SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (20 page)

God, she must have hit her head.

Miserable female.

All Cloud does is talk.

They drove west after breakfast and she
was silent for all of ten minutes. Probably while he ran into the gas station
to pay for the fill up and buy her a stack of magazines and top ten paperbacks.
At least in the gas station he didn
’
t
have to listen to her.

It doesn
’
t matter she
’
s in season and it drives him nuts. Soar
is quite certain she
’
s as annoyed as he is which
makes his desire for her even worse. Some of Talon and Shadow
’
s pre-mating arguments were as stupid as
they were intense. The best ones preceded one of them chasing the other from
the eyrie for exactly what Soar knows he should avoid with Cloud.

His miserable female.

In spite of his understanding he can
’
t ignore his hormones. Hormones he
shouldn
’
t have for her considering
they haven
’
t completed the Ritual of
Exchange where he offers her his bite. If she accepts by biting him in return
then she would offer her tears. The simple act of touching them will bind them
permanently. Soar would remember if that ever happened and considering neither
bears the other
’
s mark he
’
s sure.

The other thing he worries about is their
tail.

Not any gryphon tail; the one concerning
him, actually two, wear red leather armour and are occasionally visible high
above. They can only be members of the Council
’
s Will, possibly the same two he saw in Calgary. It
’
s rumoured many of them are
dragonkin, a mix of dragon and gryphon, and the dangerous enforcers are the
last thing anyone wants to run into. One for sure is dragonkin, Soar
’
s good friend Conflagration, and who
gives a gryphon kid a name like that anyway? The name made sense when Soar
learned what Con really is.

Cloud hasn
’
t noticed the pair and it seems whatever
went on at Cooper
’
s the night before follows
them. Soar hopes the Will has lost interest since he hasn
’
t seen them in a couple of hours.

With a sigh, Cloud drops the last
magazine on the floor with the others. The female reads like a demon, tearing
through three paperbacks while tormenting him with a running summary of their
plots, reading passages and exclaiming
‘
is that even possible
’
while turning the book
sideways to reread a sex scene to herself. Then she told him about each article
and shoved nearly every picture in his face. With the death of the last page
Soar hopes he
’
ll get some peace.

“
So,
”
she announces.
“
What else you got?
”

She looks so vulnerable all bandaged up
and dressed in his clothes until she opens her tormenting mouth; the same one
in which she stuck his toothbrush.

Soar turns to glare at her but the sun
chooses that moment to pound in, lighting up her red hair and making the gold
in her eyes sparkle like fire. It also shines off the metal clip holding the
bandage on her leg. Okay, the bad leg on his dash is somewhat acceptable. It
’
s covered at least and should be elevated
but when her other bare foot joins it he nearly pulls over.

“
Will you get your feet off the dash?
”

“
Jerk,
”
she mutters and slides her foot down,
catching the latch holding the glove box shut and popping it open.
“
Ah ha.
”

Soar tosses his hands up in surrender.
Between the dazzling smile, beautifully framed face and her genuine pleasure
with her discovery, he
’
s hopelessly proud she likes
something of his.

His good mood is short lived. It takes
her twenty minutes to tire of quizzing him on the maintenance manual. Then she
moves in on the insurance papers.

“
Pleasure use?
”

Soar keeps his mouth shut.

“
Pardon?
”
She demands although she knows damn well
he didn
’
t say a word.

“
It means I
’
m not using the vehicle for work.
”

“
Oh.
”

Silence.

Thank you.

“
So,
”
Cloud starts and hides a smile as Soar
flinches. Who knew encouraging PMS in a male could be so much fun? Once she
figured out the only way to fight his irritating behaviour was with her own his
PMS was much easier to deal with. It
’
s
like displaying dominance without going through the work of chasing him down,
catching him and stopping just short of killing him.
“
If you were taking something somewhere
for Sire Lev would it be work?
”

“
Yes,
”
Soar snaps, emphasized by a pop of his
jaw so she responds by putting her feet up.

“
Hm.
”

Instead of relaxing in the quiet she
grants, his fingers tighten on the wheel and his fists roll back and forth
around it. Then one hand drops to his crotch again and tugs at the denim seam
as he shifts his hips.

“
You know,
”
Cloud
says, doing her best to sound like a big know-it-all.
“
Talon
’
s truck has three foot pedals, not two
like yours and his hand stick is so much bigger. He touches it all the time.
”

“
Do you know anything about driving?
”

“
Lots,
I
’
ve been watching you all day.
”

“
Get your feet off the damn dash,
”
Soar growls so Cloud counts to ten before
she puts her feet back on the floor.

“
So if you
’
re taking me home because Talon said so
isn
’
t that work?
”

“
No.
”

“
Oh.
”

Soar exits right off the highway but
Cloud misses the sign and an opportunity to engage him in talk about it.

“
I
’
m hungry,
”
she
announces.

“
I
can
’
t imagine why,
”
Soar answers and speeds up.

“
We haven
’
t stopped in hours,
”
Cloud whines and likes the response. Soar
’
s pupils dilate and he glares at her as
the whites nearly disappear. A chill spreads down her spine and centres deep in
her belly as she turns her back on him, getting the growl she hoped for.

Traffic thickens as Soar drives north
across the Fraser River and into Mission. Cloud knows this part of the province
well and doesn
’
t need her maps to tell her
where she is. Annoying Soar helped her ignore Welch Peak as it passed them to
the south an hour before. The empty caverns are usually far from her thoughts
but thinking of Torrent earlier in the day makes her feel the dead eyrie
’
s presence in her own internal map.

Some things, like the location of her
birth eyrie, can be ignored but it always feels near. Welch Peak is a big red X attached to her with an unbreakable tether.

“
So if I
’
m not work then am I pleasure?
”

Soar doesn
’
t answer and instead picks up speed. The
campervan struggles with the rural roads and Cloud doesn
’
t like how it leans in the turns and
threatens to skitter wide through the corners.

“
Am I work or pleasure?
”

“
Will you just shut up?
”

“
Argh,
”
Cloud growls and starts to put her new
magazines and books away. Shadow will enjoy them when they get home and
afterwards they will be passed around among the residing gryphons until their
edges are ragged and the pages start to come out.

Soar pulls onto a dirt road and Cloud
yelps as everything in the camper, gryphons included, jumps about. She
’
s already stiff from sitting all day and
the bouncing pushes sharp pain through the muscles down the left side of her
back. Fortunately most items are either seatbelted in or secured in the locked
cupboards.

The crazy male
’
s laugh pops goosebumps over Cloud
’
s skin and she braces her good foot
against the dash.

Trees on either side narrow in and a
final turn points them directly at the late day sun.

“
Shit,
”
Soar swears and grabs for his sunglasses.
They hit another bump, knocking them out of his reach.

“
I
’
ll get it,
”
Cloud
says and unbuckles. She played with her visor enough, or more than enough
judging by how much it bothered Soar, and knows precisely how it works. She
’
s more than a little angry he doesn
’
t notice not only her quick response but
also how observant she
’
s been with the workings of
the van.

As she pulls the visor down, Soar shouts
in surprise first at her nearness then again as the spare keys hit him square
in the crotch.

“
Ayee,
female!
”

“
Got it,
”
she
yells again as her good hand dives for the keys.

Soar takes one hand off the wheel and
seizes her wrist. She
’
s held in place practically on
top of him. With her breasts in his face it
’
s a miracle he can see but maybe he can
’
t. Soar slows and Cloud turns to look out
the front window to see why.

The dirt road has widened into a dead end
barely roomy enough for them to turn around.

“
What do you think you
’
re doing, little gryphon?
”