12
JESSICA
He was a show-off.
The moment I asked him to come down, he fell away from his flight and fell directly towards me. I let out a yelp as he plummeted recklessly, bursting open his wings at the last possible second to control his fall. He pumped them rapidly as he fell the final thirty feet, kicking up dust and blowing my skirt around like a helicopter would.
And then he landed on lion's feet, and folded his wings against his body, and stared at me with brilliant eyes.
Okay, so he was a show-off. But it was still impressive as hell.
What are you doing?
"What do you mean?"
He leaned forward and nudged the notepad in my hand with his beak.
"Oh. I'm taking notes!"
You're taking notes? he asked, incredulous.
"Well, the last time this happened I fainted. I wanted to make sure we had some sort of recording just in case."
Practical.
"I sure am." I scribbled a note, and then circled my beast-boyfriend, examining him from head to toe. Well, head to paw. "There's something around your neck."
It was gold and thick, like an enormous male wedding band. As I rounded the side I saw a gemstone fastened in the back, glowing green to match his feathers. I was fairly certain that if I crawled on his back and looked closely I'd see an exact replica of the rectangular emerald in the stone totem.
Ethan twisted his head almost all the way around, but came just short of being able to see it. I jotted down the shape and features, describing it out loud to Ethan as I went.
"Your feathers are... different than a bird's."
Different how?
"I'm not a veterinarian, but I'm fairly certain most feathers don't grow this long." I ran my finger along one by his neck; the core was almost an inch in diameter, and as long as a sword. The bristles weren't very soft, and felt more like the semi-stiff teeth of a hairbrush.
That's not nice!
"What?"
What you thought about my feathers.
I flinched. I don't know how I was able to hear his thoughts and emotions, but it was suddenly alarming that he could hear mine. I'd need to be careful while he was in gryphon form. No weird thoughts.
Like how sexy Ethan was in human form, the way I wanted to run my hands over his muscles as soon as he transformed back into smooth flesh, to feel his fingers running along my legs and let him take me on the ground, just like the first time...
Stop it, Jessica! The intrusive thoughts fired into my brain without bidding, because it was impossible not to think about something once you tried.
Ethan didn't say anything, but I could have sworn there was a smug smile on his gryphon face.
"I want to try something," I said to distract myself. "This might hurt." And without warning, I grabbed a feather from his neck and yanked it as hard as I could. It came away like an apple from a tree.
Ouch!
"Don't be a baby," I muttered, examining the feather. I broke a few inches off the tip and shoved it in my pocket. "That's for later. After you transform back." I cocked my head. "Do you know how to change back? How did you do it last time?"
Ethan shrugged, more of an emotion than a physical movement. I tore into that farmer's cow. And after, I felt satisfied. And then... I just let it happen. I cannot explain it.
"Do you think you could do it right now if you wanted?"
He nodded, this time a real physical bobbing of his head. I think I can. But I don't want to just yet. I have an idea first.
"What's that?"
Put down your notebook.
I tossed it onto the ground with my pen, shoved the totem in my pocket, then crossed my arms expectantly. "Okay, so what do--"
He unfolded his wing and swung it under me, knocking my legs out and causing me to fall onto his wing. For a split second I feared I would crush it, because bird wings were frail and fragile things, but his strength held me easily as he lifted me into the air. I rolled sideways across his wing until I reached his back, where I was able to straddle his body with my legs and stop myself.
Hold on.
I knew what he intended just before it happened.
I grabbed a handful of feathers in each hand as Ethan leaped into the air with surprising spryness. The great muscles in his back rolled like rapid waves as he beat his wings, forcing us into the air with incredible power. I let out a yelp, felt embarrassed about it, and then stopped caring.
I slid forward on Ethan's back to grab onto the ring around his neck. My previous assumption was correct: the gemstone glowing there was identical to the one on the totem, its shape faceted with flawless cuts. The only difference was the size; this one was as large as my fist. For a brief second I considered how much it would be worth if we could pry it loose.
But the thought was met with a recoiling sensation from the totem in my pocket. Somehow I knew tampering with the collar was a grave mistake. That it would hurt Ethan.
