Golden Embrace: A Stand-Alone Novella (Soul of a Dragon)

by Clara Hartley

  Enid raised a brow. Her gaze darted between Diovan and Aryana. She could see Enid's expression change as her sister put two and two together. "Aryana," Enid said, "you have a guest." Another witch, Kealin, who had followed Aryana on the hunt the other day, trailed behind Enid. Kealin worked mostly as Enid's guard. Aryana sometimes borrowed her to have more manpower for hunts. Enid's position as high seeker made her vulnerable to assassinations, so guards were a necessary precaution.

  Aryana wanted to bury her hands into her face. This was the worst possible situation.

  Diovan grinned sheepishly. "I was just heading off." He stepped around Enid and ran away. Luckily, she didn't know Diovan was a dragon yet. He sped into the jungle without any resistance.

  Enid glanced in his direction. "I don't think he's one of the males in our tribe."

  "He's not. He's—"

  "He's the dragon we saw the other day," Kealin said.

  Perhaps it was Diovan's absence, but the temperature of the tent seemed to drop. Enid paled. "Dragon?"

  "He ruined our hunt," Kealin continued.

  Aryana stifled a groan. "I was looking for a little bit of fun."

  "Fun? With a dragon?" Rage flickered through Enid's features like a storm. "He's the enemy!"

  "He hasn't done anything yet, has he?" Aryana said. "I don't know… I sense we can trust him."

  Enid begun pacing around the tent. "How long have you known him? Since before the hunt?"

  "I didn't know him then." Aryana's heart fluttered in panic. Enid wasn't supposed to find out about Diovan. "It was after that. He came looking for me at night."

  Enid made a sound of exasperation. "That was, what, three days ago? You trust him after three days? Might I remind you that a dragon killed our parents?"

  "That was one dragon. You can't group them up together. Diovan isn't the same."

  "What about Justinia's daughter, who was just slaughtered by one? And the Red Beast and his men, who have been circling us and studying us as if we're prey?"

  "I honestly don't think—"

  "Listen to yourself." A sharp crease sliced through Enid's forehead. "You're not making sense. Diovan, that's his name? This Diovan has you under some sort of irrational trance. You barely know him, and yet you're speaking up for him like some girl who hasn't bled yet."

  "I'm simply stating what I think," Aryana said, not convinced by her own rationalizations in her head. She pulled more blanket over her frame. She wanted to ignore what was right. Her body—no, her soul—wanted Diovan, and her actions followed that need for him. That was her only reason for wanting to be with him, other than his charming smile and the way he handled himself in bed.

  It wasn't her fault that she lusted for him, was it?

  Enid closed her eyes and sighed. "The next time he comes over, take him to me. I'll decide what to do with him."

  "No."

  "What?"

  "No. You might decide to kill him. I know how deep your hate for dragons runs."

  "And what's bad about me doing so? I'm only getting rid of a threat to our tribe. He's also violated our rules. The both of you did. You're not supposed to mate with men outside our tribe."

  Such a rule was likely why Diovan had seemed so appealing in the first place. Aryana had conveniently forgotten about that rule when coming up with excuses to invite her dragon into her bed. "Kroasha, our goddess, wouldn't approve of the killing."

  "She'd make an exception for the dragon."

  She narrowed her eyes at her sister. If Enid dared do any harm to Diovan, Aryana would make her pay. "There's no special exceptions for dragons, Enid. And you know that." Where did the overwhelming need to protect Diovan come from? Hurting her own sister, her only family left, over some dragon man she barely knew? That wasn't like her at all.

  "Well?" Enid asked. "Will you take him to me? I know that you can subdue him, so you don't have to worry about that. You're one of our strongest witches."

  Aryana became nauseated because of the dilemma Enid had forced on her. "I can't…"

  "You're letting your emotions blind your judgment."

  "And is that so bad?" She was human.

  "You're second seeker, Aryana. You have to rule with a level head."

  She wasn't even sure if she liked ruling. Her sister's authority put Aryana in her position. She sighed. "You're right. But I… I can't let him die, Enid, and I can't trust you not to kill him. I won't meet with him anymore after today, so you can let the matter rest."

