“Let’s not do that again,” she whispered to him.
“Okay.”
She leaned over and placed her head in her hands trying to keep from losing her last meal.
The tapping at her window brought her head up. Standing outside the window was a figure holding a gun pointing to the lock.
“Zeno?”
“Open the door. Do whatever he says I’ll protect you.”
She nodded and the lock popped open.
“Out the car.”
She slid out the car while Zeno got out on the other side.
“Kill him.”
They shot him in the heart. She screamed and tried to run around the car. The gun placed at her temple stopped her.
“Try me; I’ll drop you right here just like I dropped him.” He pulled on her arm taking her to another car. “I don’t know why he wants you alive, but he does.”
They shoved her into the back seat with a man on each side of her holding a gun.
The car drove off as she turned her head looking for Zeno. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t find him.
They drove in silence until they pulled up into the small town that Zeno had taken her to the day they went flying.
“Why’d you bring me here?” One of the men shoved her towards the car door. She slid over and got out.
“You should be more worried about what will happen to you when Mutufa gets here.”
“He’s going to kill you, and I’m going to watch.”
She stared at him but didn’t say anything. He was too far gone in his sickness for her ever to reach him. Turning her attention to the others, she looked for someone she might be able to talk with. They took her into one of the old abandoned buildings pushing her because they were getting their kicks watching her stumble.
“You know I never did it with a big girl before. Never wanted to but you're pretty.”
She stood her ground not wanting to show fear but wondering where Zeno was. Was he dead? Was that all it took to kill her dragon a shot to the heart? Well, it would kill her so why shouldn’t it kill him?
“Take a seat.”
She moved to the high back chair in the middle of the floor. When she sat, they tied her to the chair.
“What no gag?”
“No one can hear you scream and I like to hear women scream, it turns me on.” He grabbed himself and yanked before he walked away.
If only she had those powers, Zeno talked about. She would have been able to defend herself as well as him. Her shoulders sagged before she took control of her body and look around the room for a way to cut the rope.
“Hey,” a scream went up from outside. “Come look at this.”
The guy holding a gun on her left the room to investigate what was going on. She tried to scoot the chair across the room. The chair groaned loudly like it wanted to break. She stopped to think. Could she break the chair? Then she would be able to get free. Isn’t that what they do in all the movies?
She rocked the chair back and forth it groaned louder but didn’t break. Then she tried to jump up and down with the chair all she ended up doing was falling on the floor. Now she was trying to work her way across the floor to the door or a wall to hit the chair against it.
“Why are you on the floor?”
“Zeno?” her eyes flew up, he was leaning against the door a little bloody but whole.
“You’re dead. He put a bullet in your chest. I saw you fall.” Her voice was to high pitched as she replayed what she had seen with her own eyes. There was too much dust in the room trying to make her cry for a male who was alive.
He moved over to her quickly and untied her drawing her up and into his arms. They stood there locked together holding each other.
“There’s a little-known fact about dragons. We have an additional plate over our hearts. It’s not just there when we are in out dragon form, but it's also there in our human form. Why? Because most people think dragons are easier to kill when they’re human.”
“You’re not dead,” she finally whispered.
“No beautiful I’m not dead. Sorry, it took so long to get here, but I wanted to make sure no one else was coming to this party. Let’s go unbind your powers.”
“I’m hungry,” she whispered against his throat.
“You should be, and I’m with you. We’ll pick up something to eat on the way to the plane.”
She nodded her head and didn’t protest when he picked her up. She wanted to be in his arms it was the only way she could convince herself that he wasn’t a dream.
Chapter Thirteen
The plane was a jet, and it was beautiful. She would tease him, but he’d been strangely quiet for the whole drive. He got out and came to open her door taking her hand and leading her up the steps.
“Welcome to Syn’s jet.”
“Your brother must like expensive toys.”
“Not really like me he would prefer to fly under his own power. That’s something none of us can do when we come to the mainland.”
“Mainland?”
“America or its surrounding continents.”
He must feel cut off from the rest of the world to think like that, but it made sense. When you could only tell a few people about what you were, it was easy to feel alone.
“Do all the people on your island know you’re a dragon?”
“Yes. We have all types of different people, and we celebrate each other’s diversity.”
“We sometimes have a hard time doing that, but it’s not all of us.”
“I know. I would tell you in time things will get better but I’m not an Oracle, so I can’t make that prediction.”
“Oracles don’t exist, right?”
“They do in my world.”
“Hello.”
A tall black gentleman came out with eyes as clear and bright as diamonds. She’d never seen eyes like that before and caught herself staring.
“Sorry.”
“It’s alright; I find the gray streak in your hair fascinating. So, I think we have something in common.”
She grinned at him. “I think I’m going to like you.”
“The names George and of course you’re going to like me. According to my wife all the females like me and as long as I come back home to her she doesn’t care.”
