Authors: Sophie Stern
My mouth drops open as I stare at the green dragon in the night sky. He dances for me in the air. His heart sings to mine.
I’ve only seen one dragon before – one I’m almost positive was Lee – and seeing one now delights me.
Zeke is incredible. He spreads his wings and soars through the air, gliding like he’s done this a million times, like he was made to do this.
When Zeke finally lands, my heart feels like it might explode from the beauty. He drops to the ground only a few feet from me. Taneyemm shakes when he lands, but I manage to keep my balance.
And I go to him.
He watches me: his eyes bright. My hand moves to his scales and I touch them. They’re hard and smooth, but I’m not grossed out the way I would be if I touched a lizard or a snake or a fish.
Zeke could never be gross to me.
I’m filled with wonder as my hands roam his body: his dragon body. This is who he is. He’s a big, beautiful beast.
And he wants me.
Somehow, knowing his attitude and snarky words had to do with saving me, protecting me, make me feel better.
Knowing he wanted to save me, keep me safe.
As long as I can trust his words, I’ll be fine. In this moment, I wonder how I could have ever doubted him. Zeke holds perfectly still as I explore his scaly body. My hands roam his sides, but I can’t quite reach the top of his back. His tail is long, but my fingers find that, too, and touch.
He lets me touch.
Slowly, I run my fingers over every inch of him. He holds still as I do, and I wonder if it’s difficult for him. In his man form, his humanesque form, Zeke is constantly moving and touching things. He paces. He frowns. He runs his hands through his hair and runs his fingers over his desk. He’s never still.
Not like he is now.
I wonder if something inside of him changes when he’s in this form. When Zeke is a dragon, does he feel differently? Does he view the world differently? I might not ever know, but for right now, I’m content with the fact that he’s letting me touch and play with him.
After a few minutes, he’s had enough. He grunts and shakes his head. After a second of staring, I realize he wants me to climb on his back, but I shake my head.
“No,” I whisper, but his response is to breathe a little flash of fire.
Yes, Zeke is a fire-breathing alien dragon.
What the fuck have I gotten myself into?
He kneels down as much as he can and I manage to shimmy up onto his back. I sit close to his neck and wrap my arms around. The idea of falling horrifies me. My depth perception is not great, but even though we aren’t even in the air yet, I feel like I’m going to slip off at any second.
I feel like I’m going to fall.
Dying on Taneyemm would almost be worse than never coming. To have this chance at freedom, this shot at life, and to lose it seems cruel.
The world can’t be that bad, can it?
Zeke spreads his wings, and I close my eyes. This is it. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for, dreaming of. Ever since I saw that dragon outside my bedroom window, I’ve wondered what it would be like to climb on one, to ride one.
I’ve wondered what it would be like to be free, floating through the air, feeling the wind in my face.
I close my eyes and hold on tighter. Hopefully I’m not choking Zeke. Hopefully what I’m doing is okay.
He leaps into the air and then we’re flying. My eyes pop open on their own and then I can see. We’re in the clouds. Zeke is a dragon and we’re floating through the clouds.
When I look down, I can see snippets of light throughout the darkness. Houses. People. Aliens. The towns that surround the castle are mostly quiet; the people content with their king. I wonder if they know just how much goes into keeping them safe and happy.
I wonder if they know everything their king does for them.
After awhile, my eyes grow weary, and I wonder where my dragon is taking us. He doesn’t seem to be in any sort of hurry, so I rest my cheek against his neck, hold on tighter, and once again, close my eyes.
We land with a bump and I’m jolted awake. Quickly, I slide off Zeke’s back and look at up him.
“I fell asleep,” I tell him.
He doesn’t speak in dragon form. I don’t know if he can or if he’s just biding his time with me. There were a lot of things about dragons that Hal and Jenika didn’t cover. Some things, I think they just wanted me to be surprised for. Other things, they just didn’t know.
They couldn’t have known everything there is to know. You can study a race, a species, a planet. You can study and read and watch and observe, but the truth is that each creature is so different there’s no “set” way a Taneyemm is going to behave, look, or act.
