Page 30 of The Wrath of Ashes
Heckle gave a baleful call before bouncing and bounding off toward the launching cliff and diving.
“Well, shit.” Pryd sighed and yelped as Kensing stomped his foot.
“Would, but you could have been a stain on Father’s nest cushions!” Rath spat at Pryd’s feet and tossed his jacket and crisp linen tunic to the floor before letting his wings finally burst free, all cobalt scales throwing their shadow over his shoulder.
The one thing Rath should have heard, he didn’t, and it scared him worse than anything. Not a single scream.
Please be okay.
Rath dove, knowing Heckle’s preference for the sharp dive at the beginning of a flight. “Asha!”
His shouting into the icy wind did nothing as he breached the layer of clouds faster than he’d ever gone before, the cold stinging his eyes. “Asha!”
Breaking through the layer, casting the last dredges of it from his vision brought the glory of his wyvern into focus, spiraling in an updraft playfully, climbing out of Rath’s sight with Asha balanced precariously, not mounted upon Heckle butperched in a low crouch, one foot hooked against a wing joint and the other anchored on his tether, his grip strong enough to keep him at a near-vertical climb with abject bliss slashed violently across his face. Asha’s fierce grin, teeth bared, made Rath’s heart stop and explode with joy. With his tunic untucked and flapping about his slender waist, hair whipping about his head, Rath could swear he could see the dragon in his mate.
“Rath!” Asha caught glimpse of him, whooping with glee as Rath gained altitude and swept over them. “Can you carry me?”
The question caught Rath off guard, and he blinked, halted in his admonition. “Of course.”
“Good!” Asha glanced up, pure devious intent in his eyes, the blue in them dancing like moonlight on the frosted peaks until he released Heckle and jumped.
“Asha!” Rath panicked, sweeping down as fast as he could, scooping Asha into his arms, squeezing him tight as his heart hammered. And before Rath could start his tirade, shouting at his foolhardy mate and careless brother, Asha’s mouth found his for the remainder of the teasing kiss he’d tempted him with earlier that day.
Chapter Twelve
Asha
Asha’s heart hadn’t stopped singing since the moment Heckle had him in his mouth, tucking him onto his scaled back. Nothing could have prepared him for the utter pleasure, bordering on sexual, that devoured him like magic. Ice coated his fingers, frost crawling the tether at Heckle’s neck. The magic that Envi had worked with him on all day consumed his blood inside of him until Rath swooped in to save him from himself.
Asha didn’t want to be saved. Asha wanted to love the sky, to cry for how happy the cold made him, now that he knew how to hold it. And Rath was gorgeous, his tawny human skin giving way to scales like midnight. So much fear consumed him, but Asha couldn’t let him sink into it. He wanted to fly, wanted to be held and, with a single quip, he launched himself into fate’s hands. Would he fly, or would Rath catch him? Somehow, Asha knew.No room for anger.
He’d never wanted to kiss anyone as badly as he did then, coursing with lust and despicable ecstasy. A single touch of Rath’s hands in the right spot could have made Asha spend himself empty. Their lips touched, and nothing else would do but to have him closer, his tongue deeper and in other places. And of all the questions he had of sex and the things that a male did with another…Asha knew where he wanted Rath.
“Easy.” Rath breathed over Asha’s lips, eyes traversing the sky before homing in on a target, drawing them in to land. “Damn it to the fiery pits…” Asha followed Rath’s eyes and spotted the shimmering shape of the moon rising in the waning evening light.
Asha laughed as Rath tried to set him on his feet, legs like jelly. He staggered and chuckled, grinning as Heckle came to a rough land nearby him with an affectionate bleat.
“Oh, no you don’t, rascal!” Rath grabbed Heckle’s lead and Asha’s hand, leading him back to the stables. “What was going through your head when you did that?”
“Wee?” Asha shrugged.
Rath opened his mouth to fire back and paused. “Okay. Don’t do that again without me. And be wary of that thing.” Rath pointed up, and Asha followed his finger to stare at the ceiling of the stable.
“The moon.”
“Oh. Yeah, you said something about that.” Asha shrugged. “It’s not a full moon yet. A while yet, I believe.”
“Asha. You have to know what it’ll be like if you see it. It’s not the moon itself; it’s being in the moonlight or witnessing it. It triggers your dragon’s response. If it’s close enough to be full, your dragon may say it’s time. And I’d hate to have to deny you when the time comes because I can’t be sure you’re consenting or in your right mind.”
“Oh. The thing and the… The egg? Eggs?” Asha stared at the ground and frowned. “How bad is it?” Asha averted his gaze.
“Enough that full moons traumatized my brothers and me when my parents would squirrel away. It’s loud.” Rath cleared his throat and scales receded from his neck and face, more of the human coming forth again. It didn’t bother Asha, the dragon, as much as he thought it might. “And I’d like our first time to not be relegated to desperation.”
Asha took a deep breath, bidding his thoughts away. Because as tempting as Rath was, he still held shame. “I appreciate that.”
“Oh please. You two should enjoy one another.” Pryd sighed flippantly, and Kensing kicked his ankle. “Ow! Fine. I apologize,Brothers. Next time, I won’t lock Slath in the cellar and steal away with your mate.”
“So that’s why he’s not here… Kensing?” Rath turned and gave the human a pleading look.
