“Want to get your feet wet?”
“Huh?”
“We’ll just skim the surface. I think you’ll like it.”
“Okay.”
Suddenly, they dropped out of the sky, plunging toward the water. As the sea’s rippled surface got closer and closer, she screamed, but more from exhilaration than fear. Just as it seemed they were about to go in, he pulled up sharply and released her legs from his grasp. Her feet hit the water, along with his much bigger ones. She heard a wet skimming sound, and then her tennis shoes dunked under the surface. Instead of returning to the sky, he flew horizontally, keeping his feet in the water, while jets of water splashed out on either side of them. “You’re like a human kiteboard!” she yelled.
“Pretty cool trick, huh? I only just learned it!” he shouted.
“It’s awesome!” She’d always wanted to try waterskiing, but this was way more exciting. She suddenly felt like the luckiest girl in the world, being held and protected by this big, mysterious creature as she had the most exhilarating ride of her life.
Boreas skied them across the sea, all the way back to the shore they’d taken off from, before landing them gently on solid ground. He steadied her as she found her feet again, then slowly released her.
She stumbled a little and turned around to face him. “Boreas, that was totally magnificent! I loved it.” She grabbed his scaly arm with both hands and started bouncing next to him from excitement before throwing herself around his neck and embracing him in a hug. “Thank you! Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.” Boreas beamed at her. “I had a feeling you’d enjoy it.
“Let me go change, then I think it’s time to celebrate your first flight.”
Rainey watched him return to the rock at the edge of the beach, that big, majestic tail trailing behind him, and her heart leapt with happiness. It was beyond words. The whole thing. How he’d become a dragon but was still human enough to speak to her. The flight. The way he’d held her. She gulped and tried to put that thought out of her head, but it was persistent, teasing her, reminding her how good it had felt to be in his muscular arms.
He was back, the scales completely gone from his body. “Shall we go?”
“Yes!”
They walked side by side back to the living quarters.
“I’m so happy you loved it that much,” he said. “Xephyr’s mate, Josie, is afraid of flying, so I thought all humans would be afraid.”
“No, not all of us. Dwayne is also afraid of flying, so we can never go anywhere that’s not within driving distance, but I’ve always wanted to try.” She couldn’t stop smiling.
“Well, now you have a friend who can take you on flights whenever you want.”
As they headed for the communal area, Rainey felt like she was walking on clouds. Or still flying. She smiled to herself. That was truly one of the best experiences she’d ever had. She didn’t have much longer on the island, but the stay had already done her a lot of good. And she’d never forget what she’d experienced today.
Chapter 8
Rainey
“Hello? Anyone here?”
Rainey was in the middle of teaching class the next day when she heard a familiar voice coming from the far side of the communal building, and her heart started to beat like someone had jabbed her in the neck with an EpiPen. The dragons looked up from their work, seemingly equally surprised by the interruption to their class.
“Hellooooo?” The voice was just around the corner now. Rainey’s hands trembled as she laid the sketch was holding on the table in front of her. She swallowed and wiped her wet palms on the sides of her jeans. Her mouth went dry and her ears started ringing.
At last he came into view. He was pink and sweaty and his hair was standing on end.
“Dwayne, what are you doing here?” Rainey said. There was a choking heat in her throat, but her voice was surprisingly calm.
“There you all are,” Dwayne shrilled, ignoring her. “Who’s in charge here? Where’s Boreas Mason?” He looked expectantly at the men.
“Boreas is not here at the moment. He’s on the mainland. I’m in charge in his absence,” Eurus said. “How can I help you?”
“I’m Dwayne Veitch, the owner of Veitch Lumbers.” Dwayne walked towards Eurus, his massive hand stretched out in front of him. Eurus stood up and shook Dwayne’s hand.
“We’ve just delivered the rest of your order. Where do you want us to unload the cargo?” Dwayne asked.
Jett jumped to his feet. “I’ll come and sort it out with you.”
