Chapter 1

Tayten walked sedately down a path that wound its way through a young forest, twirling a stick on her hands. It was one of the few things that ever brought her peace these days. She had not been eighteen for very long, but things had changed drastically. Her friends seemed to ditch her, and her boyfriend started pressuring her. One thing remained the same. Her parents were all but void from her life. She had even used her incredible power of being a legal adult to get piercings all over her face. There was a hoop in her eyebrow and another on her lip as well as a bar going through her tongue. The two piercings on her ears, been there for years, when her parents still minded her enough to know her name, now she had just added three more holes to eat ear.

Again, everything changed and now she was trapped, not sure of what to do, where to go, or how to proceed with life. So she walked through a forest that was all but hers.

In the forest, Tayten really did not look like she belonged. She had light brown hair, highlighted with coppers and reds that fell past her shoulders but gradually came up to frame her face. Her eyes were a kind shade of gray but often changed to vary between blue and green always with the gray undertone. She was not really tall, but nor was she short, her body was skinny and one bra size away from being flat. Her clothing was tight around her waist, stomach, and chest so she could show off the little form she did have, but cloth hung from her arms and around her legs, trying to conceal a little of how naturally skinny she was. Never had she considered herself beautiful, or even slightly attractive. But her friends throughout the time had always told her differently. Now look where they were, not talking to her and her boyfriend was obligated to tell her she was pretty. It was an obligation that he did not take up very often.

She let out a sigh and fell backwards onto the ground. It was fall so the leaves she landed on made a pleasant crunching noise under her. Breathing deep the sweet scent of the earth, she curled up on the ground, just resting in the leaves. If only she was allowed to stay here. It was not as if her parents would bother trying to find her. They were too focused on important things such as which TV in the house was bigger or if they were both the same so they should get a bigger one just so it can be superior. The thing that kept her from staying right where she was, was Jeran; her boyfriend. If she stayed away for even half a day, he would come down on her and thoroughly teach her that she could not stay away from him for very long. For if she was gone that long, not even a whole day, clearly she was cheating on him. Not even cheating on him, giving someone else what she would not give him.

Tayten buried her face in the leaves, almost wanting to cry at the peace she found in them.

Jeran was getting out of hand. She knew it and her friends had known it, had told her it, she never listened.

Her pocket buzzed with a text on her phone, and now she wanted to cry from fear. She reached into her pocket and took out the phone, flipped it up and cringed. Sure enough, it was Jeran. Cursing herself to hell, she clicked view with a more violent cringe. Without a sound, she put the phone back, got to her feet and started running from the forest. She jumped down the curb that separated the forest from the expensive homes that were placed 'in nature', slid into her disgusting sports car and zoomed off.

It was Saturday, so there was no school and Jeran was off of work, which meant she had to be with him.

Thankfully, her house was not far from 'her' forest, and she made it to her driveway in less than five minutes. Of course, Jeran was waiting for her, sitting on top of his car with his best friend Dustin beside him. Tayten's heart sank when she got out of her car and they both started striding towards her. For a moment, her hands ran through her hair, checking to make sure it was not obvious that she had been rolling in piles of leaves. When Jeran got to her, he roughly grabbed her arms with his hands, and dragged her forward. His mouth closed roughly on hers, kissing her with possessive anger, trying to make her see that she worried him. Trying to make her realize that she, everything she was, was his.

He continued the rough handling until Tayten whimpered softly. Only then did he calm down to kiss her like a person, not a creature forcing his dominance on someone lower than he.

"You don't know how happy I am that you got those lip and tongue piercings." He said softly against her hair, holding her close now in an embrace that looked for all the world like a boy comforting a girl he was in love with.

This was why Tayten dated him. Of course he had his moments, but after them he always held her, always said he was sorry. She knew it was wrong, but he always said he was sorry.

"So," he said, letting her out of his arms, but still keeping a possessive limb over her shoulders. "Where were you?" He motioned for Dustin to follow as he marched Tayten up to the front door.

"I was taking a walk." Came her answer as she looked through her purse for her keys.

