Page 54 of Firebird
Still, no shame bloomed in my chest. Quite the opposite. He’d given me the power to decide when I allowed him to touch my body. For a Roman, that was almost unheard-of. They took what they wanted whenever they wanted it.
He glanced toward the sky and stepped back, breaking the spell. “We need to go.”
“I’ve never heard of someone riding on a dragon’s back.”
“That’s because it’s illegal now. One of the many laws enacted by my uncle’s senate since he took the throne. It was rare even before that.”
“But you’re willing to break his law?”
He looked back down at me, his chiseled face kissed by shadows and moonlight, two slivers of gold holding me captive. He appeared to be calculating his response before he answered rather smoothly, “For you. Yes, I’ll break his laws.”
The tether tightened yet again, the shabby wall I’d erected between us crumbling that much more.
“I’ve ensured our tent is set up and ready.”
“Wait, you flew there and back this night?”
“I’m a fast flier,” he assured me with confidence and a touch of arrogance, which I found made him even more attractive. Damn him. “Most of the legions will be arriving later today. If we arrive by night, no one will notice.”
“And if someone did,” I countered. “If someone saw and threatened to report you to your emperor.”
He angled his head, a hardness returning to his features. “Then I suppose they’ll die, won’t they?”
I gulped hard, knowing he meant it. Whether it was in defense of my safety or his own that he’d do such a thing, I wasn’t sure. But it was another reminder that Julian wasn’t like other Romans. He had an agenda not in line with his uncle, with Caesar.
“Stand next to the banister,” he ordered, snapping me from my thoughts.
I instantly obeyed, already sensing the spark of magic in the air. He was readying to transform. The first time I’d seen him shift, it was a blinding distortion of limbs, his beast leaping from the man’s body with sudden, powerful violence. The second, he only mutated into half-skin, but again it was a swift and surprising transformation.
This time was different. He walked a few steps away and untied the cloth at his waist. I held my breath, chastising myself while I ogled the strong contours of his back, his round, muscular backside, his thick legs.
He bowed his head between his shoulders, the sound of breaking bones making my heart trip faster. He morphed into half-skin first, his spiked tail lashing as red, black-tipped wings sprouted from his back. Horns curled out of his skull, spikes down his spine, but he kept me at his back.
Then he chuffed a chestful of air and the dragon was set free. Within seconds, his body elongated and fell to all fours, his giant, red-scaled body towering above me, eating up the space on the wide terrace. Hecurled his long neck toward me, those familiar yellow eyes watching with interest. He seemed to be asking a question.
“No,” I snapped haughtily, “I’m not scared.”
I was, of course, but I wouldn’t admit it. The dragon rumbled a sort of purring sound as he lowered himself until his belly rested on the stone, then stared expectantly.
“All right, then,” I told myself, stepping cautiously forward as I looped my bag over my head and across my back.
Julian’s dragon extended a claw, obviously for me to climb up toward his back. I thought his scales would be rough and hard, but they were rather smooth and soft. I had trouble near the shoulder but Julian shifted just enough for me to climb onto his spine.
There was a trail of small spikes along the top of his neck, with coarse hair jutting along the back of his head down from his horns, but the spikes stopped at the perfect juncture where I decided I should ride astride. Once settled, I took the loose ends of my belt and tied them in a double knot around one of the spikes, where I also held on.
Julian made that rumbly purr again, curling his neck around to look at me.
“I’m ready,” I assured him.
He stepped gently over the terrace, which hung over a steep drop that dipped down a hill toward the city, then he leaped off. I squealed, but he beat his wings and lifted higher at a gentle slope toward the sky.
After a breath-stealing moment, he leveled off and soared north. Finding my courage, while still holding the horny spike tightly, I leaned forward enough to see between his shoulder and wing.
Rome fell away, dots of torchlight slowly fading as we passed over the wilderness beyond. A forest of trees blurred together, a silver river winding through it. By the gods, the world was beautiful from up here. Like an ethereal mirage that couldn’t touch me or hurt me. It was a strange and wonderful gift to glide through the night sky upon a dragon.
I laughed, unable to control the unfettered joy I felt flying abovethe world. Not as a captive. Here, sitting atop Julian’s dragon, I felt free. The tether between us didn’t unravel when he shifted into the beast. Rather, it wound tighter, not a constricting kind of bond, but a firm, unbreakable one.
That was the moment I knew the gods meant for me to be bound to Julianus Dakkia. And no matter the evidence to the contrary, that he was the Coldhearted Conqueror, I knew otherwise. I’d witnessed his true nature in countless ways.
