Dream of Me (6 page)

Glancing over her shoulder at her wings, Sera turned to look back with a look of confusion. “My wings? Why wouldn’t I have wings?” Turning to look at Kieran she narrowed her eyes at his avoiding face. “Kieran, tell me you prepared your mate properly and didn’t bring her here without knowledge of what you are?”

Before he could answer, Elena rushed out, “What is he? Someone tell me what the hell is going on right now?”

Sighing, Sera willed her wings away as she slowly drew closer to the startled human woman. “I am called Sera. I am a friend of your
sou’tali
.”

“My what?”

“
Sou’tali
— soul mate,” Sera explained. “You’re no longer on your world, you’re on Garmoria.”

Pursing her lips together, Elena shook her head in denial as she edged around the woman before her like she were a leper. “You’re insane. Look, I don’t care what type of prank this is but you will take me home right now before I call the police!”

Huffing out in irritation, Kieran took a hold of her wrist as he forcibly began dragging his mate out onto the balcony and leaving startled Sera behind. As he jerked her along, Elena struggled against his tight grip. Her nails scratched at his hand as she tugged with all her might to be released. Suddenly she was jerked in front of his body as he came to a stop. His hands moved to grip her shoulders as he forced her to look at the sight before her. It was just like in her dreams of him. A sea of trees and dark mountains were spread out before her eyes. A sight she couldn’t recall ever seeing before.

She flinched slightly at the feel of Kieran’s lips as he whispered softly in her ear, “You are home. This is your home now.”

Opening her mouth to argue, she snapped it shut as she felt her panic building higher than before. “This is a dream,” she whispered, praying it was true.

“This is no dream, Rai Yan. This is the truth, accept it.”

“No.” Jerking out from beneath his hands, she spun away from the railing to face the large arched doorway where Sera stood watching them. She scowled as Sera stepped out onto the balcony and moved closer. Who the hell was this woman and who was she to Kieran?

“You must accept what your mate is telling you, human.”

“My name is Elena — not human and why should I accept anything? For all I know this is a dream just like the others. None of this is real and there is nothing you can do to convince me otherwise,” she retorted, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest.

Ignoring her stubborn words, Sera turned toward Kieran, who had taken a protective stance closer to his frowning mate. “I will have to tell the Gu’an that you have successfully obtained your mate. I suggest that you instruct her on everything before she is presented to him.”

Not bothering with another word, she allowed her wings to burst from her back. Each wing stretched at least four feet in length. Softly beating her wings she floated above the railing before she allowed her feet to touch down. Casting Kieran one last serious look she turned away before gracefully stepping off the railing.

Rushing forward, Elena gripped the railing as she looked down at Sera’s rapidly descending form. Her stomach clenched with dread as she took in how high up they were. After a few moments she watched as Sera’s sparkling wings spread out and slowly beat behind her as she gently descended to the ground below.

Turning back around, her eyes collided with Kieran’s causing her heart to squeeze in her chest.
Could this all be real?
The idea confused her almost as much as it terrified her. Even if what he and that woman Sera were saying was true, how was such a thing possible?

“Where am I?” she whispered with a ghostly voice.

Stalking closer to her, he reached out for her only to be surprised as she stepped out of reach from him. Shaking her head she held up a hand to stop any further advances on his part. “Don’t come any closer. Tell me where I am now,” she ordered softly as her lips pressed into a hard line. She was going to get some answers but if he touched her, she knew that she wouldn’t be strong enough to fight him off.

“As Sera told you, this is Garmoria,” he answered, sweeping his arm in a wide arch indicating to everything around them. “This is my world, Elena.”

She laughed almost mockingly, “So what you’re saying is that I’m on a different planet? What are you? An alien?” Clenching her jaw, she shook her head in denial. “No, it’s not possible.”

