by H. M. Gooden
She searched her mind, not coming up with any ideas, until she looked at Jake and remembered when they'd fought Dub on the bridge as dragons. Not only were they physically stronger in that form, but she thought that her magic was more focused as well.
"Jake, I know you didn't want to show up in dragon shape when we were close to the trolls, but I think that's our best chance at getting away from the draugr. Unless you have a better idea?"
Mai raised an eyebrow, hoping that Jake had something miraculous to throw out that would save them. Instead, he agreed.
"Yeah, I wanted to surprise them and have them think that we were just hikers, but I've got nothing. So, dragons it is. Leave our stuff over here behind this rock?"
Jake pointed to a small outcropping where he deposited his bag and Mai added her bag to his.
"It's as good a place as any. You ready?"
Even as she spoke, Mai felt the familiar and welcoming tingle spread quickly through her body. She stretched into her full, almost ten-foot length, of her favourite self. She always felt vibrantly alive as a dragon, and if it wasn't isolating from other people, she often thought she could live happily ever after in her lovely azure shape. She smiled as she looked over her shoulder to see her handsome, golden, soon-to-be husband shining under the rain that was falling onto his scales.
"I'm ready. How do you want to do this?" he asked, tilting his large head to the side in question.
Mai shook her head, knocking the rain off her face with mild irritation at the tickling sensation.
"Let's get closer to the water. I don't want our packs getting trashed in a fight if we can help it. I think we should be ready to try to trap him with water, but I also think it may come down to physically overpowering him, if that's possible."
Jake nodded and they walked together towards the beach, stopping a few feet away from the surf that pounded white froth onto the rocks. Mai felt her heart in her throat as the glowing inhuman creature came closer. As they waited, it rowed onto the shore. But instead of getting out and coming towards them, it waited, silently watching them. Mai began to feel uncomfortable and wasn't sure what was happening. Why wasn't he approaching?
She looked at Jake in confusion, receiving a small shrug of uncertainty in response. Looking back at the creature, she was again repulsed by its hollowed out eyes and seaweed crusted hair.
Finally, the creature spoke. Its voice was a shriek of death, causing Mai to feel as though ice was dripping down her scales.
"What do you do here? This is my territory. Dragons are not welcome here!"
Mai listened to the words and felt her confusion grow. Not only was it speaking in a way that she could understand, but it seemed more ticked off at them than deadly. She looked at Jake with stunned amusement and suspected that he was having similar thoughts.
"What do you mean, your territory?"
Jake spoke as calmly as he could, but Mai heard a telltale squeak as his voice cracked slightly on the word 'your'. He sounded and looked tough otherwise, which impressed Mai.
Turning her attention back to the draugr, she winced as she observed its now petulant and ugly face.
It answered Jake's question truculently.
"This is my hunting grounds. You are not welcome to have the sailors and hikers that get lost here. What did you do with the pair that I just saw? They looked delicious and I was looking forward to drowning them and eating their life force."
Mai felt her temper start to simmer and was ready to answer until Jake cut her off.
"You're too late. They were indeed delicious. We've been travelling a long time and were hungry. I do apologize. We shall continue on our way and leave any other takings for your enjoyment."
Mai choked back a giggle. Jake trying to sound heartless rang false to her and she'd never tell him, but she didn't think he was a very good actor, even though he'd been doing it for years. His face was too honest in her opinion. But apparently, his lie worked, because the draugr shook his fist angrily at them before turning the row boat around and yelling at them from over his shoulder.
"If you were not already leaving I'd be tempted to take you on myself. But as long as you leave now, this is over. If I see you again I will make you pay."
Letting out another ungodly shriek, the draugr quickly rowed away and within a few minutes, the glow from the creature had completely faded, leaving Jake and Mai alone on the beach in the rain.
Mai burst out laughing and Jake began to chuckle as well. First slowly, then they fell down, laughter and relief overwhelming them both.
"You mean to tell me that a scary man-eating drowning creature is also a spoiled brat?" Mai asked, only able to get a few words out at a time between sobs of laughter.
Jake was by now laying flat on his back, chest moving up and down in laughter as well.
"Seems so." He howled at the image. After a few minutes he was able to gasp out a few more words. "Well, at least we didn't have to fight with any more skill than a middle-school girl."
Mai felt tears come to her eyes. She was laughing so hard that she was crying and only sobered up when she felt her tears starting to turn into a river. She didn't want to add to the deluge falling around them, so she took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. She hadn't cried a river since Vanessa, Cat, and Evelyn had found her in the form of a stone dragon in the park and it was a strong enough reminder that her good humor faded away, replaced by caution.
"We got lucky this time, Jake. But I think that this is a warning to get back under cover. It may still be daytime, but it's almost as dark as night right now with these thick clouds. We're sitting ducks, or dragons, in this case. We've already been walking a long time and it's into the afternoon. How much further do you think the troll caves are? Should we wait out the storm and try again in the morning?"
