“Not at all. Why?” she responded.
She was answered with a sharp ripping sound as the material tore and cold air hit her bare skin. The shiver passing over her had nothing to do with the cold.
The fabric fluttered to the ground, pooling around her feet in a tattered mess. A small smile lifted the side of Aledwen’s mouth. That was more like it. The dress was back where it belonged. No one would have to look at it ever again. Other than Johanna if she wasn’t back in time to clear it away.
More chill air swirled around her bare skin as she realised he’d ripped through her slip too. Feeling a surprising amount of confidence for the situation, she let that too fall to the floor, and stepped away, turning to face the dragon.
“What should I wear then?” Her voice came out lower than she expected it to. Kind of sultry. And nothing like she’d ever sounded before. Just one of the strange effects the man seemed to be having on her.
“Do you have anything more...form fitting?” He cleared his throat as his eyes trailed up and down her body taking her all in. That put her at the advantage. Why she was so determined to be that, she wasn’t all that sure, but the determination was building by the second, and she’d long since learned to listen to her instincts when those things came to pass.
“I think I have something, yes.” She smiled to herself as she turned away, but didn’t sway her hips as she walked. She was almost certain the game they were playing wasn’t one of seduction, and she didn’t want to make it one. That would come later. No. As far as Aledwen could tell, this was more a game of control. Not in a negative way though. It felt like more of a game to her than anything. One she could have fun with.
Then they could turn it into a game of seduction. And she’d have great fun doing just that.
Her dressing room was annoyingly far away from the balcony. Apparently the architects hadn’t considered someone might end up outside and naked. Though she was surprised they’d built a balcony strong enough to support the weight of a dragon shifting. It must have been enchanted at some point, that was the only way she could see it working.
His eyes burned into her back, and she moved extremely carefully as a result, conscious he was constantly watching and appraising her.
She bent over, rummaging around in the back of the dressing room for the package she’d hidden there nearly a year ago. Pulling it out, she shook out the forest green fabric and smiled. This dress would be perfect. It was yet another purchase from her human shop, and one of her favourites. Though until now, she hadn’t been brave enough to even put it on, not wanting to know what would happen if she was caught in it. Her mother might even have disowned her if she’d discovered it. There was a chance she might not succeed, had she tried. It was virtually impossible to disown a princess unless there was a spare one too.
Luckily, make-up was a human thing, and she had no need of it. Which would save time at least. Though she did think to tie her hair back in a bun. The only way she could think of to sneak out of the palace was going to be on the back of a dragon. Conducive to having her hair whipped around her face, but not so much for anything else. Zipping up the dress was all she needed to feel ready, and once she’d turned around, she nodded to Drey. He smiled and shifted back into his dragon form.
Aledwen approached slowly, not because she was worried about what he’d do to her. More because she was so in awe of the amazing creature in front of her. Logically, she knew it was just Drey, the man she’d danced with just over an hour ago, and the one who made her feel the weird pull towards him. But equally, he was magnificent.
This close up, it became clear that his scales were midnight blue, and they shimmered in the dim light. Slowly, she reached her hand forward and brushed them against the surface. The scales felt like polished glass to touch, smooth and unblemished, with an undeniable warmth beneath them. He wasn’t like anything she’d ever touched before, and she imagined she’d never touch anything like him again.
“Wow,” she muttered without realising, getting a soft nudge from the dragon’s head in response. “Is this okay?” she asked, conscious he may not be used to people touching him, nor wanting them to if they did.
Again, the dragon nodded its head.
“I guess I need to sit on you then?” A blush rose to her cheeks as she realised she’d need to be straddled on top of him for this to work. Exhilaration soon made the uneasiness disperse. She was going to ride on a real life dragon. Not many people would be able to claim that. Not very many ever would. It didn’t seem likely that dragons would let a lot of people ride on them.
As carefully as she could, for fear of hurting him, she hoisted herself onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging on as tightly as she could. Heights didn’t scare her, but the fall from a dragon would certainly land her on the dead side of hurt.
Once she was settled, she felt his wings begin to beat beneath her, the rhythmic movements surprisingly soothing. He lifted into the air, hovering for a few seconds so she could get used to the sensation of the air rushing against her skin.
Then, without waiting a moment longer, he sped off, heading in the direction she knew led to the human realm.
A joy unlike any she’d ever known flowed through her as they flew. No wonder dragons kept this for themselves. If she could fly like this every evening then she would.
A part of her didn’t even want to get to Earth, and to the party he’d promised. It wouldn’t matter so long as he kept flying her around like this.
Five
“Why can’t we fly again?” she grumbled as the contraption Drey had called a car rocked from side to side.
“It would raise too many questions if any of the humans suddenly saw a dragon, don’t you think?”
“Not the point,” she responded instantly, despite knowing that he was likely right. It would likely raise more than a few questions. She just wanted to fly again. But her own wants probably couldn’t outweigh the needs of the entire paranormal community. Not if she wanted to retain the little respect she’d actually managed to build as heir to the throne. Which wasn’t really much considering she’d only just been introduced to them.
Drey chuckled deeply, making Aledwen pout. She wasn’t used to being laughed at, and she hoped he wasn’t going to make a habit of it.
“Where are we actually going?” she asked, trying to ignore the annoyance of him laughing.
“The Shifter Council is holding a ball to honour something. Though I’m not sure what. I don’t keep up with politics enough.” Something dark crossed over his face, and she figured that it was something like guilt causing it. Maybe she’d have time to get it out of him later.
“The Shifter Council?” She’d studied other paranormals hard. She’d had to in her lessons. But this one had escaped her. She was actually pretty clueless on how any of the paranormals on Earth ran their people. The thought of prodding Drey for more information filled her with excitement. She loved learning. She loved talking with others and finding out how things worked. Making this a perfect opportunity for her. Or maybe that was just the good feeling about the evening over all. It was definitely preferable to being stuck in the damn awful dress.