“Humans usually avoid other possibilities if they cannot rationalize it, but what I am telling you is true. I do not know what an
alien
is but I can tell you that my world exists on a separate astral plane to your own world. According to our—”

“No,” she repeated once more, cutting the rest of his words. “This cannot be possible. You’ve got to be pulling some elaborate prank on me. If not, that means I’ve gone crazy or I’m still dreaming. There are no such things as whatever you are talking about.”

“Stop it!” he snarled out, his hand slicing through the air in front of him. “How can you not believe when you can see the evidence?” he asked with a mixture of confusion and frustration. Having his mate brought him an unbelievable sense of bliss over his inner darkness. Why was she being so difficult? She questioned everything. He refused to allow her to continue ignoring the facts. If she was too stubborn to see the truth — he’d make her see it.

“I don’t care what I see. Ever since you started dream-stalking me, everything I see has been nothing but hallucinations. I don’t know what is real anymore. All I know is that I plan on waking up right now and being done with you and these dreams forever,” she bit out. Kieran tightly clenched his fists at his sides at how easily it was for her to dismiss him from her side. Didn’t she know that she was his only hope?

Spinning around without another word she headed off the balcony, tossing over her shoulder, “If you won’t take me home, I’ll find my own way.”

She only made it as far as the archway until she was suddenly swept off her feet. Uttering a startling cry her eyes jerked to Kieran’s averted face. His eyes blazed and his lips curled in a snarl. Turning around with her in his arms, he quickly strode to the opposite end of the balcony. The closer the railing got, she expected him to slow down but he didn’t.

“Put me down! Put me down, now!” She fought within his embrace as he leapt onto the railing with fearless movements that had her nails curling against his chest with fear. Eyes widening in horror she stared down at the far drop below them. Her heart pounded as her stomach dropped in terror, making her feel ill.

“You’re not going anywhere. Now say it,” he demanded. His eyes held her hostage as he seemed to be waiting for an answer from her. Suddenly, her fear evaporated into anger quicker than the speed of light. He thought to scare her into doing what he wanted. She’d never backed down from anyone before and she’d be damned if she let this jerk boss her around.

“Put me down now,” she ordered pushing against his chest.

“Say. It.” He bit out between sharp teeth. His fingernails bit into her tender skin as he held her tighter.

“I won’t say it. Now put me down or I’ll make you sorry,” she threatened.

Scoffing in response he shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. “Have it your way.”

Seeing the look of satisfaction in his eyes caused the air to freeze in her chest. With a powerful thrust of his arms, suddenly she found herself thrown through the air and rapidly descending toward ground.

Oh God! I’m going to die! I’m going to freaking die!
She screamed over and over in her mind as the wind whipped harshly at her face.

Above her she watched as Kieran launched himself down after her. His arms reached out for her as he descended after her. Within a second he was within touching distance of her, he reached out to her. His arms coiled around her and jerked her tightly against his chest. Startled, her eyes widened as a flash of blue light suddenly shone from behind him. Abruptly a pair of dark gray wings sprouted from his back, spreading out wide above them, slowing their decent. Feeling his feet touch down on solid ground Elena practically leapt from his arms only to stumble away from him on unsteady feet.

Looking back at him with a mixture of surprise and disbelief she found she wasn’t able to take her eyes off him. The large wings slowly lowered against his back with cautious movements. Kieran was watching her vigilantly. No doubt he was expecting her to scream her head off and take off running. She would admit that she was considering both options at the moment, but pushed the ideas aside for later use. How the hell could he have
freaking wings?

Shaking her head in denial she pointed a shaking hand over his shoulder, “What the hell are those?”

Not bothering to even acknowledge her question he took a step closer to her. His gray hand reached out towards her. “We have much to discuss. Come with me.”

Jerking a couple steps back she narrowed her glare at him. The surprising sight of his wings seemed to evaporate as flashes of the memory of being tossed off his balcony returned. “Don’t you dare touch me,” she bit out, her jaw clenched tightly at his confused expression. What right did he have to be confused?!

