Smolder (Dragon Souls)

by Penelope Fletcher

  Breathing hard, she swiped away tears, lips trembling. Her sadness affected Koen deeply. Once again, he almost turned human simply to hold her. The burning at his sides reminded him of his injury, and how unwise it would be to do so. He was feeling stronger, and soon he would heal fully, he just needed more time to rest.

  “She was special,” Marina breathed. “I always tried so hard to be just like her. She was strong, independent, tall, insanely beautiful, and she never seemed to age. Men went mad over her, but she never gave anyone the time of day. It only made them want her more. Who wouldn’t want a rich and beautiful women?” She laughed, remembering something. “She wasn’t just a face either, she was so clever, and confident. And her imagination was… .” She trailed off with an odd expression crossing her face.

  ‘Marina?’

  “I was just thinking of the stories she told me as a kid. All these bedtime stories about dragons, and cities built in volcanoes and from ice.” Marina’s face was fixed in concentration; she stared at her two hands as if they held clues or answers. “Dragons were born from frost or fire and took special women who fought like warriors as wives.” She looked up then and beamed. “I used to love those stories. Who wants to be sleeping beauty when you can be a warrior queen with a dragon? They were so detailed and seemed so real when she spoke about them. But I was a kid and after a while I stopped asking her to tell me them. I remember they made her sad and I loved her so much, I just wanted her to be happy.” Marina shook her head slowly. “We were both into the paranormal and supernatural. It was my mother who made me believe such things could be real. For as clever as she was she never ignored me when I told her about ghosts or fairies. She encouraged me.”

  Koen had his answers, but to have no doubts, he asked. ‘Her name?’

  Marina started. ‘Oh, Almeria. Pretty, huh? Did you ever bring humans over?” she asked suddenly. “From Tzion to here?”

  He smiled, knowing that her mind was already leaping, thinking of the possibilities. Marina was strange, but not unintelligent. Her mother had told her of his world as a child, and now she pieced things about her life together.

  ‘No. We did not bring people here. We took humans to Tzion thousands of years ago. We used to come back ever so often for your maids, but we stopped.’

  “Maids?” Her eyes widened. “Holy crap! Virgins. Like virgin sacrifices by village people in old dragon stories? You didn’t eat them?”

  Koen was exasperated. Again, with the eating of people. He rocked his head side to side, and Marina realized Koen was laughing at her. ‘Why would we eat them?’

  “Tasty?”

  ‘Hybrid dragons are not cannibals and wild dragons think human flesh is too chewy. We took the women home with us. Those maidens became mates to the dragon lords and lived long happy lives. They gave birth to dragon lords and Chosen.’

  Marina abruptly narrowed her eyes at Koen. “Cannibalism only applies to people or animals that eat their own kind. And you call yourself a hybrid. A hybrid of what two species exactly?”

  Marina moved her hand off the side she had been caressing, and moved back, distrust plain on her face. Her mind was shouting at Koen, and he grimaced. Soon, he’d have to teach her how to shield herself, but how he would do so without her beating him bloody with questions that were bound to crop up during his explanation evaded him.

  “You can turn into a human.” It wasn’t a question. Koen did not respond. “So why haven’t you?” she added.

  ‘I’m wounded, and I wish for my sides to heal before I attempt a change.’

  Her face was smooth, but her body tensed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  ‘It didn’t come up.’

  “And I doubt it would have if you had anything to do with it. No. You made a specific point to not tell me that you were human. You could have spoken to me from the beginning but you didn’t. You could have told me you can become like me but you didn’t. Tell me why.”

  Koen felt the first true stirrings of anger. ‘Because though I can become a man it changes nothing. There is so much, too much, you don’t understand. My life is not simple and it never will be. I’m here because I’m hiding, and to hide one does not tell all his secrets to the first person he sees. Eventually, I will be well enough to return home to my life. It will please me that you are safe, and to know that you are here living a full life. I did not mean to interfere as much as I have.’

