Chapter 39
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Thorne and Thaelyn walked side by side across the courtyard, boots crunching on old frost. Dragons were already gathering on the field, stretching wings, huffing into the chill.
Above, banners snapped along the flight towers.
The instructors waited at the stone circle, Professor Caelira standing tall and crimson against the white sky, and Commander Dareth beside her in full flight armor.
The cadets assembled in lines; pairs forming with practiced ease.
Thaelyn mounted Nyxariel with the efficiency of someone who no longer questioned the bond.
The dragon rumbled beneath her, amused and proud.
Thorne mounted Vornokh with a fluid swing.
His dragon huffed, wings half-spread. The sky shimmered with cold, but the wind had stilled.
It was a perfect day for high-altitude maneuvers. Professor Caelira raised her voice.
“Today, we test unity. You will fly in full formation, eighteen cadets, six dragons per tier, and three tiers. You must shift ranks mid-flight, execute split dives, spiral syncs, and hover-locks.”
Commander Dareth stepped forward. “Today, I fly with you.”
Whispers rippled through the cadets.
Darian blinked. “He’s flying with all the cadets?”
“I’ve never seen him do drills,” Garric murmured from a few feet away.
“He doesn’t need to,” Brynnek muttered.
The Commander mounted Razorth and rose effortlessly into the air.
The sky came alive. Dragons launched, one by one.
Nyxariel and Vornokh spiraled together as before, moving in practiced tandem.
Kaeroth’s fire trailed through the upper arcs.
Vaelion banked clean and sharp around Tarken.
Mirra veiled in and out of visibility, Sorren and Vaeryn moving like one mind.
Razarok and Skael flew with eerie synchronization.
The formations shifted. Commander Dareth flew above them all, issuing orders midair. “Drop tier, invert roll, and tighten flanks! Rowan, correct your tail swing. Thaelyn, lead the final arc!”
She surged forward with Thorne on her right, wind blasting her braid loose again.
She laughed, fierce and full, and felt his presence beside her like a pulse.
Together, they dove through the final ring, spiraled, and leveled.
When the dragons landed, breath steaming, scales glittering, Caelira raised both arms.
“Well done. Again tomorrow. Dismissed.”
The field emptied slowly, cadets peeling off toward the mess hall or weapons court. Thorne stood beside her, brushing wind-tangled strands from her cheek.
“You flew like you were born in the clouds.”
She smiled. “You keep showing up beside me. Maybe you were meant to follow.”
He chuckled. “Not follow. Lead or Match.”
Garric called across the field. “Thorne! Training match in the ring?”
“In a minute,” Thorne called back, eyes still on Thaelyn. “I’ll catch up.”
He turned back to her. “Walk with me?”
She nodded. They strolled in easy silence, the flying field behind them, the mountains rising ahead. Side by side, again. He put his arm around her waist. This time, there was no hiding it. Not from the dragons. Not from the cadets. Not from each other.
After Thorne’s sparring match, Thaelyn went outside and waited for him. Thorne arrived minutes later, silent and watchful. His hair was still damp. A cut on his knuckle still bled. Neither said anything at first.
“You didn’t look at me the whole time,” she finally said.
“If I had,” he rasped, stepping closer, “I wouldn’t have made it through training without losing control.”
“You seemed perfectly in control when you were slamming Brynnek into the wall.”
“He said something about you.” A pause. “I lost it.”
Thaelyn swallowed. “What did he say?”
“That I am looking distracted. That I probably had someone under me last night, moaning, ” He cut himself off, jaw locking. “I didn’t want you to hear it.”
She stepped closer, staring up at him. “And if I did?”
Thorne’s pupils dilated, and the bond flared to life between them again, that ache, that heat.
“Thaelyn,” he said, voice low, dark, and shaking, “I meant what I said last night. I want everything. Not just your body. I want it all. Your anger. Your fire. Your mind. The way you breathe my name when I… ” He stopped, chest heaving.
She was already moving, closing the distance, hands on his chest, mouth hovering near his.
