15
Dragon:
The black dragon’s chest pressed to Katy’s cheek. His talons cradled her like precious cargo. For the first few minutes, she’d closed her eyes in panic. Once the fear gave way to wonder, she watched the land flow beneath them like a river as the dragon carried her…somewhere. She had no idea where he was taking her, but he wouldn’t hurt her. That was the only thing she was sure of.
If he’d wanted to kill her, she’d given him the perfect opportunity while crawling up his neck to pull at the dragon’s jaw. Like that would have worked. I can’t bench press a hundred pounds on my best day.
“Where are we going?” She spoke aloud, experience over the last few hours proof that the dragon could hear her perfectly, for she had received the same one-word reply to every question she asked during the flight.
Mine.
Katy’s lips twitched. She wasn’t quite ready to outright laugh at the dragon, but she was getting close. “Okay. Mine. Mine. Mine. But where are we going?”
The dragon ignored her. There was literally nothing she could do but wait.
An hour could have passed, or three, she had no idea, enthralled by the most exciting ride of her life. Slowly, Ryker began doing lazy flips and turns for no other reason she could fathom except it made her scream and laugh. Katy suspected more than once that the big black dragon was trying to impress her, as if just being a dragon wouldn’t do the trick.
Ryker slowly spiraled down toward the ground. She peeked out from between his claws and spotted a tiny cottage sitting atop a cliff overlooking a vast expanse of ocean with nothing else around as far as she could see.
“Is this place yours?”
Yes. Ryker owns. Mine.
Okay, so Ryker owned a tiny cottage by the sea. And he was a dragon. A gorgeous black dragon the color of sparkling black diamonds on top and deep obsidian beneath.
“Are all dragons this beautiful?” she asked. “And you’re not allowed to say ‘mine’ again.” The long ride with the dragon had worked its own kind of magic, and her fear of him was entirely gone. Well, mostly gone.
The dragon preened. Dragon beautiful to mate.
Katy laughed out loud this time at his smug reply. Dragons, she was discovering, could be charming when they chose.
Smell other Draquonir magic on mate. Remove smell. Mine.
“What does that mean?”
Katy looked down at herself, looked at the jeans and sweater Erik loaned her along with a pair of very comfortable shoes. Nothing out of the ordinary there. She twisted her upper body so that she could check behind her. Nope. Still nothing.
The dragon didn’t elaborate as he flew lower and lower before landing just outside the cottage door. He opened his claw slowly, and she slid down his finger and talon like it was a child’s slide. The moment her feet touched the ground, Ryker transformed into his human self. “You reek of Erik’s magic.”
“I’m sorry?”
With a grunt that sounded like he was in pain, he took her elbow and gently escorted her toward the cottage. The door opened, and he pulled her inside. Built from peat or sod, the structure gave her the sense that it was hundreds of years old. Maybe older. “What is this place?”
“I was born here.”
“When?”
“We didn’t keep records back then. A long time ago.” He walked toward one corner of the room where a large, claw-foot tub rested next to the wall. There was no curtain and a hand pump for water. Ryker filled the tub.
Katy’s heart thundered. “How long ago? I mean, how old are you, exactly?”
He looked up at her, really looked at her for the first time since she’d discovered who and what he really was. She saw something in his eyes he’d never allowed her to see before. Pain. Fear. Regret.
“I lost track at twelve hundred.”
“Years?”
“Yes. I stopped counting after that.”