Beneath a Flaming Sky - Book Three (Moon Child Series)

Chapter Twenty-One

The beating of wings had me standing in the water, my eyes following the crimson red dragon as it landed at the edge of the water and shifted into Xander. My heart leapt at the sight of him, but I couldn’t allow him to lose control. I stepped back in the water, backing as far away from him as possible.

“Mia, wait.” I didn’t. Instead I dove beneath the water, heading towards the entrance to the secret cave. I wasn’t sure if he followed. I didn’t care, I had to get away. I broke through the surface of the water when I reached the entrance to the cave and climbed out of the water and through the tunnel. The power from the cave began to vibrate around me as I approached, and the walls glowed as if the stars themselves were caught within the rock. The podium where my mums book once stood was long gone and the ground was covered in a plush moss. I let the calmness of the cave envelope me as I closed my eyes and breathed in the damp air.

I could hear his footsteps approach and I steeled myself for the unknown that was to come. He came to a stop at the entrance of the cave, panting as his eyes landed on me. His eyes held something in them that I couldn’t find myself to believe. There was tenderness there and worry, but also something deeper.

“What do you want Xander?” I asked as I hugged my arms around my body, the flames burning hotter as he drew closer, painfully so. He seemed as lost as I did as he stopped a few feet from me.

“I needed to know you were ok.” His answer surprised me, and him as well, if judging from his expression.

“I meant, why are you back? You couldn’t wait to get away from me and now you’re back. Why?” He ran his hands through his hair, causing his shirt to lift and the sight of his tanned skin made lust zing through me. But I ignored it as I listened to him speak.

“Last night I dreamt for the first time in about a month, and I know that they were not my dreams. I was a spectator once again to your dreams, but this one....” he trailed off and I felt my cheeks flame with embarrassment. Dear goddess if he was dreaming what I dreamt that meant he saw my s*x dream.

“What about this one?” I asked, trying to act oblivious to the fact that I’d dreamt of him dominating me.

“You dreamt of my mother. Why?” My eyes widened at his words. His mother? My dream came flooding back to me then. I’d been so consumed by the lust driven memories that I’d completely forgotten that I’d dreamt of other things. There was the part where I’d been chained to a wall, then when I was a dragon. Had that both been his mother? Why would I be dreaming of his mother? And why were our dreams linked? How did they become linked in the first place?

“Your mother?” I asked, needing clarification on which part of the dream he meant.

“Yes. I had to watch as that man injected her with brimstone and pull her scales from her body, but your screams were coming from her. Is this your way of torturing me for leaving?” His eyes welled with tears, but all I could feel was anger towards him. How dare he accuse me of purposefully dreaming these things to hurt him.

“In case you forgot, Xander, those dreams aren’t exactly pleasant for me. I felt everything that man did to your mother. I felt it as he injected that liquid, as if he were injecting into my own veins. And each scale he pulled, I felt it. So don’t you dare accuse me of using those dreams to torture you, because I am the one living through the hell of them.” He took a step towards me and I held my hand up, making him stop. “I don’t know why I have been dreaming of your mother, but I have a feeling it is linked to my sleeping curse. I’ve been trying to research why this is happening, but I haven’t found anything yet. That’s why I was in the library, before... before Carter assaulted me.”

“So you weren’t wanting him to kiss you?” He asked, something beneath his eyes that I couldn’t put my finger on. When I shook my head no, I saw it was relief. I felt confused at that reaction.

“Why do you care who I kiss anyways? You never wanted me. That’s why you left.” I tighten my arms around myself as the hurt of him leaving returns. He steps closer to me and comes to stand in front of me, and before I can stop him his hands grasp gently at my forearms sending thrills of electricity through my body, the fire raging through my body.

“I care more than you know. I left to protect you.” His eyes widen as the words leave his mouth, as though pulled from him, and not at all what he wanted to say. He was going to lie and say something else, but the cave is enchanted, and he wasn’t able to. I feel my heart swell at his words and my eyes sting with unshed tears.

“Protect me? From what?” I ask quietly, letting my arms fall to my side, trying to ignore the burning flame within me. A pained expression crosses his face as he attempts to lie, but the enchantment is too strong.

“From my father.” He rushed out, panting after his words. I look at him questioningly, signalling for him to keep explaining. His face contorts in pain as he does. “If my father were to find out about you, a wolf, are my mate he would kill you.” Beads of sweat appear on his brow as he slumps his shoulders slightly, his hands still soft on my forearms.

“Why would he kill me?” I ask. I knew he didn’t want to tell me, but he had no choice with the caves enchantment, and I was using that to my advantage. I was sick of always being in pain, if we could be together, I was going to do everything in my power to make it so.

“Because” Xander started, pain apparent in his eyes but not just from the enchantment. This was emotional pain, and from a long time ago. “Wolves are the reason my mum is dead.” I was shocked by his statement and audibly gasped. “It’s a story for another time. But all you need to know is that my fathers hate for your kind is so great that he caused his own daughter heartache because of it. And he would do the same to me as well.” 

“How? What did he do to Nimue?” I watched in shock as he fell to his knees, scales flaring up around his eyes as he gasped in pain. I fell to my knees before him, grasping his face between my hands, seeming to soothe him, as I repeated the question. I didn’t want to see him in pain, quite the opposite, I’d grown very fond of Xander even after everything that had happened between us and only wanted him to be happy, so seeing him in pain caused my heart to ache but I needed answers. “What did your father do to Nimue?”

“He killed her mate!” He gasped out, his hands clutching harshly at my forearms as he panted with the exertion of those words. My face must have held confusion because he continued even though he was clearly in agony. “Nimue found her mate, but he was a wolf. So father had it arranged for rogues to capture him and bring her mate to him where he tortured and killed him, letting her believe it had been rogues.” I felt the sting of claws in my skin as the pain began to overwhelm Xander. Why did this secret cause him such pain to tell? The enchantment was only supposed to cause mild discomfort when it forced the truth from the speaker. “When I came home and saw him kill Nimue’s mate he made me swear a dragon oath. I shouldn’t be able to tell you any of this.” His grip on my arms became slightly painful as he tried to catch his breath and I thought I should at least take pity on him.

“It’s because this cave is enchanted. Those within its walls can only speak the truth.” Realisation hit him and he just nodded, breathing through the pain. I let my thumb stroke his cheek, hoping to help take away the pain, and he leant into it closing his eyes. “So you left, not because you hate me and the thought of being with me, but because you care for me and wanted to protect me?” I asked, my voice quiet. His eyes opened to mine and he nodded. His hand left my arm and reached up to stroke at my cheek.

“I have been waiting for you my whole life, it killed me to walk away. I had to come back, not only for answers about the dreams we’ve been sharing, but also because I felt like life wasn’t worth living without you in it.” His words made tears form in my eyes and I tried with all my willpower to not let them fall. My body moved of its own accord and soon my lips were pressing against his. Xander’s hand on my arm slid over my waist and to the small of my back and as he pressed me closer to him an almost pained groan left his mouth. He pulled back from the kiss slightly, pressing his forehead to mine, his breathing erratic.

“What are we going to do about all of this?” He asked, his voice a whisper in the damp darkness of the cave. My thumbs gently stroked across his cheeks as his hand on mine slid into my hair, causing tingles to shoot up my spine.

“How about, we just focus on the now. If I have to give you up because of your fathers skewed view of my kind, then I want to treasure any moment I can spend with you until then. Make me yours Xander, even if it’s just this once.” His answer was his lips on mine, and I felt as if all his feelings for me were translated into that one kiss. If I had to spend a lifetime without him then at least I could have this to look back on.