The Arena novel Chapter 57

Cedric doesn’t seem to realize the power that he now has over me. He seems surprised that I’m not fighting him like I have been up until now. It’s my duty, as his dragon, to explain to him what it means to be a rider.

As I fly him back to our cave of treasures, I think about how long it’s been since a dragon has had a rider. My parents and many other dragon couples were two dragons mated to each other, so they didn’t have to claim one another. To my knowledge, it’s been a couple of centuries since the last dragon was claimed.

Many humans and supernaturals have tried, and they have lost their lives in the process. Because of that, the humans started writing stories about the ferocity of dragons, and then they wrote stories about the noble dragonslayers who would save the kingdom from the mighty, ferocious dragon. In reality, all that happened simply because they wanted to tame a dragon, and they weren’t strong enough to do it.

Obviously, Cedric is strong enough, and he’s the first and only dragon rider in this century. So, I guess it makes sense that he has no idea what it means to have claimed a dragon. When you add his Lycan mate bond into the mix, it becomes very convoluted.

When I land, Cedric is careful to slide off my wing, carrying the gems. As soon as he is clear, I shift. I feel shy around him now. Our relationship is very different than it was, and I’m not sure exactly what to expect from him.

“After you, Tana,” he says, waiting for me. I go to my cave, noticing that he has put the rock back into place so no one can see it. I move it out of the way and step aside, waiting for him to precede me.

“It’s your cave, Tana,” he says, standing aside.

“It’s our cave, Cedric.”

He walks over to me, kissing the side of my head. “Okay, it’s our cave, but you should still go in first. I didn’t touch anything other than these three gems.”

I know a small smile spreads across my face before I turn and walk inside. It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s my rider, and everything in here now belongs to him, but knowing he took my thoughts into consideration makes me feel more comfortable about the decisions that he will make for us in the future.

I walk inside and see that he was being truthful, although his scent is stronger than it should be after only one day in my cave. He’s been here before, and even then, he didn’t touch anything.

I watch as he carefully puts the gems back where I had them. “How do we seal them back into the wall?” he asks me.

“Fire, of course,” I tell him.

“Show me.”

I hold one of the gems against the wall and carefully melt the soil and rock around it, making it molten, before pushing the gem inside and letting it cool, sealing it.

“Can I do that, too?” Cedric asks, watching me.

“Yes, you have my fire now,” I tell him again.

He holds the gem against the wall like I did. “Tell me what to do,” he says, and I explain to him about pulling his fire but warn him to be gentle so he doesn’t melt the entire wall. He’s not bad, and a few moments later, he’s pushing the sapphire back into the wall, letting it seal.

I take the last one as he watches. “You said I have your fire now. What does that mean? Obviously, I have some ability to heal. Is that only you or anyone?”

“Anyone, but it will be easier when you heal me, as it’s my fire and can’t hurt me. You will have to learn to harness the flames, or you will cause more damage than good,” I say as I finish sealing the ruby into the wall.

“I can’t breathe fire?” he asks.

“No, but you are now immune to my fire.”

“I am?”

“Mmmhmm,” I say and pull a ball of fire into my hand. “Try it,” I say and watch as he looks skeptically from my flame to me and back again.

I hold onto my fire, waiting him out. He needs to know that he no longer needs to fear my fire.

He reaches out and tentatively puts his hand over my flame. I see his frown as his hand gets closer, and he doesn’t feel the heat. Finally, his hand is sitting in the middle of my flame, and his smile is dazzling.

We take our time, getting to know the other’s bodies and reveling in the tastes and smells of our mate. When he slides inside me, I feel that familiar feeling of love, the one I felt the first time, the one I’ve tried to get away from. This time, it swells in my heart and locks in. My mind, my body, and my soul flood with my love for Cedric.

“Tana,” he gasps, and I know he can feel it, too. We make love for hours, neither of us needing a break nor wanting to disconnect from this feeling.

When we finally decide to take a break, Cedric curls up around me. “This is how it should have been the first time.”

We lay there for a moment, Cedric nuzzling my hair, nibbling on my ear. “Tell me what it means to be a dragon rider.”

And so, I do. I tell him of the complete control he now has over me. I tell him how I must follow his commands, even if I don’t agree with them, and how I will only be as good or evil as he is, as my rider. I explain that he no longer has to ask permission to ride me; I am his, to do with as he wishes.

“Tana,” he says, and he turns me to face him. “I didn’t claim you to enslave you. What you are describing is not how I want our relationship to be. We are partners. What I love most about you is your fire, your passion, your fight. I don’t want that to go away just because I’m your rider. We are equals. You have a say in everything, just as I do. We may not always agree, but I want to hear your ideas, your thoughts, and if you disagree with me, and truly believe that I am wrong in something, I want to know that you will stand up to me.”

He leans in, kissing me gently. “We will have to build trust together, I see. You will have to trust me that I will never treat you as a possession. Well, you are mine and no one else’s, but that means I have no intention of sharing you with anyone, not that you have no free will. And I will have to trust that you will stand up to me, be my partner, my love, my mate in all things.”

I frown at him. “Is that really what you want?”

“Yes, Tana. That’s really what I want. Me claiming you in your dragon way is no different than me claiming you like I did before.” He brushes his thumb over the mark on my neck, causing my body to arch with desire. “You’re my partner, Tana. My life, my love.”

“And your dragon,” I say. Before rolling on top of him, sliding myself onto his length.

“Yes, and my dragon,” he says.

For the next several days, we talk, we eat, and we make love, connecting more and more deeply every day.