Forbidden by Fate by Kristin Miller Read Free Book Online

edge of the cliff, head hung low, knuckles to the earth.
    “You ready for this?” he said.
    Hell yes. “Too late to turn back now.”
    He nodded. His change had begun.
    Tingly currents of electricity surged through Sasha’s veins and settled in her stomach, warning her that she was going to enjoy his transformation and the coming ride too much for her own good. The jolt through her body only intensified as Damon began to tremble, his muscles contracting and convulsing as they shifted from human to dragon.
    Teardrop-shaped scales draped over his shoulders and down his back. They were every shade of gray, from charcoal to ash to glossy platinum, all meshed together to create an immaculate coat of armor that’d be soft to the touch.
    Sasha knew firsthand how silky those scales felt against her fingers.
    Large, sturdy wings unfolded from his back, stretching out, thickening to such a wide breadth that Sasha didn’t know if he’d fit on the ledge at all. His neck elongated, bulked up. And his eyes…when they set upon her, they were a lustrous silvery gray, like liquid metal removed from a fire.
    With a loud snort, Damon nudged his nose at the gorge, then back to her. Time to go.
    Sasha emerged from the rainforest, and, though she didn’t know why, she moved cautiously to his side. It was ridiculous to be timid, she thought. Somewhere within the massive dragon before her was the man she knew. The one who could read her anger, her nerves…even her heart, if she’d let him.
    It was Damon, through and through.
    She rubbed her hands over his snout. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against her hand, a compassionate motion that squeezed Sasha’s heart in a vise. She shouldn’t like this. Shouldn’t let herself get attached to this feeling stirring in her chest.
    But she couldn’t help it.
    Reluctantly, Sasha used his leg to prop hers and leaped onto his back.
    Settling on his the middle of his back, though her legs didn’t fit around him—not by a long shot—Sasha braced for their flight. And she wondered where, on whose territory exactly , they were going to set down again.
    Damon gave a shudder and flattened the long span of his body against the ground. With a burst of speed that had Sasha shrieking and burying her face into his neck, Damon leaped off the edge of the gorge, shot like a bullet, his wings tucked tightly against him.
    They rode a wild current of air, lifting higher and higher, before his wings seemed to explode from his sides. With a loud whooshing sound, like sails catching wind, they banked left, hard and fast.
    The wind felt refreshing against Sasha’s face. Prickling, but not cold. It whipped through her hair, whistled through her ears. She had the overwhelming urge to ride Damon with no hands, rise up and lift her hands into the sky. The feeling of soaring through the endless blue—both weightless and limitless—lifted Sasha’s spirit higher than it had ever been.
    Without realizing it, Sasha squeezed her thighs around Damon’s middle, urging him on.
    He pounded his wings faster, relentlessly upward into the clouds. Sasha held on tight, bending over the slight arch in his back to help him gain speed. Her heart raced. His pace matched. The sun shone bright off his scales, reflecting a rainbow of colors—blues, reds, greens. Sasha held her breath, trying to savor the magic of this moment.
    As they reached the peak of their arc in the sky, Damon beat his wings slowly, flattening out. He glided over a pocket of wind. Then he let them fall down, ever slowly. It was as if they’d raced up the summit of Were Mountain and were now flying down the backside. They spiraled. Sasha held on tight, her arms wrapping around Damon’s neck, her fingers digging into his scales.
    The powerful beating of his wings whipping the air resounded in Sasha’s ears. They were drums against the crisp leather of the air. They were knives, slicing through thin, cotton-candy clouds.
    They were glorious.
    Damon was