The lovely rhythms of her chest were what amazed him the most. It was so near his sensitive ears that he could vividly feel and hear the pulsating sounds. The immortal black dragon had to admit he had never encountered any immortal with such a beautiful heart.
Once again, he got distracted by her full, pink lips, parted slightly and very close to his face as she held his eyes hostage still and then he began to wonder…his thoughts rolling out of his mouth as he remained still in her hold, locking gazes with her big, brown eyes.
''How is the weakest this beautiful?'' It was just a genuine observation from him. He sensed how weak she was as an immortal and he didn't need to solve any difficult equation to guess she was probably the weakest reincarnated dragon in the fourth heaven. It shows in her movements and her dragon bead responded to him the slowest. But then taking in her physical appearance, style and even the way she makes him both irritated and genuinely intrigued by her manners…he couldn't find any other immortal much worthy of his praises than her.
Xueyao slowly let off of his eyes to stare at him like she had just been hit in the face by a meteor star.
B…b…beauti….
The longer she stared at him the more she understood he wasn't trying to mock her with it or worse, play with her feelings. She didn't want to make it obvious that he was the first blind dragon in the entire immortal realm to call her both weak and beautiful.
Xueyao cleared her throat and tipped her chin towards him and said, ''Ah, I see. You are not an exception to my charm.'' She smiled while placing both hands against her cheeks.''That's why I need you to be more responsible so that I can return in the arms of my many suitors ready to fawn over my beauty for life.''
Of course, she was going to make his honest observation of her much more interesting and he seemed ready for the ride when Xueyao stiffened at the touch of his cold hands around the small of her waist again, bringing her closer to himself on his laps as interest sparkled in his gaze nonstop.
Xueyao gingerly placed her arms on his firm chest as her heart, chest and cheeks burned more than ever before and she wondered why she was responding this way.
''Really?''
''Yes,'' she tried to be more confident in his hold even though she had lost count of the number of times she had to swallow her saliva to appear less nervous. ''I am the most beautiful female dragon you will ever see.''
Something long–buried in his eyes surfaced. Something none of them could grasp yet as he slowly began to be so fond of her.
''Even more beautiful than my disciple?''
He noticed how her eyes wandered around a bit as she tried to figure out the unfortunate soul that got to have him as a Master. He probably abandoned her just like he did the rest of them. That ancient immortal could have passed on long ago if she was just a blue or red dragon so it was safe to say yes.
''The most beautiful you will ever see.'' She insisted with another smile. ''Aaaand only my admirers could stare at me up close like this.'' She managed to wiggle herself out of his hold, crawled away from him, stood, and felt satisfied that she had managed to make a solid impression on him.
''So? What are you thinking, Black dragon immortal? Ready to save this world with me?''
The faint smile on his face faltered as she was bringing up this salvation issue again. If he actually cared for them, he wouldn't have stayed away from everything for more than one hundred thousand years. And only because of her strange witchcraft over him had he gotten caught up in all this, unable to sleep again as he once did.
The hopeful smile on her face remained and he hated to crush it with what threatened to fall out of his mouth so he chose to say something else.
''Why do I need to save the world I abandoned many, many years ago?''
Xueyao acknowledged his question with a nod. She has her reasons why she needed to be his tribulation guardian but she wondered what other obvious reason there is apart from, ''Because it's your responsibility as its creator…?''
''If I can ignore it for…let's see…one hundred thousand years? What makes you believe I will be motivated to save it from being destroyed?''
That was a cold and disturbing thing to hear from the mouth of one's creator. Xueyao wondered why he was like this. Cold, rebellious and indifferent. The few stories about creation and the legendary immortal black dragon were far from anything like this.
The authors said he was a benevolent God. The one who took pity on the dead souls of immortals and created a heaven for them to get to live again.
''Do you…want what you made getting…destroyed?''
He moved to get more comfortable on the rock he was leaning on as he observed this ignorant little blue dragon of his.
''Yes.''
Xueyao's eyes widened at him in horror as he said that so conveniently with a straight face.
''I once made a mistake. None of this should have existed in the first place. It's probably time I let go of this burden of a mistake. I never wanted to be a God or even a dragon. I got tangled up in this mess a long time ago and I wouldn't be stupid enough to stop the very force trying to free me from all of this.''
Not only were his words strangely disturbing and confusing, Xueyao felt that, like her, he might have deeper reasons why he did not want to be a hero. But thanks to the great white dragon, she has been thrown one and she should do the same to him as well.
This was literally a matter of life or death.
''So…can I say that you are not motivated to save our lives and our home?''
He brought one of his legs closer to himself, placing his right hand on it as his silence answered her question.
''We really don't mean anything to you now?''
''You never did.'' He told her truthfully, still amazed by this dragon. She would need to burn those books about tales of him being loving, selfless and righteous that her master once gathered in the small library of Temperance hall and probably make one or two visits to the immortal authors of the second heaven to start writing something else that wouldn't break anyone's heart when they come face to face with reality.
''Okay,'' she accepted him strangely with another smile before coming close to bend on her knees beside him. ''What if I prove to you within these five days that we are actually worth being saved this time?''
The softness in her tone made him turn to stare down at her by his left side.
''What are you going to do?''
''I am going to prove to you that we were once the children you abandoned right after creation and we were able to be well behaved immortals during these times without your guidance or love. I am going to be a living testimony to you that we are good dragons. Pure and innocent and we don't deserve to be ignored, hated or pushed away by you.''
He rolled his eyes and looked away.
''Trust me, I can do it and when I do, you will have to promise me to agree to go through these tribulations and become that hero everyone would love and admire. I will show you that we are not your mistake but your biggest blessing.''
She rose to her feet and he took a moment to watch as she began to leave. He turned his head a bit to the side when she paused and turned around to add to her words.
''You'll see, Black dragon immortal, that not only am I the prettiest female dragon you know but also the dragon capable of making you change your mind about us.'' She gave him one last, defiant smile before leaving.