Touched by a Dragon

by Sarah J. Stone

  “That’s too bad. I would have said yes,” she told him, meeting his awkward gaze.

  Now it was Thomas who felt embarrassed, the warmness flaring upward on his face. He cautioned himself not to blow this chance and chose his words carefully in an effort to salvage the moment.

  “Just because I wasn’t asking you on a date, doesn’t mean I wasn’t interested in spending time with you.”

  Kara smiled up at him, moving closer as if to tell him a secret. When he leaned in, she said, in a very quiet voice, “You realize that made no sense, right?”

  “Yes,” he replied evenly.

  They both burst into laughter as they dropped the subject and tackled the contents of the shopping bag, pulling free a small feast and eating quietly side-by-side as they looked up at the castle walls that stood nearby. It felt a bit surreal to be here in an odd place with a woman that he barely knew. Thomas had never been the kind of guy that dated very much. He was always a loner. Wanting something more had been a recent thing for him. Even this little bit of female company was a nice change of pace.

  Chapter 6

  Back on the road again, they fell into silence. Kara seemed to drift off into her own little world as the miles disappeared behind them. Thomas tried to focus on the road but found himself wondering what she was thinking. They were making good time and would be at their destination within a couple of hours. He found himself already wondering what they would find, once they arrived, and where it might take them.

  “Do you really think we’ll have to go to India?” she asked him out of the blue.

  “Your guess is as good as mine, really. I hope not. We just don’t have much time to sort this out, and we’re talking about finding a needle in a haystack here. Once we’ve found Khalil, Advik, or at least a record of them to get started with, then we’ll know what we are up against.”

  “What happens if we fail?”

  “I don’t even want to think about that. Then, we’ll be up against a whole new beast. We’ll be forced to try to raise enough capital to outbid anyone else. There is no telling how much this land might go for if he wants it bad enough.”

  “There are always loans. If nothing else, as a collective, we can do what we must to raise the money.”

  “I’m afraid it wouldn’t be that simple unless people have holdings outside the village.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “Well, it would seem that all the loans provided in the village are backed by our own bank, a bank that is funded by the wealth of Cassi Baker. Because no one has a clear title to anything they own by the standards of anyone outside the village, not only can they not get external loans on it, they stand to lose it all.”

  “Oh, my God! How is that even possible? How could something like that even happen?” she groaned, looking at him with wide eyes.

  “I don’t know, honestly. It seems unreal, but somehow, all these years, our village has managed to maintain itself internally. There has never been an issue with having to go outside for any type of financing for homes or land. When people have left, they have sold their land to someone or some business within the village.”

  “It just seems that someone, somewhere, would have figured this out long before now.”

  “Yes, it does, but I think that Aiden had his own agenda. I can’t imagine that he didn’t know, but he chose to do nothing to rectify it. Perhaps it played into his plans somehow. Maybe he just thought that he could handle anyone who crossed him. I have no idea, but for whatever reason, he ignored it, and now it’s our problem.”

  “I guess that is the bottom line. It doesn’t matter how it happened. This is just where we are now, and we’ll have to deal with it.”

  “Pretty much.”

  She pursed her lips and looked him, the gravity of the situation no doubt settling in a bit more. He was glad she was here. Her help might be invaluable, but more than that, the company was nice. How had she come to be so close to Cassi, he wondered. I mean, working in the diner was one thing, being a valued employee and all that. It seemed that Cassi trusted her far beyond that, though.

  “You and Cassi are close, huh?”

  A smile formed on the corner of her lips, but it was accompanied by something contradictory in her eyes. There was much more to the story than just a bond between employer and employee.

  “My parents died not long after I came home from college. It was an accident, some sort of gas leak in the house, and they just went to sleep. I was out with some friends, spent the night with the girls after a night of partying. Came home to, well, it wasn’t nice.”

  “Oh, Jesus, Kara. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s life, huh? What can you do?”

  She turned to look out the window again, leaving Thomas to mentally kick himself for bringing the conversation around to such a hard topic. He struggled to find a way to bring it back around to something more pleasant without it seeming awkward.

  “Where are we going to sleep?” she asked, saving him the trouble.

  “I don’t know. That’s the bad part about having to wing it. We can’t really make any plans until we know what is going on.”

  “I suppose you are right. I’m not much of an adventurer, I guess. Everything always has to be planned out.”

  “Probably a great idea in most instances, just not something we have the luxury of doing.”

  “Oh, look!” she exclaimed, completely catching him off guard as she pointed ahead of them. Looming in the distance was the tall spire of nearby castle ruins. He wasn’t sure what it was, he wasn’t even sure where they were, but she seemed so excited about it that he found himself wishing they had time to stop and look around it.

  “I love those. There are so many of them scattered around the countryside.”

  “Yes. They are so beautiful. Such a history. Cassi has told me stories about some of them.”

  “Oh, wow. I never considered that. Cassi must have known many of them when they were still homes to royalty and not just artifacts of the past.”

  “Yes. She has led an amazing life.”

  “I’m sure she has. Maybe when all of this is over, she can tell us both some of her tales.”

