Odessa

My legs gripped tightly between the dragon's neck and shoulders, my arms wrapped around the base until he stood up at full height. I had never flown in a plane or been in a hot-air balloon, but surely it can't be that different, right? I was wrong, so wrong.

His leathery wings behind me moved up and down gracefully, pushing the air between him and the ground. Within a few thrusts of his wings, we were in the air as if we didn't weigh a thing.

Oh, and I screamed. I screamed a lot. My grip became enduringly tighter, vibrations filled where my body was latched. A wave of calmness filled my body with those vibrations. This was Creed and his dragon. Creed was in there too, and he would never let me fall. Soon my screams calmed down, noticing we had barely left the ground. We hovered a few more seconds until finally he climbed into the sky.

The air was warmer here in the grasses at the base of the mountains. A stark difference between terrains here was unfathomable. The mountains were cold, ready for snow any day, while the fields were warm as spring. Taking flight, my hands unwrapped around the thick neck, sitting back will my palm the scales, the heat beaming on my shoulders.

We reached high into the cloudless sky. I could see for miles around. The land went seemed to go on forever. Who knew such a world like this could exist? That I could be stuck here with a magical dragon. What would people of Earth say about this place? The air is pure; the land is clean from any garbage. Your life could be as simple as living in a cave or be like the Duke and live in a mansion.

I would pick the cave every time.

What other creatures lived here? Were there werewolves, mermaids, or unicorns? I laughed out loud at that one.

Every girl's fantasy novel was here, and it was here for me to revel in it. I could write stories upon stories of a place like this and not have to imagine one bit of scenery. My fingers itched to get back to a keyboard, but that was long gone. With my fingers tracing a dragon's scales, I didn't seem to mind.

The dragon continued to fly one direction until in the distance a faint bit of a tower and spire came into view. The haze sitting around the tallest bit of structure disappeared as we grew closer. A castle, it was a castle! I laughed. Of course, there would be a castle here. Why wouldn't there be?

Flying lower, many creatures running on the ground, many of them were animals, but what I saw made me hold my breath. Fairies, or larger things of the not-a-fairy, ran through the trees until finally taking flight and flying near us. They were curious, but not curious enough to come very close.

Their hair came in crazy colors. Most of them were long except for the two males. They were barely wearing anything, just enough to cover their nakedness. The women had long dresses, their wings transparent of that of a beetle, yet dark enough around their edges. Facial features, from afar at least, were pointed, small and dainty.

Creed roared, blowing smoke and fire through his mouth. Screaming, they flew back down, lower to the ground, and to the palace gates. The suns over head made the castle bright, bright stain glass windows reflected light throughout the outside of the castle. Many more of these 'fairies' were walking around in a marketplace, unaware of our appearance.

The dragon was quiet and stealthy for the sheer size. Surely it was because he was the perfect predator. I giggled, thinking of Creed as a predator. He was anything but to me. Past the brightly lit castle was the ocean. Bright blue with hints of purple swirled around the distant waters. Rocks far from land had tiny figures laying on top of them. Struggling to see, I leaned over Creed's neck a little too far. Slipping, my legs automatically squeezed around his neck.

"Eeeek," I squeed, until the dragon rotated until my body was securely back on his neck. "Phew, that was close," I laughed. "You saved me again, this time I owe you huh?" White smoke blew from his nose, picking up the pace. Laughing more, he wove in and out of a few clouds near the ocean shore, going through one and we would pop out on the other side. It was my roller coaster and the more he flew, the more I fell in love with the sky.

My arms floated out. I screamed my own mighty roar just as my dragon did the same. All of this fantasy world had to have heard us because we roared so many times my own throat became sore. My eyes closed, feeling the warm salty air until his wings fluttered quickly. Opening my eyes, his enormous claws planted into the ground of a nearby cliff. It was large enough to hold both the dragon and myself, much not much more. Stepping away, the large plumes of black smoke descended more quickly than the last, and I was left with Creed in his loincloth.

This was both a curse and a blessing. Whatever god ruled over this world, please let me die in peace. Covering my face, I felt his warm, oversized hands on my wrists, pulling them away. Six ways to Sunday, no lie, I was reader than a raspberry. Creed gave the crooked signature smile, both looking at each other, half dazed.

I needed to say something. I mean, I do carry on most of conversation. "That was amazing," I chanted over and over. "How?! I mean, how could? This is just phenomenal. Never in my life, never in my dreams would I have expected anything like that. You showed me a place, this place..." my hand waved toward the shining castle, the ocean shore and the beautiful crystal waters. Enormous splashes came from the corner of my eye, forgetting my thoughts as my mouth hung over. "Mermaids!" I squealed, jumping up and down. "Look! Oh, my gosh!" Creed pulled me back by my waist, back into his chest. I was dangerously close to the edge. "Whoops, you saved me again," I snorted.

Oh gosh, I snorted. That was really cute and sexy. He'll really like me now. Pulling me to the side of the cliff, he motioned for me to sit beside him. We had flown well into the afternoon and our day was quickly fleeting. The sun's rays sunk into my skin, warming my body. In fact, all the flying caused me to turn my white skin tanned.

I pulled the bag off my shoulder. We had packed dried meats and several water skins so we could drink. Creed continues to force feed me, but the dried meat was salty and not my favorite. I dare not tell him that. I didn't want to seem ungrateful for all that he had done for me.

Even with the communication barrier, Creed has shown me countless times he cared about me. From the trunk of the tree, carrying me to his cave, tending my wounds and coming to hunt me down in the middle of a rainstorm, what kind of man would I find like that on Earth?

That's right, none.

