14 SOMETHING LIKE LOVE

When Lord Dragomitus brought me back to Adelmiro Circle, I knew what I had to do. Unlike the past six years, I wasn't on a wild goose chase. I understood what sacrifice he meant. And for once it didn't scare me. But if I was going to go ahead with it, I wanted to be filled with as less regret as possible. As I was lost in my thoughts, my feet moved towards the Southern Wing without my knowledge. When I found that I was already there, I didn't have a reason to go away. Besides, I had to see Ryne anyway. I didn't know how he was feeling now.

With all my dragon powers, sneaking up to his chamber was child's play. All I had to do was fly up to the roof and climb down a flight of stairs. I walked quickly until I reached his door. Then I began hesitating. It was two in the morning. What would I tell him? Would he think I was being weird? As I was contemplating, the door was suddenly yanked open.

"Are you going to just stand there?" Ryne asked. He was wearing a fresh T-shirt and pyjama pants. His hair was wet and a towel hung over his shoulder.

My cheeks coloured. I had never seen him in such a casual attire. Even pyjamas suited him. I wondered what he looked like without it. My heart began fluttering at that thought. Before my brain could lose its functioning capacity, I decided to answer him. "I just wanted to check on you. But after coming here I realized that it was quite late," I said softly, in case I woke up anyone else living on this floor.

He smiled at me before pulling me in like the last time I was here. Locking the door behind me, he dropped the towel and said, "I don't mind. I was worried when I didn't see you around. Arlan told me someone from your clan was here?"

I smiled tightly, "Yeah, he was just here to deliver a message. Duty related, nothing serious," I said as I walked further in. Although he was the ti-eglor, his room didn't scream of luxury. It had the basic necessities, all arranged in a clean and pleasing manner. But then again, if I had the ability to snap mess away, my room would be clean too.

"Duties, I understand," he said with a sigh as he leaned against the table.

"Does it ever feel like a burden to you?" I turned to ask him.

"A lot of times. But they are my people and their welfare is my divine responsibility," he said.

I swallowed with a nod. He seemed to have gotten it all together and he had more people to look after. I felt even more selfish and guilty for my behaviour all my life.

"That's probably why," I said aloud.

"Hmm?"

"Keelin was right. You really are as close to perfect as one can get. When I first saw you, you were powerful. You handled Yuvien's drama, then got onto the stage and spoke to everyone with so much ease. You always seemed so sure of yourself. You exerted your authority, yet maintained friendships. You took responsibility yet weren't drowned by them," I said.

He let out a laugh, "I really don't mind the compliments."

"That's probably why I hated you. You had everything under control while my life was slipping away from my grasp," I whispered.

He sighed before walking up to me, "But not anymore, right? You completed your quest successfully. Everything's fine now."

My eyes teared up, but I smiled at him, "Yeah, everything's fine."

He held my hand gently and stared at it as if it were the most interesting thing he had seen in a while. "About before. You know when you were about to-"

"The kiss?" I asked, my cheeks flaring up again.

He was surprised, "I thought you would act like it didn't happen," he said, licking his lips.

"There's no denying it. We were both there," I said as I brushed my thumb across his hand. My throat tightened and my heart clenched together in painful excitement. "I don't know when it was, but I began to feel comfortable around you. I would get mad at you, but I couldn't deny my attraction towards you. When you shackled the moon, it was the nicest thing anyone had done for me. Especially because I had given up that day. Yeah, you acted like an asshole later and revealed my secret..."

He laughed sheepishly.

"But still, when I told you guys everything, I felt better. I hadn't ever spoken about my quest, my responsibilities and, my fears. And when you said you would help me, I was really touched. Although I was wary of you, you were dependable. And I guess I really liked that about you."

"You are more talkative than usual today. But I like it. And I like it when we are fighting too. You get all worked up and your face becomes red. You look really hot, actually," he said with a chuckle.

I giggled, "I considered you my mortal enemy when I found out that Yuvien is your brother."

"He is a total kid. I won't justify his actions. But I must apologize for giving you the punishment when you were clearly not in the wrong. I was being an asshole." He turned my hands so my wrists faced upward. He then bent down and kissed both of the marks. My heart danced with happiness.

"That's not the only time you've been an asshole though. So it's okay," I said cheekily.

He pulled me to his queen-sized bed and sat me down. "When else?"