  Enid placed her hands on her hips. "And if he comes back?"

  Aryana had a feeling she wouldn't be able to resist him if he came back, not with her body calling out for him even after only such a short parting. "I'll turn him away."

  "For the good of the tribe, and for your own safety."

  A pang of guilt shot through her chest. She hadn't thought of her actions and how they affected the tribe that way. She was frolicking with Diovan with reckless abandon, not caring about the dangers he would bring to the water witches should he decide to turn on her. "Yes." She gulped uneasily.

  Enid walked over to the chair next to Aryana and sat down. She balled her hands together and rested them on her forehead. "Is Diovan the reason why you've been tired?"

  "Yes, actually."

  "Dragons can cast soul magic as well, although they are far less efficient at it. What makes you think that he hasn't done something of that sort? Before him, men didn't interest you much, Aryana."

  Aryana had a strange inclination to trust her new dragon companion. "He's not playing tricks on me." Or she didn't want to think he was. The pull to trust him might be part of the magic as well.

  Enid exhaled. "If you're not going to meet with him anymore, then it hardly matters, does it?" She wrestled a bundle of hair from Aryana's shoulders. Enid started to braid it. Aryana didn't mind. Enid often braided her hair, although less so since they'd grown up. "I'm still uneasy with this arrangement. We should at the very least, lock him up and question him. He'll know something about the Red Beast, and why he's been around so much."

  Aryana didn't like the sound of that. "You can trust that if Diovan shows any sign of being a threat, I'll take him down myself." She clutched the blanket more tightly to her chest.

  Enid smiled. "I truly despise dragons, but I don't doubt you, sister."

  Enid shouldn't have taken her word for it. Aryana herself couldn't believe what she herself just said. If Diovan did something wrong, would she really be able to kill him that easily?

  She clenched her fist over her torso, wondering where all the traitorous emotions she felt for the dragon came from.

  Chapter 6

  Diovan glanced at Cyrion, who had taken a large bite of an apple. Cyrion was perched lazily over his mattress. The whole cave was a huge sty, and it was starting to stink. Diovan had to start barking orders for the lot of them to clean up soon.

  "What's wrong with you?" Cyrion asked.

  Diovan paced about with his hands behind his back. "I should be asking you that. What kind of dragon eats apples?"

  "A curious one." Cyrion tossed the apple aside, half-eaten, on the ground. "Too sweet. You've been walking around angry ever since you got back. Did a girl try to bite your cock off?"

  Diovan considered revisiting the lake for another cold dive into the waters, but didn't want to waste any time, and since the sun had almost set, it'd make him late for his visit to Aryana. "It's not that. It's a certain girl, but she hasn't done anything."

  "You can't be…" Cyrion shook his head, then leaned back into his chair. "No, not you. You're not the kind that settles."

  Diovan wanted to tell Cyrion the truth, that he had found his mate, but he knew his friend would raise a long string of questions, and he wasn't into the mood to answer anything. Even Cyrion's slightly prodding questions made him irritable.

  "Anyway," Cyrion said, "I've heard some rumors about Joakim, that red old ass."

  "What is it?" Diovan asked, always eager to hear information about the
Red Beast.

  "He's gearing up for war. One of the Grimfire dragons tipped off one of our men. He wants to take over the Everstone dragons in the east. You know, Rayse's clan."

  "The Grimfire dragons? The weakest clan in all the west side wants to take down the strongest clan in all of Gaia? Is Joakim out of his mind?"

  "The Grimfire dragons aren't weak. They have the numbers."

  "You bloody know just as well as I do that the dragons in there don't have the muscle. It's part of Joakim's ruse to rule with an iron fist and absolute authority." His mood turned even sourer than it had been already. He remembered what he'd had to go through because of the Red Beast's conquest for power.

  "Is that why Joakim is interested in the water witches?" Cyrion asked.

  Diovan growled. Thinking about the water witches made him think about Aryana, and thinking about Aryana made him agitated and horny at the same time. The mixture of both tumbled around his insides, making him want to throw up. "The water witches aren't part of dragon politicking."

