Page 71 of Clash of Storms
She turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. They'd been doomed from the start. Why then, had he insisted on pushing her like this? Giving her hope? Making her yearn for him when he knew all she could ever have of him was his body?
Fingertips brushed against her spine, trailing down the seam of her gown. His warm body curled around her, breath spilling over the back of her neck. Malin closed her eyes. Far, far too tempting.
"I cannot help you capture the princess," she said in a quiet voice. There was a crack in her chest that seemed like it would never go away. "I want her to be happy."
"And I dare not give her up."
"Then it seems we are at an impasse," she said. "I cannot give myself to a male who is bound to another."
The fire crackled in the long, heated silence. The faint brush of his fingers vanished. She'd never felt the loss of another's touch more.
"I know," he whispered.
16
"Are you going to explain what you're planning?" Malin called as she followed Sirius up a mountainside the next day. It had been awkward when she'd first woke, when she'd wondered if he would mention the moment she'd offered herself to him, but it seemed like a dream now.
He'd said nothing.
Merely brought her a thin bowl of gruel as she stretched within the bedroll—where she'd spent the night alone—and offered her the quick flash of a smile as if to say none of it had meant a damned thing.
"Don't fret, little drekling," he'd said, his voice as soft as raw silk. "They were merely books."
But they weren't merely books at all.
She felt that loss more than any other, but damned if she was going to let him know it.
He'd finally given the horses to a farmer, with coin and instructions to hold them for him, and led her here to the top of the cliff.
She had a bad feeling about his intentions.
"Sirius?"
"So you can thwart me again?" Sirius threw a devastating smile over his shoulder. "No, sweet Malin. I think not."
"What are you doing?" Malin demanded as he strode to the edge of a sharp jutting cliff.
"I'm changing form. I'm done with this slow meander and this body." Sirius paused, his black cloak fluttering around his heels. "We'll hunt her from the air. We know where she went, but we can't follow her. Not in mortal form."
* * *
Sirius exploded into the skies,with Malin upon his back.
Her scream choked off as Sirius whipped her into the air. She was gripping him so tightly it was a surprise her nails didn't draw blood. She'd always been afraid of heights, even as the winds whispered to her, and her fear had only heightened after Florian hauled her into the skies.
But they weren't falling.
And she was finally flying.
Malin's breath caught on a tremulous hitch as tears blurred the world around her.Flying. You're flying!
All her life she'd dreamed of this.
She often climbed to the top of Hekla to watch thedrekicircling, despite the bitter churning knot deep within her when she saw them. They were so beautiful she'd barely been able to tear her gaze from them, though her imaginings of what it would be like to actually soar high above the world paled in comparison to the reality.
Her very soul yearned for this.
No matter what happened to her, she would never forget this moment.
