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A week had gone by since Serena had come up to the mountains. Since she had barely checked into the hotel when she’d first arrived, she had only one bag in the room. Jacob retrieved it without her knowing the following day. He’d gone into town to purchase a few items for them; food and some medical supplies that he insisted she would need. When he came back, he’d had her luggage in tow.
“Well, I came for an authentic feel of the place, and I got my wish,” she observed as she washed some clothes to hang on the line. The weather wasn’t as cold during the day as it was at night, but it was still somewhat chilly. The cave felt colder still because the sunlight couldn’t reach them. Jacob had forbidden her from leaving the cave because of the risk he would face if anyone spotted them. It would invite people to come see who had ventured past the boundaries of the map. He couldn’t very well bar them from entering the cave, either. It wasn’t as if he owned it for real. He was merely utilizing it out of necessity.
They’d already established a routine of sorts. When they woke up, Jacob would make breakfast, and once in a while he would ask her to assist with small tasks, whatever she could manage to do from the bed. The rest of the day was divided up in segments according to how heavy the flow of tourists was. That determined if he left his lair and for how long. He never ventured far, just to the stream and some back area that wasn’t visible from the popular tourist spots.
Any time she and Jacob were together they always had something to talk about. Whether it was literature, movies, or art, they had a lot in common. Whenever she could, Serena snuck in a question or two about his dual life and the complexities that came with it. And when they weren’t discussing their interests, they were demonstrating them to each other in bed. Serena had no complaints.
She still hadn’t seen him as a dragon again, but she mentioned in passing that she could always sense its presence in him. She observed that it was difficult to ignore the strength that radiated in him, and the subtle growls that he let out when he was irritated with something. Or the more meaningful moans that came out when they were in bed. Serena wondered when she would see him as a dragon—she wanted a better look than she had gotten last time.
Jacob had spent much of the week talking to her about himself. He’d seen her taking notes and didn’t seem especially bothered. Maybe he would warm to the idea of her printing the story after all, she thought. After having spent a week with him now, she saw a side of him that she could reveal to her readers. He wasn’t some scary dragon that was to be feared. He was a normal man who had a special ability. Well, maybe normal wasn’t the best word choice. He wasn’t normal by any means. He was exceptional. But for the sake of her article, she could refer to him as normal, she supposed.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he called to her from the front of the cave. “I need to get some food supplies. Do you need anything?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
He’d gotten her a boot on his last trip down the mountain. For that, he’d been forced to go one town over. It allowed her to hobble around without his assistance, which was so necessary, she found. She had protested when she saw that he had purchased it, but she didn’t know how she would have survived without it. With any luck, she could take the thing off in a few more weeks. The idea of spending a few more weeks up in the mountains didn’t faze her. Time stood still for them and she was happier for it.
After finishing with the clothes, she went to sit on the bed and picked up the book she’d found in his pile. At least they both liked one of her favorite authors, she thought happily. She scooted back to read but found herself feeling agitated. She wanted to explore, but she couldn’t leave the cave. She wanted to walk, but her ankle prevented that too.
Last night, she had to wait until dusk to leave the cave and she and Jacob had gone back to the stream. It was the first time she’d been out since her accident. She felt alive and free, under the watchful gaze of Jacob, of course. He had just been watching over her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself again, but she still felt like he thought she might bolt at any second.
Closing the book with a snap she sat up again. She decided to straighten up the small area. For such small quarters, it sure accumulated a lot of mess. She was restless, and this was just the thing to get her moving. Slowly, she moved spot to spot, dusting, straightening, tidying. Soon the room looked clean and she felt like she’d gotten enough walking in for the day. Her ankle was protesting already. Bumping into the stack of notebooks he had piled in one corner, she cringed as they came tumbling down. “Great,” she muttered.
Serena picked up each one and set it back on the pile. One had fallen and laid open and she nudged it towards her to get a better look at the writing. She read the page and frowned. What did this mean? Something seemed familiar to her. She read more, and more, and soon she’d read the entire notebook. Then she picked up another one, she read that too. By the time she’d reached the fourth book, she was so engrossed that she didn’t see or hear Jacob come in.
“What are you doing?” he roared. His eyes blazed like fireballs and she shrank back when she saw him begin to grow and expand before her eyes. In a matter of seconds, he grew well over ten feet tall, and he wasn’t talking anymore. But she could still tell that he was upset, the growls and smoke from his nostrils were evidence enough.
Serena backed away towards the bed. She was unable to escape and hadn’t thought to ask what she was supposed to do if he transformed. It never came up.
“Jacob?” Her voice didn’t waver, at least. She realized she was less scared and more confused than anything.
