12. Ivy
IVY
Iblink at the green-scaled dragon in disbelief, his wing lowered like he’s ready for me, but I can’t move. He shakes his head, smoke whispering around his face for a moment before he lowers his snout closer to mine.
“It’s on your to-do list, right?”
“It is?” Baron clarifies as I shake my head.
“How do you know that?” I mutter, my mind nothing more than a thick cloud as I lose the ability to think clearly.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Alaric,” Baron warns, and the dragon sighs.
“I may or may not have overheard the list,” he admits, and I gape at him.
“How?”
“Does it really matter? I’m offering you something on your list. Take it.”
I blink at him, shock coursing through me as I consider his words and weigh up my options.
Do I want to fly on a dragon? Absolutely.
Do I want it under the right pretenses? Even more so.
Do I want to be my own obstacle on the matter? Probably not.
Baron stands, and I immediately miss his touch against my body. “Alaric, maybe this isn’t a good idea,” he breathes, tightening my muscles as uncertainty washes over me.
“Why not?”
“Because there are rules that we promised to abide by.”
“They don’t apply to Ivy.”
“Says who?”
His wings flap with irritation. “Says me. She’s your mate, and I can hear her.”
“That doesn’t make it okay,” Baron mutters, dragging a hand down his face, and I finally remember how to move as I climb to my feet.
“I’m not looking to break any rules, so maybe we just forget about it,” I offer, and Baron shakes his head. When his deep green eyes find mine, all I see is desperation.
“I just promised you the world; how do I simply take that away unnecessarily at the first hurdle?” he grumbles, agitation in his words, but they seem to be aimed internally as he hides his face in his hands.
“Baron, it’s not a big deal.”
“It is.”
“You’re not helping, Alaric,” I grumble, planting my hands on my hips, and he scoffs.
“I’m not trying to.” My gaze snaps to his, and Baron follows suit. “You said it yourself, Baron: we owe her the world, and she deserves it. Show it to her. Show it to her from a vantage point that very few get to see.”
This dragon is going to be the death of me. I want to deny it, but his words make me yearn for it even more.
I can sense Baron’s gaze shift to me, and it makes me falter. I’m too scared to look back, but I pull on my big girl panties and try. The second my gaze collides with his, my nerve endings fizzle from head to toe.
He eliminates the distance between us with ease, stealing my breath as we stand toe to toe.
“You really want to?” he croaks, and I gulp.
“It’s okay, Baron. I—”
He cuts me off, pressing his finger against my lips. Instinct tells me to rage at him for it, but I feel the tremble against my skin, and it keeps me rooted to the spot.
“Don’t placate me. The truth, Firefly.”
I press my lips together in a thin line as I stare deep into his shimmering green pools, slowly managing a nod. “It’s on my list.”
“Why?”
I shrug, helpless. “Your mom made me come up with things that I wanted. At the time, it was a random thought, but the second I had it, I couldn’t let it go.
” I shake my head in disbelief. How are we even having this conversation right now?
“Randomly, Lucky offered to take me the other day too, but my brother was called away so—”
“Lucky offered? Of course she did. I ought to—”
“Alaric, not now,” Baron barks, chest heaving as he stares deep into my soul. “You want to see the world from my view?” he whispers, and my teeth sink into my bottom lip as I nod.
“If you’ll let me.”
He groans as his eyelids fall closed and his head tips back.
“Do you think he just creamed his pants?” Alaric muses, and a chuckle bursts from my lips.
I attempt to plaster my hand over my mouth to make it stop, but it’s impossible with Baron’s finger still firmly in place.
“Alaric,” I muse, my lips ghosting against Baron’s skin, drawing his eyes back to mine, dark, heavy, and full of need.
All amusement flees my body as I stare at him.
Was Alaric onto something?
“There’s no going back from this,” Baron murmurs, and I frown.
“I don’t understand.”
He shakes his head. “Once you go up there… once you take that seat with me… that’s it. You are mine, and I am yours. I need you to know that.”
“Baron, I—”
“I know there are unhealed wounds between us still. It consumes my every waking thought, and I will make it right, I swear it. But if I take you up there, you’re going to leave with a piece of me that I’m never going to get back. I need you to be okay with that.”
I sway, his words mesmerizing as they dominate my entire being.
I could say no and wait for Lucky to offer again, but there’s a part of me that wants that piece he’s offering. I selfishly want it for myself, but am I willing to offer him the same in return?
His hand falls from my lips, dropping to his side as he blinks at me, silently giving me the space I need to think and make a decision for myself.
Is this what selflessness looks like?
