Pulling his hand away from her foot, he held a small shard of glass between his fingers; placing it aside, he dipped his hand into the bowl before smearing the water mixture against the bottom of her injured foot. The water burned like fire against her skin causing her to jerk her foot away only to be held firm as his other hand circled her ankle.
“What are you doing? It burns. Let go!”
Squeezing her eyes closed, she fought against his restraining hold. Throwing herself onto her back, she attempted to break free. Retaining possession of her ankle, Kieran jerked her back, unrelentingly. Hotter and hotter her skin beneath his hand burned until she thought her skin would melt away. Jerking her eyes open, her lips parted in a gasp as his hands was glowing with the same blue light from moments ago.
“W-What… what the hell is that?”
“Hold still. I’m healing you.”
A cry tore from her lips as the heat quickly turned into a raging inferno. Pain tore at her as it felt like someone was holding her foot against an open flame, slowly burning her alive.
“Oh God, it burns! Make it stop!” she shouted as her body thrashed violently. “This has got to be the worse dream I’ve ever had!” she moaned in pain.
A single tear tracked down her cheek as her entire body stiffened with pain. The burning seemed to strike her to the bone with no sign of mercy. Just as she thought she would pass out from the pain — it was gone. The heat was replaced with a cooling balm that seemed to come out of nowhere. Her pounding heart echoed in her ears as her resistance drained from her.
Smoothing his thumb across the top of her foot, the hard line of Kieran’s lips curved into a soft smile. Dipping his hand into the bowl once more, he slowly rubbed the slick fingers against her foot once more. Only this time no pain erupted along her skin, instead she felt gooseflesh sweep up her legs and over her arms at his touch. Once his task was done, he reluctantly released his grip on her ankle only to frown as Elena jerked out of reach from him.
Sparing him no glance, Elena leapt from the bed before he could repeat whatever he’d just done to her. Instantly she expected to feel pain as she put pressure on her injured foot, but there was none. Flexing her foot she found herself looking in confusion at him. She remembered the pain of the shards of glass slicing into her foot but now it seemed like it never happened. Leaning against a dark stone wall, she lifted her foot up for inspection. No cuts or wounds from earlier were present against the soft pink skin. At the sound of movement her eyes jerked up as she lowered her foot back to the cold floor. Setting the dark bowl on the night stand beside the bed, Kieran rose to his feet.
“Are you better now?” his accented voice was heavy with concern as he motioned toward her foot. Not trusting her voice she simply nodded. Slowly he began approaching her, causing Elena began edging further away while she glared at him.
“I want to know where the hell I am right now,” she demanded, pointing a finger downward emphasizing her words.
“So, she’s finally awake?” a melodious voice interrupted. Elena turned to look toward the balcony in time to see a beautiful dark haired woman striding into the room. Behind the woman, she could see a pair of dazzling white bat-like wings folding close to her back. Part of her wanted to marvel at the sight but that wasn’t what happened.
“Oh my God!” she cried out, slapping her hands over her eyes. “You’re demons! I died didn’t I?” Dropping her hands she pointed between them accusingly. “Where am I, really? Heaven? No wait — you’re here so that’s not it,” she muttered looking at Kieran. Kieran remained silent while frowning at her words. This was not how he envisioned his mate reacting to his world. Turning to look over his shoulder at Sera with a pleading look he chose to ignore the smirk she flashed him.
Stepping further into the room, Sera came to stand beside Kieran as she faced his mate with a smile. “Hello, what are you called?” she asked gently.
Elena recoiled further from the trio before her. “What the hell are you? And why do you have wings?” her words nearly shrieked in hysteria.
Glancing over her shoulder at her wings, Sera turned to look back with a look of confusion. “My wings? Why wouldn’t I have wings?” Turning to look at Kieran she narrowed her eyes at his avoiding face. “Kieran, tell me you prepared your mate properly and didn’t bring her here without knowledge of what you are?”
Before he could answer, Elena rushed out, “What is he? Someone tell me what the hell is going on right now?”
Sighing, Sera willed her wings away as she slowly drew closer to the startled human woman. “I am called Sera. I am a friend of your sou’tali.”
“My what?”
“Sou’tali — soul mate,” Sera explained. “You’re no longer on your world, you’re on Garmoria.”
Pursing her lips together, Elena shook her head in denial as she edged around the woman before her like she were a leper. “You’re insane. Look, I don’t care what type of prank this is but you will take me home right now before I call the police!”