  Marina was stunned. “Whoa, slow it down. It’s not like I’m in love you.” She laughed nervously. “How stupid would that be?”

  Disgruntled, Koen gnashed his teeth. ‘You don’t understand.’

  “I know, you expect me to take one look at you in all your man glory and fall head over heels, right? You’re a big deal back on Tzion, am I right? You must be, only someone constantly supplicated to could have such a jacked up self-image.” Settling down on her side, she sniffed disdainfully. “I’m not going to beg to hitch a ride back to your home if that is what you’re thinking, even if I originate from there. Yes, that’s right, I figured that out too. What’s your deal Koen? It’s not your dragon that has a problem talking to me. I just wanted to understand, but since I’m just a small, weak, pitiful women who doesn’t understand, because a conceited and arrogant man won’t tell her the facts so she can understand, I suppose I’ll never know.” She made a noise of disgust, her sarcasm affecting her even more. “I’m going to take a nap. There’s nothing better to do it seems.”

  Koen was startled she’d started talking and didn’t stop, tearing into him and his character, not as a dragon, but as a man. Instinctively understanding they were two parts of a whole.

  Grumbling to herself, Marina dropped into a deep sleep a short while later, a scowl stamped on her face. It had happened the same the evening before too. One moment she was muttering obscenities, fully awake, and the next second her body slumped and she was asleep.

  It took Koen hours to drift to sleep, so many thoughts in his head. He wondered what it would be like to be so at peace with yourself no worries kept you from the numbing escape of dreams.

  A fearsome thought swept over him. He was becoming attached, too attached. For all her bold words, nearly everything Marina had said was a direct contradiction to what she really wanted. She said she didn’t want to go to Tzion, but the moment she spoke those words her mind had become infused with thoughts of how she could trick him into taking her there. She had worried why her mother had never told her who she truly was, and wondered if she would be able to stay by Koen’s side.

  There was a great deal of pain and fear of rejection in her thoughts. She was brave, but she was anxious about people slipping away from her, about being lonely.

  Yes, Marina was something Koen had not foreseen. She was unexpected and he had not had time to prepare any kind of defenses.

  He didn’t want to build any against her either.

  As man or dragon.

  Regardless of how much she wanted to know, he would be frugal with what he told her. He knew her conviction she was from Tzion would fuel her desire to learn more about him, and would give her the confidence to not accept his silence or unwillingness to talk. If she leant who she was, what power she could have, she wouldn’t hesitate to use it to drive him mad. If she leant who he was and all that came with it, he knew she wouldn’t back down, for already she was thinking of ways to stay close to Koen’s dragon, whom she considered a friend, and in need of her protection.

  Using the time to shift from his dragon form to a human, Koen resolved to keep Marina as far from his heart as humanly possible. Bright light rushed over his body and in a flash he was standing on two legs. It was disorientating at first. Going from feeling like nothing but the gods themselves could impede him, to feeling so small. He knew his human form was hardly insignificant, looking down at Marina, she still looked tiny. He doubted she would reach his collarbones.

  She had a heart shaped face and her features were distinguished, neat, and small. Her mouth was soft and her c
upid’s bow sharp.

  What in the world had happened to her hair? Had someone thought to break her sprit by shearing it? If so, it was a cruel punishment that disfigured, and dishonored her. Surely there was nothing even this hellion could have done to deserve such discipline. Back at court, a lady would not dare step a toe outside her rooms in fear of being seen so unpolished, and she was forced to go about her daily life looking near boyish. Yet Marina courageously faced him without a hint of shame. Oh, once you saw her face and took a good look at her form, it was clear she was female, but at a glance, and in the right clothes she could easily be mistaken for a young lad.

  Her hands were curled into fists, and one was tucked under her chin, as if she punched herself.

  He found it amusing she was aggressive even in her slumber, and he wondered what dragons she fought with. It was lunacy, but he hoped it was his.

  Her other hand was trapped between her thighs. Her feet were dainty, so small, he wondered how she balanced on them.

