Page 30 of Flameborne: Fury
She screamed again, and then plowed into a landing.
The moment she was still, I unclipped the bag and bedroll and let them drop, sliding off her and sliding down the mounting strap to the ground. Akhane stood, legs splayed, every inch of her trembling. Her mouth was open, tongue extended asshe panted, and her tail lashed like a cat’s. She looked like insects crawled under her skin where she couldn’t reach them, tormenting her.
The moment I reached the ground, I yanked at the buckles, scrambling to get the harness off of her while she could stand still.
‘Please, hurry.’
I nodded, panting myself, but finally the harness was loose and I hauled it off and to the ground in a messy tumble.
‘You’re free, you can—’
Akhane leaped away at a run, her wings low and down until the tips almost dragged on the ground. As she raced into the nearby trees, she raised her head and screamed, a desperate sound that vibrated in my belly and made my heart race.
But then I was left with a wet harness on the ground, not properly rolled, and my bag and bedroll. I remembered the cave she’d shown me and picked up my things first to go looking for it.
It wasn’t far away, thank goodness. Dark and damp, the opening half-obscured by overgrowing tree-branches and scrub. It smelled musty, and I guessed I’d be glad not to see what lay at its back around the corner where it wound away from what little light the stormy night let in. But I needed to get the harness in here to dry, otherwise we wouldn't be flying again until the sun came out to dry it.
‘Mate. My mate,’Akhane groaned, sending a clench of need through me.
Dropping my things deep enough into the cave that they’d stay dry even if the wind shifted. I gathered a few sticks and a broken branch near the entrance that weren't soaked, hoping I'd be able to start a fire later. Then I looked out of the cave entrance and braced for the cold before running back out to find the soaked harness in the clearing.
I missed it the first time in the dark that was only punctured by lightning, though more and more often now. When I circled and finally found it, I tried to drag it, but it was so heavy, and the straps kept catching on the tussocks of grass, or pulling loose rocks and making my load even heavier. After failed attempts to roll it, I unbuckled half of it to carry it in pieces.
When I finally had all of it in the cave, I spread it out in flat lines on the ground to dry, then turned to my things.
Donavyn, grasping the hair at the back of my neck and twisting it around his fist, calling to me as he thrust—
I gasped and shuddered. Outside, there was another scream, and a strange creak. I rushed to the opening of the cave in time to see the silhouette of a tall tree tip and shake as Akhane rubbed against it, leaning her shoulder into it so hard there was a mightycrackto rival the lightning as she snapped the twenty-foot tree like a twig.
She tumbled sideways when it gave under her, then lunged back to her feet, screaming again.
Donavyn’s calloused hands at my waist, gripping hard enough that his fingers dug in, turning me, flipping me. I was helpless as he pinned me to—
My breath rushed out of me.‘Akhane, is there any way to stop the… the… resonance?’I didn’t know what else to call it. There was a part of me that washer.And when she screamed, and yearned and needed, so did I.
She didn’t answer, but rippled between the trees, calling, her tail lashing, throwing up stones and divots of earth behind her.
I tried to push her aside in my mind, to close myself off from what she felt, but my bodythrummed. The wet leather on my skin should have felt like a cold prison, but the way it rubbed and hugged me made my breath come faster.
‘Mate,’Akhane pleaded in my head.
I stood, quivering and frustrated because I couldn’t help as the land around me was illuminated by lightning crackling across the sky again. Akhane gave a frantic shriek and I swayed towards her, instinctively yearning to be close. Tohelp.But there was nothing I could do. The frustration and ache she felt shuddered through my body and dragged my heart to my toes, making me pant with her, our hearts beating in time.
I tried to reach for her through the link, but she’d stopped speaking in words, only giving me images, and so many of those werenothelping.
How long would this last? How long would she suffer? Would I be disqualified from the ranking if it was days before we could return? I vaguely remembered being told a dragon’s heat lasted three or four days, but I wasn’t sure and—
My belly clenched with a bolt of desire so thick, I curled my toes. I hunched and fought the urge to strip and lay my hands on myself. But with the leather wet, I was worried if I took the clothes off, I wouldn’t get them back on. I needed to make a fire. I needed to eat something. I needed to keep my head straight and watch the weather.
But Akhane screamed again, somewhere out of sight under the trees. Lightning flashed and a cluster of trees whipped and shook, churning against their neighbors because she rubbed her aching body against them. I put a hand to the side of the cave and clawed my fingernails against the stone.
Then there was another, awful shriek. Akhane tore back into the clearing, chin up, her great head whipping side to side, wings high…
She was frenzied.
I almost went to her, tried to reach for her again in the link, but lightning zipped across the clouds and Akhane reared, screaming like her ribs would split. I gasped as I looked up to see the silhouette of a massive dragon plummeting towards us.
11. Undeniable