“Good. My guys are at the dock. They’ll meet you there. I’ll be another moment,” Dwayne said to Jett and then turned his attention to Rainey. “Hello, darling. Have I interrupted something?”
Rainey swallowed. “No, not at all.”
“We’re just in the middle of our building lesson. Rainey has been a great teacher,” Quinton said.
“Has she now?” Dwayne turned abruptly in Rainey’s direction, his mouth puckered in a grimace. “That’s very interesting. What has she been teaching you about?”
“Well, everything really. We’ve covered foundations, framework, electrical and plumbing, and some interior design,” Quinton explained.
“Look at that. An all-around education, almost.” Dwayne didn’t make much effort to hide the annoyance in his voice. “Would you excuse me while I have a word with your teacher?” He laid his arm heavily around Rainey’s shoulder, then dragged her away from the men toward the back of the communal building.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.
“The guys just needed some help with building cabins,” Rainey said, her heart thumping behind her ribs.
“And what? You think you have the skills to teach them how to build cabins?” Dwayne’s voice had gotten louder. They were away from the eyes and ears of the others, and he could unleash his anger to the fullest now.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He looked revolted. “I sent you here, telling you not to mess things up, and you decide to teach architecture. You, the accomplished architect.” The contempt in his voice made Rainey feel so ashamed of herself. “What is wrong with you? How can you be so stupid and shallow? What do you know about architecture, huh?”
He grabbed her upper arm and shook her. “You have no degree, no qualifications, no nothing. You read some books, and here you go, teaching my clients how to build cabins.” His face was red with anger and his lip was curled in disgust. “You are an embarrassment, that’s what you are. A fraud. A massive fraud. How can you be so brainless and useless?” he spat. “You should be ashamed of yourself. Stop trying to do things that you aren’t good at. Stop trying to fool yourself. Look at yourself in the mirror and see that you are nothing but a mediocre housewife. That’s what you are. You have some gardening skills, and you think that gives you the right to teach people architecture. You useless cow! You’ve brought shame on the company!”
Rainey turned her head away from him to hide her emotions. He was right. How could she think she had the skills to teach them how to build? Tears stung her eyes.
“Go and pack your things. You’re leaving with me,” he bawled, digging his fingers into her left arm and pulling her closer. “Look at me,” he screamed. “Raise your stupid eyes up and look at me.” He put his left hand under her chin and forced her head up. Rainey screwed her eyes shut in fear and braced herself for the pain. For the blow she knew was coming. Her pulse pounded in her ears.
Dwayne’s hand snapped off her jaw, which sent shivers throughout her body. She hunched her shoulders and lowered her head, preparing herself for the blow. She heard the sound of flesh connecting with flesh, but the pain didn’t come. When she opened her eyes, she was stunned to see Boreas’s left fist colliding with Dwayne’s face. There was a loud crack, and Dwayne screamed in pain. Boreas’s left arm and shoulder were covered in scales. Puffs of dark grey smoke were coming from his nostrils, and a wing was starting to sprout from his le
ft shoulder blade.
“Leave her alone, you piece of garbage!” Boreas roared. His voice was deeper and louder than she’d heard it before, and his face was twisted with anger. “Leave her alone,” he shouted again.
Dwayne took a few steps back. His body started convulsing, and fur appeared on his hands and jaw. There was a series of crunches and cracks, and he hunched forward, on the point of transforming from human to wolf. Rainey heard a loud whoosh and saw Boreas’s wing, which had fully emerged now, slam against Dwayne’s body with full force, knocking him to the ground. The blow stopped his transformation and forced Dwayne’s animal to retract. Boreas tensed his arm muscles and stared at the ground in front of him, a loud cry bursting from his lungs. When his wings and scales started retracting, Rainey realized he was trying to shift back fully into human form.
He grasped Dwayne by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up from the ground. “If you ever touch her like that again, I’ll grind you to dust,” Boreas screamed, inches away from his face. “I’ll break both of your hands so you can never hurt anyone ever again.” He shook Dwayne back and forth.
