Leah's Hero - Miranda Martin Page 0,57

as long as mine. Already she’s taking two strides for every one of mine. We make our way through the jungle. The good part of the rain coming back is that almost all predators will be sheltering it out.

A lot of the worst predators will hibernate through the worst of the rainy season. It’s a terrible time to hunt. Most hunt by smell and the rain makes that almost impossible. She slips as we work our way around the base of a large tree.

She catches herself on the rough bark, and the scent of her blood tangs the air. She yelps, jerking her hand back while I steady her. She holds her hand up for inspection where she’s scraped it. Blood wells in the dirty wound, trying to rinse out the grit and filth.

I stop to find a large leaf and form it into a cup in my hand. I hold it up and let the rain fill it, then use the water to rinse her wound. Once the grit is out, I try to wrap the leaf around her hand, but I can’t manage it with only one hand of my own. She sees what I am doing and helps, holding the leaf with her other hand, and working together, the makeshift bandage goes into place. I tuck the edges of it under itself to lock it down.

She touches the leaf, staring at it for overly long. When she looks up, there’s a softness on her face that makes my cock ache with needs that this is no time or place for. Her lips curl up as if they’re moving in slow motion. A light burns in her eyes, and there is no need for words between us.

Words can’t convey the feelings, they couldn’t possibly contain the depths and heights of the sensations she creates. My dragon rumbles with satisfaction. She is the one, and she is mine as much as I am hers. Hers to command, forever.

“We should move,” I say, the words emerge with reluctance.

I have no desire to move. I don’t want to break this moment. I want it to last forever. She nods, either from understanding or empathy. Reluctantly, I lead the way. The jungle is thick with undergrowth that we have to fight our way through, making it slow going.

She displays her strength as we work together to make progress. Some areas she’s able to slip through without problem, where I must bully my way past. As we move there are so many special moments. Moments where she touches my arm, she smiles, or her face glows with a delight that sets my heart and balls on fire.

Dreams of our future play out through my thoughts while we travel. It makes the time pass fast. I’m so caught up in my own pleasure of being with her that I almost miss the danger until it is too late. She catches it before I do.

I’m holding a branch up for her to move under, when she stops and turns back the way we’ve come. The tension makes her vibrate with an energy of anticipation and fear. It’s obvious she heard something, so instead of asking I listen.

A branch snaps, and then I hear voices. Voices, did the others come looking for us? I open my mouth to call out, but she puts a hand on my chest. Her eyes are wide, her mouth turned down in a frown, and she’s trembling.

I snap my mouth shut. Fear. I strain to hear the voices, and my own hearts race in response. Those aren’t the voices of the ones we were separated from.

“I’m sick to death of these patrols,” a voice says, drifting across the soaked jungle.

“Quit complaining, you know what the Eye would say,” another voice says.

They sound familiar, but I can’t place names with them. One thing I’m sure of though, they are from the Order. The Order that evicted me in my wounded state and left me for dead. She’s terrified of them too.

I have every reason in the world not to trust the Order, and it seems she does as well. I take hold of her arm and move her past the branch, then slowly lower it so that it doesn’t make any excessive noise.

She presses herself against me, staring in the direction of the voices. She’s shaking with fear. The dragon rises and red covers my thoughts and vision as the bijass reacts. I ball my hands into fists so tight my claws