Unquiet Slumber (9 page)

“It’s the mark of my village that has been burned into my skin.”

Tianna walked over to take a closer look. She noticed that the mark was in the shape of a dragon with deep violet eyes that almost glowed. It covered most of his left breast. “May I touch it?” she asked as she started to move her hand toward the image.

He moved his shirt out of the way so she could examine it as closely as she wanted. When Tianna touched his muscular chest, she concentrated very hard on ignoring the tingling heat that was now rolling up her arm and tried to focus on the feel of the mark. She had felt many burns over the years and most were very rough to the touch. Although Marcus’ mark looked like it could be rough, many of the edges had healed smooth, as if a long time had passed since it was made.

“You call it a mark, not a tattoo. Does it mean something special?” she asked as she slowly swirled a finger around the dragon’s outline.

“Marking is a tradition in my village. The day of my birth, I received a small symbol that represents my family. When I reached the age where I was recognized as a man, I received the main body part of the dragon.” He outlined the part of the mark he was speaking of with his finger. “You get additional marks as you reach other life milestones and move up in social ranking.”

Tianna was so enthralled with the discussion that she didn‘t notice that the other men had gathered around them. She continued to look at his chest and asked another question. “If I was from your village, what would your mark be telling me right now?”

As Marcus spoke, he pointed out specific sections on and around the primary dragon mark. “These are for each successful battle I’ve led. This one says that I’m in line to be the next leader for my village. The background ring was added when I took a mate.” He realized he slipped and needed to use the human term. “I mean wife. A small pearl appeared on that ring for the birth of my daughter.” Dropping his hand he added, “The dragon will fill in with more detail and color if I become a leader.”

Thanks to her closer inspection, she could see how there were separate burns that combined to make one image. It was stunning.

“If you want to see a leader’s mark, ask Gabriel to show you his.” Marcus pointed behind Tianna. She turned around and was startled to see the three other men standing around her.

Without having to ask, Gabriel took off his shirt and showed her his chest. In addition to the mark, she couldn’t help but notice all of the scars that covered his body. He had obviously seen many battles. To avoid hurting his feelings, she kept the shock from her face and acted like the only thing she was interested in was the dragon. Despite the battle scars, she actually did find him very attractive, but different than the others. Although his chest was sculpted strength and his arms like gnarled tree branches, he had an inner power that called to her. She wanted to touch each scar and hear the stories about how they came to be. Right now, however, she was focused on his amazing mark.

She walked over so that she stood right in front of Gabriel and without any hesitation reached up to his chest. He jumped when her fingers touched his skin. Given that he was even taller and bigger than Marcus, he bent down a little so she wouldn’t have to strain. Tianna could tell that this mark was very old since its edges were worn smooth. His dragon was very different than Marcus’. The dragon’s body was very muscular and had large knife-like talons holding onto a sword. Everything was covered in various shades of red, including glowing red eyes and ruby red fire that burst from its mouth. It was frightening, yet breathtaking.

As she examined his chest, Gabriel explained how color and fire were added when he became the village leader. “We call our village leader a Draaken.”

Tianna tried to pronounce it. “Draken?”

Gabriel laughed. “You have it almost right but you need to emphasize the “aa” sound more.” He pronounced each part separately. “Dr... aa... ken. Clear your throat a little with the ‘aa’ sound.”

Tianna tried again. “Draaken.”

Gabriel nodded and continued his explanation. He pointed out three rings, one for each one of his deceased wives, each having a drop of blood hanging from it like a teardrop. While she touched these marks, he also identified the multitude of pearls representing all of his children.

Unlike Marcus, Gabriel had on his neck a downward pointing sword with wings curved behind it like a cape. He explained that the sword indicated that he was a member of the Royal Guard, and, as leader of the guard, the sword had embedded jewels in the blade.

Tianna marveled at the history that Gabriel’s body provided. She wanted to learn more, but it would’ve taken all day to go over them all.

As she continued to caress his chest, she asked, “Are you still a Draaken?”

“No, I’m considered an elder now. We only remain Draaken for a time and then someone younger takes over. Former leaders become elders of the village and serve as teachers and mentors for the young, like Seth. I’m in charge of his training while on this quest.”

Tianna glanced over at Seth, who grimaced. “He’s a tough teacher. You learn quickly to pay attention in his lessons.” As he spoke, he rubbed his right arm as if remembering a recent injury. “I have a mark too. Do you want to touch it?” Seth said with obvious anticipation.

Realizing that she had been touching the naked chests of two men, her cheeks flushed, but she really didn’t care. She was so fascinated that she had to see Seth’s as well. She nodded and walked toward where he was standing. He met her halfway, taking off his shirt as he walked.

His chest was lean and strong, but with much less muscle definition than Marcus or Gabriel, and he held no other obvious scars other than the main mark itself. His dragon was similar to the others except like Seth, the body was more slender and fit. The eyes of his dragon were bright green and were so intense, they looked to be staring directly at her.

The edges of Seth’s mark were slightly red and rough, making it look much newer. As she moved her finger around the outline she asked, “This one looks fairly new. When did you get it?”

Standing up very straight and with a look so proud that his eyes gleamed, he answered. “I got it not long before we left on this quest. I want more, and I hope that our journey will earn me another.”

Not to be left out, Nathaniel moved quietly until he stood directly behind Tianna. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “My turn. You saved the best for last.”

Feeling his hot breath in her ear made her toes curl, and she turned toward him. When he knew that he had her undivided attention, he slowly took off his shirt with overly dramatic moves. Once his shirt was off, Tianna couldn’t help but gasp. Although all of the men were attractive to her, Nathaniel was like a god. His chest was muscular but smoother and less pronounced, more like a well-toned athlete.

He was thrilled that he finally got an obvious reaction out of her. His eyes twinkled as he went down on one knee so she could more easily examine his chest.

She adjusted the front of her shirt so that it wouldn’t gape open when she bent over. When she finally did touch his mark, the heated tingling didn’t stop at her arms but spread throughout her body. She had to shake her head to clear her thoughts, which had ventured into dangerous territory.

His inner dragon was stirring at her touch, causing him to also have to concentrate hard to regain control. He then began to tell her about his dragon, which had blazing blue eyes the same color as Tianna’s. His dragon was muscular but had softer looking features, including finger-like talons and a thin, whip-like tail.

Tianna noticed that his dragon had what looked like small flames coming from his fingertips. She was about to ask him about the flames but was distracted by other thoughts when she realized that he didn’t have the ring that said he had a wife. Her heart instantly started to beat faster and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself, causing her shirt to slip.

Nathaniel noticed something on her shoulder and when she tried to move away, he stopped her and said, “Please wait.” He moved her shirt to get a better view of what he saw. “I see that you have a mark of your own.”