Creed

I woke up early. My dragon was restless for the plans I had with Odessa today. I would travel tomorrow and who knows what Adam had in store for me or how long I would be gone? Was it just a meeting to talk about my downfalls of the tribe? How much of a failure I was to protect our family? It has happened before, these little talks, and it would not be the last.

My dragon let smoke blow through my nostrils, waving it away the white smoke, I prepared the last bit of my surprise. Odessa gave me the ultimate gift last night, wanting to stay in my cave. She didn't say for how long or if she planned to stay forever, but she was staying. I had more time with her for her to heal, not just her outward scars, but her internal ones.

Odessa stirred in the furs, her little moans, stretching her body was doing something to me. My body reacted to her in ways I didn't fully understand. Never spending time with the opposite sex, besides Amora. I never saw her as anything more than just a sister. No, Odessa made my scales feel like fire crackling across them.

It disappointed me when she wouldn't take her clothes off to bathe. Not only did I want to see the extent of her scars and wounds that were healing but, in all honesty wanted to see how beautiful she was. Her kind must not openly bathe in front of each other, or maybe she found my body hideous. She was just too stunned to want to take off her clothes. My dragon growled in disagreement again until Odessa's back arched in the sheets for a moment, then sitting up. "I'm sorry! I overslept, didn't I?" I shook my head, standing at the now large work table I had erected in our cave. Picking her up out of the nest, I put her down gently. Odessa bore weight on her ankle and walked normally. "Look at that! I guess the stinky stuff works," she giggled walked to the back of the cave. Once she arrived back in the main area, I handed her the scrap of leather that I had been working meticulously on. It was a note, the longest I had ever written and took me ages to write, explaining to her my plans for leaving. Once she read the first part of my note, her lip stuck out, forming a larger bottom lip. Fists tightening, my body reacted heatedly. Why did I want to kiss it so much? "Where are you going?" The graceful voice sounded so broken-hearted it separated me out of my trance. Tapping the leather with my finger again, she looked down to finish reading.

"A tribe? There are more of you?!" Her eyes widened. "Can I come!?" I shook my head again and tapped down back at the leathers. She was certainly feeling better.

"Too dangerous," she read. "Wait," her eyebrows furrowed. "Why don't you live with the tribe? Why the cave?" My chest rose heavily, my dragon expressing his anger.

"It's okay!" Odessa petted my chest. "Big 'ole dragon doesn't have to tell me anything. Just go to your meeting and come back safe!" she beamed back at me without an ounce of judgement. Immediately, my forehead went to hers, clinging to her sides with my hands around her shoulders. My dragon instantly sang, being recognized. Odessa laughed again and went back to reading.

"You are taking me out! And I get a surprise!?" She jumped, almost dropping the paper. "Wait? Is it safe?" Her voice became a whisper, and I threw my head back to laugh. My dragon even blew smoke at the large emotion he felt. Does she not think I could protect her?

Taking my vest off, I showed her my genuine power. My black scales rippled across my chest, my body armor shining before the torches of the cave. My arms went to flex, showing her my muscles. Now she cannot ask if it is safe, because I would protect her, me and my dragon.

Odessa's eyes grew wide with admiration, along with that red tint to her cheeks. "I guess you don't need a button," she drawled. Her finger went to touch my chest, but paused halfway. Stepping forward, I had her feel the scales beneath her fingertips. "Its so weird, for me I tingle when I touch you. Right now, it tingles the most. Do dragons do that?" I shrugged my shoulders, not sure how to answer her question because I felt it too and did not know why.

Visiting with Amora would be a top priority, and it would be difficult with Adam present. My hidden note was written and put away securely, praying Amora could read the human letters.

"Is this my surprise? Because this is pretty cool." shaking my head, my scales rippled back into my body. Today was going to be special because I was going to show her what she asked me since she has known about who I really am. My dragon.

Odessa was my beautiful flower, and all beautiful flowers needed sun. My cloak she was to wear was full of my scent. I often used it going into markets to hide my face and not draw attention to myself. It will engulf her entire body, leaving nothing but the smell of my dragon and his smoke. No Vampire could smell through that.

Odessa

Creed dressed me up like we were going into a blizzard. He stood in front of me, observing the cloak he put on my body. With the heat coming off him, I couldn't imagine him using it, but I shrugged my shoulders and agreed to wear it. I used my arms to wrap it around my body and just smiled sweetly, saying thank you.

Creed held out his hand, lacing his large fingers into my tiny ones, almost stretching the heckers out of them. But I liked it too much to stop. Once I saw the light at the end of the cave, my eyes closed halfway and my hand shielded my eyes. It was bright, so bright I forgot what the sun or suns even looked like.

Looking at a distance, the grass was the deep green, and the birds were singing in the trees. Frost had covered the grass, but it didn't take away from the healthy, rich life it gave out. "I didn't have time to look at the nature since coming up here. I was too busy running. Are we going on a hike?" Creed squinted an eye. Must not be a term he was familiar with. "A walk?" Nodding, he pulled my arm. I didn't watch what direction we were going, completely trusting the dragon man beside me.

