Heir to Frost and Storm: A steamy MM fantasy romance (Court of Broken Bonds Book 2) by Ben Alderson

Author:Ben Alderson [Alderson, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781837909247
Publisher: Second Sky
Published: 2023-11-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

I don’t know how long we were left like that, two grieving creatures, shedding tears over what had been lost—what had been taken from us. Whereas I refused to let Dayn’s limp body go, the dragon cowered over shattered shells and an empty nest, her whimpering blending in symphony with mine.

It was only when the dragon shifted her attention to me that reality seemed to catch up. The dragon stared at me with storm-grey eyes, a rumbling growl building in her chest. I expected her to open her jaw and engulf me. I felt fury flowing from her in waves, so powerful that it was hard to separate from my own.

She looked to Dayn, nostrils flaring as she took in the scent of fresh blood. A forked tongue slipped between her curling lips, brushing over rows of teeth the size of blades.

‘You can’t have him,’ I screamed, unable to separate my emotions from the creature’s.

The dragon didn’t attack, not as I expected she would. Instead, she watched as I shed my pain, cradling Dayn to my chest, his blood soaking my shirt. I supposed the dragon recognised my suffering. She recognised death. In a way, I saw it reflected in her ancient eyes.

Her offspring had been torn from their nest, never to return. Not only did the creature share in the internal agony, but her body was also riddled with wounds. Gashes marred her belly and hide; her wings ruined with tears. Dark blood slithered across brass-gold scales, marks left from the mages’ restraints.

She shifted closer, expelling a drawn-out whimper from deep within her throat.

My hold on Dayn tightened, my lips drawing back into a snarl. ‘Go away.’

I wondered if she understood me. The dragon pulled back and shook her long neck. Her features smoothed as she blinked both her eyelids, coating the sorrow in her serpentine eyes. No, not sorrow. It was understanding. I would recognise it anywhere.

When the dragon lowered her head towards us again, I didn’t refuse. She pressed her snout into Dayn’s side, nudging him as she had with the shattered egg. A puff of frozen air expelled beyond the slits of her nostrils, casting a gust of wind over me.

A single tear jewelled on my cheek, crystalising.

The kiss of ice shocked me enough to raise blood-soaked fingers and touch my face. The dragon followed, inquisitively watching my every move. She slipped closer, placing her wolfen-shaped head before me.

Instinct took over and I placed my hand atop her crown. The puckered scars of my mage-mark shivered as I brushed my palm across the cold, hard casing of scales. Resistance pushed against my touch as the dragon nuzzled into me. Then I saw it, a single tear escaping her storm-grey eyes—mirroring the one she had frozen upon my face.

We were bound together by loss, by grief. With the smashed egg to my side, Dayn’s broken skull bleeding on my lap—this creature and I were no different from one another.

Two beings bound as one.

The dragon growled, eyes narrowing as though communicating something to me.

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