Page 55 of Firebird
He’d saved Ivo, and I’d bet Ruskus as well, with his lame leg—two unwanted, doomed souls. There was also Stefanos, who he had apparently saved from a horrible fate. And Enid, who he didn’t need to rescue from the auction, or pay a healer or even offer a proper funeral rite for. And then there was how he treated me, not with the cruelty I’d expected but with a marked kindness.
But this, breaking his emperor’s laws to see to my comfort, to see that I was unharmed on this journey, spoke volumes, much more than I believe Julian realized. Because it wasn’t only my comfort he saw to. He gave me something more.
I marveled at the moonlight glittering on a lake far below, shimmering like glass and beautiful to behold. We soared higher through the clouds, closer to the heavens, the earth so far away now. The stars above were so bright I was sure I could touch them. The gods felt closer too, their power and beauty as sure as the wind in my hair.
He showed me the unparalleled beauty of the world as the gods saw it, as he saw it.
We traveled across the heavens as equals.
“Oh, Lady Fortuna,” I breathed on a whisper. “What have you done to me?”
XV
JULIAN
When we landed, the first light of dawn lined the mountains in the distance. The encampment was just stirring, so I lowered onto the meadow on the far side of the trees that encircled our camp. I didn’t want to take the chance of anyone seeing that Malina rode on my back and not in my claws.
I was honest when I told her I’d kill anyone who threatened to report me if they discovered it, but I didn’t want to bring any attention to myself now.
Caesar trusted me wholly and completely. I didn’t need to give hisparanoid mind any reason to doubt me. I’d managed to turn the incident with Silvanus to my advantage, proving to my uncle that it was simply my brutal nature to punish the disobedient with death that had caused me to shift into dragon form and kill my own soldier. He understood that. Thankfully, he had accepted my story and not the rumor Ciprian had relayed that I was bewitched by a slave girl.
However, if Caesar heard a second rumor that she was riding on my back—a sign that he believed meant a dragon was being submissive to a human, which can never be done—he wouldn’t believe another excuse so easily. I had to tread carefully.
Malina walked quietly beside me as I led us through the copse of trees toward the waking camp. I noticed how she purposefully avoided looking at me.
Fortunately, the chilly air during the flight had helped me manage to get my body under control. Even so, I couldn’t help but be amused how her gaze would flick to me, then quickly away. She was trying so hard not to look at my naked form.
“You can look at me if you like.”
“What?I don’t want to look at you,” she spluttered quickly.
“You’ve been trying so hard tonotlook at me, you’ve probably got a stiff neck.”
“I do not!” She stopped and turned to face me. “See.I’m looking at you.”
I stopped as well, knowing the sun was coming up behind her, giving her a good view of my body. Stubbornly, she stared only at my face, her jaw clenched tight. At first.
Straightening my shoulders, I held very still. “Look all you want, firebird.”
Then she did. She finally gave in, taking a leisurely stroll down my chest, abdomen, lower. I regretted my boldness, because her slow perusal stirred my cock to life again.
While her cheeks flamed pink, it was my shoulder that caught her interest and held it. The tattoo there in black ink. “SDCR?”
“Senatus Dracones Romanus,” I told her, turning back toward the camp. I wanted to get her inside soon, before the legions began to arrive.
“The senate and dragons of Rome,” she mused, walking at my side. “Do all Romans wear thisunitingmark?”
She couldn’t filter out her disdain, and I didn’t blame her. “All military, actually.”
“I suppose it adds to your superiority.”
“It is a rite of a Roman soldier, a badge of pride, yes.”
“Pride. That’s one way to look at it.”
I nudged her toward the largest tent we were approaching from behind. The door had been constructed to face the interior of the camp.
“Romans weren’t always what we are now.”
