Bound to Me (3 page)

She pouted her glossy pink lips at me, so I had no other choice but to giggle at her cuteness. “Just because I am on a diet, doesn’t mean I can’t look at the menu honey, I would take a bite out of that any day.” OMG, did she really just say that? I could see Devon’s body shake with laughter so I knew he heard, but then again how could he hear if she whispered it to me? Just like I could have sworn I thought about the whole sock in the pants situation because I would have never said that out loud. Maybe I am just overly tired.

He turned back around and showed me this amazing black dragon tattoo design. It was incredible, the wings were
expanded with a long tail and fierce looking claws, and he was beautiful. I don’t know why I automatically thought so, but it just felt right. It was perfect for me. The dragon’s teeth were showing as if he were growling at something. I couldn’t believe this picture of a dragon tattoo held me so enthralled. I knew for certain that this was the one I wanted; there was not a doubt in my mind. “It’s beautiful, how much does he cost?” It was out before I could take it back.

Devon looked up at me, his bangs falling into his eyes, and he lifted his eyebrows. He gave me the biggest smile ever, a real one at that. “I’m glad you like him, and he doesn’t cost a thing. This one is on the house. Happy Birthday Veronica” He winked at me.

I stared at the design then back at him “I’m sorry but how did you know it was my birthday? I couldn’t accept that let me at least pay you something.”

He shakes his head “You showed me you’re ID before you put it back in your purse. I won’t take no for an answer, but if you want to do me a favor in return then I will accept that, let me pick where he goes.” He waited for my answer.

I knew for a fact I hadn’t gotten to the point of showing him my ID, unless I really am tired and I didn’t remember? Who knows? I let it go, and I stared at Amber as she shrugged her shoulders. Way to go Amber, thanks for the input.

“Sure why not? It’s the least I can do, so where are you putting it?” If he said he was putting it somewhere private, I swore by the almighty God, that I was slugging this dude right across the jaw.

“On the back of your shoulder, so that he can have your back” he crosses his arms and waits for my reply with a knowing smile.

“Okay you got yourself a deal, but let’s hurry up before I chicken out.”

He laughed then and gave me a nod. “I don’t know why you would chicken out when you’re already used to pain.” He knew I had more tattoos but how? I was wearing a hoodie, so the one on my arm was not on display and neither was the one on my lower back.  This dude was getting weirder by the second but I figured what he lacked in vibes he made up for in looks.  I never really knew what I was getting myself into that night, but I should have known something wasn’t right when he said he would do it for free. I should have taken the hint then.

Chapter 3

After getting my tattoo done, which didn’t hurt that much, Amber dropped me off at home around two in the
morning. Ben and mom were passed out drunk on the couch, there is a God. I looked around at what used to be our beautiful home and everything was a total mess. There was beer cans all over the floor, like maybe Ben and mom had a throwing match. I wondered who’d won?

I started to pick everything up and went over to inspect my mom for any damages, lucky thing, there wasn’t anything new. As I made my way to my room, I felt something move where my tattoo was now taking up residence on my back shoulder. Not just an itch, but like if there actually had been a bug crawling around on my skin. I started to scratch at the spot and ran to the bathroom instead of my room yanking my shirt off in the process, wasting no time because the first thing that came to my mind was a spider,
Eww gross. I started hoping around and rubbed off the goose bumps from my arms. As I looked in the mirror at where the tattoo was, I noticed that the dragon’s leg was in a different position. “What the hell?” I realized I had spoken out loud so I closed the bathroom door so that I wouldn’t wake my mom or Ben.

I gave a closer inspection and I could have sworn that the leg was stretched out, instead now it was bended in. I mean I had only checked it out a thousand times after Devon had finished just making sure it was perfect to the tee. I must have been hallucinating and that had been happening a lot today, so I know for a fact something is not right. I checked the inside of my shirt just to make sure there weren’t any bugs crawling around. I absolutely hated creepy, crawly things. Maybe I was wrong, but either way the tattoo was really beautiful.