He had dropped her. He actually dropped her like a sack of potatoes from a terrifying height! Shoving at her wild mess of hair, she glared at him as rage began to flood her system.

“Are you INSANE?” she shouted.

Bending down her hand swept up a round stone and hurled it at his smug face. Unfortunately he was able to easily avoid her flying missal, causing her to grab another and toss that too.

“What type of person throws people off of balconies, you asshole!” Going for a third stone she was halted as he gripped her wrists preventing any further attacks. Tugging on her wrists she only got angrier when he refused to let go. Kieran’s lips pressed into a thin line, tugging the rock from her clenched hand before tossing it over his shoulder.

“Now, you listen to me,” he whispered darkly close to her face. “
This
is real.
I
am real. Now you are going to accept it or I will continue giving you a flying lesson every minute of every day until you do.”

Huffing out a breath, her anger deflated like a loose balloon. “What are you and why am I here?”

Slowly, Kieran lifted each of his digits from around her wrists before he was able to force his hands to release her. He thanked his good fortune that his temper had not encouraged his more savage nature to explode to the surface. His
sou’tali
was more than terrified and confused at her situation. If he could hide his more brutal nature for a while — than that is what he’d do.

Taking a step back he watched his mate cross her arms under her full breast, pushing the soft mounds up against the strange looking V-neck tunic that she wore. His mouth watered at imagining what the creamy skin would feel like under his lips. Instantly his wayward thoughts were jerked to a halt as Sera’s previous words echoed in his head.

Instruct her…

Jerking his lustful eyes from her tempting flesh his eyes focused instead on her eyes. They were wary with mistrust pouring off every inch of her. He would earn her trust as her
sou’tali
, but until then he would tread carefully and prepare her on what was to come.

“Why am I here, Kieran?” she repeated once more. She eyed the distance between them as he began to shift his feet against the dark earth.

“There is so much you need to know,” he began with a gentle tone. “You’ll understand better if I first tell you of my people’s history.”

“What people? What are you?”

Glancing around, he knew that they were being watched. His brothers in arms patrolled above them along the outer fortress walls while others flew above the trees. For what he needed to say to his mate would be better said without watchful eyes. Taking a quick step forward he gripped her arm.

“Come with me and I will explain everything,” he whispered against her ear. Her green eyes watched him warily, mistrusting his motives. Using her hand she pried off his grip on her arm before taking two steps back.

“You really think I’m going to go anywhere with you after you just tried to toss me to my death?” she gave a mocking laugh while shaking her head.

“You were never in any real danger. I never would have allowed you to hit the ground,” he said unconcerned with a shrug of his wide shoulders.

Wow. That’s reassuring…

Stretching his open hand out to her, he waited for her to take it. Her upper lip twitched as she eyed his hand as if it were covered in slime. Patiently, he waited for her to surrender her hand. The idea made her body stiffen and her expression harden. There was no way she was going anywhere with him. She knew with no doubt that he would take her to a place that would suit his comfort and not hers. If he needed to explain he could do it right here — on the ground.

Folding her arms stubbornly across her chest, a smirk curved the corners of her lips as he watched her expectantly with his hand still held out to her. When she made no move to neither take his hand nor move closer to him, Kieran dropped his hand and scowled down at her.

“I do not have time for your childish games,” he bit out, taking a threatening step toward her. Too surprised to mirror his step so quickly, she gasped in surprise as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. Jerking her against his hard frame, he leapt high into the air.

With a hard thrust of his wings, they shot through the night air. Her gasp of surprise turned into a squeal of terror. The strong arms locked around her waist gave her little comfort as she could feel her feet dangling precariously in the empty air. Her arms found their way around his neck, holding onto him so tightly that she heard him gulp as she nearly strangled him.

“You need not strangle me,
Var’da
.”

“Put me down!” she squealed with fright, her long hair whipped around her face as she squeezed her eyes closed.