Are you holding on?
Ethan didn't wait for a response before suddenly curving downward like a roller coaster. My stomach rose weightlessly as Ethan dove straight at the ground, curving up just above the plain. I let out a carefree laugh as we climbed back toward the blue sky, the endless sky, the forbidden sky that was now accessible thanks to my weird shapeshifting boyfriend.
And as crazy as it all sounded, my brain accepted it as if it were a new type of exotic food.
I could feel Ethan's pleasure at flying, spreading his wings wide and curving in long arcs above the countryside. And his enjoyment increased mine, helped my fear fall away beneath us as I trusted him. Because even if I somehow fell, I knew he would catch me the way he'd caught me yesterday. The safety of such knowledge spread over me like a blanket.
"Faster!" I yelled, and I could feel the grin inside his head.
He beat his wings as hard as he could, gaining altitude. The ground spread out below us in all directions; soon I could see a lake to the west that must have been Lake Weatherford, and in the distance to the east rose the skycrapers of downtown Fort Worth, tiny building blocks from so far away. Hell, I could almost see the curve of the earth from up here!
A thousand thoughts and emotions ran through my head, all of them good.
Ethan stopped flapping his wings, and we glided to an apex. Then we were falling, Ethan's wings pulled close to his body in a dive. We soared incredibly fast, recklessly so, and I wanted to call out for him to slow down but at the same time I trusted him completely. The wind was deafening in my ears and blew my hair all around, but Ethan's pale green feathers slicked back with beautiful aerodynamic form, because of course they were made for this.
This time he didn't dive dangerously close to the ground; he spread his wings and leveled out when we were still hundreds of feet in the air. Our momentum from the fall shot us forward ridiculously fast! I twisted my head and watched the ground speed by as Ethan glided forever.
"Are you sure you've never done this before?" I shouted into his ear when our momentum was wasted and he finally had to start flapping his wings.
Just the one time. I promise.
"You're a natural!"
He curved back around toward our car, then made a long spiral above it, slowly descending, testing a different strategy then simple falling straight down. When we reached the ground he landed lightly, barely more than a bump.
I slid down off his back and ran a hand through my crazy hair. I should have tied it back; it was all over the place from our flight. But I couldn't make the silly grin disappear from my face.
Was it as good for you as it was for me? Ethan joked.
"I feel like I need a cigarette." I bent down to pick up my notepad and pen, but I didn't know what to write except: flying is totally awesome.
And then, before I could think of what to do next, Ethan began transforming back.
It was like watching the earlier shapeshifting, but in reverse. The feathers disappeared first, puffing out of existence as quickly as they had appeared, the skin and bone from his naked wing folding into Ethan's back. His entire torso shrunk. His lion's tail was sucked back into his hindquarters (which quickly became a pair of human butt cheeks.) His beak receded, then the feathers of his face were fading away, replaced by normal human skin surrounding normal human eyes, as green and brilliant as the gem on his collar.
The collar was gone, though. I hadn't seen it disappear, but it was now a distant memory.
And then Ethan was a human man, bulges of impressive muscle, nude from head to heel.
He shivered for a moment, then touched his body with tentative hands. "Oh man. That's... oh man."
"Cold out here?" I said, allowing my gaze to drift to his crotch.
He quickly hopped over to my bag and unfolded his jeans. "That's not funny!"
"It was a little funny."
"Stop it." He turned a hilarious shade of crimson as he put his jeans on without underwear, and then pulled the shirt over his chest.
I felt incredibly attached to him in that moment, the afterglow of our incredible experience. Watching him transform and flying on him was more intimate than sex, and not just because of the weird mental bond we'd shared. It was an experience nobody else in the world could boast, something that was his and mine and ours alone.
I wrapped him in a hug, feeling the warmth of his body. His human body.
"So how did you transform back?" I asked. "I thought I'd need to press the totem or something."
He shrugged, and ran a hand through his messy hair. The motion was incredibly sexy; I felt the urge to throw him on the ground and do more than just hug.
But before I could give in to my urge, he took my hand and said, "I'm famished. Let's go get some food."