  “I bet she’d love that. There have been times when I could see so much sadness in her eyes, but she never told me why. I guess now I know.”

  “Yes, we both do.”

  They were quiet for a moment, each considering the depths of Cassi’s pain. It must have been unbearable for her all these years, and not just a normal lifetime like most people had to endure. Cassi had been granted the universal unkindness of having thousands of years to mourn her losses.

  “Why do you think she never tried to find them?”

  “She was afraid of what she would find. What if they hated her for what she had done? It took her so long to stop being afraid that her fear turned into something else. I think she just became hopeless after a while.”

  “I guess I can understand that. Hey, I think we’re here. There’s the sign. Do you have directions from the main road from Cassi?”

  “Yes, hold on,” she replied, pulling a piece of paper from the pocket of her jeans and unfolding it. “Oh, turn here!”

  Thomas saw that she was pointing just ahead of them at a road that appeared to have no road sign. He looked at it uncertainly, but turned on his signal, slowing down for a better look before making the turn.

  “Are you sure? I can’t see a road name.”

  “She said there would be one. It says to turn by the rock that looks like a doughnut,” she laughed.

  Thomas looked at her and then back at the road. Sure enough, there was a large rock formation that formed a small pedestal with a rounded stone on top with a hole in the middle. Hopefully, those weren’t commonplace in the small town. He turned down the road and crept slowly down it, his sight limited as twilight began to fall around them.

  After some additional directions that were more descriptive than precise, they arrived at a small farm. It was completely
dark, with buildings that were dilapidated and crumbling on their foundation. The rocks from which the main cottage was made had begun to fall apart, leaving a large opening in one side large enough for you to step in without using the door.

  “Well, I guess one question is answered. If they lived here, it hasn’t been for a very long time. This place doesn’t look like it’s been inhabited for centuries,” Thomas commented, feeling more than a bit disappointed in what they were seeing.

  “I’d say you are right. Should we go in and look around?”

  “Not tonight. It’s been a long drive, and it’s getting dark. Let’s just call it a win that we made it here without incident and go find some food and get some rest. I saw a small inn not far up the road. We will see if we can get a couple of rooms there for the night.”

  “Sounds like a plan, at last,” she laughed.

  “Yeah, a very short one. I guess it is better than no plan, huh?”

  “I suppose it is. Shall we get going then?”

  Thomas nodded and followed her as she began walking back toward the SUV. He didn’t know what he had expected, but it certainly wasn’t a dead end. That’s what this felt like. He could only hope that they could find something more in local records or from talking to some of the people who lived around the farm. Obviously, they weren’t going to remember Khalil and Advik, but they might at least know some history about the place that would tie back to them.

  Both he and Kara were quiet as they pulled up to the inn and parked. It was a sleepy little place, and Thomas suspected that if they had arrived much later than it already was, they would have been out of luck in getting a room for the night. It seemed like the kind of place that came out and rolled up the entrance at night to deter late night visitors. He found just the opposite to be true as they stepped inside, however. There was a quite lively bar to one side of the front desk, with a healthy dose of patrons for a weeknight.

  “Can I help you?” a young man said from behind a makeshift desk that stood near the door.

  “Yes, I needed to see if you have two rooms for the night.”

  “Aye. Afraid not. We have one, but not two.”

  Thomas and Kara exchanged a look, but neither said anything to one another. Instead, Thomas turned back to the young man.

  “Are there any other places to stay nearby?”

  “Not that you are going to get into after dark. Widow Trapon has a little bed and breakfast about twenty miles up the road, but she won’t open the door once the sun goes down.”

  “Just get the one room, Thomas. We’ll make do,” Kara whispered.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to make things uncomfortable.”

  “It will be more uncomfortable trying to sleep in the SUV,” she pointed out.

  “I suppose so,” he replied, turning back to the young man again. “Okay. We’ll take the room you have.”

  “Brilliant. If you’ll just fill this out for me. The rate is on the bottom. We take cash, credit, and debit cards. No checks. Do you have any bags you need me to help you bring in?”

  “No, we’ll be fine,” Thomas replied, filling out the form and handing him cash as payment.

  “Very good, Sir. Here are the keys to your room. It is up the stairs to the right and down the hall on the left – number twelve. The pub is through the doors behind me if you fancy it.

  “Is there a place to get a bite to eat nearby?”

  “Not at this time of night. Everything is closed but the pub, but you can get a hot sandwich, soup, or some finger snacks in there until nine.”

  Thomas glanced at his watch. They still had about an hour and a half. It would give them time to get settled in and then come down for a bite and perhaps a drink or two. He nodded and took the key, motioning for Kara to come with him toward the front door. They grabbed their bags and returned, thankful they weren’t too heavy as they hauled them up the stairs.

  “I’m sorry about this, Kara. I know it’s a bit awkward to be staying in a room with a stranger.”

  “I don’t think of you as a stranger at all. I think we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well in the short time we’ve spent together,” she told him, looking up at him softly.

  “I suppose so. Still, it’s a bit inappropriate.”

