Chapter 14
ARDRUC
I woke slowly from a long, abyssal, and dreamless sleep, rising up through layers of consciousness over what felt like a long time instead of my usual abrupt, very dragon-like transition from sleep to fully awake.
I felt extremely well-rested, relaxed, content, and secure, as though I had slept soundly in a very safe place.
The second physical sensation that reached me through my semi-conscious fog was my mate’s glorious scent—the balm for my soul I had craved for so long.
The third, the feeling of a soft, warm body wrapped in my arms: Elena, breathing deeply and evenly, tucked against my bare chest, safe and treasured under my draped wing, as I had dreamed of holding her.
I drifted for a long, mindless time in this bliss, content not to wake just yet and feeling no urgency to do so.
Gradually, like an alarm in the far distance, something began to nag at me as not right. Uneasiness formed a knot in my stomach as a string of realizations crystallized in my cottony mind.
I had slept too deeply, too dreamlessly, for too long.
Even content with Elena in my arms, I should want to rise and begin the search for answers about her strange mark and the apparently sentient korae, but I did not.
The air in my apartment did not smell as it had for the past two years, and not only because Elena had shared my bed.
And my utter lack of reaction to these realizations was not normal. Something was terribly wrong.
It took all my willpower to force my eyes open and break the spell. For several heartsbeats, I stared blankly, my body cold with shock, fighting to process what my eyes beheld.
My apartment was gone. No, not gone—transformed. Impossibly transformed.
The walls and ceiling had all but disappeared behind a thick layer of vines, branches, and blue-green autumn foliage. Mushrooms in all colors, shapes, and sizes peeked through the foliage, growing in clusters. Lichen in various colors covered whole sections of branches.
The windows alone had remained uncovered. I had made them opaque before going to bed so the early morning light did not disturb Elena’s sleep, but now they were clear and what appeared to be mid-morning sunshine poured in.
The sunlight glimmered on a thin layer of sweet-smelling dust, pollen, or spores that covered every surface in the room, including Elena and I. And Forux, who lay curled up against the back of Elena’s pajama-clad legs, snoring quietly.
The shimmering particles disintegrated, leaving only their scent behind. Had they caused us to stay unconscious and created a state of euphoria? The prospect angered me—and intrigued me, scientifically.
I moved my head so I could see Elena’s face. She slept as peacefully and deeply as I had, a thin veil of loose, golden hair over her face. Her lips were turned up at the corners. Perhaps she remained in the state of bliss I had experienced before my instincts alerted me to our circumstances.
Her body temperature was warmer than usual, likely due to my body heat.
I enjoyed that sensation and the thought I had kept her warm.
But I had fallen asleep with my hand on hers and my wing draped over her atop the bedding.
At some point, without waking me, she had extricated herself from beneath the covers and become wrapped in my arms, her face nestled against my bare chest.
Or had I moved her? I had no memory of doing so, but I had been insensible to the transformation of my living quarters.
I would have called it impossible for me to have done such a thing in my sleep, or to have forgotten what I had done during the night. But after the events of the past week, I could call nothing impossible now, surely.
My tail was wrapped around her calf too. However it had happened, I had protected her and treasured her in my sleep.
My stomach lurched again. How long had we slept? And if Elena had not moved of her own accord, how might she react to finding herself in my arms? I did not want to disturb her rest, but I must.
“Elena,” I murmured, smoothing her hair back from her face. The strands were every bit as silky as I had imagined. “Elena, wake, please.”
She let out a contented sigh. Warmth blossomed in my chest and my unease faded.
As much as her weariness, worry, and pain had disquieted me, her happiness, regardless of its cause, provided profound comfort.
I had no time to relish this feeling, but it was another joy of finding a true mate—or what it might be like to have one.
Elena stretched languidly, like a sleepy Solani desert lion in the midday sun. Her eyelashes fluttered open.
We gazed at each other for a few moments as she blinked slowly, struggling to shed the weight of sleep.
What she might be thinking, I did not know.
My own thoughts were of her beautiful blue gaze and how much I wished I could simply lose myself in it rather than confront our situation.
Was that a lingering symptom of our long sleep and possible intoxication by the dust, or the longing for my true mate? Perhaps both.
