To further complicate things, Kai’s actions spoke of how he believed her to be his mate. He was determined that she was supposed to be some mystical pre-destined mate and was ready to shackle himself to her. But, Al struggled with the notion. Even with her new confidence and ability to defend herself, she still could not see him wanting her long term. Their time at the cabin had been nice, getting to know the man, she had let herself pretend that they could be a couple. However, she felt that the man was simply just too dang gorgeous to want to be with someone as average as she was, she just couldn’t get past the fact. She would admit to being pretty, but she was average height and a bit overweight. Someone like Kai needed someone spectacular. Someone that was, simply put, more than what Al could ever hope to be.
A loud grating and squealing noise made Al jump. But she wasn’t ready to face Kai yet, so she kept staring over the fields. She jumped again when Kai’s large hand caressed down her neck and onto her shoulder. He stood directly behind her. She could feel his heat. She had noticed that he seemed to feel warmer than other people. She wondered if that was because he was a dragon. A dragon! A freakin’ dragon! She loved how he had shared who he was with her. Watching him as a dragon, as a man, or partially shifted, he was a thing of beauty to watch. It still seemed so unreal. She still couldn’t help but wonder about that coma theory she had had earlier. Kai’s hand continued a trail of fire down her arm, landing at her waist, he pulled her into him.
“What are you looking at, Alvena?”
“Nothing.” Her voice quivered. She always felt like a blushing virgin around him. Dang it! She really needed to get herself in control. Maybe she should just have sex with the man, get him out of her system, so she could get back to her friends and her life. But, Al knew that a man like Kai would be addictive. One time would not sate her appetite for him. Their date night at the cabin had cemented that belief for her. But, maybe that was why the idea sounded so good. It didn’t help her any with the way he touched her. His fingers, even now, making circular motions on her hip as he held her to him. What woman could resist that? What woman could keep from melting into him? What woman could tell him no, if he ever asked? Not Al, not anymore she was afraid.
To save her from making a fool of herself, she twisted out of his arm and turned to the barn.
“So, we’re going to stay in there? Do you think it’s safe?” She said as she retreated.
Kai grinned at her, seeming to find her discomfort humorous. “It appears to be a nice night, so we should be alright.”
At his words, a slight breeze blew through and Al shivered.
“Well, maybe I should say that it’s a nice night for a Dásreach male. Let’s see if we can find a place to sleep for the night. There should be a place in the barn to keep you protected from the elements.”
Kai motioned for her to precede him into the structure. He had already pushed the motorcycle inside, so she walked around it and looked around the barn. It was dusty. It was dark. It was a bit creepy, in that slasher film sort of way. Her imagination jumped from one flutter of movement to another, from a noise towards the back to a scraping sound behind her. Al’s muscles tightened, her flight instinct kicking in just as a light flared to life behind her – the motorcycle headlight as Kai turned it on.
“We don’t want to leave it on long, or the battery might go dead on us, but we can use it to look around a bit.”
Stalls lined both sides of the aisle that went down the center of the barn. Al went to the left and Kai took the right. She wasn’t sure what they were looking for as they looked into each stall. Her nerves were still jumpy, but she kept going anyway, following Kai’s lead. At the end was what appeared to be a tack room. From what little light reached this far into the barn, from the motorcycle headlight, she could see old leather bridles swinging from hooks. There is no way I’m going in there. Relief swept through her as she watched Kai enter the room, leaving her safely outside.
He stopped towards the back of the small room, “I found a tack box.” He said as he dragged it out into the aisle where Al could see by the headlight.
Kai tugged a bit at the latch before the lid creaked open. Al couldn't help her squeal of happiness when she saw the relatively intact blankets. They smelled of horse and dust, but seemed to be dry and only had a few holes probably from moths and other bugs long gone. At least that’s what she told herself. God, I hate bugs. All of those creepy, crawly legs. Al shivered at the thought and noticed Kai looking at her with concern.
“One of the stalls I looked into had some straw. We can lay a few blankets down on it to sleep.” Kai suggested.
“Sounds good to me.” Yeah, right! How was she supposed to sleep near him all night? Obviously, not well with the daydreams she had been having all day with her body pressed into his on the back of the vibrating motorcycle. But, there was no way she could sleep apart from him with the direction her mind had taken from the moment she had entered this scene from Deliverance. At least, she assumed that’s what it looked like, since she had never seen that movie. It was just what people always said when in situations in the Deep South of the United States. Al shook her head at herself. Her mind a jumble with the fear of the unknown – what hid in the corners, in the shadows of the barn; what hid in the shadows of her heart?
Following the sounds of movement to an open stall towards the front of the barn, Al found herself standing in the doorway watching Kai. He kicked around the straw and then bent and laid out a blanket on top of the pile he had made in the corner. Woo-eee! That man has a fine ass. She wanted to reach out and grab it, squeeze it, pinch it, bounce quarters off of it. Anything. Just as long as she could have her itching hands on it. Al realized then that she was in more than simple trouble, she was doomed. Her hormones were zinging, all her nerves on high alert. She was sure that she was wet and ready for him. Between the adrenaline from the bar fight, the vibration of the motorcycle, Kai’s smell tormenting her nose, and his hard muscles torturing her arms as she had clung to him on the bike – making her hands itch with the want to roam – she was sure she was one touch away from completion. Forcing her eyes away from Kai, she looked around the small space, bouncing them away from the corner where Kai readied their bed each time they landed on him.
