The Dragon Rebellion (M-Preg)

Chapter Nine: Restless Exchange

Reid had often fallen as a kid. Even experienced dreams of falling, causing him to startle awake as his stomach dropped and the sensation was exchanged for reality as stability made itself known.

But, he was never the one to dream of flying. Whenever kids would talk about what super power they'd want, so many wished for flight. He hadn't had any interest in it, finding things like telekinesis or invisibility infinitely more useful.

Now?

He wasn't so sure.

As the weightlessness eased him and wind rushed by him, he couldn't imagine anything being more magical. There was a giddiness...a freedom that came with it as he soared the skies, eyes scanning the unfamiliar atmosphere.

It was...mesmerizing.

He didn't want it to end. As his body dipped and swooshed, dodging and twirling, his eyes ate up the purple sky with jittering sparkles as if the stars themselves had come to dance with him.

Down below were massive plants of all colors, shapes, and sizes, breathing and singing as if they joined him on his flight. The sweet smell that wafted in his nose was nothing like he'd ever smelled before, yet still held this sense of nostalgia.

It screamed familiarity when he knew that couldn't possibly be the case. He had never been there before. And he could not fly.

Then it was over. Like a glass of ice cold water poured over him. As if instead of flying, he really was falling, and it had thrust him back into the waking world. The cause had actually been the warm weight of something slung around his waist.

Bleary-eyed and half delusional, Reid nearly had a heart-attack until he realized the weight was covered in scales that matched the vivacious vibrance of his own skin since this bonding. It was familiar. It was Kincaid.

Reid didn't have to look, didn't have to see anything more, but the core of him rattled and settled after identifying the interruption and deeming it safe.

Safe?

Reid was far from safe with Kincaid.

Maybe that's why his heart still beat a furious drum and the once suffocating fatigue had quickly dissipated into an alertness wracked with anxiety.

He couldn't move...for several reasons. One being the arms around him was another shackle to be added to his current collection. Unmoveable. Unbreakable. And really fucking annoying.

The other? Reid wasn't so sure that waking the sleeping beast behind him was the best course of action. Who knew what came next? What if there were further traditions and ceremonies that involved something unpleasant?

Any time someone asked Gabe or Jamila what the bonding experience was like, they'd get this glassy eyed look that spoke of trauma and things never to be relived. Reid had expected that horror but it had yet to come.

It would though. It always did. He wasn't foolish enough to let his guard down.

With no other options left to him, he remained still, choosing that stillness over any other action because as tempted as he was, there was little he could do to harm the male. Not even the knives he hid beneath one of the pillows would be enough to pierce those scales. Never stopped him from tucking one away whenever the broths came with toast and a butter spread. As blunt tipped as they were, it still made him feel a little better.

Just a little.

Feigning the deep rise and fall of a human slumbering, Reid lay there, waiting. He had nearly perfected the art of faking sleep from his many nights waiting up for his Dad when the Rebellion was still fresh. And with someone as out of touch with human habits, Reid was sure that the Naerian would suspect his ruse.