I approved of the choice I made to go with the dragon. Since I am in the bathroom, I decide to take a quick shower and freshen up. I was really exhausted, after work and then having gotten the tattoo done, it had been a really long day for me. It was after twelve so that meant I was one year older, and grown enough to make my own decisions now. Go me! I did a quiet but happy dance nonetheless in the bathroom and a little booty pop to go with it. My towel fell off. I heard a male chuckle in my mind at the same time the sound is in the bathroom with me and I got scared. 

I quickly grabbed the towel looking around. I pushed open the shower curtain, nothing. I looked outside the bathroom window which was locked tight and fogged up, and nothing either. I quickly got dressed into a tank top and some pajama
shorts then ran like a bat out of hell from the bathroom with my hair soak-n-wet into my room. I locked the door and I jumped into bed fast. It didn’t take that long for me to quickly drift off to sleep and when sleep came, it was filled with beautiful dreams.

I was walking through a beautiful luscious green forest. Everything was vibrant and alive. The sun was high up in the sky. It wasn’t scorching hot, but a very pleasant warm with a gentle breeze and I could hear a cascading waterfall nearby. I started making my way to the noise of the waterfall because I was curious as to what I might find. I broke through the trees that were securing the view of the waterfalls. I guessed Mother Nature had wanted to make sure prying eyes couldn’t see the beauty that lies within. It was an amazing untouched haven and it belonged to no one but me. The mist from the waterfall left kisses of rainbows everywhere. It was magic in its own unique form. The water was so clean that I decided I wanted to take a swim just to wash away the filth that was my life. That was how magical the place felt to me. It was as if, I could submerge myself under that water I would come up pure and untouched from all the negativity that was my life.

I quickly undressed and headed into the water. It was cold, but after a few quick laps around in the water my body grew accustomed to it. I decided to just lie back in the water to drift and look up at the clear blue sky. My mom taught me how to float when I was younger. She used to always do things with me. Floating was the last thing she had taught me before she became what she is today.

If only every dream I had felt this real, then I would dream every night if possible.
 I did not want to leave this place. The moment I took a step through those trees, a sense of calm had taken over my body. It was something I had not felt in a very long time, a sense of finally, being safe. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice that I was never alone to begin with. There was movement in the cave behind the waterfall. Before I was even able to cover up myself completely, what came out of the cave left me speechless. If I wasn’t scared, I would have appreciated its beauty. I mean this was something you would only read about in fairytales, and they were never on the side of good either.

The humongous creature stood about ten stories high. It was a pure onyx black, with no flaws what so ever. The wet scales twinkled in the sunlight, when turned at a certain angle I notice that it was not only black but had a purple hue to it as well. He fluttered his amazing long bat like wings to dry itself off like a wet dog would. Coming through the falls he stood
there soaking in the sun. What stood before me was a freaking dragon! I must have been having a dream because of the tattoo and having dragons on my mind all afternoon would do that, but something seemed off. It felt more than just a dream, this felt real. I was so enthralled with what I was seeing that I didn’t notice I had made my way completely out of the water. The dragon turned my way and just stared, it stared for what seemed like hours at me, but was only minutes.

I froze in my tracks. I didn’t know if this was a good dragon or a bad one. The dragon lowered its head to drink from the water while still keeping its eyes on me. I took another step forward and it paused from taking its drink, staring, as if daring me to take another step. It was playing with me. The creature was about five feet in front of me and I slowly stuck my hand out to pet it. I don’t know what possessed me to want pet this beautiful creature. It wasn’t like me at all to have so much courage, but yet I have not been myself lately. I can feel the heated breaths it drew from its nostrils. I automatically knew that this creature could breathe fire.
Great, just great. Is it possible to die in a dream and never wake up? I don’t want to be burnt to a crisp. Death by fire was something I was deeply afraid of. Who knows, maybe this was not a bad dragon after all. I was going to go with my gut and find out for myself. It is a dream after all, right?