Her gaze left my face to scan the room behind me. She stilled, her eyes wide. Shock, wonder, fear, and a half-dozen other emotions crossed her features. Watching her process the scene around us was like observing a recording of what my own expression must have looked like when I woke.
“Ardruc.” She extricated one of her arms and rubbed her eyes. “What…the…hells?” She blinked at me a few times, as if only now realizing I held her.
Her gaze moved to my chest, where it lingered, scouring the planes of my muscles and following the scale pattern on my skin.
Finally, she blinked again and focused on my face. “I was under the covers when I fell asleep,” she said, frowning. “Did I climb into your arms or did you move me?”
“I do not know.” I wanted to kiss her forehead, but resisted the urge. I did not know if the gesture would be welcome, and as such I would not risk it. “I have no memory of moving or of moving you. Also, I must warn you: I believe we have slept for much longer than a single night.”
“I feel like I’ve been asleep for a week.” Elena turned her head to look behind her. “Where’s Forux?”
Rumbling, eyes half-lidded, the sleepy arval clambered over Elena and wedged himself between us with a snuffly sound. He seemed oddly unconcerned about the change in our surroundings. Possibly whatever had forced us to stay asleep still affected him.
Elena scratched the top of his head and nuzzled his fur. He closed his eyes and resumed snoring.
I extricated my arm and glanced at my wristcomm. “We have slept for a full day and night. It is 0830 hours.”
“Yep, it feels like a whole day and a half.” She stretched again. “Ooh, I feel rested.”
I glanced at her chest. “The mark?”
She pulled the neckline of her sleep shirt down and stared. “Oh, gods.”
The strange symbol had turned from red to blue-green while we slept. The color matched the foliage around us. And it shimmered in the sunlight, much like the pollen or spores that I was all but certain had drugged us.
She studied the mark in the sunlight from different angles as I described the strange particles.
“I do not know if those particles caused us to stay asleep and feel euphoric,” I finished. “But my instincts tell me they did.”
“There you go, being intuitive again.” She gave me a wan smile and covered the mark. “This is getting dangerously close to becoming a habit with you.”
Despite our situation, her teasing was a joy. “It would seem so,” I said.
She stunned me by pressing her nose to my chest above my hearts and inhaling deeply. She let out a long sigh, her breath warm on my skin. I took a chance and rested my chin on her head.
“At least I got the best sleep of my life,” she murmured. Her palm rested on my chest, her fingertips lightly stroking my skin as I rumbled in contentment. “I’m not sure why I’m sniffing you,” she added, “but it makes me less anxious, and it feels really good.”
“It feels very good to me as well.” I pressed my lips to her silken hair. “So you may do this whenever you want.”
“Thanks.” Her tone was dry. “I’ll just sniff you whenever I’m unhappy. That’s not weird at all.”
“It is not so weird,” I countered. “Scent is powerful between true mates. And besides, what would we consider ‘weird’ now?”
“Those are both good points.” She groaned. “Gods, I slept amazingly well, but my brain feels so foggy. I need coffee. Lots of it. Preferably intravenously.”
I grimaced, but rubbed her back reassuringly. “After such a long sleep, I can well imagine you do.”
“I hate to say it,” Elena said, the corner of her mouth twisted up in a wry smile. “But we’re going to have to get out of bed and find out just how much of the station has changed and whether we can contact the Ministry.”
Every cell in my body protested the thought of letting her go, but she was right. We needed answers and must make decisions. Both required leaving this bed.
“Yes.” Reluctantly, I loosened my hold on her, unwrapped my tail from around her leg, and began to move away.
In a blink, she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine.
And just like when I had caught her scent for the first time on the roof, I lost all sense of myself and my surroundings. Everything faded away, leaving only her.
Fire rushed through my veins, igniting everything in its wake. All that I was burned for her, wanted her, needed her. I drank in the sweetness of her lips, the softness of her body, her heartbeat, her scents, everything that made her Elena.
My chest rumbled and my wings shivered. Gods, I wanted more of this.
Why had I held back for so long? What good had it done either of us? What if I had gotten my wish that she would leave and I had lost her? The thought left me cold.
To banish the chill, I cupped her face with my hand. Just that small touch, the feeling of her skin against mine, made my cock stir, my tail twitch, and my hearts pound.
When she drew back, I found myself at a loss for words. “Elena…”