She glanced over her shoulder at Beau. “I’ll be fine.” What the hell had she gotten herself into? Did she really want to know that the two men she was deeply attracted to were also scaly winged aliens from another world? Part of her was curious to see it all and another wanted to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming.
“Stay put, Beau,” Jace called. “I don’t want Devon to be alarmed.”
What if the shift was repulsive to watch? Would it make her feel differently about them? If the transition to dragon form was too raw or animal-like, would she ever be able to enjoy them again as men? She began to worry. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
“Shhh, it’s okay.” Beau was by her side and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder. “Jace wants to do this. Maybe someday, I’ll be strong enough to take you flying. I’m going to work on it. I’d feel so honored to soar with you on my back.”
She gulped.
“Ready?” Jace asked.
Was she ready? How the hell would she know if she was ready? She was about to find out. “I have no clue, but go ahead.”
Jace moved from a kneeling position and almost curled his body into a ball. The brittle sound of bones crunching and snapping filled the air, and she cringed.
Beau held her tighter.
“What the hell? The sound is god-awful.” Her hands shook as she fixed her gaze on Jace.
“I know it sounds terrible, but he’s fine. His frame has to expand to become Marduko.”
It sounded so painful she wanted to look away. “He doesn’t sound fine. It sounds horrendous.”
“We do this all the time. I promise it isn’t too painful.”
Devon had a hard time believing him. She could barely focus on what was happening in front of her eyes without wincing. Bones momentarily rippled and protruded beneath Jace’s back. He grimaced as his handsome face morphed into the vicious-looking beaked snout of a prehistoric predator. His skin changed from smooth copper to a scaly bronze. His beautiful eyes grew deeper set and appeared fierce and raptor-like. Jace opened his snout and a thin, slithery tongue snaked out. Spikes on his back unfurled into massive wings. When he stood to his towering height, she gasped and stepped back, slamming into Beau.
“He won’t hurt you, Devon.”
She was stunned. Was that uncanny creature flapping its wings in front of her really Jace, the man she’d just made love to without a condom? “How is this even possible?” Her voice cracked.
Beau held her tighter, offering her a sense of security. Her stare remained locked on Jace as he lifted one talon-clad foot from the ground and rolled his ankle. She hadn’t noticed at first, but he now sported a long, spiked tail that looked arrow sharp. Like something out of a fairy tale, Jace had transformed from a human to a dragon before her eyes. “Wow, what can I say?”
Beau’s grip eased and he gave Devon a gentle push. “Touch him.” He urged her forward. “Stroke his snout and wings. Get used to how a dragon feels.”
Devon took a few shaky steps toward Jace. His broad chest pumped like a giant bellows and his breath blew warm and moist against her face as she approached. Jace bowed down and laid his chin on the ground where she could reach him with ease. He blinked his large brown eyes and waited.
She knelt beside Jace and ran her fingertips across the edge of a wing. It felt tough and leathery but was also beautiful in its own way. Jace’s dragon skin shimmered with a faint iridescence and looked as if he were made of rich-hued, hammered metals. His bronzy skin had an ornate pattern embellished with iron-like studs that resembled a fine-wrought medieval shield. She stroked his snout. “You’re quite a handsome creature.”
A low purr rose from deep in Jace’s throat.
Beau stepped beside Devon. “Jace is from the royal line of Marduko dragons. In dragon form, he’s a lot larger and stronger than me. His ancestors were once great warriors who could not be defeated. On Draca the Jacesar bloodline had no peers.”
Awed, Devon felt as if she should bow her head in reverence. This formidable being was kneeling with humility at her feet and allowing her to pass judgment on him, and he was mighty. It didn’t have to be that way. He could easily overpower her and force his will on her, but she knew he wouldn’t. Gazing into his keen eyes, she saw without a doubt that a Marduko dragon was noble. She slid a leg over his back and mounted him. “I can’t wait to ride you.”
Jace moved beneath her with a pleased hum rattling low in his throat.
