“How do we get out of here?” She was cleaning up after their meal.
“We don’t at least not until I get stronger.” He stood on his own and eyed the bathroom.
She watched as he took small, halting steps toward the bathroom door. It was better than when he first fell or even when he got out of the bed. He was doing it by himself. As he disappeared through the door, she remembered she never asked him her other question. It didn’t matter he was a captive audience she would ask him later.
*~*~*~*
He leaned against the door when it closed, that had taken more out of him than he wanted Willow to see. His mate was sharp he knew that from her job, but she was also insightful. Soon she would be able to read him like a book.
That bothered him to some degree. He always kept his own counsel even with his brothers. He was the one pulling the strings setting everything to work when he was no longer around. Now this little slip of a woman with curves that were driving him crazy was upending his world. Was it because he had been frozen or was it because she was touching a heart that was frozen long before his body followed suit?
Standing in the mirror, he examined himself. She hadn’t asked him the one question he dreaded but it was coming soon, and he didn’t have an answer for her. Longing went through him as he watched the water of the pool move gently.
He wouldn’t risk his life when everything he ever wanted was waiting for him in the other room.
Chapter Eleven
“You changed clothes.”
“I took a quick shower and changed. I didn’t want to risk draining my energy.”
He slowly walked back to the bed with her eyes watching every move. When he got there, he took his time to sit even though he wanted to allow his body to fall onto the bed.
“I can tell how tired you are.”
Of course, she could. She was taking her time watching him, getting to know who he was like he got to her.
“I’m not trying to hide my tiredness.” Yes he was, but he wasn’t ready to be that transparent.
She crawled into bed with him amazed at how comfortable she felt curling up at his side.
“I still have questions.”
“Ask.”
“Where’s the necklace or should I call it a medallion?”
“I was wondering when you would get to that one.”
She turned on her side pillowing her head against his arm. Her toes touched the pajama pants he had on before she edged them up and placed her feet against his warm skin.
“The medallion is special. I woke one day long before I became human or a shifter to find that medallion around my neck. A male was standing in front of me. ‘You’ll need that one day,’ is all he said to me before it disappeared into my body. It was the last time I saw it until I turned human and it was around my neck.”
“Who was the male?”
“I never saw him before.”
She nodded. There was a time she would have laughed and scoffed, but she had been the benefactor of too many strange things happening.
“He was right, you needed it.”
His arms went around her and drew her closer to his body. His lips touched her temple giving her a gentle kiss.
“What will you do when we get out of here?”
“Show you around the rest of my mountain. Introduce you to my brothers.”
“It all sounds so normal.”
“Normalcy comes in levels. What’s normal for one group isn’t normal for another. We will make our own level of normal together.”
“I like that.” She pointed to a tapestry near his parents. “Is that you and your siblings?”
“It is. We were so young when that was done.”
“How was it done?”
“There was a time mankind knew about us, and they weren’t afraid. At least no more afraid than you would be of something that could kill you but would rather deal with you. My father had it commissioned. He was the one that dealt with the humans. Mostly he kept his family under wraps except for little things like sitting for a tapestry.”
“Is the bronzed one your sister?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“She just looks feminine. I don’t know any other way to explain it.”
“There are other ways to tell our sex when we age, but we were all just babies to use a human term, in that picture.”
She ran her fingers over his chest absently trying to figure out a question that had been haunting her.
“What did you mean by gifts?”
“You were born a dragon’s mate, that means within you is a gift that you can use to protect yourself.”
“I know you think I’m your mate, but there is no proof. I’m not special I’m just ordinary.”
“Then why do you hide your white hair?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The hair you wear on your head is not yours.”
“Hey, this is real hair.”
“But it’s not yours.”
Her hands came up and went through it admiring the dark brown locks.
“No one ever noticed before. I started wearing this when I was around eighteen so I would fit in with the world. Is it so bad to want to be accepted?”
“No, you simply don’t want to lose yourself in your quest for acceptance.”
“I know.” She climbed off the bed and went into the bathroom.
It had been a long time since she had seen what she really looked like. She would take the hair out and have it put back in. Will the real Willow please stand up? It was time for her to stop denying that she might be different and embrace her difference. Sometimes she treated herself like she had the plague or she was a serial killer simply because she didn’t fit in with the rest of humanity.
A quick trip to her cooler had her hoping there would be a pair of scissors in there. A smile cracked her face when she saw them. She waved at Javon before she disappeared back into the bathroom. He might hate what he saw, but she couldn’t help it. Right now, she wanted to be herself.
Taking the hair out was a long, tedious project because she didn’t want to cut her hair. When she was done, her hair fell around her shoulders in need of washing. The white of it contrasted with the brown of her skin.
