Chapter Sixteen
Jimryr rode away the next morning even though he longed to stay. Two days and some haggling later, he placed the call.
“Pr…Daire, still up for some flying practice?” Fuck. He’d best go back to calling the guy Griff if he couldn’t avoid adding Daire’s title.
“You weren’t kidding? I mean, I thought you were just trying to be nice.”
People attributing altruism to Jimryr’s motives made him decidedly uncomfortable, even if his intentions were pure.
Or as pure as they could be when any venture involved Daire.
Jimryr added a suggestive husky burr to his tone, dropping his voice to almost a whisper.
“Nice is for people who don’t want to see you naked more often.
Now, I’ve got us a remote cabin with nothing but air and opportunity.
You can say no, but I wish you wouldn’t. ”
The call would likely end fast if Jimryr tried to convince Daire to do something outside his comfort zone. Instead, Jimryr had kept his promise to find a place, made reservations, but left the door open for Daire to turn around and walk out if he wanted.
Please don’t let him run!
“How long would we be gone? I have a business to run.”
Ah, a practical dragon. A responsible one, too. How refreshing, when Jimryr often dealt with young dragons who hadn’t yet outgrown their You better keep an eye on them before they do something that’ll cost ’em an eye! phase. “Five days.”
Daire paused for a few moments before replying. “Let me make a few calls.”
Well, he hadn’t said no.
Two days later, Daire stared wide-eyed out of the window as the chopper circled the snowy mountains. “This reminds me of home!”
Nice to see Daire excited. He’d been so melancholy since his mentor died, or so his friend, the bartender, said. Jimryr would visit when he could, but he had a job, a mission, and a life in Georgia. A life he’d gladly surrender to be with Daire. Scary, scary thought.
The end of October brought a blanket of snow and gorgeous colors. Winds buffeted the tiny aircraft, something Jimryr had grown used to.
The pilot set the chopper down in a clearing, some way from the cabin. They’d hike from here. “I’ll come back in five days. Don’t be late. You’ll be my last flight of the year.”
“We’ll be here.” Jimryr fist-bumped the pilot, then helped Daire out and gathered their bags, a few more than he’d carried last time, since he’d also brought food.
He pulled his parka’s hood over his hair and hefted two of the bags in one hand, while Daire got the other two.
Sunglasses hid Daire’s beautiful molten-gold eyes, a necessity in the blinding sun surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. Jimryr straightened his own.
“This way.” He trudged through calf-high snow to the cabin he’d stayed in during his last visit, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to ensure Daire followed.
Being with this damaged soul reminded Jimryr of the first time he’d come here, three years ago, eyes filled with wonder as he trudged along behind Zorah.
The hike took longer than the last time he’d been here, with Daire stopping often to stare open-mouthed at things most others who’d been here now took for granted: a particularly large snowdrift, a bull moose ambling through the trees, rabbit tracks in the snow.
Jimryr wouldn’t rush him, enjoying Daire’s childlike delight in each new discovery. Wait until he spotted the Northern Lights tonight. How great to be the one to share such an experience with him.
They reached the cabin in the early afternoon. Jimryr opened the door, dropped his bags to the floor, and immediately went to the fireplace. Daire must be cold after so much time in the snow, even if their hike warmed them somewhat.
Whoever stayed here last generously left enough wood for a few days.
Jimryr pulled in a deep breath, imagining his dragon’s throat and mouth, and exhaled a thin flame.
The wood caught. Useful trick. The fiddly part lay in not burning his human throat, mouth, or lips. Oh, the pain he’d endured in the past.
Daire stared out the picture window. “It’s so beautiful here.”
“I like it. We’ll wait until later to shift. While it’s rare, we encountered a sightseeing plane once. Gotta make sure all the humans are safely tucked away, don’t ya know?”
Daire crossed the room to the fireplace, removing his gloves to warm his hands by the flames. “Are you sure about this?” He kept his gaze firmly locked on the burning logs.
Jimryr wrapped his arms around Daire from behind. “Very sure. I want you to be sure, too. Nothing bad will happen, not while I’m around. I’ve helped many fledglings learn to fly. I know what I’m doing.”
Daire’s voice took on a gruffer quality. “I’m no fledgling. I’m a full-grown dragon.”
“A fact I thank the Goddess for every day.” Jimryr kissed the side of Daire’s head, currently hidden under a hat. “I can make us a bite to eat. Might as well get comfortable until sunset.”
Daire relaxed somewhat in Jimryr’s arms. To hell with food. Jimryr remained right where he was for the next half-hour, simply holding Daire.
