Chapter Eight

 
 
 

Kyle absently scratched the top of Phyrrhos’s withers and chuckled when the mare turned to thrust her butt under Kyle’s hand. “Just like your warrior. Never subtle.”

The dragon horse—currently in normal horse form under the afternoon sun—shook her head and backed another step to bump her rump against Kyle’s chest.

“Okay, okay.” Kyle scraped her blunt nails along the skin around the base of the mare’s tail, and Phyrrhos lifted her nose in the air like a dog enjoying a good scratch.

“You’ve got to stop spoiling her because she’s starting to expect the same treatment from me.”

Pleasure flooded Kyle at the sound of her mate’s voice. Still, she frowned.

“Not glad to see me?” Tan asked. Her tone was casual, not worried.

Kyle sighed. “How did you know I was here?”

“That is my dragon horse you’re servicing. I called for her because I needed a ride to go look for you. But I got a clear picture back, indicating she was busy right now because you were scratching all her itchy spots.”

“I came up to see Sunfire, but she’s wandered off somewhere.”

Tan turned in a semicircle to scan the high meadow carved into the side of the mountain. A cave on the mountain’s face provided shelter during inclement weather, but only a thin line of scrubby trees ringed the other three sides before sloping sharply down from the meadow’s edge. You’d practically have to be a mountain goat to reach the meadow on foot, so it made the perfect daytime pasture for the dragon horses while they were wingless. “Wasn’t she here this morning? Doesn’t she respond when you call her?”

“I think she was. But…” Kyle stared at her feet.

Tan’s palm, rough and thick like those of all pyros, cupped Kyle’s cheek. “What is it, babe? I thought we said no more secrets between us.”

Kyle’s frown deepened. “You didn’t tell me about Jael’s problem.”

Tan kissed her gently, then drew back. Kyle stared at her feet as Tan’s fingers tightened around the nape of Kyle’s neck. “Look at me.”

Kyle raised her eyes to meet Tan’s gaze.

“I’m a physician, Kyle. That means I won’t tell you things because of doctor-patient privacy. I hadn’t checked my d-messages until this morning and found one from Alyssa giving me permission to share that information with The Guard. We didn’t have a chance to talk before the lunch meeting. That’s the only reason I hadn’t told you before I informed the others.”

Kyle gathered Tan in her arms and buried her face in Tan’s neck. She inhaled Tan’s unique scent of shea butter and musk. Stars, she loved this woman. Tan was her anchor, her strength. A niggling premonition told her she’d need that more than ever in the coming weeks. “Sorry. I’m just feeling a little…conflicted right now.”

Tan kissed her again, lingering as their lips brushed together. “Let me help you think this through, then.” She turned and drew Kyle’s long arms around her. Tan wasn’t short, but Kyle was about ten centimeters taller. They often assumed this emotionally and physically comfortable position for personal talks. Kyle liked to rub her cheek against the soft curls of Tan’s mohawk, and Tan would absently trail her fingernails back and forth on Kyle’s forearms. “Let’s start with why you don’t know where Sunfire has gone.” Tan held on to the arms wrapped around her when Kyle started to pull away. “No secrets.”

Kyle relaxed after a few seconds and confessed. “I’m not sure we’re fully bonded.”

“No? But you communicated with her while she was still in the womb.”

Kyle tensed again at Tan’s snapped response, then brushed her cheek along Tan’s mohawk to calm herself. They hadn’t had time to discuss her relationship to Sunfire while Phyrrhos still carried the unborn foal, but Kyle suspected some unresolved feelings remained from the pregnant Phyrrhos being partially drawn to Kyle rather than focusing solely on Tan, her bonded warrior.

Tan responded with an affectionate stroke along Kyle’s arm. “Tell me why you aren’t sure.”

“Well, it’s like she stalks me. She shows up here and there, following me. I see her flying around at night overhead and trotting behind me during the day, but she won’t come close enough to touch. I still get mental pictures from her, but no indication that she hears what I try to send back.”

“So, you haven’t been able to catch her at dusk for a proper bonding?”

Kyle shivered as Tan grasped her hand and tickled her nails against the thick calluses of Kyle’s palm. Only another pyro would know that would send a bolt of current straight to her clit. “No. Sunfire’s never here. She must be part mountain goat.” She dropped light kisses across Tan’s newly shaved skull, behind her ear, and along the side of her neck. Two could play this game.

“Okay. It’s hours until dusk, so I know that’s not why you’re here now. Let’s talk about the other reason.”

Kyle stopped her kisses, resting her forehead on Tan’s shoulder. The jerk to reality was as effective as a cold shower. Tan not only was her confidante, but the very person who deserved a heads-up. “Furcho’s falling apart. I’ve known him all my life, but I don’t know the man he’s becoming since Nicole was abducted.”

“I agree.” Tan gently extracted herself from Kyle’s embrace and took her hand to lead her to the edge of the meadow. They sat in the grass, half facing each other and half looking out over the herd.

