Unquiet Slumber (26 page)

Tianna reluctantly broke away from the kiss but remained very close. She was taking panting breaths and her eyes were glassy and unfocused. She gave him a devilish smile and was about to head in for a second round when she heard voices from the ground below.

Marcus yelled, “Break it up you two. It’s time to come down.”

Tianna’s body jumped as she realized where she was and what she was doing. She gasped and stared at Nathaniel with unsure, confused eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again without saying a word. So many thoughts were racing through her mind, and she had no idea what to say. She disappeared as her vine pulled her back up and out of his sight. Having her removed from his side caused his dragon to roar his disappointment in his mind.

While Tianna tried to regain her sanity, she decided she needed to release Nathaniel. With the grace of a feather falling, Tianna willed the vines to untangle Nathaniel and placed him gently on the ground. The vines complied and soon she followed after him.

Once their feet were safely on the ground, Tianna curtsied and everyone clapped. She glanced over at Nathaniel. He desperately wanted to take her into his arms but the situation wouldn’t allow it. He needed to tell her so many things. The best he could do was assist her in getting up into her saddle and linger with his hands on her waist longer than was necessary for the task. He kissed her bare leg and walked back toward his horse.

Gabriel’s shoulders drooped as he whispered to himself, “
He caught the bug
.” Given the look in Tianna’s eyes, he knew that Nathaniel had won the prize. It hadn’t taken any special words or overly done romantic scenes. It just took Nathaniel keeping his mouth shut and showing vulnerability.

As Nathaniel tried to calm his dragon, a vine swatted him on his butt. He spun around to glare at the tree and growled. Everyone watching snickered.

All of the travelers began to prepare their horses for a long ride. Before Seth mounted his horse, he pulled Hollee into a warm embrace and kissed her. They all noticed her hair was done up in Seth’s style of braiding which made Tianna smile. They also noticed that Seth had received a piercing. His ear was now the proud owner of a beautiful emerald. Although he was not Inari, they had given him one as a gift for his mastery of Inari braiding.

When they separated, Hollee’s eyes sparkled. She had eyes only for Seth. She handed him a beautifully crafted necklace that held an emerald stone cut into the shape of a leaf.

He beamed, put it on, and kissed her again. He reluctantly released her from his arms and mounted his horse.

Hollee walked over to Tianna’s horse and said, “Be safe sister.”

Tianna took her hand and said, “And you too. I’ll see you again. I promise.” Tianna knew she would come back to this village again someday.

Although Marcus was disappointed that he didn’t yet find his prophesized warrior, he was thrilled by their newly established alliance. Gabriel said good bye to the leader of their warriors and told him that he would be in touch to plan a warrior exchange. They thanked the villagers over and over and waved as they headed out of Willow. When they were one step outside of the boundary the village, the village disappeared and returned to a dense forest.

Tianna wouldn’t look back and rode straight ahead without making a sound. She needed to talk to Nathaniel about their kiss, however, she was so distraught over leaving Willow, she didn’t even stop to change out of her Inari clothes into her riding attire.

Nathaniel let her have her privacy but, after a while, he couldn’t handle feeling her pain. He rode his horse so he was at her side. He got her attention and then patted his saddle, motioning her to join him. He pleaded, “Please, come sit with me for a while.”

She nodded, stopped her horse, and slid off. She tied her reins to the back of Nathaniel’s saddle and walked around his horse. He helped her up so she was sitting in front of him, pulled her in tight, and they continued down the trail. Having her in his arms seemed so right and where she always needed to be. He couldn’t get her kiss out of his mind and vowed to himself that he would pull her aside when they stopped for the night and talk to her privately.

Tianna was having a similar discussion in her mind except she wasn’t sure what to make of their kiss. Since Nathaniel wasn’t talking to her about what happened, she convinced herself that it was her inexperience that caused her to imagine his reaction. Given the number of females he had kissed, she should’ve known that her kiss wouldn’t be anything special to him. They rode in silence.

As they proceeded down the trail, Tianna would periodically reach up with her hand to touch the back of her neck. Nathaniel finally had to ask, “What’s wrong? Is your neck bothering you?”

She shook her head. “I’m just not use to riding without my long knife. In this outfit, there’s no place for it. It’s just strange to ride not having something hard rubbing down my back.”

Nathaniel’s old habits leaked out. He got a big grin on his face and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “My lady, if you want something long and hard rubbing on your back, all you have to do is ask.” He pulled her in tighter against his body.

Tianna was going to yell at him but stopped herself. Although she knew he was teasing, she heard and felt real passion behind his words. The feeling cause a boldness to grow within her and, feeling the heat from his body, she decided to offer a different response.

Tianna was sitting between his legs so she scooted back as far as she could so she was pressed hard against him. She heard him take in a deep breath as her body reached its target. She let her hands roam as she slowly wiggled and rubbed herself against the length of his torso until she could feel his body respond. She purred and rubbed a little harder.

He gasped as his dragon moaned.

