One piece of jewelry in particular was her favorite: a blue diamond ring she wore on her left ring finger. It was a princess cut and surrounded with many smaller white diamonds. The size was perfect as well. It wasn’t small, but it was nowhere near too large.
As beautiful and as wonderful it all made her look, she couldn’t help but feel sad. It all felt like such a waste of time to her. There seemed to be little point in getting excited over it when all these lavish gestures symbolized her impending doom.
She was placed in her official ceremony garb, which left her feeling embarrassed and naked. It was minimal, white, and classy, but the minimal was the part that made her feel uneasy. She would have never worn anything like it on her own free will. The soft white lace lingerie clung to every curve of her body, and she felt as though she might as well have been naked. Thankfully she was given a white robe to cover herself with on her trip from Oceina Temple, to the small sub-island near her home. Only the priests and the sacrifice were allowed to step foot on the island. The priests were not allowed to stay for the feeding.
The feeding was the third and final part of the ceremony. She could only hope that it would be quick and painless and the great dragon would have mercy on her. This caused her to imagine all of the different ways she could be eaten. Would the dragon swallow her whole? Or would it rip her into tiny pieces first?
She had never seen one up close. They were beautiful and terrifying all at once. For the past six years or so the dragon had followed her around several times. At least now she knew why.
Chapter Four
The dragon lord didn’t share these feelings she had. Instead, he was filled with nothing but glee.
The sacrifice was only a ruse for an elaborate mating ritual. A ritual he was most eager to participate in, and not for purely hormone driven reasons. The coming of age ritual for his kind was his opportunity for love, family, and completeness. It was something all of his kind lived for. The ritual was his way of having purpose. They all wanted a woman to love and to love them in return, much like the humans did. Women were more greatly respected in his culture than in any other species of dragon, and in some cases even more so than by human men.
Unfortunately for them, there were no dragon women. They did, however, have the ability to change into a more human like form. In fact, the dragons spent more time as a human than they did as dragons. Being a dragon was something reserved mainly for religion, military tasks, and to show they were real. It was far too dangerous to tell the humans of their secret. They would never understand it, not in the masses. Not even the priests knew the truth.
He awoke before dawn and spent his morning pacing through his bedroom impatiently. Nothing would satisfy him. He could not be entertained in an effort to pass the time more quickly. He tried to watch the television, reading, showering, reading some more, eating a snack, showering yet again. He hated having to wait all day. He grabbed the door handle to leave his room and walk the entire condo complex where he lived with his family. It was then his father, the great dragon lord of all the water dragon lords, Orion, knocked on the door and then entered before he could be invited in.
“Darien?” his father called. “Do you realize what time it is?”
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you up. I can’t sleep anymore.”
“That’s obvious.” His father motioned for his son to sit with him on the bed. “I can understand you’re excited, but you need to rest. You’ve got a big day ahead of you. There’s more to today than the ceremony.”
“I know. I tried going back to bed though, and it didn’t help. I’ll try not to make so much noise.”
“Do you want me to get you something to help you rest easier?”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll be okay.” He’d functioned on less sleep pulling all-nighters for school. He would have more than enough adrenaline to get him through the day. Though he wasn’t aware of how much of his day would be completely consumed with family and rituals.
The dragon lord also had three parts to the ceremony he would perform. The first two were much like what Tai endured. He had to a take vow of loyalty to her, the nation, and his own people. Following that he also had a ritualistic bath, though it was far from as lavish. And then it was time to perform his last task. He fidgeted with his clothes just thinking about it. In a few hours, he would travel the long journey to Little Oceina Island, and reveal to Tai the truth about his species. The truth about the sacrifice.
He continually stared down at his left hand and couldn’t help but beam at the sight of the wedding ring he now wore. The two were officially married as soon as each spoke their last vow in the ceremony, and if all went according to plan he would get to show her how much he loved her. This was the task he was most nervous about. It was time to bring her home.
Chapter Five
Darien flew to the island in his dragon form. He did one full circle and made sure it was in fact void of all other humanoid life aside from her. The last thing his people needed was for a curious priest to break covenant and ruin everything. He had yet to kill. He never wanted it to come to that.
After he was sure the coast was clear, he made his descent to the designated clearing where the sacrificial alter was kept and Tai was restrained. She was amazing looking in her minimal but tasteful white lace outfit, and it made him falter a little, but that soon passed when he caught a good whiff of her fear. Fear never smelled good to him. It reminded him too much of a dirty sock. When he smelled it coming off of her, he felt sick to his stomach.
He landed, walking to her slowly. He moved his head in close and gave her another good sniff. Everything seemed to be in order still. He didn’t enjoy scaring her, but he couldn’t think of another way to approach her. He couldn’t land in the forest around the sacrificial alter. There wasn’t enough room for his dragon body. Unless of course he killed a few trees to make room, but this would no doubt frighten her more. His only other option would have been to transform into his human form on the beach, but then other humans might see.
