CHAPTER 23 MILI
A fter I get back to my room, I close the door behind me with a heavy exhale. My mind reels from the utterly casual way Port walked me back to my chamber, the easy gait he had, the lifting speech. I can’t understand how he can be so easily romantic, so lovely, and so handsome, and apparently think nothing of it.
I lay out the two bowls – one from me, one from him–and start to sort through what Port has picked that’s poisonous. Unfortunately, despite my efforts in teaching him, he hasn’t gotten much better at discerning what wild things are healing, and which are deadly.
I’m just settling into the rhythm of sorting through the forage when a loud knock sounds on my door. The noise makes me jump, and I breathe quickly as my heart starts to pound. Apparently, my instincts are still shattered, and I immediately start looking for an escape route from the possible intruder.
Then Cory’s voice rings out cheerfully, “Oh, Milica?” and I curse myself silently for still being so shaken.
I realize that the baskets with his shredded gifts to me are strewn across my bed, and I quickly knock them to the floor where they’re hidden from the door. Once they’re suitably hidden, I go to open it, cracking it just so that I can see him.
“Hello?”
“Mili!” he exclaims, quickly standing straighter. “I didn’t realize you were actually here. I’m sorry for my ... silly tone.”
Realizing he’s actually flustered makes my heart flip. I lean against the doorframe, a helpless smile curving my lips, and he looks past me to the bed.
“You’ve got a lot of random plants there, Mili.” I quickly step out into the hall, closing the door behind me, and Cory laughs. “No, please don’t be offended that I mentioned it. It’s just funny, having a faery around, that’s all.”
I arch an eyebrow, still smiling against my will. “You have lots of faery guardians, though, don’t you?”
Cory scratches his hair, now frowning. “Well, I suppose so.”
“Then it can’t be that strange, can it?”
At my little snarky remark, Cory scowls, and I find myself giggling quietly.
“Oh, don’t tease, none are like you” he says with a roll of his eyes. “I came because I’m worried about you, for the Realm’s sake.”
“You’re worried?” the words spring out of me before I can stop them, my shock painfully clear. I mentally berate myself, of course he’s worried! You arrived half-dead to the volcano, anyway.
Then, all of a sudden, the playful Cory I’d been speaking to vanishes. Just like that, his eyes steel over again, and he stands taller than I remembered he could.
“Mili,” he says sternly, “I have been worried since you arrived here. I came to ask because I don’t think you’ve been following my instructions.” I open my mouth to argue, because for the Realm’s sake he’s not in charge of me, but he continues, “Have you been healing, or have you simply been wandering about the forest with no caution whatsoever?”
At that, my breath catches in my throat. I’d half forgotten that I was technically forbidden from leaving the volcano, especially out of Cory’s sight. Cory cocks his head mechanically, and I feel a flicker of heat and fear run down my back. It’s hard to focus around him –he’s so handsome, but so fearsome, all at once.
“You’re not a prisoner here, Milica, but I strongly recommend you follow my orders – for both of our sakes.”
He takes a slow step towards me, until his face is only inches from mine, and I whimper. At the sound, his eyes suddenly widen in concern, but he masks it just as quickly as it showed. Then he lifts a hand to my chin, taking it between his first finger and thumb, and tilts it up to his.
“Understood?” he asks, a quiet power in his words.
Breathless, I simply nod. He exhales quietly, and I wonder if he was holding his breath just as much as I was. Without stepping away from me, he reaches one hand behind my back to open the door. As soon as it’s open, I practically fall back into the room, unable to pry my eyes away from his until the door is closed between us.
–––
Later that night, I’d stewed over my conversation with Cory – if you could call it that –and had gotten quite irritated. Who is he to boss me around, anyway? He’s not my jailer, as he says, and he’s hardly my savior. Why let him tell me what to do, then?
I knew it would be foolish to venture out on my own, especially when I’m not back to full health, but I did crave some sort of small rebellion against him. As such, I decided that I would venture into the volcano on my own, without telling anyone. No guardians, no Port, no Max, certainly no Cory, no nobody.
The Sun fell and the Moon rose, and I dressed myself in a heavy cloak over my pajamas to help with the cold. There was no need to dress up, anyway –if all went according to plan, I’d just explore on my own without ever being detected.
Now I’m here, completely and utterly lost in some remote corridor of the volcano, half frozen to death.
I walked in what felt like genuine circles for at least an hour, but I kept ending up here, in front of this dark door with an obsidian knocker shaped like a small creature (perhaps a badger, though I’m not certain).
I haven’t seen any doors like it anywhere in the volcano, and I’ve explored quite a bit of it tonight. Still, for all my exploration tonight, I evidently have no clue how to get around.
I’m desperate enough that I’d ring one of the guardian summoning bells, if I could find one, but there’s none in sight. However, as I’m sitting to close my eyes and meditate – and hopefully find a way back to my chambers –I hear a strange noise from behind the door.
There’s the sound of murmuring, then what sounds like raucous laughter. I press my ear to the door, though, and the sound goes completely quiet. I can hear snippets of a man’s voice, if I focus ...
“Honey and blackberry,” someone says.
There’s laughter, then the sound of someone shushing them.
“Is that what it is for you? For me it’s cinnamon and chocolate.”
“Really?”
“Both of you, quiet!” a third voice hisses.