If she walked down a street right now, they would stare at her. Maybe it shouldn’t matter, she’d done her share of staring at people walking down the streets, and they hadn’t seemed to care. She lathered her hair and rinsed. How was there shampoo and conditioner in the shower? There was no way they had these things when he froze.
Was she suspicious? Looking for ways to prove his story wrong? There was a large dragon in the room when she came in, she even slept next to it. Then when she put the medallion around his neck, it came to life. Smoke and mirrors?
She cut her hair. When you’re on the run, there wasn’t always time to visit a beautician. One last look in the mirror had her smiling. The bob would do, it was an oldie but a goodie and besides she didn’t care what anyone thought. Besides Javon.
He was asleep when she walked out. She could feel herself nodding and smiling. He said they would make their own normal and this was what she had expected. Sitting on the side of the bed she stroked his face.
“Beautiful.” He was staring at her. “I thought you were a beauty when you wore the other hair. Now that I see you natural, nothing and no one compares to you.”
Her heart thumped. Yes. It could have been a line, but it didn’t feel like one. She could reject it, but she wouldn’t. Sometimes you needed to believe the compliments from the people around you were sincere.
“Thank you. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at myself this way.”
“Did you see how beautiful you are?”
“Let’s not push it.”
He pushed himself up until he was sitting on the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“We’re going to the bathroom.” He stood and reached for her hand together th
ey walked into the bathroom.
The steam from the shower still clung to the room enough to have fogged up the mirror again. He took a towel and wiped it before he positioned her in front of the mirror.
“Look at yourself and see what I see. A beautiful female.”
She looked in the mirror seeing herself and not the image of herself she had in her mind. It took a while to dump the old image but the more she let go off it, the more she liked what she saw. When she smiled her face lit up with joy.
“I like that smile too.” He came up behind her and now she could see both of them in the mirror. She loved the way her head rested naturally on his shoulder.
“Beautiful.” He turned her around and kissed her. His arms went around her holding her firmly against his body while his tongue dueled with her.
He tasted like a dragon. The taste was sharp and masculine. It was wild and made her want to climb his body. He didn’t taste civilized, and she wanted more.
He drew away leaving her panting as her fingers clutched the shirt he was wearing. His hand went down her back caressing her gently until her breathing faded to normal and her head leaned against him.
He placed a kiss on her forehead and led them back to the bed.
“You're dangerous.”
“I am, but I’ll never hurt you.” He pulled her close, and she curled up in his arms. She believed him.
“Where did the clothes and the shampoo come from?”
“My brother, Syn, our parents named him Syneca, but we shortened it. He comes just to sit and talk with me. He also brings me updated clothes and supplies. He knew that I believed I would meet my mate after I was frozen and I wanted this room to be prepared for her.”
“Do your other brothers come?”
“No. Maceo flies over the mountain, and I fly with him even though he can’t see me. I don’t think he could bring himself to come in. The reality of what he would see might be too much for him. As far as Zeno I think he was too busy holding his own with our brothers.”
“Does it upset you?”
“No. They were each here to say goodbye to me. Sometimes coming back is more reality than a being can take.”
“I understand that.”
She got comfortable and fell asleep. Tomorrow would take care of itself.
*~*~*~*
“This war won’t wait for you.”
Javon opened his eyes. The room was dark, he had turned off the gems that kept it lit, but he could still see the male that stood in front of him. The same male who gave him the medallion so long ago.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who has a vested interest in this war between the dragons and Mutufa.
“Why did you give me the medallion?”
“You’re welcome. You’re going to have to tell her. If you try and protect her, you will lose her.”
“If I tell her I will lose her.”
“You may lose her, and that’s the difference. Would you take a dragon-let to a fight or an untrained soldier to war? She will be like both of these if she does not know how to use the power within her. If you think Mutufa will leave her alone because she’s untrained, think again. He’ll simply kill her first. Think of the joy he will gain watching you suffer.”
He held her tight, his arms pulling her closer while she slept.
“Why did…” The male was gone, but he was right. Willow’s life was on the front line, and he had to trust her to become one with her power. This war couldn’t be won without her. How was he going to tell her that part of being a dragon's mate meant fighting?
He held her close enjoying the trust she put in him.
Chapter Twelve
The mist wouldn’t recede. She was covered in it walking blind.
“Do you like where you’re going?”
“How can I like something I can’t see.”
“Exactly.”
She stopped walking and waited. She didn’t want to solve riddles when she was supposed to be sleeping.
“You’ve denied me for a long time. I should leave you to stumble on your own. Unfortunately, my life is tied to yours.”
“I guess that is fortunate for one of us.”
“For you, believe me.”
She ignored the voice and concentrated on blowing the fog away like it was leaves on the ground.