When his pulse started to race and he was panting, she grabbed the reins, stopped the horse, and slid off. She turned and leaned forward until her breasts pressed into his leg. She put her hand on the top of his inner thigh and squeezed. He shivered and his eyes flashed with passion.

She smiled and motioned him to lean toward her. He leaned over with her hand still intimately close to his body. She whispered in a very sexy voice, “Be careful what you ask for warrior for you may get it.”

His dragon growled his desire at her.

She giggled and jumped gracefully up onto her horse. She walked forward so she was right next to Nathaniel, smiled, and said in a very sweet voice, “Enjoy your long and hard ride. I hope you aren’t to…” She scanned down his body and then back to his eyes.”…uncomfortable.” She laughed while she kicked her horse into a trot to catch up with the others.

As she rode, she realized that Nathaniel wasn’t the only one affected by her teasing. She also had a warm feeling throughout her body. She liked touching him and had other images of how she wanted to touch him forming in her mind. Realization hit her as to what she had just done, and she wasn’t sure where her actions had come from. Part of her was angry for inappropriately teasing a man, but another voice wanted her to go back and pick up where she left off. She didn’t know what to do so she just continued to ride forward in silence.

Nathaniel shifted himself in the saddle, obviously very uncomfortable given the current state of his lower regions. He laughed and whispered, “Ohhh, revenge will be so sweet.”

His dragon had only one word to say, “
Mine
,” and his eyes flashed.

He kicked the back of his horse and cringed. He tried to find a comfortable way to ride until his body calmed down.

Seth led them away from Willow and Tianna remained very quiet. She missed her magic trees and was confused by the odd feelings and urges her body was giving her whenever she peeked at or was near Nathaniel. It seemed the magic in Willow had awakened something within her. It was as if there were several people in her mind trying to talk to her all at once, making her head spin. Kissing Nathaniel again seemed to be their top priority, however, there was one corner of her mind that longed for her dark stranger. That voice was strong and seemed to be getting stronger every day. Given that the rest of her feared this stranger, the thought made her shiver.

Her somber mood was interrupted when they all caught a scent in the air. Gabriel stopped his horse abruptly and growled in delight saying, “Meat!” In record time, he tracked and downed a large animal. That evening, they all ate nothing but meat and groaned, rubbing their extended bellies.

Gabriel sighed. “That was wonderful. I didn’t think I could survive another day without sinking my teeth into some red meat. Now I understand why the Inari are so short. Eating bugs and twigs would stunt anyone’s growth.”

A look of disgust grew on Tianna’s face. “I don’t know what you are all complaining about. I loved their food. I especially liked those crunchy little Gibbi. I could try to find some and make you dessert—they taught me a few bug recipes that I’m interested in trying.”

Seth waved his hands in the air and pleaded, “Ugh! I’ll never get rid of the image of you with all of those hairy little legs sticking out of your mouth.” He cringed.

“They weren’t hairy!” Tianna argued in response. Since she was part Inari, she was ready to defend her people’s ways.

As Seth and Tianna argued about the Inari’s choice of food items, Seth decided that he would inspect all of the food Tianna prepared a little closer from now on. Marcus retrieved his bottle of Fire Wine and said, “Okay you two. Why don’t you continue your debate while double-checking our camp? We were so focused on eating when we arrived, I’m not sure if our border is as secure as it should be.”

After Tianna and Seth redid the spells to secure their camp, she pulled him to the side and asked, “Can you tell me about your inner dragon? What does it feel like, especially when you lose control?”

Seth tried to explain. “It’s hard to describe. My dragon is just a part of me. Others may refer to their inner dragon as an entity of its own because it’s just easier to describe it that way.”

“What did it feel like when he first stirred within you?”

He pondered on her question for a moment before answering. “It’s hard to put my feelings into words. I guess I would describe it as a strong, overwhelming desire. Think about when you argue with yourself over doing or saying something. My dragon is that inner voice that I talk with in my mind. He’s a very determined voice with strong opinions. He’s an animal so he has an animal’s instincts and reactions to my surroundings.”

He chuckled at some memories. “At first, my dragon would win most arguments and I’d find myself doing or saying things without even realizing it. Everyone around me had to be careful because they knew that they couldn’t predict my actions. Since all Draak have to go through this, everyone helped me stay out of trouble as best they could. I’ve learned that I can’t blame my actions on my dragon. He’s me, but I’m slowly learning to control my reactions to his influences and making more sound decisions.”

Tianna smiled saying, “Like saying no to a second piece of pie?”

He laughed in response. “Something like that.”

She got a more serious look on her face. “What does it feel like to shift?”

A dreamy look washed over his face. “It’s absolutely amazing, but I have to tell you. It also hurts. It took several years before my body adjusted to the change.”

She cringed at the thought of what the body had to do in order to change from a human to a large dragon form.

He lowered his head and fidgeted. “I wish I could control my shifting. It makes me feel so young when I can’t partial shift.” Seth glanced up at Tianna, curiosity growing on his face. “Why all of the questions about my dragon? Have you begun to feel yours stir?”