Now, glancing around, I realize I’m lucky Zeke decided to let me in on his little fears. If he hadn’t, I would have missed all of this, and it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.
My eyes flow from him to the scenery around us. We’re at the top of a large hill that’s covered in trees, grass, bushes. Everything around us is green.
Everything around us is beautiful.
It’s dark, but little bugs flick their lights around. It reminds me of warm summer nights on Earth, only there’s a dragon with me. The moons are glowing brightly, casting light over us. Yes, Taneyemm has multiple moons. I’m not sure if
that’s
something I’ll ever get used to. Anytime I start to feel comfortable, I just look up during the evening and see those moons. Then I realize that things are definitely, certainly, absolutely not normal at all.
There’s no chance for me to forget.
Zeke sits down next to me on the grass, but doesn’t shift yet. I sit beside him and lean against his scales. He’s so big, but he feels comfortable and safe.
I don’t know why I feel that way.
Zeke isn’t safe or good or kind. He’s a royal monster. He’s fierce and strong and rules his planet wisely, from what I can tell.
And although I’ve seen exactly what he can do in the bedroom and I’ve heard exactly what kind of cries he draws from his playthings, something tells me that tonight, Zeke isn’t interested in hurting me.
Tonight Zeke just wants to be with me the same way I want to be with him.
Does he crave me the way I crave him?
Does he think of me the way I think of him?
Does he dream of me?
There are so many questions floating around in my head, but I don’t ask them. I can’t. Instead, I sit with Zeke and look out over his kingdom. He lowers his head and I naturally begin to pet him.
Me and my dragon.
My dragon lord.
My alien dragon.
He shifts so quickly I don’t realize what’s happening at first. He’s my dragon, and then suddenly, he’s my Zeke. Just like that.
He doesn’t speak at first. It’s strange, how he’s naked, but I’m still in my dress. It’s strange that he was just a giant creature and now he’s…well, he’s still huge compared to me. His thick arms are strong and muscular. His chest is completely cut.
And me?
I’m the curvy little human he wraps in his arms and starts whispering sweet nothings to.
And then he makes love to me in the grass overlooking the world we live in. It’s slow and sweet and nothing like the first time. He hovers over me in the grass, kissing each part of my body softly and slowly. He takes his time. There’s no rush, no need to hurry like when we were in the castle.
This time he just moves slowly.
This time he devours me piece by piece, savoring every taste, every flavor.
When we’re finished, we lay entwined in the grass.
“This is my favorite place,” he tells me.
“I can see why. It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen so much
green
before.”
“What was Earth like?”
“When I was a kid, it was healthy, whole. After the wars, everything died. There weren’t enough people enough good weather, enough of anything. Green turned to brown. The grass faded away. When I left, I hardly ever even saw clouds.”
“Are you glad you left?”
“What, as opposed to dying on my home planet?” I ask dryly, but Zeke smiles.
He waits patiently as I think about his question. It’s not as straightforward as it seems. It’s not just a matter of whether I wish I was here alive. It’s also a matter of whether I regret my choice.
Sometimes I do.
Sometimes I wish I’d done the right thing and buried my father properly. The rest of the time, I’m confident in my decision. The truth is that he was already gone and there was nothing else I could do for him.
“There are some who wish they didn’t leave their planet,” he says gently. “Even if a planet is dying or destroyed, some people don’t want to be rescued.”
“Like the people of Cravenloua.” Jenika and Hal told me about “The Lost Planet.” It was badly damaged during a war. The Tanayemms and the Martians made a rescue effort, but it was too little, too late. They managed to save some of the women and children, but almost the entire planet was destroyed.
Zeke nods.
“Sometimes staying in a horrible place you know and understand is easier than going someplace new where you’re the strange one.”
“I’m glad I came. I’m glad I met you. Things were hard at first, but I had plenty of time to prepare.” The four years on the ship really mellowed me. Some of the other humans still completely freak out about certain things on Taneyemm. A couple of girls from the ship ended up in the kitchens at Zeke’s, and every so often they’ll just have these random breakdowns.
