Dathnar's Fated Flame

Chapter 9: Dathnar

To say Dathnar was furious, would be an understatement. His blood was boiling with rage. The need to tear something to shreds was growing the more his friend recounted what had taken place the previous night at the Tabru. As if that was not bad enough, when Dax spoke of the awful male, Uric, kissing his female, he was almost inconsolable. "I am most definitely going to kill the male, now!", he shouted as he attempted to storm from the room.

Luckily, Dax held him back. "You cannot kill one of your employees, Dath. You know the council would retaliate against you for it." He did not care to hear Dax's reasoning, nor did he care of the coalition's punishments. When it came to Eliza, Dathnar would set the whole galaxy ablaze, flame or no flame. He had listened as Dax had spoken of Eliza, Uric, Urme, and Luke, who he had found out was her brother, having dinner at Cafez. He would have been able to manage that, but when he heard of the male taken his female to the rustic pub, he could barely control himself.

Why would the male take her to such a hardened place? Sure, the patrons that frequented the bar were not all bad beings, but the place was notorious for serving small time criminals. Not to mention, that the male normally acquired his female partners at the establishment. What if something had happened to her? Goddesses knew the male was too carefree for his own good, much less anyone else. The only reassuring fact was she had been there with others as well.

Dathnar's plan to put space between himself and Eliza was failing miserably. He believed that he could not trust himself with the female, but he could not stand the idea of her being with any other male, human or alien. It made no sense at all, but he guessed fated mates rarely did. He would never be able to even be in the same room as her and the other male.

With a little effort, well a lot of effort, Dax was able to convince him to stay in his office for the day. When Dax offered the solution of pairing Eliza with another worker, Dathnar budged. He still thought staying from the mine was unreasonable. He owned the mountain and the mine. If anyone needed to leave it was Uric. He was not able to say the same for Eliza. He could not imagine kicking her out of anywhere. He would go through all the torment of being close yet not able to have her, before he would cause problems for her. The other male, not so much. To see Uric roasted over a large fire would not have calmed his ire.

Though he wished to spend his day creating different ways to cause the sufferable male harm, Dathnar decided to spend his day going over the business side of his company. He looked over the books, tallied up future profit margins, and contrived new business ventures to attempt. Staying busy, Dathnar was in the zone. This is what he needed, not to be bothered with constantly dreaming of his fated mate.

With that simple thought of Eliza, his concentration was altered. Fortunately, it was time for the midday meal, the perfect excuse to leave his current position. In order to make it in time to catch her on break, Dathnar opted out of walking and chose to fly to the mine instead. It was the optimal day for it, warm with a cool, gentle breeze to carry him through the air flawlessly.

Spreading his green and black scaled wings, Dathnar flew directly from his office window, absorbing the suns' rays while pulling his lox from its tied up-do to feel the wind blow through his flowing hair. Faster than he anticipated he arrived at the entrance to the mines just as Eliza was approaching the outside.

Landing directly in front of her, Eliza was startled. She jumped back so fast, almost falling over. He was there to offer her a helping claw. He would always be there for her whether she wanted him to be or not.

As the silence continued to roll by, Dathnar observed Eliza intensely. Something seemed off about the female. Though as beautiful as ever, he could tell she did not sleep well. Puffy circles surrounded her eyes and dark spots he had not seen before seemed to have magically appeared overnight. "Why are you not sleeping, female?" He did not expect her to answer him at all. In fact, he did not even deserve one, especially when he was most likely the cause of her discomfort. "Can we not do this today, Dathnar? I'm not really in the mood."

"I was hoping we could eat the midday meal together today, Eliza. I did not wish to cause you any further distress. I'll leave you be." Just as he set to turn and leave, he finds Eliza hands on his arm and an uplifting smile on her face.

"That would be lovely, Dathnar. Ignore my impoliteness. You're right, I did not get much sleep last night. Let's not worry about that though. Where have you been? Is this going to be an everyday thing? You don't have to show up until breaktime, boss man?"

Dathnar's grin grew at her easy banter. He thrived on her smiles and playful attentions. How they could jump from begin so anxious around each other to this was surprising in the best of ways, just another effect of the fated mate bond. He wondered if she really grasped that there was such intense pull between them. Then he remembered her speaking of this between them. She may not have a full understood it, but she felt it's presence.

Suddenly, it caught his attention, that they could not have a midday meal with no food. "Eliza, would you agree to have the midday meal with me? We will have to travel back to my tuz or can eat at the Cafez. As you see, I do not have any food with me. It was just a spur of the moment idea."

She cocked her head in thought. He questioned if she was getting ready to decline his invite. It upset him. She easily agreed to a meal with Uric, why would she decline his invitation? Just as impatience was weighing heavy upon him, she answered. "I would love to have a meal with you, but we are going to have a serious talk. I will not continue being dragged around by you, Dathnar. I can't handle it." Acknowledging that things may not work out in his favor, he accepted her conditions.

With Eliza's request to dine in public, Dathnar offered to fly her there so she would not become too tired to return to work. Surprisingly, she agreed. Eliza approached him. Even with only flying with him once, she appeared eager to do so again. It thrilled him. There were many wonderful memories to be made for mates during flights. One very naughty one came to the front of his memory but was just as quickly squashed. He could not think of mating Eliza, at least not until he knew how their situation would work out.

As he pulled her up his body, it felt right, unexplainably, she just fit. Nothing had ever felt so great and not just in an exotic way. His heartbeat was faster, his mind was clearer, and he felt more at home than he ever had. She threw her arms around his neck, locking them in place tightly. Her legs went around his waist and rubbed against his tail. He would have to be careful. Prathans' tails were very sensitive. He already felt the heat rising from his groin and though he was a very practiced male, he may not be able to conceal his hunger for her if too erotically touched. They did not need a repeat of last time. He needed this to work.

As they ascended, Eliza giggled as Dathnar's hair whipped with her own against her face. If he was not mistaken, he noticed the female secretly sniffing his lox with a pleased expression quickly crossing her face. He enjoyed that flying with him pleased her. He flew her over the waterfalls, and through the small forest close to the citu, and to see the different tuzes of his employees. He loved seeing how amazed she was at the different sights they viewed, hearing her quiet ooh's and ahh's at the planet's different wonders, and her appreciation of its beauty. Her reactions alone supported the fact that Eliza belonged with him. It was not just the fated mate bond. It was something entirely more. 

As they approached the Cafez, Dathnar anticipated and dreaded the idea of their conversation, but it was something that needed to be done. Dathnar had to make her understand why he needed her and why he had been so reluctant to accept their fate. He just hoped he was not too late to plead his case with her. 

A/N: Do you think Eliza will believe what Dathnar has to say? Should she?

Until Later,

Iris