Dustin snorted a laugh. "A walk? In your car?"

Jeran looked over Tayten. His eyes, which were a very pretty green that went well with his wood brown hair, narrowed at her. "You went to the forest, didn't you."

She ducked her head a little bit. "Yes, I did."

Her boyfriend made a sound if disapproval when they walked into the dark house. He flipped on all the lights before going to laze on a couch in her living room while Dustin helped himself to a beer from the fridge.

Tayten glanced at Dustin and rolled her eyes. Maybe if her parents found beer missing they would start yelling at her. Or they would buy more. She then looked over to Jeran, who was studying her with those green eyes that seemed so beautiful, but so depthless. He looked like a god on her couch, wearing a t-shirt that laid nicely on his defined torso and kakis that were slung low on his waist. She knew he was trying to be sexy. All of the sudden, she knew something was up.

Jeran sighed, got off the couch and came up to her.

"My love," He said softly, "Why do you go there? You could be doing normal things like going to the mall with your friends, or spending the day with me." His hands started to go through her hair and down her side to her waist as his lips started to trace up her neck. It was not long before the hand on her waist started to try to make its way up her shirt.

She tried to twist away but his hand clenched in her hair and he pressed his body against her. "Jeran, please. Dustin is here."

In fact, Dustin was watching them, sipping his beer.

"He won't interfere." Jeran growled as he started biting the rings on her ear.

Her body thrashed a little more against his, making him snarled more. Using his weight, height, and strength, he moved to trap her against the wall.

"Have you been meeting someone in that little forest of yours?" Jeran growled against her skin as he bit, licked, and kissed her. "I bet you have." With one hand he unzipped his pants, while the other he held her firmly to the wall. "I bet you have been sleeping with just about any boy who has come along." As he spoke he pressed his hips against hers so he could pin her and rip off her shirt at the same time. "Well, you are legal now, so that excuse won't work, and you have been mine for years."

"Jeran, please don't do this." She whimpered. "Dustin! Help!"

Dustin merely smiled, sipped his beer and sat on the arm of the couch.

Tayten could feel Jeran starting to fiddle with the waist of her pants. Fear engulfed her. Instinctively she brought her knee up hard between his legs.

Surprised, Jeran stumbled back, gasping in pain. Dustin jumped to his feet, unsure of what to do, his beer still gripped in his lazy hands.

"Damn you bitch!" Jeran snarled, his usually handsome face twisted with rage as he reached for her. "You will give me what I want." Once his hands closed on her wrist, he pulled her towards him as he raised his other hand, slapping her full on her face when she was within range of the blow.

Already off balance from being pulled, the force of Jeran's slap sent Tayten to the ground, holding her face in her hands. The room froze, not a sound save Jeran's heavy breathing was heard in the room. At last, it dawned on him what he had just done.

"Tayten?" He said, his voice turning sweet, almost caring. Bending low, he ran a gentle hand down her bare arm. It sickened Tayten to know that it was the hand that had just slapped her.

"Get out of my house Jeran." She said, her voice surprisingly calm.

"What?"

"Get. Out." She said again, getting to her feet. Without looking at him, she walked into the kitchen.

Jeran's gaze followed her. Dustin stared after her as well. He tried to take a sip of his beer, not realizing he had dropped it. When she came back, she had a long chef's knife in her hand.

"Both of you," She said calmly again, "get out of my house."

"Please, Tayten I didn't…"

"GET THE FUCKING HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU FUCKING SON OF A WHORE!" Tayten screamed at him, tears finally breaking from her eyes. She shook the knife at them, proving a point to them and causing them to run as fast as they could out of the house. Jeran waited a step before turning to go back in, but Tayten was right behind them. She locked the door in his face. Dropping her knife, she raced through her house, locking all the doors and windows, paranoid that he would try to get back in.

At last, she felt secure and safe. Out of tears, but still sobbing, she went into her room on the top floor, burring herself in a large sweatshirt that one of her best friends had given her years ago. She could feel her friend's caring in it. Suddenly she felt loved, by a person she had ostracized years ago. A new wave of tears rushed from her eyes as she stumbled down the stairs. In a daze she picked up the fallen beer bottle so she could try to clean up the stain with a rag she grabbed from the kitchen.