“You’ll need to suit up first to protect your skin.” Beau reached into a backpack and retrieved a set of denim clothing in Devon’s size. “Marduko hide is slightly abrasive. It’s designed to protect us, but it could be hard on you.” He leaned down and retrieved a rope harness from the backpack. “We made this saddle so it would be easier for you to hang on to Jace.”
She glanced at the knotted, handmade harness. This bit of maritime rope was the only thing separating her from disaster. “How do you know it will work?”
“We tested it.”
“Where? How?”
“In Jace’s apartment—er, I mean our apartment.”
“Jace shifted to dragon form in the Oakland apartment? No way.”
“He did. It was cramped as hell. The old Lithuanian woman next door heard Jace’s bones snapping and kept banging on our wall and pleading with us to stop breaking dishes!” Beau laughed.
Devon laughed as she slid off Jace’s back. Beau seemed to have a talent for calming her most jagged nerves and even bringing a touch of humor to a tense situation. “I wish I could have seen that.”
Beau threw the largest loop of the harness around Jace’s neck and worked it downward. “The harness is lightweight but strong. It has to be. You’re still going to have to work pretty hard to hang on, but this will keep you from slipping off and falling.”
Her stomach clenched. “Don’t say falling.”
“It won’t happen.” Beau looped one side of the harness under Jace’s wing. “I’ll be right beside you watching everything, so you’ll be okay.” He finished tying the harness beneath Jace’s rib cage.
Devon looked at Beau with expectation. “When are you going to shift?”
“As soon as you get dressed, I’ll shift on the ledge. It’s going to be crowded enough trying to squeeze out the front entrance of the cave with Jace in dragon form. Besides, I was taught it was good manners to do your shifting outdoors.”
That was sweet. Like not opening a wet umbrella inside the house. Devon stepped into the jeans and pulled them up her legs. “These are a little baggy but not too bad.” She slipped her arms through the sleeves of the jacket and rolled up the cuffs.
“I have some leather gloves for you.” Beau rummaged through the backpack and tossed Devon a pair of supple gloves.
Gloves and frumpy jeans, was this truly all that was required for an outing this fantastic? “What about shoes?” she asked cautiously.
Beau shook his head. “You won’t need them. We’re not walking and it will be easier for you to hold on and more comfortable for Jace if you grip him with bare feet.”
“Then barefoot it is.” She walked toward the pile of bedding and searched through a few of her things. “All I need is my camera. When is sunrise?”
Beau glanced at a chunky wristwatch strapped to the side of the backpack. “Sunrise is in forty-seven minutes. That ought to give us more than enough time to take a short flight down the mountain and see a few of the animals on the plain before we have to get back.”
Devon swallowed hard, nervous as hell about the whole adventure but excited too. “You and Jace are going to be linked in dragon form, right?”
“Always. For safety’s sake we have to know what the other is experiencing or seeing.”
“What about me?” She dared to turn the camera toward Jace and clicked a few candid shots. “What if something goes wrong or you need to communicate something important? You’ll have a snout, and you won’t be able to speak.”
Beau’s gaze drifted toward Jace. “Can I d
o it?”
Jace lifted his head and looked back at Beau. A slightly sad expression flickered in his eyes.
Moving closer to Devon, Beau reached for the back of her neck and drew her toward him. “Jace gave me permission to offer you a temporary link. It won’t last, and it’s not ideal. It would be better to build a true link over time, but we don’t have that option.”
Again, an iffy unknown. “What will happen?”
“For the next few days, you’ll be mentally linked to me, and we’ll be able to communicate in basic terms while we’re flying. For instance if your foot slips, I’ll know it. If you want to do something, I’ll see a mental picture of it.”
She felt cheered by the idea. “Well, that sounds good. What’s wrong with that?”
“Jace will not be included in our link. The temporary link will be just you and me.”
“Oh.”
“A true link works three ways, and a true link has to be carefully forged and never during the presence of a temporary link. It’s one of those flukes of nature. The temporary link is a holdover from the old days when the Marduko kidnapped women and needed a way to communicate with them and establish a relationship.”