I notice the dragon had ruby red eyes, not evil looking eyes at all, but fierce none the less. The dragon came forward and covered the five feet distance that separated us. It pushed its snout underneath my hand. What I thought was going to feel like slimy leather, felt more like snake skin, cold and smooth. When I started to stroke its snout the skin instantly grew warm where I touched.

“Do not fear me human, for you will not have to fear anything in your life again now that I am bound to you”. It spoke, but its mouth did not move at all. It spoke directly in my head, but yet I could hear its voice all around me. It was like the laugh in the bathroom.

Startled I quickly drew my hand back and looked around just to make sure we were alone, and it was definitely a he, that much was obvious.

“How is it that you can speak to me without moving your mouth?” I said realizing I was speaking to a Dragon! This was definitely a new situation to me and not only was I confused but wait… What the hell did he mean he was bound to me?

“Dragons are pure magic human; we do not need human qualities such as sound to accomplish anything. We are more
evolved than that.” He brought his head back up and sat back on his hind legs. His beautiful red eyes were smiling at me.

“What is your name?” I asked, curious now that I knew he was a male. I bet he has a name like that dragon
Falcor from the movie The Never-ending story. I giggled out loud. I guess that officially means that I have lost my mind by now.

“I am glad you find me amusing, but we do not have names in dragon form. You may call my human form Liam though.” He spoke in my head again.

“So you can turn into a human then?” Shocked at what he just confirmed, I quickly remembered that I was standing there in my panties and no bra. Gah! What the hell is wrong with me, this thing just saw my breast. I covered them as best as I could with my arms and raced back to where I dropped my clothes.

“Why try and cover up pure beauty human when I have already seen it?”
He asked, and I kid you not the dragon smiled baring all its sharp pointy white teeth.

“My Name is not human you pervert, its Ronnie.” Not only was I mad but my stupid cheeks betrayed me by turning a shade of scarlet red. Where did he get off calling me human like if he was a superior?
 Last time I checked I was given the name Veronica by my mother but he doesn’t need to know all of that. Great, not only was I spoke down too, which pissed me off to no end, but I was also blushing from giving him a full view of my tits. Last thing I should be worrying about is my name. That’s it; its official, I have lost my mind.

“Why be upset when it was you who ventured here? There’s also no need to feel ashamed when I know you better than you know yourself
.” he tilted his head to the side in an animalistic way, waiting for an answer. Did he just read my mind? O.M.G. he just read my mind! “Yes I can read your mind Veronica. Like I said, we are bound.” He said now confirming everything.

“Stop doing that, and why do you continue to say that? What do you mean you are bound to me?” I ask grabbing my clothes and getting dress.

“I am your Guardian now, I became your Guardian the moment I was one with your skin.” Did he mean the tattoo? I must be suffering from an infection, and I am probably in a coma right now in my bed, and no one knows what happened to me.

Knowing Ben and Mom, they are probably passed out drunk somewhere and it would be too late for me to receive any medical attention, because they would never get to me on time. Oh God! This can’t be real? I remembered before falling asleep that the tattoo did move. I heard knocking and looked
around to see where the noise was coming from. All I saw were trees, grass and the waterfall.

“If you do not believe me Veronica asks Devon and he will tell you himself that all I say is true.” He said reading my thoughts again, but this time mentioning Devon’s name which brought my head back to him so fast I think I managed whiplash in my neck. How in the world did he know Devon? This must be one big cosmic joke. Things were getting downright weird, the knocking became even louder, and the dream faded away.

I came awake instantly and looked around, I was in my bedroom. The whole thing was just a dream, but yet something felt off. I looked down at my left shoulder and sure enough the dragon was now facing me instead of facing my neck, smiling that same ridiculous smile it had on in my dream barring all its sharp pointy teeth. I think I just took a nose dive into the twilight zone. The knocking I heard in my dream continued again and it was coming from my door. I quickly made sure all my girly bits were covered up and got up from my bed to open the door.