Pretty Painful - K.A Knight Page 0,40

with green scales covering it, tinted in gold. His eyes are huge and golden with green around the edges, just like when he took over Mishal’s body. His body is equally as big, with huge spikes running down his head, back, and tail, which flickers behind him, thumping along the ground. His claws cut into the earth below him, long and wickedly sharp. His snout is bigger than my whole body, and when he grins, he flashes massive, sharp looking teeth. He is a thing of nightmares and dreams mixed all together, and I get an overwhelming moment of knowing that I’m in the presence of an ancient god.

I swallow hard, but he nudges me with his head, tilting it so I gently reach out and stroke him.

Never be scared or awed by me, mi cielo, for I am just a dragon while you are a fucking goddess, Nyre declares through our bond, his dragon snout unable to form human words.

Mishal said I could ride you, can I? I inquire, rubbing his face. Smoke blows from his snout and I swear he laughs.

Ride me all you want, mi cielo.

“Dirty, grumpy dragon,” I mutter out loud, a smile curling my lips. How do I get on? I query, glancing at his height.

He laughs again and I roll my eyes, but he drops down to the ground, tilting to one side to offer me an easy climb. I head that way and jump to grab a spike, and haul myself up, swinging my leg over his back until I’m seated below his head on his neck. I used to ride horses, so this has to be similar…right?

Don’t let me fall, I warn, tightening my grip on the spike in front of me.

He huffs more smoke as if offended, his body moving between my legs, and I can feel the power in him.

Never, mi cielo. Are you ready to soar the skies?

Yes! I chirp, beyond excited.

He pushes up from the ground, making me scream as he heads straight up with me clinging to his back. Nyre laughs in my head. We head right for the sky, bursting through the clouds before he levels out, flying straight with a massive flap of his wings. I sit up straighter in awe, looking around me at the night sky. It feels like I can touch it. I can’t even see the ground beneath me, just us and the stars. It’s amazing. Spreading my arms, I scream and he goes faster. Excitement races through me, as does exhilaration. Flying is fucking fun. He winds through the sky, and I squeal and grab his spikes as he dive bombs and rolls, spinning and turning.

Show off, I tease, and his big head turns to see me over his shoulders. His eyes are slit in amusement as he huffs at me, almost knocking me off his back with the force.

Go faster? I ask, knowing he has been trapped for so long and he deserves to stretch his wings, so to speak.

He shoots through the sky like a falling star, his wings flapping as he pushes himself, stretching out all those kinks. He glides back through the clouds and his tail skims the water of a river below before he shoots back up towards the moon like he might actually take me there. Laughter flows from my lips. No wonder he loves flying, it feels so free. No worries, no past or future up here, just the touch of the wind and us.

Nyre, it’s so amazing up here, thank you for showing me.

Just you wait, I will fly us all over the world. Across the pyramids, the black sea, the towers and skyscrapers, over land men have never even touched. I’ll show you everything this world has to offer.

Grinning, I hold on tighter as he banks and turns around to head back to the city. I pout in his head, wishing we could spend more time up here.

Soon, mi cielo, but first we have a blood debt to collect. It’s time we showed you what being our mate means, he growls in my head, and I sigh.

I had forgot for a moment…about everything, but he’s right. Those men need to pay, and while I’m free and happy, they are hurting girls. We have to stop them for Rachel and all those women who never made it out of those cages. I owe it to them.

We will be there through it all, you will never be alone.

He must have picked up on