“I’m going to like your wife also.” She got up and met him halfway across the jet to shake his hand.
“My name’s Skye. I was assuming Zeno told you already.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Skye. We’re flying to Madagascar are you ready for that?”
“No, absolutely not. How long is the flight?”
“From here it is sixteen to twenty hours, but we will be shaving a few hours off the flight. With no trouble, we will be there in eleven or twelve hours.”
She turned to look at Zeno. “How likely is it we won’t be having trouble?”
“Mutufa made his big attempt to stop us earlier. I think the next time we see him it will be in the cave.”
“How does he know where we are going?”
“Whatever he did to you is like a tracker. He’s following you Skye, and since he’s a shadow, he doesn’t need a plane to get around. He will show up.”
She nodded her head, gave George a wan smile and went to sit down. She looked down at the necklace her mom gave her. The pendant was long and blue; she loved the way it caught the light and looked like fire was glowing within it. The bracelet was the same there was a small blue gem that sat right over her pulse point. She forgot about both of them unless she was looking at them. It was like they were part of her skin now.
“Buckle up we’re about to take off.”
She nodded and did the buckle. They taxied down the runway, and she stared fascinated. This was her first time on a plane. Zeno took her hand and squeezed when they lifted. She felt a smile on her lips because it was possible that she might be losing her heart to him.
He was staying by her side no matter what happened and he wasn
’t even pushing her to become his dragon mate, which she knew was important to him. She was enjoying him and his attention. She didn’t want to dwell on the hope she had that it wouldn’t end.
“How about I cook for you?”
“You can cook?”
“Of course I can. How do you think I managed to eat all these years?”
“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about that. What’s on the menu.”
“Steak.” He lifted his lips in that sexy smile, and all she could do was laugh.
“I think you like beef.”
“I do, but I consume a lot because it’s an energy source. Our abilities take a lot out of our bodies, and we learned early on that beef helped to replenish our bodies making us stronger. That’s also why I have been encouraging you to eat beef. You need the energy.”
She followed him into the small kitchenette on the plane.
“I have no power to use because it’s been bound.” She was slightly bitter now that she realized an important part of her had been taken away.
“Your power is still there, and you need to feed it so that when we free it, you’ll be strong enough to use it.”
She took a seat and watched him work. He took out several steaks as well as some mixed vegetables.
“I never really pegged you as a vegetable person.”
“I’m not but my sister-in-law demanded we eat our veggies, and she may be right, so I’m giving it a try.”
“Do you really think I’m going to get my power back?” She had walked over to one of the small windows and was watching the clouds float past. “It’s so peaceful up here.”
“I believe we can defeat Mutufa. So yes, you can get your powers back.”
She turned around to look at him. He was standing in front of the stove looking a little domesticated as if he was born to be here for her.
“What happens after that? Let’s say we defeat him, is it over then?”
“We will defeat him, but it won’t be over because the two of us are not strong enough to seal the door permanently. We’ve simply brought ourselves another day.”
“How can you live like that?”
“I don’t have another choice.”
“You sound sad.”
“I am, I want to be able to offer you more Skye. I want the thought of you becoming my mate to be something that thrills you, not scares you. It took my brothers and me to seal him up the first time. He’s a lot stronger now. Syn and Alexa sealed the door to our island but how long it will stay that was is anyone’s guess.
“There is a possibility that if you decide to mate with me that the six of us could be strong enough to do it on our own, but I think we need Javon. That’s never going to happen because he’s frozen. That means there’s the possibility of us spending the rest of our lives fighting him.”
He took the vegetables off and then checked the steaks. He made her a plate and put in in front of her before he sat with his plate.
“Skye, I want you to be my mate, but I don’t want you to feel pressured into it. I want you to want me.”
She knew that feeling it lived in her heart. The single-minded desire to want someone to care about you despite all your faults. You wanted them to be willing to walk through both heaven and hell to be with you because to them you were worth every minute of the time they spent with you.
There were nights she had laid awake wondering when she would meet that man. The one that reminded her of all the great love stories she had ever seen. The man who reminded her of her dad, who had lived for her mother until the day he died. That’s the love she wanted, and that’s the love Zeno wanted back. Unfortunately, she didn’t know if she could give him that type of love.
All she had was a vague idea of who she was. That’s why she needed to do this, so she could find out if she could love unconditionally. Did she want to love that way? A vague longing could never hold up in the light of day. She had to know who she was first.
They ate in silence.
“I’m tired. Maybe I can get some rest in those chairs.”
“We have a bed in the back of the plane. We can rest there.”
“Rest?”
“Yes beautiful, if you say yes, then I would love to hold you close.”
He was breaking down her defenses and reaching for her heart without even trying. They cleaned the kitchen before they crawled into the bed together. He pulled her close into his arms, and she fell asleep.