Huffing out in irritation, Kieran took a hold of her wrist as he forcibly began dragging his mate out onto the balcony and leaving startled Sera behind. As he jerked her along, Elena struggled against his tight grip. Her nails scratched at his hand as she tugged with all her might to be released. Suddenly she was jerked in front of his body as he came to a stop. His hands moved to grip her shoulders as he forced her to look at the sight before her. It was just like in her dreams of him. A sea of trees and dark mountains were spread out before her eyes. A sight she couldn’t recall ever seeing before.
She flinched slightly at the feel of Kieran’s lips as he whispered softly in her ear, “You are home. This is your home now.”
Opening her mouth to argue, she snapped it shut as she felt her panic building higher than before. “This is a dream,” she whispered, praying it was true.
“This is no dream, Rai Yan. This is the truth, accept it.”
“No.” Jerking out from beneath his hands, she spun away from the railing to face the large arched doorway where Sera stood watching them. She scowled as Sera stepped out onto the balcony and moved closer. Who the hell was this woman and who was she to Kieran?
“You must accept what your mate is telling you, human.”
“My name is Elena — not human and why should I accept anything? For all I know this is a dream just like the others. None of this is real and there is nothing you can do to convince me otherwise,” she retorted, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest.
Ignoring her stubborn words, Sera turned toward Kieran, who had taken a protective stance closer to his frowning mate. “I will have to tell the Gu’an that you have successfully obtained your mate. I suggest that you instruct her on everything before she is presented to him.”
Not bothering with another word, she allowed her wings to burst from her back. Each wing stretched at least four feet in length. Softly beating her wings she floated above the railing before she allowed her feet to touch down. Casting Kieran one last serious look she turned away before gracefully stepping off the railing.
Rushing forward, Elena gripped the railing as she looked down at Sera’s rapidly descending form. Her stomach clenched with dread as she took in how high up they were. After a few moments she watched as Sera’s sparkling wings spread out and slowly beat behind her as she gently descended to the ground below.
Turning back around, her eyes collided with Kieran’s causing her heart to squeeze in her chest. Could this all be real? The idea confused her almost as much as it terrified her. Even if what he and that woman Sera were saying was true, how was such a thing possible?
“Where am I?” she whispered with a ghostly voice.
Stalking closer to her, he reached out for her only to be surprised as she stepped out of reach from him. Shaking her head she held up a hand to stop any further advances on his part. “Don’t come any closer. Tell me where I am now,” she ordered softly as her lips pressed into a hard line. She was going to get some ans
wers but if he touched her, she knew that she wouldn’t be strong enough to fight him off.
“As Sera told you, this is Garmoria,” he answered, sweeping his arm in a wide arch indicating to everything around them. “This is my world, Elena.”
She laughed almost mockingly, “So what you’re saying is that I’m on a different planet? What are you? An alien?” Clenching her jaw, she shook her head in denial. “No, it’s not possible.”
“Humans usually avoid other possibilities if they cannot rationalize it, but what I am telling you is true. I do not know what an alien is but I can tell you that my world exists on a separate astral plane to your own world. According to our—”
“No,” she repeated once more, cutting the rest of his words. “This cannot be possible. You’ve got to be pulling some elaborate prank on me. If not, that means I’ve gone crazy or I’m still dreaming. There are no such things as whatever you are talking about.”
“Stop it!” he snarled out, his hand slicing through the air in front of him. “How can you not believe when you can see the evidence?” he asked with a mixture of confusion and frustration. Having his mate brought him an unbelievable sense of bliss over his inner darkness. Why was she being so difficult? She questioned everything. He refused to allow her to continue ignoring the facts. If she was too stubborn to see the truth — he’d make her see it.
“I don’t care what I see. Ever since you started dream-stalking me, everything I see has been nothing but hallucinations. I don’t know what is real anymore. All I know is that I plan on waking up right now and being done with you and these dreams forever,” she bit out. Kieran tightly clenched his fists at his sides at how easily it was for her to dismiss him from her side. Didn’t she know that she was his only hope?
Spinning around without another word she headed off the balcony, tossing over her shoulder, “If you won’t take me home, I’ll find my own way.”
She only made it as far as the archway until she was suddenly swept off her feet. Uttering a startling cry her eyes jerked to Kieran’s averted face. His eyes blazed and his lips curled in a snarl. Turning around with her in his arms, he quickly strode to the opposite end of the balcony. The closer the railing got, she expected him to slow down but he didn’t.
“Put me down! Put me down, now!” She fought within his embrace as he leapt onto the railing with fearless movements that had her nails curling against his chest with fear. Eyes widening in horror she stared down at the far drop below them. Her heart pounded as her stomach dropped in terror, making her feel ill.