“Do you hear me?” he bellowed when Dwayne didn’t reply.
“Yes. Yes,” Dwayne muttered. His face was as red as a tomato and convulsing with fear.
“You are a pathetic excuse for a man, a weak and miserable asshole,” Boreas’s voice was full of contempt. “I want you gone from my island immediately. Go take all your men with you and leave. And don’t you dare set foot here ever again.” He shoved Dwayne away hard. Rainey stared at Boreas, stunned. She’d never seen this side of him before, out of control, struggling to contain his anger.
“You can get away with that here because it’s your turf and you’ve got all your men, but be careful, Boreas Mason. I’m warning you,” Dwayne called as he walked away.
Rainey thought Boreas was going to go after him, but instead, he ran to her. “Are you okay?” he asked in soft voice, laying his hand gently on her forearm. His eyes were full of regret, and his touch on her skin was immediately soothing.
“I think so,” Rainey said and tried to swallow her emotions. A rollercoaster of thoughts and feelings was racing through her head. “Thank you for helping me. I... I just need to be alone now. I’m sorry,” she said and hurried away before Boreas could say anything to stop her.
Chapter 9
Boreas
Boreas ran down the veranda stairs of the guest cabin where Rainey was staying and charged toward the communal building. The morning air was cool and fresh but Boreas’s body was overheating. He raced through the main hall and peeked into the kitchen on the far-right side of the hall. Nothing. The hall was a big space, almost a hundred feet wide and thirty feet deep, and it was lined with doors to different rooms at the back. They used some of them for storage, others for offices, some for nothing at all yet. He yanked open all the doors one by one and frantically scanned the interior. Nothing. He ran to the open-space barbecue area. Nothing.
He rushed toward the big cabin that they used as a communal sleeping area and burst inside. Notus was sitting on his bed and fiddling with something that looked like a mini guitar.
“I’m trying to pick up the ukulele,” his friend said. “It’s very—” His words froze in his mouth when he raised his head and saw Boreas’s expression.
“Have you seen Rainey?” Boreas heard the tension in his own voice. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
“No, I haven’t. Not since our class yesterday which that douche Dwayne interrupted. Is everything alright?”
“I don’t know. She isn’t in her cabin or in any of the communal areas,” Boreas said. “Where are the others?”
“They’re by the beach, sorting the lumber out. I’m in pain again today so I couldn’t join them” Notus said, referring to his injured back. “Let’s go and see if she’s with them.” He laid the mini guitar on the bed and moved toward the door.
“Why’s the lumber on the beach, anyway?” Boreas said, and reminded himself to walk at a normal pace for the sake of Notus. “They were supposed to unload at the clearing behind the cabins.”
“They were, but Dwayne Veitch was so mad after you kicked his ass yesterday that he wanted to leave immediately, so he made them abandon half of it at the edge of the beach. We have to transport it manually now,” Notus explained.
“What an unprofessional bag of crap,” Boreas said.
When they reached the brink of the beach, Aquilo, Tharos and Ciro were loading lumber onto a handcart.
“Have you seen Rainey today?” Boreas called.
“I saw her this morning,” Ciro said.
Boreas’s heart sped up. “Where?”
“She was on her front porch. I was passing by on my way to the Dragn Protection office and we waved at each other,” he explained.
“So you didn’t speak to her?” Boreas asked.
Ciro’s brow furrowed. “No, why?”
Boreas heart sank again. “I can’t find her.”
Boreas heard the sound of metal bouncing on rocks and turned. He saw Quinton in the distance, dragging an empty handcart.
“Have you seen Rainey today?” Boreas called in his direction.
“Yeah. This morning,” Quinton said.
“And? What happened?” Boreas said, urgently.
“She asked me to give her a ride to the mainland,” Quinton said calmly, completely oblivious to the tension in Boreas’s voice.
Boreas ran toward him. “A ride to the mainland? Why? Did she say why she was going there?” He looked at Quinton expectantly.
