The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon
Chapter 45

MIRA

I wake feeling like someone is stroking my hair. Cheekily opening just one eye, I see Derrien playing with my red locks, looking mesmerized. And all I want is to… giggle. Seriously, holding back a laugh is a real struggle for me at the moment.

“Someone’s in a good mood”, the gerdian smiles at me and pulls me closer, covering my lips with his.

“I am sorry, you looked so… busy!”, I burst out laughing but it doesn’t last long as he pins both my hands at both sides of me.

“Oh really?”, he smirks, “I am actually planning to be busy all day today, little mage.”

His words and the way he looks at me make me blush, “Well, you seem much better now and full of strength! Then it’s time for us to go and do what we came here to do in the first place!”

“I really do not think so,” he shakes his head sarcastically, letting go of my hands and brushes his thumb over my lower l*p, “My back still hurts after I caught that dagger for you, you know…deep into my flesh… I think I need to bedrest at least for one more day.”

“Oh, poor you… Well, good luck then!”, I tap him on the shoulder and try to slide away from under him, “I am starving and need some…”

He catches me just in time and brings me back in place, flickers of magic dance madly in his eyes.

“No, little mage, I AM starving!”, he slams into my lips and enters me at the same time, muffling my m***s with his k**s. He moves slowly at first, but soon picks up the pace and I forget how to breathe again. The sensations are overwhelming and soon I give in to waves of pleasure once more…

I lie on his chest, completely exhausted even though it’s still morning. I feel his fingers drawing circles on my shoulder and close my eyes in delight. His every touch sends tingles over my body, the nice kind…

“So,” I sign after a while, “You are a dragon…”

“Yes,” he says simply and I feel a soft k**s on the tip of my head.

And then he says nothing! Really? Isn’t it pretty clear that I want to know more? Do I have to beg him for the information? Or is that exactly what he wants me to do – beg?

“Your thinking is getting too loud!”, he chuckles.

“Wh-what?”, I lift up my head and look at him, “You can read my mind?”

“No”, he snorts, “But your breathing is so fast and hard that I can come to these kinds of conclusions.”

“So…,” I start again.

“So…,” he mimics me, clearly mocking.

“Rien!”, I slap his chest angrily.

“Ouch!”, he exaggerates, “What kind of mean woman would hit a wounded person like that?!”

“The kind who saw his back and noticed that there is no trace on it,” I roll my eyes, “You regenerate very fast! Is that a dragon feature or a gerdian one?”

“Both,” he signs and brings me closer to him once again, “Gerdians heal pretty fast, but dragons even faster. Combined together I am quite lucky in that field.”

“I thought dragons left our world a while ago”, I admit.

“They did… My father was the last one known. And now I am.”

“Your father was…”

“The one my mother really loved. So much that she didn’t get rid of me when she found out that she was pregnant. Even though she knew exactly how much trouble this would cause her. She was a brave woman…”

“Was?”, I look up into his eyes but he is deliberately staring at the ceiling.

“Yes… My stepfather killed her…”

“And that’s why you killed him…”, the pieces of the puzzle fall together.

“I should have done it earlier,” he closes his eyes, “I should have…”

“You couldn’t have known what was going to happen,” I brush my palm over his cheek and make him look at me, “Nothing is ever this simple, Rien.”

“Never mind”, he sighs and k****s my forehead, “It was a long time ago.”

“Have you ever seen your father?”

“No, he disappeared before I was born. Maybe someone slew him in his dragon form… and now his skull Is a decoration in somebody’s house… Who knows..”

“And how did you learn all those dragon tricks if you didn’t have another dragon around to teach you?”, I ask the most logical question.

“Well, I learned by trying and failing”, he chuckles, “My old castle had a hard time during my teen years.”

“I can imagine”, I bury my face in his chest trying to hold a laugh.

“Some of the things came thanks to the instincts”, he continues, “Some I had to learn from books. Although books are not helpful, most of the stuff there sounds like a fairy tale!”

“I bet they do! Dragons themselves sound like they came from a fairy tale!”, I snort and get a little slap on my… Well, let’s call it almost thigh.

“Naughty, little mage”, Derrien raises his brow at me, “You just want me to punish you all over again!”

“Gods, no!”, I almost scream and he looks at me, clearly shocked, “Derrien, please, no offense, but if we do it one more time I will literary have no force to stand up from this bed!”

“Are you scaring me off or inviting me in?”, he chuckles, his sarcasm is not lost on me. But then he puts his hand on my stomach and I feel how warm it gets, the warmth bringing me to relief.

“What is this?”, I ask, surprised.

“I am sharing some of my dragon magic with you, it’ll help you heal in no time,” he smiles.

“You are SHARING dragon magic with me? Is that even possible?! Will I turn into a dragon now? Could I fly?”

“Nothing like that,” he rolls his eyes, “But you will be able to walk in no time and we can…”

“Rien, please!”, I stop him from finishing this sentence by covering his lips with my fingers, but he bites them, “Ouch!”

“Never put a finger into a dragon’s mouth. Unless you WANT to be eaten,” he smirks lustfully.

“Gods, Derrien! Have you forgotten why we came here in the first place? We still haven’t found out anything…”

“On the contrary, little mage”, he sits up and I see the tattoo on his back once again, “We found out plenty! This was clearly a trap. Now we just need to replace out who set it up and we’ll replace the murderer. So, I’ll take you back to the Selection and…”

“Oh, so you don’t want to know the name of the group that attacked us then?”, I say nonchalantly and he freezes.

“Mira, if you know you should tell me at once,” he warns me, pulling on his pants.

“Should I? Really?”, I shake my shoulders, “You seem like you got all this on your own…”

“Mira,” he growls and steps closer, while I innocently pull the sheets to wrap myself in them and looking for my dress and underwear.

“Yes, lord Derwood,” I smile politely and sparks of dark magic appear in his brown eyes with a red tint.

“Tell me everything you know. Now.”

“On one condition, ” I smirk.

“And that would be?”

“You take me with you!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Mira, you almost died yesterday!”

“No, Derrien, YOU almost died yesterday!”

“Because I was protecting you!”

“Well, thanks, but I was managing just fine on my own!”

“Oh, gods! What did I do to deserve it?”, he looks at the ceiling again and covers his eyes with his palm.

“My guess would be – a lot!”, I snort and he pulls me into his arms.

“Alright, little mage,” he gives up and bends down to k**s me, “You win just this once. And now tell me everything.”

“Of course I will”, I nod my head and smirk, “On our way back to the top of the mountain!”

“You little…”

“Mage?”, I giggle.

“Not the word that I had in mind”, Derrien chuckles, “Alright, get dressed, and let’s go back. We’ll replace plenty of food in our carriage.”

“I will be ready in a second!”, I smile and drop the sheets to put my clothes on.

“Mira!”, he growls, eyes full of magic.

When we finally get back to the top of the mountain with the help of flames of dark magic, the dome is already gone. While our carriage is still where we left it.

Thank gods, because I am really starving!

But before we reach it, the door opens and a familiar voice breaks from inside, “And I thought you would never come back!”