Trapped-Emily

I'm breathing so hard I can hardly think. It almost feels as if I am burning alive as he surrounds me. In pure panic I start to thrash as memories of someone holding me completely still flash through my mind. If I don't fight this time I know I am going to die. There is no friend to protect me this time. I got myself into another situation with one of these monsters, and now I need to get myself out.

His arm moves to trap my hands so that I no longer have movement of my elbows. I hear him telling me to stop but I just know that I cant. I can't go through this again. I don't want to be the reason someone else dies. So I beg him to let me go as I feel the tears start to leak from my eyes.

I just want to go home. I want to see Julia again. I want to see my mom again. I want to get married and someday have babies. I can't die here in this place where no one knows where I am. This is a mistake. I never should have come here.

As he traps my legs my energy wanes. I know that I am losing this fight. But I will fight until I take my last breath rather than be on the other end of the anger I heard. He lied to me. he said he couldn't change into his monster, but I saw it in his eyes.

As the last of my energy drains against my struggles my ears pop and I can hear his voice. His tone has changed and for some reason the one he is using causes me to relax.

His arms loosen and for a brief moment I think he is going to let me go. Only his arms stay in place. The heat of the moment is intense, and I can feel my sweat slick skin. I can feel every contour of his muscled body pressed to my back as he holds me on the floor in this cabin.

".....I am not going to harm you" he whispers in my ear. "I promise" he says. I feel as he slightly shifts beneath me and my face heats. My breath hitches in my chest as I feel it. I'm cradled into the V of his body. The length of him is pressed against my butt. I start to panic again, and I feel my heart race once more as the his breath fans against my cheek. I feel my chicks redden at the thought that he is hard for me.

"If you mean me no harm, then you will let me go. You will let me get up, right now" I plead with him. If he is having this kind of reaction then I know exactly what he wants from me. And he is not going to get it. After a silent moment, his arms and legs release me. I push off of him as I hurriedly crawl away to the other side of the room. I just need to get away from him.

He sits up in the place that he held me on the floor and stares into my eyes. I flick my gaze to the door contemplating if I can make an honest run for it. I have no idea where I am in the forest, but I am willing to risk it.

"Please don't.....don't leave me" I hear him say. I whip my gaze back to his and see that he has turned to face me. Looking into his eye I can see that they are back to normal. I no longer see the other side of him in them, but I'm still scared.

"I can't stay here. Not like this. You have to let me go" I explain. My voice is pleading as I beg him to hear me.

"I can't Em. I know you don't understand but I can't let you go" He says as he looks away from me. He almost sounds broken for a moment I feel a surge of sadness. The feeling causes me to fall right onto my butt from my crouched position. I look at him trying to get a read, but he refuses to meet my gaze. With a sigh I try to gather my courage. I think it's pretty obvious that I need more answers. We both do.

I don't know anything about him besides his name and that he is a guard. What does he want from me? Why did he bring me here? Why does he call me Em.

"Why don't you try to explain it to me then, Lee?" I ask with a sigh.

"I want to but it's so complicated. There are some things that I just can't tell you. I have protected my people since I came here, and I can't put them in danger. Even more so now that I can never leave them. There are so few humans that we can trust." He says as he gazes out the window.

I hear what he just said. A part of me understands his hesitation but I need some answers. Since we don't know each other my word won't be enough. "

Look, I'm not going to push you for answers here. I know that I am a reporter so this may be hard to believer, but I don't want to make your lives harder. The entire world is curious about you. Someone is going to have to tell your story, or they will print lies. I only want to share the truth. You can help me do that" I say trying to find some common ground.

I watch him as he listens to my words. He sits there and just stares out the window. His shoulders are slumped, and he almost looks defeated. The look is so different from the strong confident man that I met earlier. Its far different from the raging monster that I saw in the bedroom. I wonder what made him change like this.

"What happened today?" I question him curious.

His darkly orbed eyes meet mine. For amount I am taken aback by how still they look. I can read the anger in his gaze, but I squint as I see that there is something else there also. I would say that he almost looks hurt.

"Today my future changed. I was supposed to find my mate and leave this place. My beast took the decision from me and accepted a job that I can't back out on. Now I will be stuck here forever. I can never leave." He says then he looks away. My heart nearly breaks for him. I know better than anyone what its liked to be trapped.

"I'm sorry Lee. I.....well I wouldn't wish being trapped on anyone" I say trying to give him some level of comfort. He nods his head acknowledging my words but says nothing else. "What is a mate? Your dragon called me that if I remember." I question him.

I watch as his fist ball up and he gives a heavy sigh. His eyes close and no longer look out the window. "A mate is the gift promised to each dragon to lessen the burden of the curse from our mother. She was cursed by a witch. My mother's name was Io. A little over a one thousand years ago she fell in love with a boy and accidently killed him. His mother the witch was so angry that she cursed my mother to feel her pain one thousand times. Over the years, I guess she grew to feel sorry for us. My mother was never able to love another after her son so she made sure that we could. She gave each of us a mate. It is the only person in the world that we could ever be with" he explains slowly.

