Rachel may have thought about seeing a dragon, but she never thought about flying on them. She suddenly felt that it would be belittling to them were she to climb on top of one like a horse. I promise you’ll be fine. I would never let anything hurt you. Especially me.
“It’s just, I … I don’t know … I never …”
Never thought you would ride a dragon? Now’s the perfect time to start. As long as I’m your first and last. He winked his golden eyes at her.
“Okay, don’t get mad at me if I grab onto something I shouldn’t or hurt you.”
A full belly laugh echoed from the dragon.
Hurt me? I don’t think that’s likely, but I promise I won’t get angry. Now, just climb on and hold on around my neck. You’ll feel more stable until your legs stop shaking, and you can just grip me with your thighs.
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you,” she muttered as she took a deep breath and threw a leg over the beast.
Sitting on top of him made her feel powerful and giddy with excitement. She was still freaking out a bit, but she focused on the excited part and braced herself as he had told her.
Hang on!
He opened his wings, and in one beat, they were off of the roof.
His wingspan was much larger than his body, and the air vibrated around Rachel as they took off higher and higher.
She forced herself to look out and didn’t regret it.
Her fear was replaced with amazement, which seemed to be a reoccurrence when she was around Marcus.
He flew high above the trees and then extended his wings to soar.
It was nothing like she had ever experienced. The roof had been impressive enough for a view, but this was insurmountable.
She had never felt freer than she did sitting atop a dragon. Her dragon. As she rocketed across the sky, they skimmed tree tops and lowered themselves enough to catch their reflections in a body of water.
It was indescribable.
In just a matter of days, Marcus had allowed Rachel to feel more capable and freer than she had ever felt in her entire life. She had always questioned her choices, but for once, she was certain there was nowhere else she was supposed to be.
The flight had gone by too fast, as all things seemed to when her time was spent with the shifters.
Marcus circled his rooftop before landing. His wings created a thunderous sound as they beat against the roof in slow motion to lower them. She realized why they called their unified group a thunder of dragons.
Rachel’s leg felt stiff as she tried to swing it over while dismounting. She was still breathless from the flight, adrenaline running high.
By the time she was off and turned around, Marcus had shifted back into his human form. Naked.
Rachel felt herself blush as she quickly averted her eyes from Marcus’s nude god-like physique. She heard him chuckle as he walked away.
Looking slightly up, she saw him head to a wooden bin stashed in the corner of the roof.
“Don’t be so modest,” he teased as he threw on a long, dark robe of sorts.
“I just didn’t want to be rude,” she protested.
He strolled toward her and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him as he often did.
“You’ve seen me like this before. And you’ll have to get used to it. Not just from me but from everybody. No shifter is clothed when they change back.”
Rachel had never thought about it before, but it made sense.
He laughed at seeing her face as he took a seat on the edge of the roof.