Jake looked for his watch and Mai could see the moment of frustration when he remembered that he didn't wear one in dragon form. Mai watched him shift back to human and her stomach tingled in anticipation as she looked at him.
While they hadn't gone all the way yet, they'd been naked around each other many times, in the way people comfortable in their own skin often could be. Mai had no insecurities about her own body as human or dragon, but felt herself flush every time Jake was exposed around her. Once again, the same low-down fire started in her belly, making her glance down and away from him. If he'd ever noticed her looking, he'd never said anything, and was always careful to give her space. She'd never once seen him looking at her naked body in return and sometimes wondered if he wasn't attracted to her in the same way. He was always able to act so relaxed and nonchalant and had never been anything other than gentlemanly.
She certainly didn't feel like that when he was naked around her. It was all she could do not to stare at his well-toned body. And the worst part about the whole thing for her was that it was completely her fault that they weren't already fully familiar with each other. Mai cursed her prudish ways, as she did each time she saw him like this, but made herself focus on the matter at hand.
Jake had found his watch as he got dressed, his back to her and seemingly oblivious to her turmoil.
"It looks like we have a few more hours of daylight." He looked up at the clouds and sighed. "But I don't think it's actually going to be sunny. It looks like we are going to have rain all day, based on those clouds."
Mai pursed her lips and looked at the sky.
"So what should we do then? Find a cave? Keep going?"
Jake nodded. "That's probably the best plan. If the day is this dark, trolls have no problem coming out into the light. All we can do is hope that the kids are safe until we get to them and that tomorrow is a sunnier day."
Mai agreed, but was similarly frustrated that the weather and the landscape itself seemed to be conspiring against them. They ate some more of the packed food where they were before lucking out on a small indent between two rocks a short time later. It was hardly big enough for one person let alone two, but because it
looked sheltered and safe, they decided to squeeze into the space in human shape and share body heat.
"Here, let me go in first. You can arrange yourself however is most comfortable once I'm settled."
Ever the gentleman, Jake offered to be her cushion and she gingerly settled herself down on his half-reclined position. He'd made a pillow out of his back pack and tucked hers in beside him, so it made a half-bed. Mai knew that he couldn't have been very comfortable, but he didn't complain as she tucked herself into his broad, warm chest. Mai felt herself melt into him. She didn't know how much longer she could bear this. She was alarmed by her thoughts and so impatient that she knew with even the slightest encouragement, they wouldn't be having a white wedding after all.
Jake caught her gaze with a flash of his golden eyes. She watched as they glowed with heat, making her breath stick in her throat. She felt the skin that touched hers heat up and felt herself catch on fire.
"Jake."
One word was all she was able to say before the words dried up in her mouth and her eyes turned to water, still trapped in the golden warmth of his.
"Mai."
Jake groaned in what sounded like pain and Mai felt a thrill race through her. He wasn't immune after all.
"I can't be strong much longer. I'm really, really trying here."
Jake looked at her sincerely. In that moment, Mai knew that he was the most honorable person she'd ever met. And that was all it took. Something inside her broke off, flying away on the wind and rain. With all of the fear of almost losing him earlier and the fact that they were alone, far from civilization, her last vestige of willpower disappeared into the night and she felt only relief at its passing.
Mai wrapped herself tighter around Jake, roaming her hands over his muscled biceps and deltoids, having recently learned the names of the muscles in order to know what she was admiring on him from the day they'd first met. She felt goose bumps and smiled wickedly before nipping at his throat, feeling his breath catch before escaping raggedly.
He suddenly grabbed her, hands slipping down to hold her hips against him tightly. She felt molten lava pool lower, hotter, in her abdomen. She'd never known she could feel heat like this, never known that she had this much passion in her body. She'd always been reserved and held herself back, apart from those around her. But with Jake, she wanted to be part of him, to curl up inside somewhere and stay with him forever.
Jake tilted her head towards his and she eagerly met his lips, feeling them searching, questing deep within her soul. This felt so right and Mai wasn't sure why she'd held back so long. As they kissed, frantic hands removed items of wet clothing, frustrated by the difficulty of the action. The jeans caused both of them to groan and laugh and they stopped part way through for more kisses.
Mai relished the feel of her bare chest against his rougher, hairy one and felt her heart rate sky rocket higher.
As the last barriers between them fell away, Mai felt her breath completely leave her body and a keening sound left her mouth, quickly captured by Jake. They moved in the rain as one being and Mai felt her soul shatter into a million pieces before falling like shooting stars all around her.
Mai collapsed onto his chest as he shuddered. They lay still for a long time, holding tightly to each other in the night. The rain continued to fall around their cozy lair as they held on, falling asleep contentedly in each other's arms.
MAI SLEPT FOR WHAT felt like an eternity, tired and sore from the events of the day. She felt herself slowly rise back to consciousness as the light around her changed. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jake watching her, his smoldering golden eyes half open, and smiled sleepily at him.
"How do you feel?" he asked, his face filled with concern.
Mai smiled and gave him a kiss on the nose. "I feel silly."
