Chapter 53 #2
I took the tack from her, and while she stepped back into the hall, shutting the gate behind her, I quickly climbed up and secured the saddle between the ridges marching down Kyreth’s spine.
“Have you ridden a dragon before?” I asked.
Isi shook her head. “We don’t keep an aerie. I don’t believe anyone outside of Syllavar does.”
I flashed her a grin that felt more real than any I’d worn in years, the kind that came from deep in my chest where she’d already carved out a home. “Then today, you learn with the best. Syllavar’s skies are unmatched. Wait until you see them.”
Her eyes gleamed with that fire I loved, the one that said she’d conquer this like she’d conquered me. This woman, who’d stormed into my world with a dagger and distrust, now stood here touching me without flinching.
“First lesson,” I said, leaping off Kyreth’s back landing squarely on the sand-strewn floor.
Isi’s lips parted, that challenging spark in her eyes daring me. “And what’s that?”
“That before we fly, I need this.” I didn’t wait for permission.
I didn’t need it, not with the way her body arched toward mine.
I captured her mouth in a kiss that started slow, a brush of lips only.
But when she sighed into me and latched onto my tunic, the thought of taking this slowly shattered.
I deepened the kiss, my tongue sweeping in to claim hers.
She nipped at my bottom lip, sending a jolt straight to my cock.
I slid my fingers down her sides to grip her hip, digging into the leather as I pulled her flush against me.
By the fates, she fit like she was made for me.
Stroking upward, I cupped the swell of her breast through her leathers, circling the hardening peak with my thumb until she gasped into my mouth.
She melted under my touch, pressing closer, grinding against the hard length of my cock.
I groaned, breaking the kiss to trail my lips down her throat, nipping the spot where her pulse raced. “You’re going to be the ruin of me, Minx. All I can think about is stripping these off and—”
Kyreth butted my spine, her eyes fixed on us with what I swore was amusement. Sparks danced from her nostrils, singeing the air.
I laughed, pulling back enough to meet Isi’s flushed gaze. “Message received. Stop wasting time.”
Isi smoothed her leathers with a smirk, though her cheeks bloomed pink. “Jealous, is she?”
“Smart. She knows you’re the real power here.” I stole another quick kiss, my blood still humming.
At my command, Kyreth dropped to the sand. I helped Isi up first, watching as she scrambled up the dragon’s leg and across her side to settle in the saddle, straight-backed and fearless. My chest tightened. She belonged here, in my world and on the back of a dragon that could raze villages.
I climbed up behind her, my thighs bracketing hers, and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her snug against me. My other hand gripped the saddle’s pommel for balance, but really, it was an excuse to have both arms around her.
“Ready?” I whispered against her ear, my breath stirring the fine hairs at her nape.
She twisted, her hand covering mine on her belly. “As I’ll ever be. Don’t let me fall.”
“Never. Hold on to me. I’ve got you.”
Her blue eyes met mine with a spark of mischief. “You’d better. If I fall, I’m taking you with me.”
I chuckled. “Deal. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere without you anyway.”
I nudged Kyreth’s sides with my heels, and she rose, lumbering toward the big opening to the valley.
She surged out with a powerful lurch, her wings unfurling.
We plummeted into the vast valley below.
The wind roared up to meet us, whipping Isi’s braid across my face, carrying the clean scent of pine and open sky.
My arm tightened around her as the dragon’s muscles bunched and released, her wings catching the updraft.
She leveled out, and we soared in a dizzying rush, the valley unfolding beneath us in a green map.
Isi gasped, her body tensing against mine, her fingers digging into my forearm. But her laugh followed, cutting through the wind.
“This is incredible,” she shouted, leaning forward, her nervousness melting into pure exhilaration.
There were no barriers up here, just us and the endless sky. I could feel her heartbeat, a reminder that she was alive, real, and mine.
I kissed her temple, speaking in her ear.