“You’re not going anywhere. Now say it,” he demanded. His eyes held her hostage as he seemed to be waiting for an answer from her. Suddenly, her fear evaporated into anger quicker than the speed of light. He thought to scare her into doing what he wanted. She’d never backed down from anyone before and she’d be damned if she let this jerk boss her around.
“Put me down now,” she ordered pushing against his chest.
“Say. It.” He bit out between sharp teeth. His fingernails bit into her tender skin as he held her tighter.
“I won’t say it. Now put me down or I’ll make you sorry,” she threatened.
Scoffing in response he shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. “Have it your way.”
Seeing the look of satisfaction in his eyes caused the air to freeze in her chest. With a powerful thrust of his arms, suddenly she found herself thrown through the air and rapidly descending toward ground.
Oh God! I’m going to die! I’m going to freaking die! She screamed over and over in her mind as the wind whipped harshly at her face.
Above her she watched as Kieran launched himself down after her. His arms reached out for her as he descended after her. Within a second he was within touching distance of her, he reached out to her. His arms coiled around her and jerked her tightly against his chest. Startled, her eyes widened as a flash of blue light suddenly shone from behind him. Abruptly a pair of dark gray wings sprouted from his back, spreading out wide above them, slowing their decent. Feeling his feet touch down on solid ground Elena practically leapt from his arms only to stumble away from him on unsteady feet.
Looking back at him with a mixture of surprise and disbelief she found she wasn’t able to take her eyes off him. The large wings slowly lowered against his back with cautious movements. Kieran was watching her vigilantly. No doubt he was expecting her to scream her head off and take off running. She would admit that she was considering both options at the moment, but pushed the ideas aside for later use. How the hell could he have freaking wings?
Shaking her head in denial she pointed a shaking hand over his shoulder, “What the hell are those?”
Not bothering to even acknowledge her question he took a step closer to her. His gray hand reached out towards her. “We have much to discuss. Come with me.”
Jerking a couple steps back she narrowed her glare at him. The surprising sight of his wings seemed to evaporate as flashes of the memory of being tossed off his balcony returned. “Don’t you dare touch me,” she bit out, her jaw clenched tightly at his confused expression. What right did he have to be confused?!
He had dropped her. He actually dropped her like a sack of potatoes from a terrifying height! Shoving at her wild mess of hair, she glared at him as rage began to flood her system.
“Are you INSANE?” she shouted.
Bending down her hand swept up a round stone and hurled it at his smug face. Unfortunately he was able to easily avoid her flying missal, causing her to grab another and toss that too.
“What type of person throws people off of balconies, you asshole!” Going for a third stone she was halted as he gripped her wrists preventing any further attacks. Tugging on her wrists she only got angrier when he refused to let go. Kieran’s lips pressed into a thin line, tugging the rock from her clenched hand before tossing it over his shoulder.
“Now, you listen to me,” he whispered darkly close to her face. “This is real. I am real. Now you are going to accept it or I will continue giving you a flying lesson every minute of every day until you do.”
Huffing out a breath, her anger deflated like a loose balloon. “What are you and why am I here?”
Chapter Four
Slowly, Kieran lifted each of his digits from around her wrists before he was able to force his hands to release her. He thanked his good fortune that his temper had not encouraged his more savage nature to explode to the surface. His sou’tali was more than terrified and confused at her situation. If he could hide his more brutal nature for a while — than that is what he’d do.
Taking a step back he watched his mate cross her arms under her full breast, pushing the soft mounds up against the strange looking V-neck tunic that she wore. His mouth watered at imagining what the creamy skin would feel like under his lips. Instantly his wayward thoughts were jerked to a halt as Sera’s previous words echoed in his head.
Instruct her…
Jerking his lustful eyes from her tempting flesh his eyes focused instead on her eyes. They were wary with mistrust pouring off every inch of her. He would earn her trust as her sou’tali, but until then he would tread carefully and prepare her on what was to come.
“Why am I here, Kieran?” she repeated once more. She eyed the distance between them as he began to shift his feet against the dark earth.
“There is so much you need to know,” he began with a gentle tone. “You’ll understand better if I first tell you of my people’s history.”
“What people? What are you?”
Glancing around, he knew that they were being watched. His brothers in arms patrolled above them along the outer fortress walls while others flew above the trees. For what he needed to say to his mate would be better said without watchful eyes. Taking a quick step forward he gripped her arm.
“Come with me and I will explain everything,” he whispered against her ear. Her green eyes watched him warily, mistrusting his motives. Using her hand she pried off his grip on her arm before tak
ing two steps back.
Dream of Me Page 6