  “I adore that you are so old fashioned.” She laughed, then added, “It will be fine.”

  “Well, I guess we better unpack and get downstairs for some food while we can,” he said as he unlocked their door and pushed it open for her to walk through.

  “Oh, wow. This place is beautiful,” she breathed.

  Thomas sat their bags down inside, taking in the opulence of their room. It wasn’t at all what he had expected for the price. He had thought they would be getting a small room the equivalent of someone’s bedroom at a modern house. Instead, the room was massive, with rich colors and material that enhanced the heavy, antique furniture that was contained within. It was a stunning room, much more than he had expected.

  “Yes, it is.” But what had now caught his attention was the fact that it contained only one double bed and no sofa of any sort. There was a chair, but he could hardly sleep in that. He sighed quietly to himself. It looked like he’d be on the floor tonight.

  “Are you okay, Tom?” Kara asked, noting the look on his face that must have given away his disdain.

  “Yes, yes. Fine. Ready to go down?”

  “Sure. We’ll get a bite to eat and then get some rest. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

  “Me too,” Tom replied, already accepting that he would be just as tired in the morning after sleeping on the wooden boards that made up the floor of the room.

  Chapter 7

  Over hot beef and cheese sandwiches, chips, and pints of beer, they discussed their plans for the next day. By the time they left at nearly midnight, the pub was still fairly full, but they had an early morning and decided to get some rest. Who knew what would happen during the course of the day, or where it would take them next.

  “I’ll sleep on the floor, Kara,” Thomas told her as they entered the room.

  Kara looked forlornly at the hard, wooden boards beneath her feet and shook her head.

  “Absolutely not. You’ll be fit for nothing tomorrow after sleeping on that. Might as well sleep on a rock bed by the sea.”

  “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  “No. Look, Tom, we are adults here. We can sleep in the same bed and just get a good night’s sleep.”

  Thomas looked at her. Perhaps she could, but he had the feeling that while he might be able to control himself being so close to her, he wouldn’t exactly be oblivious to her presence, and what if he forgot himself in the night and ended up trying to spoon with her or, God forbid, got an erection in his sleep? How humiliating to explain any of that would it be?

  “No. The floor will be fine.”

  “If it is fine for you, then it is fine for me. You take the bed, and I’ll sleep on the floor.”

  “No, Kara. Don’t be silly.”

  “Then we’ll both sleep on the floor.”

  “Kara…”

  “Tom, we’re sleeping in the bed or we’re sleeping on the floor. Which will it be?”

  Thomas looked at her eyes, glaring at him stubbornly, but there was more to it than that. There was also just a hint of a smirk at the edge of her lips. He could tell that she was more than a handful when she wanted to be. She certainly was at the moment.

  “Fine, but you stay on your own side of the bed. I won’t have you taking any liberties with me while I’m asleep and vulnerable,” he finally teased, trying to make light of the situation.

  “I make no promises, but I’ll do my best,” she replied, a seductive smile crossing her face.

  “You do that,” he told her.

  A nervous laugh escaped him as he turned to locate his overnight bag, fishing out a pair of loose shorts and a fresh t-shirt to sleep in. Making his way to the bathroom, he stood at the edge of the sink a
nd gripped it tightly for a moment before brushing his teeth and changing to return to the room. He found her standing there in a white tank top and tiny black shorts that displayed her perfect form with little imagination required. This was not good. This was not in any way going to be good. Averting his eyes, he walked over to one side of the bed and climbed in.

  “Bathroom is all yours,” he told her, turning onto his side away from her to avoid gawking.

  “Thank you,” she replied.

  Footsteps sounded quietly throughout the room as she walked over and retrieved something from her own bag. A moment later, he heard the bathroom door close and the sound of water running inside. He took a deep breath and tried to refocus his attention on what would need to be done tomorrow, but the sound of her returning only shifted his thoughts back to the beautiful creature now climbing into bed beside him.

  Somewhere in the night, his worst fears came true. He awoke to find himself draped around her, his arm wrapped around her waist and his nose nuzzling the nape of her neck, just beneath the edge of her flower-scented hair. His want for her was pressing against her backside, and as he slowly came to realize that it wasn’t a dream, he began to move quietly away before she realized what he had done. Instead, he found her hand reaching for his, pulling it back to her and holding on to it.

  “Don’t,” she said.

  “Kara, I didn’t mean…” he began.

  “Shhhhh,” she replied, shifting so that she was pressed closer to him again.

  Thomas lay there in the darkness for a few minutes, debating whether he should take it any further or just let it be. In the end, he found himself counting leaves on an imaginary tree in an effort to remain wrapped around her while quelling his rising libido. Eventually, he gave in to the comfort he felt curled up against her and fell back into a peaceful sleep.

  When he awoke, the light was spilling in through the window, and she was no longer beside him. He could hear the shower running as he climbed out of bed and slipped into yesterday’s pants before wandering downstairs to retrieve some coffee, croissants, and fruit from the breakfast bar set up in the lobby. When he returned, he found her dressed and drying her hair with a tiny travel dryer.