Chapter 192: He Kissed Her

He turned to face her fully, and his hands came up to cup her face the way they had at dinner, his pale eyes burning into hers.

"And I’ve been trying to be patient. Trying to be careful. Trying to do this the way Thorne wanted, the way Draeven decided was best. But patience is finished, Morgana. The Selection is over. There is nothing left to wait for."

His thumbs brushed across her cheekbones, the gesture tender but also possessive, claiming.

"You are ours," he said quietly. "Do you understand? Not just because we said it, not just because we protect you, but because from the moment you arrived in this palace, something in us recognized you. My dragon recognized you."

Morgana could barely breathe. His words were hitting something deep inside her, something that recognized truth even when that truth was overwhelming.

"I don’t understand," she whispered. "What does your dragon recognize?"

Kaelen was silent for a moment, his pale eyes searching hers.

"I’m not entirely sure," he admitted. "But Thorne thinks you’re a something we have to study. Draeven believes you’re something far more significant than that. And GLACIUS... my dragon thinks you’re the answer to questions we’ve been asking for two centuries."

He dropped his hands from her face and stood, moving away from the chair, the tension in his body becoming more pronounced.

"But that’s not why I summoned you tonight," he said, running his hand through his hair. "I summoned you because I can’t be in this room with you without losing my mind. I can’t be this close to you without wanting to do things that the council and the palace and basic propriety all say I should wait to do."

He turned back to face her.

"So we’re going to leave," he said. "Come with me."

Morgana stood slowly, understanding without asking that something significant was about to happen.

Kaelen moved to a large chest at the foot of his bed and withdrew a cloak. It was made of deep gray fabric, lined with something that looked like silk, and it was enormous, clearly designed for someone of his size and strength.

"Put this on," he said, draping it around her shoulders.

The cloak engulfed her. It fell past her feet, its fabric heavy and warm and carrying his scent, something woodsy and smoky and uniquely him. When she wrapped it around herself, she felt smaller than she was, protected, surrounded by something that belonged to him.

Kaelen watched her, his pale eyes tracking every movement, every reaction.

"You look good in my things," he said quietly.

He took her hand and led her from the chamber, through the corridors that were quieter now as the palace settled toward true night. They did not encounter any servants, Kaelen seemed to know which corridors would be empty, which routes would keep them from observation.

They descended through the palace and emerged into the night air.

The evening was cool, the stars beginning to show in the darkening sky. The palace grounds were quieter at this hour, though there were still guards at various points, torches burning to light the pathways.

Kaelen led her away from the main pathways, toward the edges of the palace grounds, toward the area where the land began to rise and the developed palace gardens gave way to wilder terrain.

As they walked, Morgana became increasingly aware of the isolation, the way the world had narrowed to just the two of them and the night around them.

"Are you afraid?" Kaelen asked as they walked.

Morgana considered the question honestly.

"Yes," she admitted. "But not of you."

"Of what, then?"

"Of what’s about to happen," she said. "Of how it will change everything."

Kaelen squeezed her hand gently.

"Everything has already changed," he said. "We’re just catching up to it now."

***

They reached the edge of the palace grounds, where the stone gave way to a natural cliff face that overlooked the valley beyond. The view from here was vast, the kingdom spread out below them in the darkness, the distant lights of the capital visible in one direction, nothing but wild landscape in the others.

Kaelen stopped at the cliff edge and turned to face her.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yes," Morgana said, and she meant it completely.

"GLACIUS is going to come out now," he said, his pale eyes burning. "I’m going to transform. And I’m going to take you somewhere only the dragons can go. Can you do that? Can you trust me that completely?"

Morgana nodded, though her heart was racing, though part of her understood that she was about to cross a line from which there would be no return.

Kaelen reached out and pulled her close.

"One more thing," he said, his voice rough with need and control fighting each other. "Before I can’t think clearly anymore."

He kissed her.

It was not the careful, controlled kiss of a king managing his behavior. It was the kiss of a man, and a dragon, who had been waiting and wanting for far too long. His mouth was demanding, passionate, consuming. His hands pulled her close, drawing her against his body with a possessiveness that left no room for question about how he felt.

Morgana kissed him back, matching his intensity, understanding that this was not a moment for hesitation or restraint. This was a moment for presence, for commitment, for answering his hunger with her own.

When he finally pulled back, both of them were breathing hard.

"Don’t be afraid," he whispered against her lips. "I have you. I will always have you."

He stepped back.

And then he began to change.

It was not a smooth or gentle transformation.

It was violent, beautiful, terrifying.

Kaelen’s body rippled and expanded. His bones cracked and reformed. His skin became scales....pale silver and white, shot through with veins of translucent light. His fingers became talons, his human face transformed into something ancient and primal and utterly inhuman.

The transformation took only moments, but it felt like an eternity of watching a man become a dragon.