Free Marked by the Dragon King by Caroline Hale Page A

from him.
    With a deep breath and closed eyes, I take a leap of faith, bracing myself for the drop. A chill creeps through the soles of my boots but I don’t start falling, so I look down to see the mist lapping around my ankles like water as I tentatively step forward.
    My lips curl into a wide smile as I marvel at the sensation of walking on air. More than that, I can sense that he’s close, every inch of my skin growing warmer as my heart starts racing. I see a dark form concealed by the haze ahead of me. It’s gigantic, but my fear is a whisper compared to my excitement as I start running toward him.
    “Asher!” I cry out. The only answer is a quick snort that fades into rhythmic breathing.
    The mist thins as I get closer, my steps growing slower at the sight of the immense dragon before me. He’s easily the size of a bus, perhaps even larger. I’ve never seen anything so magnificent before. His scales, black with blood red edges, reflect the diffuse light shining through the haze. My eyes follow the sharp ridges down his back, ending in a long imposing tail. He’s enormous.
    Asher would look peaceful if it weren’t for the chains crisscrossing over his wings, keeping them folded against his body. My anger flares, literally it would seem, because I look down at the heat on my hands and see flames swirling around my fingertips. Hesitant, I move within arm’s reach of his snout and skim my fingers across the ridge above his eye.
    “Ash?” I say loudly. The dragon stirs, heat spurting from his nostrils. “Asher, wake up. It’s me.” I do my best to shake him, but I may as well be pushing against a mountain. I sink to my knees next to his face and run my hands along the chain across his forehead. One link is a different kind of metal than the others and it gets hotter beneath the pads of my fingertips until it glows red.
    My heart skips a beat as the behemoth’s eyelid slowly pulls back, revealing a large, coal black eye. The pupil in the center narrows into a slit, focusing on me. It fills with flames as he raises his horned head, effortlessly snapping the glowing link of the chain and sending it flying away from his body.
    I rise to my feet, barely dodging another chain that whips through the air as Ash stretches out his wings, exposing the mark that we share seared into his scales. Now I know without a shadow of a doubt that it’s him, and the comforting certainty washes over me at the perfect moment, because he roars so loudly I have to cover my ears and can’t help but cower.
    The dragon’s body ignites in a tornado of fire and I cry out, recoiling from the flames. The air heats up until it’s difficult to breathe and the mist above us dissipates, revealing a ceiling of stars.
    The fire gets smaller and the human Asher strides toward me as it subsides. My heart pounds as the corner of his mouth lifts into a familiar cocky grin, our eyes locking. Somehow he’s even hotter in real life and my body heat rises. His shoulders are a little broader than I recall, the muscles on his stomach more chiseled and defined. But his eyes, those are exactly the same, filled with flames as he reaches out for me.
    I try to say his name but he cuts me off with a kiss, thrusting his tongue hungrily between my lips as his hand wraps into my hair. My knees go weak and I falter, sinking into his arms. My fingers dig into the solid flesh of his back and I start kissing him in return, harder than I ever have. It’s so much more intense than in the dream world.
    Ash snarls, biting my bottom lip as he grips my ass harshly, pulling my body tighter against the excitement pressed into my hip. I know I should probably attempt to initiate an important conversation, but I want him so much, more than I ever have before. He wouldn’t let me get a word in anyway, he never does when he gets like this.
    The sound of tearing fabric is music to my ears even though this shirt is real, one of my favorites. I groan as his lips break away from