  The clothes on Earth were certainly interesting. The ladies on Tzion did wear leggings and boots, but under their skirts. Marina’s leggings were plastered to her form in a very revealing way. As was her shirt, it stretched across her form invitingly, and dropped well below what was considered decent for an unmated woman.

  Koen smiled wolfishly, leaning forward to see more.

  Marina growled softly in her sleep, a fierce scowl in her face, and tucked herself into a tighter ball. The sound was so menacing it made him pause and check she really was sleeping.

  After a moment of deliberation, Koen gently picked Marina up and set her in his arms. It was chilly in the cave despite the warm season and the fire. He settled them on the bedroll, and tucked her into his side. It wouldn’t be long before Nikolai and Daniil arrived, and he wanted to enjoy the solitude with his woman for as long as he could. It was rare he could be this peaceful in anyone’s presence but his own.

  His own thoughts echoed back at him mockingly.

  His woman.

  When he was satisfied she was sleeping soundly, and was comfortable, he snoozed, drifting to a place just before the dominion of sleep.

  So a few hours later, when Marina briefly opened her eyes, sighed, and snuggled closer to the warmth of a hard male body instead of a scaly dragon hide, she got the shock of her life. She bolted up squealing.

  Koen cracked an eyelid, and smirked.

  Chapter 5

  “Gah!” Logically, Marina knew that her dragon could turn into a human. Logically, she knew that t was likely he would so in her presence.

  All this logic, however, did not prepare her for him to do it so soon, and whilst she slept. Logic, did not warn her that he would sit beside her and snuggle up to her.

  Shifting away, she smacked him in the chin with her failing hands, and swatted at his grasping fingers.

  Cursing, Koen grabbed her ankle. She booted him in the side. He cried out and curled into a ball holding his side.

  Marina stilled in horror when she remembered the state the sides of his body had been a few hours before. He was dressed all in black, wearing a black tunic over leather leggings, so she couldn’t see the damage, but knew he had to be in immense pain.

  Swallowing a scream she’d been storing to deafen him with, Marina gingerly touched his shoulder. He was hot, and she gasped. She pulled back, but Koen’s hand snatched hers and held it against him.

  Marina tugged her hand from his. She backed up, discombobulated and off-kilter. Shaking her head, she rubbed her palm on her stomach.

  Koen fixed his green eyes on her, and she bit her lip when she saw his pupils were still slits like when he was dragon.

  Slowly, he unfolded from his protective position and stood. He kept rising and rising, and Marina felt the spacious cave shrink into the darkness until he took up her whole world.

  An amused smirk pulled his lips to the side. The expression made her scowl, and her cheeks burn.

  He enjoyed it, towering over her, and he cocked his head as he smiled properly. The smile was a bright slash against his tan skin, and his brooding face transformed into a haunting male beauty that made Marina’s mind twirl.

  Lowering his head, Koen pressed his lips to the outermost corner of her lips.

  He was warm, and smelt like lavender and salt. When she didn’t shove him away, he stepped closer, and clasped the nape of her neck. He took her hand, placed it on his chest, and held her other hand in his.

  Martina blinked, stunned, body locked into position as she tried to comprehend everything.

  Like the way her body was tingling all over. How her skin was tightening in unusual places. Hyper aware the place between her legs was aching, and it had never done that before, ever, even when her first boyfriend had groped her in the back of his car.

  “It is so good to finally talk to you like this,” Koen said in a voice eerily similar to her dragon’s, but without the booming resonance.

  The sound of his voice was what snapped her out of it.

  She found the words to speak, and shifted restlessly. “Where did you find clothes?”

  He chuckled. “Interesting first question to ask a man who you met as a dragon.”

  Being on the short side, Marina was used to people being bigger than her, but this was ridiculous. When she stood in front of Koen, she was eye to eye with the broad expanse of his chest. She had to look up to see passed his shoulders, and tilt her head back to see his face.