“I’m not sure.” Quinton shook his head. He paused. “No, I don’t think she did. She didn’t mention anything.”
“How was she? Angry, happy, excited?”
“Uh,” Quinton said. “Dunno, Boreas. You know I ain’t so good with stuff like that.” Quinton scratched his head. “She was looking at the water a lot.”
“Right,” Boreas said slowly, as if he had any idea what that meant. “Thanks, man.” He patted Quinton on the shoulder and walked away.
There was no point in trying to understand more from Quinton about Rainey’s mood and feelings. He was blind to such things.
“Good job on moving all the lumber, guys. Keep up the good work. I’ll come and help you later today. I need to go now.” Boreas waved to them and ran toward the far end of the beach, away from their eyes.
Looking at the water a lot. What on Ethereum did that mean?
Why had Rainey gone to the mainland? Had she left for good? Her cabin was empty. She’d taken all her belonging with her. But why? And why would she leave without saying goodbye? Was she mad at him for hitting Dwayne? Had she gone back to that monster? Boreas paced back and forth on the edge of the beach. He clenched his fists in exasperation. He couldn’t stand the thought he might have screwed everything up. He shouldn’t have attacked Dwayne. He should have controlled himself and gotten rid of that slimy bastard in a less aggressive way, but seeing the pain and fear on Rainey’s face had made his whole body burn with rage and he’d badly wanted to give that piece of crap what he deserved. He should have known better. He should have restrained himself.
He was overwhelmed with disappointment at himself that he might have burned his one chance to help Rainey. That he might have subjected her to more of the suffering that asshole had been causing her. And if he had, he was no better than Dwayne and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
But he also felt deep anguish at the thought that she might be gone for good. That he may never see her again. She’d come to mean so much to him in such a short space of time. Every morning since she’d come to the island, he’d woken up full of impatience to see her. Yes, he knew it was wrong. He knew it was selfish. He knew they could never be together. But they were his feelings and there was no point denying them.
Rainey made him happy. Her presence brightened his days. The good things were much better when she was around. And the bad things were much less bad.
Those last few days spent with her had been the happiest in his life. And he was longing to tell her that, to sweep her in his arms and tell her how much he wanted her. Tell her that she was an incredible woman—strong, funny, caring, sweet, sexy as hell. But it couldn’t happen and he was mad at himself for acting in such a selfish way. He had an obligation to his clan to try and mate with a female dragon. Losing his mind over Rainey wasn’t right, but she was everything he’d ever wanted in a female, and the thought of never seeing her again was killing him.
Chapter 10
Rainey
Rainey slammed the door of her car and pressed the door lock button on the key fob. The mid-morning sun was shining brightly so she tented her hand against her forehead to protect her eyes as she walked toward the door. She hadn’t slept much the night before, and her body was heavy with tiredness. Her eyes stung, and her ears were overly sensitive to noise.
Her heart was also pounding and her head was spinning. But despite the exhaustion and physical strain, her thoughts were clear and determined. She’d been running away from the truth for such a long time. Living in a maze of fear, pain, confusion, and exhaustion for years and years. Afraid to face herself and her reality, to admit the truth to herself. Ashamed. So deeply ashamed.
Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her jacket. She pulled it out and saw her mother’s name on the screen again.
“Hi darling!” her mother’s voice chirped as Rainey picked up the call.
“Mom, I can’t speak now, I’m sorry,” Rainey said quickly. “I’ll call you later.”
“But I’ve been trying to call you for ages. We haven’t seen you and Dwayne for weeks, and I was wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner tomorrow night. Your father is cooking. He’s been very active in the kitchen lately. It’s such a treat for me. I’ve been spending more time with the girls, and oh, I have so much news to share with you! You won’t believe who Felix and Jane’s daughter has just gotten engaged to.” Her mother raced through her monologue without even taking a breath and only made a small, dramatic pause at the end to add to the suspense of the bombshell she was dying to drop.
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