*~*~*~*
He should be sleeping, but his dragon wouldn’t let him. He, they were fascinated by their mate. There had been tears in her eyes earlier they hadn’t spilled, but they had made them shine like jewels in the sun. How could any jewel he possessed compare to the beauty asleep in his arms?
He wanted to tell her how he felt but it was too soon. She was just getting to know him, but he had more than a thousand years to think about her. She was so much more than he thought she would be. More than the young girl who found him all those years ago. Skye had matured into a young woman who knew her mind, and she knew her worth even when she was hell bent on hiding it. She was a public servant always putting everyone else’s needs before her own.
Then there was the fact that she was strong. Every day she endured Nathanial and the tests that Mutufa set up for her. That’s why she was still living because she was too strong for him to break even with her power bound. Every reason he just thought of was good enough for him to love her.
They weren’t the reasons he loved her. She gave him that look the one that made him want to kneel at her feet and swear fidelity for a lifetime. Her eyes shined with love even though she kept saying she wasn’t sure. She looked at him like he was her hero when he was truly a shifter living one day at a time. When he walked into that room where they were holding her hostage, she wasn’t surprised to see him. She also hadn’t waited for him to rescue her; she was working on her own plan.
He loved the way her skin was silky soft on his, and the way her scent wrapped around him refusing to let him go. He wanted to hear more about her life and make her dreams come true.
He tightened his arms around her because he loved her. Giving her up would be the hardest thing he ever did, but you couldn’t keep someone if they didn’t want to stay. He closed his eyes and breathed deep enjoying the moment while it belonged to him.
Chapter Fourteen
Skye opened her eyes to the soft caress on her arm. Zeno was sitting next to her looking handsome with a smile on his face; his eyes were shining as he looked at her. It was a minute she wished could last forever.
“It’s time, beautiful.”
She nodded her head and tried to hide the grimace. This was something she wanted to do, but that didn’t stop her from imagining all the things that were going to try and stop her.
“Bathroom?”
“Right through the door to the left. I put out a toothbrush and paste.”
“Thanks.” She got up and then turned around and threw her arms around him.
“I got you, Skye. I’ll be with you all the way.”
She moved her head against his chest and just enjoyed the warmth of his arms.
Reluctantly she pulled away and went into the bathroom. “I care about him, mom.”
She knew her mother couldn’t hear her, but it made her feel good to share Zeno with her. A smile crept over her lips as she thought about how they would have sat on the couch and her mother would have encouraged her to tell her everything about him even the parts she wanted to keep to herself because she would be scared that her mom wouldn’t understand.
“He’s this bad ass dragon, who doesn’t need me although he thinks he does. Here’s the thing I want him to always think he needs me because I don’t want to let him go. Does that make me selfish or needy?”
She didn’t know the answer to that. “What’s love? Can someone tell me that? I’ve never deluded myself or pretended to be in love when I wasn’t. Now I’m faced with the reality of knowing I don’t know the first thing abou
t love and I don’t feel like I can trust myself because I don’t know myself.”
The toothbrush was a vibrant blue reminding her of the stone in her pendant.
“Good talk mom,” she whispered when she was done. Straightening her shoulders, she plastered a smile on her face and went to face whatever was coming next.
Zeno was standing close to the door. She walked back to the chair picking up the bag she brought with her. She changed for the jump then sat in the chair and put the buckle on.
“You know I’ve seen the movies. You open the door and the wind comes in and out goes Skye to make a colorful picture on the ground.”
“That won’t happen, Skye. I’m going to jump and then comes the hard part.”
“Hard part?”
He turned to look at her catching her with his eyes that were glowing. His dragon was close to the surface; she could see him looking at her. Both the male and the dragon were talking to her.
“I need you to trust me. I will catch you, Skye.”
There wasn’t any doubt in his voice, but that didn’t matter to her stomach that was churning telling her hell no. Jumping out of a plane without a parachute was the easiest way to die. She didn’t need Nathanial or Mutufa to kill her this would do it.
She closed her eyes to take a deep breath when she opened them she realized that he was watching her. He wasn’t going to make her do it or even ask her a second time. Either she trusted him or she didn’t.
“Okay.”
He gave her that slow smile, and she realized she was already addicted. She needed to keep it in her life.
“How do we do this?”
“George is going to get as close as he can to my cave; then I’m going to jump. Once I’ve changed, I’ll come back and fly as close to the plane as possible. That’s when you will jump. I will catch you, Skye.”
She believed he would catch her. Now if only she knew how to check her sanity at the door before she jumped.
He walked over to her and took the belt off before pulling her up and into his arms.
“Your strong, you’ve only known me for a few days, but you’re willing to put your life in my hands. No one has ever trusted me like you do. I am humbled.” He stood there and held her until George came out of the cockpit.
Skye's Dragon: Dragon Mate's: A BBW Paranormal Romance Page 8