Chapter Nine
F inally, something he could do that didn’t involve a rock jabbing into his asscrack. Cage mustered up the remaining energy he had from the sun and spun it into a ball. He’d been underground far too long, and this would be the last of the light he had to give. Hopefully, it did what Azy thought it would and get them out of hell once and for all.
The light pooled in his hand and he gave it a light puff of air to send it on its way. It crept across the ceiling, lighting up the dirty cave like rays poking through the dark clouds.
The instant it hit the tiny pale leaves Azy had found, they burst open and grew the size of elephant ears. She whispered encouragement to the plant that made him chuckle even as he had to press himself against the wall to stay upright.
“They need more. Sun and water.”
Crap. Cage reached deep inside, found the spark of life that kept him going and slowly drew it out. It was all he had left, so if this didn’t work. They’d be on their own.
No. Azy wouldn’t allow that. The thought of how pissed she’d gotten when he’d tried to sacrifice his life for hers added strength to the light, both inside him and to the sunshine imbuing life into this dark corner of hell.
She didn’t want him to die for her. What else could he do, but as she wished.
“It’s drying out. It needs more water.” Azy caressed one of the leaves and part of it broke off in her hand.
“That I can’t help you with, love.”
“Use your own elemental power, mermaid,” Fallyn said. “No, wait, pretend I didn’t say that. Shut up. No, you shut up.”
Huh. Did mermaids have power over water like blue dragons? Why hadn’t Azy used her ability all along.
“If I had could, don’t you think I would have been hot tubbing it up down here? Only witches and blue dragons can call to the water and ask it to bend to their will. I am neither.”
Well, that answered that question.
Fallyn squawked again. “I’m not telling her that. No. There is no such thing as... Shut. Up.”
In a voice stern like a schoolmarm Azy questioned the woman. “Fallyn, what did Izzy say?”
“Nothing.”
“Fallyn. I’ll drop water on your head if you don’t tell me.”
“Ack. You have the power. If you didn’t you would have died down here within the first day.”
Azy open-mouth stared at Fallyn. “You could've told me this days ago.”
“I didn't know.” Fallyn shrank away.
“I'm getting a cramp in my I don't care. Just get us the fuck out of here.” Jack grumbled and tried to readjust his big frame in the small space, which of course made rocks and dirt rained down on their heads.
Azy kicked jet in the shin. “Shut your pie hole while I try to figure this out.”
She reached up and through the leaves, gently pulling the stalk and root toward her. She bit her lip and glanced over at Cage.
He did his best to look at her like he wasn't about to pass out and gave her a wink. He had about ten more seconds of light to give her. “You got this. I know little to nothing about how waterworks, but with the wind and sun I only have to hold it in my mind and ask it to do what I need. For those that have the power over the element, you can bend it to your will.”
“I am not down with the whole power over and bending to my will bit. We are having a discussion about those two things later, dragon.”
if there was a room in here, Cage thought she would be waggling her finger at him like a angry schoolmarm. Apparently he had a thing for the sexy teacher thing with her.
“everyone has their own relationship with the elements, you have to find yours with it. But, you need to do it fast, because I've used up every reserve of energy I had to give you that sunlight. It's the light of day or bust for me.”
“Shipped. Stupid stoic males.” Her face crinkled into a look of determination and she gave him a quick silent nod. She closed her eyes and cupped the root in her palm. “Dear water element.”
The words fell out of her mouth in unsure somersaults.
Jett snorted, but before he could say anything about Azy's form of incantation, Cage kicked him in the other shin.
Azy started again. “Dear water element, please ignore the males in the room, and their dumbassery. Let's show them who's in charge here, together. Please help this little plant grow into a great big one that can break open the earth with the power your life-giving element grants it. Thank you very much.”
They all stared at the root and waited. The sunlight swirling around it flickered and faded. Cage took several deep breaths and called upon his dragon to keep him conscious. If he could hold out a little longer, he was sure her plan would work, and he’d be flying into the sun or the moon in no time.
He gritted his teeth and forced his eyes to stay open.
Jett shook his head. “Yeah, that didn't work. I don't think the elements respond to niceties.”
“Ha ha ha. Boy are you wrong, dragonling.” Fallyn crouched down as far as she could and covered her head with her arms.
A rumbling came from somewhere above them. Little drips of water rained down around the root and leaves. Then rocks and other debris fell in a slurry of mud.
Cage shoved his hand between the rock and Jett, grabbing Azy's arm.
Good thing he did too because in the next instant they were both dragged up into a crevasse that was growing by the second, pushed open by water, plant, and magic.
“Holy Mary, mother of ack –” as these words were cut off, but Cage knew exactly what she meant.
Rocks and boulders and debris showered down and around them. He blocked as many as he could from hitting Azy. The farther they traveled upward, the wider the space in the earth became. A huge chunk of earth tremored above them. There was no dodging that metric ton of rock.
