“I can’t wait ‘til he kills that dragon,” Charlotte burst through the door and into a room of the Inn they were staying at. She paused a second in thought before she closed the wooden door, locked it and continued as she walked towards the bed, “or better yet, have the dragon kill him.”
“Charlie!” Two male voices exclaimed back from the direction of the bed.
When she had burst in they had both jumped up blushing as if caught doing something forbidden.
“Don’t say that! Someone might hear you. And you shouldn’t have burst in like that, what if someone followed you in?” Theo said as he settled back on the bed.
“Well, you should’ve locked the doors. You two have become careless. Lucky for you it was just me this time,” she said as she plopped herself on the bed next to Theo, leaning her back against the headrest. She put her feet on Damien’s stomach since he was laying horizontally to them with his head on Theo’s lap with his feet hanging off the side of the bed.
“Umph! Thanks for the heads up Charlie.” Damien turned his head to glare at her. The glare was short lived, however, because Theo brought his hand back down on Damien’s head and started running his fingers through his short, dark curls again.
“You’re welcome!” Charlotte retorted back sarcastically.
“Bitch!” murmured Damien which caused her to shrug her shoulders as a sign of indifference. She had heard it all before and she knew he was actually angry with himself and Theo for leaving the door unlocked.
“He’s grumpy today.” The red haired woman pointed out as she rested her head on Theo’s shoulder. Seeing the two of them like that, one would guess they were siblings. Both had red hair and similar features, but Charlotte had green eyes while Theo’s were light brown and his nose and cheeks were covered in light freckles. Damien on the other hand was the complete opposite of the two with dark, almost black short curly hair, dark blue eyes and tanned skin.
He had his eyes closed and let Theo’s fingers massage his scalp, relaxing him. He felt his heartbeat slow down again.
“But you two are still my favourites,” she said through a yawn and grinned.
“I wonder why...” Damien rolled his eyes behind his closed eyelids. “Must be our amazing personality and great skills in bed.” A small smile slipped onto his lips.
Charlotte giggled. “Yeah, great skills in bed, if only you were to share. So selfish!” she poked him in the ribs with her bare toes.
“Nope, sorry. I don’t share my man.” Damien opened his eyes, winked at her and smiled to Theo.
“Bummer!” Charlie pouted at them.
“You know your womanly wiles won’t work on us Charlie.”
“Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying.” Charlie smiled back but turned serious again when she remembered why she had come to their room in the first place. “Reed said he’s gonna look me up tonight,” she sighed wearily. “I can’t handle him yet, he was too rough the last time.”
Theo brought his hand around her shoulders and pulled her in closer. “We’ll cover for you, you know that. So no worries about tonight. But...”
“I know. I won’t be able to avoid him much longer. At least Magnus has been keeping himself busy with other women this last week. I shouldn’t complain, this whole deal could’ve been much worse. You all could have been all over me. What was I thinking!” she huffed out.
“You weren’t. It was your stomach and your empty purse that did the thinking for you.” Damien tried to comfort her by rubbing her calves which were resting on his stomach.
“I know. Hopefully it’ll be over soon, one way or the other. Then, I just need to pull through with going back and I’m done.”
“Why not ask him to leave you behind when we go back?” Theo asked.
“You think he will? After the last stunt I pulled?” she extracted herself from Theo’s embrace, crossed her hands across her chest and looked up at the ceiling.
“Yeah, that was really a stupid attempt at running away.” Damien agreed.
“It was worth it... Seeing his fuming face when he caught me. He was so embarrassed that I managed to get that far with his horse. I thought his vein would burst and that he might die on the spot.” She smiled wistfully, imagining his once possible demise. “Now, that would have been a wonderful sight.”
“But, was is worth it? The beating and … other things?” Theo turned his angry eyes at her. He had been the one that had helped patch her up afterwards.
Both men heard her sigh and could see her lip quivering as she fought back the tears.
“I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have...” Theo gently wiped away a stray tear that ran down her cheek and brushed a red curl behind her ear. He hated seeing her like that. He was starting to really care about her, in a sister/brother kind of way.
“Anyway,” Charlotte cleared her throat, “I’ve wondered for a while now, why are the two of you even working for him?”
Damien turned his head and looked up at them, “At first I wanted the money, he offered a lot, and then I wanted him,” he said as he smiled at Theo “I got him, so now I want money for us. So we could settle down somewhere.”
