“You are real?” she asked, her voice dry and raspy. She moistened her lips, her tongue snaking out. “Of course, you are real.” She dragged a hand through her hair before she inhaled deeply and tilted her chin up to get a good look at him. “Impressive. And I never thought I would ever say that to a real live dragon.”
The dragon inclined his head toward her and then gently puffed smoke in her face.
She giggled. “Yeah, you are Kelos, all right.”
The dragon nodded his head. Braver now, he stepped closer to their mate.
Relief swept over him when she stood her ground and didn’t back away from him. The dragon knew just how intimidating he appeared. Kelos had witnessed fear and panic in the eyes of those who had stood before the huge dragon enough times to know it took strength and courage not to run away.
“You are something, aren’t you?” Amber crooned as she stepped to the side of the dragon, admiring the way the moonlight rippled across his scales.
She’s impressed, his dragon said smugly.
How do you know she isn’t thinking you could do with dropping a few pounds? Kelos asked.
Your humor has not improved over the years, his dragon sighed.
I think I’m funny, Kelos joked before he stepped back and let his dragon experience the wonder of meeting their mate for the first time.
Amber reached out a tentative hand and touched the dragon’s scales with her fingertips. “I thought you might be hot.” The dragon shivered in excitement as she trailed her fingers across his belly then along his flank. Swinging his head around, he watched her as she walked around him. Not that he needed to see her, he could sense her every movement.
“Are we going to fly?” Amber asked when she came back to stand before him.
He looked down at her, unblinking as he etched her face on his memory. She was part of him now, part of his life, part of his soul. Nodding, he lowered himself down to the ground once more.
A smile played across her lips as she inhaled nervously, her breath shuddering through her body. “I never was one for heights.” Her eyes flickered across his face and locked with his. “But I trust you.”
Reaching out with both hands, Amber stroked his snout. Kelos’s dragon lowered his head and she cupped his face in her hands before dropping a light kiss on his head. The dragon was delirious with joy, his heart bursting with love for his mate.
Don’t get cocky, Kelos cautioned him.
I would never put our mate in danger, the dragon assured Kelos.
“Okay, I hope I get this right.” Amber went around the side of him and reached up, her hand sliding off the smooth dragon scales before she managed to curl her fingers under the edge of one of his scales. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
You could only hurt me if you left, his dragon said, knowing she could not hear him but speaking to her all the same.
Heaving herself up, she placed her foot on his leg and boosted herself higher. With some effort, she wriggled her leg over his back until she sat straddling him. “Okay. I’m going to hold on here.” She gripped one of the horny spines that ran along his back. “I hope I’m not hurting you.”
The dragon swung his head around and shook it from side to side. Then he crouched down and sprang into the air like a massive cat.
“Whoa!” Amber’s hands clamped around the horn as she held on tight.
The dragon leveled his body, dropping out of his vertical take-off to glide over the tops of the trees. When he was certain she’d adjusted her position and her seat was secure, he flapped his wings, taking them higher and higher toward the distant peaks.
Remember we promised to keep a check on Margie and the children, Kelos said.
I can still sense them. The dragon’s senses were honed over hundreds of years and stretched farther than the human side of Kelos ever could.
The dragon raced toward a peak that towered over the mountain. Skimming the tip, he then banked and flapped his wings hard, putting on an impressive burst of speed as they hurtled back toward the cabin. Halfway home, he slowed, drifting lazily on a current of warm air, his wings outstretched as he glided along in silence.
Dipping his wings, he descended in ever-decreasing circles toward the ground. He had brought his mate here to see something and as impressive as the dragon was, what he’d brought her here to see was even more impressive.
Meandering over the tips of the trees, he found the spot he was seeking and dropped down out of the sky next to a sheer wall of rock. This was it.
He landed gently, his body rocking back and forth as he got his balance and then he waited for his mate to climb down from his back. For a moment she sat very still, and panic filled his heart, a cold dread that he had flown too far or too fast. But then she unclenched her fingers and hooked her leg behind her.
The dragon crouched down as Amber slid down his shoulder. Her feet landed on his bent forelimb and she leaned against him to steady herself for a moment before she half turned and jumped to the ground.
“That was incredible.” Amber ran her hand along his sinewy neck as she approached his head.
The dragon looked down at her, his eyes unblinking. He wanted this moment to last forever, but the human side of Kelos needed to return.
The air shimmered as the dragon let go of the world around him. His last action before his human form returned was to rub his head gently against Amber’s shoulder. Then he was gone.
An instant later, Kelos
