Amara and Leslie stood on the left side of the stage as Damascus had instructed. Amara could feel her palms perspiring. It was not the first time being in front of a large audience, however, her audience was never a room full of Dragons. "It will be alright," Leslie finally said. Amara could only nod in answer. The stage was a smaller one than the banquet she had recently held, and it was in the main dining hall of the castle, which again was smaller than the large venue, but it also made it so there was less room to hide. What are you doing? This is not who you are. Remember who you are, a small voice inside of Amara's head said. She squared her shoulders then. That is right. She fought tooth and nail when she was younger and again in her adulthood to make herself what she was today, without anyone for help until Leslie came along. "Please help me in welcoming Amara Hayes and her assist Leslie Howard to the Divine Kingdom," Gabriel finally announced to the crowd. There was applaus
Both Amara and Leslie were slow to rise the next morning. The event the previous evening had gone well into the night and since the rest of the Kingdom seemed to move at a more leisurely pace, Amara figured that a couple more hours of sleep wasn’t going to hurt them. Amara met Leslie in the kitchen once more, "Last night was nice," Leslie commented as she fried up some eggs on the stove top. Amara sat in the chair at the island and agreed as she check her email on her phone. Nothing new since the evening before so Amara placed the phone face down on the counter. "So, what is going on with Damascus?" Leslie finally asked. "He was standing next to you when I came back with food but excused himself pretty quickly after that," Leslie commented. Amara had noticed as well, and Damascus hadn’t returned for the remainer of the evening. It stung Amara slightly, but she had agreed that they were going to take this slow and Amara figured that he had enough socializing for one evening. Damascu
Damascus had decided to take Amara to a small restaurant that sat near the edge of the Kingdom. He had assumed she had not eaten yet and since their first ride had ended somewhere secluded, he picked somewhere more public instead. Not that he was trying to publicly announce that they were seeing one another, if that is what one called it, but a part of him did want others to know that she was under his protection, which he hoped would stop any negativity that might make its way towards her. Damascus turned off the bike and helmet Amara down from the back. "This looks nice," Amara said as she took the helmet off after Damascus had unclipped it for her. The restaurant was small but homey. It sat nestled between a bookstore and what looked like an antique shop. "It may not be much, but Lester serves a mean steak," Damascus said as she gathered the helmets in his hands. "Oh, did I not mention?" Amara looked at Damascus with the most convincing look she could muster. "What?" Damascus
Damascus Arison could feel all 321 horsepower between his legs as he raced his Kawasaki Ninja H2 R down the highway. The night was as dark as his matte black bike. The only illumination came from the light that sat in the center of his motorcycle. The rain was heavy as it fell. The drops hit the front of his visor, but Damascus did not care. His heart had been shattered into a million pieces after he had left his grandmother's bedside in the hospital. She had taken her last breath while he was present. Damascus held her hand as the weight of it fell into his palm as her eye lids had closed with her last breath. Ada Arison had raised Damascus at the age of fourteen years old after his father's "accident". Ada had been his father's mother, but she had not been in his life much before she came and took him away after his father's funeral. Adrian Arison had been a cruel man in life and Damascus had always assumed that Ada had kept her distance same as his mother who had fled from his f
"You seem to be moving a bit slow today. Are your injuries still bothering you?" Gabriel, King of the Dragons, asked Damascus. They had gotten back to their routine training a few days prior. Damascus's injuries had taken some time to heal, and Gabriel did not want to hear any arguments from Damascus about giving his body proper time to heal. "I am only slower because you have forced me to become a bed potato for the last four weeks," Damascus said under his breath. Damascus had not been the best patient for those that Gabriel had sent to make sure that he complied with Gabriel's command to rest. "You would not have healed otherwise. We both know how you like to overdo it," Gabriel retorted. Damascus only made a noise in response which caused a smile to spread across his friend's face. Gabriel and Damascus had a different relationship with each other than most kings and seconds. They bickered as if they were brothers but would go to the ends of the Earth for one another in a heartbe
The SUV pulled up to a large building with concrete stairs down the front of it. A red carpet had been laid out for the guests that were said to attend. Damascus took a deep breath before exiting the SUV. He walked around to the other side of the vehicle and opened Gabriel's door after surveying their surroundings. Gabriel stepped out and patted Damascus on the shoulder. "Relax," Gabriel said under his breath with a smile. Both knew it was a joke to think that Damascus could ever relax. Especially in an environment outside of the Kingdom with too many unknown variables. Gabriel walked ahead and made his way up the stairs. Others were arriving at the same time as well and camera flashes were going off on their side of the stairs. The photographer and journalist were held back by a string of black ropes, that did not stop them from calling out Gabriel's name and trying to ask him questions as he ascended the stairs. Most of the human world only knew Gabriel as a millionaire and polit
