Stone Guardian(51)

The first night? “Impossible to forget.”

“True.” Her smile held for long moments, not a product of nervousness but of fondness. While he thought on it with a certain amount of pleasure as well, he never dared hope she shared the sentiment. “That was the first time I ever flew.”

“Not even in one of the human machines?” He could see no pleasure in flying if it was in one of those contraptions. Where was the pleasure without the wind on a face or the force of wings slicing through air? No, it would only be good as a means of transportation.

She shook her head. “No. My only family lives here, and dad said there was no reason to go elsewhere.”

He had never thought to ask her, afterwards. Understandable. While at the end of that first night a cautious truce had been declared, she was a far way from trusting him and he wished to make no mistakes that would change that. “Did you enjoy it?”

“That’s the thing. There was so much going on, and I couldn’t see beyond my own fear and then later my exhaustion. But I think I might under other circumstances.” She reached out to touch his wing but caught herself, bringing her arm back with a little jerk. “Would it be possible for us to go flying another time?”

To have her in his arms. To cuddle her generous body against his and have her arms wrapped around his neck, her warm breath rhythmic against his neck. “I would enjoy that very much.”

“You would?” She let out a small, audible breath, and it was only now when she let it go he saw the nervousness interwoven throughout this entire conversation. “So would I.”

So appealing… “Why not now?”

“Really?” She looked around, though what she thought she would see he did not know. “Are you sure it would be okay?”

He held out his hand. “Come, little human. Let me show you your city from above.”

She stared at it for long moments, and as she looked, he began to see the appendage as it may look from her point of view. Did the sharp claws frighten her? Did the grey skin bring her distress?

She laid her small, soft hand in his and her gaze showed no distress when it met his, only excitement at this new adventure.

He came to stand in front of her, taking in those miraculous blue eyes. He bent to accommodate her smaller frame. “Wrap your arms around my neck,” and the words were a rumble, coming out from part of him he dare not explore.

She was hesitant, her fingers first resting on his collarbone before moving over the planes of his shoulders to twine around the curve of his neck.

His arms snaked around her, one over the long curve of her torso to rest at the small of her back, the other curling under her lush thighs.

With a sharp exhale that had nothing to do with physical exertion, he brought her fully against him.

The movement brought their faces within a beat of space. Larissa’s gaze darted to his mouth.

Terak flung himself from the building. Larissa’s sharp inhale as they plummeted and then her small, relieved gasp of breath as the wind caught under his wings ringing in his ears.

He went as low as he dared over the city, but after a few moments of this she shook her head. “I have no desire to see the city, so don’t tempt fate over being caught. I want to fly.”

As though to emphasize her words she nestled her head into the valley between his neck and shoulder, a placement that would give her limited visibility but allowed him the full experience of her body against his.

He took her outside of the city. He flew high, the chill in the air biting into even his skin. He went low, where there was the chance of feeling the scrape of foliage.

She egged him on with her sounds and her sighs. She laughed and she screeched, and during one sedate patch she stretched her neck out and tilted her head, her hair a banner behind them.

“I can see why you love this. I do too.”

The pleasure from those words was out of proportion to their importance.

She leaned up, her eyes on the sky. “Gods, look at that sky. It’s amazing. You can’t see a sky like that in the city.”

“Why have you never travelled outside?”

She was quiet, her exhale forceful. Finally, she said, “Dad never had much use for the New Realms, but I could never blame him for that. My mom died in the Great Collision.”

“I am sorry.”

“I…” she exhaled, and from her weighted pause he knew this was the part that was hardest for her to share. “She died giving birth to me. There were complications during the birth, and in the chaos after the collision the hospital was overwhelmed. Probably any other day she would have survived, but I chose to make my appearance in the world right then.”