Kiss of Destiny (5 page)

“You’re a nymph,” he exclaimed, remembering the stories he’d been told as a child.

A whirlwind spiraled to the ground right in front of them and he smiled as the firestorm touched it with gold. In a heartbeat, his mate stood before him again, her hair blowing as it settled over her shoulders. She was smiling at him, and her eyes shone with intent. “This is what I am,
Pyr
. Does the truth change your mind?”

Thad shook his head and saw her eyes sparkle. “It gives us more in common,” he said with resolve. He dropped to his knee before her. They caught their breath simultaneously as he took her hand in his and kissed its back, a potent stab of heat racing through Thad’s body at the contact. “Be with me, Aura,” he murmured, holding her gaze.

She inhaled sharply and her eyes were wide. “Catch me first,” she whispered, her eyes dancing with challenge. That shimmer returned as she disappeared into the whirlwind. It spun up toward the clouds, churning as it rose, the glint of the firestorm fading with distance.

Thad roared and shifted shape, leaping into the air in dragon form to pursue his mate. He knew he didn’t imagine that she laughed before the whirlwind disappeared into the clouds overhead. They swirled, sparks falling from them like strange rain. Thad plunged into the cloud to pursue her, following both her scent and the heat of the firestorm.

Chapter Two

It would have been too easy for Aura to surrender.

She hadn’t just been tempted: she’d been on the cusp of giving her all to Thad. But as willing as her body was, and as persuasive as his argument seemed to be, she couldn’t help thinking that he was saying what he needed to say, in order to seduce her.

She couldn’t help worrying that as soon as the firestorm was satisfied, he’d be gone, and she’d be left with the son of a dragon to bear and raise. She’d seen the same thing happen to nymphs over and over again. It had happened to her mother. Aura had been determined that it would never happen to her.

Even if Thad was nearly irresistible.

She resisted by changing form. It was the only thing she could do to save herself from making what had to be a mistake. She couldn’t figure out how he could be so sure that there would be a son, yet she couldn’t see a child in her future.

Aura had to think—and when Thad kissed her, she couldn’t think responsibly. She could only think of seducing him completely and worrying about the consequences later.

Was that part of a dragon’s spell?

Aura did her best thinking when she was a breeze. Her thoughts flew then and associations were quickly made. Her intuition was stronger and she was more creative. When she shifted to a breeze, a part of her loved that Thad was not surprised.

Even more than not being surprised, he was seeking her. She saw his eyes narrow and heard him take a deep breath. It was exciting not to be certain she could disappear completely from his perception, to imagine that they had a kind of understanding because they were both different from others.

Aura soared out of the glade and through the protective fog that sheltered its secrets. She heard Thad roar behind her and knew he must have shifted shape: she could feel the sparks of the firestorm blaze hotter as she swept over the summit of the peaks. It was wonderful to race across the sky, and even more exciting to be pursued by a dragon nearly as fast as she was.

“
I like him,
” Nephele whispered, her admiration feeding Aura’s confidence in her impulse to trust Thad.
“And I believe him.”
Aura looked back. She saw that one of the clouds had trailed behind her but that a black dragon had flown past it and was closing fast.

It wasn’t Nephele who Thad was determined to seduce.

Aura tumbled down the side of the mountain slope, a zephyr of fresh air or a sigh from the mountain top. The trees swayed with her passing, and their leaves rustled. Thad was so close behind her that she could feel the beat of his wings through the air. She turned hard when she reached the green pastures and raced through the flowers, making them wave with her passing like the surface of the ocean.

“Give him to me,”
whispered the flower nymph.

Aura didn’t think so. She might not be certain she would take the risk to be with Thad, but she wasn’t going to give him up just yet either. He probably would have insisted that the firestorm marked their partnership as a destined one.

Was he right? Did he mean it?

She liked that Thad didn’t give up the chase. That was a good sign. She thought of all he’d said, and all he’d promised, and felt an answering yearning within herself. She wasn’t young and she wasn’t old, but Aura had been alone long enough to find the idea of a partner appealing. Like the
Pyr
, nymphs lived long but weren’t immortal. She was pleased that they had that longevity in common.

That was when she knew. The golden apples of the Hesperides. If he would follow her to Hera’s garden, one bite of a golden apple would compel him to speak the truth to her. Then Aura would know, without doubt, the truth in his heart.

Perfect.

She soared over a river that was splashing down from the peaks of Mount Olympus and followed it, racing just above its surface. She spun and spiraled, knowing her dragon was right behind her. She made the water froth and the spray splash high, even as the sparks of the firestorm glowed in her wake.

Thad roared, and she looked back to see his eyes glowing as he pursued her.

“Remember she-who-should-not-be-named,”
whispered Arethusa.
“It might not be his choice to abandon you.”

Tisiphone. Arethusa had been confident to say the name of the Erinye while they were on Mount Olympus, in the domain of the gods, but here in the land of mortals, she showed more care. That made sense, since Tisiphone was supposed to occupy this realm until she avenged herself upon the
Pyr
.

Could Tisiphone kill Thad?

She could, without doubt. The Erinyes were merciless and horrible, and never forgot a grudge.
Would
she kill Thad? Aura couldn’t bear the possibility, no matter what future was between her and Thad. She stilled, a wind falling idle, and he swept around and through her, like a bird soaring through the leaves of a tree. Aura felt a wonderful shiver of heat in the instant that he was closest to her.

The firestorm’s glow faded to a pale light and Thad halted. The change in its light alerted him that he had missed something. He turned with grace and headed back toward her, his eyes bright with resolve.

“You can protect him,”
Nephele whispered, her voice distant but clear.