Amara Hayes stood at her office window and looked out at the city below. Her thoughts were far off, which seemed to be a more normal occurrence as of late. She could not get the motorcyclist out of her mind. Had he survived the crash? The oddity around the people who had shown up swiftly taken him away. His injuries had been so extensive she was unsure how one could survive if not taken to a hospital straight away. One of the men had said they were taking him to their hospital, but the nearest one had been in the opposite direction that the SUV had taken off. She prayed that the man had gotten the care that he needed. Amara could not stop the other thoughts that continued to creep in. The man had been devilishly handsome. Even with his injuries she could tell that he took great care of his physique. She wondered not for the first time what was wrong with her? The man had been injured and yet here she was thinking about his body. Not that she could see his face clearly through his h
It was her. His angel who had been flying through his thoughts the weeks since his accident. The woman was none other than the human marketing manager that the King was thinking of bringing into the Dragon Kingdom. How was that possible? The highway he had been driving on his motorcycle had been in the Kingdom. Had a woman slipped through their defensives? Why?All these questions began to circulate through his mind. He could not help but feel a pull towards her as well. She had all but saved his life that night by stopping. The image of her had brought him back when all he had wanted was to let go and join his grandmother. Her image had given him a reason to live. Although he could not tell her that. He could tell through her aura that she was pure. She was not tainted as he was by his past. The questioned still lingered of what she had been doing on that highway. However, now was not the time to ask those questions. Instead, he stood there and stared at her like a jackass. Or an i
Damascus had decided to take Amara to a small restaurant that sat near the edge of the Kingdom. He had assumed she had not eaten yet and since their first ride had ended somewhere secluded, he picked somewhere more public instead. Not that he was trying to publicly announce that they were seeing one another, if that is what one called it, but a part of him did want others to know that she was under his protection, which he hoped would stop any negativity that might make its way towards her. Damascus turned off the bike and helmet Amara down from the back. "This looks nice," Amara said as she took the helmet off after Damascus had unclipped it for her. The restaurant was small but homey. It sat nestled between a bookstore and what looked like an antique shop. "It may not be much, but Lester serves a mean steak," Damascus said as she gathered the helmets in his hands. "Oh, did I not mention?" Amara looked at Damascus with the most convincing look she could muster. "What?" Damascus
Both Amara and Leslie were slow to rise the next morning. The event the previous evening had gone well into the night and since the rest of the Kingdom seemed to move at a more leisurely pace, Amara figured that a couple more hours of sleep wasn’t going to hurt them. Amara met Leslie in the kitchen once more, "Last night was nice," Leslie commented as she fried up some eggs on the stove top. Amara sat in the chair at the island and agreed as she check her email on her phone. Nothing new since the evening before so Amara placed the phone face down on the counter. "So, what is going on with Damascus?" Leslie finally asked. "He was standing next to you when I came back with food but excused himself pretty quickly after that," Leslie commented. Amara had noticed as well, and Damascus hadn’t returned for the remainer of the evening. It stung Amara slightly, but she had agreed that they were going to take this slow and Amara figured that he had enough socializing for one evening. Damascu
Amara and Leslie stood on the left side of the stage as Damascus had instructed. Amara could feel her palms perspiring. It was not the first time being in front of a large audience, however, her audience was never a room full of Dragons. "It will be alright," Leslie finally said. Amara could only nod in answer. The stage was a smaller one than the banquet she had recently held, and it was in the main dining hall of the castle, which again was smaller than the large venue, but it also made it so there was less room to hide. What are you doing? This is not who you are. Remember who you are, a small voice inside of Amara's head said. She squared her shoulders then. That is right. She fought tooth and nail when she was younger and again in her adulthood to make herself what she was today, without anyone for help until Leslie came along. "Please help me in welcoming Amara Hayes and her assist Leslie Howard to the Divine Kingdom," Gabriel finally announced to the crowd. There was applaus
