****
"Honey?"
Her mother's voice broke through Aurora's musings and she looked at her across the patio table.
"Huh? I'm sorry, Mom, what did you say?"
Sara gave her a strange look and took a sip of her coffee.
"Are you feeling alright? You seem like you're a million miles away this morning."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little distracted."
Her mother smiled and Aurora felt the wedding talk coming. She had had that same look two years ago when her sister got married and Aurora wondered if that specific expression was one of those things that you learned when you became a mother. Maybe the doctor would pull her aside if she ever had a daughter and teach her that misty-eyed, dreamy look just for the occasions of proms, weddings, and grandchildren. Of course, that would require her to have children with Greyson, and at the moment, she was still trying to decide if she could get through her marriage without ever having sex with him, much less children.
"Are you thinking about Greyson? Don't worry, it's perfectly normal for a bride to start getting nervous this close to her wedding."
"That must be it. I had a really strange dream last night."
"Oh, really? What was it about?"
The question had a suggestive note to it and Aurora chose not to dignify it even with a joke. Her entirely chaste relationship with Greyson was a well-known fact and Sara delighted in teasing her about her expected wedding night deflowering, actually using that exact phrase, which was always delightfully cringe-worthy.
"A dragon."
Aurora expected her mother to laugh, or at the very least engage in some breakfast table psychoanalysis trying to decipher the meaning behind the dream. Instead, Sara's face dropped and she put her cup down so hard it hit the edge of the saucer, sending the coffee sloshing over the edge and onto the tablecloth.
"Why on earth would you dream about something like that?" she asked, sounding flustered as she scrambled to dab up the coffee with her napkin.
"I don't know. It was so real, though. I was sitting on the edge of a lake and when the water touched my dress it changed colors. Then the dragon appeared and I could actually feel the heat of its fire on my skin."
"Stop."
The abruptness in Sara's voice startled her.
"What's wrong, Mom?"
Sara forced a smile and shook her head, using one hand to brush a stray piece of hair out of her face.
"Nothing, Honey. That's just seems like such a silly thing for you to be dreaming about when there are so many things left to do. Now, hurry and finish up your coffee. We have a fitting appointment in an hour."
Sara rushed off the patio and Aurora watched her disappear down the hallway toward her father's office. Lee had never liked them going into his office, but Sara moved with such determination that Aurora couldn't resist slipping into the house and following her. She tiptoed down the hallway as quickly as she could without making noise and stopped by the doorway to her father's office.
The door stood open a few inches. Aurora flattened her palm against it to push it open a little further. She ducked her head to look inside and saw Sara standing behind Lee's desk, running her fingertips along the deep scrolling in the dark wood edge. Aurora felt uncomfortable watching the painful private moment and was stepping away from the door when it seemed like Sara was suddenly jostled from her thoughts. She opened the top drawer and dug through the papers inside. Apparently not finding what she wanted, she started making her way down the drawers along the side of the desk.
Aurora's heart pounded nervously. Sara closed the last drawer and looked around the office, an anxious expression in her eyes. Feeling like she was tempting fate hovering there by the door, Aurora rushed past the door and stepped into Lee's study. Only a moment later she saw Sara leave the office with nothing in her hands. Aurora knew that as soon as she had the opportunity, she needed to get into that office. There was something that her mother was desperately searching for, but she wanted to find it first.
Throughout the fitting Aurora found her mind wandering back to the dragon and to her mother's strange reaction to her dream. Sara had reacted with something bordering on panic, almost as if she had been expecting the revelation.
As if she had been dreading it.
Aurora allowed her mother, the dress designer, and the tailor flitter around her like hummingbirds, primping, adjusting, gathering, pinning, and squeezing until she felt like something somewhere between a cupcake and a piece of experimental art. Their words drifted over her, but none of them really registered. She couldn't stop thinking about her dream. It felt so incredibly real and she found herself focusing on the intense draw she felt to the dragon, unable to keep its fearsome, yet beautiful body out of her thoughts.
Sara stayed close to her for the rest of the day and by the time Aurora finally rested her head on her pillow that night, she still hadn't had the chance to visit her father's office. She closed her eyes, unsure of what to expect, and a moment later, surrendered her consciousness.
Aurora's eyes slid open slowly and she was back on the bank of the lake, lying on the damp ground with her head rested on her arm. The dragon lay a few yards away, its body curled in a way that almost mimicked hers. A shiver rippled through her when its eyes opened and met hers. She pulled herself up gradually and crawled toward the dragon, keeping her gaze focused steadily on its eyes as she drew closer. Close enough to really look at them now she saw that his eyes were not just black like she originally thought. Instead, they looked like watercolors poured across darkly smoked glass, a blend of shades just visible against a background of charcoal.
No longer feeling fear, she brought one hand up to touch its face. As soon as her fingertips brushed the smooth skin, Aurora felt the strange impression that this was not an "it", but a "he". She touched further, cupping her palm around the curve of his jaw and stroking it down his powerful neck. He lifted his head slightly, the pull causing her to raise up from her knees. The movement brought her closer to him, and she stroked her hand up higher so that her arm draped over his neck.
The dragon tucked his head down so that it pressed against her, touching from just beneath her chin to her mid-thigh. Aurora gasped as he raised his head again and her body lifted off the ground and onto his neck. Her legs came down on either side and she glided down to settle right above his shoulder blades where his wings stretched from his body. The color-swirled skirt rose up her thighs as she tightened her knees to hold herself in place. She ran her hands down his neck, then reached to her sides to touch his wings. They felt warm and thick beneath her palms and she curled her hands around the edges to hold them.
When she gripped his wings on either side of her, she felt his body rise beneath her so that he stood. Her breath caught in her throat, but Aurora felt completely safe against his warm skin. His muscles shifted and tightened against her thighs as he walked toward the edge of the lake. The water rose around her as he sank into it. He swam slowly so that she was beneath the surface from the waist down. She shuddered with the cold. As if he felt the shiver, the dragon opened his mouth and sent a stream of fire along the surface, creating a warmer space around them.
Aurora felt mesmerized by the brief glow of the flame across the water and as she stared into it, she felt herself slipping. She fought to keep her hands on his neck and her thighs around his body, but a moment later she felt her chilly sheets beneath her and the cold grey darkness replaced her world of color.