Creed was staring off into the distance. The suns were quickly fleeting to the opposite side of this dream world and the shadows became longer. Many of the blue lights surrounded us, hovering over our heads. Several picked up my hair, twisting it in the air, making it curl. Creed continued to look out over the water, undisturbed that my hair was now a glorified bird's nest.

How I was here is a mystery, I will never truly know the reason why my fate was sealed to be sent here, suffer at the hands of vampires only to be rescued by not the knight in shining armor, but the dragon you are supposed to fight. Creed's scars didn't bother me, not even the morning he found me. In fact, it showed how strong he was. He lived alone, away from other dragons like him. He hasn't told me his story, but I didn't need to know at all. No matter what he did or didn't do, I would always believe in him. In the time I have been with him, I've grown to trust him more than anyone, especially with my life.

"Creed?" I got up on my knees beside him. He still sat cross-legged, his head turned to mine. Looking into his eyes, I realized that even though there was gold in his eyes, there was actually more gold in his heart. "You know, I kind of owe you for saving me today."

My beastly dragon did not come near me, clearly not getting the picture. My heart raced, my hands almost shaking. To keep them from flying off my body, I put one hand on either side of his face. I couldn't believe I was doing this. All the males in my stories made the first move, never the other way around. Then again, I was the major lead in this story I so call my life and I wanted to do something different.

Creed's eyes rose, his face utterly still until my eyes closed and my lips touched his warm ones. Giving Creed my very first kiss.

Creed

We landed on the side of the cliff, overlooking The Light Kingdom. It was an area that I knew would be safe from vampires. They hated King Orion since their last attack. Rogue vampires and witches tried to gain not only the throne but to steal dragon's blood from the dragons in the mountain.

Dragon shifters were in danger of rogue witches that lived in Vamparia. That was why every witch and vampire were banned from coming anywhere near the mountains until the kingdom was sorted out. The witches could magnify their magical mana by tenfold and could create an army strong enough to wipe out two kingdoms easily with a flick of a wrist.

It was imperative we stayed away. How Odessa could Odessa escape made me wonder just how she really did it. The place crawled with evil, dark shadows and magic.

Orion, along with his mate Willa, helped subdue the entire area with the help of a pure dragon just days ago. This could have been the reason my Fawn could escape. Their numbers were low, and they were dealing with a pure dragon, no doubt eating them alive. No one could overpower a dragon such as Horus.

Odessa was trying to eat the dried meat from our bag. I knew she hated it, but it was all I had to take while we traveled. Razak was to pull berries and shoots while we were gone. Thankfully, his kind was smart, able to do minor tasks like a primitive monkey in the thick, intense forests in the southeast.

My focus went to the blue waters of the ocean. My Fawn would like to run along the beach. She had enjoyed the light sources immensely, and I wanted to continue to bring a smile to her face. Her squeals of laughter, roars of excitement, kept my dragon flying longer and higher than he ever could before. The beast was elated by himself that we found our little treasure, our Fawn.

I had to remind myself she was delicate. She was still very thin. The small tunic she wore fell off her shoulders, showing off her slender neck. Moving my eyes away, I kept my face to the darkening waters of night spreading across the sea. Closing my eyes, breathing deeply, I recalled earlier ago she had kissed my dragon's cheek. I was jealous it wasn't my own, but I still felt it. I felt the fire she says she feels burn brighter than any other time she had touched me. The fire urged to escape like my younger years. I could not control it then. My dragon was connected to Odessa somehow, more powerful than while in my human form. It had me perplexed why that was so, but it didn't matter because I was still intoxicated with her. The dragon and I were in harmony.

Odessa shifted in her seating position. I felt the heat of her body next to mine. How could I be so scared to look at her in the eye? I was the unstoppable black dragon. The entire dragon shifter colony fears me. They run from me, hate me, yet this little human crawled into my beast's fire and lit the low fire into a blazing light source. I could melt stones around me with a touch of her finger.

"You know, I kind of owe you for saving me today" My head turned to hers, eyes wide with hint of softness. Sitting up on her knees, her hands cupped my face. They were cold, but the heat of skin would warm them. Fawn's head leaned closer to my face. Was she going to kiss my cheek? Her eyes closed and instead of her lips hitting my rough beard, they met my very own.

Fire, my dragon, roared in my heart. It was quick, ended far too soon, and she sat back down on her legs. Before she said anything, I pulled her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her waist. She could never leave me, no one could take her from me. She was mine, and that was all there was to it. Odessa gasped as my nose buried into her now curly hair

"You know," she whispered. "I think you saved me twice." The pink blush covered her face. My lips smashed into hers before she could think. One hand dug into her hair, the other pulled her to straddle my waist. I did not care if she felt my desire for her any longer. She gave me permission to kiss her and I would kiss her like proper mates do. Just like my mother with her mate.

Pulling back reluctantly, giving her air, her heavy eyelids opened. "Oh," she breathed. "That was,..." I didn't let her finish, my lips massaged hers, my teeth pulled her lip sucking it gently. Everything was gentle with my Fawn. I would never hurt her. I would protect her, love her until the day my dragon ceased to exist.

Her tongue traced my bottom lip, her own hands cradled my face, rubbing my neck and shoulders. Fire burned just as I had felt with my dragon. Her tongue touched the tip of mine. I pushed forward, meeting with the same gentleness as she gave me.

It was magnificent. How could any mates feel something so much stronger? My dragon continued to hum a song in my chest. Pulling away, again releasing our lips, my forehead rubbed with hers. Odessa hummed contentedly, now putting her head in the crook of my neck. My thumb thrummed over her cheek. Kissing her forehead longingly, adoringly, my dragon forced through my human mouth.

"Mine."