  "The Red Beast has been circling around their camp. He probably wants to recruit them. They're the strongest line of witches in all of Gaia, or at least they're rumored to be. They keep their bloodlines pure by not allowing outsiders in."

  That didn't sound good. "They don't allow outsiders?" He most certainly qualified as one.

  "Yes, it's strange. You'd expect them to all be mad now with such a weird practice. Cousins fucking cousins. Maybe they are, or maybe it's the magic in their bloodline."

  Aryana wasn't mad. She drove him mad.

  He couldn't stand it any longer. He needed to see her. "I'm leaving." The sun had already set, and he couldn't wait to participate in his nightly activities.

  "Leaving? I'm halfway done talking to you. Rude as hell to just skip off with your cock dangling between your legs, if you ask me."

  Diovan tossed the barely eaten apple, which had rolled to his side during their conversation, back to Cyrion. "Finish that. It's not good to waste food."

  "Fuck off." Cyrion eyed the apple as if it were the Red Beast himself. "It tastes like piss."

  Diovan spun around. Then he stripped his pants so the clothing wouldn't tear while he shifted—he had wasted too many articles of clothing with careless shifting. Clothes were hard to steal without terrorizing villages, or women's beds. He tucked his pants into a sack for later use, and called to his dragon side.

  Aryana's quarters weren't far away from his cave. The proximity made it even harder for him to control himself from just flying there and claiming her. Damn soul—all it wanted to do was mate. He enjoyed a good fuck now and then, but not like this. He slept around because he wanted to, not because he needed to, like right now.

  Stupid dragon.

  The trip to her place would take a whole day on foot, but he was there in an hour. He landed a good distance away from the water witch camp. Any of them would attack him on sight if he was spotted, and a gold dragon wasn't particularly difficult to spot. After donning his pants, he trekked toward Aryana's camp.

  Getting past the witches was no easy task. There were always a few of them on guard. But as a predator, the shadows were his domain. Dragons had to be stealthy when hunting, even with their enormous form. He stalked through the camp, as he had done multiple times. Aryana's back faced him. Her shoulders were delectably bare, but her leather vest covered the rest of her smooth back. He wanted to tear it off.

  "Aryana," he said, pulling himself closer, excitement crawling through him as he thought about what he was about to do to her.

  He couldn't resist running a hand through her long, luscious black hair.

  "You're back," she said.

  "Of course I am. I wasn't going to leave a sweet, delectable piece of honey like you alone in her bed." He almost cringed at how corny that sounded, but he just wanted to see Aryana's reaction.

  She scowled. "Don't call me that."

  He kissed her shoulders and ran his hand down her arm. Despite her built form, she still felt fragile and feminine. He enjoyed every second he was privileged enough to touch her. He couldn't wait to properly claim her, and to leave his marking on her shoulder. He needed the rest of Gaia to know she belonged to him.

  "You're not invited here anymore," she said, avoiding eye contact.

  He frowned. "You know, playing hard to get becomes boring after a while."

  "It's for the good of my tribe."

  "Is it because of that outsider rule?"

  She bowed her head. "That, and we cannot trust dragons."

  "Why? Because we're terrifying beasts without hearts?"

  "Yes," she said hesitantly.

  "For goddess's sakes, Aryana. Tell me what this is about. There wasn't any of this yesterday."

  "We had our fun, Diovan."

  He brushed his hand through his hair in exasperation. Her violet eyes searched him, and he saw the want in them. He'd seen this before: a woman's fickle thoughts. A woman's mind was a complex being, impossible to comprehend, a monster, hidden in the form of tantalizing bait.

  The difference between Aryana and his other conquests was that he didn't care to pursue a woman whenever she got this way before. But Aryana wasn't some random female he could throw aside.

  "I don't really care for rules." He walked forward to embrace her, but she dodged left, and all he managed to catch was a wisp of her flowery scent. "Dragon's bollocks." He groaned. "I thought we were over with this."

  "It's not a matter of what I decide. Besides, yesterday was a mistake. We were only supposed to meet up once."

  "It wasn't a mistake and you bloody well know it," he said.

  "Impedimentum."

