12. Vera
12
VERA
T he flames dance before my eyes, casting flickering shadows across the cave walls. My side throbs where the arrow struck me, though Aurel cleaned and bandaged it hours ago. His touch had been clinical, detached – nothing like the warmth I felt in our shared dreams.
From the far side of the cave, Aurel watches from the shadows, his serpentine lower half is coiled tight. I pull my knees closer to my chest, trying to ward off the chill that seems to come more from his cold demeanor than the night air. Aurel sits at the far end of the cave,
"Are you hungry?" His voice breaks the silence, making me flinch.
"No." The dried meat he gave me earlier sits like lead in my stomach.
He nods once, then returns to his vigilant watch of the cave entrance. The silence stretches between us, heavy with unspoken words.
"In the dreams..." I start, but my voice falters when his shoulders tense. "You were different."
"Dreams are dreams." His words cut through the air like ice. "Reality is something else entirely."
My chest tightens as pieces start falling into place. The way he pushed me to free him, his sudden distance, how different he is from the gentle teacher in my dreams. "You used me."
He doesn't deny it. Doesn't even look at me.
"Was any of it real?" My voice cracks. "Or was I just your key to freedom?"
"You should rest," he says, still not meeting my eyes. "We move at first light."
I turn away from him, facing the fire as tears burn behind my eyes. The warmth of the flames does nothing to thaw the cold realization in my heart. I was a fool to think someone like him could see me as anything more than a tool.
I trace my fingers over the bandage on my side, remembering how his hands had felt against my skin. During our escape, he'd held me like I was something precious, something worth protecting. His arms had been strong yet gentle, cradling me against his chest as we fled through the darkness.
"Does it still hurt?" He doesn't turn to look at me.
"Not as much." I wrap my arms around myself, missing his warmth. "You were gentle when you bandaged it."
He shifts, his scales scraping against the cave floor. "It needed to be done."
"Like freeing you needed to be done?" The words slip out before I can stop them.
His shoulders tense. "Vera?—"
"In the forest, when that arrow hit me, you could have left me behind." I lean forward, trying to catch his eye. "Why didn't you?"
"It was tactical." His jaw clenches. "The dark elves would have tortured information from you."
"Is that all?"
He finally turns to look at me, and for a moment, I see something flicker in his eyes – the same warmth I'd felt when he carried me. But then it's gone, replaced by that cold wall again.
"Get some sleep," he says, turning back to watch the cave entrance. "We have a long journey ahead."
I curl up closer to the fire, but its warmth can't compete with the memory of being held in his arms, of feeling safe and protected. Now, with this distance between us, I feel colder than ever.
The silence wraps around us like a suffocating blanket. I watch the flames dance, their light casting strange shadows across the cave walls. My fingers trace idle patterns in the dirt beside me, anything to keep from staring at his broad back, his serpentine form coiled tight with tension.
The memory of his arms around me burns brighter than the fire. During our escape, he'd held me like I was precious, something worth protecting. His touch had been so gentle as he tended my wound, those deadly hands moving with surprising tenderness across my skin. The contrast between then and now makes my chest ache.
I shift, and pain lances through my side. A small gasp escapes before I can stop it. Aurel's head turns slightly, just enough that I catch the glint of his eye in the firelight, but he says nothing. The wall between us feels higher than ever.
My hand drifts to the bandage at my side. His fingers had lingered there, just for a moment, after securing it. I'd felt something then - a connection, a spark of the intimacy we'd shared in our dreams. But now he won't even look at me.
The fire crackles, sending sparks into the air. They fade to nothing before they reach the cave ceiling, like all my attempts to reach him now.
Days blend together as we travel through dense forests, each one marked by Aurel's growing distance. His massive form slithers ahead of me, never looking back unless it's to check if I'm keeping up. The silence between us stretches like a physical thing, heavy and suffocating.
"We should rest here," he says, gesturing to a clearing. His eyes slide past me like I'm nothing more than a shadow.
I sink to the ground, my legs trembling from exhaustion. The wound in my side has mostly healed, but a different kind of pain has taken root in my chest. Every time he turns away, every moment he refuses to meet my gaze, it grows deeper.
"Do you need water?" His voice is flat, emotionless.
"No." My own voice cracks. "I need you to look at me."
He stiffens, his serpentine tail coiling tighter. "We should focus on?—"
"You won't even look at me anymore." Tears blur my vision. "Was I just your ticket to freedom? Everything in the dreams, all those moments... were they just lies?"
His shoulders tense, but he doesn't turn around. The silence stretches between us, confirming what I've feared all along.