A low rumble reverberated through the cave and he tossed his head and snorted. Smoke was still billowing out of his nose and she wondered if he could breathe fire too. Then she stopped backing away. No, this was absurd. He was still Jacob. Just like when he was in his human form, he was still this dragon. She could talk to him. Calm him down somehow. He couldn’t talk to her, but she could talk to him. Even though at the moment he seemed less interested in talking and more in finishing her off for looking through his private writing.
“I’m sorry, Jacob,” she said approaching him hesitantly. “I invaded your privacy and I had no right. I should have asked you first. Nothing I read will go in my article, I promise.”
He tossed his head as if in pain and let out a long jet of fire that he aimed towards the fireplace. One of her tops that was hanging on the line above it got singed and she went to make sure the fire wouldn’t spread further. After she was satisfied that no more damage had been done she whirled on him.
“That’s enough! I looked through some of your writing—so what? I’ve been in a cave for most of the week because of this injury, no company except you who may or may not let me leave. And I’m glad you have some books here, but I’ve read most of them already. So if I read something else, what’s the big deal? What are you going to do, anyway? Kill me for reading?” She crossed her arms, acting braver than she felt.
He stared at her and lowered his head. She couldn’t help noticing how his scales rippled when he moved. The colors glinted and changed as his muscles flexed underneath. She was drawn to him and walked closer with her hand outstretched. She looked at him for permission before reaching out to touch the scales. They were surprisingly warm. She had expected them to feel cool, but they were warm and there was a definite power under them.
Jacob let out another snort and came down further to lie down, allowing her full access. She stroked his back some more, and then moved towards his face. He was no longer angry, and his eyes were the same green she’d seen this morning, but bigger. They looked like large pools that she could dive into. Looking into them, she felt like he could see through her and know her deepest desires. She placed her face next to his and rubbed her face gently on his. He closed his eyes and they stayed like that for a long time until Serena fell asleep.
When she woke up, she was in bed and Jacob was cooking something by the fire. It was already dark outside. “What happened?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.
He half turned to her, “You’re awake. I thought maybe you would sleep through the night.”
“I’m sorry about earlier,” she said rising, unsure of how to bring it up again. “There’s no excuse for me going through your things without asking first.”
Jacob didn’t say anything for a moment and continued stirring the pot. Then he got up and walked to her. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m sorry for surprising you like that. I didn’t mean for you to have to see me like that, especially with no notice. I can’t control it sometimes and that was one of those times.”
Serena gave him a small smile, “I didn’t mind it, actually. You’re a lot easier to deal with when you’re not able to talk. I kind of understood your signals better than I do your words.”
Jacob laughed. “I’ll try harder to be more like that.” He drew her into an embrace and Serena hung onto him. Whatever she was looking for when she came up the mountains, she’d found it and she could call off her search.
“I promise nothing I read will wind up in the article,” she reiterated from earlier.
His frowned. “Why are you still talking about that? I thought I told you that you can’t write it. It’s not going to end well.”
“Trust me, the way I write it, people will want to be your friend. You’ll be every child’s hero!”
“I don’t want to be anyone’s anything!” Jacob snapped, pulling away from her and stalking back to the fire. “I don’t think you realize that for every nice person out there, there’s five crazy ones that will just want to fulfill their fantasies about slaying a dragon.”
Serena thought about this. “I think you have it backwards...it’s one crazy one for every five good ones.”
“That’s a gross underestimate,” he grumbled. “Not everyone is going to be like you.”
Serena sat by one of the notebooks she’d been looking at earlier. “Tell me, Jacob. Whose writing influences you most? I love the style, one of my favorite authors writes like this. I think you have a few of his books in your pile, actually.” She hobbled to the corner to retrieve one of the books that sat there.
“See, this B. Nogard writes just like you.” She flipped through the book as she talked, and looked at the back cover to look at the reviews.
Jacob didn’t say anything. She looked up to find him staring at her, an odd look on his face. “What?” she asked.
He raised his eyebrows and gestured to the book in her hands. She looked down again and didn’t see anything. Then when she was about to ask him again, she saw what he was talking about.
Nogard. Dragon, backwards. And the first initial was likely from the last letter in his first name.
“You’re B. Nogard,” she breathed. This was more surprising to her than him being a dragon. “I love your writing, I’ve read every book.”
“And now you’ve read more than anyone—even my editors,” he chuckled, indicating the stack of notebooks that she’d gone through. “They’re just rough drafts, but I find it useful to write out several story lines and then slice and dice to fit a particular story.”
“Wow,” Serena was speechless. She felt unaccomplished and small in comparison to him. She wished she’d met him under different circumstances but it was too late for that now.
“I’m glad you like the writing,” he said with a smile. “Always nice to hear from a fan.”
They both laughed at the absurdity of his statement and she was glad he’d known how to break the tension. “If all fans are like me...” she trailed off and they laughed harder.