Page 37 of House of Ashes
Immediately I averted my eyes out towards the lake, ignoring the flags of dull red burning on my cheeks. “That was a beautiful success. I had my doubts, but now I have to say, there’s a chance.”
Despite my embarrassment over the thoughts I’d just been entertaining, I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face.
Maybe it wasn’t perfect; he wasn’t my mate, the dragon I’d trust implicitly with my life.
But it had been a real flight, almost exactly like the ones I’d dreamed of as a rider trainee.
“We’ve got this,” he said, grinning back at me. The brightness of the white sky made his eyes seem more brilliant than ever, bringing out a tinge of blue highlights in his black hair. “That was smooth as silk. A little more practice and we can win the Houses over, Sera.”
I looked up at him, realizing he was only inches away. If I just rose up on my tip-toes…
Everything in me revolted, wanting to step back, but this was part of the ruse, too. We couldn’t just fake being a riding pair; we had to convincingly appear to be mates, indivisible, a united couple against all enemies.
If I jumped away from him like a scalded cat every time he got within two inches of me, we’d fail.
I grew roots, planting myself right where I was, refusing to move an inch from him. “You’re still going to pay for your little stunt with the ice water.”
“Am I?” he purred, eyes nearly glowing. “If I recall correctly, I’m the big, strong dragon here.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Wait until your back is turned. You’ll never see me coming.”
“Ooh, dangerous,” Rhylan breathed, his grin growing wider. “Just the way I like—”
He stopped himself as abruptly as if he’d run into a wall.
My heart thumped unsteadily once, twice. I looked away, pushing my hair back as a pretext for hiding my face, sure that my cheeks were still burning.
This was too much pretending.
“What did you mean, that I was different?” I asked, changing the subject abruptly. “In the Training Grounds, I mean.”
Rhylan’s smile had faded. “You said about three words to me the entire time we were there. You wouldn’t even look me in the eye.”
It would take a team of rabid wyverns to pull the truth from me, that I’d been so hopelessly enamored that simply breathing in his vicinity had been a trial. I’d feared my face was breaking out in pimples every time he so much as glanced in my direction.
Finally I settled on a reasonable excuse. “Tidas was a jealous dragon. I didn’t speak to any of the other dragons, really. Just a few of the other riders.”
That was a lie. I had hardly spoken to the other draga, either. But… better a lie than the truth.
“Do you regret not mate bonding with him?” he asked, carefully studying the mountains in the distance.
That made me laugh. “No, that’s probably the one thing I can thank you for, actually. Who wants to be bonded to a dragon who sulks every time you so much as breathe in another dragon’s direction? You might’ve had a hand in sending me to Mistward, but you saved me from that, at least.”
I immediately realized my mistake in mentioning his role in my imprisonment. The aura of good will between us vanished, tension pressing down on us like a hand.
His lips tightened, but he didn’t try to apologize again. “We should return to the eyrie. Viros will want to make adjustments to the saddle now that we’ve had a practice run.”
That was fine with me. Despite all the wide open space around us, I felt crushed now, pinned in against Rhylan.
“Let’s go, then.” I patted his shoulder twice without thinking. I couldn’t feel the silkiness of his warm skin through the gloves, but just knowing I’d made physical contact with him sent a jolt through me.
His smile faltered. “What does it mean when you pat me twice?”
I blinked up at him. I had patted him when he took off, right on top of those strange scars, without any self consciousness. The physical contact was a little easier when he was in dragon form. “Reassurance, I suppose. That all is well.”
Rhylan stared back at me for a moment. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his expression once again opaque to me.
“Is that fine with you?” I asked irritably. “Or should I stop?”