A bitter laugh escapes my throat. "I actually believed you cared. That I meant something." My fingers dig into the dirt beneath me. "I'm such a fool."
Still nothing. Just his back, rigid and unyielding as stone.
The realization crashes over me like a wave. All those gentle words, those tender moments in our shared dreams – they were just tools, carefully crafted to manipulate me. I was never anything more than a means to an end.
Tears spill down my cheeks, but I don't bother wiping them away. What's the point? I'm right back where I started – worthless, unwanted, alone.
I watch Aurel's back as he coils at the edge of our makeshift camp, his shoulders tense and rigid. The moonlight catches his scales, making them shimmer like liquid silver. Even now, when he's trying so hard to be cold, he's beautiful.
My fingers trace the bandage at my side, remembering how carefully he'd tended to my wound. For someone claiming to see me as just a tool, his hands had been so gentle.
"I know you can feel it too," I whisper, more to myself than to him. But in the quiet night, my words carry.
His tail twitches. Just slightly, but enough to tell me he's listening.
"In the dreams, when we touched..." I swallow hard, gathering my courage. "That spark wasn't fake. You can't fake something like that."
"Vera." His voice is strained, warning.
"No." I push myself to my feet, ignoring the twinge in my side. "Look at me. Really look at me."
He doesn't move, but his coils tighten further. "You're being foolish."
"Then I'm foolish." I take a step closer. "But I felt it. When you carried me through the forest, when you cleaned my wound – those weren't the actions of someone who feels nothing."
"What I feel doesn't matter." His words come out clipped, controlled.
"It matters to me." Another step. "You could have left me behind a dozen times. But you didn't."
His hands clench at his sides. "Don't."
I'm close enough now to see the muscles in his back trembling. "Why did you save me, Aurel? The truth."
He whirls around suddenly, his eyes blazing in the darkness. "Because I couldn't leave you!" The words explode from him like he's been holding them back for days. "Are you satisfied now?"
I meet his gaze steadily, seeing past the anger to the confusion and fear beneath. "No," I whisper. "But it's a start."
My bare feet sink into the cool earth as I follow Aurel's path to the river. The moonlight catches his scales, turning them to liquid silver as he moves through the water. My heart thunders in my chest, but I force myself to keep moving forward.
He hasn't noticed me yet. His back is turned, water streaming down the muscled planes of his upper body. I've never seen him like this – unguarded, vulnerable. The sight steals my breath.
The river laps gently at the shore, its whispers matching the rapid beat of my pulse. A cool breeze raises goosebumps on my skin, but I barely notice. I'm transfixed by the way the water droplets trace paths down his back, highlighting every curve and dip of muscle.
I take another step closer, twigs crackling beneath my feet. Aurel's shoulders tense, but he doesn't turn around. He knows I'm here – he must – but he remains still, waiting.
The distance between us feels charged with electricity, like the air before a storm. My fingers tremble at my sides as I gather my courage. This might be my only chance to bridge this gap between us, to make him face what's growing between us.
I pause at the water's edge, my toes just touching the cool surface. The current swirls around my feet, urging me forward or pulling me back – I can't tell which. All I know is that I can't stay here, frozen in this moment of indecision.
This is my chance. My choice.
"Aurel," I whisper, my voice catching in my throat. The water laps at my ankles as I take another tentative step forward.
He turns, water cascading down his muscled chest. His eyes widen slightly, and I see his tail coil tighter beneath the surface. The moonlight catches the droplets on his skin, making them shimmer like tiny stars.
Neither of us speaks. The only sound is the gentle flow of the river and my heart thundering in my chest. The air feels electric, charged with something I can't name but can feel deep in my bones.
I take another step closer, the cool water now reaching my calves. My thin dress clings to my legs, but I barely notice. All I can focus on is him – the way his chest rises and falls with each breath, how his eyes seem to glow in the darkness.
"I..." My voice trembles, and I swallow hard. "I don't want to be alone anymore."
The words hang between us like a physical thing. Aurel's expression remains unreadable, but something flickers in his eyes – a flash of emotion I've never seen before. Is it hesitation? Desire? The water ripples around us as he shifts slightly, his tail creating gentle waves that lap against my legs.
He doesn't back away when I move closer, though I see the muscles in his jaw tense. His eyes never leave mine, and in them, I see the same war I feel raging inside myself – the pull between what we want and what we fear.
My hand trembles as I reach up, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath my fingers. Water droplets trickle down his chest, catching on my palm. His heart pounds against my touch, matching the frantic rhythm of my own.
"Please, don't push me away." The words come out as barely more than a whisper, carried by the gentle breeze.
