9. Keldor

I driftedinto wakefulness with a profound sense of contentment thrumming through my very essence, my arms tightening around the exquisite creature nestled against me. The first faint tendrils of dawn”s crimson light filtered through the chamber, casting the room in a warm, ethereal glow that danced across the female”s bare skin in mesmerizing patterns.

Except...it wasn”t skin, not anymore. Not in the fragile, delicate sense that defined her human form before our joining had remade her into something else.

Unable to resist, I drew back the plush furs enshrouding us in their sumptuous cocoon. My breath caught in my throat as my questing talons trailed along the feminine swell of her hips, the undulating curves that had first awakened my primal yearnings what felt like an eternity ago. Except now, that lush, inviting landscape was adorned by a breathtaking mosaic of glistening scales that shimmered with every minute shift of her body.

Translucent, iridescent, each one seemed to capture the faintest rays and refract it into a kaleidoscope of ever-shifting hues. The prismatic sheen danced along the female”s newly transformed flesh in rapturous waves, igniting her very being with an unfathomable radiance.

A low, rumbling purr of sheer masculine appreciation reverberated through my chest as I drank in the exquisite vision of my fated mate, my anislah in all her glory. My talons continued their sensual exploration, committing every nuance of her form to memory with fervent devotion.

Here, the elegant curve of her spine was accentuated by a shimmering ridge of gemlike scales in shades of the deepest violet that transitioned into rich, smoldering crimsons. There, the lush valley between the feminine swells of her breasts was a mesmerizing tapestry of silvery iridescence and burnished gold that flickered and danced with every shallow intake of breath.

She was breathtaking, a goddess. Every inch of her had been reforged in the star-scorched raptures of our joining, remade into living, breathing, incandescent perfection. Not a single shred of her former fragile human form remained untouched in the wake of the dragon”s fire that had swept through her essence. Yet the metamorphosis that had taken place was not a complete transformation into an alien visage. Instead, it was an exquisite melding of her human origins and draconic physiology, a harmonious fusion of two worlds that had birthed something transcendent and utterly unique.

In place of the delicate, ephemeral beauty that had first captured my gaze now stood a vision of sleek, powerful, otherworldly splendor. She possessed an undulating grace and lithe, predatory strength that hinted at her draconic rebirth. Yet the feminine, enticing curves that had first awakened my primal yearnings as a male remained, accentuated by a breathtaking iridescent sheen that danced across her skin.

She was simultaneously human and alien, familiar yet unfathomably exotic in a way that surely had not existed among the stars since the universe”s first fiery dawn. My mate was a living embodiment of two disparate worlds unified in celestial perfection, as if the universe itself had conspired to forge her as a bridge between realms, an eternal vanguard of the cosmic forces that had intertwined our souls across the eons.

I traced the delicate whorls and ridges lining her throat and jaw in a path of hushed reverence, marveling at how the prismatic scales transitioned seamlessly into the lustrous crimson tresses splayed across the pillows. Each silken strand imbued with the same incandescence burning in her reforged flesh, glowing as if lit from within by the fiery heart of the cosmos themselves.

A shuddering exhalation escaped me as my gaze roamed lower, over the breathtaking, alien landscape of my mate”s form. She was sublime, divine, radiant in a way that defied all comprehension.

Mine. This magnificent vision of perfection was mine to cherish and worship for all eternity.

As if awakened by the sheer intensity of my adoration, the female stirred against me with a soft murmur of contentment. Slowly, almost reverently, her eyelids fluttered open to reveal endless silver depths that shimmered like the cosmos” first breath. Those ethereal, fathomless pools found mine instantly, holding me immobile in their blazing celestial grip.

When she smiled at me in that breathless moment, it was as if the universe itself exhaled a tremulous sigh of pure, rapturous wonder. Those ethereal silver eyes blazed with the intensity of newborn suns, their celestial depths holding me utterly transfixed in their blazing grip. I could only gape, mesmerized, as the female stretched in a slow, sinuous undulation that sent dazzling ribbons of prismatic light rippling across her flesh.

A soft, breathy moan of sheer contentment escaped her lips as she arched her back in a graceful curve, every glistening scale shimmering as if lit by an inner radiance. It was a hypnotic, alien display of sensual power and predatory grace that should have terrified me, should have set every primal instinct roaring in warning. Yet all I felt was a scorching wave of pure, unadulterated desire crash over me.

This was my mate, my anislah in all her cosmic glory. The missing half of my soul made flesh in a breathtaking tapestry of human allure and draconic majesty.