He breathed a light, gentle mist over her. It glittered slightly as it moved from out of his mouth and over her body. The magic inside of the mist was meant to relax her. She shook so hard with fear he was worried she might go into shock. And she was crying. He couldn’t stand it. All of this stopped when she breathed in sparkling blue mist. What he hadn’t intended to happen was for her to fall asleep.
Darien gave her a gentle nudge with his nose trying to wake her. The smell of fear was now gone. His magic had relaxed her to the point of unconsciousness which was not what he had intended, but Darien had a tendency to goof up his spells often. He could never get a handle on the potency of his own magic.
Another ten minutes passed before he decided to transform back into his human form. Originally the plan was for him to transform for the first time in front of her, but he was far too anxious to hold still. He could occupy his waiting time more productively as a human.
After he changed shape, Darien straightened his clothes out. He wanted to look his best and make a good first impression for his bride. While his magic allowed for him to change forms and keep his clothing while doing so, it had a tendency to crease and wrinkle slightly somewhere in the process. Satisfied with his dress pants and white button down, he took the time to study his surroundings. He hadn’t actually taken the time to look at everything around him and see if the priests had done everything he had requested.
The blue flowers he had wanted surrounded the altar where Tai was restrained, and there were many more than he could have ever imagined. There were several un-lit candles, ready and waiting for use. He wasn’t sure when Tai would awaken again. It could be minutes or hours. He had tried to use his least potent version of the spell on her, but even for a dragon, his magic was much more powerful than the rest of his kin. While he waited, he took the time to light the candles, breathing blue fire from his mouth to do so.
He sat down on the altar beside Tai and unt
ied her, watching her sleep. It was so tempting to curl up beside her and sleep as well, but if he did that, he might miss something. He wanted to stay awake.
Several hours passed and he began to worry. The sun had gone down a while ago, and the candles he had lit were getting close to burning out. He was about to try to wake her, when she stirred on her own.
Her body shifted to face him as she woke. He was the first thing she saw upon waking up. Her blue eyes fluttered open and her brow immediately furrowed with confusion. He couldn’t blame her. She probably never expected to wake again.
“Who....” she managed, but she was far too drowsy to finish the thought. “Am I-?”
“No,” he said. “You’re not. You’re okay.”
“So then, who are you?” she asked weakly.
How was he supposed to explain this to her when she looked so disoriented? Everything he wanted to say to her kept catching in his throat and refused to come out. He could only manage a condensed version of the truth. “I’m your husband.”
“Oh,” she said quietly and nuzzled into his arms. “Okay.” She must have thought the entire thing was a dream if that was the reaction she was giving him. Why was she so calm still? Everything he knew about Tai from his visits led him to expect question after question. Something, anything, more than ‘okay’. No matter, when she became more awake, he’d give her a more thorough explanation and Darien would have the ease of knowing he never lied to her. “So if you’re my husband, and I’m your wife, then it would be okay if I kissed you?”
He jumped with surprise and blinked rapidly. She wanted to kiss him? He tried hard to suppress how happy that made him, but he was pretty sure he failed. “Y-yeah, of course. Whatever makes you happy, I’m more than happy to do for you” Wait, how did kissing work? Was he supposed to make a move, or did they both move at the same time?
Tai didn’t give him the time to figure this out because she decided to take the initiative. Drowsily, she lifted her face ever so slightly to his and pressed her lips against his. “You have soft skin,” she observed as her fingertips ran over his clean, shaven face. “And pretty blue eyes.”
“Y-yes. So do you.” What kind of an answer was that? She was going to think he was a moron.
She giggled a little and went back to nuzzling him gently before daring to finger the buttons on his shirt. “So if you’re my husband that means you love me right?”
“More than anything,” he replied honestly. He’d loved her since he first saw her six years ago.
“I want to see it....”
“I, are you sure?” Darien took a moment to swallow and then caught his breath. Did she really mean what he thought she meant? She must have. The smell of lust practically poured off of her. It smelled sweet, kind of like cinnamon, but there was also another more subtle flavor to it as well. He couldn’t put his finger on it.
He wanted to be with her, to be one with her, and it was the only thing he’d been looking forward to for months since the day he decided she was it for him. But as much as he wanted to be with her, he couldn’t help but be weary of the idea. He couldn’t tell if she meant it, and he wanted this moment to mean something. This would be the first time for them both. It was supposed to be special. The atmosphere was perfect though, and they were married. What could make it more special than that?
“Of course I’m sure,” she said. She stared up into his eyes and he was completely swept away in hers. They were filled with certainty, and when he looked into them he did not see a dreamy, dazed, or confused look. Her pupils appeared normal, even her smell suggested she was recovered from the spell well and returning to her right mind. Her smell told him she lusted for him. If anything, she looked determined. Love at first sight? He’d heard a lot of stories about it, and while he had been hoping for it, he was also a little skeptical about the idea. Love at first sight had worked for his brothers, but it seemed too good to be true. Now he realized how much he worried over nothing. His dreams from the past six years were now coming true. That reassured him, and so did her words.