And Aura yearned to do so.

So long as his intentions were true.

Her decision was made.

Aura swirled in the sky before Thad, waiting for him to fly closer. When he drew near her again, she rose beneath his wings, bearing him higher in the sky with the current she could create. He was startled, then eyed the radiance beneath his wings and laughed.

“Aura! It’s you!” he cried. “Let’s fly together.” He beat his wings hard and Aura became a faster wind, pushing him out over the Mediterranean. They swept high in the sky together, higher than Aura had ever flown alone. It was easy to be bold in the company of a dragon, and easy to believe anything was possible in the face of Thad’s optimism and conviction. He made her feel buoyant—and she could buoy him up. Thad’s wings moved so slowly that his flight looked effortless. Even if there was never any more than this, Aura knew she’d never forget this shared moment.

“I’ve never flown so high or so far from shore,” he murmured, his low voice sending a shiver through her. She could have shivered again that his thoughts were such a close echo of her own. “I’ve always wanted to be sure I could land.”

“It’s like you said,”
Aura whispered, hoping he could hear her. Most mortals couldn’t hear the speech of the nymphs when they were in their alternate form, but she saw Thad’s head tilt, as if he listened to a faint sound.

“How so?”

“We’re a team. We’re doing more together than apart.”

He laughed then, a joyous sound that made Aura’s heart skip. “Is that how you and your kind speak to each other?” he asked.

“Yes, and you can hear me. Most mortals can’t.”

“Most of them can’t hear us, either, at least not well enough to distinguish the words.”

“Show me how you speak to your kind.”

“It’s old-speak, very low and slow.” Thad took a deep breath. “
Like this.
” The two words hung in the air for what seemed like forever. If Aura hadn’t been listening to him closely, she might have dismissed the sound as a rumble in the earth or the crash of a wave on a distant shore. Because she was listening, she heard the words, as steady as the beat of his heart.

“Tell me a secret,”
she urged in her nymph whisper.

“The
Pyr
I most admire fall in love with their mates and honor them for every day and night of their lives,
” Thad said in old-speak. He scanned the air around himself as he flew and eyed the dancing sparks of the firestorm.
“Let me fall in love with you, Aura.”

It was an enticing offer.

If she hadn’t been her mother’s child, she would have surrendered right then and there. As it was, Aura kissed his cheek with a breath of wind, ran over his muscled body in a breeze that only made her want to touch him with her hands. She caressed the length of his tail and he laughed at the sensation, then she spiraled before him. Each time she slid past his body, the firestorm heated another increment, filling her thoughts with the prospect of pleasure. In her mind’s eye, she saw him in human form and wanted to feel his hands upon her, his flesh against her own.

“Far out there,”
she said, blowing him so that he faced the west.

“I see only the sea, stretching endlessly.”

“Not so endless. At its far reaches are the Pillars of Hercules. Beyond that is the Garden of the Hesperides, a refuge of my kind in the mortal world.”
She swirled around him again.
“And maybe a haven for us.”

“A long flight,”
Thad said, his wings beating with greater power. His determination to live up to her expectations fed her own confidence that she was making the right choice.
“I will do my best, Aura.”

“And I will help you,”
she vowed, urging his flight forward, as if he were no more than a seed in the wind.

* * *

Thad had never experienced anything like this before. He felt a sense of camaraderie with his fellow
Pyr
overall, plus the Dragon Legion fought well together, anticipating each other’s moves. This sense of union he felt with Aura was similar, but amplified. Flying with Aura, feeling her slide beneath his wings while the firestorm crackled and burned all around them, was exciting in every possible way. He hadn’t been joking about never flying so far or so high: given their dimensions, dragons were better suited to shorter flights. He knew that some of the other
Pyr
flew far, even across the Atlantic Ocean, but he had never been so bold.

Maybe because he couldn’t swim.

In Aura’s company, though, he was filled with optimism and sure that they could achieve anything together. The sun was sinking in the west when he first saw the two large stones, standing like gate posts on either side of the turquoise water of the Mediterranean. He soared past them, with Aura’s help, then turned as the wind she had become changed direction.

Immediately, he saw the green gem of the garden she had mentioned. It was nestled far below, between the peaks, so vivid a green that it could have been an emerald. The ocean was dark blue beneath him, crested with white waves, and stretched seemingly endlessly to the west. The western sky was smeared with orange light and in the east, far behind them, the first stars were emerging.

Thad had never flown so far in his life. He never would have attempted it alone. He was tired in one way, but in another, his body hummed with excitement. The firestorm’s heat couldn’t be forgotten, and its sparks tingled against his scales, promising a reward for his feat. On this night, they would consummate the firestorm. Thad had spent the entire flight trying to think of ways to prolong the flame, but doubted he would be able to. All day long, his desire for Aura had increased. All day long, the heat of the firestorm had filled his thoughts with the promise of pleasure.

With no small anticipation, he descended toward the garden. Aura’s wind was still beneath his wings, guiding him to the spot. He knew it was a good sign that she was taking him to a refuge of her kind. Hers was a choice that spoke of trust, and hinted at the shared future he wanted more than anything. The air rising from the garden was sweet, something in it heated by the sun of the afternoon, and he could smell apples.

Of course. The golden apples of the Hesperides. That was another story he’d been told, but Thad had never believed they were real. That made him smile, for more legends and myths were proving themselves true than he had expected.

Were their powers real? He had heard stories that eating just one bite from such an apple granted immortality, or universal knowledge, or made every dream come true.

Aura undoubtedly knew their real properties. That made him think of all the tales and truth they could share, and how much better they would be equipped to face the challenges of the world together.