Ryluth’s head snapped back. “You felt imprisoned at my palace?”
Sofia shook her head against the sand. “No, I feel imprisoned everywhere,” she explained. She became silent, lost in thought. “We were not allowed out unless it was to travel to another house, which was rare. I had not seen much of the Demonworld until I went back, and even being able to travel as I pleased I did not feel free. Even on Earth, at Lucky and Jake’s place, when Cassie would take us anywhere we wanted to go, I felt trapped.” She turned her head and looked at him. “It’s a prison of my own making, but I am beginning to chip away at the stone that holds me and here, on this spot, I feel completely free.”
She didn’t flinch when he reached down and ran a finger down her cheek.
“You frighten me, Sofia,” he said quietly, just loud enough to be heard over the waves lapping at the shore.
She laughed and then realized he was serious. “How could I, a mere woman, frighten a huge and noble Dragon such as yourself?”
He gave her a wry grin and stood up, holding his hand down to her. “Would you like to see my home?”
Allowing herself to be pulled up on her feet and brushing the sand off herself she smiled and nodded.
“Then climb on, as there is only one way up.”
Sofia chuckled as she ran to grab her bag and shoes that she’d toed off her feet, then mounted Ryluth’s Dragon for the quick flight up to the top of the cliff where his home sat on actually... inside... the cliff side.
“You live in a cave?” She asked, stepping off his wing and he transformed before her. How his clothes remained was a mystery to her.
He chuckled. “Yes, I am a cave Dragon, Sofia,” as he led her across the huge outcropping and to the cave opening.
Once she was out of the light of the sun and her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Sofia gasped and her hand went to her mouth.
Inside the “cave” were jewels and gold, and they shone and lit the entire room she could see. She looked up at Ryluth and he was smiling as he looked over his treasure.
“You’re lucky I’m an air witch,” she whispered, feeling she was in a church. “A treasure like this would cause an Earth witch to have a heart attack.”
She heard him chuckle as she slowly walked inside, looking at all of the shiny objects. She never reached out her hand to touch any of them. She had never been a woman who wore jewels, even when she’d been able to. The chains and such always irritated her skin, so she wore the bare minimum, just enough to shout her social standing to everyone in Siena when she went out, but it was always uncomfortable.
“How is it so light in here?” She asked, noting that the sun was not actually shining into the mouth of the cave.
“Sun stone that have grown up to the surface and amplify the light down here. Most caves have them.” Ryluth explained as he trailed his hands along his treasures. She could tell that it gave him a measure of comfort.
“Would you like to see your room?” He asked.
Sofia looked over to where she stood and nodded.
He led her to the back of the cave and down a hallway, still lit by the yellow stones in the ceiling that actually provided a lot of light. He stopped at a door, wow! A door and opened it for her. She looked in and gasped. It was as richly appointed as her rooms at the palace. She slowly walked past him and inside, looking at everything.
“This is lovely, Ryluth...” She set her bag on the floor and walked around looking and touching everything, then she noticed another door, with windows and ran to it. It was the door to a terrace or balcony? She opened the door and walked out. The outcropping of polished rock had a rail along the edge. She looked back at Ryluth who stood in the doorway, as he had back at the palace. She held out her hand. “Come look out here!”
Ryluth practically ran to her, she was so beautiful in her exploration. He walked out onto the balcony and looked down at the sea down below her. His home was perfectly situated inside this finger into the sea. He could not take his eyes off the sight of her face, however. She was utterly delighted in his home. He had given this to her and the pride swelled up in him. He knew, without a doubt that she was his mate, but she needed to realize it as well, and accept it, however he stopped at that point, not wanting to think beyond that second.
“It’s breathtaking,” he said, but he was not looking out at the sea below them, he was looking at her, and she was. She stole the breath from his body each time he saw her. Today her shiny, wavy chestnut colored hair was down, the tendrils waving the wind caused by the waves crashing below. Her honey colored eyes shone with wonder as she stared out at the vista in front of her. Suddenly she gasped and pointed out towards the horizon.
“What is that?”
Ryluth finally pulled his gaze from her and looked out upon the sea and saw the white and green scales of a sea Dragon undulating in the shallows, sunning itself.
“That is one of our Sea Dragons,” he explained and told her how they were of the water and bound there by their nature, rarely coming on land, and also informed her that they could not fly.
“Do you rule over them as well?” she asked, never taking her eyes off of the Dragon below them. Ryluth frowned, it was as if the male was showing off his form to Sofia, but he chuckled as her question sank in.
“As much as anyone can rule something so wild, I guess I do.”
Sofia looked up at him, grinning. “As much as they allow, correct?”
He laughed, she was astute.
“Would you like to help me make luncheon or would you prefer to wander around a bit?”
“I can cook?” If anything, this exited her more than his treasure trove had.
“We have to fend for ourselves here, as I don’t allow anyone near my hoard.” He told her and watched her face light up.
“I would love to see your kitchen.” She grabbed his hand and he laughed as he led her to his well-appointed kitchen.
He did nothing more than lean against the island counter top as he watched her inspect his kitchen, commenting on his ovens and his stasis cupboard, then his bowls and pots and pans. She evidently had not been kidding when she said she liked to cook, when they’d eaten dinner together.
