«That was a prideful display.» Bel's dry voice sounded in his mind.

Tairen fangs bared in a grin. Bel knew him too well. Rain could have transformed without taking flight, but it wasn't nearly as impressive. And he had wanted to impress his shei'tani. From the dazzled look on her face and the wonderment that he felt through their bond, it was plain he had succeeded.

«Tairen are prideful creatures,» he replied. His glowing lavender eyes turned to Ellysetta. His tail swished slowly. «You can come closer now.”

Ellie heard the voice in her mind, but it didn't register. She had never seen anything so incredible or so beautiful as the sight of Rainier vel'En Daris leaping into the sky like a human dart and flashing into a huge, sleek, soaring tairen. He'd ridden the sky on broad, black wings, and she'd stood, earthbound and wingless, aching to fly beside him. Not on him, but with him. Beside him, under the power of her own broad wings.

«Shei'tani.» His voice sounded in her mind again, more insistent this time. His tairen head, larger than her body, bumped her gently, bringing her back to the present. She laughed as she stumbled back a half step. Lillis's kitten bumped people with her head to demand attention in just the same way, though with considerably less force. An instinctive reflex made Ellie reach out to scratch the bony spot between his eyes. Beneath her hands, his tairen pelt was thick and silky, with a particularly lush nap. She had not expected something so huge to be so soft.

The fur on his majestic head was short, thick, and velvety, growing at a very close crop as it neared his muzzle. His ears, alert and rounded at the tips, were set to either side of his tairen skull. Past his head, his fur grew thick and sleek. He glistened a glossy, intense black, rich and deep, without a hint of brown. His eyes, each larger than her head, were pure lavender with no visible pupil, and they seemed to be lit from within. His proud neck merged gracefully with his powerful chest and the rest of his long, sleek great cat's body. Muscular forelegs ended in toed paws with sharp, retractable, curving ivory claws, while his hind legs bulged with undisguised strength. The end of his long tail curled and uncurled. His wings, tucked tightly against his body, seemed fragile compared to the rest of him, though she could see that the lightly furred membrane stretched across his wing bones was thick and supple.

"You are beautiful," she told him, petting the heavy muscles of his furred jaw, forgetting for a moment that this fiercely gorgeous creature was the same being as the fiercely gorgeous man who had claimed her.

RI am glad you think so.» He gave a pleased vibrating purr as she continued to rub his head, and his eyelids half lowered over his large, shining tairen eyes. «I like that. You have a pleasing touch.”

Green light flashed, and a small black leather saddle appeared where his neck joined his torso just above the jutting bones of his shoulders and wings. Long leather straps circled his neck and threaded behind his forelegs, holding the saddle firmly in place.«Come, shei'tani. Let us dance the winds.”

"How will I get up there?" She gave a surprised cry when her body floated up into the air and settled in the U-shaped saddle. The high-backed cantle cradled her body. "Oh my." She felt the unfamiliar sensation of a breeze blowing against her legs, and looked down. Her skirts were hiked up to her thighs, her long legs exposed for all to see. "Rain …" Before she could even voice her concern, black leather breeches appeared out of nowhere to cover her. She gaped for a moment, then blinked and closed her mouth. Casual magic was something she was going to have to get used to. "Earth?" she asked, because the breeches felt too real to be even a masterful illusion.

«Aiyah.”

"You made them from nothing. Isn't that supposed to be difficult?”

"It is," Bel said. "He shows off for his mate." There was dry humor, friendly mockery, and a trace of envy in Bel's voice that would no doubt have embarrassed him if he'd heard it.

Rain hissed at his friend and tossed his head. «Allow me to put your coat away, shei'tani.» That was all the warning she had before her long leather coat disappeared.

"Where did it go?”

«Behind you.» She twisted in the tall saddle and saw the small, bulging pouch strapped behind her. «When you need it, I will return it to you. There are grips in the front of the saddle. Use them and hold tight. When I launch us into the air, you will feel a jolt.» She found the grips and wrapped her fingers tightly around them. «Are you ready?”

She swallowed as excitement and nervousness bubbled inside her. "Yes.”

«Then hold on.» She could practically feel the power building in him as he rocked back on his hind legs and his muscles bunched tight. His wings unfurled and spread wide. They flapped once, twice, whipping up swirls of dust from the ground. Then he sprang, a mighty leap, powered by Air that rocketed them into the sky.

Ellie screamed, more from surprise and the queer feeling in her stomach than from fright, though if not for the handholds and the tall saddle, she would have tumbled off Rain's back when he took off As it was, her body rocked hard against the back of the saddle, then snapped forward when the sudden initial surge of power ceased and the more fluid motion of true tairen flight began.

Massive wings beat the air, and Rain's tairen body undulated in a sinuous rhythm like waves rolling in the open sea. His neck stretched out, strong and straight, his head a fixed point that speared through the sky like an arrowhead.