The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

I cannot believe he has done it! The realization is shocking! But I am pretty much sure what I saw! That dragon was definitely the one that was with me in that cave!

Gideon lifts me in his arms and in no time he takes me as far away from the square as possible.

“Don’t worry, Lara,” he whispers in my ear as we fly away together, “I will not let anyone touch you!”

“I know,” I force a smile while my head spins with thousands of theories. But before I do o anything, I need to figure everything out myself. I need to talk to Demir and confront him! Luckily, there is a way.

Gideon brings me back home and calls in our guards.

“There will be people guarding your door and balcony,” he says, placing a soft k**s on my forehead, “Stay inside! And I will have to go back and…”

“Don’t go!”I hold his arm, “The dragon is already gone and they can deal with it without you!”

“It’s going to be fine, Lara, “ he smiles softly, “I just need to go and make sure our protection doesn’t let a whole dragon slip inside the islands again! Stay here and I will be back in no time! Nothing will hurt me, I promise.”

He is about to leave the room when he stops and it seems like forever before he turns and our eyes meet.

“Lara, tell me, please, that dragon today… Did he look anything like the one you encountered in that cave you told me about?” Deon asks.

And I can’t bring myself to lie to him do I lower my gaze.

“It looked exactly the same,” I say and in no time my brother is right next to me, pressing me hard against his chest.

“Do not worry,” he says in a firm voice, “You will never see him again! I will not let him get close to you! If he as much as dares to approach the island, I will bring his head to you on a spike!”

Gideon’s golden eyes look at me with so much determination that I flinch in his grasp and this does not escape him. His look softens and he brushes his palm over my cheek.

“Do not be afraid, Lara,” he smiles, “No one will intrude in our life. No dragon, no Fabian, no one.”

“I know,” I smile at him. Because I will be the one to put an end to all this today!

My brother leaves and I pace around my room for some time. Back and forth, back and forth. If I am correct about this, then I can summon him to my dreams just like he does with me. And then I’ll appear where he is. If he is sleeping, of course.

What an interesting connection we have! I wonder how that came to be…

Not wasting any time, I lie on my bed and close my eyes. But of course, I am so agitated I can’t fall asleep. I twist and turn but nothing helps… Then, finally, when I am exhausted enough already, the darkness consumes me…

I open my eyes and gasp at the sight before my eyes.

“Oh, my!” I squeal and cover my eyes. Why is he in his bath?! And why is it so big?! It can fit ten people at least.

Wait, I really don’t want to know why! Gerdians are dark creatures with absolutely immoral personalities! I don’t want to know the things he did in that bath! And I don’t care! I don’t! Not even a little bit!

“What an unexpected guest!” He chuckles, “I knew you would miss me but I didn’t expect to see you so soon, Lara!”

“You and that dragon,” I say, still covering my eyes, “You two…”

“Oh, now this is plainly rude,” Demir splashes me with water and I am so appalled that I glare at him after all. But the smile on his lips makes my cheeks flush. My eyes slide over the upper part of his body which is covered with drops of water.

“What do you think you are doing?” I furrow my brows but that dam gerdian doesn’t look bothered at all.

“Playing,” he admits easily and my b***d starts boiling.

“Brighta the Goddess of Light,” I grit through my teeth, “What the chaos do you allow yourself?!”

“I thought you people of Light are not supposed to use those two words in the same sentence!” Demir smirks and I clench my fists.

“Well, maybe it’s because you are such a bad influence on me!” I retort.

“You know, for an almost nun you have a sharp tongue,” the man says, sending ripples over the water of his bath. I can’t help but look at it, noting again that he is naked. As in completely naked over there.

“I am not a nun!” I almost spit at him and in his eyes, flames of dark magic appear.

“Good,” he grins and stands up abruptly, splashing me with water again. I wipe my eyes quickly and look at him with the intention to kill him… Only then realizing that I am staring at his bare body. He doesn’t bulge in and I know that neither should I. All this damn gerdian wants is to intimidate me! And I will not give him the satisfaction!

I lift up my chin and raise my brow, not taking my eyes off him. This is a game and I am not going to lose! Even though my cheeks are flushing now…

“Yes, not a nun after all,” he clicks his tongue, “I have to give it to you, I was sure that you will scream in horror and run away! But I take it you like what you see too much!”

“Please,” I roll my eyes, “I am from the White Archipelago! I’ve seen better!”

“Ouch!” He gives out a laughing noise and pulls me over the board of his bath in one swift move. I dive out of the water and find myself in his arms, soaking wet.

“What the chaos?!” I swear under my breath.

“Well, you said it yourself that you’ve seen better,” Demir chuckles, “I decided to give you an opportunity to touch then!”

