Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Deserts.
Distant, hard mountains against a reddish sunset sky.
Sand. So much sand. Impossible heat. The comforting smell of fire. Wings. Flight. I can feel the breeze ruffling through my wings, and I gasp at the intense joy that rushes through my system. This is Zohr, dreaming. He’s flying in his dream and it’s the most incredible thing. It feels free and light and wonderful. He dives high and then swoops low, landing at the feet…
Of a woman. A beautiful woman with reddish-gold skin and long, flowing hair that’s the same shade. She’s naked, and as I land, she rises to her feet. Her eyes are bright, liquid gold and she looks down on me with such intense love…
I gasp, my eyes opening.
Another woman. Zohr lied to me. Or maybe he doesn’t remember. Sasha says the dragons have fractured memories of their past and that Dakh can’t remember much of anything. But it’s clear that Zohr has some images from his world before. The desert is burned into my mind, a beautifully hellish, bleak landscape. The woman is less clear, and even now as I try to recall her, all I get are images of bright reddish-golden skin and a beautiful smile.
And love, so much love.
Envy rushes through me, and jealousy. Why should I care that there’s another woman in Zohr’s past? That he loved someone else before he got trapped here and forgot all about her? It shouldn’t matter. I’m not in love with him. We’re only “bonded” because it was necessary to save him.
But…I had sex with the guy. I can’t not have some feelings for him. And right now, I’m feeling a lot of things with the vision of the woman in my head. I touch my mind to Zohr’s again, trying to see if he’s still dreaming about her, but all I get is chaos and anger. His face is rigid, his eyes flicking back and forth under his lids, as if his dream is an unpleasant one.
I touch my hand to his cheek. “I’m sorry. I guess you lost her and I shouldn’t be jealous.” But I am. The only person in the world that gives a crap about me at the moment is him, and he’s not even mine. I wonder if he remembers her, will he regret that he’s mated to me?
Another horrible thought crosses my mind. What if he blames me for stealing him away? I instigated our mating. I practically fondled him until he got hard because I needed to talk to him and that was the only way I knew how to connect our minds.
Oh god, am I the bad guy?
I look down at Zohr, his burning cheek under my hand. He’s calming, his bad dreams fading with the touch of my fingers.
I have so many questions and so few answers.
16
EMMA
Zohr’s fever rages on through the next day. It’s a long, miserable one with a lot of heat and very little relief. The red dragons rage overhead, pinning us in our hiding spot. Luckily, they’re not coming near the apartment complex, but I can’t go outside and risk anything in case they smell me. Now that I know how much Zohr relies on his sense of smell, it makes me doubly anxious about another dragon catching my scent.
I wash his wounds, and I’m worried about how dark a gold his skin is against the stitches. I compare my own stitches on my head in the mirror, and they don’t look anywhere as inflamed as his. But then again, I’m comparing dragon physiology to human, and I might just be worried over nothing.
I use the rest of my mouthwash to bathe his wounds. Because I’m paranoid that he’s going to die on me, I wait until it gets dark and arm myself with an old flashlight and hunt through the other apartments looking for supplies. I find two more bottles, some toothpaste for myself, and more duct tape. I also find some old kids’ clothing that fit if you squint just right. They’re a little tight, but I don’t care. Clothing’s clothing, and I’m too far away from my old store to be picky. Maybe if Zohr recovers we can go scavenging together.
When, I correct myself. When Zohr recovers.
There’s old water damage in the last two apartments I rummage through, so their contents are disgusting and long rotten. I’m a determined sort, so I sift through them anyhow, but when the stairs collapse on me, sending me tumbling onto the refuse below, I take the hint. Enough scavenging for now. I rub at my bruises and scrapes. They’re going to be ugly tomorrow, but overall I’m fine. I have what I came for.
It’s super late at night when I return, and not even my dim flashlight can help with the creepy feeling. I remember when I was a kid, I was afraid of ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Now I’m scared of rogue dragons or nomads looking for a little companionship. I click my flashlight off at that last thought and decide I don’t need the light that bad. It’s completely dark when I head back into our apartment, and so when a big shape rises in the shadows, I let out a yelp of surprise.