I decided to try the volcano one more time before giving up. I notified my sister of the accident that had occurred, and she had called every fifteen minutes since. I knew she would be worried, and I figured the sooner I went home the better off everyone would be. Yet, I could not shake the curious feeling when it came to the man in the volcano. I wanted to know what he was doing in there. Rather than have the girls take me out there again, I called for a taxi and headed to the volcano myself, much to their displeasure.
“June, you do not need to go back to that volcano. He was not there when we went the other day and the activity is getting worse. You could get hurt if it decided to fully erupt!” Ming exclaimed.
I knew she had a point about me getting hurt, but I needed to find the man that pulled me from the volcano and saved me. I needed to know what he was doing in the volcano in the first place and how it did not kill him. My mind burned with so many questions that I could not just stay there on the couch and not look for the answers.
“Look, I know you’re both worried about me, but I have to find that man. I swear he was already in that volcano. I need to know how and why. I know it sounds crazy, and maybe I am, but I need to know. Haven’t you ever wanted to know something so badly that you would do anything to find the answer?” I asked as I pulled my jacket on.
Ming and Lu both nodded their heads as I headed for the door. I knew they had to think I was crazy, but I did not care. I walked toward the taxi and grabbed the door handle as another taxi pulled up behind it. I watched in horror as my sister stepped out of the taxi.
“Sam? What are you doing here?” I asked her, barely able to hide my shock.
“What do you mean? My sister was in an accident that I told her could happen. I got here as soon as I could,” she snapped at me.
“How did you get here so quickly? It hasn’t even been that long since I called you, Sam. What did you do, take a fighter jet or something?” I teased.
Sam put her hands on her hips, and I knew then that I was about to get a mother sized speech. I closed the taxi door and the driver waved and pulled off. I could not help but roll my eyes.
“Sam don’t start okay,” I said. “I do not need a lecture from you.”
“Juniper… Meadow—I do not understand how your mind works. And, I am not sure I want to know. This is totally senseless behavior from you. I tried to tell you it would be dangerous, but you didn’t believe me. Then you get hurt. Not only did you get hurt, but then you did not tell anyone that it had happened until you were already discharged from the hospital! Had it not been for your lovely host inside getting my number from your phone and calling me before you woke up, I would still be in the air right now! I was a nervous wreck all the way here, June. I had no idea what I was going to find when I got here. I am glad you are okay, now I want you to gather your things you are coming home with me now,” she demanded.
I glared at her and planted my feet on the ground. There was no way I was going to let her boss me around. She had done that shit all throughout our childhood and it wasn’t going to happen now that we were adults.
“Sam, I appreciate your concern and you coming to check on me, but really I’m fine. There are some things I need to take care of here before I return home. I am not coming home with you. As for me not telling you about it sooner, I am sorry. I just did not want to worry you or anything, that is all. I fully intended on telling you after I woke up in the hospital, but things moved so quickly that I never got a chance to. I am really sorry,” I said.
Samantha sighed and stepped back toward her taxi. I wondered if she was about to leave, but instead she grabbed her bag out of the backseat and paid the driver. I stared in disbelief as he pulled away from the curb. I could not believe what I was seeing. She was staying and I was going to have to deal with her.
“Well June, if you are not going to come home with me, then I am going to stay here with you until you’ve found out everything you need to know,” she answered.
I sighed and shook my head. There was no point in arguing with her. She had made up her mind and there was no changing it. I led her up the steps and into the house to introduce her to Ming and Lu. While they were talking and getting to know one another, I carefully tiptoed to the door and snuck outside. I hated being that way, but with my sister playing mother hen, there was no other way I was going to make it back to the volcano. I ran down the street and flagged a taxi from the corner. I told him where I needed to go, and he sped away. I hadn’t been in the taxi very long when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I knew who it was, so I left the phone where it was and ignored it. She could yell at me when I got back.
The taxi dropped me off at the beginning of the trail that led back to the volcano and I started the hike up. It seemed as if I had been walking for hours by the time I reached the base of the volcano. But I had only been walking for about an hour. Just as I was about to start the climb to the top of the volcano, the ground started to shake and rumble. I knew I was in danger, but I still needed to know where he was. Despite the rumbles and the sound of crumbling rock, I decided to attempt the climb to the top. I knew it was a stupid thing to do, but my curiosity had gotten the better of me. I stepped up on the igneous rock at the base and slowly started to climb up.
I was almost halfway up the volcano when I heard a voice from below yelling at me. I ignored it at first thinking it was my sister, but when the voice became more urgent and I realized it was too deep to be Samantha, I looked down. That is when I saw him. He stood at the bottom of the volcano in all his muscled glory. His shaggy brown hair blew in the breeze as he stood there and watched me hang from my perch on the side of the volcano. I was mesmerized by him and my grip slipped causing me to slide down the side of the volcano a bit. At that moment I looked up to see what he was yelling about and saw a thick stream of lava slowly sliding down the wall of the volcano right at me. Panic filled me and I remembered what my sister had said about her fiancé Thomas. I did not want to have the same fate as poor Thomas. I quickly started to climb back down but kept slipping on the rocks.