"You wouldn't let the siren charm me-"

"Once a siren charms a human, they may call upon them any time. I didn't want you to be her slave-"

"Fine, but you left me in the dungeon with the vampire-"

"Who do you think saved you in the first place? Besides, I placed a spell on him before leaving. Did you not notice that he couldn't touch you?" he leaned on his arm behind him. We had moved closer to each other without giving it much thought.

"Now that I think about it, he didn't touch me even while giving me the mark. You did that?"

Ryne nodded proudly and glanced at my lips before looking away.

"What about when you rejected me in the cafeteria. You said you didn't want me sitting with you," I said with a pout.

"I didn't want you sitting with Arlan. Could you not see that I was incredibly jealous? I mean the girl I'd been going crazy over ever since I first met her, suddenly announced that she's my close friend's fiancé. I was really mad that day."

"You seemed so unaffected though. You spoke to Arlan so normally," I ran my fingers through his wet dark hair and he closed his eyes.

"It wasn't his fault. I couldn't exactly take it out on him. Besides, he had returned from an important job," he muttered.

"So, you were going crazy over me?" I asked with a smirk.

He opened his eyes and grinned at me, "How could I not, over a spitfire like you? I first saw you when you called Yuvien, the second son of the great eglor, a douchebag. To me, you were still a human then. But you made eye contact with me as you spoke. You were so calm when you made your point-"

"I was dying inside. I was so scared of you in the beginning. I hadn't met a warlock who could cast mute spells before," I said as I nuzzled into his chest. His heart beat wildly and I loved hearing it. "What else about me had you going crazy?"

"You aren't going to let that go, are you?" he asked with a chuckle and I shook my head.

"You broke into my room the same day. You ignored me and shared blood with a vampire. You did everything that made me mad either with anger or with burning curiosity. By the time the blood moon came around, I didn't want you being the rosa at all. And you again defied me. As if that weren't enough you had to tease me as well," he bit my ear playfully and my heart did a somersault. My breath hitched and my skin was on fire. But he continued as if he didn't know what that did to me. Tease!

"When I found out you were a dragon, I thought it was quite befitting of you. Although your story saddened me, I was secretly happy when you broke your engagement with Arlan. I knew that you were from an enemy clan, but I couldn't see you that way, no matter how much I forced myself to. And when you pleaded me to help you and that too so sincerely, I was a goner."

I looked up at him. I knew I couldn't expect a happy ending. But that moment I shared with him was so precious, that if I could choose a point in my life for my story to finish, it would be then.

He ran his eyes across my entire face. Then he stared at my lips, "I want to kiss you," he said huskily. His throat moved up and down as he swallowed and his lips parted.

My heart drummed loud enough for it to echo in my ears. My lips felt dry and I licked them as I found myself moving closer to him. I realized I wanted him. I wanted him so bad! But I also realized that my hair was matted with grease and my clothes were covered in dirt.

I turned away from him and blushed, "I look like I crawled out of a grave..."

"Hmm... It must have been the dark. Sorry," he said and I punched him playfully.

He let out a laugh. "But seriously, do you want to take a shower? You can use my bathroom," he said as he tried untangling my hair.

"Is that okay?" I wondered aloud. He only nodded.

***

After the shower, I finally looked like a normal girl instead of a grave robber or a corpse. I dried my brown hair as I walked out of the bathroom. Ryne had ensured that some inner-wear and pyjamas were magically delivered to me. I couldn't help but admire him. He really was as perfect as one could be. If only I had more time with him... Shaking myself out of those thoughts, I looked around to find him sprawled on the bed, lightly snoring.

I put the towel aside and crawled next to him. As I lay there staring at him, I was tempted to touch his face. He had beautiful features. Thick black eyebrows, thick lashes and luscious lips. Unable to stop myself, I gently pressed my lips onto his. Just as I was about to pull away, his eyes fluttered open. Groaning, he began kissing me back. My heart went into overdrive. All the passion that we put into our fights now went into the kiss and I found myself melting into a pool of desire.

He grabbed my waist and turned me so he was on top. I ran my fingers through his hair as I pulled him closer. When our tongues met, I felt like I was drowning in the white-hot liquid all over again. Except this time, the pain was replaced by intense pleasure. The throbbing of my core had me squeezing my legs together. He ran his hands down my sides to my thighs and back up again as if he wanted to touch me as much as possible. I was overcome with need and found myself pressed against his hard body.