“Hold on. There’s more.” I pointed to our right.
“See that river winding through the valley? That’s the Sylvane.
It stretches all the way to the sea at our south and feeds half of our villages.
And those peaks to the left? Guardians of the old ley lines, where our magic runs deepest. Dragon’s Fang is beyond that.
My father took me there when I was a boy.
We camped in the wilderness, where he taught me to hunt and how to survive.
To embrace the world around me. All of this is Syllavar, Minx.
Not the wasteland outsiders see, but the heart of it.
Fertile lands, hidden groves, and people who laugh and love and bleed to hold on to what we can. My home.”
I wanted her to love it like I did. Wanted her to see what we were fighting for, what we could continue building together. Every valley, every village, every mountain peak. It could be ours, not just mine.
This was what completion felt like. Not ruling alone, but with her in my arms, showing her the kingdom we’d protect together.
“It’s beautiful!”
Not as beautiful as you, I wanted to say, but the words stuck, too tender to give voice to yet.
She’d make me a better king, tempering my fire with her steadiness.
She turned my solitary rule into something shared, something unbreakable.
And fates help me, I loved her with a depth that scared me.
It wasn’t a fleeting spark; it was a blaze that would consume me whole if I let it. And I would. Gladly.
I handed her slices of bread with cheese, and we ate as we soared higher, the air turning crisp and thin.
Kyreth’s wings cut through clouds like silk.
Isi relaxed against me, but I could still feel the subtle thrill trembling through her.
Every bank and dive heightened the press of her against me, her body nestling perfectly against mine, stirring heat inside me that had nothing to do with the sun above.
We flew for a time, savoring the thrill of traveling through the clouds.
But even as the joy of flight wrapped around me, I had a few things to say. I couldn’t keep them from her any longer. She deserved only the truth.
As I banked Kyreth toward the right, leveling us into a steady glide, I drew a breath and tightened my arm around her.
“I want to tell you about Addie,” I said.
She stiffened, twisting in the saddle to glance back at me, her eyes sharpening with that keen intelligence I adored. “What about her in particular?”
I’d carried this burden alone, and sharing it with her felt like I was exposing a wound that might never heal. Leadership had always meant hard choices, but this one haunted me.
“As you know, I sent her and Fenmark on a mission,” I said.
“Yes, though you didn’t tell me anything else.”
The resentment in her words scraped across my skin.
“They traveled south to discover who’s controlling the Skathes. They went no-contact as protection, and magically masked to blend in, looking like Skathes to infiltrate without drawing attention.”
Her breath whooshed out, but she didn’t pull away.
Self-blame flooded me like the wasteland’s rot.
I’d made the decision, weighed the risks, but every lost life under my command carved a deeper gash in my soul.
Her sister could break us. “I sent her into danger, Isi.” My voice cracked on the words.
“Every choice I make, every order I give… Lives hang in the balance. And I sent her into that darkness. If something happened to her because of my orders—”
Her hand covered mine where I held her. “You were trying to save people. That’s what good kings do.”
“Good kings don’t lose people they’ve sworn to protect.”
“Good kings carry that weight so others don’t have to.” Her voice came out fierce, protective. “Let me help you carry it.”
“How do you always know exactly what I need to hear?”
She turned in the saddle, her eyes finding mine. “Because I see you. Not the crown, not the title, not the legend. Just you.”
“What do you see?”
“A man worth following into battle. A king worth standing beside through any storm.”
The words hit me like dragon fire, burning away every doubt. “Isi—”
“And if that’s not enough,” she said with a smile that could power the sun, “you’re also devastatingly handsome in leathers.”
I laughed despite the weight crushing my chest. “There she is. My impossible woman.”
“Your woman?” She raised an eyebrow, challenge sparkling in her eyes.
“Mine,” I said without hesitation.
She gave me a pert nod.
I didn’t deserve her.
But fates help me, I needed her.