She was looking in his pantry and cupboard and taking things out and putting them on the counter, while she muttered to herself. He was entranced just watching her. Any other female he had ever known would still be in his treasure room, but not his Sofia. No, she was delighted in his kitchen and cooking him lunch. This was a new experience wholly unknown to him, or really his kind.
He watched as she prepared some meat he had told her was a poultry like animal similar to the chickens she was used to, and then she smelled his herbs and spices to determine their freshness, nodded her head and got back to making lunch. She was braising the meat, but the fire was not yet hot enough, so she sent air to the fire to make it hotter, giving her what she wanted.
“Your magic works well on Wushin,” he told her.
Sofia nodded and sprinkled some seasoning on the meat.
“It didn’t work much on Earth, and barely on the Demonworld, but here…” she nodded again. “Here it works as I imagined it was meant to.”
Ryluth wanted nothing more than to watch her cooking, for him. He grabbed a stool and sat down, putting his elbow on the counter and holding his head up with the heel of his hand. He realized he’d been so eager this morning that he’d not shaved. He waved a his hand quickly in front of his head and used magic so that his face would be smooth if Sofia decided to allow him to kiss her. He didn’t want to chafe the tender, soft skin of her face. It had taken all of his willpower to just run his finger down her cheek earlier. He had to keep reminding himself of what she’d gone through and that she was not like the other females who had come here over the centuries, and that she may never desire physical expression of love at all. And, for him at least, that’s what it would be.
Having been infatuated with her since he’d seen her those years ago, but he had done eve
rything in his power to get his world ready for her and other women who might decide to be Dragon mates. Since she had stepped foot on his world he knew he loved her and everything she had done since that moment only reinforced that knowledge in his head and his heart.
As he sat staring at her, he could see a small child with her hair and looks, and his eyes for good measure, trying to help her cook a meal. Gods help him, he yearned for that with all of his heart, knowing that if she did love him and accept him as mate that she would die to break the curse. It was that damned last bit that tore him up. It’s what stayed his desire to seduce her more than anything else. He didn’t know how to break the curse and keep her at the same time and it was tearing him up every time he thought about it
So, he did what he always did when it came to Sofia, he stopped thinking about it at all.
He saw she was messing with some greens at the sink and had boiled some eggs from the stasis chamber. There was some cheese and she was doing something weird with some raw eggs and some oil she’d found in the pantry and lemon like fruit that had been in a bowl on the other end of the counter. She had sliced some bread as well. He watched as she put things together and she whipped the egg whites with the oil until the emulsion was thick and white, then she put some of the citron in it and some spices, then she put that in with the chicken and some other things he hadn’t noted her chopping up and mixed them together, then she put them in between slices of bread. She had made what appeared to be some sort of fruit salad.
“Behold! The chicken salad sandwich,” she told him proudly then waited for him to take a bite. Which he promptly did and it was delicious. His tongue wanted to sing. His mouth watered so much for a second bite that he was afraid he’d drool all over his plate. She chuckled and bit into her own sandwich, closed her eyes and moaned.
“I rarely get to make this, so this is a treat,” she said after setting her sandwich down.
“This is really good, Sofia,” he said around another bite. How could she have possibly put it down?
“Thank you,” she said, giving him a regal nod. “I cooked quite a bit at Seth and Brigid’s, but it was always cooking for others. I rarely got to cook just for myself. It’s like my sewing. I like to sew things for myself, but not really for others unless the idea is my own. It becomes a job then. These are the things I love doing, I don’t wish for them to be work.”
“It is rare for one to find work they love to do for a living, for then it’s not work, but love.”
She nodded and took another bite. “When we got to Earth, all of us were so traumatized by everything it took several weeks to realize where we were and that we were safe. Some women were so traumatized they never realized they were saved, that they were safe. Ava and Penelope saw the last one off.” She was lost in thought for a few moments and Ryluth just rode the pause.
“There was this box thing called a television where you could watch recordings of people and things. It’s mainly used for entertainment, but Lucky had us watching documentaries so we could learn modern culture for those who wished to do so.” She shrugged and chewed. “I liked the shows where they showed people how to cook modern food. I fell in love,” she laughed. “Once Lucky realized that, she had me in the kitchens trying anything I wanted to try. She always made sure she had supplies and I practiced cooking and baking. My breads were the hit of the Home for Wayward Witches.”
“Home for...” Ryluth had no idea what that was but it sounded intriguing.
Sofia laughed again. “Cassie always called it the Home for Wayward Witches, and we all copied her. She explained that in history there were homes for girls who had gotten themselves into trouble... pregnant... and had no husband, and they were called Home for Wayward Girls. She had always hated the stigma associated with them, and she hated the stigma associated with rape victims, so she named the house that as a joke, hoping we would ‘beat the odds’ as she put it.” Again, she shrugged. “Cassie puts numbers to everything so, for her, everything is some equation in a formula that only her brain understands.”
“She’s a very powerful witch,” Ryluth said. So powerful, in fact, that she had been able to find him in his home here and come right to him with her husband, Demon Hunter Baxter Clancy.
