My skin breaks out into gooseflesh as I go from the bathroom, where the heat of my shower has raised the temperature in the room, to the bedroom. The empty bedroom. Nothing is here. I walk to the bed and start drying off. I'm turned to face the fireplace with my back to the door when another one of those drafts woosh by. I spin around hoping to find some reason for the breeze clutching the towel to my bare chest.
I rewrap the towel around my still-wet body and walk to the door. Maybe someone ran out of it as stupid as that sounds. Maybe someone is hiding from even Sofia. I've read about someone secretly living in a house with people for years without the residents knowing about them - even eating their food and using their bathroom. God knows this place would be great for a person to do that too. No one would ever find them or be able to prove someone was here.
The thought of someone creeping around and watching me makes me shiver. I grasp the knob and try to pull the door open. But the door won't open. I try again and this time when the door doesn't open fear rises up inside of me.
Am I trapped in this room? I start to freak out and slap my hands against the wooden boards that make up the door and yell my head off! I’m not sure how long I stand there making enough noise to raise the dead but eventually, Sofia opens the door and stands there looking like I've officially lost my goddamn mind.
"Are you okay, Ma'am?" she usually calls me Lady Lilliana. I must have really scared her if she's back to calling me ma'am.
"Um, yes...I just...the door wouldn't open."
Her brows go up high. "Oh. I had no problems opening it, ma'am." Her hand lands on the knob and turns it for me to see. "Perhaps the hinge is stuck on your side. I'll have the boy from the village come up to fix it."
"Um...thank you. I'm fine right now though." The thought of someone coming to fix my door while I'm asleep and vulnerable or worse naked and in the shower makes me start coming up with excuses for the boy not to come to fix anything. "He...doesn't have to rush up here or anything. He can wait...if...,"
"Of course not, Miss Lilliana." Sofia looks like she can tell exactly what I am thinking, what I worry about. "He'll wait to come when you are busy in the library."
"Thank you." Now I feel bad about thinking Sofia was ever trying to hurt me. "Thank you so much."
"Anything, Lilliana." She gives me a soft smile and I'm left thinking maybe I really am going crazy. Maybe the stress of traveling caused something dormant in my mind to turn on or shut off and all of this really is just me.
It's a thought that follows me through my evening but doesn't follow me into my dreams. Thankfully tonight's dreams are the non-scary kind. This one has my phantom lover coming back to me, kissing up the side of my neck. His hands course down my body touching every part of me that makes me light up.
His hands are rough, work-worn, and large. They make me feel small and delicate - which is sexy as hell, who knew. They take me over as he spreads my legs so he can lay himself between them. I can feel his hot, hard flesh burning against me and it makes me want to rub against him, rub myself against it. I want to get lost in the heat of him. Some part of me, the purely instinctual part that is only here in dreams, understands this man will keep me safe and protect me no matter what! He would burn down worlds for me.
And during this all, is a sound echoing through the dream, through my head. It sounds like the thumping of drums or the beating of a hundred hooves on the ground. When I jerk awake, the sound doesn't disappear with the dream. It remains, echoing throughout the room.
I throw my legs over the side of the bed and make my way out of the room. This time the door doesn't stick or whatever it did earlier today. The hallway is empty and the silence that covers this entire area is only interrupted by the sound of distant thumping. I follow through the cold, through the dark. Down the stairs that have very little light on them. Until I come to a door on the bottom floor that was locked. It’s always been locked before.
But tonight the door stands open as if the room is inviting me in. Here the noise of the thumping gets slightly louder. When I come through the door it doesn't take long for my eyes to adjust to the dim light leaking through the uncovered windows from the moon. A large wooden desk sits in front of those windows like it’s waiting for the Master to come back home.
Books line the shelves and lay in piles on the floor and end tables. My eyes are drawn to a huge fireplace with a dragon carved into the back. It is the same kind of dragon that is embroidered on the cover I sleep under. I move closer to the stone carving. The fireplace is so large I can stand in it and still not brush the top of my head on the stones above. There hasn't been a fire in it in years though.
My fingers itch to touch the carving. I step forward and lay the tips to the etched wings and get the surprise of my life when the stone moves under them. I push harder and the stone separates from the wall showing me a passage into a long hallway. I step inside to see if I can look any further but there are no windows and everything is inky black, then the door begins to slide shut.
I start to panic but light flashes on the side of the stone wall. One ignites and then another and then another until my path is illuminated by flickering flames that dance in the rush of wind that seems to gust against my back - almost as if I'm being pushed. If there is air to have a fire burning then there has to be a way that air is getting in. Even if it's just a small nook that I can scream out of until someone hears me. It beats hanging around screaming at the stone wall waiting for it to open back up.
I walk along the stone path until I come to a set of stairs leading down. Oh dear God, I hope this actually comes out somewhere since the castle is sitting on a fucking cliff over the ocean. I mean this could come out to nothing but a huge gaping hole to air and sea or if I'm lucky it might be a smugglers' entrance and I can find a way out near the bottom of the cliff. I could come out on the beach and walk back up to the castle.
Either way, I have to be careful on the steps because they are wet and slippery. I reach a spot where the stone looks wobbly and carefully set my foot on it. I don't slip and fall though. I put weight on the stone and...fall through.
My stomach lurches and I throw my hands out to catch myself but nothing is going to break my fall. I'm not going to make it out of this alive. Realization dawns seconds before I open my mouth and scream but that scream is cut off abruptly - kind of like my life is about to be!
Chapter Eight
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Drake
Yes, this human is my mate. Mine. Our bodies don't react to any other like this. I should have known for sure as soon as I felt the stirring of my cocks.
I watch as she holds the water she has cupped up closer so she can inspect it. She slowly lowers it no longer sure if she wants to use the water to wash herself off. I sink my talons into the outcrop of rock and hang low so I can get closer to her yet again. I can't stop myself. It would be cruel to try at this point. I have been asleep for so many years and now I wake to find her. There’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight nor will I resist touching her.
I lower myself so that I can loll my tongue out to get another taste of her dewy skin when I realize my mistake. She's looking in the water and from just the light the plankton gives off she can see well enough that she sees me behind her in the reflection of the water. Her eyes go wide and she gasps in breath as she gets her first look at what I truly am.
By the time she turns around and falls back on her ass, I am high enough in the darkness that she can no longer tell I am here. She lets out a little whimper that goes straight to my cocks. I realize I should be ashamed of myself for scaring her, but I want her to know me, who I really am. I want her to realize I am her future as she is mine. Her eyes dart back and forth but can't find me. She has a streak of dirt down her face that I yearn to clean off - with my tongue. I yearn to take care of her no matter what she might need.
"H...Hello?" The sound of her sweet voice bounces back to her. "Is...someone there?"