Treasure Ch. 05

"And did you believe her?" he finally asked softly.

"Of course not..."

"And yet," he continued, even and dangerously slow, "you doubt me still. I can see it in your face."

"Not until this morning," she shot back, and he seemed to stiffen at her words. As she continued, it was with a certain helplessness, as if she couldn't control the words that were suddenly spewing out of her mouth. "When you thought I had left, you weren't sad or confused...you were angry. If 'angry' is even the right word for it," she added, her eyes wide. "I...I don't think I've ever seen anyone so angry..."

"Perhaps we mourn differently," he said grimly.

"That wasn't mourning," she whispered. "You looked as if someone had taken something from you." He took in a deep, slow, hiss of a breath, his chest rising steadily behind her. She focused the entirety of her attention on a pebble in the other corner of the room, listening to the faint howl of the wind outside.

"It is confusing for me," he admitted. "What I feel for you. You're very special to me, and that in itself triggers a certain amount of...protectiveness."

"I'm not something you need to keep watch over," she muttered. "I'm a person, Adeon. I don't belong to anybody."

"But, inexplicably," he said softly, "I find myself belonging to you." She turned to look at him, and her lips parted as she observed the heat in his expression. His eyes were wide with something akin to worry, and there was sadness in the line of his mouth.

"I worry about you, sometimes," she said, and a fine grid of goosebumps appeared on her arms as he raised his fingers and ran the very tips of them down the side of her neck. "I feel as if you want me all to yourself."

"Oh, verily, I do," he purred, a sudden hint of mischief in his tone. She shuddered as he brought his lips to her ear. "I want every last bit of you to myself," he breathed into her ear, and she bit back a moan at the wanting in his voice. "Part of me would want nothing more than to lock you away forever in lovely golden chains, to admire and adore and touch, all for mine..." At the word 'touch' his hands slid to her hips, and a tiny noise slipped out of her parted lips. Despite the unsettling things he was saying, the note of promise in his words was strangely arousing. And there was a certain tremor in his voice; something like...excitement.

"You wouldn't," she whispered, and he let out a shaky little sigh.

"I wouldn't," he agreed. "Of course I wouldn't. But I need you to understand that I want it," he finished in a soft little hiss, his tongue skimming her earlobe. Her body melted a little at his voice, even though his words sent a shock of horror through her chest.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked in a quivering voice, trying to ignore the closeness of his lips to her ear and the way his breath came in a steady rush.

"My sweet, sweet Catherine," he crooned. "Because I'm still a monster, no matter what you might think of me. These are the sorts of thoughts I'm plagued with whenever we're together."

"You are not a monster," she said softly, and she turned slightly to flash him a worried look. He cocked his head to the side, his eyes bright with thought.

"I am, darling. And that will never change." His lips quirked into a wry smile. "But I'm your monster." She smiled a little at that, her eyes closing as he drew her a little deeper into his arms.

"My monster," she repeated, and he let out a breath of a laugh against her neck.

Suddenly, his head snapped towards the entrance of the cave, and his nostrils flared angrily.

She heard a gasp and the rattling of upset rocks from several feet past the entrance, and her nerves lit up like sparks. She moved forward curiously, but Adeon reached out and grabbed her arm tightly, holding her fast. She caught sight of a pair of wide eyes and a pale face on the mountain trail before the figure whirled around and sprinted down the incline. He was slight but unmistakably male---albeit a young one---and dressed in layers upon layers of shabby clothes that hung limply over his skinny frame. Catherine's heart lurched into her chest. Judging by his garb and the tiny sword that hung at his hip, he might have been a knight's squire. Nobody else would dare try to climb the mountain, if only out of fear for the dragon's wrath.

Her fingers gripped Adeon's arms in a panic, anticipating fiery rage and utter madness, but when she turned to look at him, he was only watching the figure run through the snow with a wide, hopeless gaze. The muscles in his arms twitched a few times and his mouth thinned in anger, but after a few moments, he just buried his face in his hands and let out a frantic, uncertain, shuddering breath. When he finally lifted his head to meet her eye, the look on his face was desperately sad.

"Adeon," she began hurriedly, but he looked away from her and watched the figure dart away with a forlorn look, like everything he had ever wanted was sprinting away from him forever.

"Don't worry," he said quietly, still not looking at her. "I'm not going to hurt him." There was a horrible tension in his body, as if every ounce of muscle in his body was pulling him towards the entrance and only the thinnest sliver of willpower was holding him back. She stared at him in shock and he closed his eyes tightly, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "We should...move," he continued stiffly. He rose to his feet and she followed, watching him worriedly.

"I've never seen him before," she insisted, and he only offered her a grim smile. "He might not tell anyone---"

"I admire your optimism," was all he said, and then he turned his back to her and began to make his way deeper into the cavern. Catherine's gaze darted from him and back to the boy, who had vanished further down the trail, before she hesitantly followed him. When they entered the treasure cavern, Adeon slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor, upsetting several coins with a series of tinkling noises. A weary noise escaped his lips, like he had been hopelessly wounded. Catherine sank down next to him, hopefully taking his hand in hers and trying to ignore the feeling of dread that weighed down her stomach like lead.

"It's going to be alright," she whispered, and he stared stonily ahead at the cavern wall, the mischievous sparkle gone from his eyes.

"No, it isn't."

((Hi everybody! Sorry again for the long wait. This semester has been a pretty crazy ride so far, and I haven't had much time for free writing.

I'd like to thank you all for waiting, and for all of your lovely comments and critiques and suggestions and what have you's. I love hearing from you, (even though I can't ever muster up the courage to comment back), and every time I see that someone's left a little feedback, it fills me with an inordinate amount of joy. So, with all of that silliness aside...thank you! I promise I'll post the next chapter much faster. The story is nearly complete---I've been chipping away at it as fast as I can. Wish me luck!))