He shook his head decisively. “No. As Dominus, it is vital that I am informed of all developments that affect the clan,” he said. “My family violated clan protocol, and if I don’t punish them, then I open myself up to a sky challenge from contenders who think that I’m growing weak.”
He glanced up at the night sky, lit by the glowing ivory orb of the moon. “Fancy a flight?” he said.
“I wouldn’t turn it down.”
Orion stripped his clothing off, and she turned away, blushing. Why did he have this crazy effect on her?
He reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, and turned her head so she was facing him again.
“You can look,” he said. “I like it when you look at me.”
She swallowed hard, and then as he stepped back, she let her gaze sweep appreciatively over his naked body. She boldly let her gaze wander below his waist, and linger on his thick cock, with its purplish head and a bluish vein running up the shaft.
“I like looking at you,” she said.
He smiled, a lazy, sensual smile, and then the smile vanished as he began shifting. She watched him change, with his beautiful scales the color of rubies covering his massive body, and then slid onto his neck and hugged him tightly.
The ground fell away from them as he beat his mighty wings, and she watched the castle grow smaller and smaller as they rose into the air and headed for the mountains.
Orion landed gently. It astonished Cadence that such an enormous creature could move with such precision and grace. She clambered down from his strong, scaled back, running a hand over the membrane of his wing as she did so. He shuddered and snorted out a wisp of smoke, and she laughed with delight.
When he shifted, she found her eyes drawn to his thick cock, half erect in its nest of dark curls. Her eyes traveled up his body, over his flat belly and muscular chest, and when she reached his face she saw that his mouth was quirked in an amused smile and there was a wicked twinkle in his eyes.
She coughed and looked away. The sound he made might have been a chuckle…or it might have been a snigger. She felt herself blushing. It wasn’t easy to get an ice dragon feeling hot and bothered, but Orion seemed to manage it without even trying.
They settled down on the soft grass, Orion magnificently unselfconscious in his nakedness. Cadence had gone on enough moonlight runs as a wolf that she was no prude about nudity, but it was different with him. His smooth, coppery skin seemed to draw her eyes as if it were magnetic, and her fingers itched to touch.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s see what you can do.”
She looked at him quizzically.
“Try to shift,” he explained. “Let me see that sexy inner dragoness.”
Cadence bit her lip. All the years she’d spent hoping her dragon side never emerged at all and she could just live her life as a plain old wolf, and now there was nothing she wanted more in the world than to be able to grow scales and wings, and fly with Orion.
“I don’t know how,” she whispered, ashamed.
Orion took her hands in his. His skin was fever-hot, his grip firm and reassuring. “Just close your eyes,” he said. “Reach deep down inside yourself and feel your dragon. Don’t fight her – just let her come to the surface.”
Cadence let her eyes flutter closed. She took a deep breath and released it. She could feel her dragon self curled up inside her, an icy presence below her sternum. As she relaxed her limbs, she felt the power stir, raising goose bumps on her arms. Her breath came out in a frigid cloud, ice crystals gathering on her eyelashes. She felt the energy swell and burst, washing over her, and she opened her eyes…
“Crap.” She pulled her hand out of Orion’s and folded her arms, feeling petulant. “I’m still human.”
“Not quite.” He ran his finger over her forearm, where frosty white scales sparkled in the sunlight, rimmed with iridescent teal and blue. He smiled. “They’re so pretty.”
“Not as pretty as you,” she said.
He cocked an eyebrow, and she wanted to bite her tongue. “I mean – your dragon,” she stuttered. “I want to be a big, beautiful dragon like you. I want to fly.”
He smiled, looking delighted. “You think my dragon is beautiful?”
She shook her head slowly, almost lost for words. “Gorgeous. Magnificent. Incredible. In your dragon form, you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Cadence.” His hand stilled on her arm and he leaned forward so their lips were only inches apart. “Whether you ever fully shift or not, whatever form you’re in…you’ll always be beautiful to me.”
And he kissed her.