“Look out. Go, go.” Behind them Jett shifted into his dragon form and had snagged Fallyn in his talons. He flapped his wings and overtook them.
Cage did the same and wrapped Azy in his claws. He twisted and turned, asking the wind to push his flight and keep the debris at bay until they were passed. A warm Zephyr of wind whooshed over them, pushing all four of them up like rockets, out of the earth and into the sky.
The sun was just rising over the horizon and Cage continued their assent, soaking up every last molecule of energy and vitamin D from the sun.
“Oh my God, oh my God. What are you doing? Take us down, right now. Unless, you want me to throw up all over you. Because I will.” Azy wrapped her arms around his foreleg and clung to him. Her body shivered, and it wasn't from the cool morning air.
She was fucking afraid of heights.
A fish and a bird could fall in love, but where would they live?
“Cage. You take me down right now.” There wasn’t a wobble in her voice. She knew exactly what she wanted.
“It's all right, babe. I got you.”
“You'd better.”
Below them, where the earth had opened up, he could see a little oasis, with a pool of water and if he wasn't mistaken a tree of Hesperides mixed in among the native trees and bushes. He headed for the oasis in a long circular descent. He figured that would scare Azy less than a divebomb.
He hated the way she shook and pulled warmth from the sun around her like a blanket.
“You love the sky, don't you?”
“Yes.” He wasn't sure what else to say. Was she expecting him to try and show her the beauty of writing crisp currents, being able to see the curve of the earth?
“I'll be okay, if you want to take your time.” The only thing that betrayed her lie was the death grip she had on his leg.
He wanted to kiss her for it. He hadn't ever kissed a woman while flying. His brain exploded with visions of a whole new kind of mile high club.
Not with her shaking and fearful.
Now that they had escaped hell, his first order of business was to properly claim his mate in every way that he could. Which meant getting to ground as soon as possible.
Cage folded in his wings and tucked Azy tight against his belly.
“What are you do oh oh oh oh –”
Cage streaked toward the ground and hummed a tune, a very old lullaby, just for his mate. He scanned the ground for any sign that the Black Dragon and his minions had followed them. So far, he saw nothing. This place, this little oasis had some powerful magic, and he let that power sink into him. Safety, respite, and a little bit of…lust, floated through his senses. This place was not merely a natural phenomenon. The elemental powers and magic of dragons was here. Good. Finally, something in this day was going right.
“Please don't crash, please don't crash, please don't crash.”
He could see how she thought they were going to ram into the trees, but he was a better flyer than that. He unfurled his wings once again, catching the air like a parachute, and then drifted softly to the ground.
“Azy, you can open your eyes now.”
“Are we dead?” She didn't open her eyes and didn't release her grip on him. Her knees were tucked up next to her chin, which had her plump bum curled into his claw. He liked the feel of that. He'd like to have his human hands on her ass even more.
“No. I don't think so,” he teased.
She pried one eye open and glanced around. The other eye followed. One arm tentatively reached out and when her fingers touched the ground Cage felt her entire body relax.
“Thank goodness.” She tumbled out of his grasp and stood up. “Where are Jett and Fallyn? They made it out to, didn't they?”
“I'm sure they did. I am more concerned about you than them right now.” He lowered his head and snuffled at her injuries.
She smacked him on the snout. He wasn't having any of that. He snuffled her again, this time at her neck, pushing her head to the side so he could get access to the mark he'd left on her. He knew it was here somewhere, he could sense it, scent it, practically taste it. She was his and the whole world would know.
“Stop that. What are you doing?” She tried to push his snout away, but he would not be swayed.
“Looking for your mark.” Hmm, maybe he'd bitten her on the other shoulder.
“My what?” She had stopped resisting him and let him pull the tattered remains of the shirt away from her shoulders with his teeth.
“Your mark. When I claimed you and that your shoulder, I bound us together and placed my mark on your skin. You are mine and any other dragon will know it.”
Aha. Once he had her shirt pushed away the gold dragon tattoo glowed on her skin. He couldn't imagine anything more beautiful than the look of liquid gold across her brown skin. He swiped his dragon's tongue across the mark and shifted into his human form replacing the rough scales with his lips.
“I am adding that misogynistic attitude about belonging to you to my list of things were going to talk about. But, later because damn, that feels really fucking good and I don't want you to stop.”
Cage chuckled and followed the pattern of the mark from her neck across her shoulder and then traced the path of the tail to where it disappeared beneath the leather.
“Oh, yeah. Right there. I don't understand how my clavicle got to be an erogenous zone, but I'm down with that. Wait, are we safe? Are demon dragons going to interrupt this celebration?”
“We are safe. The earth has collapsed back over the gap and the magic of this oasis is stronger than the ward on Fallyn’s treasure trove.”