  "What was that?" he asked, as he watched the faint glow of magic spread around her.

  "A barrier."

  He strode up to her to touch her. A barrier shimmered and slammed against him the moment he got too close. It didn't hurt him. She had lifted a weak one. He tried to reach past it and managed to, but after a certain point, it wouldn't let his hand budge. "You can't do this, Aryana. You can't stop us being together. You're my mate."

  "I am not one to let fate, or men, tell me what I should do."

  He pointed to her chest. "Have you heard about dragon lust? You can feel it, don't you?" He noticed the bulge in her throat as she swallowed. His hunger for her wasn't letting him keep his cool either. "That is your soul calling out to me. It wants me. And it's not going to stop until we're properly mated."

  "I'm a water witch. We control souls."

  He smirked. "Not your own. Your own is what guides and directs you."

  She glared at him with resolve, but didn't retort. She knew he was right.

  He put on a smoldering look—the one he knew got women squealing. "You're pretty even when being slightly maniacal."

  That seemed to make her flush, whether with anger or embarrassment, he wasn't sure.

  "Glacilis provoto," she said, summoning ice.

  He recognized the spell. His quick reflexes allowed him to dart out of the way before ice froze him. He glanced back at where she'd cast her magic. "You were aiming for my chest. That would've hurt. A lot."

  "Enid won't stand for you being here. Leave." She uttered the spell again, and a ball of frost formed in her hand. It glowed with a white-bluish light, and he could almost feel its coolness from where he stood.

  "You're going to listen to your sister instead of fate?" He jumped out of the way of another blast, tumbling and rolling into a seated position. "Careful there. You're going to turn this tent into winter."

  His dragon ears caught wind of bustling outside the tent. The witches were far away enough, but would be here any moment. The loud impact of the ice blasts must have had alerted them.

  "Oh, in the Dragon Mother's name," he said. He picked himself off the ground and swept the dirt off his legs.

  With Aryana calling in another spell, and another few more witches to face, he didn't stand a chance. Why did women have to be so difficult? He looked at Ary
ana. Her jaw was tight, and she hunched in an attack stance, reminding him of a panther—a really sexy one, barring the fact that she looked like she might bite his head off. He was strangely turned on by that.

  It wasn't in his usual fashion, but he decided to retreat.

  "I'll be around, Aryana," he said.

  "That's the last thing you should be. Don't come back. You're not welcome here, and you shouldn't be close to the water witches."

  "You regretted saying that the last time, remember?" He winked at her and left the tent.

  Dejected, he jogged away. He noticed a cut on his elbow. Fighting to prevent himself from getting his ass iced off before made him fail to notice his mild injury. It was already stitching back up. He uttered another curse. He'd suffered bruises, both physically and emotionally, and had nothing to show for them.

  He'd be back. He wouldn't give up so easily. Not when it concerned his mate.

  Chapter 7

  Aryana rubbed her hands over her eyes.

  The sun had already set beneath the horizon, and another long day had come to an end. Aryana was in her sister's room, sitting on a mat next to Enid's mattress. Aryana held a hand of cards and was deliberating her next move, but Diovan's mental picture made it hard for her to concentrate.

  "Are you still seeing that dragon?" Enid asked, leaning closer.

  "No, not at all," Aryana replied. She was missing that damn dragon way too much. Every night, she tossed and turned thinking about him. Often, she wished he would show up, which was the last thing she should be wishing for. Why was she being such a traitorous water witch? She had duties, and commitments to her clan.

  Enid narrowed her eyes. "You have to understand that you're responsible for the clan, and you shouldn't be plunging into reckless situations."

  Aryana thumbed the line of soul beads strapped to the belt on her waist. "I haven't seen him in days. I attacked him the last time he showed up. I think he got the message." Part of her wished she hadn't thrown spells at him. She had to pool a lot of courage for that first ice blast, and the rest was simply her going with the flow. She remembered the hurt in his blue eyes… and how terribly attractive he looked even when trying to avoid her attacks. She had slowed down her spells, hoping he'd dodge in time. She didn't want to harm Diovan—at least not physically. She'd pained him emotionally, hadn't she?