Maidens & Killers

We're Going Home

      I must be dreaming, and if I am I don’t want to wake up. If this is a dream though, I’ve never had one this vivid. I can actually feel Garrick’s strong, muscular arms squeezing me tightly. Wait… I shouldn’t be able to feel things from a dream. I push back slightly so that I can look into the deep whiskey eyes of my incredible husband and immediately break down. I fling myself back into Garrick’s arms as he lifts me so that he is now sitting on the bed and I am straddling his lap. I may never let him go. I wonder if Chradh can fly like this, so that I never have to untangle myself.

     My face is pressed into Garrick’s neck and it smells incredible. He smells like soap and male and I wish that I could bottle the scent as I inhale it deeply. Scratch that, no need to bottle it, I am never ever leaving this man’s side again. This is right where I belong.
Garrick presses his fingers under my chin and turns my head so that I am nose to nose with him. From this angle, I can see that my husband has slimmed down some in the last few months since I last saw him. A combination of too many raids, stress and starting to look more like his father I assume. He’s still the most gorgeous man I have ever seen in my life though.

      “You okay there Killer?” Garrick asks me, running his hands up and down my back and sides, as though to make sure I am in one piece.
“Yes..yes. I’m okay.” I say not wanting to break eye contact with him but beginning to pepper kisses all over his face. Garrick uses his fingers under my chin to place my lips against his lips and then I am kissing the man that I love for the first time in months. My heart feels like it's going to pound out of my body and I arch my back in order to feel more contact with him below the waist. Garrick lets out a low groaning noise as I arch into him, that is cut short by a loud knock on the door.

      Garrick immediately pulls away from and turns to the door, where Bodhi stands looking flustered.
“We’ve got the package. Let’s go.” Bodhi says before turning on his heel and running back out my door.
I immediately look back at Garrick, “What package? Violet? They found Violet?”
Garrick nods and stands us up, “Xaden wasn’t leaving without her. Did you pack like Bodhi told you?”
“All packed. Where are we going?” I ask as I race to the corner of my room where my flight jacket and rucksack are stored.
“Somewhere safe.” Garrick says as he watches me toss on my jacket and follow him out the door.

      The hallway is chaotic, with people dodging this way and that, in and out of rooms. We run into Ridoc, who is also wearing his flight gear. “Hey,” He says. “Nice to see ya big guy. This one here’s been miserable for months now. Are you heading out of town with us?”
Garrick gives Ridoc a brisk nod and I smother a snicker, remembering a time when Garrick was completely overcome with jealousy at the thought of Ridoc’s arm around my shoulder. My mate can absolutely hold a grudge when he wants to.
“Cool. Cool. So uh, see you guys out on the flight field?” Ridoc says backing away from Garrick slowly.
Garrick stops him though, “Actually, take Maeve with you.” Garrick turns to me, “I am going to find Xaden and help him organize this mess.”  He grabs me and presses a hard kiss to my mouth before taking off and running in the opposite direction.

      I watch his commanding form push his way through the crowded halls for a few seconds before turning back to Ridoc, “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Right behind ya!” Ridoc says, and he and I head down the hallway to the flight field.
“You ready to do this?”  I ask Craobh as we hustle down the long corridors towards the exit to the outside.
“Never been more ready, Red One. I let Aotrom know that you two are on your way.”
“Craobh says that he and Aotrom are waiting for us,”  I tell Ridoc as we break free of the castle walls and sprint across the lush green lawn. There are way more people here mounting their dragons and looking around confused than I expected. I note that Sawyer is helping Jesinia onto the back of his dragon to my left and shockingly Dain is mounting his to my right.

      I spot Craobh and Aotrom landing with a thud twenty or so yards ahead of us. “Come on!” I holler one more time at Ridoc and run to climb my way up Craobh’s front leg.
“I don’t know where we’re going.”  I tell Craobh as I settle myself into my seat upon his large back.
“I do, rider. Leave me to the navigation.”  He responds as he shoots us up into the air, nearly before I have gotten a good hold on his neck.

      We fly east for some time, and occasionally I spot another dragon and rider, but in general we fly alone. I relax my grip on Craobh’s neck as we soar and lean back on my hands, letting my thighs do the work of holding me on the back of my large dragon. The sun is setting and I see mountains just in front of us in the distance. If I didn’t know better by the placement of the sun and the warm weather, I would think we were heading north to my family's lands.  As I relax and stretch my body on the back of Craobh, I hear the tell tale sound of wings flapping coming up behind me. Before I can turn to see who it is, I see Chradh’s snout come up beside Craobh and give him a friendly jostle. Craobh snuffs loudly and jostle’s Chradh back and then they even out so that they are now flying side by side in tandem.

      Garrick is a stunning sight on the back of his dragon. He wears his all black leather jacket and pants with a chest holster that secures his two large swords to his back. Despite his dragon’s size you can still see that Garrick is a large and dangerous man, but his brown eyes are soft now as they take me in upon my own dragon.
“I wondered when I would be seeing you.” I say to him as we coast through the beautiful scenery.
“I needed to help Xaden with a few things, and Violet is barely able to fly,” Garrick responds.
“Was it bad?” I ask Garrick, not knowing if I even want to know the answer.
“She’ll be okay.” Is all that Garrick offers me.
“So, are you ready to tell me where we are going yet?” I shout to him, over the beating of dragon wings.
“We’re going home, my love,” Garrick says with a genuine smile on his face. “To Aretia.”