In shock my mouth gapes open. I have no idea what to say to that. That's....well it's a lot. "Wait, your dragon called me mate. Is that what I am to you" I nearly yell. He finally opens his eyes, and his gaze meets mine. He smiles at me, but the smile looks so sad in a way.

"Yes, we recognized you for what you were as soon as we smelled you scent. It's the best thing I have ever smelled in my life. You are also the only one that can see me" he says.

My mind is reeling. This has to be some kind of joke. What the hell does all of this mean. "What do you mean I am the only one who can see you"? I question him. My mind is panicking, and I really just want to run out of here. I need to focus on the facts. I can stay sane if I focus on the facts.

"You don't have to stay here Em. I won't keep you trapped here with me." he says. He looks so sincere that I actually believe what he is saying a little. But this wasn't the plan. I can't do this. He must read my expression easily because he turns away from me. I watch as he straightens his posture. A brief moment ago he looked like he was seconds away from falling apart. As I watch him gain his composure he looks almost.....well cruel. A part of me hates the change I see.

"You didn't answer my question" I find myself saying.

"Every dragon has an ability. I can be invisible, and I can travel that way" he says directly. I find myself laughing at the absurdity of his answer. Now I know that he is crazy. I catch my breath from laughing and look at him to realize that he isn't laughing.

"You're serious" I say incredulously.

He smirks at me and then he vanishes right before my eyes. "What the fu-----"

"Boo" he says right next to my hear. I throw my body away from him and scream as I bring my hand to cover my chest. As I look at his face and see the laughter in his orbs I can't help but to return his smile. His teeth are such a contrast to his chocolatey skin that it almost takes my breath away. Happy at the joke that he played but still mad he scared me I throw out a hand to smack him in the chest.

He grasp my hand and holds it to his chest as I meet his gaze. His laughter dies down as a more curious expression takes over his face. Tension rises in the air, and I feel my cheeks heat under his gaze. I flex my fingers silently willing him to release my hand. Oddly, a part of me doesn't want him too because it's the hottest thing. He is literally the warmest thing I have ever touched without being burned.

As he releases my hand I can't help but to turn my gaze away from here. Trying to look at anything but him. I wish in this instance I hadn't decided to try to put my wayward curls into a ponytail. I need some kind of barrier in between us. The heat in my cheeks can't even dissipate because I still feel his gaze.

"That's umm...that's really a great trick you have there." I say in a rush to break the tension. In my peripheral vision I watch as he slowly rises to stand. When only his lean legs in those loose pants fill my vision and he doesn't move, I look up to see that he is offering me a hand. Not knowing what else to do I take it, getting to enjoy his heat once more. I still can't bring myself to look at him with everything that he has said.

"Yeah, it can be pretty fun sometimes using it to mess with people. More often than not it usually ends up with them angry though. I mostly use it to make my job easier. Keeping track of every species in this land would be much harder if I always had to fly or drive a car" He says as we stand there awkwardly.

I really don't know where we are supposed to go from here. I really do still feel like I should leave. He has had plenty of chances to cause me harm, especially with that ability of his, but he hasn't. I can see that he honestly thinks I mean something to him. I still don't know how to feel about all that he said. Humans don't have mates. I find it hard to even comprehend that there is just one person out there for us. Suddenly my stomach growls loud in the silence.

I look to the window and realize that the sun is low in the sky. I don't even know how long we have sat here talking. It didn't feel as long as it seems. He did choose to give me information. Sighing I realize that I owe it to him to try to find out more. Afterall he has been holding up his end of the bargain.

"I should feed you. After that I can return you to your camp. It would only take a few minutes" he says as he walks over to the door. I finally lift my eyes to look at him as he pauses near it. His hand is still on the knob, but he hasn't moved to turn it yet. "I uh.....I just want you to know that leaving is okay. I won't stop you if that's what you want. I just want to make sure you eat before you go.

Please wait for me" he beckons. With that plea he rushes out the door and it softly closes behind him.

Well shit. How am I supposed to want to leave when he sounded like that. When he asked me to wait for him, it was almost like he was begging even though he didn't look at me. I really wish Julia were here. She is always able to help me make up my mind about tough problems. I chuckle to myself at the thought. If she were here and she got one look at Lee and heard what he had to say, she would tell me to give it a chance.

Being my best friend she has never pressured me to really try with guys. She is the only other person in this world that knows about what almost happened to me fifteen years ago. Even though I was never able to tell her the true story for the fear that no one would ever believe me, I know she would tell me to give this a chance.

Here I have a guy who looks as if he stepped out of a workout magazine. He brought me to his place and took care of me after I passed me out. He wants to help with my career and share things about his world with me. It looks like he has already taken a chance on me. Why can't I give him the same chance. So many thoughts run through my head as I make my way to the kitchen to get some water. I stare into my water as the front door opens. I don't even know why I'm doing this to myself. I have already made up my mind about what I am going to do.