To Love a Dragon - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,59

stories, laughter, and celebration.

“Daylight will soon be fading,” Arysteon said, laying the end of his tail on the ground before Leyloni. “I will bring you to camp so we can retrieve your belongings and be off.”

Serek, spotting vulnerability in his prey, put on a little burst of speed that ended with him flopping bodily atop Arysteon’s tail.

Leyloni chuckled, her lips stretching into a smile. The ache in her cheeks, unlike those wracking the rest of her body, was a welcome sensation. She picked up the bag she’d taken from the Bone Wraiths and slung it over her shoulder. She grabbed one of the spears next, using it for support as she walked forward, meaning to crouch and scoop up Serek. Before she could, Arysteon lifted his tail, curling it slightly to hold the baby up.

Smile widening, Leyloni accepted the offered youngling on her free arm, holding him against her hip. “Thank you. Shall we?”

She turned to begin the walk back to camp, but Arysteon eased himself down flat on his belly, laying his head beside her.

Leyloni arched a brow. “What are you doing?”

“Bringing you to camp.” The wicked spines that ran from his head all the way down to the end of his tail snapped flat. When she hesitated, he said gently, “Climb onto my back. We can travel faster this way, and it will allow you time to recover your strength.”

He shifted his nearest arm, positioning it against his side as though it were a step.

Frowning, Leyloni looked into his eyes, searching for some indication that this was all in jest but finding only sincerity in those violet orbs. It was difficult not to think of this in terms of her own perspective. Carrying Serek during a day of travel was tiring; carrying a full-grown woman would’ve been exhausting after only a few hours for even a man as strong as her father had been.

But Arysteon was not a man.

She shifted her hold on Serek and, planting the spear firmly on the ground for balance, stepped onto Arysteon’s arm. She winced as her weight came down on his scales. They were hard, and the muscle beneath was firm, but there was a little give in them. If Arysteon was bothered by it, he made no indication.

Keeping a secure hold on Serek, Leyloni carefully swung her leg over Arysteon’s back and settled down atop him. Her breath hitched when those flattened spines lined up with her sex. Heat fluttered low in her belly.

That heat was only amplified by a low rumble from Arysteon, one that didn’t seem to make any sound but which she felt clearly—especially where it vibrated against her sex.

This is going to be an…interesting ride.

Arysteon turned his head to look at her with one eye, and the brightness in his gaze told her that he knew exactly what she was feeling—and that he was hungry.

Shifting and taking a deep breath, Leyloni lowered Serek so he was sitting between her legs and settled the spear across her lap, using it to keep the baby in place. She wrapped her arm around Arysteon’s neck and nodded to him. “We are ready.”

For a moment, Arysteon remained still, his gaze locked on her with undiminished intensity. That stare made it very difficult for Leyloni to forget the taste of pleasure she’d had when she first sat down.

But when he pushed himself up, it was difficult to think of anything beyond her sense of disorientation—it felt like the world was moving beneath her, and it was jarring. She drew Serek a little closer and clung to Arysteon’s neck, seeking some stability.

Arysteon chuckled, sending another little thrill through her. “Hold tight.”

16

Arysteon drifted between trees that were little more than shadowy pillars in the swirling mist. His feet barely touched the ground. The shafts of silvery moonlight pouring through the canopy made the mist seem alive, made it seem to glow from within.

But that moonlight could not overpower the points of illumination scattered in the air before him, stretching away like a stream of twinkling stars—lightning bugs. Fireflies.

Lightning like his spark; fire like Leyloni’s hair.

He followed the trail of fireflies, which led him ever deeper into the ancient woods. Whenever he drew close to one of the little glowing orbs, whenever he reached out to touch one, it vanished—and he felt a little flare of heat in his chest. That heat slowly suffused him, spreading outward from his center, pooling in his loins, urging him to move faster, faster.

Because he knew where the trail