Free Shades Of Dragon (A BBW Dragon-Shifter Paranormal Romance) by Catherine Vale Page B

you can’t leave me here in the dark. I can’t stand being alone in closed spaces. Please, please…” she began to sob, her body shaking.
          Frowning, Tegan sank to his knees, sensing there was something more on her mind. “What’s wrong, Ciara?” he asked, taking her into his arms against his better judgment. Instantly his body warmed in reaction to her proximity, something inside him easing up that he didn’t realize was tense, as her body came into contact with his. “Why are you so afraid of the dark?”
          “I… it’s just that I spent so much time in that cellar,” she whispered against his neck. “Huddled between the wine barrels and listening to my people getting slaughtered, to buildings being crushed, and burned, and ruined. I know that if you leave me here in the dark that I’ll be consumed with those thoughts again, and I just can’t face them right now. Just not right yet. Please.” She clutched at his tunic shirt, “Please, I beg you, don’t leave me to my demons right now. I can’t stand the idea.”
          Tegan nodded, knowing that he couldn’t put Ciara through that. “Alright,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I’ll stay with you. But then in the morning, we’re going to have to leave at first light.”
          “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She squeezed him tight. “You have no idea how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me.”
          “You’re welcome,” Tegan assured her, and he was. Just seeing her face brighten, the tears clearing from her eyes lifted his mood and satisfied some primal urge inside him. Of course, this would be a lot easier on him if she didn’t also awaken other urges within him…
          Pushing the thought out of his mind, he entered the cave with her, and lit a torch he’d brought with him, checked it for any kind of animals that might be hiding inside. When he was satisfied it was safe, he used several more sticks to create a very small fire close to the entrance so that they had enough light to see, and also ensure that the smoke did not clog up the area.
          “We’d better get to sleep now,” he said to her. “We have to be up as early as possible.”
          Ciara nodded, and sat down on the ground. He could feel her big green eyes on him as he pulled off his tunic and unpacked the supplies in his sack – a small pillow and blanket. These he gave to Ciara, and then he lay down on the ground, and used his own tunic as a makeshift pillow.
          “You should use these for yourself,” Ciara said, and she tried to give them back to him. “They’re yours, not mine.”
          Tegan shook his head and tried to push them away. “No, you need them more than I do. I need you to be well rested, and healed up for the trip tomorrow. Please, use them.”
          “At least take the pillow,” she insisted, pushing it back toward him. “I can make do without that.”
          “No.” He pushed it back, chuckling, and they engaged in a playful tug of war that somehow ended up with her stumbling over herself and onto his chest. “Be careful,” he warned her, thinking about how she still had to heal. She ignored him, cradled against his hard chest.  He sucked in a sharp breath, as desire flared hot within him, and they both froze, neither willing to take the next step that would push them over the edge.
          Gingerly, as if he were carrying something extremely hot, he pushed Ciara off him, and then compromised by tucking the pillow in between him, fair game to whomever grabbed it first – which was certainly not going to be him. With a tired sigh, he lay back down on the ground and closed his eyes, hoping to escape the maelstrom of feelings with him, but her sweet scent and the heat coming off her body in such close proximity distracted him to no end.
          “Tell me more about your family,” he murmured, opening his eyes so he could look at her.