They stood on the cliff Jimryr launched himself from on his last visit, wrapped in blankets from the cabin.
Their breaths fogged before their faces.
While he wouldn’t rush Daire, he’d feel much warmer in dragon form, though the fire behind them helped keep them warm.
Naked in Alaska in late October wasn’t Jimryr’s favorite thing, but dragon temperatures ran hotter than humans’, letting him stand naked in the cold.
Daire, however, had lived in Alabama for three years, in a place unlikely to see any snow at all, though he’d come from a cold, mountainous court. He could be freezing. Another reason to shift quickly.
Armed with all the information he’d gleaned about Daire’s friend Doc’s assessment and therapy—gained during the long flight to Alaska—Jimryr laid his hand on Daire’s shoulder, keeping his voice calm through his lover’s self-doubt.
His lover. He had a lover. A prince, no less, though the prince part didn’t matter at all but to boost Jimryr’s occasional bouts of insecurity. “You can do this. I believe in you.”
“I…can’t.”
“You’ve shifted for your friend, Doc, haven’t you?”
“But not in front of another dragon. You’ll see…my shame.” Daire seemed so small and lost, staring at the ground.
Oh, hell no. This would never do. Jimryr placed two fingers under Daire’s chin, lifting until their eyes met. The poor guy looked miserable. Jimryr wanted to kiss away the misery. Wait. Why stop at wanting to? He pressed his lips to Daire’s gently, taking his cue from whatever reaction he got.
Daire returned the kiss, a mere press of lips to lips. But he had returned the kiss.
When Jimryr pulled back, the concern lines had eased from Daire’s forehead.
“There’s no shame in being wounded. You got wounded when you tried to save a friend.
There’s nothing in the world more honorable.
And you came from a peaceful court. I knew war.
Do you think you’re the only scarred beta?
” He lifted his left hand, now without the glove.
“Though I want a few words with the alpha who harmed you.” None would be fit for polite company.
“But what good is a beta who can’t fight?”
“You didn’t fight more than the odd skirmish, and you were valuable to your court. You’re still you and have the protective instincts and integrity innate to an honorable beta. Traits sadly missing from many.”
Daire laid his head on Jimryr’s shoulder. “I’m…I’m afraid.”
“I’ll be with you. And didn’t Doc say that you have mobility in your wings, they’re just stiff and the muscles need rebuilding? You need to fly.”
“I can’t!”
Jimryr kept his voice calm, like he would with a fledgling about to take wing for the first time. “You can. I’ll help you.”
“How?”
Other betas poked fun at Jimryr’s enormous, if somewhat ungainly, dragon. “I’m big enough to carry your weight. Do what you can, but rest on my back when you need to.”
A bit of lightness crept into Daire’s pitiful tone. “Like a fledgling?”
“Exactly like a fledgling.” Jimryr wouldn’t mention Daire’s attempt to save his friend through the same maneuver, leaving him disfigured. Hopefully, flying again wouldn’t bring back those awful memories. “Who taught you to fly?”
“My father and older brother.”
Jimryr placed a hand on each of Daire’s shoulders, leaning in close. Close enough to hear the wild pounding of the man’s heart. “You trusted them to keep you safe?”
“Yes.”
Jimryr held Daire’s gaze, daring him to break eye contact. If he broke eye contact, all would be lost. “Then trust me.”
“I was smaller then, and they were larger.”
Daire hadn’t seen larger yet. “That won’t be a problem. Now shift.” Although he’d seen Daire naked many times, Jimryr averted his gaze. No need to add more anxiety to an already-loaded plate.
A quiet snuffling ruffled Jimryr’s hair. He turned to find a dark-brown dragon, the perfect size for a beta, and took a step back, doing a head-to-toe perusal. Daire’s scales glittered in the low light, with flecks of bronze mixed in the brown. “You know you’re beautiful in either form, right?”
Daire snorted, lowering his head and extending first one wing, then the other. He winced but unfurled both.
Only serious concentration kept any negative emotion from Jimryr’s face.
Whereas most wings were pliant, easily catching the wind, Daire’s appeared rigid, lines of scar tissue running along a large portion of both wing membranes.
Getting airborne might prove difficult, but not impossible.
An uncle once returned to fighting after a similar injury, but the damage hadn’t been as extensive.
Jimryr knew what damage an alpha could do. Beta fire burned buildings and trees, and might deter other betas, but not maim them. Came in handy for cooking meat, though.
Didn’t matter. Daire wanted to fly, to return to his old life. Jimryr would do anything to make the dream a reality.
“May I touch?” Jimryr asked.