Before he can respond, before my courage fails me, I rise on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. The kiss is soft, tentative – a question more than a demand. His body tenses beneath my touch, but he doesn't pull away. The water laps at our bodies, its cool touch a stark contrast to the heat building between us.
Something shifts in him, a tremor that runs through his whole body. His tail coils tighter beneath the water, creating ripples that dance around us. When he doesn't reject me, I lean in closer, deepening the kiss. All my longing, my heartbreak, my desperate need for connection pours into it. My fingers curl against his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart.
The moonlight bathes us in silver, turning the water droplets on his skin into tiny stars. Time seems to stop, suspended in this moment where there's no past, no future – just us, here, now.
Before he can respond, I lean in and press my lips to his. It’s soft at first, tentative, but when he doesn’t pull away, I deepen the kiss, pouring all my longing and heartbreak into it. Aurel’s body stiffens momentarily, but then, to my surprise, he responds. His arms wrap around me, pulling me closer, and for a brief, electric moment, we are lost in each other.
The river laps gently against our legs, its cool touch a stark contrast to the heat building between us. My hands find their way to his chest, feeling the hard muscle beneath my fingertips. His heart beats steadily, strong and sure, unlike the frantic pounding of mine.
“Vera,” he murmurs against my lips, a warning and a plea rolled into one. But I don’t stop. I can’t. I’ve yearned for this connection, this closeness, for so long. His arms tighten around me, his hands pressing into the small of my back, urging me closer still.
The kiss deepens, our breaths mingling as our bodies press together. Water droplets trickle down his skin, catching on my lips, tasting of river and moonlight. His hands move, one sliding up to cup the back of my head, the other trailing down to my hip, his fingers digging into my flesh with a possessiveness that sends a thrill through me.
“You shouldn’t…” he starts, but I cut him off with another kiss, silencing his protests.
“Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do,” I whisper, my voice barely more than a breath. “Not after everything.”
His eyes, glowing faintly in the dark, meet mine. There’s a war raging in their depths—desire battling against restraint, longing against fear. But I see the moment he surrenders, the moment he decides to let go.
“Damn it, Vera,” he growls, his voice rough with emotion. His hands grip me tighter, pulling me flush against him. The heat of his body seeps into mine, chasing away the chill of the river. His lips find mine again, fierce and demanding, claiming me in a way that leaves no room for doubt.
We devour each other, our bodies moving together in a dance as old as time. His tail coils around me, anchoring me to him, as his hands explore every curve and dip of my body. I shiver under his touch, my skin alive with sensation, every nerve ending sparking with electricity.
His lips trail down my neck, kissing and nipping at the sensitive skin, drawing out a gasp from deep within me. “Aurel,” I whisper, my voice catching as his teeth graze my collarbone.
“Shh,” he murmurs, his breath hot against my skin. “Let me show you what you’ve been missing.”
His words send a shiver down my spine, a mixture of fear and desire. I can't find my voice to answer. Instead, I nod frantically, my body aching for his touch.
Aurel's hand moves, and suddenly, his fingers are there, teasing my entrance. I gasp as he pushes one inside, the sensation of being filled overwhelming. My body trembles, my inner walls clenching around his finger as he begins to move it in and out, each thrust sending jolts of pleasure through me.
"This is all you really wanted, isn't it?" he growls in my ear, his voice a low, dangerous purr.
I can't form words. My mind is a whirl of sensation, my body focused solely on the pleasure he's wringing from me. "Fuck… please, Aurel…" I groan, my hips moving of their own accord, grinding against his hand with need.
He chuckles, a dark and heady sound that makes my heart race even faster. "So responsive," he murmurs, adding another finger and stretching me further. "So needy."
I can feel the tension building inside me, a coil winding tighter and tighter with each stroke of his fingers. My breath comes in short, desperate gasps, my body writhing against him as he relentlessly drives me towards the edge.
"Come for me, Vera," he commands, his voice a harsh whisper against my skin.
And I do. With a cry that echoes through the forest, I fall apart, my body convulsing as waves of pleasure crash over me. Aurel continues to move his fingers, drawing out my orgasm until I'm left trembling and weak in his arms.
As the waves of pleasure recede, I cling to him, my breath ragged, my heart pounding. His arms wrap around me, holding me close, his lips pressed gently against my forehead. For a moment, there’s nothing but the sound of our breaths mingling, the river flowing around us, and the steady beat of our hearts.
Then, slowly, he pulls back, his eyes searching mine. There’s a vulnerability in his gaze that I’ve never seen before, a raw honesty that takes my breath away. “Vera,” he says, his voice barely more than a whisper. “What have you done to me?”