“Kai, we should talk about today.” She said with little conviction.
“Do you now?” He said as he continued setting up their bed for the night. “Alvena, I’m not sure what we can say.”
“I’m not sure either, Kai. I have so many thoughts going through my mind; I don’t know where to start.” She answered.
“All I can say to you lass, is…well, I’ve never been so afraid in my life. I’m a fucking dragon and I couldn’t protect you in there. I felt helpless and I think my guardian began to take control.” He said as he stood and stared into the straw on the floor.
His back was to Al. She watched as he hunched in defeat, his hands clenched at his side. She looked at the man that had saved her life numerous times and wondered what was going through his mind.
“You’re my mate, and I couldn’t even stop to make sure that you hadn’t been hit by that gunshot I heard.” His hands clenched and unclenched. “It was torture. I had to keep telling myself that as long as your arms were tight around me, then you had to be unharmed.” He whispered.
Al watched as the man she thought was so much stronger than herself showed vulnerability. She realized that Kai would do whatever she wanted. If she wanted to talk about the bar and the brawl, about their mad dash to get away from their enemies, he would. But, she also saw that he wasn’t ready to discuss the events. Each thought and word seemed to be a barb in his self-confidence that now seemed to disappear. He had distanced himself at the stops and then pretended like everything was okay when they arrived here, not because he thought nothing of the events or her, but because he struggled with what he felt was his failure. Al saw his need. His need for normal. He had given it to her at the cabin. She would give it to him here.
“Um. Kai, why don’t you tell me more about yourself?” She said nervously.
“What?” He asked in shock. He turned partway so that he could see her.
“We’ve talked about the Dásreach, but we’ve really never talked about you. Just a few things here and there.”
Kai chuckled, more a sound of relief than of humor.
“OK, what do you want to know?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” She eyed him for some direction before continuing, “You say we’re mates, but I know almost nothing about you. Only that you can shift into a dragon and a lot of stuff about the Dásreach legends and being mates – and I know very little about that.”
Al was struggling with all of the questions in her mind. There was so much she wanted to know.
“Why is it that you shift into a dragon and not something else? How is it that you shift? Where are you from? How old are you? Do you have a girlfriend?” Al blushed, Shit! I didn’t mean to ask that last one.
Kai laughed and gave her one of his devastating grins. Relief shown in his eyes, relief and gratitude. His dimples were, well… dimpling as his smile grew. Why am I such a sucker for dimples?
“Well, that’s a lot of questions and a lot of information for you to get tonight, lass. Why don’t you come and curl up with me on the blanket here, you can wrap up in a blanket and use me as your pillow.” He looked at her strangely, almost like he was worried she’d refuse. So, Al walked further into the stall and began to sit down on the blankets he had laid out.
“Let me go first, lass.” He said as he bent and pulled off his boots. He sat with his back to the corner of the stall and held out his arm and motioned for her to curl up beside him.
Al took off her own shoes and crawled up where Kai sat waiting. She wrapped a blanket around herself and leaned back against the wall instead of on him. Kai, however, had other ideas and moved his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. Holding her, so her only option was to lay her head on his chest.
“I need to hold you, lass. I need to reassure myself and the dragon that you are indeed safe and unhurt.” He whispered into her hair.
She felt his chest rise and fall with his breaths, heard his heartbeat as it accelerated. She nodded her head and relaxed into his arms. When he began to speak, his voice vibrating all the way into her bones, Al had to clench her hands into fists to keep from stroking that firm chest that lay beneath her cheek. Why was she so turned on? Has to be the adrenaline rush from the day. She thought.
“Well, let’s see. I think I might have actually mentioned some of this, but it doesn’t hurt to tell you again, aye?” His voice snapped her out of her own thoughts.
“Absolutely.” She grinned into his chest.
“I’m 39 years old. I was born in Scotland, that’s where my da is from originally. He met my mum in Norway and moved her to his family estate in Scotland when they mated, so I spent most of my childhood there.”
“I can totally see the Norwegian,” Al said sarcastically, “but I would never have guessed about you being Scottish.” Al couldn’t hold in her giggle.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to say I have an accent too. That wanker, Charlie, is always trying to pull that crap with me and him with that fucking Brit accent." Kai’s blues eyes twinkled with humor.
“Charlie’s the guy with Nat, right?” She asked to clarify.
“Yeah. He’s my best friend, has been since we were kids. Our das spent time at Tiranam Dásig in Colorado together as boys, so they kept in touch over the years. And, when they found their mates both of them moved to their family estates. Being so close together, in Scotland and England, they set up visits for us lads and our mums to spend time together. Charlie and I spent most summers either at my house or his and we attended the same boarding school. Charlie has always had my back.”
Al scrunched up her face in worry, “Are you sure that Nat and Rogue will be okay?” Her friends kept popping into her mind and she was worried about them.