Theo leaned forward so he could place a loving kiss on Damien’s lips who met him halfway. They would’ve deepened it if not for Charlotte’s squeal of delight.
“You want to settle down!! That’s so cute!!” she squealed again loudly, clapping her hands happily.
Banging on their door made them all jump up.
“Charlie!! Is that you in there??” They heard Reed’s slurring voice boom from the other side of the door.
“Shit!” “Damn!” “Fuck!” The trio exclaimed at the same time as they sprung into action.
Theo and Charlie started moaning loudly while he was unbuttoning her shirt and she quickly pulled her skirt down, leaving her only in her chemise. Damien, at the same time, attacked her neck, leaving a few love bites.
“Charlie!! I can hear you, you bitch!!”Reed’s deep voice boomed again.“Open the goddamn door!” The door shook with the force of his banging.
“Quickly!” Theo murmured quietly and let out a loud moan as he ruffled her hair.
Charlotte bit down on her lip hard, almost drawing blood, so it would appear kiss swollen. Her cheeks were already flushed with adrenaline. She then got off the bed and went to open the door. Looking back, she saw that both men were already undressing themselves.
“What got your breeches in a twist Reed?” Charlotte appeared breathless when she opened the door and leaned seductively on the doorframe.
“You!” Reed growled back at her as he leaned closer and his alcohol laced breath brushed her face. Instead of gagging she managed to plaster a smile on her face.
Theo appeared naked behind her, hugging her close to him by wrapping his hands around her waist.
“I haven’t finished yet, and Damien still hasn’t had his turn.” He planted a kiss on her neck, nibbled while she faked a giggle. “We got to her first tonight, you know the deal Reed.”
Reed was a bit uncomfortable with the sight of a naked man before him and as he was about to respond, Damien walked by nude in the background, barely holding in his laughter at Reed’s distress.
“Ummm.. yeah.. yeah.. sure. Plenty of other whores around,” he looked everywhere but at them before his bloodshot eyes settled back on Charlotte’s. “But you’re still my favorite.” Reed ran his big thick fingers down her cheek, “Next time I’ll be faster.” With that said, he turned around and stumbled away as Theo closed and locked the door behind him.
All three sighed in relief.
“That was close.” Theo broke the tense silence.
Charlie looked them both over, admiring their naked bodies. “Such a...shaaaaeeeaaamme,” she said through a yawn.
Damien and Theo chuckled.
“Come on, Little Red. Let’s get dressed and sleep. It’s gonna be another long day tomorrow.” It was Damien’s idea and the other two agreed easily. They pushed their beds together after dressing up for the night, with Charlie in one of their shirts, and they all snuggled up together.
“Good night guys.”
#
Olivia was having a great day.
After soaring through the air, Kaden had barely managed to talk her into walking again and going to the stream. She had been ecstatic and she still was.
He had promised to fly her again.
They had taken the slightly longer route to reach the stream where the water was flowing more gently. Olivia then took the opportunity to settle comfortably on the soft, moss covered banks to soak her weary feet so that the cool water could bring them some respite.
Water had been splashed around and Olivia had almost been drenched from head to toe. She had decided that she would come back tomorrow and take a proper bath. Kaden had been very forthcoming and showed her which plant leaves she could use as a soap substitute.
Luckily, Olivia generally didn’t have a problem with cleaning and then eating fish. She was used to it since she had gone to many fishing trips with her father. So, with Kaden’s help, they had caught quite a few fish, cleaned them and prepared to take them back to the cave along with the water they had come for.
While they were walking back to the cave, the sun was already setting, painting the sky in numerous shades of orange, pink and violet, all turning into a slowly darkening blue. The forest got a slightly orange hue and the spring breeze had completely settled. It seemed that the forest had reached its most peaceful moment of the day. The trees we completely still, and only the chirping of the birds and the sound of their shuffling steps could be heard.
The whole atmosphere was soul refreshing.
“Kaden?”
“Yes?” He glanced at the little fascinating human walking beside him.
“It’s easy forget you’re a dragon,” Olivia said as she looked up at him.
“What do you mean?”
“The way you talk and act, if I didn’t know any better or if I wasn’t able to see you, I’d bet my life you were a human.” She bumped him with her shoulder, which of course didn’t have any effect on him.
It only made him chuckle.