Sofia smiled and nodded, taking a sip of the citron juice she had made. Ryluth loved it, it was very sweet, but the tart of the fruit played off the sweet perfectly. It was refreshing.
“Many are frightened of her, but not the Humans. To her they are a sign that magic is returning to Earth and that they will have power again. She is the way she was born to be, nothing more, nothing less. And, she’s my friend, so I accept her for who she is, not what others’ perceptions of her is.”
Ryluth grew even more proud of Sofia. She was a staunch ally to have at your back, for if she believed in you, she would defend you no matter what.
When she was finished, Ryluth gathered up the dishes and set them to washing, magically. Every Dragon on Wushin had their own magic, but every one of them could do housekeeping magic. She watched him and smiled. Ryluth felt proud that they could help each other out in this manner.
“On Earth, there isn’t even enough magic to really do household magic,” she told him while he cleaned up. “I could do a bit of dusting with my air magic, but little else, and then when I was on the Demonworld, I never wanted them to know about my magic, let them think I was a dud, as Bax calls it. So, I didn’t get to stretch my wings until Cassie sent me to some horrible, cold mountain where two Air Witches taught me the full extent of my magic.”
“So now you can conjure a whirlwind?” He teased.
She shook her head. “I don’t know if I should try. But I can create bubbles that control the temperature around my body. Cassie calls it personalized air conditioning. Her sister-in-law, Nestra, is also an air witch, but only recently discovered. She was very latent.”
Ryluth raised an eyebrow, indicating he had no idea what she was talking about.
“She comes from a very long line of Earth witches and did not bind to the Earth when she reached her adolescence, so they thought she was... a dud. But, her powers began to manifest a couple of years back when she met her Witch Hunter husband and Cassie took her to be trained at the same place I was. Latents come into their power later than others or not at all. No one knows why.”
“Do you think it has anything to do with the amount of magic on your world?”
“I don’t know,” Sofia admitted. “Bax’s brother, Rory would be the one to ask about that. He’s a scientist and apparently has all sorts of theories about the magical universe. He’s a Demon Hunter who evidently didn’t like that work and became a teacher.”
Ryluth laughed at that. It was a good thing he had since Demon Hunting was no longer a job that the universe needed doing. He just looked at her, she was so much... lighter than he had previously witnessed. There had always appeared to be a heavy weight on Sofia, which she had carried with a dour reserve. However, it had disappeared very recently. He didn’t know whether it was the new location or the new people, but he liked how it looked on her.
“What?” She asked, having noticed that he was just watching her with his Dragon gaze. “Do I have food in my teeth?” She put her hand over her mouth and he could tell she was probing her teeth with her tongue by the contortions of her face, and he had to laugh.
“Did I get it?” She looked around for a mirror or shiny surface and finally grabbed a serving tray and looked at her teeth.
Ryluth laughed harder, doubling over.
She frowned at him, not getting the joke, which made him laugh all the harder. His sides ached and he had tears coming from his eyes.
“What are you laughing at?” She demanded and stamped her sandaled foot.
His laughter finally began to wind down and he was shaking his head. “You didn’t have anything in your teeth,” he finally managed to get out between gasping for air.
Her face screwed up in confusion. “Then why were you looking a
t me so oddly?”
He immediately sobered.
“Because, Sofia, you are quite easily the most beautiful being it has ever been my delight to look at.”
She stopped in the act of saying something and just stared at him. “I cannot possibly be,” she finally whispered at she continued to stare, wide eyed at him.”
Ryluth took a step towards her, but did not crowd her. “It is quite possible and it also happens to be the unadulterated truth.”
She continued to stand and stare at him and Ryluth suddenly realized she was paralyzed by fear. She had every characteristic of a prey animal cornered by a predator. Upon that realization, he backed up a step and noted that her shoulders relaxed slightly and she blinked.
It was not until that exact moment that Ryluth truly understood the almost impossible endeavor he had taken on with his courtship of Sofia. She was a woman who had been kidnapped and had experienced depraved rapes and violations of her person. While Ryluth and the rest of the universe had been aware of what the Demons were doing, he was now confronted with evidence of it and realized the near impossibility of ever gaining what he desired more than anything, ever, because of what the Demons had done to her. The impossibility of ever winning Sofia was suddenly in the forefront of his mind. He mentally reeled at this knowledge.
How could she ever bear intimacy when everything in her had to be rebelling at the very thought of being touched. And yet, she had allowed him to kiss her. That was the only thing, at that moment that gave him hope. He determined to speak to Cassie. Immediately. With that decision made, he straightened his spine and squared his shoulders.
“Feel free to look around the residence, but avoid my treasure chamber until I can weave your signature into the wards there. I have to go handle something,” he told her. He smiled, although it was nowhere near reflected in his eyes, his pain too great. “If you should feel the desire to prepare dinner, I will not complain.”
She smiled and nodded. He stood for a moment longer, looking upon her and then he flew himself to the portal near his seaside home and magically dialed in the Demonworld, sending a quick message to Cassie that he was coming and that it was important before stepping through. On the other side, he relocked the portal.
The Air Witch's Dragon Page 7