She glanced at Jace’s now-passive posture. His gaze flickered. “You don’t look very pleased about this. I don’t have to do it. I can just hang on.”
Beau looked at Jace. “Jace says it’s irresponsible to place you at risk and deny you a means to communicate. He said make the link.” With an abrupt move, he pulled Devon close and bit down on her throat until she squealed before swiftly releasing her.
Devon leaped away from Beau, gripping the side of her throat with her palm. “That hurt! Goddamn, I’ve never been bitten so often in my life. Why didn’t you warn me?”
Beau shrugged. “Even with a warning it still would have stung.”
She balked. That was not how the bites in bed had felt. Those were yummy.
Beau crossed his arms over his chest. “What am I thinking?”
The way it was phrased sounded like a challenge. She willed herself to calm down long enough to concentrate and saw a vivid image in her mind of a small herd of elephants sheltering beneath a grove of flat-topped acacia trees. “I know this sounds like a lead-in to a bad joke, but you’re thinking of elephants.”
“Yep.” Beau delivered a clipped answer. “We’re linked. Can you feel it?”
Drawing a deep breath, she realized she could. Suddenly, she was able to look into Beau’s thoughts and experience them for herself. She saw Beau wanted another packet of oatmeal and had felt rushed during breakfast. He was worried about Jace, and he was calculating how to stay beyond view of a hiking party on the northeast side of the mountain. He was juggling a thousand other small details. Facing them was exhausting, so she mentally pulled back. “Wow, you have a lot on your mind.”
He blinked rapidly. “I always do.”
A warm tingle of excitement spread across her skin, and she didn’t have to guess what would happen next. “So how are dragon bites and dragon tree leaf tea different? They feel a lot alike.”
“I’d like to believe a dragon bite is more potent, but chemically I’d bet they’re almost identical. They’re both aphrodisiacs and support telepathic communication. Both have been part of the Marduko bag of tricks for a long time.”
The sensations changed, making her warm and giddy. “I don’t really mind. They feel great.”
“I thought you might say that. Come on.” Beau motioned to her and Jace. “Let’s fly.”
Devon followed Jace onto the cave’s ledge. It was a tight squeeze fitting through the cave’s front entrance, and she was grateful to be behind him and not beside him as he clumsily hopped onto the narrow ledge. She drew the cool morning air into her lungs. It was still dark, but at this height she could see the sky was lightening almost imperceptibly on the far horizon.
Jace hunkered down and allowed Devon to climb onto his back.
She hooked her feet through the loops of the harness and wrapped the harness reins around her gloved hands, her heart pounding. She glanced down and saw the camera was securely tethered to her wrist with a strap. “I’m ready.” Looking at Beau, she silently sent the thought, “Don’t just stand there naked—shift!”
Beau dropped to all fours and began to writhe and contort his body in a sickening burst of bone-crushing noise. Within moments he transformed into a sleeker, more compact version of Jace, with tapering, steel-blue wings. In dragon form he appeared as streamlined and dangerous as a polished sword. She stared in awe.
Gripping the ledge with his talons, Beau silently asked, “What do you think?”
“You’re gorgeous, Beau,” she said aloud.
Beau purred with what sounded like pride as he pushed away from the cliff. He plummeted down the steep face of the mountain with a loud swoosh. After what felt like a prolonged and suspenseful fall, he tipped his snout skyward and allowed his wings to snap open and lift him in a graceful, wide arc. He flapped hard and rose, returning to the ledge to confront Jace.
Devon wondered why they weren’t flying also. She was scared that if it didn’t start soon, she’d chicken out. Just to be safe, she wound the reins around her wrists yet another time.
Beau silently shared a thought with Devon. “Jace is afraid for you.”
“I’m fine.” She patted Jace’s prominent shoulder. “I want to do this.”
Beau flapped hard to remain in place. “Are you sure?”
What more could she say? “Yes!”
Jace hopped forward, leaped off the ledge, and dropped.