He led me down a slight slope. We were heading down the mountain in the same direction that I had come from. My heart banged my chest, my palms becoming sweaty. Prince Charming wouldn't take me back. He liked me. He said I could stay. The terrible fear that one of those vampires sitting at the bottom waiting for me still frightened me.

Creed's thumb ran over my knuckles. His eyes softened when he realized I was having a mild panic attack. He used his free arm to flex his biceps, and I burst into a fit of laughter. Right, right, he was there to protect me. Duh! Fluffy flew past us, running down the slow decline in the mountain, his tail waving around, gaining his balance. Then he came to an abrupt stop, rolling around with another animal. Guess we didn't feed him this morning. Creed pulled my hand in the other direction, passing by large rock formations, a few trees that looked like willows that were completely out of place until we reached the bottom. A wide area with no trees stood before us. The grass like vegetation was waist high with bursts of blue light jumping up and out to hover midair. As we came closer, they would fall back into the grasses, never to be seen again.

I continued to watch as they jumped and fell. How could I have missed this while running? The heat of Creed's stare was on my face until my eyes met his. The one side of his face that would smile showed a hint of fangs. I squealed, pointing. "Are you going to turn into the dragon!?" My hood dipped lower on my face, covering it completely. The growling laugh tugged at my heart. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he could say my name on his own? To hear his voice all the time? Creed pushed my hood back on my cloak. Backing up, he removed his vest and extra leathers until just his loin cloth surrounded his waist. I blushed, putting my hands in front of my face. I'd seen him naked before but, just thinking about it gave me warm feelings in certain places.

I wasn't completely naïve here. I knew my body reacted to him. The question was, did he want to react back to me one day? Could that even happen? He was like,... a dragon.

Creed walked a few paces away. Turning around, he pointed to his eyes, meaning for me to watch him. I kept my eyes on him alright, who wouldn't want to keep watching a muscle man standing out here in the middle of a meadow with little blue lights jumping up and down in the grass? It was a fantasy, a fantasy I would have never dreamed of. Better than any scenario that I could write and I was the protagonist right in the middle of it.

Taking a large breath, I continued to watch. He crouched lower, almost getting on one knee, until large plumes of black smoke circled his body. Inside, sparks of lightning and bits of glitter like dust continued to form around him, getting larger and higher by the second. It was completely silent, as if I hit 'mute' on my TV remote. The dust was no longer forming, fading away quickly until a large head burst through the tallest plume.

An enormous roar came from rows and rows of sharp teeth. The top and bottom canines stuck out from its face, sharp enough to rip any prey apart. Black scales swam over the dragon's entire body. When he moved, the scales would shuffle, showing a crimson read underneath. The scales, black as onyx, sucked the light from the two suns. Nothing reflected off of this matte black dragon.

Not only did the dragon stand on four legs, but his wings had a set of three fingered claws on its bat-like wings. This dragon was fierce. I could never imagine another dragon sizing up to Creed. Maybe that was why he was no longer with his tribe.

The gigantic dragon's head leaned forward, its snake-like neck curving majestically so one side of its eye could meet mine. Creed's natural dark eyes with a hint of amber flickered back and forth from his dark fired ones. Only one word could describe this dragon, the same as Creed. Beautiful.

"Wow," I muttered. One would only think to whisper in a face of a dragon such as this. He could bite your head off in one clean bite. "You are huge!" was the statement I burst with. Slapping my hand over my mouth in embarrassment, the dragon wielded his head back, blowing smoke and fire into the air. His laugh shook the ground, causing all the blue lights to flee from the area.

"I didn't mean it like that! Just wow. I never thought I would see an actual dragon and not only that, the fiercest one I think I will ever see!" The dragon purred, slithering its head down in front of mine, it tapped its forehead to mine, or tried to. He kind of just forheaded my face.

"Such a majestic dragon," I cooed, rubbing underneath its jaw. More growls, purrs and nudges for me to continue lasted several minutes. Not really minding giving the big animal attention, he backed away slowly. The massive claws scraped the ground, causing large lines into the now darkened soil.

The shorter legs backed up and laid on the ground. The dragon's face looked at me and the back of its neck. Not understanding, I cocked my head to the left. Snuffing out smoke onto its back, he looked at me again.

"You want me to get on?" I panicked. Nodding again, his long neck curved around my body, pulling me forward. Finally touching his scales, they were warm, slick like silk. "I don't know about this." Humming came from his throat, urging me on. "Won't drop me, will you?" Smoke blew in my face. I coughed, waving the smoke away.

"Yeah, yeah, I know you will protect me, Prince Charming." I smiled, giving the dragon a peck just under its eye. His eye closed and took a good few moments to open. When they opened, Creed's eye stared back at me. "Do I get on now?" I whispered. The eyes flipped back to the dragon and without another word, I climbed on top of the fiercest dragon I would ever see, blushing fiercely at what I had just done.