  His handsome face that was dark and mysterious, features strong, and well defined. Her heart pounded as she took in the bold cut of his jaw, and the proud lines of his nose. His eyes were the same green as the dragon’s. They burned as he watched her, and the sharp intelligence she was used to was replaced by a blunt and animalistic heat. Faint white scars crisscrossed over his neck and face, and she knew that there would be more on his body. One scar slashed through his eyebrow, perilously close to his eyelid.

  Koen as a dragon was magnificent, but as a man, he was breathtaking. His presence seeped invasively into her bones, whereas as a dragon his aura wrapped her in a blanket of safety.

  This was a dangerous man, every instinct told her so.

  The glossy hair Marina loved to stroke, and had rested between his horns, now covered his entire head. The top was longer, tousled, and he had a long sweep of hair that reached his lower back. It reminded her of the crest on a centurion helm. His black locks added a new intensity to his dark skin.

  Her gaze lowered, reached as far as his collarbones, and then stopped, her cheeks heating. That was not a usual reaction; she’d checked out dozens of guys before quite vigorously too. None had affected her this way.

  Again, she came back to his eyes that were darker than when he was dragon. She was captivated. His eyes were lethal, and narrowed on her with a foreign look.

  The look that made her squirm, and want to crawl about in her own skin to ease the restless ache skittering all over her.

  Koen Raad was young, way younger than she thought he would be. When she had pictured him as a human, she imagined him looking like a much older man, refined and imposing. She envisioned him regal in his bearing with a soft smile and an ethereal grace. How dumb was she? He looked no more than a few years her senior. He had grace, but there was nothing ethereal about it. There was no softness, no gentle nature she could see or feel. He was young, strong, and looked ready to level mountains if they stood in his path.

  Secretly, she was thrilled and relieved. It wasn’t some old man that she’d been having increasingly audacious thoughts about. She’d thought his deep voice sexy, but had kept that absurd thought tightly buried. His eyes made her insides hot and heavy, but she’d put that down to the peculiar circumstances.

  She peeked up at him, and instantaneously wished she hadn’t.

  There was a determined glint in his eye that hadn’t been there moments ago.

  He let go of her hand, and clasped her chin to tug her closer.

  Marina wasn’t surprised when
he kissed her. The way he’d been staring at her lips left little to interpretation. His eyes remained open, and so did hers. It was an odd and awkward first kiss. Somehow, it didn’t feel real. It wasn’t a kiss like she sensed it could be between them, but felt more like a test, a detached sampling.

  He pressed his lips to hers once more, more pressure this time, and watched to see how she would react.

  After an uncomfortable pause, he moved back, and frowned. Marina felt like her chest would explode. Awkward kiss? Yes, but her heat was beating a taboo rhythm, and her limbs felt leaden, her mind drugged.

  Koen cursed, and roughly pushed her away from him. “Too much,” he muttered.

  “What was that?” she demanded. She wanted to know what he felt about it. Reading his face was near impossible. She had an easier time when he was a dragon. “Too much what?”

  “Why didn’t you kiss me back?”

  Marina held her hands up and caught sight of her palms. She looked into them, weighing her words, and trying to collect her thoughts that were bizarrely scattered. She dropped her hands – they were no help. “Well, I’m a bit shocked here, Koen. Give me a minute to adjust, and I’m sure I’ll be in the same place you are.”

  He made a cutting movement with his hand, and seemed to be arguing with both her and himself. “Look at what have you done.” His voice was deep and threatening. “You could ruin everything.”

  Marina bristled, disliking whatever issue he battled with was mindlessly being blamed on her when she had done nothing.

  She poked him. “I… .” Blank. A slate wiped clean.

  Marina prodded his chest again, and once again was left winded by the rock hard pectorals resisting her finger. She wanted to lift his tunic and see exactly what it was she was touching. She wobbled on the spot, aghast by her thoughts, and her hand ended up flattening along the length of his arm. She shivered when his warmth heated her palm and his bicep flexed.

  He hissed, backing away from her as if she scalded him. “What have you done to me and my dragon?”