Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“No.”
“Then can we have sex all day?”
He turned and gave me his full look, a slight smirk on his lips. “Sure, baby.”
“Can’t wait.” I wiped my hands on the linen cloth before I kissed him on the shoulder. “I’m going back to bed.” When I stepped away, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back. After a tug, I ended up on my ass across his lap. His arms cradled me to him, placing me right against his chest.
My arm hooked around his neck, and I dropped my head to his shoulder, the hardest but most comfortable pillow I’d ever had. The fire crackled in the background, and he rested his chin on my head, his powerful arms keeping me close to him. We stayed like that for a long time, until I fell asleep.
“I don’t want to leave.” The day had passed in the blink of an eye, morning becoming afternoon, and afternoon becoming night. The fireplace was lit once more, filling our bedroom with heat and light. “Can we stay another day?”
He lay beside me with my leg hiked over his hip, his eyes across from mine. “No.”
I gave a sigh of disappointment.
“It’s too important.”
“You do realize we’ll be there for a long time, right?” We wouldn’t just arrive, I’d heal their wings, and then we’d take off back to HeartHolme. There would be hiccups along the way, and then communicating with the dragons…not even sure how to go about that.
“Yes.”
That meant uncomfortable nights in a bedroll, terrain filled with murderous outcasts, insects flying around all the time. “Maybe we should take some men with us.”
“The fewer people who know about this, the better.”
“If we return with the dragons, where will they go?”
“We have a large cavern in the rock.”
“I don’t think dragons are going to want to live underground.”
“That’s the only place we have that’s big enough for them to sleep. They can spend the rest of their time flying around and doing whatever dragons do.”
Burning and eating everything? “I hope I can heal them…”
“I know you can.”
“Reading about it in a book isn’t the same thing as doing it.”
“It might take some time, but you’ll figure it out.” His blue eyes shone with confidence, like he truly believed I was capable of this. It wasn’t smoke up my ass. It wasn’t a manipulation.
I wouldn’t be able to leave that island until I fixed them. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I left them in the same state as when I arrived. I would do everything I could to give them back their wings, whether they helped us or not.
He must have read the unease in his eyes because he said, “You’ve got this, baby.”
“How do you know? How do you know I’ll pull this off?”
“Because I know how much you care.”
Bright and early, we gathered our things and left the house that had become my new home. When I returned to Delacroix, the bed I’d slept in for years didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like the bed I shared with Huntley. It was hard to say goodbye, like I was leaving behind a piece of myself.
When we left through the gate, Elora was there.
It was just after sunrise, and the tired look in her eyes indicated she wasn’t a morning person.
Same here, girl.
Her eyes were reserved for Huntley.
“I thought it was unnatural to see a sunrise?” Huntley had a teasing tone when he spoke to her, the kind of affection I’d never witnessed him share with anyone else, not even his brother.
“Be careful, okay?” She lowered her voice a little bit further. “Watch your back.”
“I’ve always had eyes in the back of my head. But now I’ve got another pair.”
Me.
Elora rose on her tiptoes to embrace him. “I’ll keep my eyes on the skies—and when I see a glorious dragon, I’ll know that you’ve returned.” She gave him a squeeze before she let go.
He gave her a pat on her shoulder before he let go. “Take care of yourself, alright?”
“Always do.”
“And ditch the loser.”
“He’s not a loser.”
“Well, he’s not a winner either.” He stepped away and grabbed his bag from the ground. “Goodbye, Elora.”
She didn’t say it back, and she flicked her gaze to me instead. The affection faded, and her look filled with a powerful stare of spite. “Remember what we talked about?” She grabbed her dagger out of her belt and held it up, as if she was going to start carving my face like a roasted turkey.
Huntley stared her down. “Elora—”
“It’s fine,” I said. “She can make all the threats she wants. They’re empty anyway.”
She gripped the dagger a little harder and went for me. “I’ll show you empty, bitch.”
Huntley stuck out his arm and caught her.
I didn’t flinch. “They’re empty because I would die before I let anything happen to your brother.”