Finding the Dragon (Dásreach Council Book 1) (9 page)

“Where am I?”
She said to the field in front of her as she looked up and out across the vast distance.

She heard the screech of an eagle on the wind that had picked up. It was blowing the tall grass in front of her in waves and had her gown billowing out around her. The lite material was no protection and as it moved in the breeze, she saw the light shine through it.

“I hope no one can see me.”
Her eyes scanned the field as she turned in a big circle.

The grass stretched as far as she could see in one direction, but a forest appeared to circle in around at least two sides of her vision. Grass and trees. She wondered what she should do; walk into the grass or towards the trees. She peered into the shadows and saw things just outside of the reach of the light.

“Yeah… not going there.”
She turned and began walking into the grass.

The sun appeared to be setting, the sky was shot full of the colors of sunset: reds, oranges, pinks, and purples. She loved this time of the day.

Continuing to walk, she hummed a tune off key. She had always loved music, but could swear she was tone deaf. She had always enjoyed artistic pursuits in general, art, music, sewing, crafts, and the like. Oh, and she loved books. Had always loved books. Never had enough books.

“Hmmm, where’s my hero?”
All the heroines in her books had heroes.

She was amazed that she didn’t feel cold, her feet didn’t bother her, and she wasn’t winded from walking. She glanced back the way she had come from and could no longer see the trees. The sky had darkened to dusk, a black with a warm glow. Not quite dark, not quite light.

A flash of lightning. And another.

Al sucked in a breath at the amazing display of electricity. She loved lightning.

It was getting dark and she couldn’t see anything or anyone. Nothing but grass and sky. There really was no reason to continue walking. She should get some rest and continue on in the morning. Besides, she could lie down and watch the show in the sky. So, she squatted and pressed down the grass around her to make a sort of mattress to lie on.

As she laid back, another flash of lightning swept across the sky above her. It lit up the whole world around her.

“How beautiful.”
She breathed.

She lay there watching the sky and listening to the wind shushing through the grass. It was very relaxing and she soon found her eyes drifting closed. She tried to keep them open, but her eye lids were so heavy. They had only been closed a few moments when she was no longer alone.

Al felt hands moving up her body. Thank god. She had been waiting so long to feel their touch. The callused finger tips caressed up her calves and pushed the gauzy material up with them. As the fingers tickled at her knees, she felt warm lips nibbling at her ankles and then following the path of the hands.

She desperately wanted to open her eyes to see her phantom, but her eyelids had weights keeping them sealed closed. She could still see the flashes of lightning against her eyelids. It flashed stronger, brighter, and more often against the backs of the curtains across her vision.

As the lips reached her knee, they pulled back and Al couldn’t help but whimper.

“Don’t leave.”
Her hands reached out for her hero.

Yes, it was her hero. He had come. She struggled against the invisible bonds of her blissful lethargy.

“Shh, lass, I’ve got you.”
Whispered across her ears and soothed her into complacence.

Her body lay on the bed of grass and the hands had once more moved up her legs and continued to push her gown up.

When they reached her rear,
“Lift.”

She pushed up with her feet and the gown moved upwards. The hands left the gown at her armpits. She was nude from her breasts down.

Her hero sucked in a breath.
“Bonny, so bonny.”

Fingers stroked from her neck, between her breasts, over her stomach, and stopped at the edge of the hair that covered her sex. Al couldn’t help but moan and arch into the large, strong hand that rested across her pelvic bone. A bit of pressure as weight was pushed against the hand, and lips were at her ears again.

Lips nibbled up her lobe before asking,
“What do you want, lass? I’ll give you everything.”

“Yes.”
She breathed.

Then his hands and lips were everywhere. He kneaded her breasts with both hands as his hot mouth kissed along her jaw and neck; kissing down from her chin, along her neck, and onto her chest. He was soon tracing her areola with his tongue and followed the path with a breath of air that made her nipples peak and tingle. Running his teeth along the sensitive tip, he nipped and then sucked it into his mouth. A loud moan escaped her lips and her hips jerked upwards.

One hand had remained on the breast not receiving attention from his talented mouth and his other began a trip down. Her skin was burning and she felt tugs of need running between her breast and her core. His hand stopped and rested against her stomach, holding her down upon the grass as he brought her ever closer to the pleasure she knew was out there waiting for her.

As he sucked her nipple harder, tugging it with his lips, she fought against his hold on her stomach. She needed to move. Her body wept with so much need. She was on fire and the flames licked across her skin. Where his skin and lips touched, it burned hotter, bringing her to her melting point. Her voice rose in indecipherable pleas.

“Do you need more, lass?”
Breathed across her nipple before his lips switched places with his talented fingers on her other breast.

“Yes.”
She screamed as he bit down on the turgid peak.

“Aye.”
He growled around a mouthful of her breast.

The hand on her stomach no longer held her down, she undulated, seeking, as fingers caressed her hip bones and down the crease of her legs. Her legs scissored, seeking relief. He pressed against her legs.

“Open.”

With that one word, her legs fell wide, exposing her last secret. She no longer had any from this man, her hero. His fingers slide through the thick liquid that had accumulated from her arousal and need. He traced her lips and pushed the tip of his finger slightly inside. Pulling back out, he then plunged a finger deep inside of her.

“Kai!”

*

Al awoke damp with sweat and screaming out Kai’s name. She frantically felt around on the hard floor. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up so quickly that her head swayed and her stomach lurched. Dizziness overwhelmed her and she grabbed at her head and held it until the dark room quit swaying.

What the hell? Oh, god. Where am I? And, why do I feel this way.