“Say it again,” she whispered. “Say you want me.”
“I want you.” He gripped her hips, anchoring her to him, forehead pressed to hers. Her hands tangled in his hair. His mouth dropped to her jaw, her throat, grazing lower with maddening control.
“I am trying very hard to be good, but if you push me one more inch, I will pin you to the nearest wall and show you exactly how dark my patience runs,” he rasped, voice broken with need.
Thaelyn’s breath shuddered. “So stop talking and let’s get out of here.”
A heartbeat of stillness passed, then they were moving quickly, his hand grasping hers as they cut along the lower path back to the dormitories. Every step was silent and fevered.
She couldn’t stop thinking about his mouth on her neck, the press of his thigh between hers, how his eyes burned with something ancient and consuming. What would it feel like to be fully claimed by a dragon-bonded rider with fire in his blood and storm in his soul?
The moment Thorne’s dorm room door closed, he pressed her against it and kissed her like he’d been waiting centuries.
“Say it again,” he growled into her mouth. “Say you want me.”
Thaelyn gasped, her fingers pulling at the laces of his shirt.
“I want you. Gods, I want to feel your hands everywhere. Don’t hold back.”
He spun her around, walking her backward until the backs of her knees hit his bed.
“Now tell me what you want, Thaelyn,” he whispered, brushing his lips across her ear. “I want to hear it. Use your words. Command me.”
She trembled, her voice breathless. “Touch me. Kiss me where I’m aching. I want to feel how much you need this. How much you want me.”
Thorne knelt before her as if in reverence, his hands gently dragging down the sides of her thighs, peeling away layers of fabric with aching care. His eyes didn’t leave hers, not even once.
“You’re not just a craving, Thaelyn,” he murmured. “You’re the burn beneath my skin.”
She reached for him, her fingers sliding over his shoulders.
He pulled his tunic over his head and dropped it on the floor in one swift motion.
Gods, I’ll never get tired of seeing his body.
He was carved like perfection—ridges of power, a map of quiet scars, and a soul far older than his years.
Thaelyn touched him like she was trying to memorize and explore every inch of him with her hands.
When he kissed her again, it wasn’t rushed. It was slow, open-mouthed, and devastating. His fingers traced up her spine, under the hem of her blouse, skimming bare skin that shivered beneath his touch.
“I want to taste every inch of you, and I want you to beg for more. Lie back for me, my Queen,” he whispered, his voice molten. “I want to worship you. I’m going to memorize and savor every part of you with my eyes, my fingers, and my tongue.”
She obeyed, the sheets whispering beneath her.
He started at her collarbone with his mouth.
He licked and kissed her. She let out a moan and threw her hands into his hair, grabbing it tightly.
He moved down to her breasts and kissed and sucked each peak until it was rock hard with desire.
Her moans turned him on even more. He bit her nipples and sucked them.
Her hips thrust against his, and she moaned out his name.
“Oh, you like that. I’m going to make you hoarse from screaming out my name before I’m done with you.” Then he continued down to her ribs, kissing slowly across her stomach, and lower still, until her hips lifted so needy in response, a gasp caught between her teeth.
Her fingers threaded through his hair, and she pulled even harder this time.
He parted her thighs and moved his mouth to where she ached with need.
Her thighs were trembling in response. He continued to coax pleasure from her by kissing up and down her thighs.
Every touch of his tongue, every press of his lips, sent her deeper into a haze where only he existed.
He murmured words against her skin with every one of her moans, fierce, sacred, and unfiltered.
“Keep those legs open like a good girl. I want you to watch when I make you drown me with your come.” She arched with further pleasure.
“Let me hear you scream, Thaelyn. Don’t be afraid to let yourself go fully.
Let me hear and feel you come undone.” She was ready for him, slick and wet.
He licked her middle with such perfect skill.
With each swirl of his tongue, her body trembled with pleasure.
She arched with release, calling out his name.
He kissed the inside of her knee and rose above her.
“Thaelyn, I want more. I want all of you.”