Her Dragon To Slay(53)

Lost in thought, he almost missed what Lance was saying, “Hey bud, why don’t you take a walk and get some fresh air, you’re going to need to be ready for Spitfire when she wakes,” he chuckled. “Just take a few minutes. I’ll sit here with her. I promise to call out if she wakes.”

“I just hate to be away from her. I feel no shame in telling you, Lance, she is my everything. If she doesn’t wake I will cease to exist. I will follow her to the heavens.”

“Rayne, get your head out of your ass. She’s going to be fine. Get out of here for a minute. Get some fresh air. Get your head on straight. You’re turning into a whiny wimp,” he winked and Rayne knew it was to ease the sting of the truth. “She needs the Commander, not whoever you are right now. No doubts, she will be fine. Now go.” Rayne had known Lance for all their lives and his friend was much more comfortable joking around than having to be the hard ass but he would be eternally grateful for the attitude adjustment. Lance was right, time to get his shit together.

Rayne just stared at Kyndel as if he could will her awake. “You’re right. I’m just tired. I know better than to let the worry overtake me. I do need to move a bit before my butt grows to this chair,” he laughed off his earlier fear, rubbed Kyndel’s leg one more time and turned to go. “I’ll only be a minute.”

“Take as long as you need. I’ll only tell her a few of your dirty little secrets while you’re gone,” Lance laughed out loud as Rayne frowned. There were more stories than he would like to remember that any and all of his brethren could tell Kyndel. Not that he cared if she knew every single thing about him but he wanted to be the one to share the stories that would make her blush.

Rayne growled at his friend and looked over his shoulder at his amazing mate one last time. Thank the Universe Kyndel would not hear whatever Lance thought of sharing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kyndel felt like she was floating. This was the best night’s sleep she had gotten in years, probably since she was a little girl. She thought of the house she lived her first six years in. She had loved that old two storey house. It was so big and comfy. She had her own room and a playroom for all her toys with a place of honor for the dollhouse she and her dad had built together.

Those had been the best couple of weeks ever. It was so cool to work in his shed with him. He would pretend he had glued little pieces of wood to his hands, then touch his face and dance round yelling for her to pull them off. When she would reach to pull his fingers from his face, he would grab her around the waist and swing her all around. She had laughed so hard tears ran down her face. Painting was a whole new experience. He had smeared paint on her arm and acted like it was an accident. She would always get him back by putting red paint on his cheeks and nose. He looked just like the Raggedy Andy doll her cousin, Lucy, carried everywhere.

That old house had a big kitchen too which was perfect because her mom loved to cook and bake, especially for every holiday. Kyndel always got to help. She would roll out the dough for pies or cookies and put the icing on the cookies and the cakes. It was the best. Right before her sixth birthday was the first time her mom had let her flip the pancakes on the griddle for Saturday morning breakfast. Her momma was the best cook ever. When she missed them the most, she would close her eyes and remember the smell of momma’s pot roast just like they were coming through the door from Sunday school. Every memory was accompanied by the sound of her parents’ laughter. Those memories got her through some really hard times and reminded her what an incredibly lucky little girl she had been.

She’d had a great childhood and was a pretty good kid. Her parents had only had to punish her once, and even then she would swear her dad was biting the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing. She had knocked Amy Jo right off the merry-go-round with absolutely no remorse. That little snot had deserved it. She had been teasing Kyndel, saying she had chipmunk cheeks in front of all the kids at recess. The boys had laughed at her and the girls just looked down like they were embarrassed for her. Amy Jo was going round and round and every time she passed Kyndel she made a little “squeak squeak” sound and blew her cheeks up like they were packed with nuts. The fourth trip around, Kyndel’d had enough; she grabbed the handle, dug her feet into the dirt and dragged that merry-go-round to a halt. Amy Jo made that stupid face and squeaked one more time, so Kyndel hit her right in the shoulder with all her might. Amy Jo fell in the dirt and cried like a baby.

Of course, stupid Miss Kidmore saw all of it and took Kyndel to the principal’s office because Amy Jo was wailing like a siren. The principal called her parents and dad came to the school. That was what happened in small towns, everybody knew everybody and parents came right to the school when there was a problem. Principal Smith told her dad what she had done and that she would have to write sentences that night. Her dad scolded her with a twinkle in his eye and assured the principal she would complete her punishment. She did and even though her fingers hurt from writing “I will not hit my classmates” two hundred times it was so worth it because Amy Jo never teased her again. But then she was only at that school for a few more months. Her mom and dad were killed soon after the incident and she that was when she went to live with Granny.