I screamed as I slipped more. I thought for sure I was going to die this time. I was holding on to the last edge of rock I could see, and the lava was getting closer to me. I looked down to see him still standing at the bottom and he was yelling up to me trying to tell me how to get down. I was too scared to do what he said so I kept holding on to the rock as the lava oozed closer. I knew that if I did not do something quick, I was going to die like Thomas had and then my sister would never forgive me for taking this damned trip.
“June! You must trust me, or the lava will get you! Just close your eyes and let go of the rock. I am here and I will catch you, I promise,” he declared.
I looked down at him one more time and the look in his eyes told me I could trust him to catch me. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and I let go of the rock. It felt like I was falling forever before I landed against his chest with a thud knocking him over. I quickly scrambled to my feet and put a few feet of distance between us. Touching him had created an electric buzz that coursed through my body and I had to dismiss it. Who has a sexual attraction to someone they have just met? I laughed to myself as I thought about how Sam would react if I told her that. I pushed those thoughts from my mind and continued to stare at him. I couldn’t believe I had found the man that saved me from the volcano and now he had saved me from it twice. I bent down and brushed the dirt off my pants trying not to look him in the eye.
“What is it with you and this volcano? This is the second time in a matter of days I have saved you from it,” he said, a teasing glint to his eye.
“The first time was a complete accident, this time however, I was looking for you,” I replied.
“Looking for me? Why?” He asked, a smile playing at the edge of his lips.
“Do you really need an explanation as to why I have been looking for you?” I asked, a little snark in my tone.
He smiled and shook his head, the way he loo
ked at me told me he knew exactly why I was looking for him.
“No, not really. I just want to hear you say it,” he said with a smile as he stepped closer to me, his close proximity making my breath catch.
I rolled my eyes and made a disgusted sound in the back of my throat. He was exactly like every other man I had ever met, needing validation for things he did, and I was not one to readily give in to them, but with him I had to.
“Fine, I will say it. I wanted to find you because you saved me from the volcano and I wanted to say thank you,” I said.
He smiled at me with a pleased look on his face and nodded his head as he stepped a little closer to me.
“You are welcome, it was my pleasure to help you both times,” he said with laughter in his voice.
I could not help but to giggle too, his laughter was contagious. We stood there for several minutes laughing at nothing and I took that time to drink him in. He was shirtless and his muscles demanded attention. He looked to be strong enough to break me in half with a well-placed squeeze, but I was not afraid of him. His eyes were the next thing that drew me in. They were the darkest blue I had ever seen, and I felt like I was getting lost in them. For a moment it felt as if he was looking straight into my soul.
His hair was not too long, but kind of shaggy and I wondered what it would be like to run my fingers through it. I immediately scolded myself for thinking such things about someone I did not know, but I could not help it. Although my mind screamed for me not to, my hand reached out and touched the softness of his hair. He was reeling me in and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The question was, would I want to stop it if I could?
4
Mishal
She was standing in front of me, her face smudged with soot from the wall of the volcano and all I could think about was making her mine. My cock hardened and throbbed at the sight of her and I hoped she couldn’t tell. I knew I should not be thinking about her that way since I did not know her, but there was something about her that drew me in, and I wanted more of her. I wanted her in my bed. I wanted her underneath me. I wanted to be deep inside her wetness. I wanted to know more about her, and I wanted her to be my queen.
“Would you like to go for a walk with me? I’ll understand if you don’t want to, I know we do not know each other but I would like to fix that.” I said, as I tried to shake the dirty thoughts from my mind. I knew it was not appropriate for me to think such things.
She thought for a moment and I figured she was going to say no but to my surprise she smiled and nodded her head. I could tell she was a risk taker and I was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I wanted her to be my queen with a strong self-reliance not a damsel I had to rescue every five minutes. We walked along the trail that wound around the volcano and she was very quiet, deep in her thoughts. I wondered if she was going to say anything, but I stayed quiet not wanting to push her into talking if she didn’t want to.
“Why were you inside the volcano the day I fell?” She asked quietly.
I was not sure how to answer her as I did not think she was ready to hear that I was a dragon shifter. I had only told a few humans what I was and only one of them had stayed in my life. Amina had been my everything and I had spent years dwelling on the events that led to her death that was in vain for the child perished as well. There was a time when trapped in my volcanic prison that I almost went mad, but her voice kept me from it. I could hear her in my mind telling me not to give up that I would one day be free and find another that I would love more than I had her.
I shook those thoughts from my mind as I stared into the dark brown eyes of the girl in front of me and the only thing, I knew to do was tell her the truth.
“You won’t believe me if I tell you, June,” I said.
