Dragons Among Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice) (10 page)

Both had fallen with screams of pain to the ground, painting it red with blood. Before she could react, Brom turned his horse in retreat. That was when she saw what, until that moment, she hadn’t truly believed was possible: a man—a walking, talking, human being—disappear behind a swirling cloud of dust…to reemerge as an honest-to-God giant, fire-breathing dragon.

The beast was both terrifying and magnificent to behold, his golden scales gleaming bright as the surface of the sun in the fading afternoon light. With an earth-shattering roar, it breathed a shower of flames into the arrow-filled sky, reducing the hurtling weapons to dust. Then the dragon took flight and crossed the clearing in a flash, scorching Forath’s gate and the men positioned to defend it. She could still hear their screams of pain, still picture several of them as they fell, burning alive, from their posts.

The winged beast took no pity upon the survivors as it rained fire down upon the wall once more before circling back toward Zayne’s small band of warriors. Without warning, Brom lifted her off the saddle and raised her into the air as though she weighed no more than a small sack of potatoes. She’d shrieked with fear, as his horse hadn’t slowed, but the fear of falling from his grip was nothing compared to the fear that surged through her as the dragon plucked her from Brom’s grasp with its gleaming talons and dragged her skyward.

Skyward, and in the opposite direction of home.

The wind at her face softened, and the feeling of descent washed over her. She cracked one eye open and immediately wished she hadn’t. The beast was angled toward the ground, but all she could see was a dizzying blur of trees and rocks beneath them. With a gasp, she clamped both eyes shut again and prayed she would survive the landing…and whatever came after.

In another moment, the great beast’s hind feet met the ground and its wings fell silent. Addie could hardly hear her hitched breaths over the pounding of her heart and, coward that she was, kept her eyes closed. The dragon lowered its front legs slowly, and her feet felt solid ground for the first time in what felt like ages. The talons withdrew from her trembling arms and, weak with relief, she dropped to her knees and waited for her heart to slow.

Cool air and the scent of damp earth greeted her. There was no wind, no sound except for her and the shifting of the dragon close by. She shivered from the cold and felt the beast settle onto the ground beside her. A strong leathery wing settled over her, and she bit back a crazed giggle at the vision of some giant momma chicken tucking a scared chick under one wing.

Scared or not, she was no chick, and the beast beside her was definitely no chicken.

The darkness outside her closed lids lightened to orange as the dragon breathed flames onto something nearby, and soon the crackling of wood echoed in the space around them. As the air around them warmed, Addie’s shivers began to subside. It was time to stop hiding behind closed eyes and, afraid or not, face the reality of the situation. With one more deep breath, she opened her eyes.

A massive shoulder of golden scales, glowing in the light of the nearby bonfire, came into view, as did the edge of a leathery wing curled protectively around her shoulder. The great beast’s chest rose and fell as she watched, the dragon’s breathing slow and calm. But nothing about it—no, not
it
, she reminded herself,
him
—had been calm when she’d seen him take wing earlier. Then, he’d been like a messenger from the very depths of Hell.

Though the sight should have scared her to death, once the shock of what she was seeing passed, Addie had felt a surge of immense hope, as though he were her personal savior, rising up to save her yet again. And though instinct told her to be wary, that she was trapped by a monster with no hope of escape, she slid out from beneath its wing and reached a trembling hand to the dragon’s side.

The muscles beneath its golden scales tensed and shifted, and Addie recoiled as a neck the length of a full giraffe rose and snaked toward her. Two glowing golden eyes came into view a good six feet above her, each the size of a bowling ball, set several feet back from the toothy end of a long, narrow snout. The creature was beautiful and almost equine in shape, so very different from the reptilian depictions she’d seen in storybooks as a child. But this was no giant lizard, nor some paper pop-up character from a children’s book.

This. Was. Real.