“Well, if you consider that I have been living around humans for over a hundred years, and only had contact with them, does it really surprise you?” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t a complete truth as well. He liked this better than flat out lying to her.
“I guess it makes sense. So, why the mountains and the cave then? Why stay in one place when you could travel wherever, whenever?”
“Oh, I’ve done my fair share of traveling, but after a while, the novelty of it fades. The sights might be refreshing, but the people are the same. I’ve had enough of people and just wanted some peace. What better place then somewhere secluded? I liked it here, had to scare some people and wanderers away, and once the word spread that it was dangerous up here, I was mostly left alone.”
“Mostly?”
“Yeah, mostly. There’s always someone stupid enough thinking they have the skills to kill me and brag about it,” he didn’t like where the conversation started going.
“What happened to them?” Olivia was again in her inquisitive mode.
“There you go again, asking all those questions.” Kaden bumped Olivia lightly, making her stumble as her foot caught on a protruding root but he quickly wrapped his tail around her to keep her from falling down.
She laughed, “What was that for?”
“Sorry. With you, I seem to forget I’m a dragon.” He winked but didn’t let go of her, instead he picked her up and put her on his back. “I bet your feet hurt.” He was happy he managed to change the subject without her noticing.
“Actually, it’s my knee that’s throbbing,” she admitted shyly when she settled in more comfortably.
“Why didn’t you say something?” Looking back at her, he could see her wince slightly. “It must’ve hurt when we were flying too.”
“Yeah, but it was so worth it.” A silly grin appeared on her face.
Kaden just shook his head and started walking again. They enjoyed the peaceful quiet, and neither had the urge to speak. Olivia absentmindedly started caressing Kaden with her left hand as she held on with her right while looking around and about.
“Stop!” she exclaimed suddenly.
If he could bristle, Kaden would have bristled. Instead he inhaled sharply, smoke forming around his snout and he was ready to blow up whatever danger might happen upon Olivia. A roar was ready to come forth from his mouth.
Olivia felt him tense, saw the smoke rising from him and the slight tremble crawled up her spine.
“Kaden?” she asked carefully while she retreated back down and pressed herself flush against him as best as she could. “It’s ok... Sorry for ermm.. scaring you. I just got excited.” She murmured against his neck and felt his heartbeat pulse through him strongly. She caressed him gently while waiting for him to calm down.
“You’ve got me. I’m okay.” After she said that, Olivia felt him relax underneath her.
Kaden swallowed back his fire and exhaled deeply and calmly. Hearing her say that had definitely helped.
“I wasn’t frightened...just...just.. usurped by your distress. If you haven’t noticed, you’ve become to mean a lot to me and I tend to be overly protective of what’s mine.” He closed his eyes, letting her scent fill his lungs and the feel of her body pressed against his sooth and relax his now taut muscles.
“I’m sor-” Olivia started to say again.
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry again. You really have nothing to apologize for. I was the one that overreacted,” he said as he started walking again making Olivia gently sway on his back.
“Kaden please stop. The reason I got excited is over there and I need it.” She pointed to the right of them. “It’s burdock, great for cooking the fish. Just some clay and we’re almost set.”
Kaden had stopped as she requested and then walked over to the plant. “That’s what got you so excited?” he eyed the plant curiously.
“Yeah,” she smiled sheepishly when Kaden looked back at her, now amused.
“Alright.” He knew of the medicinal uses of the plant but not the culinar. Kaden lowered himself so Olivia could pick a couple of big burdock leaves which she tucked under her belt. “Great. Thank you.”
The dragon rose back up and continued on their way back.
He cares. A lot.... He called me his...Didn’t he? Why did that set my heart racing? He’s not human. Nothing could come of it. Why do I let this continue? Why am I letting myself fall for him?... He’s a dragon and it shouldn't be this way...But he needs me, probably more than I need him. And it feels so good to be needed. Needed for the person I am and not what I could provide or own. And the way he treats me, she sighed mentally, no one’s ever treated me like that. With that kind of attention and affection...Have I heard him right? Well, if he needs me, I’ll be there for him. I need to be needed. Olivia ranted on in her head. Kept telling herself why letting herself get close to him, getting attached wasn’t good, but she never made any promises to self to stop.
“So, what’s the recipe?” He could feel Olivia thinking and the air around them got tense so he decided to try and tame it.
