Chapter 34
Kier held on tight as Carwyn rotated her shoulder back to line up her arrow.
She released it, and her body recoiled as her bow quivered in her other fist. The shaft sailed through the air with a quick whistle until the stone arrowhead embedding itself into the side of a thick tree trunk with a thunk.
A brown dove hung from it limply amidst a cloud of drifting feathers, killed within an instant.
“Did you use your witchcraft?” Kier asked as she approached the tree.
“It might come as a surprise to you, but I’m actually a rather good shot.” She tilted her head back to look at her prize. “You know... it’d save me some time if you went up there and fetched it for me.”
He scoffed. “What am I? A retriever?”
I’m not a servant, he thought, lowering his eyes.
“Pretty please?” she wheedled, batting her long eyelashes with a pouted bottom lip. “What if I fall while climbing?”
He groaned in disgust at himself that he so easily fell for her wiles and opened his wings to flap his way up there.
He yanked the arrow from the tree with minimal effort, brought the dead creature back onto the branch it’d been perched, and climbed on top of it to lift off with it in his four paws.
He placed it in her awaiting palms with force and landed on a rocky hill within the forest to end his glide.
“That won’t be enough to feed us both,” he stated, taking in the waning dappled light filtering through the canopy of leaves.
The soft-lavender sky revealed dusk was upon them.
“Feed us both? Catch your own dinner,” she stated, tipping her nose up as she walked back to the camp they – well, Carwyn mainly – had set up.
“Catch my own dinner?! But I just–” He gestured to the tree where he’d been kind enough to obtain her catch without complaint, only to growl that he’d been tricked so easily. “Ugh. Females. They’re the same no matter the species.”
He glided off the ledge of dirty rocks and scuttled into the underbrush in search of his own meal. When he was done, a kill hanging from his fangs, he approached the campfire she’d made. Carwyn had already managed to defeather her prize, gut it, and skewer it over the flames he’d made for her.
Opening his bloodied maw, he plopped the dead creature on the ground, laid down, and blew flames over it in a long, continuous breath. She glanced at him, only to cringe.
“Is that a rat?”
He ceased burning its fur to take a breath and answer. “Some kind of ground mouse,” he corrected, before continuing to burn it until its skin was naked and crispy, and then he took a satisfying bite.
“Gross.” Her cringe deepened. “I’m just realising I’ve never seen you eat before. I thought you would cook it or eat it whole.”
“Eating it whole means I would have to vomit a pelt before my stomach acid burns it.” Which often gave him a gut ache. With a blood-coated maw, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “And trust me, you don’t wish to see that.”
It was something dragons often did in private, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience at the best of times. He’d rather take the time to singe off all the fur than be forced to do that or feel mildly uncomfortable. The same went for avoiding consumption of the larger bones and the skull.
When she kept staring at him, he shifted on his belly to give her his back and lifted his wings to hide it a little. The rocky cliff next to them, a boring companion of their entire day, blocked out some of the wind. The flames danced over the uneven surface, highlighting their warped shadows.
She eventually picked up her own meal to consume it, and they ate in relative silence as they filled their bellies.
He glared into the forest beside them. I only have until the day after tomorrow to convince her.
He hadn’t known they were so close to her destination when he decided that he would change her mind.
Two days is doubtfully enough time. He buried his snout into muscle and tendon as he pulled, part of the creature stretching between its corpse and his fangs until he managed to sever it.
I also don’t like the direction we’re taking.
Surely Carwyn wouldn’t take them into those lands.
When he was done eating, he picked up what remained and threw it into the fire, knowing it’d upset her to see it. She was still eating when he started licking his paw before rubbing the seam of his mouth and nose until he was clean.
Then he assessed the wound on his shoulder and decided to lick that as well, since it still hadn’t healed fully.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve offered earlier, but I have an ointment you can use.”
Kier paused halfway through a tongue stroke. “There’s no need. My saliva has healing properties in it.”
He thought she would know such a thing, considering how much knowledge she had of his kind. She even used ‘dear heavens,’ which he’d not heard from other witches.
When he glanced at Carwyn, her expression was downcast as if he’d upset her. Did she just wish to tend to my wounds for me? Blasted, he wouldn’t have minded it then.