”Good morning, my dragon prince,” she purred in a voice like liquid silk. Reaching up, she traced the sharp ridges of my jaw with teasing fingertips, her touch raising frissons of searing rapture along my sensitized scales.

”You”re even more magnificent than I dared dream,” I rasped in a low, smoldering timbre laced with naked hunger and sheer masculine appreciation. ”A true vision of perfection borne from the dragon”s fire.”

She laughed, the rich, melodious sound raising delicious ripples of scorching heat low in my abdomen. ”I could say the same about you, my mate,” she murmured huskily, leaning in to trail a blazing path of searing kisses along the column of my throat. ”Though I must admit, I”m rather enjoying these new...assets of mine.”

Her words were punctuated with a wicked roll of her hips, the lush feminine curves now accentuated by that breathtaking mosaic of prismatic scales rubbing against me in a delicious glide of velvet friction. A low, rumbling snarl of pure masculine possession vibrated up from the depths of my chest as I crushed the female to me, claiming her mouth in a searing brand of dominance and undying need. She whimpered into the heated onslaught, her nails scoring delicious furrows along my shoulders as she arched shamelessly into my embrace.

”Insatiable little minx,” I growled against the swell of her lips as we resurfaced for air, our chests heaving in unison. ”You”ll be the death of this dragon, I swear it.”

She laughed again. That melodious, rich sound reverberating straight into my soul and setting it ablaze with searing, cosmic certainty. ”I certainly hope not,” she purred, her eyes sparkling with a wicked gleam that held the promise of endless celestial delights. ”For I”m feeling quite ravenous this morning, my mate. Ravenous enough to devour a dragon whole, if the notion struck my fancy.”

I blinked at her in stunned surprise before throwing back my head with a roar of genuine amusement. Leave it to my daring mate to take the fear and uncertainty one would expect from such a staggering metamorphosis and transform it into something playful and utterly enticing. She truly was the embodiment of the universe”s cosmic whimsy - a harmonious fusion of human spirit and draconic fire that could scarcely be contained by mortal boundaries.

”Is that so?” I rumbled in a low, sultry timbre as I nuzzled the elegant curve where her throat met her shoulder, inhaling the intoxicating blend of celestial ambrosia and smoldering embers that was uniquely her. ”Then I shall have to summon the royal chefs and demand they prepare a feast fit for a goddess reborn. For I would never dream of denying my mate”s appetites, no matter how...voracious they might be.”

At that precise moment, as if in punctuated agreement with my words, the female”s stomach rumbled with an ominous growl that reverberated through the entire chamber. She blinked in surprise before her melodious laughter rang out once more, the rich sound filling me with an overwhelming sense of contentment and rightness.

”Well, it seems my belly is one step ahead of my baser cravings,” she giggled impishly. ”Though I suppose I shouldn”t be surprised, given the rather...vigorous activities we”ve engaged in as of late.”

Chuckling, I brushed a lingering kiss across those lush, tempting lips before rising in one sinuous motion, bringing the female with me in my arms. She squeaked softly in surprise before melting against me with a contented sigh, her legs winding instinctively around my hips as I cradled her to my chest. Even now, there was an innate vulnerability to her that ignited my fiercest protective urges as a mate. This daring, sensual goddess was mine to cherish and provide for through every cosmic dawn we would face together across the endless eons.

”Then a feast you shall have, my jewel,” I rumbled in a voice laced with pure, undying devotion. ”The finest delicacies this world has to offer, prepared by my own talons to sate your otherworldly hungers.”

With that vow, I carried the female from our bedchambers, her arms looped loosely around my neck as she nuzzled into the scorching heat of my embrace. We had barely made it through the outer doors before she went rigid in my arms, her entire body locking up as if frozen by some unseen force. I halted instantly, my own instincts surging into high alert as I whipped my head around to search for any potential threats lurking in the shadows.

There was nothing, no sign of danger or malicious presences encroaching on my sanctuary. Only the female”s wide, stunned gaze locked onto mine, her quicksilver eyes shimmering with a kaleidoscope of swirling emotions I couldn”t begin to decipher.

”What is it, my mate?” I demanded urgently, tightening my grip infinitesimally as a frisson of primal protectiveness lanced through me. ”What”s wrong? Are you hurt? Do you feel unwell?”

For an endless, breathless heartbeat, she stared at me in silence, her lips parting wordlessly. Then, like the first rays of dawn cresting over the horizon to ignite the darkness, understanding seemed to blaze across those ethereal silver depths.

”Keldor,” she whispered in a tremulous rasp that resonated straight into my very core. ”I...I remember. I remember everything.”