Learning how to manage yourself in a new place is hard. When you don’t know the language, don’t understand the customs, don’t get the culture, it’s even harder.
“Your Drakonai is amazing,” Zeke murmurs, complimenting me, and I blush a little. We always speak in Drakonai when we’re alone. I didn’t even realize we did it until he mentioned most of his staff don’t know I can speak. When other people are around, we speak English. It’s what I spoke on Earth and Zeke can speak quite well.
“Hal made me practice four hours a day.”
“Every day?”
“Yep. One hour for each year I’d be on the ship. I’d have to work on reading for an hour, speaking for an hour, listening for an hour, and writing for an hour.”
Zeke cocks his head to the side as he contemplates what I’ve just said.
“You didn’t tell me you could read.”
I shrug.
“You didn’t ask. It didn’t really seem like something to bring up randomly in conversation. ‘By the way, I am literate.’”
He chuckles. “Maybe I’ll convince you to read to me sometime.”
“Anything for you, dragon man.”
Zeke raises an eyebrow.
“Lord dragon?”
He stares at me.
“King dragon? Master dragon? Sir dragon?”
“All right, all right.” He laughs and points at the sky. The first wisps of dawn are shining through the clouds. “Time to return to the castle, darling.”
He shifts again and I climb on his back.
Heading back, my heart is filled with hope and I just know that everything is going to be okay.
But I’m wrong.
When we get back to the castle, Zeke deposits me in my room for a few hours of rest. He kisses me on the forehead, but I can already tell that cool, calculating reserve has come back. His King mask is on. The Zeke I’ve slowly caught glimpses of is well hidden away now.
Just perfect.
At least now I know the real Zeke is under the mask. At least now I know I have the power to coax him out of his shell.
I collapse on the bed and close my eyes. I picture our experiences and things we’ve done. The past few hours have been a whirlwind. He took me to the skies. Zeke flew me through his kingdom and made love to me in the wilderness. Surely that has to count for something. Surely that has to mean something to him.
I know it did to me.
He’s a bit hot and cold, but I’m beginning to think I understand Zeke a little bit better. He has to be cold because he’s the king. He has to be cold because if anyone knew what was precious to him, they could use it against him.
Maybe that’s why he pushed me away so fast.
Maybe that’s the real reason he doesn’t want to get married.
But according to the rules of the planet, according to tradition that even the King himself cannot change, Zeke has to marry. He’ll have to find a wife. If he doesn’t within the next year, he’ll be forced to allow one of the other rulers to take his place.
I wonder if it will be Dane.
Maybe that’s why they’re so close these days.
Only, it doesn’t seem like Zeke has any plans for giving up the castle. It seems like the only thing that really interests him is power. He likes to be in charge. He likes getting what he wants.
Part of me wonders if he’ll choose me, after all. There’s nothing wrong with having a human queen. Taneyemm doesn’t care about royal bloodlines when it comes to the bride. What it cares about is following the rules, and one of them is that when you’re 35, you get married.
Perhaps Zeke isn’t worried about what people think, though. Perhaps he’s worried about something else. I wonder if Zeke views me as too much of a risk. Maybe Zeke likes me a little too much for his own comfort. Maybe he wonders if he’ll spend his remaining years worrying about my safety if we wed.
Maybe it will be better for him to keep me as his human girl and nothing more.
Slowly, my thoughts begin to choke me, and my body loses consciousness. I drift off to sleep and when I wake up, I see May standing over me.
“What time is it?” I say groggily, sitting up. I rub my head. Everything hurts. I guess that’ll teach me not to stay up so damn late.
All night.
“Late,” she says, only she’s giving me a weird look and I’m not sure why.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“You weren’t in your room last night.”
“How do you know where I was or wasn’t?” I glare at May, suddenly irritated. My head is pounding and all I want is to be alone.
“I…was worried about you,” she says hesitantly. “You’ve seemed a bit tense lately.”
“No, I just don’t like these stupid parties.” I sigh and drop my head in my hands. I super do not want to go. I know Zeke said he wants me to be his eyes and ears. I know he’s worried about Star. I know he says anything could happen.
