CHAPTER 16 MILI
A live.
Sore, but alive.
I don’t know how long I’ve been out, and where I am, but as I am slowly regaining consciousness, I feel the most exquisite touch. It’s a heated, hungry, slick touch. It’s difficult to fully open my eyes right away. I can hear wood crackling in a fireplace and I turn my head towards it. I glimpse filaments of fire that arc through the air, spreading light and warmth, and I feel myself pulsing in time with them. The depth of my stomach rises and falls with the pleasure I am receiving from the touch.
Maybe this is a dream but I can feel him, I can even smell him. It must be him, the dragon, the one and only dragon I need . He is touching me, and his scent of mulled spices and leatherworking is even more intense up close. The smell is calming me, taking my pain away even while setting my senses on fire.
I reach my hands out and my fingers brush up against diamond scales and it feels like touching the surface of polished gemstones, cool and hard at first but with a subtle warmth that hums beneath the surface. I can feel the skin between the scales, so soft, like supple leather, so warm to the touch. I open my eyes more while I arch my back and pull my head back, and I see a thousand glimmers refracted on the ceiling.
I again start to feel something hot and wet brushing my thighs, all the way down to my feet. It feels like my scrapes and gashes are stitching together with his divine tongue. I feel my body spread, ravenous for the burning caresses and licks. I wince as he hits a tender spot, feeling the burn that only comes with a deep cut.
In a split second, thoughts of home, of Chrysthinia, Aurora, and all of Ethelinda’s suffering crash into my mind. Then it becomes more real, this slick touching and licking, and I begin to stir. The heat, the danger, reaches fever pitch, and I awake fully.
Without another moment’s thought, I put my defensive walls up again. I throw myself backwards and kick my leg out as hard as I can. My foot shoots forward, and my eyes jerk open to see it collide with a man. Not a dragon, but a man I’ve never seen before. I hit him straight in his face and bolts of pure pain shoot from my leg all the way into my chest. I didn’t feel any pain earlier, but it’s coming back now. I scream in pain, as I make eye contact with the stranger.
He’s actually quite handsome but I’ve had enough of handsome strangers complicating my life. I let my eyes fleetingly pass over his broad shoulders, and his brutishly strong arms that resemble carved marble. He possesses a sort of weathered handsomeness, with his rough hands and shadowy eyes. His complexion is fair, lighter than mine. His face is marked with a distinctive scar across his left cheek and his hazel eyes are set so deeply into his brow that they almost appear to be hiding. He’s in fitted black clothes, simple yet striking, hugging every toned line ... and bulge, in all the right places. The dark fabric clings to his body, making it impossible not to notice just how well-built he is. He is beautiful and charismatic ... and angry.
He cries out as he grabs his nose with both hands like it’s his most prized possession. Surely, I didn’t hit him that hard. I try to jump up from the bed I’m lying on but my legs give out when I hit the floor, and I cry out in frustration. Now that I’m committed to getting away, I start to drag myself across the cold floor that’s so polished I can almost see my reflection in it. My motion looks so frantic and jagged.
“Milica,” a low voice rumbles towards me as I finally reach the corner of the room.
I start crying. The pain, exhaustion and even the humiliation have all pushed me off the edge. I’m tangled in my ripped pants and shirt (which I suppose got that way when I fell on my way to the volcano); I’m cold; and I’m covered in this man‘s saliva. If this isn’t rock bottom, then I don’t know what is. And I’m not talking about the cold stone floor beneath me.
“No, no, no,” I gasp out as the man’s footsteps grow louder and closer. I see his shadow –a fractured image on the jagged rocky walls – and start to heave out sobs as I curl myself into a ball on the floor.
“Oh, gods,” he murmurs. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.” His words are gentle, but I sense a hint of irritation in them. It angers me in turn – how dare he blame me for my state? Doesn’t he know what Ethelinda has been going through? What I’ve been going through?
I feel his hand brush my hair gently behind my ear, and I crack a single eye open to peer out of my pitiful position. He pulls his hand away, then, and stretches out those toned sun-tanned arms to scoop me up into his chest. The feel of our skin touching is like a drug. My pain is again gone, and I actually have to fight the urge not to bury my nose into his neck and take a deep breath of that heavenly spice. His scent is overwhelming, spicy and leathery ... and whimsical.
“I’m sorry you got hurt,” he says as he sets me down again on the bed as if I weigh nothing but a feather, “but you need to rest here, now .”