He laughed. He actually laughed at her, the bastard. “Isn’t that the reason you are upset with me already? I do not believe I will upset you more than I have already.”

“You know what I meant, you big jerk! I don’t do heights!”

For several minutes he didn’t utter a word. Neither did she for that matter, she was too busy clawing at his skin, refusing to open her eyes. Her heart echoed loudly in her ears as she tried to focus on something else. A moment later the rhythmic beating of his wings changed to a slow sweeping sound. She didn’t risk opening her eyes, but simply prayed that they were landing — soon. Instantly she felt Kieran’s body jerk and shift. When his hands around her waist loosened, she instantly tightened her hold on him, fearing he was about to drop her again.

“Open your eyes, Elena,” he said gently as his warm breath fanned against her face.

Slowly she opened one eye and then the other as she saw they were once again on solid ground. Cautiously raising her eyes to his watchful one, she unclenched her arms from his neck and took a wobbling step back. Her knees threatened to buckle several times before she was able to lean her weight against a strong tree trunk. Kieran watched her with concern; no doubt he was worried she’d fall flat on her face at any moment.

With a stony expression, she pointed an accusing finger at him as she spoke. “That’s twice now that you’ve scared the hell out of me. Do it again and I promise I will rip your wings off, Birdman.” She could tell that he didn’t take her threat seriously as he smiled at her widely and laughed.

Relaxing, he willed his wings away with a simple thought as he took a small step away from her. “Do you recognize this place?” he asked, turning away from her.

Rubbing a shaky hand against her face, Elena turned to look around her. It was their dream place. She remembered night after night of being in this place with him, being held by him. Her body burned with the memory of his strong arms around her as they lay on the cool ground. Shaking her head to clear the image away, her eyes turned to look at his back that faced her. It was the first time she’d actually seen him from behind before.

And what a behind it is…

However her eyes didn’t focus on his muscular buttocks — alright maybe just a little bit. Instead her gaze was drawn to the alluring and confusing sight of his bare back. There were no marks where his wings were or
if
they’d ever been there. She couldn’t get the sight out of her mind of his dark dragon-like wings she’d seen sprout from his back moments ago. He was magnificent. Her dreams of him had not done him justice. But that didn’t answer her question of what he was.

“You brought me here in our dreams,” she whispered, sliding down the trunk of the tree to sit on the soft grass. “Why did we come here?”

Turning around to face her, he slowly drew closer as his eyes took in the beauty around them with a content smile. The serenity of the pounding waterfall heard in the distance and the lush emerald colors brought an inner peace that he’d not know for some time. “This was my private place. I use to come here as a boy when nightmares of war and death became too much. It’s also the place I shared with you. I have never trusted anyone enough to bring them here. A fitting place as any to tell you the truth about what I am.”

His words warmed her heart, but she forced herself to remain unaffected. What did she really know about him? Was he really a harmless — attractive lamb or a wolf in sheep’s clothing? She needed facts before she gave into her girly side and trusted the man before her. “What are you?” she gently asked as she crossed her legs in front of her. Releasing a slow breath, Kieran leaned his back against a tree as his began his tale.

“Many centuries ago, my people existed in your world and for a time both our species lived peacefully together. Your people gave my kind a name — gargoyle. But not much after that did your people turned against us. We were accused of being demons — abominations of evil. We were hunted and many were killed all because of our unique gifts.”

“Gargoyles? That can’t be. Gargoyles are myths. The only time I’ve even heard of them is people placing stone statues around their home. Many believe they offer protection, but they look nothing like you do. You look human — except for your wings, wherever they went to,” she said, pointing at his lack of wings.

He smirked back at her. “Our wings are a part of our inner magic; we call upon them when needed. Besides our
sou’tali
our wings are our most precious possession. It is a risk to have them displayed all the time.”

Rolling her eyes, Elena mumbled, “Plus it must make doorways challenging.”

