Right or left she screamed in her head as she came to a fork in the tunnel. One would take her to Javon, the other would lead her away.
“Come to me Willow.”
Well, that was good enough for her. She ran down the right tunnel wondering how she was fast enough to beat a shadow. It was dark that eased her mind for a minute. If there wasn’t light, then there shouldn’t be a shadow. Maybe she was ahead for once. Her legs came to sudden stop pitching her body forward. Obviously, this shadow had never gotten the message. It stood before her several shades darker than the darkness surrounding her.
A high pitched hysterical laugh came from her. How could she be so close only to be staring failure in the face?
“Do you know what I’ve learned.”
“Text it to me, it should make great reading.”
“I’ve learned that dragon mates are tricky and the best thing to with them is to kill them immediately.”
“Sounds like you have anger issues. I can recommend a good counselor.”
He took a step towards her his hand glowing.
“Calm down. Maybe you’d prefer a group therapy class. That way you won’t be the focus.”
A beam of light shot from his hand.
I’m going to die.
Not today but maybe tomorrow. Now we are going to be covered in the shadow of the dragon.
She saw it glide over her. It might be more accurate to say she felt it cover her. Mutufa’s shadow dimmed as if she were looking at it from a place of security. When the light from his hand hit her, it bounced off. How does a light bounce off? She wasn’t sure, but she was willing to bet if that light touched her she’d be crispier than a chicken wing.
His scream of frustration attacked her making her ears bleed, but she refused to move. The small amount of space covered by her dragon’s shadow was all the protection she had. Eventually, he faded out and the dragon shadow covering her faded away. Her body relaxed going as limp as a noodle before she made herself get up. She staggered the rest of the way until she fell into the entrance to the large cave-like room in front of her.
Chapter Six
She felt like she walked into a small, unadorned house only to be shown to the secret door. Once she walked through it, there was a magical fairy land that shouldn’t exist, but did. That was how she was feeling now. Instead of a cave inside of a mountain, she walked into a beautifully done room. The walls were all covered with tapestries as if someone wanted to make this feel like a spacious guest suite.
There were jewels all over. That she did expect. What self-respecting dragon didn’t have a hoard of jewels? She walked around and touched the walls, there was even a table and chairs as well as a bed. Unless she missed her bet, there was a bathroom behind the one door.
Her eyes went everywhere except the center of the room. If she focused there, she would then have to believe that this was real and happening to her. She walked over to the table and placed the cooler on it. It was the one thing she held onto, she would die without the water and food the cooler provided.
Finally, having no other choice she turned her eyes to the center of the room. He was there, beautiful. Seeing him frozen made her re-evaluate how big the room was. How big was he? He had to be the length of a football field or at least close to it. Her tongue came out and nervously licked her lips.
“You’re real.” No answer. What was she expecting?
Silly, but she was expecting him to break out of the stone and declare she was like magic or something. The shaking of her legs made her look down. She watched wide eyed as the shaking went from her legs to her whole body. It was an order to move, but she didn’t like orders. Her body stiffened, and she refused to move until the shaking stop.
“I am not a child,” she whispered furiously. “I won’t do something just because you told me to.”
Her body finally calmed down, and she went to sit in the chair. Of course, she wanted to get closer to Javon, touch him, but if her body confirmed what her eyes saw, she might break down.
“I’ve got water and food. If you weren’t frozen, I would share with you. Do you eat humans? I don’t want to be on the menu.” She stood casually and began walking around the room exploring.
“You have lots of jewels. You were obviously a very rich dragon when you were alive.” She leaned down and picked up a big onyx necklace that was hanging on what looked like a thick pure gold chain. The weight in her hand was heavy and the heat it gave off was surprising. “Very rich. I wonder if you would have looked at me when you were a dragon/male?”
She placed the necklace back on the ground as she realized the ground was a floor. One she could walk on without fear of hurting herself. She slipped her shoes off one at a time. Her very comfortable walking shoes weren’t that comfortable after being on her feet for more days than she could remember. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t come up with an exact number of days she had been on the ocean.
Going to her tiptoes, she flexed her body then stretched her toes against the floor. Knowing she couldn’t put it off any longer she looked at the dragon in the middle of the room. How long was he? The size of a football field or at least close.
He was magnificent and more. Her hands wanted to touch. She took one hand and slapped the other. No touching. There were statues that were hundreds of years old that people couldn’t touch for fear the oil off their bodies would harm the statue. She remembered about hearing that when she watched a special on the Vatican. Not that it mattered she didn’t want a toe or wing to fall off because she touched him.
All she could see was stone with hints of color as if he were alive underneath it all. His mouth was open in a roar, then again he may have been frozen just as he was about to breathe fire. Either way, he was scary, and she’d stay away from those teeth.