It’s just that I’m tired. I’m tired of everything. I wish Zeke would make up his mind about how he feels about me. I wish I had some sort of normalcy in my routine. I wish May would stop looking at me like there’s something wrong with me.
“I’m not sick,” I say, trying to convince her, but she doesn’t look convinced.
“All right. You still need to go shower and get cleaned up.” She motions to a dress hanging on a hook on the wall. It’s insanely beautiful, just like all the other dresses. This one is green with a deep, plunging neckline that’s going to showcase my breasts. The gown is long and flowing. Once again, I’m going to feel like a beautiful princess without a prince.
“That’s insane,” I say, and she nods.
“It really is beautiful.”
“What about you?” I ask, climbing out of bed and stretching. “Are you coming to this thing?”
“No. I’ll be managing the kitchen,” May says. “Now hurry up and go shower. I’m going to need to do your hair.”
***
When I’m clean, dry, and dressed only in a towel, I sit down so May can work her magic. I don’t know how she does it. Somehow, she manages to transform even the darkest circles beneath my eyes into something clean and pure and smooth.
By the time she’s finished with me, I look amazing.
“Not bad for a human,” she murmurs, almost indiscernibly, but I hear her. What does she mean by that? Once again, I want to ask May where she comes from, but she’s been so indirect and avoidant in the past that I don’t bother. She wouldn’t tell me anyway and it would just irritate her.
My hair is pinned back and up. A few tendrils hang down, framing my face. She’s given me smoky eyes that bring out the deep brown.
What will Zeke think?
What will any of them think?
“May, you’re the best,” I say, twisting and turning in the mirror. Even though I’ve been around mirrors for four years now, they’re still difficult to get used to. Before I landed a spot on the ship to Taneyemm, I hadn’t seen a mirror in ages. Part of me is still coming to terms with this new version of me.
Before the wars, I was a little girl. I had skinned knees and long monkey arms and stringy hair.
And now?
Now I’m this adult version of my childhood self that I don’t quite recognize. I think I like myself most of the time, but sometimes I still feel like the woman staring back at me is a stranger.
Like she couldn’t possibly understand what it’s like to be me.
May and I head down to the banquet hall. There’s going to be a formal dinner before the dancing begins. She gives me a hug at the entrance and heads back to the kitchens to make sure everything is going according to plan with the food.
There are plenty of people milling about, but tonight, I just need to focus on one thing: Star.
Zeke is worried about her. He’s afraid someone is going to try to get her, to steal her away. I don’t think Zeke
or
Lee would ever let that happen, but who really knows?
Glancing around, I don’t notice Star in the foyer. If she’s already arrived, she’ll probably be inside the banquet hall. I nod to the guards and they move to let me by.
When I walk inside, I smile at the beauty. I’ve been here many times, but it never gets old. Round tables fill the room. There must be over a hundred of them. At the end of the room is a long, straight table where Zeke, Dane, and Star will sit, along with other important visitors. I won’t sit there because I’m not royalty, but I will be at a table close by since I’m Zeke’s human.
Each table is topped with a white tablecloth and a vase with different types of flowers. Each vase is the same, but has flowers representing each of the planets tonight’s visitors are from. It’s a thoughtful way to show respect to the guests while celebrating unity at the same time.
The room is already filling up and many of the tables are full. Men and women in tuxedos and gowns are mulling around, sitting, laughing, talking, and drinking. The servers wander through. The women wear short red dresses and the men wear black tuxedos with red shirts. They stand out from the crowd enough that it’s easy to tell where you can go to get more food or alcohol.
I don’t notice May and I wonder if she’s going to be staying in the kitchen all night or if she’ll come out at some point. It would be nice to get to spend some time with her.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to think about it for too long because just then, I notice Star. She’s standing by herself at the end of the main table, but she looks distraught. She looks sad. What the hell?
Why would she be sad tonight?
Surely she knows Zeke and Dane will do anything to protect her.
And Lee would absolutely, positively do anything.
There’s no doubt in my mind Lee would die for Star if he needed to. That boy is smitten and I wonder why they aren’t together. Maybe there’s some morbid history there I don’t know about.