“Sweet.” She grabbed him by the collar and mashed her mouth to his. Her tongue darted into his mouth and her salty flavor exploded into him. “Wait. Did you say oasis?”
Cage sucked her lip into his mouth and mumbled, “mmm-hmm.”
Azy wrapped one leg around the back of his calf, pulling their centers together. “Like with a pool?”
“Yes. I believe it is a spring.” Which she needed to be in right now. Cage ran his hand over Azy’s thigh and and then lifted her up so she straddled him. This was rapidly becoming his favorite place in the whole wide world to be. Between her legs.
She put her arms around his neck and dipped her head to nibble at his ear. The woman’s lips were like magic, sending shots of pure desire through his system.
He took long strides, headed in the direction he saw the water from the sky. It couldn’t be more than a few hundred meters from where he landed.
Yes, there, up ahead, the water gleamed in the morning sunlight, throwing a reflection of sparkles into the air around it like a mirage. A mirage that looked strikingly like a woman standing next to the pool’s edge.
“You know I can breathe underwater, right?” Azy’s voice had gone husky and seductive.
Was she hinting at what she wanted to do to him in said water? Fuck, yeah.
“Hello, my lord Gylden. I see you retrieved your mate.”
Cage stopped dead in his tracks. God dammit. As much as he had wanted it to be, the figure at the water’s edge wasn’t a mirage. It was a beautiful young woman in a gold toga.
Azy froze in his arms. All except her head and neck, which turned to stare at the woman.
“Azynsa.” The woman in gold nodded. “I’m glad to see you returned to the land of the living. We were worried about you for a while there. Hell is no place for a creature of the water, like you.”
“No shit, Sherlock. Who are you?”
Two more women rushed over and joined the lady in gold. At least he knew who these ones were. Ciara and Jada, mates of his brother Wyverns.
“Ninsy. We told you to wait until they’d had their sexy times.” Jada grabbed the woman’s arm and tried to drag her away.
“My apologies, my lord, lady. I merely wanted to let you know my mistress sent me to assist you, and that Fallyn is safe with us now. Please,” she motioned to the water, “carry on.”
Much to Cage’s chagrin, Azy slid her legs down and stepped away from him. He grabbed her hand, not letting her get too far away.
“Uh, thanks. But, I’m not much into exhibitionism.” Azy widened her eyes at the rest of them saying with her expression that the whole lot of them needed to skedaddle.
“Oh, god. Sorry. We’ll leave you two alone.” Ciara grabbed the Ninsy woman’s other arm and gave it a tug. “But, when you’re done, come find us. We’ve got so much to talk about now that you’re a Wyvern’s mate too.”
“A whosie whatsie now?”
Jada waved them toward the water. “We totally get the whole mating lust thing, so take your time. But, when you need refreshments, I’ve got coffee and donuts in my tent. If Ky hasn’t eaten them all yet.”
Azy looked from him to the women and back. Cage almost wanted to laugh out loud. She was so completely torn.
“Come on, let me feed you. Jada does make the most sinful pastries in the world.” He squeezed her hand and led her after the women. “When you’ve had your fill, then it will be my turn to eat.”
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those health nuts that doesn’t eat sugar or something. Because that might be a deal breaker for me.”
“I’m sure you’ll be just as sweet as any dessert.”
Azy laughed out loud. It was the first time he’d ever heard her do that, and the sound went straight to his cock.
“You’re dirty, dragon.”
Fuck. Maybe they could take a quick dip in the spring.
No. He had to feed and care for her. Her well-being was his main priority. His dick wasn’t happy about taking second place, but a little anticipation never hurt anyone.
He would spend the next hour or so imagining all the ways he was going to make her come.
“Yes, I am, mate. I’m very much looking forward to being as dirty as possible with you.” He stepped in line, following the women to wherever they were preparing food.
He’d have a good long chat with Jakob and Ky, make sure Fallyn was being taken care of, see what kind of favor Jett wanted, and follow up with Gris and Zon.
See, he had lots of things to take his mind off stripping Azy naked and licking her from top to bottom. Mmm. Her luscious bottom. God, she had a great ass.
Shit. There went his dick twitching again.
Cage went all of two steps and Azy hadn’t taken one. He gave her hand a tug. Maybe she was nervous about spending time with the other Wyvern’s mates. She didn’t need to be, they were great.
“Az? Everything okay?” He’d assumed her injuries were healed. The adrenaline of their escape and flight were fading from his own system, so they likely were from hers too. She’d be feeling any injuries. He would get Jakob to heal her with his Dragon’s breath.
“You’re going the wrong way.”
“I’m just following…” Azy still had his hand in hers and was caressing the back of his with her thumb.
The look on her face said it all. Donuts can wait, dumbass.