Touch of Flame

Ravina wasn’t one to wait for things to happen. If she wanted something she was used to working to create it or get it. Now she was just supposed to wait for Malachi to wake up despite the fact that he had been sleeping for three days. His family seemed more relaxed each day noticing something she wasn’t. She could see no difference. He lay like a dead body in his bed.

She had tried a few things on her own, talking to him while taking care of him, trying to shake him awake, not even the cold water of a bathe did he wake up from. He didn’t flinch, nothing. It was so odd. Not to his family. They explained that everything was alright and it was part of the healing process.

“He is not here with us. He is in the mountains,” Chanan told her when he came to visit once. He had two large stones with him that he put in each of Malachi’s hands.

“Mountains?”

“Yes. That is where dragons heal. The mountains, rivers, and waterfalls are where dragons thrive. It is our remedy. That is what you bathe him with,” he nodded toward the bowl of water.

“But he is not waking up,” she said.

“It is not because he is in danger anymore. It is just the way of dragons. We go into deep slumber when we have a life-threatening injury. It is the last resort for our body to save itself.”

She nodded.

He sat down on the chair near the window. “How are you?” He asked her.

“I am… tired,” she admitted.

Her nightmares were back, and nausea, and loss of appetite. Her fingers were cold again. She could see the blue and purple under her nails. Chanan offered her one of the same stones he put in Malachi’s hands.

“Maybe the mountain will help you too,” he said.

Well, she didn’t even get her hopes up at this point. She knew what that did to someone.

When the sunset, Malachi’s family retreated to their homes, except for some of his brothers that kept guard outside. She could hear their chatter from where she stood on the balcony and they sat near the river, having drinks.

Drinks? Maybe that was what she needed. She had avoided drinking on purpose all those years, but she was becoming desperate now. She needed some good sleep. She went back inside, her gaze falling on Malachi in his bed. She was so used to checking his pulse, breathing, and temperature that she did so and then went to fetch some wine.

Taking the jar of wine and her cup, she went back upstairs to Malachi’s room. She would have to drink just a little to keep an eye on him. She placed the cup and jar on the dresser and then went to find the small blanket she liked to use while sitting in the armchair. She grabbed it from the coach and walked back, her eyes glancing at the bed.

Ravina stopped, eyes widening when she found the bed empty. Blankets were pushed aside and Malachi wasn’t there anymore. When she heard someone behind her, the hair on her back rose. She didn’t even care to prepare herself for a fight. She just turned around slowly, her heart pounding.

The first thing she noticed was clawed hands and then scales starting at the wrists as her gaze traveled further up. Black glistening scales, slowly fading up his arms and then started near his shoulders. Smoldering eyes caught hers, brown and golden burning together to look like lava.

Her heart skipped. His brothers had been talking about him waking up as the beast to finish his healing. She thought they meant he would shift to a dragon. Well, he was almost. Maybe. At least it was him and he was awake. She thought for a moment the enemies had come here.

He stepped out of the shadow into the golden light from the candles. He had washed up. His hair and body were still wet and he was wrapped in a black garment.

“You are awake,” she breathed to say something in the eerie silence. The look on his face was sharply focused. A bit intimidating.

Scales and face were fine, as long as he could just get rid of those claws. She was not fond of them anymore. She had truly learned how sharp they were and what she thought to be a scratch in a moment of panic turned out to have dug flesh from her back.

His scales kept fading and returning, the way his eyes gleamed and dimmed. She had never seen anything like it before.

He stroked toward her with determined steps and despite the panic, she held her ground. He stopped right in front of her, his tall figure casting a shadow on her. His clawed hand reached for the blanket in her arms, pulling them out of her hold.

What was happening? Her heart was pounding.

Malachi tossed the blanket aside. Ravina forced herself to gaze up. He was watching her intently, heat emanating from his body and reaching hers. He stepped closer and she could not step back. She was trapped in his gaze. They changed hue, swirling with darkness and heat.

He took another step crowding her and this time she had to step back but he quickly stepped forward again. She felt his touch on her bare stomach, guiding her backward and she took quick steps away as he stalked toward her until she hit the bed behind and fell on her bottom with a gasp.

She looked up quickly, thinking he would stop coming toward her but instead he placed one knee on the bed, beside her body. Whatever protest she wanted to make, she put aside at the moment and focused on crawling back. She felt like she was suddenly being hunted as he climbed the bed, his eyes glowing with something she had never seen before. He crawled closer and closer, faster than she could get away, his shoulders rolling like the beast he was and now she was the prey.

“Mala…,” he put an arm under her bent knees and pulled her toward him, causing her head to fall back and the rest of his name became a gasp. Then he crawled on top of her, trapping her beneath him.

Her hands shot up to stop him but he grasped her arms, right above her elbows, and pinned them at the sides of her body before his head dipped to her stomach.

Her mouth opened in another protest when she felt something hot and wet near the hollow of her navel. She tensed, as heat licked her belly. Her lips remained open in surprise, her body still stiff until the second touch of his tongue on her skin. She quivered.

Malachi presses his lips to her skin, placing a soft wet kiss and then nipping at her gently. It sent a tingling sensation right down to her core.

“Ah!” Her face flushed at the sound she made, her body jerking slightly in his hold.

He dipped his tongue into her navel, spreading the heat all the way in and around. Ravina closed her eyes and then opened them unsure what to do with the sensations going through her body. His wet hair tickled her, as they brushed up her skin along with the wetness of his mouth. He kissed his way up her stomach, his lips wetting her skin, nipping her flesh tender, while his hot breath left a teasing tingle behind.

Another sound came from her lips and she bit her lower lip raw to stop another one. But she could not stop her body from arching to his touch. He reached right beneath her breasts, where the blouse met her skin. He teased the edge with his mouth, licking and kissing along the seam. Sparks of heat shot to the tip of her breasts making them stiff.

She jerked surprised by the reaction, her legs clasping as her body began to pulsate in forbidden places. He pulled her down again, now facing her. His gaze fell on her lips.

“Don’t!” He husked at the way she bit herself. His gaze turned dark again, and then burned and she released the lip she was punishing. “Let me bite it for you.”

She barely caught her breath when he dipped his head and took her lower lip into his mouth. He sucked it delicately before taking it between his teeth. He gave her a sweet stinging bite that made her chest tremble before releasing it. He places soft kisses around her mouth, avoiding her lips even when she angled her face seeking his in the haze of desire.

She struggled against him but he had her where he wanted her and he was doing things his way. He went down again, as she made a frustrated sound and wriggled her body. His mouth found her chest, kissing down to the hollow of her breasts.

“Ah! Malachi!”

She arched against him, heat coating her breasts. He released her arms and grasped her waist instead, one hand slipping under her. And then he stiffened.