Desert Fire (Legend and Lore Book 3) (9 page)

Brand bent down the rest of the way, catching Khatlah’s plump lips in a hard, passionate kiss. He wrapped his own hands around the back of Khatlah’s neck, feeling the soft fabric of the head-cloth against his palm.
 

Breaking away entirely too early, he fiddled with the fabric against his hands. “Why do you always wear this?” he questioned. No one else he saw ever wore a head-cloth at all times, especially not inside the palace.
 

“It is a sign of mourning,” Khatlah revealed, “to wear it at all times. At Sakoptari’s funeral pyre tonight everyone will be wearing one, and they will wear them for three days straight.”
 

“But you have worn yours since I first saw you,” Brand commented. “You were not in mourning then.”
 

“Yes, I was.” Khatlah smiled bitterly. “I have been wearing this since the day I lost Kamoor. I have been in mourning ever since... but I am not anymore, not after I met you, so I guess it is finally time to take it off.” He reached up with both hands and pulled the head-cloth back and down, then reached behind his neck and fished out a long, tightly braided plait.
 

The braid easily reached the small of Khatlah’s back and the hair was a dark shade of auburn. Brand reached out, not really thinking about he was doing, and wrapped the end of the braid around his hand, his thumb stroking the soft hair. He wanted to take off the band holding the braid together, wanted to tangle his hand in the loose strands, but he knew Khatlah must spend quite some time on all that hair, so he settled for the braid.
 

He pulled Khatlah close again, wrapping his other arm around his waist. “Yes, I guess it is time.” He kissed Khatlah again and that time he did not immediately pull back—he just kept kissing him until they were both out of breath. Brand rested his forehead against Khatlah’s and they laughed, both happy and nervous at the same time.
 

A second later they found themselves sprawled on the ground, and Brand looked up at the youngling dragon getting to her feet. Her spreading wings were what had knocked them over. The youngling dragon beat her wings and Brand had to duck further down, pressing Khatlah down with him to avoid being hit.
 

The dragon reared up on her hind legs and she started to shimmer brightly. Brand watched, eyes wide, as the shimmer gradually was replaced by colour—starting at her muzzle and going all the way down her body to the tip of her tail. A colour greatly resembling Khatlah’s hair...
 

The dragon turned her head and looked hard at Brand for several moments, then she beat her wings and rose. Brand scrambled to his feet, stared up at the underside of her belly as she rose high, and then she quietly glided away in the exact opposite way Kamoor and Sarab had gone. Khatlah got to his feet as well, standing close to Brand.
 

“She just... coloured,” Brand muttered, watching her get further and further away.
 

“Remarkable.” Khatlah sounded just as awed. “I have never seen a dragon colour before. It was... I do not have words for it.”
 

Brand tilted his head back down towards Khatlah. He ran his hand gently over Khatlah’s hair and gripped the end of the braid as he reached it. “It was the colour of your hair.”
 

Khatlah let out a choked laugh. “It was not. You are seeing things.”
 

Brand smiled slightly. “I can see better than you in the dark. It was the colour of your hair.” Brand kissed him before Khatlah could once more protest.
 

Khatlah relaxed into the kiss, arms going around Brand’s shoulders. Brand held him close and in that moment he never wanted to let go. He would be content to stay there on the roof, kissing Khatlah forever. For once he was master of his own life, and he had tried to give Khatlah an out... but Khatlah had not taken it, because Khatlah wanted him back, and so Brand was never going to let him go.
 

They did not know each other well, but they had the rest of their lives to figure it all out. Brand did not doubt for a second that they had that long... because Khatlah had proved that he did not stop loving easily by pining for Kamoor for such a long timeand Brand knew that neither did he.
 

About TR Rook

TR lives in Scandinavia and likes to write fantasy stories with elements drawn from Scandinavian mythology. The stories are often sweet, with some drama and action, and sometimes steamy.
 

TR enjoys to read, write books, and listen to music. It's not often TR writes fantasy anymore, but a new story can pop up whenever inspiration strikes.
 

You can find TR Rook on Facebook here:
 

https://www.facebook.com/TR-Rook-698367826970993/

Also by TR Rook

LEGEND & LORE

Fenris Forest

The Huntress

Desert Fire

The forest is dark as filled with monsters.

Fenris Forest

© 2016 TR Rook

In the hopes of gaining approval from his brother, Mihai accepts a challenge: head into Fenris Forest and retrieve a leaf from the rare Dragon’s Tear tree to prove he did what he swore. But the forest is filled with monsters—and everyone’s warned not go in it, because if they do not everyone comes back.
 

But Mihai’s longing for approval trumps his fear of what lives in the forest—and he ventures inside. In there he learns that everyone was right, that Fenris Forest should be avoided—because he’s attacked by one of the most dangerous creatures in there: a warg.
 

Mihai is certain he’ll die, like so many others that have gone into the forest… but then he is unexpectedly saved, and this brings around a motion of events that will change Mihai’s sheltered life forever.
 

When you’re looking for your own destiny
—
it finds you.
 

The Huntress

© 2016 TR Rook

Liv runs away from her spoilt and priviliged life as a princess to find her own destiny in the world. She knows she's made out for something other than prancing around in pretty dresses.
 

On her journey she meets a woman like no one she’s ever met before—and by journeying with her, Liv finally discovers her own place in the world, like she’s been longing to find out for so long.