Memories of her, Rogue, and Nat walking through several bars on their Cocktail Walking Tour came flashing back. They had drunk way too much and she was feeling the affects. She had never drunk so much in her life. She slowly scanned the area to keep from causing the vertigo feeling and realized that she was lying on the floor in the living room of their suite.

Where is Rogue? Thank god she’s not here.
Al thought in relief as she realized she was alone. If her friend had witnessed her dream induced foreplay and subsequent scream of Kai’s name, she wouldn’t have been able to face her friend the whole rest of their trip.

Crawling over to the couch, she used it to lever herself up and into a seat. Her joints creaked from sleeping on the cool, hard floor. She had no blanket and was in her clothes from the night before. Searching her memory, she found flashes of the three of them staggering into the hotel and up to their rooms. They had said good night to Nat at her door, then Rogue and she had braced themselves against each other and the wall as they traveled one door down to their own room. When Al had fallen through the door, she had stumbled over something and fallen here in the front room. She had laughed and laughed, until she couldn’t breathe. Rogue had sat on the couch for a while. Time seemed disjointed and she had no idea if it was minutes or hours. But, Rogue had eventually patted her forehead and stumbled off to the bedroom. Al had tried to get up, but had soon given up and curled up on the floor where she was.

Her last thought had been of Kai Darrow. She had known that man would haunt her dreams, but she hadn’t been prepared for how amazing her wet dreams of him would be.

Feeling clammy and uncomfortable in her twisted and sweat dampened clothes, Al decided a bath was in order. Maybe it would help her feel better. She pushed up from the couch, her world swayed and she clamped her eyes closed. Breathing in her nose and out her mouth she soon felt herself steady. Yeah, a bath is going to be necessary. No way was she going to be able to stand and take a shower. At least she would get to use the luxurious tub. She grinned and then grimaced at the pain from too tight skin pulling against her pounding head.

Cracking open her eyes just enough to see where she was going she headed towards the bedroom and the bathroom beyond. She heard Rogue’s light snores before she passed through the door. She definitely hadn’t heard Al. Kicking off her shoes that she was still wearing, she padded in her socks to the bathroom and slowly clicked the door shut. Her stability seemed to be improving, but the thought of a bath in the Jacuzzi tub called to her.

Turning the knobs, she sat on the edge of the tub and watched the water fill. She adjusted the temperature a few times to make sure it was hot, but not too hot. As the water level reached the mid-way mark, she stood and stripped out of her smelly clothes. They smelled of the bars – sweat, beer, and more unpleasant things.

Standing nude, she peered at her body in the mirrors. She could stand to lose a few pounds, she didn’t work out, but her muscle tone wasn’t as bad as it could be. She ran her hands through her hair, massaging her aching head as she pulled out some tangles. She had worn it long, but it was so thick and heavy, that she couldn’t get it to hold any style that she tried. It always ended up pulled into a messy bun at the back of her head. The tightness of pulling it back and the weight of her hair had constantly given her headaches. So, she chopped it off and kept it in a sling bob. The front hung long enough to give the impression of a longer cut, and the back was short and easy to care for. Most men liked long hair. Most men liked taller, thinner women. The one thing she had going for her was her generous bosom. Turning in the mirror, she tried to suck in her gut.
Would Kai find her attractive?

Al started to shake the thoughts away, but stopped when she remembered her unsteady and throbbing head. Her past boyfriends had told her often enough about her deficiencies, she knew better than to think Kai could enjoy looking at her body. Let alone touching it. She sighed, turned off the water, and stepped into the hot bath. She pressed the button to start the Jacuzzi and sat back in the water. She moaned at how good it felt. It almost felt like fingers massaging her body.

Fingers seemed to move up her legs.

Damn.
Even with a throbbing head, she was still keyed up from her dream. She was never going to get a good night’s sleep feeling like this.
There’s only one thing to do.
She sighed.

Leaning her head back on the head rest, she began to caress her hands up her thighs. Moving them slowly over her skin, she thought of Kai. His ocean blue eyes. The dimples that appeared when he grinned. That wicked grin from when he had flirted with her on the plane.
Damn the man was sexy.
She pretended his soft and sensuous lips where moving across her breasts as she tugged her nipples. She soon slipped one hand down and a finger inside. In her mind’s eye she was reliving the dream, but this time she didn’t wake when he finally got a part of him inside of her. His fingers plunged in and out until she moaned out her release.

Her breathing was erratic and she gasped in breathes until it slowed and evened out.

Damn the man.
He was going to fuel her fantasies for months… hell, years to come.

She finished her bath quickly and dressed in her nightshirt and shorts, she slipped into bed beside Rogue. She lay there for a few moments, but soon her mind was returning to thoughts of Kai. She fell asleep to memories of his laugh echoing through her mind.

Chapter 6

The next morning Al woke up still feeling the effects of the Cocktail Tour, with the addition of a restless night’s sleep, she was exhausted and her head throbbed. All she wanted to do was sleep. But, unfortunately, they had to be at the Gray Line “Lighthouse” at 9 a.m. for the cemetery tour that Rogue really wanted to take. Walking through a cemetery for 2 hours was not what Al felt like doing with a hangover, and even the weather didn’t want to cooperate. It was overcast and gray.

“Rogue, you sure we can’t change the date on the tickets for the tour? I’m thinking a few more hours of sleep and a relaxing day inside sounds like a much better plan." Al pleaded.

“Stop whining Al. You agreed to go and, no, we can’t change the tickets.” Rogue grouched back, just as a knock sounded at the door to their suite. "Get that, it’s probably Nat, I need to finish getting dressed.” Rogue yelled over her shoulder as she rushed back into the bathroom.

“Fine.” Al grumbled while going to the door to let Nat in. Before she even got the door open, Nat was pushing inside.