Kyle stared at her expectantly. Tan hadn’t released her hand. Was she about to reveal something else she’d been withholding?

“Don’t look at me like that.” Tan smiled and entwined her fingers with Kyle’s. “I happen to know that you come up here because watching the herd settles you.” She squeezed Kyle’s fingers. “That and rubbing your face in my hair.”

Kyle chuckled and, in a rare flash of shyness, dropped her gaze to their joined hands. “You know all my secrets.”

“Not all, I suspect, but I do know this. You were born to be Second Warrior.”

Kyle jerked her eyes back to Tan’s. Her mate’s expression was completely serious. “I haven’t actually been officially inducted into The Guard.”

“There’s no ceremony, Kyle, especially when we’re in the middle of a war. The First Warrior declares it, and it’s done. In this case, you were inducted by silent consent of The Guard. Did you see anyone object when you stepped up at lunch today?”

It was a bold move, Kyle knew, but it felt right, and she’d done it without a second thought—the same way she always seemed to end up leading whatever group she joined. Tan had been the only one to force her to follow until she proved herself.

“But if Furcho is unable to fill the job of Second Warrior, you are next in line. I’d never challenge you.”

“And Jael knows I’d never accept the job. I’m the best scout in the group and the only physician. I love being a surgeon and won’t give that up to spend my time pondering battle strategy.”

“What about the others?”

“I ask again: did anyone challenge you today?”

Kyle shook her head and stared out at the horses. “Only Furcho.” She kissed Tan’s hand that she held in hers and rubbed her cheek against Tan’s knuckles. “I’m not like Jael. I’m not sure I have the heart of a warrior. I love being a farmer in the same way you love being a surgeon.”

Tan smiled. “Nobody is like Jael. Danielle was a chef at heart and a relentless organizer. It’s our noble sense of right, our need to protect, and our dragon genes that compel us to answer the call of duty.”

Kyle nodded. She felt so fortunate to have a mate who understood the complexity of living in two worlds. Her worries mostly assuaged, Kyle let her eyes drift to the graceful neck she’d been tasting only minutes before. Her thoughts moved lower, and she shifted slowly until she was straddling Tan’s lap and pushing her back onto the grass while capturing those lush lips. Their couplings were sometimes playful battles for dominance, but Tan willingly acquiesced to Kyle’s unspoken need after a brief war of tongues.

“Do we have time?” Kyle broke their kiss and sucked at the pulse visibly throbbing in Tan’s neck as she worked the buttons open on her lover’s sleeveless bush shirt.

Tan moaned her approval and thrust her hips upward. She wasn’t as patient, grabbing the neck of Kyle’s T-shirt and tearing it with her teeth so she would rip the shirt open. “I thought you wanted to find Sunfire.”

Kyle pulled the Velcro closure on Tan’s support band. She was careful since Tan would have to wear it while she wore Tan’s shirt back to camp. She was familiar with Tan’s T-shirt-tearing compulsion, having sneaked back into camp bare-chested more than once after other impromptu outdoor encounters.

They both fumbled with the closure on the other’s field pants. Kyle stood and tugged Tan’s boots off to yank her pants down her long legs and toss them aside. Tan stared up and pulled her knees up, opening her legs wide to expose herself. Kyle sucked in the scent of Tan’s glistening sex as she shoved her own pants down to her ankles and fell to her knees between Tan’s legs.

Tan reached up for her. They would make love later, slow and sweet. But Tan wouldn’t fail to answer Kyle’s more primal need now, just as Kyle would when Tan required it. Kyle rubbed her swollen clit through the silky evidence of Tan’s arousal, bearing down and grunting as each thrust pushed her closer to relief.

“Like that, baby. Take what you need. Come on.” Tan wrapped her legs around Kyle’s hips and met each pump of her hips.

“Tan, Tan.” Kyle’s blood pounded loud in her ears, hard in her chest, and nearly to the point of pain in her clit. Thrust and rub, thrust and rub.

“Yeah, babe. Just like that. Stars, I’m going to come. I’m going to come. I’m…going…to…come.” Tan’s legs tightened, then released, tightened then released to urge Kyle faster and harder.

“Give it to me, Tanisha. Come for me.” Kyle closed her eyes and focused on the glide of Tan’s flesh against hers. She shortened her thrusts to meet the cadence of Tan’s chant.

“I’m (stroke) going (stroke) to (stroke) come (stroke).”

Tan gasped, her strong legs tightening like a vise around Kyle’s hips. Kyle threw her head back, Tan’s climax coalescing in her own belly like a churning sphere, then bursting in her belly to stiffen her spine and slam against her sides. Wait, what?

Slam.

Kyle opened her eyes and stared down at Tan, whose eyes were wide and focused on something behind Kyle.

Slam.

Dragon wings were slapping Kyle on both sides. “Phyrrhos, what the jump?”