Moving quickly through the crowd, I forget about the growing urge to get a drink. Something tells me comforting her is more important than vodka right now, so I push through the crowd and gently dart around other people who just won’t seem to get out of the way.
When I’m close to Star, a man approaches her and begins to speak. She smiles and hugs him, so I step behind a pillar to give them a moment. I don’t want to be too close right now. If she’s greeting an old friend or a business associate, she doesn’t need me lollygagging at them.
As soon as I step back, I’m shrouded in darkness. There are several pillars at this end of the room because they mask the entrances to the kitchens. This way, the servants can glide seamlessly in and out of the room. The party guests don’t see into the kitchens and don’t hear the noise, and the servers can each take a moment in the darkness around the pillars to get everything under control before they have to go take care of the guests.
From my vantage point, I realize this is really a great spot to see into the room. I can see Zeke as he enters the room from the main entrance, where I can in. My heart skips a beat as I watch him. He looks so handsome, but nothing compares to what I know lies beneath the surface.
I got to see him as a dragon.
A real-life, honest-to-goodness dragon.
I get the feeling that Zeke doesn’t let people in too often. The fact that he’s shown his true self to me means a lot. It means he trusts me, at least a little. It means he’s trying.
Suddenly, I hear voices from behind me, and I slink back, closer to the pillar I’m next to.
“It has to be tonight,” one of the voices says in Drakonai.
“If she would ever leave his side, the grab would be easier.”
The voices are hushed, and I realize they don’t want to be overheard. One is female and one is male.
Fuck.
Are they talking about Star?
Could it really be?
I peek out and see she’s still talking to the man, but Lee is nearby. Of course he is. He’s always close to her. The fact that he’s in love with her is no secret, but why aren’t they together? Did she have to wait until today to be “available”? I don’t know, but I don’t want to push my luck by asking too many questions. I don’t want to be the nosy girl who pushes her luck.
“We need a distraction,” the female voice continues. “He needs something to pry him away from her.”
“Nothing will do that,” the male voice scoffs. “Nothing short of hurting the King, anyway.”
“Then we hurt the King,” the female hisses. “Get it done.” I hear her footsteps receding and I know I have to warn Zeke and Lee. Hell, I need to warn Star. When I turn back around, the man is walking away from her and I realize this is my chance to warn her. I start to move, begin to head over to her, but I only take two steps before I feel arms wrapped around me.
I open my mouth to cry out, but a hand presses to my lips.
“Not a word, bitch,” the man says.
Fuck. I don’t know how he saw me in the darkness. I sure as fuck couldn’t see him. Then I realize that I’m an idiot and he’s probably a dragon who can see in the dark lighting in this area. Dammit.
I have to fight.
I can’t let him just take me like this, so I kick and grab his hands and try to claw at him, but after a moment of struggling, he seems to realize I’m not going to be easy to take. I try to use some of the moves Jenika and Hal taught me, but although he grunts when I stomp on his foot, it doesn’t make a difference in the end.
All that happens is that the heel of my shoe breaks and falls off and I twist my ankle. He growls at me and hits me.
“Stop,” he hisses. “Don’t make this harder on yourself.”
I try to say “fuck you,” but he’s gripping me so hard that I just manage to slobber on his hand. He carts me back into the corner and through one of the doors back there. This one leads to a hallway that is bustling with servants, but no one bats an eye as he hauls me down the hallway.
What the fuck?
Either the other slaves hate me or they’ve been paid very well to ignore anyone hauling a very well-dressed human down the hall. My guess would be on the latter. I pride myself on being pretty friendly to just about everyone I meet. I can’t imagine anyone would willingly hurt me here.
Then again, I never thought I’d be riding a dragon into the night, either.
The man enters a side room where a few other people are standing. He closes the door behind him with a foot, but doesn’t remove his hand. I’m still trying to wiggle and fight, but he holds me flat against his body.
“A little help, please,” he says, and immediately all the men in the room rush over to me. I barely have time to register what happens before I feel a prick at my neck and everything goes dark.