“If you’re my husband, that means I love you more than life. I need you to love me. I want you. I feel safe now. Love me and protect me from the dragons.”
He planted a soft kiss on her forehead before placing a shaking hand over hers. “I will always keep you safe. I promise you that the dragons will never hurt you.”
He leaned in to give her another kiss. He shook slightly from his nerves. He still felt a little hesitant, but he could feel her confidence in her kiss and that seeped into him. All of the worry he felt over whether or not she would accept him faded from his mind. She was attracted to him. He made her feel safe. He was capable of being what she needed. It felt nice to be worth something to someone. It felt warm, and it gave him a new kind of energy and boldness that he’d never experienced before.
He wasn’t sure what he was doing exactly, but he’d find a way to learn for her. If there was one thing he wanted to be sure of in terms of his duties as a husband, it was that he would do his best to give his bride everything she wanted. He began setting that standard when he took her as his own before once more returning to his home with her in his arms.
Without any hesitation, her arms wrapped around him and her fingers grazed his hair as she kissed him back. He pressed himself closer to her, daring to open his mouth a little as he started to feel a lot less shy. He’d seen that on the television once, and it looked like it might feel good. She must have thought so as well because she let out a quiet, happy sounding moan. Her hands moved from his hair and to underneath his shirt. She firmly traced the muscles on his abdomen and chest before undoing his shirt button by button.
That was all the convincing he needed to know she really did desire to make love to him.
Chapter Six
The previous night had been an entire blur. She remembered the great dragon lord had come for her, breathed on her, and she had passed out. When she had awakened, there had been a young man, by her side.
He was attractive, quite possibly the most handsome man she had ever seen with his dark tousled hair, and striking blue eyes, and what she remembered of his perfectly muscled body. He kissed her. No, she kissed him, or maybe they had both kissed at the same time?
He made claims like how much he loved her. He told her that several times when they made love. She was pretty sure that’s what had happened. On top of that, he told her he was her husband. She wasn’t sure what had been real and what had been her imagination, and as she awoke in a bed not her own, she started to wonder.
Never before in her life had she thought something like this would happen to her. One minute she was waiting to be eaten by an enormous beast, and the next she’s waking up next to a sweet and gentle man who wanted nothing more than to protect her and love her. Guys had never paid any attention to her before. Why had he? Yet he had said he loved her and he had proved it by being so incredibly attentive to everything she was feeling as if he genuinely cared for her. How weird.
He couldn’t have been much older than her, and he had come to her rescue. He had bright, sparkling, pure blue eyes. They were so incredibly blue she remembered being so amazed by them that she was almost certain she had stopped breathing for a whole minute. She’d never seen blue eyes like that before, and she had been told she also had rather stunning eyes of the same color. Hers were not like his, nowhere near in comparison. She couldn’t get over how gorgeous he was. He couldn’t have been real. No guy she’d ever met had skin so soft, warm, and clean. No guy had a body that moved so gracefully and whose muscles contracted as intoxicatingly as they did. Those eyes though. They were the most incredible things about him. She’d never forget the way they had seen into her soul. When she stared into the deep enough, she could see glittering blue spirals of light. They were beautiful, but unnatural like they were infused with magic.
He told her a lot of things she was still trying to remember and compute in her mind, but the one thing she kept replaying over and ov
er again was she had lost her virginity to him. Nothing else mattered. She wasn’t quite sure what to think. She had thought she was going to die, and this would be her one chance to experience this ‘love’ thing she heard so much about.
For some reason, she thought she’d feel more satisfied, but how could she when she didn’t feel anything for him? She didn’t even know his name. She wondered if he felt anything for her? His eyes had gazed upon her with such adoration and fondness; it was like he already knew her. There was so much intense passion and desire in his kisses just thinking about them made her blush.
Then he walked through the door to the large, lush bedroom she rested in. Immediately, she clutched the blue sheets and dark navy comforter to her body, fully acknowledging she was naked under them. He obviously did as well because he averted his eyes and blushed furiously the moment he saw her.
“I, um, good morning,” he said a little too brightly.
“Good morning.” She did not share in his happiness. She hid even more under the covers. “Who are you?”
“Like I said last night...” he started, but she cut him off quickly.
“No, I mean do you have a name?” She looked up at him and tapped her fingers on the bedspread impatiently. “Or is your name Husband? Who are you? What happened?”
“I don’t think I really need to explain what...” he began with a goofy grin before stopping as he must have realized what she really meant by the question. “My name is Darien Oceina.”
“Oh,” she said quietly. “I see. Are you a slayer or something? Is that how you got your last name?” It didn’t make sense to slay the dragons since they were the protectors of the nation, but they did exist. It was selfish of her, but she was very happy to be alive instead of digested. “I mean, thank you for saving me from the dragon. I suppose after your heroics you collected your reward, huh?” She felt cheap. Why was she so stupid to believe she meant something to him? She wanted a shower. Maybe she could wash him, all of this, away.
Legend of the Oceina Dragon (The Dragons Saga) Page 2