“Keep your hands to yourself, gerdian!” I shout at him, catching his gaze on the fabric that stuck to my body and is shining through, demonstrating to him more than I’d prefer. I push him away and cover myself with my hands.

“You are the one who came to me, Lara!” he retorts but doesn’t do anything else and spreads his arms on the walls of the bath comfortably, still watching me.

“No, Demir,” I give him an overexaggerated smile, “You are the one who came TO ME. Today. Remember?”

“How can I forget?” the gerdian’s lips twitch, “Such a show in the end…”

“That dragon,” I cut straight to the chase, “This is Smoke, right?!”

His face frowns.

“That’s not his name,” he says, “Don’t call him that.”

“But that’s him, right?” I insist.

“Yes, Lara, you already guessed it so there is no need to deny it,” Demir admits easily.

“You and him,” I say, hoping that he would finish the sentence for me. But the arrogant gerdian only gives me another smirk, clearly not intending to help me out. “He is your dragon! You were in that cave too!”

“Yes,” he nods, “He is my dragon. And yes, I was in that cave.”

“But how?” I whisper.

“Enough about me, Lara,” he moves closer and suddenly I feel danger emerging from him, “Tell me more about those men who claimed you tonight…”

In the depth of his eyes, I notice sparks of dark magic again.

“What about them?” I try to move away but he follows me and soon my back hits the wall of the bath with him lingering over me.

“Who are they? And do you really belong to one of them?” he asks, the tension in his voice.

“I belong to no one!” I reply and for a second it seems like he is happy with that.

“The one who kissed you…”, dark magic becomes more prominent in his eyes.

“Gideon?” I look at him in surprise, “It’s my brother!”

“Brothers don’t look like that at their sisters,” he says, “Trust me, I have five.”

“Maybe you are not that close then,” I put my hand on his chest, trying to keep at least some distance between the two of us, “For many years it was only Gideon and me… And…”

“And you don’t have the same parents, right?” he growls, and the sudden sound scares me.

“It’s none of your business!” I come to my senses, “What does it have to do with anything?!”

“I am not sure yet,” he mutters, his face way too close to mine, “It bothers me more than it should…”

“Well, keep it to yourself!” I look straight at him, “And don’t come to the White Archipelago again! They’ll be waiting for you this time and…”

“Oh?” he takes my chin into his fingers, rubbing my lower l*p with his thumb, “Are you worried for me, Lara?”

“N-no!” I say but it sounds not so confident, “I just don’t want any battles between our people…”

“And yet your people are the ones spying on mine,” he chuckles, and I shudder, “That’s what you were doing on that day, right?”

“N-no…”

“Liar”, he breathes into my mouth, “I have to say, people of light are not what I expected of them…”

“Weren’t you spying on us tonight?” I arch my brow.

“I was,” he says in a very husky voice, “But only because you provoked me.”

“And now we are even,” I get my face out of his grasp, suddenly feeling that contacting him wasn’t such a good idea, “So, leave us alone and don’t come anymore. And I will do the same.”

“It might be too late for that,” Demir towers over me and our lips almost touch, “Once you catch a dragon’s attention, it’s impossible to stay away…”

“Then you and Smoke will have to get over it!” I whisper but do not move away for some reason, “Let’s just live our lives the way we used to…”

“So that you can marry one of those wing boys, Angel?” his voice gets some menacing notes.

“M-maybe,” I mumble and he leans even closer.

“Not. Going. To. Happen,” he punctuates every word, and before I know it…

I wake up in my bed.

The next few days go as if in a blur. I am locked in my room for the time being and only Bria can visit me. Gideon is too busy. And, luckily, I don’t hear from Fabian or his father anymore.

I keep thinking about the damn gerdian. And because of that, I try to avoid falling asleep. It feels so wrong… And I still couldn’t bring myself to tell anyone about what is going on. It’s my secret, that I keep away from everyone. Even Gideon…

So, all I can do is to try and avoid him. And hope that he will get bored and start paying attention to something else!

“Honestly, Lara!” Bria looks at me with a concerned face, “You look horrible! Your brother is really overreacting with keeping you here all the time!”

“He is just worried,” I shake my shoulders, “You know how he is…”

“Yes,” the girl smiles, and blush creeps onto her cheeks, “Gideon is very caring… His wife will be a lucky woman.”

“True,” I giggle, “Anyway, what’s new out there? No one is telling me anything!”

“Well, you know,” she takes a grape from the tea table, “Everyone’s busy with that Summit…”

“Summit?” I look at my friend in surprise, “What Summit?”

“The one with the Gerdians,” she answers nonchalantly, “After that dragon appeared here, we had to contact them. And now negotiations are in order to decide what to do next with all that mess…”

“And where will this Summit take place?” I have a very bad feeling about this.

“Right here!” Bria replies, “Their delegation will arrive in a few days…”