Page 103 of Under Restless Skies

He pulls out and I go slack against the mattress, my body tingling. On the window, I watch his cock glistening in the candlelight, thick and flushed, before he grips himself and spills his heat across my back, painting lines on my spine and the nape of my neck.

I’m marked, dripping, but he leaves the bed suddenly, his absence making the mattress cold and strange. I close my eyes, my head reeling in the feeling of what just happened.

After a moment, something warm and damp moves across my skin—a cloth, I realize, drawn in long, tender strokes. I look at the window and watch as he caresses my back, erasing the lines he drew just a few seconds ago.

He tosses the cloth, then lies down beside me, his eyes bright and yet mischievous.

“You think you’d forget that?” he asks.

I’m too breathless to talk, so I shake my head and smile, even if I think that star nectar is weird enough that it could make me forget it.

He kisses my lips briefly, and my eyes close, but I don’t want to relax too much, don’t want to fall asleep. Not here.

I’m not sure why I don’t want to stay long, until I realize something’s calling me, a powerful pull I cannot fight—don’t want to fight.

“I have to go,” I mutter.

His brows contract in a puzzled frown. “You have got to be kidding. Where?”

“The dragons.”

Alayel rolls his eyes, and an annoyed huff escapes his lips. “I think I’m really getting jealous.”

“No, you’re not.” I chuckle. “And they’re babies.”

His frown doesn’t change. “You’re not their mother. You know that, right?”

“I don’t want to leave them alone.”

He gets up at once. “Come, then, there’s a pitcher in the washroom, so you can refresh yourself.”

“I was going to the dorm.”

He shakes his head. “You won’t be allowed there at this time. Go straight down through the back stairs.”

I pick my pieces of clothing from the floor, then go to his imposing washroom, where I clean myself and get dressed.

When I come out, Alayel is also fully dressed, waiting for me.

“I’ll walk you down.” His tone’s neutral, and I’m not sure if he’s upset or not.

We descend the stairs in silence, as I mentally debate whether I should try to explain myself better or leave things as they are. Maybe I should stay in his bedroom, but there’s something pulling me to the little dragons. It could be nonsense, but I wouldn’t forgive myself if I left them alone.

Before I step through the door into the hallway, Alayel pulls me and gives me a brief kiss. “Can you come back tomorrow? Same time?”

I nod, and he kisses me again, then gives me his most dashing, heart-stopping smile, lifting a weight from my heart, untangling my chest. Then he turns away.

He’s not upset, and I wish I could kiss him a hundred times now, except that he’s gone. Well, I’ll get to kiss him tomorrow.

When I enter the hatchlings’ room, I soon find the little dragons, lying by the pile of hay—as if waiting for me. I’m so spent that I lie down and close my eyes, even as I feel Ava and Vos snuggling beside me.

Before sleep takes me, an image flashes behind my eyes: the staff.

Consumed in fire.

I sit up and gasp, suddenly scared, and the little dragons fidget.

“It’s nothing,” I whisper. “A silly dream.”