Once they reached the training room, he felt much better. He ordered her to wait on the benches at the side of the room as he joined his warriors.
He gave a quick speech about today’s objectives—strength and resilience training—and about order and discipline. Then he had them line up in rows in a maneuver where they had to toss spears while moving in formation. It required a lot of skill and stamina to keep moving and throwing without piercing someone else’s wings.
Every time he got settled in a rhythm, he was blasted out of his focus by Renay’s voice. She kept moving toward the warriors, asking questions and getting in the way. After half an hour, he finally had to pull out of the line and go to her.
“Renay,” he said, trying to be patient. “How about I take you up to the garden to see Dawn?”
“Oh, I’d love to!” She took his hand and hurried along, eagerly matching step with him. “I’m just having so much fun!”
Tyff gritted his teeth together and tried not to react to the idea of military training being “fun.” He got Renay up to the garden as quickly as he dared and was relieved to see Dawn nearby and not lost somewhere in the vast rainforest that stretched out into the far reaches of the ship.
He waited for the two women to greet each other and then turned to hurry back to training. He was so relieved to have found something to occupy Renay that he didn’t think much about it.
His insides seethed as if the dragon in him was full of fire and ready to fly. He felt badly for leaving his mate, and he also felt badly about neglecting his duty. He didn’t know how he would reconcile the two sides, and as the day wore on, he threw himself into the hardest possible work there was.
Organizing the big ceremony was literally giving him a headache. He had no idea how to decorate the room, seat the guests or order the speakers and awards. He tried to leave the job with Choler and some of the humans, even as Choler shot him a pained look. Tyff fled.
I’m a Preor warrior, not a damned nursemaid! he thought in fury. He headed straight up to flight training and managed to lose himself in the difficult maneuvers long enough to clear his head. By the time he landed back on the main platform, he was tired, sweating, and more than ready to take a rest and see his mate.
“Tyff.” Kyrin smiled at him as they headed inside. “People are talking about you.”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow.
“They are saying how much you are getting done—as if having a mate has made you twice as productive!”
Tyff laughed. “Maybe!” He hurried away, not wanting to say any more. How could he explain that he was having some kind of breakdown, that he couldn’t even feel the Knowing?
He hurried toward the garden, looking forward to seeing Renay. As he approached, he started to get a bad feeling, something like dread. He was worried something had happened to her, so when he finally got to the door and saw her standing by the long benches with Dawn, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Renay,” he cried, eagerly. He had never been so happy to see her and was full of expectation.
She turned toward him, her mouth turned down in a gentle frown. Even though she still looked sweet enough to eat, he could tell she was mad, and it stopped him dead in his tracks.
“Tyff,” she snapped. “How could you just walk off and leave me like that?”
“I…” Tyff struggled for words. “I thought you wanted to see the garden.”
“I wanted to be with you,” she said, furiously, putting her fists on her wide hips. “I didn’t think you were going to cast me off like an old set of pants!”
“Cast you… What are you talking about?”
“You left me here!”
“But Dawn is here,” he answered, confused. “It’s not like you were by yourself.”
“I told you I wanted to go on rounds with you. To make myself useful.”
“But you weren’t,” he answered, bluntly. “You were getting in the way.”
The silence that flooded the room was as palpable as a living thing. Tyff knew he had put his foot in it. He just wasn’t sure he knew what “it” was.
“Then you should teach me,” she said in exasperation. “I’m not here to sit in a corner and knit your damn clothes! I’m here to be your partner!”
“Why would you try to knit leather,” he asked, stuck deep in utter confusion.
As the discussion turned into more of an argument, they had gotten closer together until they were almost right up against each other’s faces. He could feel the sensual heat of her, and it was adding confusion to the situation he just couldn’t cope with.
Then he noticed Dawn by his side. She had crept up as lightly as a cat. She glanced up at his face and gently laid a hand on his arm.
“Tyff—” she said.
He couldn’t hear. He couldn’t speak. He staggered away, his hands to his temples, every muscle trembling.
The Knowing had struck.
Chapter Twenty-Four
At first, Tyff staggered away from her, stumbling as he tried to get his feet back under him. He grabbed his head and his heart, and Renay was concerned for him.
She knew the Knowing was flooding through him and that somehow, Dawn had unlocked it. She stood back, well away from him as she watched him fight the ancient process.
Suddenly he stood up straight and roared. Renay was astounded to hear such a loud noise come out of his mouth. His sea-green eyes flickered with amber lights and scales ran in patterns across his flesh.
The dragon. It’s awake!
“Shaa kouva,” he cried, charging at her. She put out her arms, but before she could even brace herself, he was barreling into her, wrapping his arms around her. She squirmed against him in joy, writhing against his hands. He tightened his arms around her waist, and she felt his muscles flex as they squeezed her against his chest.
“Mine,” he whispered, his pupils wide with rapture. His lips were inches from her own, and she was falling into his eyes. Her heart fluttered at the intensity in his face.
“My love. Mine. Mine alone,” he whispered, roughly. Then he kissed her.
Renay moaned, feeling his hands slide up her back and into her hair as he cupped her head. His body was hot and hard against hers. She felt her body trickling with points of fire as she came alive, all the pleasure centers of her body burning and throbbing for his touch.
He broke off the kiss slowly with one hand brushing her hair back from her cheek. Just as she thought he was going to kiss her again, he blinked hard and a look of confusion flashed across his face. His eyes cleared and he took a deep breath.
He didn’t let go of her, but his hands felt cold. She shook her head and reached out to stroke his cheek.
“Tyff? Are you okay?”
He turned toward Dawn with just a thread of danger under his skin.
“What did you do to me,” he asked.
“I didn’t do anything, Tyff. Your heart was ready to be opened. When I touched you, I was only hoping to calm you down. It wasn’t anything that I did, just that you became receptive to the Knowing and my touch hurried it along.”
Renay watched his face change as he thought about this. Still, he did not let her go. His arms felt like steel cords and she could feel his muscles twitching as if he were ready to fly away.