I gaze up at him in wonder. “How do you do that?” He raises an eyebrow and I continue. “That scent; that soothing scent that takes my pain away; that intoxicating scent that makes me feel calm even after hearing you order me around, telling me what I need to do and when, as if you would know better than me.”
“None of that,” he interrupts me. “You are injured , and you are to rest . This much should be clear to both of us. And why in the Realm did you come here, anyway? You’re Milica, healer of Ethelinda, are you not?”
“I am that very healer,” damn it, he’s an expert at changing the subject. I should remember that for the future. “Who are you?”
“I’m Corinthian, as you must know. I’m the guardian of this volcano,” he says. “If you behave, you can call me Cory. But you’ll need to stop kicking me please.” He scrunches up his nose to clearly exaggerate the fake nose injury I gave him.
“How can you be Corinthian? You’re supposed to be a dragon.” I reply accusatory.
A little smile quirks the corner of his lips as he replies. “So you got scared of me when you saw I was a man , and not a dragon ? Well, that’s unexpected. I always thought the townspeople are frightened of me because of my dragon form.”
I look at him puzzled. Maybe I hit him in the head harder than I thought. He seems confused to say the least. He just said he’s a dragon, except he’s clearly a man. I decide to ask him slowly, spacing out each word: “So - you’re - a dragon ?!”
He narrows his focus on me, flashing me a disarming smile (a beautiful charismatic smile!) “ I am a dragon, a dragon-shifter that is,” he responds. “You didn’t know that about me?”
I know I’ll sound ungrateful but I’ll risk it. “So it’s your dragon-form saliva I have all over me?”
“Yes, sorry about that. I healed you in dragon form, but I shifted before you gained consciousness not to frighten you.” He responds with another dashing smile on his face. “Normally I would have asked you first - whether you wanted me to heal you - but given that you almost died falling into the abyss of the volcano, and you were unconscious after that... “
“I didn’t expect the volcano to be so dangerous,” I admit.
“It is. I mean for you it is. But I should tell you that it was actually my first in command, Mordtre, that opened the ground floor. He mistakenly determined that you were a threat, so he opened the abyss floor to stop you from entering the volcano. But, I saved you, so all’s well when it ends well, right?” He lets out an awkward laugh, absentmindedly rubbing his chin with his index finger.
“None of this is amusing Cory.” My words shift the mood in the room. “He thought the healer of Ethelinda is a threat? I mean you clearly knew who I was. You don’t exactly run a tight command around here Cory, now do you?!” The words spill out of my mouth quickly, and I don’t stop. “I hope you don’t expect me to thank you for ‘saving’ me. Now I understand how you’ve been cowardly living here while the beings of Ethelinda are wasting away. We suffer while you live here comfortably with your ‘commanders’ and without lifting a finger to help us. In fact, perhaps you’ve even been trying to keep me away on purpose. Realm forbid you risk the devastation in town spreads to the volcano - isn’t that right?”
His eyes gleam, the specks of gold in the deep hazel growing brighter, while his pupils narrow and darken, taking on a sharp reptile intensity. There it is, I think to myself, there’s the dragon. It doesn’t frighten me, instead it excites me. He slams his hands down to either side of me. With less than an inch between our faces, he responds in a low voice. “I am no coward. I stay where I am needed, where I belong. I guard what is mine. That is my purpose and my burden.” I feel his breath on my upper lip as he speaks. I suck down on it, try to taste his anger. It spices my senses sharper than before. How is it possible that even his anger smells good, and it tastes good too. I need to shut this down before he notices, but maybe I can enjoy it a little while longer since he continues to be upset.
“You are a fool for coming here, Milica. You’ve broken the ancient agreement between the dragons and the fae. The agreement forbids us from ever meeting. Surely you haven’t lost sight of this. I know I haven’t . I have this to remind me of it every day.” He points at the scar on his face, then continues. “You risk disturbing the balance between our kind and ruining the peace and prosperity of Ethelinda. You risk yourself. You risk everything.”
I don’t understand what his scar has to do with the ancient agreement, but I’m determined to stay focused and to stand my ground no matter how worked up he gets. “What peace and prosperity? I came here not because I wanted to, but because the land is dying, and you apparently can’t be bothered to use your powers to help us! It’s not that I risked Ethelinda by coming here, it’s that I would have risked everything by not coming here.”
“You know, I’ve thought about you many times, living your care-free life in town.” He replies as he backs away. “But I never thought you would be so irritating,” he growls. Then he dares to continue. “Max and Port didn’t think that either when they saw you in the forest.” Seems like the tables are turning and I can feel myself losing my composure again, just as he’s regaining his. The gravelly hum of his words set a flame alive in my chest, and I bite back a sensual gasp at the sound of it. Instead, I speak.
