Beneath Our Disguises

Leather Spun Bindings (Dragon x Reader)

(Dragon x Reader)

A grin tugs at the edges of your lips as you look at what you and just a few other close friends had accomplished in just a matter of hours. The backyard leading to the edge of the woods was decorated heavily with strings of fairy and Christmas lights, trees wrapped in them showed the edge of the forest to stray travellers as Christmas lights brighten the area. The sun is still nearly an hour until set, but with it fast approaching the sky had darkened significantly. With snacks, beverages, and desserts splayed out and the most musical of the friend group attaching her iPod at that very moment to play an extreme party list, you climb upon one of the crates turned upside down to make a possible seat if necessary. Immediately, all eyes are drawn to you as you clear your throat. With about 20 people gathered before you, you open your mouth to say something your dry throat cannot seem to fathom, the doorbell chimes a single time.

For just a few second peace and barely caged excitement linger, and then all hell breaks loose as frantically, people attempt to find convincing hiding places in and outside of the house. Moving quickly you hurry to the door, glancing around just to make sure everyone was in place before throwing it open wide for the two people that stood behind it. Grinning as arms encircle you and coils of familiar orange hair block your sight, laughter escaping two mouths as you stumble before catching the larger female's weight. 

"Y/n!!! I can't believe it! Mum told us there would be a surprise here but she refused to say what, I can not believe it is you! Of all the people in this entire universe I was most excited to see you, three years was way too long and I missed out on way too much of your life, tell me everything, seriously, everything... " Her voice continues to draw on, the happy babble of your oldest friend Cheryl meeting deaf ears as your eyes search behind her in dismay for her brother. A sudden burst of laughter returns your focus to the stick thin freckled woman in front of you, her unusually pale pink painted lips thinning around narrow but straight teeth, her thin jaw a testament to her height. "You are looking for Callumn aren't you?" She accuses, the slight hint of pink spreading across your cheeks before she bursts into laughter again, a grin brightening her thin mouth. "Oh don't worry, he's coming later, just talking a little with father first." She says, giving a shrug as if there was nothing to worry about. 

Pretending as if you don't care you lead her deeper into the house and towards the back where everyone is hiding. Pulling her harder in your excitement you can feel her suspicious look boring into your back as you lead her to the real surprise of the party. Stepping through the glass sliding door that leads into the backyard you turn and yell surprise as the other party comers spring from hidden crevices to yell with you. The happiness of the entire thing is prominent on her face, forcing a smile wide across your own, hands clasped in front of you as you congratulate yourself on a job well done.

Almost immediately the party gets into full swing, the dimming of lights casting a more secretive feeling onto the gathering teens, you gradually hang more and more in the back, feeling included and yet. .  something felt off. Something wasn't quite right, it was as if two eyes had been placed on you and they were never coming off until the day you die. Shivering at the unsettling feeling, you weave your way through the jumping teenagers, dancing to the pounding music as you try to get to the dessert table. Your plans of stuffing your face are interrupted as your face meets a chest that came out of nowhere. 

The plain grey material of a t-shirt is not very eye-catching itself, but the easily visible muscle beneath is enough to make your heart pound with nerves, eyes travelling upwards slowly at the feeling of a leather-wrapped arm surrounding your waist. Finding a well-toned neck with a hint of ink peaking under the edge of the shirt and collar of a black leather jacket causes a lump to form in your throat, but the sight of the handsome well-toned face it connects to is something you could never forget. A squeal escapes your smiling lips as you leap on top of the no longer stranger. "Callumn! You're here!" You cry into his neck as a chuckle vibrates your entire body, rumbling from his broad chest. The honey-brown hair that used to lay in a long messy mop, now has with tightly cropped sides and a medium length top swept to the left in a hot mess, his slate grey eyes as puncturing as ever, always peering deep into your soul with the slightest of glances. He used to be a skinny kid, tall with just some lean muscle, now though he was built, covered in hard earned muscle. Not to the point of being disgusting, but to where it said don't mess with me I can beat you up, his shoulders that once barely filled the leather jacket now stretched it to capacity. 

"How could I not be." He responds, dry as always, his face still beside the squint of amusement given by his rock solid eyes, a testament to his unbreakable nature. You let go slowly, a blush crawling up your face as you gently push away, hyperaware of a hand resting on your waist lightly, gentle but firm against the cloth of your shirt. Something was different about him, and not just the new muscle, he seemed more sure of himself and confident in who he was, it nearly scares you with the intensity that seems to be barely contained behind the thin layer of glass that was his eyes. Moving from his grasp slowly, uncertainly you continue towards the table of food and drinks. 

"W-would you like something to drink?" You stammer over the music, your only response a nod as you hand him a can of pop silently, not exactly sure what to say as you sip at a cup of water you had poured yourself, your eyes wander into the surrounding crowd, watching the chatting teenagers, it seems dull though, distant compared to the body heat next to you, radiating to heat your skin. You hadn't even realized it was getting chilly until now when such a source of heat stood beside you. Lost in your thoughts you jumped, nearly throwing the contents of your cup at the young man beside you that had laid a hand on the small of your back. A smile tugged on the edges of the man's lips as a handprint is seared into your lower back with the heat of his palm.

"Let's get out of here, it's a little. .  loud don't you think?" He whispers, the fiery breath of his mouth scorching your ear at his proximity, but you find yourself nodding in a slight daze anyway. The hand at the small of your back slides slowly to rest around your waist, pulling you to his side as he guides through an ever-thickening crowd of people. It suddenly feels almost suffocating in the crowds, hazy with the heat of so many bodies.

Screams erupt from the haze that now burns your lungs, an echo of fire scatters people like animals from a gunshot. The heat of something around your waist has disappeared and suddenly you are aware of what is happening. Eyes wide and stinging with smoke, you freeze in a panic, heart beating wildly inside of your ribcage, keeping you alive. The echoes of crashes seem to be far away as people scramble for a wooden fence that is now alight with orange and yellow flames, a house drenched with the same and rows of trees sending plumes of smoke and heat into the awaiting sky. There is no escape from the heat of flames, buffets of the hot air collapse upon you, sending you sprawling onto the evaporating grass, your back and head hitting hard as you cough up lungfuls of noxious gasses. Above you, miraculously, the sky begins to clear, only to reveal the horrifying creature that had done all of this.

Golden wings stretch, covering every inch of open sky, terrifyingly gory talons reach down towards you, ready to rip you open from head to toe with barely a blink of the eye. Its maw is open, the roar silenced only by a louder one of pure fear racing through your head, your body taught and frozen, unable to make sense of the golden beast advancing on you, the last thing you see as darkness encroaches on your vision, are eyes the color of solid smoke, staring directly into your own as heated scales snag on your shirt as they curl around your rigid body.

You feel heat, warmth surrounding your body in something rough and inflexible beneath you and on top something fluffy but stiff. Groaning with ignorance of the situation, you open stinging eyes to find fire not three feet from you. The image of burning people flashes through your mind as you quickly scramble away only to hit something hard that grabbed you around the middle tightly, stiffening as something scaly and hot slides around your leg you look down, heart speeding up with every second at the sight of a golden tail tightly entwining your legs. Swallowing hard the strong arm turns you to face a muscular chest, eyes travelling upwards slowly to meet the emotionless steel of Callumn, "It's ok, I have you now and I am NEVER LETTING YOU GO." He murmurs, hot breath against your cheek as he seals the promise with a kiss, searing it upon your cheek.

(1669 words)

(Sorry it's kinda long, it just took me a while to figure out exactly what to say for this little short story, hope you guys like it!)