excitement, she let me help her rise. She squeezed my hand. “Your brandy scent just got sweeter,” she said, looking up at me with that wry little smile I adored. “You must be excited to fly with me.”
I did not think I smelled at all like Bacorian brandy, but if she thought so and liked the scent, I would not argue. “I am very pleased to take you flying,” I confessed. “And I am grateful for your trust.”
Quickly, I unfastened the collar of my tunic and separated the seams above my wings and down the front. I slid my tunic off, folded it neatly, and set it on top of my equipment bag.
When I straightened, Elena’s lips twitched as if she was suppressing laughter. “I’ve seen you fly dozens of times with a shirt on. Suddenly you need to be shirtless to fly?”
Her mirth delighted me, even if it was at my expense. “I fly alone wearing a shirt, but I think fabric will make it more difficult for you to hang on to me,” I explained. “Bare skin is safer. We will both have a better grip this way.”
“Well, that’s logical.” She glanced down at her long-sleeved jumpsuit. “I’d better take this off, then. The fabric is literally engineered to reduce friction.”
As quickly as I had removed my shirt, she took off her boots and jumpsuit. Underneath, she wore a snug gray sleeveless undershirt and shorts. The mysterious mark was just visible over the neckline of her top.
Gods above, Elena was beautiful, especially in the sunshine.
I had found her captivating from the first moment I had seen her face and heard her voice in her introductory message, though I had smothered those feelings immediately.
Perhaps even then, long before I met her in person and caught her scent, my hearts and soul had seen and understood more than my eyes or brain.
“Funny how pretty it looks now,” she mused, staring at the swirls of the mark on her chest. “Not scary at all and full of life, like the threads we just saw all around us.”
I took a chance and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She leaned against my palm and closed her eyes.
In bare feet, she felt tiny next to me. She was never fragile, never weak, and certainly never intimidated, but I could not help but worry for her safety and health. I had never experienced such contentment and joy combined with an all-consuming need to treasure and protect someone.
“Hey.” Elena rested her hand on my bare chest. Her touch instantly comforted me. “Don’t get too lost in that brilliant head of yours, dragon. I want to fly.”
My hearts fluttered. If she would call me dragon, I would do anything she wanted—anything at all.
“We will fly,” I promised. “One moment.”
The way her skin seemed to shimmer in the mid-afternoon suns and the sight of her bare toes in the grass inspired me to remove my own boots.
The moment my feet touched the grass, a strange warmth seeped into me that was more than simply the suns’ heat.
My breath caught and I stared at the ground in wonder.
“You feel it now too, don’t you? The warmth of belonging.” She laced her fingers through mine and glanced at my pants. “Anything else you feel like taking off, by chance? For safety?”
My chest rumbled. “Is there anything else you would like me to take off? For safety?”
Her chuckle sent a thrill of desire through me. “Since my life will be in your hands, I think I’d feel safer if I didn’t have all that fabric between us.”
She was teasing and playful, but I brought her hand to my lips to kiss her fingers. “I swear I will not let any harm come to you—not by my hand or any other’s.”
“You know you can’t make that promise, Ardruc.” She squeezed my hand to take the edge off her words. “Sometimes things happen we can’t foresee. A tumble down a mountainside, a plasma tendril on a rooftop, a piece of wreckage blown across the ice.”
Before I could ask what she meant about the piece of wreckage on the ice, she added, “But I appreciate very much that you want to keep me safe.” She hooked her index finger into my waistband and tugged. “Now, off with the pants.”
My hearts racing, I took off my pants and left them on top of my discarded shirt. Underneath, I wore long black undershorts.
Elena held out her hand. “So, how do we do this?”
I drew her against my chest. “I believe the best method is for you to face the same direction as me. I will hold you with my arms and tail.”
Her eyebrows went up. “You believe that’s the best method? Have you never done this before?”
My typical body temperature was already quite warm, but my face heated. “I have not.”
“Okay.” Her expression gentled. “I kind of like that, actually. I’ve never flown with anyone either. So we’re both new to this.” She turned her back, then looked up over her shoulder. “A bit of help, please, dragon.”
My chest rumbling, I bent and wrapped her in my arms. She nestled back against my chest as I tucked her shoulder under my chin.
“There’s that brandy smell again,” she murmured. “I think I’ll start calling it your happy scent. And my little bit of anxiety about flying just evaporated, so I think you might be doing a pheromone thing again.” She thought about it. “Or maybe I just naturally feel safe with you. Could be either.”
“Or both,” I pointed out. She smelled so sweet and fiery, and wonderfully like home. “Thank you for your trust.”
I wrapped my tail around her legs for additional security. Holding her like this was even more exquisite than waking to find her in my arms. This time I knew she was in my embrace by her own choice.
“Ready?” I asked. My voice was not quite steady, and I was quite sure she could feel my hearts pounding.
“Almost.” She craned her neck and kissed my jaw lightly. “Now I’m ready.”
With joy in my hearts, I spread my wings and launched us as gently as I could into the air.
Her gasp turned into a squeal as we rose one flap of my wings at a time to circle about four meters above the station. Forux ran back and forth across the rooftop, yipping in what I hoped was excitement rather than fright or anger.
Elena trembled in my arms, her chest heaving. “Should I land?” I asked, worried.
“Oh, gods, no.” She rubbed her head against my jaw. “This is wonderful. I’m just overwhelmed. It’s like a dream come true.”
Much relieved, I kissed the top of her head. “Shall I go higher?”
She nearly quivered with excitement. “Yes!”
The suns warmed my wings as I flew higher and in a widening circle around the station. The tendrils rose and parted to give us more space.
I had never felt lighter, and the air had never smelled sweeter, than with Elena in my arms and secured by my tail.
Every care and worry melted away except the need to keep her safe—a need that would never leave me now, no matter what our choices about the future might be.
She was in my blood. Just having her beside me made me the luckiest man alive.
“Gods, Ardruc, why do you ever walk?” she asked as we flew out over the forest. “I’d spend every minute of every day in the sky if I had wings.”
I chuckled. “I do have a job. I am a working dragon, not a dragon of leisure.”