“Why would you think I would not believe you? We have only just met, and you have not given me any reason not to trust you, if anything you have given me more of a reason to trust you by saving my life,” she replied.
“If I tell you the reason, I was in there you will just run away like everyone else does,” I said.
“Good lord! How bad could it be? I know you do not know me very well, but I can tell you something about me, I don’t run. I don’t scare easily so whatever it is you can tell me,” she said.
“I do not feel comfortable disclosing to you my reasons for being there at the time you fell,” I grumbled.
She folded her arms in front of her, then dropped them suddenly. She smiled a sly smile as she stalked toward me like a cheetah towards its prey.
“Oh, come on, you know your secret will be safe with me,” she said as she batted her eyelashes at me.
She had backed me against a tree and our bodies were touching as my cock hardened against her stomach. I knew she had to feel it pushing into her, but she didn’t shy away from it. Electricity buzzed through me as our skin touch and her lips were only inches from mine.
“Please tell me,” she whispered as her lips barely grazed mine.
Her hand grazed my hardened shaft and I knew then that she was playing me to get what she wanted. I was not about to give in to her wiles either.
I pulled away from her even though I didn’t want to and gently pushed her away from me.
“June, I am not going to tell you no matter how much you flirt or throw yourself at me. Please be more respectful of me and yourself,” I said.
“Fine, keep your damn secrets then, but don’t expect me to divulge anything about myself to you,” she snapped as she headed toward the trail in a hurry.
“Wait a minute! Don’t get too far ahead of me you’ll get lost,” I yelled as I ran to catch up to her.
I knew then that I had hurt her and that was not something that I had intended on doing. I tried to catch up to her, but she proved to be a fast little human.
“June! Wait! I’m sorry if my answer upsets you but you need to understand something. Every time I talk to people about my past and who I am they end up running away from me. I am tired of people running,” I told her.
“Well, maybe we need to get to know each other a bit and you will see that I do not run,” she said.
I nodded and we headed back up the trail. We walked along in silence for a while and I wondered what she was thinking. I had started to think we were going to spend the rest of the walk-in silence, but then she spoke.
“How are we going to get to know one another if neither of us say anything?” She asked.
I laughed a hearty belly laugh and smiled at her.
“I guess you’re right. Why don’t you tell me about yourself? Maybe then I’ll feel a bit better about sharing my story with you,” I told her.
“Okay then,” she said. “There really is not much to tell, my life has been rather boring up to now.”
“My sister and I were born and raised in California by our overly religious parents who put huge differences between us and of course I was the one who could do no right. I left home while still in high school when my sister went to college. She finished raising me and got me through high school. Then I went to college in Arizona and that still was not far enough away from them. They tried to control every aspect of my life from hundreds of miles away and I hated it. They did not care what Sam did, but had to know every aspect of what I was doing. They cannot handle the fact that I did not choose a cushy profession like my sister did choosing instead a life of extreme adventures. In fact, that is what I was doing when I fell the other day,” she said, pausing to take a breath.
I saw the pain in her eyes as she told me her story and it made me want to take her in my arms and protect her from being hurt, but I did not want to scare her by making such an intimate move when we barely knew each other. Instead, I waited patiently for her to continue her story.
“I had heard that the volcano was beginning to have some activity after having been dormant for a long time. A few friends and I wanted to repel into the volcano before it erupted just so we could say that we had done it. My sister adv
ised against it and got really upset when I told her I was going to do it. I tried to get her to come with me, but she wouldn’t do it. She even tried to forbid me from doing it, but I got on the plane anyway. I was not afraid of getting hurt or burned alive by the lava I just wanted to do something exciting instead of doing what my family wanted for once,” she said.
“I sympathize with you there. My family was similar in that I had to do everything they wanted me to do with no questions asked and if I didn’t my father made sure I regretted it. I was an only child, so I had no siblings to help take the heat or anything like that. Everything was on my shoulders all the time. At least you have a sister to share responsibilities and familial duties with,” I said as memories of my parents flooded my mind.
My father was a good man aside from his need for fanfare when it came to royal duties. He loved when people bowed to him as he passed by and he loved being waited on hand and foot. I on the other hand, cannot stand when people bow to me or anything of that nature. I am a normal person…err…dragon that wants to remain as normal as I can. Before the war and my imprisonment in the volcano, I hated telling people that I was royalty. Everyone seemed to make a big deal of it except for Amina. She had been the only person to ever treat me as if I were completely normal. I missed her dearly, sometimes more than others but I knew that she would want me to be happy and not dwell on the sadness of her passing.
We had circled the volcano and were headed back down the trail when a sudden screeching noise broke through the silence.
“Oh no. Dear God, no,” June whispered.
“What is it? What’s wrong, June?” I asked her as worry creeped into my mind.
“It is my sister. She showed up today at the home where I am staying, and I snuck away to come and find you. She must have talked the other girls into showing her where she might find me,” she replied.
The King 0f Fire: Dragon Shifter Romance Page 3