WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) (24 page)

“Surrender.”

“No.”

“You want to.”

“Yes,” he bites out like simply saying the word bests him. Shadow pushes the waist of his pants down and draws her mouth near, tightening her tail oh so slightly. His salt meets her tongue as she explores his head with her lips opening just enough to pull it in.

Talon’s high pitched ‘please’ causes her tail to release and she backs away proud of them both.

He sits, pulling her up and wraps his arms around her, stroking her tail with one hand. Then a kiss before his tongue works its way to her throat. Absolutely tender, Talon gets to his knees and lifts her up. After a moment he presses the tip of his shaft against her center, kissing her weak mouth as her weight sinks her down until she’s filled with him.

Jesus, he’s the most gentle and beautiful man Shadow’s ever seen or felt. They’ve both dominated and submitted, true equals connected as one.

“I was so worried I’d overestimate you that I underestimated you, Shadow.”

She works her tail between their legs and coils it around his to be close in every way she can.

“Read my mind, Talon. I can’t explain what I’m feeling now,” Shadows wings are lowered as are his. The time for dominance is over. “Tell me what it is.”

“Trust.” Talon’s pure black eyes bore into hers. “Pure, absolute, trust.”

The lazy smile on Shadow’s lips says his beautiful white gryphon got as much from their foreplay as he did. Devious and adorable, the surprise of her attack nearly set him off in his pants. She could very well have shifted claws and fangs and done some serious damage but that wasn’t her goal. Threat and imagination were what the lead up to coupling was all about.

Her mouth finds his; the heat between her legs mirrored in her tongue. Shadow uses her whole body on him, pushing away before he pulls her back down then her wings flare with his and like an awkward first kiss they bash together to find their perfect fit.

Talon gets his hands under her ass and lifts her as he thrusts up from below just as she nestles her wings around them both, under his. Mirroring her, he covers her completely like they’re in a nest they made together of their own feathers.

“Talon,” she whispers. There is no hint of the day’s troubles or even the past few year’s troubles in her, simply the balance of granting him a successful hunt and achieving that same victory herself. Both predator and prey.

As they move together Talon whispers in the old words; to her, to him and to the Earth. Part of him is back on hands and knees on the frozen riverbed repeating Stalker’s words; first a promise for Shadow, that she’ll learn the ways of the females’ magic, how to respect the dead and prepare them for their return to the Earth and that she’ll teach her daughters the same.

“Yes,” she murmurs in his ear as if she agrees and she shouts, coming apart in his arms as she strokes him from inside tempting him to join but he only slows down, keeping her on the edge as he makes his own promise that their sons will learn the ways of honouring the Earth like he learned from his brave sire.

Only when she teases her bite on his shoulder with her tongue does he offer the final prayer. Talon takes the largest tooth mark on her hip between his thumb and finger rolls it between his fingertips. Shadow cries out a second time, throwing her head back. Her wings pull free and beat hard, nearly lifting her away. Friction sparks between their wings tinting hers in blue and his in black flashes of light. Talon’s voice fades to a whisper and he holds her down, uttering the prayer he’ll say every time they couple on the wing: fertility, conception and a healthy dame and offspring.

The cool metal of her new adornment presses on his chest as she clings, arms around his neck and wings high forcing their way above his. Then there’s nothing but her soft laughter as her tail relaxes its powerful hold on his, tip twitching and softly striking his ass.

“Shadow, look,” Talon says as they shudder together one final time and he lowers his eyes, anxious to see her adornment. He expects the simple gold garment typical of a younger male such as himself and is as stunned by its composition as Shadow is by its very presence.

A deceivingly delicate sheet of silver-white platinum drapes over her breasts like satin. Talon follows the fine chains connecting the sides around under her wings and finds that rather than join like the others he’s seen they twist together up along her spine before splitting to pass over her shoulders. There they widen, joining naturally with the front as part of the butter soft platinum weave.

Then there’s the star field of tiny diamonds placed so perfectly he couldn’t find them by touch alone.

“And it’s only half as beautiful as she is,” he catches himself speaking out loud.

“What is it?” she looks at him for only a second before holding her hands over it, running them down over her breasts.

“It’s my adornment. It represents my hidden treasure, my hoard. It’s modest and will grow as my hoard does.”

Damn, it’s hard to believe that’s true but I said it so it must be.

“Adornment?” Shadow can’t take her eyes off it. “Like Arden’s?”

“Yes. When you’re human it will be nothing more than a necklace. Look,” he directs as he pulls it up. It appears to change shape enough he can expose her nipples. “It moves for me… feeding children.”

“But…” she loses her voice and he’s sick with her disappointment. True it’s skimpy but he’s proud of it. He’s never heard of one that isn’t gold or a white gryphon for that matter.

“It’s not much…” he tries but her sadness only seems to deepen.

“Talon, it’s amazing. It’s I just met Echo and Mist and Tawny told me about being in season and I just hoped that maybe we could still,” she lets out a big sigh and half a smile. “After last week I never thought I’d be unhappy about waiting for years maybe. What if we were human?”