Kai’s hand came up and cupped her cheek. He looked into her eyes. “Alvena, I promise you that my friends, both Charlie and Malkum, will protect your friends with their lives. They won’t let anything happen to them. I know it’s hard. It’s difficult for me not knowing if my brothers are safe and I know what their capabilities are. I’m sure once we get to Tiranam Dásig, we’ll have contact with them and you will be able to hear that they are safe straight from them. Alright?”
“Yes, okay. I don’t think there is anything else we can do anyhow. Those two are strong women. I know they can take care of themselves… a hell of a lot better than I can take care of myself even with self-defense training.” She began to look away and Kai pulled her face back towards him, keeping their eyes locked. He rubbed his thumb back and forth on her jaw.
“Alvena, you are strong in your own ways. Don’t ever think less of yourself.” He said vehemently. “You should have seen yourself back there. It was glorious the way you stood up to that man. Just like a Valkyrie, a warrior goddess, you took several of them down all on your own. Sure, you can learn more about fighting, but you were no less amazing for only having one afternoon practicing with me. I know I acted a bit of the Neanderthal back there, but that wasn’t because I thought less of you, lass, that was because… well, I think it’s instinct. I can’t explain it.” His voice trailed off.
Al sat stunned. Other than the girls, no one had ever stood up for her. Even if it was against her own doubts and putting herself down. However, if she thought back, she could remember Kai doing it several times since they had met. She looked into his face. Between the caring and conviction radiating from his eyes and the soothing motion of his thumb, Al felt her heart soften towards this huge hulk of a man. Even with what most would consider a swimmer’s build more than a body builder, over-muscled build, Kai dwarfed her and made her feel petite and small and protected. She could get used to this being protected.
“So, where was I?” He said as he turned his face away. “I answered the question about my age and where I’m from. The shifting thing is a bit more complicated, so I’ll tell you that in a minute. So that leaves my relationship status...” With a purely sinful grin and those deep blue eyes twinkling with mirth again, Kai chuckled under his breath as Al blushed profusely."…which is single by the way. No girlfriend.”
“Um… I... uh… you don’t…” Al stumbled over the many thoughts rushing through her brain. Trying to think of a way to get out of the hole she felt herself falling in.
“Now, lass. It’s alright, but you have to know, I wouldn’t be here with you if I had a girlfriend. She would be my mate, and, well… that can’t happen, because you’re my mate.” Al began to interrupt. "No, lass. You just sit back and let me tell you more about the Dásreach and myself.”
Kai began to re-tell Al the story of the first Thirteen and how the Dásreach came to be. About how all Dásreach children are born male and that they go through an Oath ceremony at the age of twenty to commit to the mission set forth by the Great Spirit. How they are given a tattoo, a gift in return for their oath, called a Warrior’s Mark. The tattoo being the representation of the oath the man made to the Great Spirit. As the Shaman tattoo’s each young man, they meditate and go to another place, and in that place they are gifted with the magic and knowledge of the shift. The spirit guardians swirl around them and through them, searching each man to see where their talents lay. When the spirit guardian chooses, it attaches to the man’s soul and comes back with him. Kai told her of his spirit guardian, the dragon, and how it seemed to be a separate entity residing inside, but also a part of himself.
“Those with a dragon spirit guardian are rare. Someone being chosen by the dragon spirit guardian only occurs every 20 years when the next Thirteen are chosen. And the man chosen is to be the next leader of the Dásreach Council. When we were 20 years old, it was the year of the choosing of the Thirteen. Charlie and I traveled to Tiranam Dásig for the Oath ceremony. We never hoped to be chosen.
In a way, I wish I hadn’t been. There is so much I could have been doing for my people. Instead, I received the dragon and became the next Leader and have spent the past 19 years studying and learning everything I can to be a better leader. Thankfully the black panther chose Charlie, so he continues to protect my back and stand at my side. If I think about it, Charlie was always my beta and I was always a leader. I used to drive my parents crazy. Charlie and I were in one fight after another, since I was always finding us trouble when I stood up for what I felt was right.” Kai stopped as if drifting in some far off place in his past.
However, he soon continued to tell her more about growing up Dásreach, becoming part of the Thirteen and finding twelve men who became like the brothers he never had. About, mates and what it means to the Dásreach and the Thirteen in particular. He told her how much it hurt to watch the frustration grow in his brothers, how they grew more and more inpatient, as the very real possibility that they would let their people down became more and more a reality. He told her how they came up with a plan to allow the Great Spirit to guide them through the use of a dart.
“Sometimes you’re desperate and you’re willing to try anything.” Al could hear Kai’s uncertainty and embarrassment about the dart.
Al’s heart ached for this man. He shouldered so much, blaming himself for his brother’s frustration. Thinking if he had done something differently they wouldn’t be in the last year and a half before the ceremony to make them the next Council and still looking for their mates. She was now able to understand some of his actions with her. As with everything, Kai put her safety and welfare on his shoulders.
“Kai, you said that mates are destined, right?” Al sat up and turned to look at him.
“Yes, but…”
Finding the Dragon (Dásreach Council Book 1) Page 24