Shaking his head at her softly muttered words, he continued, “Deep within all Garmorian’s is the need to safe guard any weaker than themselves. Our honor demands it. For a time we did provide protection to your people, but we were soon seen as a threat. Seeing that there could be no peaceful coexistence between us, we fled. It is said that it was then that the veil was formed between our two worlds by our Goddess. Since then no Garmorian has entered the human world, until I did. However, we found our new home was also home to others.”

“There were other gargoyles already here?”

He sadly shook his head. “No. They were different, but were like your people in the way they possessed a humanoid form. They called themselves Kelithians. They possessed golden hair and fair skin that was beautiful on sight. But inside they were — are dark creatures. They possess an insatiable greed and dark powers that could control the earth around them.”

Beginning to feel more at ease, Elena rose to her feet and moved a step closer. “What happened?”

“They wanted this entire world for their own and like the humans they saw us as the abominations of the earth. They sought to snuff out our lives, so we fought. For years we gave ourselves into bloodshed of each other. We became like savage beasts, hungry for the taste of blood and destruction. They say it was then that the Goddess finally grew angry at the constant bloodshed and decided to end it. To punish us she took away our gift to dream seek. Our ability to find our mate’s through dreams and bind them to us.”

“That seems strange. Couldn’t you just find your “mates” in a more normal way?” she asked, making quotation marks with her fingers at the term
mates.

“We cannot discover our mates in any other way.
Dream seeking
forms a bond with our chosen one. It is stronger than anything on this earth. If you and I had met any other way, I would have felt the uncontrollable attraction that I feel for you but I wouldn’t know that you are mine. I would be driven mad with needing you but never able to tie your soul to mine.”

Elena shook her head at all the information he had given her. Inside her a war waged between reason and the possibility that everything he was telling her was true. If their so called “Goddess” had taken away their ability to discover their mates, how had he found his way into her dreams? “How is it that you can come in my dreams if you lost that ability?”

Slowly he took a step towards her. Leaving but a hair’s length between them, his hand reached out to stroke a single finger down her cheek gently as he looked down at her startled eyes. “I believe that my Goddess has shown favor to her children. In the mist of so much death, she led me to you. She has given my people a second chance and I won’t question her priceless gift. You are the first to cross over into our world which makes you incredibly valuable to my people.”

Her lips parted wordlessly as his words caught her by surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“You represent the hope of my world.”

Pulling away from his caressing hand, Elena shoved a frustrated hand through her long tresses with a groan. “Look; even if I believed in all of this — and I’m not saying I do — I have a life on my own world.”

Frowning, Kieran’s entire body became tense. “This is your world now.”

Rolling her eyes at his stubborn attitude she planted her hands on her hips as she glared up at him. “Listen up buster, just because you and I have some type of dream-bond-mojo going on — according to you, that doesn’t mean that I plan to just drop everything I have in my own life just for you. I barely know you and you don’t know that first thing about me.”

“I know that you are mine and anything else doesn’t matter,” he stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

Rage and anger were too kind of words to describe what she was feeling in this moment. She liked him better in their dreams when she could pretend that he was imaginary. Did he really think that he could just drag her to some alternate world and decree that she’d live there and like it? It was ridiculous that she’d leave her business and her friends to live in a strange world with a man she barely knew.

“I can’t stay here.” Her eyes sought to discover his reasonable nature — if he possessed one.

Shaking his head, his hands gripped her upper arms tightly. Teeth clashing together, he prayed for patience as he struggled to assure his skittish mate. “I know this is all new to you, but I will prove to be a worthy mate for you. I am a warrior of my people. You will always be protected and you will not want for anything,” he stated proudly. Any female would be honored to have a warrior as a mate; he knew it would be no different with Elena.

“Will you just stop already?” she shouted, shoving at his chest, not that it did her much good. The guy was like a mountain. “I can’t stay here.”

Taken aback by her outburst and lack of appreciation, his hands abruptly released her as he eyed her with curiosity. “What is so important that you feel you must return?”