If this were the dragon then where was the male? She walked around until she came to the other side. There standing beside the dragon was the male. She knew it was Javon, no one needed to confirm it for her. The sadness in his eyes was overwhelming. He was mourning. Mourning for her? When you were stone, it probably didn’t matter what made you sad.
“Don’t touch,” she whispered to herself as she approached him. Not that it mattered, she was going to touch. There was no way she could keep her hands to herself. Gently she laid a finger on him feeling the hardness underneath her digit, she mourned.
She went to the table and opened her cooler. Her water was there, and she pulled out two bottles once again giving thanks for it. After drinking some, she went back into her cooler and found dinner. Not a sandwich and chips, but a real dinner. There was a steak and baked potato as well as a salad. She could have kissed someone for that. Then she realized this must be a dream. Coolers didn’t give out magical water or food.
The sound of her teeth grinding together made her lock her jaw. She wanted reality, didn’t she deserve that? Slowly she opened her eyes agreeing that whatever she saw she would accept until she proved it was wrong. The table was still there, and the food was in front of her. Her head turned to the left to see Javon sitting on the chair next to her.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
He was still a ghost, but his lips turned up into an enchanting smile. He had to be very popular with the females when he was alive.
“I was waiting for you to make up your mind.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Whether you would believe what you see or would you reject this truth to find yourself stuck back in the middle of the ocean about to die.”
“How could that happen? If this is reality how could I be back on the ocean?”
“We think of reality as a hard truth, when in fact, its fluid. I think I’m a failure so I am. I think I will overcome or achieve, so I do. I see myself as the next manager, so I become the next manager. Reality often doesn’t depend on where you are but on where you want to go. Because of who you are your ability to effect reality is higher than most others.”
She
looked at him and blinked because somewhere in the words he just said was something she needed. If only she knew what t was.
“Eat, you don’t want your food to get cold.”
She took the silverware she found and cut into the steak. It tasted so good after days of no food, then sandwiches that she moaned and took another bite.
“So you're saying that I am eating steak because I got tired of sandwiches so I changed my reality?
“No, you’re eating steak because the oracles loaned you a cooler that they rarely part with. You must have impressed them.”
“Oracles?”
“Yes, the triplets that let you borrow this.”
“Their oracles, of course they are, why didn’t I figure that out on my own.”
“My world is different. You don’t have to know everything, in the beginning, you’ll learn. Just like I learned about your world.”
“Was that Mutufa’s man that threw me overboard?”
“I don’t know, I couldn’t see him. That worries me, but there isn’t much I can do about it right now. He has a helper on the island, but I don’t know who.”
She nodded taking several bites of the food. “Someone closed off the entrance. We can’t leave even if you were flesh and blood.”
“This is my home. When I become flesh and blood again, we will find a way out.”
“Don’t you mean if?” She said it low in barely a whisper so he wouldn’t hear her.
“No I mean when. It goes back to that reality conversation we just had.”
“I remember.” She gave him a smile because now everything was fluid. She might die in this room with his frozen body or she might live to tell the tale. There was no way to know.
One by one she placed everything back in the cooler before she raised her hand to cover the yawn that came.
“You can sleep on the bed. There are enough covers to keep you warm, and after sleeping on the ground, you will appreciate the softness of it.”
He was right the bed did look soft, clean, and comfortable. It also looked lonely, and she was tired of being alone.
“Can I sleep next to the dragon?” A smile played around her lips as she watched his eyes grow wide. He didn’t expect her request.
“Yes.”
She gave him a quick smile thank you before she disappeared through the door she was sure contained the bathroom. What would she find a bucket?
The tub was a small pool. She went over and ran her hands through it. A hot spring. All she could do was think about slipping her body into that pool of water it would be delightful.
“This is yours.”
She startled when his voice came close to her ear. He was a ghost, a something, he didn’t need to use a door.
“It’s not polite to interrupt a woman in the bathroom.”
“Sorry, it’s been so long, I’d forgotten. The sink has hot and cold running water. The facilities,” he coughed gently trying not to laugh, “work.”
She blushed, but couldn’t figure out why. She had been using the trees as her bathroom lately.
“Why is this mine?” She looked around the bathroom it was sumptuous to be in the bottom of a mountain.
The walls were gold, bringing artificial light into the room but making it feel like sunlight. The floors looked like they were done in a tile that fit in but felt heavenly against her feet. The sink was a pedestal fit for any queen. There was even a shower as well as a commode. If she went into a hotel and saw this setup, she would think it was luxurious. The gold on the walls combined with the quality of the furnishings.
In the bottom of the mountain, it was so much more. This was done deliberately with someone in mind.
“I hoped, even believed that one day I would find you. There was no precedent to go on. No stories whispered back and forth of a dragon ever coming out of a frozen state or finding his mate. I created this because I dared to believe that I would find you.”
Her hands came up and wrapped around herself because she needed something to do with them. If for a moment, she wondered what his arms would feel like wrapped around her, she kept the thought to herself.
