11. Lois #3
“Az wanted to take me for a ride,” I shout back, leaning down to pat the drak on the shoulder.
“I’m sure he fucking did,” Kiahn remarks. Niska giggles beside him. “You do know we are to keep the human females safe, don’t you, Az? That does not include taking one for late-night drak excursions!”
“My girls needed to stretch their wings. Besides, Lois is a natural rider.”
We’re not close enough to the balcony for me to be able to see Niska’s expression, but I can imagine she’s got that knowing, amused gleam in her eye. Her husband, on the other hand, being bigger and generally more exasperated, is clearly rethinking letting Az accompany me to the Capital tomorrow.
Before Kiahn gets a chance to say anything else, Az makes the tiniest of movements with the reins, signaling to the drak for us to move off, but not before he twists in the saddle and calls back to his brother, “And put your cock away before a hungry zekek-bird comes swooping down looking for worms!”
The sound of Kiahn shouting profanities and Niska giggling her naked ass off gets carried on the wind only so far, and then we’re off, soaring over the city lights again.
We do one large loop before Az offers me his arm to cling to again. “Hold on tight,” he murmurs. I quickly hand him the reins and hug his forearm to my chest – you don’t need to tell me twice.
With a flick of his wrist and a gentle kick of his heels, Puff lets out a snort of excitement, and we’re soon going as fast as we had done on the ascent, except this time we’re descending – rapidly.
“Az?” I ask, panic rising a little.
This idiot is going to get us killed.
He holds me by the neck again, anchoring me to his chest. “I’ve got you.”
The lights and buildings are getting closer and closer, rushing up at us like we’re about to slam right into them.
I shut my eyes and hold my breath, but no spectacular, bone-shattering impact comes.
Instead, I feel the shift when we careen one way and then coast the next.
Tentatively, I peel open one eye, and then the other, the wind whipping past me at such a speed it’s a little difficult to keep them open.
We’re lower to the ground now. But beneath us aren’t any buildings or streets; instead, it’s the black glass of a river, the water looking still and serene like a mirror, except for the slicing ripple going through it from the sheer speed of the drak’s body.
I let out a breath, but before I get a chance to say anything, there’s a cheer coming from both sides of the river. When I look, I see the banks lined with a scattering of Xavianns, their evenings briefly interrupted by their princely star drakball player making an unexpected appearance.
“Wave to them,” Az says.
I shake my head. “They’re excited to see you, not me.”
Az’s head ducks until I can feel the hot breath of his words against my ear. “In my experience, it’s impossible not to be excited to see you. Wave for me, Lois.”
Tentatively, I peel one hand away from where I cling to his arm and wave. A huge cheer erupts from the riverbank, louder than it had been before.
I’ve never elicited a cheer like that in my life. And, even though I’m still pretty sure they’re whooping and hollering for Az and his drak, I allow myself a smile and turn to wave to the other side of the river.
We follow the meander for a time; sometimes it’s flanked by small gatherings of Xavianns, sometimes not. The further along we go, the fewer people we see. I can hear the trickling sound of Lady and Puff’s clawed feet skimming the surface of the ink-black river water as we go.
When Az finally takes the reins properly, it’s to steer us back to the drak arena, where ‘his girls’ are kept, and where this flight had started.
I hold my breath for the landing after circling the enclosure a couple of times, but the drak’s descent is smooth, and before I know it, Az is climbing off behind me and reaching up to help me down.
The drop from the saddle to the floor is daunting, and Az must see it in my eyes, because he makes a whistle and a click before patting the drak’s side. I hold on tightly to the saddle as the great beast rumbles and drops her shoulder to help me down.
My adrenaline is still soaring up in the skies, just like we had been only moments ago, so I think nothing of swinging my leg over the saddle and leaping down into Az’s outstretched arms, somehow already convinced he was going to catch me as effortlessly as a romantic hero in a movie.
And he does.
His hold on my waist is strong and comfortable as I steady myself on his shoulders – a ridiculous laugh bubbling up from my throat.
And then I do it.
I can’t help myself. I feel like I’ve just bungee jumped off a clifftop, or abseiled down a mountainside. And the only reasonable thing for me to do in that moment, when I feel high-off-my-tits on life, is to kiss him.
Az’s grip on my waist tightens, and I can feel him stiffen beneath me as soon as our lips connect. But it only takes a moment, and then he’s groaning into my mouth like I’m the most delicious thing on the menu.