She screamed as Jace pointed his snout downward and put them in a high-speed dive. They fell fast as a brick and a stinging rush of wind whipped her hair around her face. “Holy crap!” The horrible sensation of having her stomach jump to her throat left her dizzy. She leaned flush to Jace’s body and clutched the reins so tightly she thought her fingernails were going to shred the gloves.
Jace’s wings spread wide with a distinct snap and caught an updraft as they glided in a swift banking circle.
She leaned into the turn, too terrified to glance down at the stark, rocky terrain below, so she looked out. There wasn’t much to see that time of day. In the dim light of predawn, the grassy plain beyond could have been a dark ocean. The rich colors and textures of the veld were lost in shadow. As they skimmed across the primordial-looking landscape, all that was visible was the blur of jagged rocks and spiky senecio trees clinging to the barren slope of Kilimanjaro.
Beau flapped beside them. His arrow-lean body seemed to cut through the air with efficiency. “Are you all right?” he asked.
The moment was dreamlike. She was riding a fucking dragon across the highest point on the African continent, and it was wonderful! She wanted to open her mouth and howl with joy. Her eyes streamed tears both from the constant blasts of wind and the emotion of this amazing experience. “This ain’t no pony ride!” she silently answered Beau.
Beau glided closer. “Are you ready to do some fancy flying?”
She hunkered against Jace’s broad back and gripped tighter. “No.”
“That’s too bad because we are.” Beau laughed. “Let Jace show off. He really wants to.”
Jace tipped into a nosedive, picking up speed, and zipped through the air like a missile.
With her eyes closed, she bit her lip to keep from screaming her tonsils out.
Tilting his wings, Jace banked so steeply she was convinced she was going to get bucked off, but the sheer force of the turn pinned her to his back firm as glue. All she had to do was lean in and not fight it. He banked in the opposite direction, and this time the turn was exhilarating. “Whoa!” she shouted aloud.
They glided down the mountain in a series of sweeping circles and quick dives. The pressure changes made her ears pop. Soon they were skimming two hundred feet above the sloping plain, and she could look down and watch the hypnotic sway of the tall grass rippling below fluid as water.
A startled
herd of impalas leaped through the grass as the dragons flew overhead.
Devon struggled to hold on and point her camera at the same time. She sent a message to Beau. “Tell Jace to level out. I want to take a few pictures.”
“The photos won’t come out well. You don’t have enough light.”
“I know. This is just a practice run. I want to start getting some photos now so I don’t miss a better opportunity when it’s offered.”
“Got it.”
Jace leveled and soared with wings spread wide.
She gulped a nervous breath as she released one hand from the reins and held the camera to her eye. She focused the camera and began clicking away.
A disturbing sight came into view. The dense, pristine expanse of grass suddenly gave way to dozens of Jeep or truck tracks at least half a mile in breadth. The grass had been newly flattened and appeared as if an army had plowed through, leaving the ground torn in its wake.
She’d noticed nothing like that when she was with Kibo. They’d seen and heard no one all day. A safari expedition that size would have kicked a pillar of dust and debris into the air visible for miles. What the hell was going on?
Caution registered in Beau’s thoughts. “These tracks weren’t here yesterday. They look fresh. I even smell crushed grass.”
“I thought so. What does this mean?”
Beau hesitated. “It means we turn around and go back to the cave before someone sees us.”
“Okay.”
“Wait a minute. Jace says we should stop at the falls and make sure we didn’t leave any dragon tracks in the mud.”
“I don’t feel good about this.” Worry settled in. “Let’s go back to the cave now.”
“Jace says we have to do this first.”
Of course. “Why is Jace so stubborn?”
Jace seemingly ignored Devon’s request. He headed away from the grassy veld and flew straight toward the wetter foothills of Kilimanjaro to the place where the brush grew thick and green and the waterfall tumbled down the slope.
“When we get there,” Beau explained with patience, “we’re going to shift to human form, take a quick look around, and get out before sunrise.”
Sirens and Scales Page 435