“Hmm? Oh, right. Yeah. You take the trout, season it with salt and thyme, wrap it up in a burdock leaf, and then enfold it all with clay. Then you set it close to the fire and wait for it to cook. It’s also good to bury it in the ground next to the fire and cover it with hot coals.” Her mouth started watering at the thought of proper food.
“Okay, I’ll find you clay, I think I remember where I can find some.” Kaden decided out loud.
“Did you call me yours?” Olivia’s mouth blurted out again before her brain caught up with it.
“Yes.” His response was immediate. He really didn’t want to lie to her or keep anything from her. So, he’ll speak as much truth as possible.
“Good.” Olivia felt butterflies erupt in the pit of her belly. It was an odd feeling which she liked.
Kaden’s butterflies were already flying around but with her acceptance of his declaration, they took off in a beautiful dance.
Of course Olivia’s mind picked up on other little details which he had probably hoped she wouldn’t ask about.
“So... who else is yours?” she asked carefully.
“Huh?” Kaden was obviously confused.
“You said you get protective of those you consider yours, or something along those lines.”
Fuck my life but I hate this, Kaden was desperate when Olivia asked another question which he could not answer. He needed to turn it around and he knew just how.
“The horse,” he stated seriously.
“The horse?” Olivia echoed after him.
“Yep, the horse. It was so hard to let him go. But you know the saying. You have to set the ones you love free, and if they come back, you will know it was true love. But he never came back.” He sighed pretending to be hurt.
Laughter echoed through the forest and Kaden was happy to once again be the one to make her happy and laugh. Olivia even snorted much to her embarrassment.
When her laughter subsided, he knew she would ask more questions, that she would want the real answer, but he knew he would have disappointed her with his vague or false answers, so he intercepted her predictable train of thought, “Do you want to know why?”
“Why what?” Olivia now held onto Kaden with both hands tightly as they started their ascent towards the cave.
“Why I care...” he let his words linger.
If there had been any more laughter waiting to bubble forth from her, it died down with those words and the butterflies took off again.
“Why do you?”
“You see, he was a wonderful horse... he had this soulful, doe-like brown eyes...” Olivia’s laughter and a slap to his back made him pause for a second. “It was like he could see right to your soul... and his fur.. oh so soft..” he continued teasing as Olivia shook with laughter, shaking him with her.
“Stop... I’ll be really worried if you honestly think that way about a horse,” she said as she tried to rein in her laughter.
Pun intended.
“It’s your eyes...” she heard him say softly and quietly as he slowed down, “When you really smile, your eyes make me think of soaring high on a sun shining day, dancing with the clouds. Your smile can light up the darkest of souls. There’s also this innocence about you, it gives me hope. Your touch is soft and gentle like your heart. And your inquisitive mind is quite fascinating.”
During his speech, Olivia had stopped laughing completely and was left speechless. Her heart was beating like a master drummer playing the crescendo on his drums. Her cheeks heated up from the blush which crept up her face.
“...oh... funny too, especially when you speak before your brain catches up. It’s funny to see you surprise yourself and then your face when you mentally chide yourself as well,” he chuckled.
The silence made him stop and turn around so he could look at Olivia. It was unusual for her to be that quiet. He saw her holding a hand over her mouth in disbelief as some tears rolled down her cheeks. No one had ever described her like that before.
She sounded beautiful.
Kaden kept his eyes locked on hers. “You know, you make me wish you were a dragon, or better yet, pray I were a human. We would be epic together.”
Olivia just managed to nod in agreement and reward him with one of her dazzling smiles that he loved.
They made their way back to the cave with the last light of the day. Olivia ate the fish and Kaden promised he would find the clay for her tomorrow, so she could prepare it like she wanted to. By now, he’d do anything she asked from him.
They did their usual nightly routine and Kaden pulled the mattress closer to his spot so Olivia could sleep on it, instead of the floor, and still be cuddled up against him.
“Good night Kaden,” she nuzzled her face into him before she settled down for sleep.
“Night Liv.” He brought his wing down around her protectively.
Excitement was still running through her. Memories of flying flashed behind her closed eyelids and her heart fluttered each time she remembered Kaden’s confession.
“I like you too, very much. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re dragon or human, I still want you in my life,” she confessed back.
“Thank you... I do too. Now sleep, because tomorrow is a brand new day.”