“Max and Port? Are they the two men that chased me?” The dragon-man nods, and I let out an exhale. They must not be assassins, after all. “Why were they following me? Did you send them?” I ask, my voice shaking, but somehow tinged with curiosity, too.
“They are still new here, they didn’t know what they were doing. But we are a pack and as their leader, they will do as I say. They will not hurt you.”
I look at him with one eyebrow raised. “A pack? You mean they’re your commanders too?”
He takes my hand in his. My eyebrows leap up at the sudden gesture, and I try to pull back but instead he grips my hand tighter. It’s hard to ignore the feel of skin on skin touching. My breath catches, and I feel my senses on fire again. Heat in my ears, goosebumps on my arms, delicious spice tickling my nose.
A previously-hidden frown line appears on his forehead. “No, not like my commanders who are shadow guardians, born here, meant to be here just like me. Max and Port are different. Even though they are dragon-shifters and they both have alpha genes, they are not from around here. Still, fate brought them to me. They swore their loyalty to me and I swore to protect them. As an alpha pack it’s a bit more complicated than that, but that kind of covers the basics.”
I knew we would get to this alpha nonsense eventually.
“You need to understand that I’ve always been here, not by myself but always alone, never leaving, always on guard. Pack life is an ... improvement.”
Cory’s words strike me. He and I are not so different after all. I also often felt alone, even around Aurora. I have also always been in Ethelinda, and as the healer I’ve never left. But I also never wanted to either. Not until now, that is.
I realize how much I don’t know about Cory, and how much I actually want to get to know him. I mean really know him. As I gaze deep into his eyes, I realize that our hands are still holding. I yank my hand away from him, but he still doesn’t let go. “Let go of me,” I say, attempting (and failing) to sound commanding.
He laughs at my effort to intimidate him, and says as much. “You don’t scare me, Milica.”
“You don’t scare me either,” I snap at him, playfully. It’s the truth, and he knows it.
We both smile to each other. I curse myself silently for being so drawn to this dragon-man, but the sight of him is so intriguing, I can hardly blame myself. Not to mention his mouth, his tongue was all over me moments ago. This is not what I expected from the dragon guardian.
We fell into silence for a moment, then Cory spoke again. “Your body should be healed now, dragon saliva is potent and acts fast. You should also be feeling better overall, I’ve been pumping out pheromones like crazy in order to calm you down.”
“What in the Realm? Are you serious, you’ve been drugging me on purpose? I knew you were doing something, but I thought it was magick, not your alpha pheromones.” I sound annoyed but in truth, maybe I should be grateful. He did make me feel better than slipping into a hot bubble bath on a cold rainy day. After the past few weeks, I’m grateful for the break from sorrow and pain... and guilt. But now it’s time to get back to reality.
“I mean, thank you ... Cory, but don’t drug me or whatever, again, please.” I try to redirect the conversation. “If I am healed, we need to talk about what you’re going to do to help me save our homeland. If the town perishes, how long before the volcano follows?”
“Well, wonderful, I’m glad to hear you’re so brave ,” he says through gritted teeth, “but you have bigger concerns right now than the entirety of Ethelinda. I healed your body, but your magick is weak, I can sense it. You must have exhausted your reserves pretty severely. You need to rest and find a way to re-charge. You know that won’t be easy, right? I can’t help you with that, you need to find a way to do that.”
“I would trade all my magick to save Ethelinda. We need to talk about it now , it’s urgent,” I choke out, already overwhelmed with emotion. “You have to come and help me save the town.”
He just shakes his head. “We can talk about Ethelinda later, but for now, you’re not to leave my sights. You’re in my domain now, which means I am responsible for you and you respond to what I say. Here, I am in charge. In the meanwhile, you can relieve yourself of my dragon saliva - go bathe, then come to the hall for dinner. One of the volcano’s guardians will lead you to the bathing chambers then to your room. This is my bedroom after all.”
With that, he simply turns and begins to walk out of the room.
I call after him, “Where are you going?” feeling an urge to run to him overcome me, pulling me to him. Probably those pheromones again. He turns back to me, resting a hand briefly on the obsidian door frame, and I stare again into his deep hazel eyes. After a moment, though, he knocks his knuckles on the door, face unreadable. I open my mouth to speak again, but he rings a bell hanging at the door and it sounds throughout the room. I close my eyes, wincing at the sudden sound; when I open them again, he is gone.