Is this what being vulnerable looks like?
If so, then he’s offering it to me willingly, after confessing how hard he struggles with it.
My hands move of their own accord, reaching up to cup his cheeks as I rise up onto my tiptoes.
His eyes are wide, and so are mine.
“Don’t make me regret this,” I whisper, and he nods.
“Never.”
We collide, an instant explosion as our lips connect, only to melt into a softness that intertwines through my body, shaking me to my core, before he steps back.
I can barely breathe, but the way his chest rises and falls in quick succession confirms I’m not the only one.
My heart thunders in my chest, forcing me to press my palm against it as I turn toward Alaric, only to find the gigantic dragon strutting across the grass like a damn peacock.
I don’t need to hear his voice in my head to know he’s pleased with himself.
“He’s trying to take all the credit,” Baron grumbles, and I snicker.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I confirm, and he shakes his head, amusement flickering in his eyes before the seriousness returns.
“Are you ready?” he asks, and I gulp.
“As I’ll ever be.”
He nods, reaching for my hand, and I relish the way mine fits so perfectly in his.
“You have to let me be there when you cross it off your list,” he murmurs, and I cock a brow at him.
“I do, do I?” I muse, and he nods.
“They’re monumental moments,” he says with a wink, and I can’t deny how it felt just like that earlier when my list dropped from ten to nine things remaining.
“Wait, has your mom made you make a list?” I blurt, and his cheeks darken. “Oh my gosh, you have. How many have you done?” I push, in complete awe that he’s been able to spend his whole life with this woman who has built him up and supported him.
“Too many to count,” he grumbles, like it’s a bad thing, and I roll my eyes, but before I can say a single word, he tugs me toward Alaric as he lowers his wing once again.
The second I’m standing an inch away from Alaric’s green-scaled limb, nerves get the better of me, and I falter.
“Are you sure this is okay? I don’t want to hurt you,” I whisper, eyes fixed on Alaric.
“You won’t. And it would be my honor, Ivy.”
“I’m right here with you,” Baron adds, and I clear my throat as Baron releases my hand. “I’ll go first so you can see, then I can help if you need it,” he offers, pressing a kiss to my forehead before doing exactly that.
I stand back, gaping in wonder as he climbs onto Alaric’s back with ease, instantly extending a hand toward me.
Instinct tells me to change my mind, to keep my feet firmly on the ground, but that’s the complete opposite of what I’m trying to achieve. Before I can think better of it, I throw caution to the wind and reach for Alaric.
It’s not as simple as Baron made it look, but I’ve barely put my feet on Alaric’s wing before he shifts, inching me closer to Baron, who captures me with ease and nestles me between his open thighs.
I already feel dizzy from this height and we haven’t left the ground yet.
“I think I might be afraid of heights,” I blurt, and Baron holds me closer.
“You think?”
“Well, this is the first time I’ve ever…”
I don’t need to say another word; he knows how isolated I’ve been. This is the most adventurous, insane thing I’ve ever done, and we both know it.
“There’s only one way to find out, Firefly, but I’m right here. Okay?”
I shiver at Baron’s gruff voice at my ear, but there’s a hitch to it that fuels the flames inside of me, and I find myself nodding, despite the nerves spreading through my veins.
“To the sky, Alaric,” Baron declares.
I gulp, gaping down at the scales beneath me as Alaric starts to move.
His muscles move beneath me, my legs molding around him, and my heart thunders in my chest. I scramble to hold on, panic taking over, and Baron wraps an arm around my middle, pinning me against his chest as his breath brushes over the shell of my ear.
“I’ve got you, Firefly.”
There’s no time to formulate a response as Alaric slams his claws into the ground and darts into the air. A screech lodges in my throat as my entire body tingles with euphoria.
I’m too scared to blink, not wanting to miss a single moment as Alaric climbs higher and higher, circling over campus, offering me a bird’s-eye view of my life.
The main academy building looks just as bespoke from here, looming gracefully in the center of campus, while the dorm buildings look surprisingly small. I spot what I can only assume are a few students, but they’re so tiny from this vantage point that I can’t be too sure.
Baron’s arm tightens around me as Alaric turns, the wind whooshing through my hair as I finally exhale.
“Wow,” I breathe, palms pressed against Alaric’s scales.
“Like it?” Alaric asks, and I smile.
“I love it,” I admit, leaning down in some questionable attempt to embrace him.
Baron’s arm holds me back for a moment, but after a few taps on his hand, he relents, and I lie down, my stomach flat against Alaric’s scales, arms out wide, as I watch the world go by.