He kissed down my jaw to my throat and then to the nape of my neck. I moaned when he lightly tugged at my skin. He pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it on the floor. He was about to kiss me again but I stopped him.

"Wait," I said as my chest rose and fell.

He was breathing heavily as well and his hardness was pressed onto me. "Do you want to stop?" he asked, looking me in the eye for confirmation.

Biting my lower lip, I ran my hand down his chest. While I always knew he was fit, I hadn't expected him to be so muscular under his shirt. I moved lower and lower, down his abs and down his navel towards the wispy hairs that disappeared under his pants. He let out another groan and caught my hand, "If you go any further, I won't be able to stop, dragon," he said hoarsely.

"Then don't stop," I said as I pulled myself up and placed a ghost of a kiss on his neck.

"Are you sure?" he asked, although I knew he was already at the point of no return.

I turned him over, straddled him and began unbuttoning my shirt, "Yes, warlock."

***

When I opened my eyes, a clear blue sky greeted me. Grass prickled my body and I lay on Ryne's arm. He snored lightly. Something was different about him, about this entire situation. It was still Ryne, but his face was more mature as if he were much older. I caressed the barely visible lines on his forehead. Awoken by my touch, he yawned. When he smiled warmly at me, more wrinkles became visible.

"Already awake, dragon? I thought you would nap all day," he said softly.

"I'm not that tired," I replied before frowning.

My voice seemed different. Not extremely so, but I could notice the slight change in it. Before I could dwell on that, I heard giggles. Just a stone's throw away, a brown-haired boy played around with a girl who couldn't be older than three. The boy, who was about ten years old, alternated between tickles and raspberries as the tiny one let out loud mirthful squeals . The sun engulfed them in a warm glow. The boy's shoulder length hair was parted in the middle and a lopsided grin lit up his entire face. Why did he seem so familiar?

Ryne kissed my forehead before sitting up. As I lay there wondering why everything felt so strange, "Lyra!" he called out. The little girl bounded into his waiting arms with a giggle. The boy kissed my cheek, lay down beside me and sighed in content. He snuggled closer lazily and I couldn't help but breath in the scent of his hair. A sudden pang in my chest had me holding him tighter as if he would disappear otherwise. Tears rolled down my face when realization struck me. Was it possible to miss a future you didn't have?

Everything became a blur. When the nasty amalgam of colours cleared up, I stood on a dusty street, surrounded by ruins. I was met by dust, smoke, dirt and the remains of what I assumed was once a city. I coughed and covered my nose. Walking forward, I found myself tripping over bones. Bones? I looked around taken aback. My heart beat wildly. Countless bodies were scattered around, unburied. They were completely decomposed. Where was I? I peered beyond the ruins. This place seemed to be enclosed by mountains on all four sides. A valley?

"No..." Not any valley. This was the place I had grown up in. I knew that if I ventured further, I would find the remains of my house. I knew that out of the many bones I would find there, some would belong to my father. This was my future. And not a distant one. It was dashing towards me.

I had a choice to make. If I chose the beauty and content of the first one, it would be accompanied by the guilt and loss of the second. A future without the dragon clan. A future without dad.

***

First light entered through the large casement windows. I lay on Ryne's chest, my heart still beating rapidly and my mind repeat telecasting the images from my dream. Tears pooled in my eyes and I sniffed, trying to keep them at bay.

"What's bothering you, dragon?" he murmured.

I didn't answer him. What would I say? "I just saw our perfect future. But I'm sorry I can't choose it."

"Nothing..." I said bringing myself back to the present. Our present. "I'm just glad I didn't kill you all those times I felt like it," I said with a smile.

"Why? Because I'm good in bed?"

"That and also because I feel a different kind of emotion towards you now," I said as my heart swelled with bitter happiness.

"And what's that?" he asked, kissing my eye.

"Something like love?" I said.

"Not very sure, are we?" he chuckled before hugging me tighter and placing a kiss on my head.

I buried my face in his neck and breathed deeply what had now become my favorite scent in the entire world.

"Ryne, I have a favor to ask of you," I said. There really was no better time for this.

He kissed my lips, "Anything for you, dragon."

I smiled up at him. Then biting my lip, I said, "I want an audience with Hecate."