As she scrubbed, she could not see through her tears and she could not think through the whirlwind in her mind. Her eyes were a dread grey color as she glanced at the torn shirt on the floor. A violent sob shook her. With the shudder she threw the sopping wet towel at the wall, leaving a wet splotch. She then left a stain on the carpet as the force of her sob caused her to throw up.

Her phone buzzed. She grabbed it and threw it at the wall, shattering it. A moment later, the home phone rang.

It was her mother.

Taking a deep breath and steadying herself, she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi honey! I just wanted to let you know that your father and I are going to be home late so don't wait up."

Tayten screamed and slammed the phone back onto the charger. For a moment she could just stand there, her fingers and nails digging into her head. She screamed again, ran to a door, unlocked it, wrenched it open and flew out of it. Nothing was in her mind as she slipped into her car, jammed the key in to start it, and recklessly sped down the road to the forest. Once she was there, she threw her car after the curb, parked and ran out of it. She did not care to take the keys out, she did not even bother to close the door. Barefooted, she ran deep into the forest and threw herself into a ditch filled with leaves. She curled into a ball there. There was no crying herself to sleep. Instead, she cried and sobbed until she ran out of tears, until it hurt to breath, let alone sob.

She lay there, curled up for hours, not wanting to see the world, never wanting to go back. Her parents had things to keep themselves busy and Jeran could screw himself and Dustin for all she cared.

At one point, she may have fallen asleep. She didn't know. She didn't care. But the only time she stirred was when something the felt scaly touched her back.

Panic flooded her for a moment and she scrambled away, turning herself so she could see what had touched her. What she found took her breath away. A lizard, barely the size of a full grown collie looked up at her with sweet dark blue-green eyes. Tayten assumed he was male, for he was very handsome, his scales a misty blue. His head was angular and sharp, but not narrow and needle like. He had touched her with a nose that was one hard scale with a spike pointing up at the tip. The rest of his face was free of spikes and points, but around his head going from one jaw bone, over to the other were spikes that swooped over the point where his head met his neck. As she studied him and he studied her, she found that he could move these. The more she looked, the more intrigued she became. Like most of his face, his neck was free of spikes, but there were small ridges along his back going all the way down to the tip of his tail.

He continued to look at her, his head tilted to the side. When his head straightened, he unfurled his disproportioned wings, flapping them slightly.

"Hi…" The dragon said shyly, unsure of how she would react to him.

"Ummm… Hi." She answered, in awe that she was actually talking to a dragon even with her hoarse voice.

The creature seemed pleased by this greeting, like she had fully accepted him.

"I heard you…making noise…so I wanted to come and see why." He tilted his head again and Tayten could tell he was just a child, however big.

She sighed, absently rubbing the dragon's spiked nose. "It doesn't matter." She told him, not wanting to concern him with what had happened to her.

His eyelids slipped down a little and soft noises came from his throat. He did not try to move away from her touch so she figured he enjoyed it.

"You were hurt weren't you? I can see marks on your skin. Like a tree if it is scratched."

Tayten choked back a gasping sob and coughed instead, tearing her throat more.

"Yeah, I was hurt."

The dragon crooned to her. "I won't let anything hurt you." He said, putting his head on her lap. "Not while I'm with you."

Touched, Tayten wrapped her arms around the creature's neck.

"I'm Kijorn by the way." He told her, pleased with himself.

She laughed softly. "It is an honor Kijorn. You can call me Tayten."

Kijorn nodded and pulled his head out from her grasp, looking around as if something could or would attack them then and there.

Taking a breath, Tayten looked around too. It was dark and it was cold. But Kijorn was warm and could apparently see in the dark. Not for the first time in her life, Tayten took a chance and curled up again. Beside her, she could feel the young dragon curl up as well, putting his head gently on her waist.

"Do not worry Tayten." He said softly. "You are safe with me."

Tears fell again from her face, and the woman fell asleep to Kijorn's soft, kind reassurance.