The dragon regarded her in silence, and for the first time, Addie wondered how much of the man existed inside him when he was in this form. Could he hear her? Understand her? Sense her fear?

“Zayne?” she whispered.

A rumbling sounded in the dragon’s throat like that of a giant purring cat, and its eyes slid shut as its snout slowly lowered to eye level. Addie released the breath she’d been holding and laid a tentative hand on the tip of its nose. The rumbling grew in volume, and Addie released a shaky laugh.

“It is you, isn’t it?”

The dragon’s head lowered farther and gave her skirt a gentle nudge.

“But it can’t be.
You
can’t be. There are no such things as dragons.”

The creature opened narrowed eyes and gave her a small snort.

With a weary chuckle, she ran a hand over her mess of a hairdo, then leaned against the beast’s shoulder for support. “That’s it. I’ve officially lost my mind.”

The dragon’s face drew back, and the two stared at one another for a long moment. Here, though the size of several large elephants all rolled into one, he seemed gentle, trustworthy. But back in the clearing before Forath’s great wall, he’d looked more like a giant phoenix who’d taken flight to save them all.

All, she suddenly remembered with a small gasp, except one.

“He’s dead, isn’t he? Korey?”

The dragon’s head dipped in acknowledgment, and a new realization entered her thoughts.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “He’s dead because of
me
.”

Overwhelmed by sorrow for a man whose life had been so cruelly cut short, Addie slumped to her knees. Had Korey left behind a wife? Children? The warrior had done nothing to provoke the attack. He’d simply followed the orders given to him by Prince Zayne. Now he was dead because of her and her insistence that she get back home.

Dead.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I never meant for anyone to get hurt.”

Zayne’s wing curled around her, drawing her closer.

“No,” she said as another sob rattled through her chest. “I don’t deserve to be comforted. I should be cast out, away from you and the rest of your subjects.”

The dragon snorted but did not yield. Addie pushed harder against her leathery cage. “I’m serious, Zayne. I’m nothing but bad luck. All around me people are getting hurt, or killed. Hell, you probably just started a freaking war back there because of me.
Because of
me!
So let me go, let me get as far away from you as possible, before—”

You die too.
She swallowed back the words, unwilling to voice them aloud. With a cry she shoved harder against Zayne’s wing, trying her best to escape from his grasp. She wouldn’t be the cause of his death.

A small whirlwind engulfed them for the briefest of moments, and suddenly it wasn’t a giant wing holding her in place but the iron grip of a familiar pair of human hands. Zayne stood before her, bare-shouldered and eyes blazing. “Enough.”

“Please, let me go,” she whispered. “I can’t bear the thought of anyone else getting hurt, not for me. I-I’ll find the way back on my own, and if I don’t make it, well, at least no one else would have to suffer.”

“Do you truly believe no one would suffer if you were gone?” His grip tightened around her arms. “What I did for you today, did it mean nothing? Nothing to you at all?”

Addie cringed, frightened by his anger and so very confused. “I…you…you changed so you could save us. Save your men. Isn’t that what you’re sworn to do?”

“No,” he said, bringing his face to within inches of hers. “I changed to save
you
.”

“But…why?”

He pulled her tight against his chest. “I had no choice.”

She clung to him as though he were the one thing keeping her afloat in this sea of confusion and misery. Heat radiated from his body and began to soothe her frayed nerves…until she realized her proverbial lifesaver wasn’t simply very warm but also very, very naked.

* * * * *

Zayne buried his face in Addie’s hair and drew in a deep breath. Though in disarray after their hurried escape by wing, her golden locks still smelled of wildflowers and sunshine. He sensed the fair maiden was on the verge of falling to pieces after all she’d witnessed, but he refused to let her go—he hadn’t saved her again only to watch her slip away. As they stood together in his hidden lair, her trembling body pulled tight against him, he began to doubt he ever could.