Shadow seems to brighten at the idea of children and it sucks to be the gryphon to shut it down.

“I wouldn’t risk you like that,” Talon lays on the mat and she curls up with him. Her tail wraps around, resting on his stomach and he fingers the tuft at the end. “A gryphon pregnancy lasts nearly a full year and even though it’s twins they’re no bigger than human twins. A human pregnancy would last the same amount of time but would keep growing and growing, so big the dame doesn’t usually survive.”

“I see,” the feelings he gets from her aren’t any happier but he goes on since the rest is something the gryphon in her needs to know.

“That’s not all. Human conceived children are completely human and are given up. I never want you to go through that.”

“Given up?” Shadow pushes herself sitting and noisily figures out what to do with her wings. The noise is unnecessary; she’s completely aggravated. “Like I was?”

“These days, yes.”

“What do you mean these days?” Shadow pulls her tail away.

“A long time ago they were abandoned.”

What he can see of the dark room dims with the fatigue that follows any Earth transformation, like manifesting her adornment.  Shadow yawns, slumping to the stone wall. Taking wing requires protein especially until she becomes efficient with her blood supply and with the long flight to Vancouver Island she needs to recover as much as she can before they leave.

“I’m not going home again am I?” she takes his arm again studying the burn. “That’s what this is, the three lines bound together: the past, the present and the future all together on you.

“Permanently.

“A week ago I thought I had to heal the past to even be in the present but now I know I’m already there. It’s not so much my mark but a message only I could understand. Something I needed to hear.”

As she pulls his arm close to kiss the burn he feels her wings. The layer of white down beneath the fine feathers is so thick it’s almost spongy. Her flight feathers are narrower than his but there are so many. And that tail. She uses it like a tool, longer and far more flexible than any he’s seen, and she won’t stop touching him with it. Even when she’s still it explores, so insanely erotic his mind wanders as he imagines if she could coil it as tight as her fist.

“First we’ll go to your eyrie,” he reassures her. “Your gryphons haven’t had heated water or light since your dame passed. It’s not as cold as here, I’m told. Your magic will give them those things again and keep them safe like when you forbade Torrent from entering my house. The eyrie entrance is so low when the storms kick up the sea spray comes right in and it’s coated white with salt.”

“My?” she blurts out. “No warm water? But there are babies!”

“You’re a good Dame,” Talon gives her affection, stroking the back of her neck. “Sshhh, we leave first thing in the morning, Dame Shadow, and your gryphons will be proud to have you home.

“You don’t have to give up your brother’s apartment. If there are things you want to bring to the eyrie, we’ll bring them. If you want to sell it, then sell. If you want to keep it just the way it is that’s fine too, just keep in mind you’ll outlive the building by centuries.”

She nods against his shoulder as her tail comes up, caressing the edge of his ear.

“Did you really dream about me after we met?”

“I didn’t know what they meant then. I understand them now.”

“It’ll be like that, when we get outside on our own, whenever you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Fuck yeah,” Talon promises around a huge yawn. “I gotta eat, coming?”

“No.”

“Alright,” he answers. Shadow returns his kiss then he steps from the den and into the tunnel. It’s clear she’s not in touch with the physical change she’s been through since she doesn’t recognize her very gryphon need for food. “Get your trousers on. I’ll bring you something.”

Chapter Twenty

A shrill cry sounds from the end of the tunnel. Talon has the light on before it fades, adjusting his eyes to the brightness to give himself a moment of advantage before whoever it is reaches the den and has to do the same.

“Talon?” Shadow is on her feet as a loud ‘ow’ effectively covers up the purpose filled steps and feather sounds of several gryphons.

Then a chilling scream fills Shadow with the scent of dread and puts pure ice in his heart.

“Cloud,” she bolts past as he grabs her and she nearly drags him to the tunnel.

“Dame Sha—”

Cloud’s voice falls to a whimper as the four sets of feet turn to three. When Shadow raises her wings Talon uses their weight to keep her off balance and pull her away from the tunnel.

First through the opening is one of Sher’s guard followed by Black-Eye and Cloud, suspended by her red hair from his big fists. The girl’s hands scratch at his arm and he can only imagine how painful it is with the added weight of her wings. Cloud’s trousers and tunic are smeared with blood as are her hands and Black-Eye’s arm.

Last out is Soar before Talon loses sight of everyone. Shadow’s wings flare in fury and her throaty hiss sets his hair on edge. Talon’s own dame once ran off a visiting rogue for picking up Feather’s dinner instead of his own, so Talon lets Shadow go and drops to one knee to avoid riling her further. Soar has the sense to do the same and with his eyes on the ground is about as submissive as he could ever hope to get. Next to him is Black-Eye’s kneeling accomplice. What the hell went on with Cloud to make Shadow react like this?

Talon prays he’s doing a good job of keeping his threat down because he’s the one who’s going to have to stop her from leaving Black-Eye in pieces. The poor gryphon his dame went after fled the eyrie missing half an ear.