AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Draven’s mouth was back on my neck, hungry and demanding. He kissed his way down my shoulders.
In a few moments, we were lying on the carpet in front of the fire, our bodies entwined as the flames writhed beside us.
And then there was bliss. Then quiet. Then sleep.
I woke a little while later, still in the dream. Draven was snoring softly.
I smiled to myself and gently traced the coating of dark stubble along the edge of his jaw. He looked so peaceful, so handsome. And he was mine.
It was hard to imagine anything dark or terrible while I was in this place. What could be darker or more terrible than my own mate when he was full of wrath and sworn to protect me and mine?
There was only Draven and our cottage. Our perfect retreat. Our sanctuary.
We were safe here. We were in love. And it was wonderful and ours alone.
I rose to my feet and pulled on a soft, white sleeping gown, then draped a wool shawl around my shoulders and stood by the window in the little kitchen looking out.
The stars were still glowing brightly up in the sky. I caught sight of streaks of green, then purple, and let out a little gasp of delight.
I hadn’t seen the Aurora Noctis since I was a child. I still vividly remembered my mother shaking me awake one night and tucking a warm robe around me before bringing me out into the garden in the middle of winter to show me the dancing lights as snowflakes fell around us.
Pulling the door of the cottage closed behind me, I stood on the path staring up at the heavens as they were painted with an otherworldly brush. Ribbons of color wove and twisted, resembling sparkling silk scarves flowing across the sky.
I walked down the path and out into the open meadow in front of the cottage, away from the glow of the lamplights burning in the windows.
As I stood there looking up at the shifting colors, I felt a moment of pure transcendence. This beauty was a gift. A reminder of the goodness and the loveliness that existed in the world.
I cast a look back at the cottage that held my sleeping love and touched a finger to my well-kissed lips with a small smile.
These dreams were gifts, too. Profound moments that I would always cherish.
Draven and I had found each other here, truly found each other, in these dreams. Our mating bond had grown stronger with each dream we had shared until I could sense my mate, always in the back of my mind, even in my waking hours.
I turned, startled by a flicker of movement from the grove of trees ahead of me.
A man stepped out.
For a moment, I was too shocked to do anything but stare.
Wild tendrils of gray hair framed a face chiseled with the strength of storms. The man exuded a dark majesty that chilled me to the bones. Tall and commanding, he moved with the air of a king who had seen ages pass like fleeting moments. Eyes fierce and forbidding looked into my own, and as they did, I felt filled with dread. Red rimmed the corners of his lips. The color of blood.
The man was the embodiment of something intrinsically primeval, vast and terrifying.
I looked at him and felt my own essence hanging precariously in the balance.
I took one step back and then another, my hands reaching out to clutch for something that was not there.
Draven.
The man stared at me eagerly, something starved and hungry in his expression. As I moved back, he moved forward, prowling towards me.
I couldn’t bear to look at him any longer or to have him look at me in that way, with his eyes so stark and knowing.
I was terrified to turn my back on him but more terrified of what would happen if I didn’t.
And so I turned and ran. Ran with everything I had towards the cottage, towards Draven, towards home.
The man called from behind me, his voice deep and hoarse. He summoned me with an ancient name, a name I had no wish to remember.