“Never before,” Zayne whispered as he drew her tighter to stave off his feelings of helplessness, “have I been unable to prevent my transformation. But twice in as many days, I have been overcome by the urge, no, the
need
to change. Both times, it was when I witnessed you in danger.”

Addie squirmed in his arms. “But that’s your job, isn’t it?”

“To protect the kingdom? Yes. Unfortunately, saving you today put the future of Edana in jeopardy. Both times, I knew better than to change, that it would be for the greater good to turn my back and let you die.”

The thought of her lying cold and still on the ground brought physical pain to his chest. He drew in a deep breath and focused on her scent. She wasn’t gone; she was here, safe, with him. Guilt speared him for Korey’s death, but he refused to bend to it. His warrior had died a noble death, the attack wholly unprovoked. When Zayne rejoined the others tomorrow they would celebrate the young warrior’s life and seek to avenge his death.

“It may be hard to understand, Adelaide, but when I take on dragon form, logic no longer guides my decisions.” He shifted his head to meet her gaze. “Heaven help me, the very sight of you pushes logic from my mind.”

“Sounds like something I’d do.” Her voice was bitter. “Cause people to act irrationally.”

“It is said that actions of the heart are often seen as such.”

Zayne studied the beauty in his arms and felt a flare of desire ignite within him. Her cheeks were flushed, though the exact reason was unknown to him, and her chest shifted against his as it rose and fell with each of her breaths. Her silken locks had long since begun to fall from their earlier coif, and a good portion of them had spilled upon her shoulders after their hasty escape. He longed to weave his hands in those soft, golden waves and began extracting pins to free the rest of her beautiful mane. Addie’s body tensed, but she didn’t pull away.

“Maybe you saved me because in your heart, you felt it was the right thing to do,” she said quietly.

He tossed the last of the infernal pins aside and slowly raked his hands through her hair. It felt glorious, like the finest of silks, and fanned the flames of his desire further.

“I saved you because when that first arrow took flight, all I could think was how cruel fate had been to bring you to me, merely to steal you away again.”

Zayne brushed her mane aside, then bent to press his lips against her delicate neck. Addie sucked in a quiet breath.

“It seems the beast with whom I share this life was unwilling to see you go,” he murmured, his lips still pressed to her fair skin. “Not without tasting of you first.”

He plunged a hand into her hair now and gave it a small tug to give his roving mouth better access to her neckline.
Curse this dress
, he thought as he gazed upon her from the new vantage point. It covered far too much of her.

“Please,” she whispered, eyes wide as a startled doe. “Don’t hurt me.”

“Never.”

He claimed her mouth with his own, the kiss gentle but firm. Addie froze beneath his touch. Undeterred by her reaction, Zayne whispered, “Never would I hurt you, sweet Adelaide,” then kissed her with a greater sense of urgency.

To his great relief, Addie didn’t push him away. Instead, she wove her fingers into his hair. Her touch set his very soul on fire like no other woman had. Zayne opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, and she readily complied. Her tongue was cool against his own, yet as theirs began a slow, rhythmic dance, the fire in him grew.

He slid one hand to the small of her back, and a shiver rippled through her. The beast within urged him to continue, to take what had been gifted unto him by the heavens. Instinct soon overpowered Zayne’s willpower. He wanted to taste her, to see her, to join with her. Now.

With his mouth still pressed to hers, he transformed one finger into a talon and carefully dragged it through the back of her dress from shoulder to waist. As the gown fell slack at her chest, the prince gave the gown a downward tug. Addie gasped in surprise as the fabric pooled at her feet and drew her arms in to cover herself.

“No.” Zayne pulled her hands aside. “Let me see you. All of you.”

Worry clouded her face, and Zayne leaned down to kiss it away. The kiss deepened once again, and again she acquiesced. When finally he released her lips from his, the sound of their ragged breathing echoed off the cavern’s walls. He wasted no time in drawing off the rest of her clothes, careful not to tear the others upon her whispered request, and stepped back to drink in the view.