Slam.

“No…not…not dark yet. Duck.” Tan’s stuttered words and outstretched hands failed to hold back another assault of wings.

Kyle rolled away and to her feet, nearly stumbling because of her pants that trapped her ankles. She yanked her pants up. Three things clicked in her brain immediately. It was hours until sunset, yet a fully transformed dragon horse stood before them. The dragon horse was not Phyrrhos. And the red-gold filly was inhaling to shoot a stream of fire at Tan, still naked on the ground. “Sunfire, no!”

The filly’s fire was so pure, Tan would have never been able to block it if Kyle’s powerful flame hadn’t joined in. When the filly ran out of flame, they extinguished theirs as well. Her ears flicked back and forth, her red dragon eyes pulsing as her coppery hide glittered in the sun. Stars above, she was beautiful.

Kyle moved toward the young dragon horse, drawing her attention while Tan kept an eye on them and carefully gathered her pants, support band, and boots to dress. The filly snorted and took a tentative step back. “Easy, Sunfire. You know me, and it’s time we had a head-to-head, get-to-know-each-other.”

Sunfire stopped, raised her nose, and curled her upper lip to better open her olfactory sensors and take in Kyle’s scent. Kyle stopped her approach and waited until Sunfire took a tentative step forward.

“That’s right. You know me.”

Sunfire’s ears worked and her eyes pulsed.

“You know my voice, don’t you? That’s what you really recognize.” Kyle resisted turning her head toward the movement in her peripheral vision but noted Phyrrhos was ambling their way. Tan smoothly intercepted her, pressing her forehead to her mare’s. But the motion drew Sunfire’s attention. No, no, no. This was the time. Kyle could feel it. No distractions. “So, what was all that wing-slapping about?”

Sunfire swung her head back to Kyle.

“Did you think I was hurting Tan? Or maybe that she was hurting me? Maybe you were jealous? Do I need to explain to you what she means to me and what we were doing?”

Sunfire snorted short blue flames and shook her entire body like a dog.

Kyle laughed at the dragon expression of “yuk.” The sound seemed to amuse Sunfire. She bobbed her head, then stepped closer, her ears pricked forward to take in the sound. They were little more than thirty centimeters apart now.

“Maybe you just wanted my attention because you have something to tell me?” Kyle opened her hands, palms up, but didn’t raise them. “Remember when you were still inside? I could hear you if I touched your mother’s belly where you were growing.”

Sunfire’s double eyelids clicked shut as though she was closing her eyes to think.

“I need to touch you now to complete our bond so we’ll be able to share thoughts even when we aren’t touching.” She didn’t know how much language the dragon horses understood, but she did know they communicated in pictures, so she tried to concentrate on forming pictures in her mind of what they needed to do.

Sunfire stretched her long, elegant neck and snuffled along Kyle’s face. Kyle exhaled to share her scent, and the filly lifted her nose and curled her lip to take it in. Seemingly satisfied, Sunfire dropped her head again to snuffle Kyle’s neck, bare chest, armpits, crotch, and, finally, upturned palms. A hot tongue swiped across Kyle’s fingers that moments before had been inside Tan, and Sunfire repeated the lip-curling move. This time she snorted and shook her head. Kyle laughed again, and Sunfire head-butted her in the chest in response.

In one swift move, Kyle grabbed Sunfire’s ears and pressed her forehead between the V of ridges that ran from crown to nose on the dragon horse. She held tight when Sunfire jerked in surprise, then froze as heat rose where their heads touched and clear pictures—not just impressions—began to form in both their heads.

Kyle pictured them flying together, leading an army of dragon horses and their warriors through the night sky. In return, a picture formed in her mind of a solar plane making a crash landing in a meadow surrounded by tall mountains. Kyle pictured Sunfire as a regular horse during the day. The picture that returned was the dragon horse standing before her. Kyle pictured a night sky full of stars, and the return picture was Sunfire the dragon horse flying in the day sky, too? Kyle pictured Sunfire as a regular horse with no backdrop of either day or night. The filly stomped her foot and rattled her wings in irritation. Sunfire is a dragon horse, came the firm response. Kyle smiled and formed a beautiful picture of Sunfire glittering in the light, graceful wings outstretched and spitting perfect blue-white flame. This image seemed to please the filly, who broke their physical connection to nibble at Kyle’s neck, then rub her head against Kyle’s chest.

“Ow, ouch.” Kyle pushed her head away. “Those ridges hurt when I don’t have a shirt on.”

Undaunted, Sunfire turned and extended her wings to prance in a showy circle. Kyle glanced over at Tan, who grinned and tossed her shirt to Kyle.

“Go ahead. Take some time to get acquainted. I’m going to check to see if my network has responded.”

With a whoop, Kyle slipped into the shirt without bothering to close it, executed a running mount, clamped her long legs around Sunfire’s lean frame, and grabbed a handful of mane as they launched skyward.