“Nice try, but who do you think taught you to control dreams? I did.”
“What do you want dream weaver?”
“Aww full of jokes. You won’t be when the war starts.”
“What war?”
“The one your mate hasn’t told you about.”
“I never said he was my mate.”
“You never acknowledged me, but that doesn’t make me any less real. Come find me Willow while you still have a chance.”
Her eyes opened, the coldness around her was proof that Javon wasn't in bed. She sat up to look at the table. He was sitting there staring at her.
“We have to talk.”
“I know.” She got up and took the other chair at the table. “You must be feeling stronger.”
“I am, but I wish I weren’t.”
“Why?”
“As long as I was weak I had a reason to hold onto you and ignore the world. Every moment I grow stronger I know I need to come clean with you.”
“You’re going to tell me about the war?”
“I am, where did you hear about it?”
She took her time pulling drinks and food out the cooler. It was way to small to hold everything she pulled out of it, but she no longer questioned. This life she was living was different, better and she didn’t want to go back to who she used to be.
“Last night I had a dream about a voice I couldn’t see. The same voice that has been haunting my life for years.”
“That’s your power.”
“I think it’s time for you to tell me everything Javon. That way I can make up my mind about what I want and don’t want.”
He took a drink she handed him before he started. “You know about Mutufa. You also know what happened to us when we exiled him to Serenities plane. Ever since then he has been trying to come back. He wants to take over the world. He won’t be a benevolent dictator.”
“I got that from our encounter with him.”
“When we pushed him back the first time it took all four of us to get it done. He’s grown much stronger, and he has worshipers willing to die for him.”
“He deceives them by offering them something they want so badly that they ignore the signs they see?”
“That’s exactly how he does it. He’s tried to kill each dragon mate with the thought that if one of you were dead, we wouldn’t be able to trap him again. When we trap him this time, we would have to close the door for good.”
“Is that where I come in?” She started to clean up their bottles and plates giving her hands something to do even as she listened.
“Yes and no. First, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Yes, I want you for my mate, but not as a way to get rid of Mutufa. I simply want you. I’ve wanted you for years. It was hard trying to pull you to me while I was trying to push you away. The thought of taking you into danger hurts.”
He just stopped talking, and she looked at him. There was anguish on his face like he already lost her, it made her heart squeeze tight. He wasn’t saying she meant something to him or that he loved her but his face wasn’t lying.
He stiffened his shoulders, and his face went blank devoid of all emotion.
“When dragons mate, they mate for life. If you agree to be my mate, there will be no divorce as there is in your world. We will have a connection that will allow you to talk to me as well as feel me. You will know how I feel if I am in danger and I’ll know the same about you. It’s a very intimate connection.
“There is a power within you, a gift that you will need to acknowledge and learn to use. It’s more than that. You must become friends with it. One day your life will depend on your abilit
y to listen to the voice within you. The voice will also have to learn to depend on you. Two different viewpoints and skill sets in one body will make you dangerous. It won’t be easy. It’s been ignored so long it might not want to help you.”
“That voice wants to help me. It’s a certifiable ‘B,' but it wants to live just like I do.”
“How do I look for her.”
“Her?”
“The voice is definitely a female.”
“We can look together. You have a power center we simply have to find it.”
“Okay, what do we do?”
“Kiss.”
She laughed at the big grin on his face. He was going to enjoy this, and so was she.
“Come here.” He spread his legs on the chair and waited for her to approach.
He wanted her to sit on his lap. When was the last time a man she was interested in wanted that? Never. She knew she was big and most days it didn’t bother her because she liked what she saw but right now she was nervous. Was this how a beauty queen felt when she made that last walk across the stage, and she knew it all came down to what she was doing right in that minute?
Hell, she didn’t know. Her confidence warred with that bit of doubt that sat in the corner of her mind and came out to bite her when she least expected it. Her feet touched the floor dragging her towards him as if they were in charge and her heart and mind had nothing do with the decision.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as she leaned into him licking at the seam of his lips.
“Brave Willow, you don’t have to ask permission simply storm the gates.”
She burned with need and desire as her tongue found entrance dueling with his. They went round and round as she took his flavor into her. The one thing she couldn’t get enough of. His arms circled her, and he lifted her without breaking the kiss and turned her until she was seated fully in his lap. Then he pulled her in tighter deepening the kiss.
Some part of her brain that kept watch over her and alerted her to possible bad situations tried to raise the alarm that she was sitting on him. More than sitting, she had sunk down into his lap like it was the most comfortable chair around and gotten drawn into his kiss where his tongue dueled with hers.
Willow's Dragon: Dragon Mates: A BBW Paranormal Romance Page 7