Thudding footsteps approach the door, and come to a stop just behind it.
I suppose this is a good time to run, but I’m already lost. If these are friendly men, as they seem to be, probably some shadow guardians, perhaps they can point me back to my room. Instead of running, then, I brush myself off and stand, as casually as I can, and knock on the door.
“Gods!” Cory shouts from behind the stone slab.
My eyes go wide, and I truly, truly wish that I’d just run off down the hall. I came here to escape Cory, anyways, not to find him! Before I can move to spring away, though, the door opens, and there stands Cory, in all his glory. He’s wearing an unbuttoned black shirt, his eight-pack sculpted like a marble masterpiece just visible enough to make me drool at the corner of my mouth.
A fire crackles behind him, and the wavering light casts beautiful shadows on his rugged features. One of his hands is pressed up on the door frame, and it makes me feel even smaller than I usually do around him. Smaller, and more ... aroused than ever. What in the Realm does this dragon man do to me.
When he’s standing open like this, I can really smell him, his leathery, cidery scent. As a fae, I don’t have the scenting abilities of the dragon shifters, but when he’s close to me like this – it’s not hard to pick up on him.
Then a voice cries out from behind him, “Mili, you came!”
I shift to the side and see Port beaming, sitting across from a grumpy-looking Max.
“I was just walking around,” I say. I try to sound casual, but the sight of Port’s eyes so joyful makes me smile.
His smile falters, though, at my words. As I shift my gaze to Cory’s sudden glare, I realize that was probably not the smartest thing to admit. It’s past sundown, after all, and no one was accompanying me.
“You were ... what?” he hisses.
I cross my hands over myself and glare back at him, jutting my chin out in defiance. “I was exploring the volcano,” I reply, “since I’m forbidden to leave it, now.”
“You were alone?” he whispers sternly. At the sight of the genuine anguish in his eyes, my resolve wavers, but I steel myself and nod. Cory starts to shake with barely-contained rage, and he points a finger in my face as he says, “I’m taking you back to your room.”
Max cackles. “Oh, gods. Cory’s not letting you off easy, is he?”
Cory shoots back a glare at Max’s taunting. As he’s turned around, I saunter past him into the room, watching with glee as Max and Port’s eyes both wander over my body, illuminated by the fireplace.
I smirk at them and open my mouth to speak –maybe even to flirt a little –when I feel strong hands on my hips spin me around. I cry out in shock as Cory lifts me easily over his shoulder, wrapping a hand around my legs.
“You’re going back to your chambers,” he says firmly. “It’s late, and you came here alone. You aren’t to be rewarded for that behavior. I have in mind to punish you instead.”
“Put me down!” I growl. I push myself up against Cory’s back and lift my head, and I see Max and Port looking at each other with wide eyes. I yell out, “Aren’t you two going to help me?”
Both of them shake their heads, Port with a sad smile on his face, and Max with a wicked grin. I scowl at both of them as Cory opens the door and walks me out.
“Cory!” I call out. “Are you serious? Let me down!”
Cory just shakes his head, and I groan, submitting myself to my fate. My hands slide over his back and waist, and it’s like touching carved stone. What is he made of, granite? Every muscle feels so firm he could probably stop a boulder in its tracks—or at least convince it to think twice. I’m getting achy, and I know I’ll be dripping wet soon. It’s a regular occurrence lately. I haven’t been aroused this much my whole life. This position with my ass up like this is also not helping. I bet Cory and I... No, nope, stopping right there. There is no “Cory and I.” Not now, not ever. Just… no.
As he walks me back to my chambers, I try to focus on something else, so I try to keep track of the path we take to get back to my room, but I get lost after about eight turns. How are there so many hallways, anyway?
Finally, we’re back at my bedroom, and Cory sets me down. I humph dramatically and dust myself off, glaring up at Cory all the while. I expect him to still be angry with me, but his cheeks are pink and his pupils are wide.
Realm’s Mother,is he ... aroused?
At the sight of his blush, my gaze drifts down to his groin, despite myself, and I see a slight bulge that definitely wasn’t there earlier. I feel as my whole face goes red, and I quickly lift my eyes to Cory’s face again, praying he didn’t see me blatantly checking him out.
I see him quickly avert his gaze, pretending he didn’t see me look at his hardness, and I start to smile despite myself. My heart starts racing in my chest, and I gasp as he tightens his grip on my hip, which he apparently hasn’t let go of. He shakes his head at me, at my now-lidded eyes, my panting lips, and I gaze up at him helplessly.
“Mili,” he growls.
I breathe out, “Yes?” as he presses me back into the doorway, one hand above my shoulder, the other pushing my hip into the door. I whimper quietly at the sight of him towering over me, and he cocks his head at the sound.
“You drive me crazy,” he whispers. “You know that?”
I nod silently, gazing up at him, wanting nothing more than for him to devour my lips with his, tear my clothes off, and ravage me right here in the hallway. My lips part as I half-pant, tilting my head up towards him, praying, begging he’ll give me what we both want.
Instead, he growls and opens the door behind me, and I stumble back into the room.
“Cory–”
“Don’t leave your room without a guardian again,” he orders me. Then he slams the door, and I hear him stomp off down the hall. I turn around to face my room, and slide down the door.
Mother of Realms, I’m in trouble.