Wyvern's Trim and other stories Read Free

opened her
eyes, but the wind made it impossible to see anything without
tearing up so she closed them again.
    She was glad
that he had put the fur coat over her as it was bitingly cold. She
wasn’t sure how long they were in the air, but she could tell when
they started coming in to land, as they slowed down and bobbed a
bit more.
    Patience opened
her eyes and saw the land rush towards them. Quickly she slammed
her eyes shut and tucked in her legs. Covering her head with her
arms, she prepared to crash into the ground. When they landed, she
was gently placed on cold flagstones.
    Because she had
tucked in her legs, she rolled a bit and came to rest on her knees.
She shook herself and slowly stood up.
    A flash of light
indicated that Andre had returned to his human form. Her legs were
wobbly so she didn’t turn to him, but concentrated on maintaining
her vertical nature.
    Andre asked,
“Are you all right?”
    She turned
slowly. “I don’t think people are meant to fly.”
    He flashed one
of his rare grins. “Come.”
    He was already
striding out of the courtyard so she called after him.
“Wait.”
    She stumbled
after him out of the courtyard of a castle.
    Glancing around,
she couldn’t tell where they were. Though they certainly were no
longer in the city. There were mountains around them, but they were
generic looking like mountains usually did.
    She stumbled
again and Andre caught her. “Hurry woman, it is bloody cold out
here.”
    That was when
she realized he wore only pants. His chest completely bare to the
elements. She was wearing his fur coat so she wasn’t surprised he
was cold.
    Patience
stumbled forward a little faster as her legs got used to being on
land.
    It was much
warmer once they were inside.
    Andre didn’t
slow down as he led her into the castle.
    She asked,
“Where are we?”
    He surprised her
by putting his arm around her waist. “This is my home.”
    She asked a
little stunned by the abrupt changes in her life, “Your
home?”
    She looked
around and mused, still bewildered. “I thought your town house was
your home.”
    He shrugged.
“That house is just where I stay when I am in the human world. This
was my first home here on this plane.”
    Andre opened a
door. “In here.”
    She entered. It
was a large bedroom. She spun around as Andre came into the room
and closed the door.
    He reached out
his arms and said in a low serious voice, “Give me your
hands.”
    She hesitated.
She knew from her years working with Andre that when he asked for
something like this in that tone it meant something
significant.
    Her eyes
narrowed. “What are you actually asking?”
    He countered
with his own question. “Do you think I consider you of worth? That
I allow you to use your mind?”
    That was an easy
question. “Yes.”
    He offered his
hands out to her again. “Then take my hands.”
    She reached out
and took his hands.
    Pain raced up
her arms and she tried to pull back but his hands tightened. He
pulled and twisted so her back was pressed against him and his arms
wrapped around her.
    His lips came to
her ear and said, “Just breathe through it. It will be over in a
moment.”
    The burn on her
arms and down her back faded away. Andre still held her.
    She breathed out
and after a moment she asked, “What was that?”
    He shifted and
pushed the sleeves of his fur coat out of the way so she could see
her arms. They were branded and she gasped.
    Patience turned
her head to look at him and said, “You bonded to me?”
    Dragons didn’t
marry like normal people. They had to bind themselves to a woman as
they weren’t entirely in this plane. Andre had explained once to a
businessman, but it had only confused her at the time, but less so
than the man Andre had been explaining it to.
    Dragons had to
bond with women and it was more than marriage. It was more than a
lifetime commitment as dragons were essentially immortal and the
bonding meant the women could live as long as the
dragons.
    She traced