“There are some clothes you can change into in the closet.”
“Thank you.” The words came out low because she didn’t know what to say or do.
“You’re welcome.” He left the bathroom in a blink of an eye.
Chapter Seven
She was staring at her reflection. The polished, sophisticated woman that she knew herself to be was gone. Now she looked tough, her face was honed not from hunger or thirst but from determination to overcome the physical trials that had been set before her. The brown of her eyes sparkled with vitality. A small laugh emerged from her. She had never used the word vitality to describe any part of her.
Her hands came up and started taking her clothes off. Once again she would look at herself in the mirror, and she wondered what would she see. When she was naked, she looked at herself with a critical eye. Before her stood Willow, the female who pushed when it would have been easier to give up. She took one long, raw look at herself and realized she liked herself curves and all.
Turing around she headed to the pool that was pretending to be a tub. There were three steps leading down, and she took each slowly until she was surrounded with warm water. Closing her eyes, she floated allowing the warmth to relax her.
He did this, created this for her. No, he didn’t know her name at the time or know what she looked like but he knew he had a mate somewhere in the world and he did it for her.
She wasn’t supposed to even think about the claim that she was his mate until he was able to become flesh and blood again. If that was even possible, but there was no way she could float in this water or look at the clothes he had picked out for her to wear and not acknowledge that he saw her as someone special.
When Skye had shown off her engagement ring, she had wanted that. Not so much the ring but a male who would love her enough, cherish her enough to give her a ring. She wanted this, someone who was waiting for her even though he didn’t know who she was yet. She didn’t know if that’s what all females wanted, she just knew about herself.
He would be good to us.
She tilted her head gently to acknowledge her inner voice. Didn’t she want something more than a male that would be good to her? She wanted the works, but honestly, if he were as perfect in the flesh as he was now, he’d be hard to resist. After a quick wash, she dried herself off and looked for something to wear. There was a nice oversized sleep garment done in red and gold. It made her feel comfortable when she put in on.
Her hand touched the knob to go into the other room, and she realized she was nervous. Which made no sense, he was just a spirit, and that’s what made her nervous. Her not being able to touch him or even sense his emotions made everything they talked about, every wish that she could touch him more meaningful. She felt like she was connecting with him on some level that most people didn’t get to and that she wasn’t aware of existing until she met him.
Deep breath, shoulders back, she walked into the room with her head held at a regal angle, her body pampered like she was a queen. The beautifully made bed was stripped as she pulled off covers and pillows and arranged them in front of his dragon. He stood still on the side and watched her.
When her comfortable pallet was done, she laid down in front of the dragon’s chest and curled up so that she was leaning against him.
“My dragon would be roaring his pleasure, having you so close if he weren’t frozen.”
“Don’t you mean purring?”
“I don’t purr.”
She took one look at him and laughed. He had pulled himself up to show off his height. His chest flexed, and his eyes sparked. How she wished she had gotten to know him before now.
“I think you purr a little, but your secret is safe with me.” A smile curled her lips as she fell into a deep sleep.
*~*~*~*
“Hi.”
She opened her eye
s and then screamed slamming them shut before trying to crawl away.
“I’m sorry I always seem to forget that the brightness does not comfort the human while they are still wearing their earthly body.”
“Aww, what?” She peeked through slightly raised lids to realize she could see without frying her retina’s.
“Where am I?” She sat up and looked around.
“You’re on my plane, I brought you to a little, secluded bath I like to use.”
It was beautiful, it sat outside with birds around it chirping happily. The trees were in full bloom, the grass was soft she loved the feel of it on her hands.
“Is this a movie set?” She was thinking Disney but didn’t want to say it.
“No, this is one of the ways you can live when your not tied down to your planet. There are many others, some good some not so good.”
“Why am I here?”
“We’ve been waiting for you.”
“You better not call me the next great white hope.”
Her eyes skimmed Willow’s dark skin before she bent over in laughter. Willow blew out a breath anyone with a good sense of humor can’t be that bad.
“Can I call you the next hope?”
She nodded her head and tried not to laugh. It was nice being thought of as someone’s hope. Then thoughts of Javon strolled through her mind. She was his hope, but she didn’t know what to do.
“Hope is tricky. The person you’re placing all your cards on can’t always do what is expected of them.”
“I know. Sometimes we pick the wrong person, but not this time.”
“So why am I here?”
“I want to tell you a story. Come with me.”
She got up and followed her through the trees stopping to stare at the beauty of the weeping willows before her.
“Did you know that some people think weeping willows symbolize death?”
“I do, I never liked that fact.”
“Why? Death is not always something to be feared. Sometimes death is the relief that you have been looking for. Other times the death of the one saves the lives of the many.”
Willow's Dragon: Dragon Mates: A BBW Paranormal Romance Page 4