She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs as she stared into the fire. “She was only trying to fulfil her blood debt,” she murmured against her skirt. “You shouldn’t have punished her for that. I feel so awful.”
“I didn’t.”
Her brows came together. “Then why are you–”
“We didn’t fight over your leaving, but mine.”
“I didn’t think it’d be so... I didn’t think she’d...” Carwyn moaned as she pressed her forehead against her knees. “I’m so sorry.”
Kier rolled his eyes at her softheartedness, despite how much he liked that about her. “I’ve had many claw fights with my sister.”
“If I knew you’d get hurt because of me...”
Heavens, she’s acting as if I lost an arm or my tail tip.
Kier chose to stare into the orange-and-red flames. A stick crackled, throwing hot sparks of ash into the air before it caved in on the pile. The fire’s heat was welcome, and he had the desire to curl up inside it.
“I knew she would react this way,” he admitted quietly, keeping his gaze on the hypnotic, flickering flames.
“It’s why I wanted to hide it from her until she had healed from what happened to her.
I also wanted to wait until I’d figured out what I wanted – and was certain of it – so I could make my decisions without her interference. I was never ashamed of you, Carwyn.”
“Why not tell me that?”
His wings drooped a little. “I was going to.” His eyes flicked to her. “While you were in the underground spring bath. But I didn’t get the chance.”
She pushed a stray curl behind her ear. “Oh.”
He’d thought his reasonings were obvious and hadn’t known Carwyn had interpreted his actions as insincere and ashamed.
If I saw it myself – he hated that his own sister recognised it before him in a mere few days – I likely would’ve marked her before telling Selene.
He’d been hoping Selene might be less volatile about his want to keep Carwyn – as that he’d known for certain. After having gotten to know the mesmerising witch better, he’d hoped his sister would have welcomed her.
He’d also been hoping that along the way, Carwyn would develop the desire to want to stay with him on her own. If she’d thought her freedom had been available the entire time, then she could have made a sound decision without that lingering between them.
He glowered at the flames. Instead she ran off without even saying goodbye. Or giving him a chance to stop her.
He was still rather sour over that.
He didn’t like the way it burrowed into his chest like an invasive, worming insect.
Carwyn hummed as she rubbed her nose against firmness, and the pleasant, masculine scent that greeted her.
She curled in tighter to the warmth that surrounded her with her hands comfortably bundled in front of her.
Strong arms had her captured as the hefty weight of something warm, buttery soft, and pulsing with a heartbeat lay over her side.
A palm gripped her bare backside, encompassing a cheek completely. Dozily, she wiggled and shifted as claws glided along the back of her upper thigh.
Her eyes flew open, and a gasp tore out of her from the tickling sensation, but she saw only darkness.
Or rather, a glittering blackness illuminated by a stray bit of sunlight that streaked inside her cocoon of utter comfort.
She blinked at Kier’s scales for a long while before craning her head back to stare at his pulsing jugular and the bottom of his large head.
She shoved at his chest. He increased his size!
Kier yanked her back in and slotted his leg between her thighs even closer until her pussy squished against it. Her bare pussy, as he’d lifted her dress to get his arms and body beneath it.
“Good morning,” he stated groggily, palming his other hand up her back.
Her spine arched at his gentle touch, the feel of his rough, scaled palms over her skin, and how his claws tickled her and wound her belly up. Her insides twitched and quivered in the oddest sensation, wrenching another gasp from her.
“Y-you promised to stay small,” she whispered, renewing her attempt to push away from him. He lied again! Jerk!
“I made no such promise,” he answered with a low chuckle. He tightened his embrace until her cheek crushed against his chest, making her lips puff up like a fish. “And I have no intention of letting you escape this time.”
His palm slid down until his pinkie and fourth finger slipped between her thighs, and her vision blurred at his claws raking along her flesh. Her nose crinkled when she forcibly bit back her moan, shocked at the way arousal pooled between her thighs so readily.
“Release me, Kier,” she pleaded, each of her breaths pushing her breasts into him, tingling her taut nipples with this warmth. The inside of her dress felt abrasive to them.
“I think not.” Her legs shook and her toes curled when he glided his palm down her back, and then her whole body shivered. “Last time you made me release you before I wanted, and I want to hold you.”