He looked alarmed, then upset, so she quickly shook her head, smiling back even more to try to allay his fears.
"No, I don't regret a thing. I mean that I feel silly I made us wait this long. If I'd have known, if I'd realized..." Mai trailed off, still shaking her head. "I'll never know how you were so good to me. I think if our places had been reversed, I wouldn't have been able to wait."
Jake moved his hands to hold her face still and looked at her with as earnest a look as she'd ever seen.
"I'd crawl on my hands and knees to the end of the universe for you. I would never do anything that could cause you any distress or harm. You weren't ready, even though I could see you wanted to be. There's no way I would have or could have pushed that. It needed to be on your terms, you had to be the one to want me wholeheartedly or I'd just be some asshole guy, going after my own needs. I love you so much more than anything physical could ever show you."
She looked at him, at his honest, open expression, and promptly burst into tears.
"I didn't mean...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Jake apologized, trying to get her to stop crying but she put her finger up to his lips, shushing him through her tears.
"Stop. It's not you. Everything that you've ever said or done for me has been perfect, Jake. You're more than I ever thought I'd have in my life, and that's why I can't help myself. I'm crying because I have everything I've ever wanted, everything I never knew I wanted, right here in you. I can only hope that I mean half as much to you as you do to me."
He relaxed against her, drawing her back into his arms for a full-body hug.
"Thank God. I was worried for a minute that I'd hurt you, or that you were regretting what just happened. This was the best moment of my life, narrowly beating the first time we met."
Mai smiled, wiped away her tears, and kissed him again.
"The night is young still. It looks like we have to wait a little bit before we can go looking for the children."
She bit her lip suggestively, raising an eyebrow as she drew back, still naked. Mai watched as his eyes changed back to molten gold, laughing throatily as he pulled her back down.
CHAPTER 12 TROLLING FOR A REACTION
Mai felt stiff in places she hadn't even known existed when she next awoke. She wasn't sure if it was from their nocturnal activities, or from sleeping in a tiny rock crevice half on top of Jake, but she was damn sore. She groaned as she rolled off Jake, feeling the cold wall against her back, and was startled by the shock of the temperature change. Of course, the space was so small she basically jumped back onto Jake, causing him to wake up as well.
He blinked his eyes open blearily until he saw her, naked and half-falling off him, then he smiled the lazy smile of a man who was thoroughly enjoying his view.
"Good morning." Jake continued to watch her lazily, hungrily, and Mai felt her cheeks turn red.
"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to act like today. I've never done this before." She looked at him nervously.
He smiled and he gave her a quick hug, warm and comforting, until he patted her butt, causing her to jump again.
Jake laughed. "You're amazing. It's us, Mai. You can act however you want. I love you and you love me. Now, while I'm totally open to having a long, leisurely cave experience for as long as you want, and I don't think boredom would set in for a long, long time, I also think that it's daylight and we have kids to save. Are you ready to get going?"
Mai pushed herself off Jake awkwardly and lifted her chin defensively. "Of course I am. I wouldn't put my wants before people that need us."
Jake groaned. "I'm sorry Mai, I didn’t mean to have it come out like that. I just wanted you to know that I love you even more now and that I'd love to spend the next week discovering your body. But we both know we could never live with ourselves if we put that above people that need us."
Mai sighed, forcibly calming herself down. She was on edge and she knew it. He hadn't said anything offensive, and she knew he was trying to make her relax, but it wasn't working. Trying to put the incredible night behind them, Mai smiled brightly, if not completely honestly.
"I know what you meant, Jake, and it's okay. I'm just feeling strange, is all.
Let's get dressed and find these kidnapping monsters as quickly as we can. I want to get home to our wedding as soon as humanly possible. You need to make an honest woman out of me now."
Jake watched her, finally nodding his head cautiously at her reply.
"Alright, as long as you're good. We should be really close, maybe within an hour away now. We'll need to be really quiet and try not to talk at all."
Mai nodded. She knew that he felt as if he were walking on eggshells and she couldn't change that right now. It wasn't his fault that she was being all weird, well, not entirely. She'd made her choice and had been glad to get that milestone out of the way. But still, she felt a little like a fallen woman. Trying to get nineteenth century morality out of her head was harder than she could have imagined.
"I get it. We don't want them to hear us coming. Do you think that we can get there today? Or will we need to wait through another night?"
Jake thought for a moment then shook his head.
"It's hard to say. It could go either way, depending on where the trolls are and where they're keeping the kids. From the tales I've heard, sometimes they keep their victims in kind of a cage, like a barn or something, and of course, other times they separate them and spread them out. It kind of depends on what they're planning to do with them."
Mai thought of the poor scared kids they were trying to find and her resolve hardened.
"Well, we should get going then. We haven't got any time to waste."
Once again packing and eating quickly, they left their crevice behind. Mai fondly glanced at it once over her shoulder as they walked away. It was the place where she felt that they'd truly joined, as if they'd already been married under the light of the stars in the rain, man and wife in the oldest way possible. The actual wedding ceremony was just a formality. She was already his forever.
