Jewel-like eyes peered anxiously back at her. <<You’re all right, Khura,>> the harsh-alto’ed green soothed, a steady place in her mind where she could retreat from the whirling.
Slowly, creakily, Khuraute got to her feet, and began to scale her dragon’s ribs again. Though her feet slipped a few times, the ex-Seacrafter was able to get between Xirameth’s ridges.
<<And now for some of that fresh air. Strap in, Khura, and hold on, because I’m not very good at this yet.>> The green’s tone was apologetic, but her muscles coiled eagerly under her dark hide, and her eyes whirled indigo and teal.
None too stoic herself, Khuraute tightened the straps around her waist, practiced fingers flipping the leather around with ease. “All right, Xiri, I’m ready,” she said softly, and the dark green sprang into the air.
It was a heady exuberance that Xirameth fed her, an adrenaline-shot wonder, and the greenrider threw her head back so that the wind of their passage blew against her face.
This was what she’d been missing, thirty-odd Turns, refusing the Searchriders. Leaning down, Khuraute whispered to her lifemate, “If I had known it would be like this, I’d have let them take me the first time.”