Damascus had left Amara and Leslie after seeing that they made it home. They had taken off shortly after lunch to get ready for the event being held at the castle that evening. Amara had confided in Damascus that she was a bit nervous to be in a room full of Dragons who might not be able to accept the fact that there was a human living among them. Gabriel had already told Damascus about Leslie. He was aware that she was one as well, but up until now she thought that she was alone. Damascus was glad that she was no longer on her know. He had met several Dragons who had grown up that way and it changed them for the worst. They became bitter and angry when they found out about the Kingdoms and turned their hatred on their own kind. However, Leslie seemed nothing like the others and he was thankful for that. Damascus had left his and Amara's conversations surface level for the remainder of the day. He knew that she was nervous enough without adding in any conversation about their relati
Amara walked over and let her weight fall onto the couch next to Leslie. "Was it a good ride then?" Leslie asked. A smile still firmly planted on face. Amara rolled her head and looked over at Leslie without lifting her head from the back of the couch. "It was," Amara finally said. Leslie had put on a reality show in the background. Although for the life of her, Leslie could not explain the plot to any of it. "I made some chicken and rice in the kitchen if you care for some," Leslie said to Amara. Amara thanked her and walked to the kitchen to grab a bowl. They were content to sit on the couch and talk about the ridiculousness of the show that was currently running.*****************************************************************************************************************The next morning, Amara woke after a heated dream about a certain man in a motorcycle helmet. The dream had left her feeling unsatisfied. The idea of a helping hand was not foreign to her. She was still a vir
"Sorry," Damascus said a little breathlessly. Amara had to get past her own drumming in her ears to make sure that she heard him correctly. "You do not need to apologize," she said. "I did not bring you up here to do that," Damascus tried to explain himself. It helped her to know that he was feeling something between them as well. Something that he had a hard time controlling. "You do not need to apologize for kissing me," Amara tried to give him a small smile so that he believed the words that she said. "This is completely new to me, and I do not know where we go from here," Damascus admitted. New for him? Amara was confused. "You have never kissed a woman before?" she asked. It was the second time that she heard Damascus chuckle. She realized that she liked the sound and hoped that he would start to do it more often. It lit up his face and she could feel it released some of his tension. Although the idea of him kissing someone else did have a bit of jealousy sting running down
Damascus's hands had shook slightly as he had fastened the helmet on Amara. She would be his first passenger on his bike ever. He knew that he would not be able to go the same careless speeds that he normally went while he was alone. She was too precious of cargo to chance something happening and Damacus would never be able to forgive himself. If Gabriel knew that he had taken his bike rather than a car he would be chastising him. Gabriel had offered the dresses as a reason for Damascus to go over to Amara's and ask her on a date. But Gabriel's idea of a date was a nice quiet dinner. Damascus had no idea how to behave on a quite fancy date. So he stuck closer to what he knew. Adrenaline. Damascus pulled the large motorcycle away from the curb and took great care to go slow and let Amara gt accustomed to sitting on the back of the bike. He had not fully thought though his plan as riding together put Amara's entire front pressed against his back. Even though he was wearing a riding ja
Amara got back to her office and greeted her by an email from Gabriel. It laid out everything for the event that would be the following evening. He had also added that she was not to work that night. It was to introduce the citizens to her as well as her to them He planned for her to enjoy her evening without any other interruptions. Amara let out a humph noise. There went the idea of taking over and showing the King what she could do. Leslie had been quiet as they had walked back to the office. She did not try to ask what Damascus and Amara talked about. She would let Amara disclose that if she ever did. Leslie wondered what would happen with the two. Amara had been angry about Damascus keeping an eye on her, but Amara had only grown angry when the man sitting in the coffee shop was not Damascus himself. Leslie stuck to her desk the remainder of the day and worked through a few action items that Amara had sent to her. It wasn’t until three o'clock in the afternoon that Amara final
Damascus found himself unusually distracted for the rest of the training session. The other warriors noticed it as well. Damascus tried to ignore the whispers among them. He did not want to draw any more attention to his and Amara's discussion than it seemed it was already drawing. "Get cleaned up and something to eat, that is it for today," Damascus shouted to the rest of the warriors. Damascus turned around and headed towards his own set of rooms within the castle. He had almost made it to his door uninterrupted until he heard his King's voice travelling down the hallway. "What happened during the training session this morning, D?" Gabriel's voice held a sour note and Damascus turned around. His own irritation plainly written on his face. "Nothing that I cannot handle," he wondered who had run off during the session to inform Gabriel about Amara's visit. He had no doubt it was a certain female warrior. Ebony was having a hard time keeping her noise out of Damascus's business, at