Free Night's Awakening by Donna Grant

you?”
    “Aye.”

Chapter Nine
    Elena woke on her side with one of Guy’s arms draped over her. She caressed his long fingers hanging near her hand.
    She couldn’t believe he had stayed the night with her. Any minute now, someone was going to come through her door and find them. Not that she cared, but Guy might.
    A glance at the clock near the bed proved it was only four. Elena sighed. She was having a difficult time adjusting to the lighting during the summer. It didn’t stay dark for long.
    Now that she was awake, she couldn’t go back to sleep. Especially when she thought of Guy being immortal. She managed to rise from the bed without waking him and wrapped an extra blanket around her. It might be summer to the Scots, but to a Southern girl, it was chilly out.
    She turned to find him on his stomach, his face directed away from her. It was then she saw the rest of his tattoo, which covered his entire back. She’d desperately wanted to see the tat earlier, but something had stopped her from asking about it.
    Elena wasn’t sure what it had been, but she wished she’d had the nerve to ask anyway.
    She’d seen the dragon’s large head and the flames he breathed, but now she traced the rest of it with her finger. The dragon was vertical with its wings spread out across Guy’s shoulders, tip to tip. Elena followed the dragon to where its tail wrapped around Guy’s waist.
    The ink looked like a peculiar mix of red and black. Many of her friends in Atlanta had gotten inked, but she’d never seen anything like this before. Not just the ink, but the artwork as well. It was beautiful and impressive.
    After they’d made love the first time in the shower, she’d sworn the tat looked at her. Elena smiled and started to draw her hand away when she gasped.
    The tattoo had moved. She’d stake her life on it.
    It was just another thing that made Guy so different from the others. Like his immortality.
    Immortal. She thought over that word long and hard as she stared out the window, watching the sky continue to lighten. What did it mean, exactly?
    There were hundreds of questions rushing around in her head. She’d wanted to ask them before, but she had a feeling Guy wouldn’t have told her the answers. Not yet, at least.
    As she looked at the vivid green grass and the sheep dotting the rolling landscape, immortality didn’t seem so unbelievable.
    Maybe it was Dreagan itself, but the land felt old…ancient. Older than anyone knew. Was it the stories she’d heard of the magic of Scotland? Or was it something else?
    Strong arms locked around her from behind as Guy kissed her neck. “Couldna sleep?” he asked.
    She leaned back against him with a smile. “I was asleep. I can’t get used to the sky lightening up so early. For me, when I see light, it’s time to get up.”
    He chuckled and turned her to face him. “There’s a switch next to the bed that will lower the blinds to block out the light. Now, is that all?”
    “It was. Until I started thinking about what you asked me last night.”
    His smile slipped. “Elena—”
    “Wait,” she interrupted him, and put her hand on the flames across his chest. “Let me talk, please. I’m not saying I’ve changed my mind. I believe you.” She shook her head with a laugh. “As impossible as that is for me to imagine, I believe you. Why did you tell me?”
    “Most people would think I’ve gone mad. Instead, you accept what I say. No questions or anything.”
    “Oh, I’ve questions. Plenty of them, but I was still wrapping my head around the immortality bit. Plus, I saw your hand heal in the cave.”
    He ran a thumb down her cheek. “You were no’ supposed to see that. And I shouldna have told you about my immortality. If the others learn that I’ve—”
    “I won’t tell them,” she assured him. “But you still haven’t answered me. Why tell me?”
    “I doona know. I wanted to.” He sighed and looked over her head out the window.
    “For so long we’ve