Though Gracie had left, he still heard that voice in his mind, urging him to let them go. But the voice sounded different now, less like the succubus and closer to his own tenor. The oldest girl noticed him in the doorway. “Where’s that nice lady? You better not have done something to her!”
He broke from the door’s frame as if scalded.
Was that what the girl thought of him? He raked his hand through his hair and wound his way through the ship’s passageways. He was not that guy. But if he wasn’t a villain, what the hell was he?
As always, the med room drew his eye like a car accident, and he entered. Grathers lay on a metal gurney, his eyes closed, but his breath still wheezing in and out.
Karon recoiled in disgust even as his fangs grew longer. He thought about Gracie.
Balls of friggin’ steel!
He willed his mouth to Grathers’ pasty skin. Flesh crushed between his teeth, emitting bloody juice like a ripe berry. It tasted sour and bitter, nothing like the succubus’ tender neck. His resolved to find her before he left the region.
As Grathers’ frantic pulse slowed to a stop he thought,
This
one’s for you, baby.
* * * *
Alara woke to the most beautiful smell, like someone had filled her room with roses and musk. Kai’s solid chest cradled her back, and his arm draped across her shoulder. His hand cupped her breast. Her eyes opened as he pressed a kiss into her shoulder.
Kai’s hand caressed her face and turned it toward his. She blushed bright pink. Getting fucked within an inch of your life will do that.
His eyes bore into hers with such intimacy that she felt x-rayed. Then his lips brushed against hers. He pulled back and smiled that drop dead gorgeous smile that made her want to tend to his cave barefoot and cook dead animals he brought home.
His hand stroked the side of her check, and heat exploded under her skin.
“So pretty. But why so shy, my love?”
Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I want to whimper at your feet and beg you to take me again?
She looked away as the color rose higher. Then Alara twitched.
Did he just use the “l” word?
“I gotta pee.” She bolted up and ran for the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Her head fell into her hands.
Holy hell!
This dragon situation had spiraled completely out of control. He was all moon-eyed and gooey, she was so infatuated she practically panted for him, and somehow the “l” word had flit into their vocabulary.
She splashed cold water against her face, jolting herself back into reality. Without looking in the mirror, she entered the shower chamber. The rush of warm water shook the last of the sleep from her body. Alara had a small country to run and a series of national emergencies to attend to. Thank goodness Florian’s hand had been steady enough to rule following her father’s death, but unless she stepped in he would no doubt run the country into the ground.
A big towel wrapped snugly around her torso, she stood before the mirror and spoke firmly to her reflection. “Today you will get your act together.” An oval mark on her shoulder stood bright red against the white of her skin. Pale yellow bruising had already formed around what looked like puncture wounds. She wracked her brain to remember what might have happened. Had Kai bitten her? She’s been pretty far gone and totally blissed out, but that was one heck of a hickie.
* * * *
“What the fuck did you do, dragon?” Alara barreled out of the bathroom in only a towel, eyebrows drawn in anger. Her fury hit him like a tsunami, making his cock pound to get her under him again.
“I claimed you.” He held his chin up. “It’s a dragon…custom.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What exactly does it mean to ‘claim’ someone?”
He was unsure how fully to answer. “It acts as a warning to other males, telling them you are unavailable.”
Alara nibbled at the inside of her cheek. “So it basically marks your territory. Pretty Neanderthal I guess, but it’ll fade, right?”
A low growl erupted from his throat.
“What’s your problem?” She paused midway getting dressed, wearing only her underthings.
“It will not fade, and you will not take any other males.” The red haze of reptile thought blinded him. Tiny whispers of logic told him he was acting possessive, aggressive, controlling. He chose to ignore those.
“I don’t know who you think you are, dragon, but you do not
own
me! I don’t care what the fuck you did to my shoulder. I’ll get a friggin’ tat to cover it up if I have to.” She threw her clothes on faster now. Kai would have jumped on her, kissed her, done something to make her understand, but his skin had stretched tight and his joints were popping out of place.
By all the gods of the oceans and heavens!
She slammed the door behind her just as his dragon form came to completion. He roared toward her, battered his head against the door, then the wall. Some of the drywall chipped and dented, but the structure held firm. Skull aching, the dragon curled into a ball on her rug until he could change back.
* * * *
Bits of paper littered the floor of her empty office. Everything was gone. Alara’s computer, her desk, all her files. She leaned over to pick up a scrap of a document, wondering why whoever moved her belongings would leave that one sheet. Finding no answer on the scrap, Alara reached for the door handle. When she opened it, Kaylee’s despondent face met her.
“Oh my gods, ‘Lara, I’m so sorry.” Kaylee threw her arms around Alara’s neck and sobbed in her shoulder. “Your dad was a great triton. A great man.”
Alara shrugged off the girl’s affection. “Yeah, thanks. But where’s all my stuff?”
Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, Kaylee said, “Well, Florian’s kind’ve removed you from your position.”
“What the fuck?”
Kaylee’s eyes grew wide, and she reached again for the princess. “He’s painting you in a bad light, ‘Lara. And when word got out that you lied to the dragons—”
Alara held a hand up to stop Kaylee’s talking. She turned from her friend, knowing what had happened. Shaking legs carried her out of the Glass House to a large barn. Sitting on an old wooden bench, she donned snowshoes and poles, and then trekked out the wide barn door into the fields. She walked over hills along the water for what felt like hours, till her legs gave out and her breath panted mist in the frigid air. Several lodges filled the area, all used either during soldiers’ training or for children on school trips, but given the kids were home from school and the soldiers were still searching for the lost children, the cabins were deserted.
She huddled under an old blanket, sitting in front of a small wood-burning stove. The flicker of flame kept her mind stable, stopped her from floating to destructive impulses. Deep panting bounced off the trees and the walls, signaling the large male’s approach. Kai’s muttered curses and the sound of snow collapsing would have made her laugh had she not wanted so badly to sob.
A fist knocked on the plywood door.
“Come in, dragon. There’s no lock.”
Kai’s long legs bent under him as he came to sit next to her. His jaw clenched and his teeth chattered. The legs of his jeans had soaked clear to his thighs.
“Let me guess. You didn’t wear snow shoes?” She wanted to stay angry with him, but pathetic shivers rolled up his body.
“I wore boots. Was that wrong?” He held up a rubber-booted foot. Without gators the thing had to be full of snow by now.
She moved to the front of him and pulled off one, then another. Yep, his feet were soaked clear to the skin. “You’re dumb. You know that?”
He could barely speak through his chattering teeth. “Yes, Alara, you are correct.”
She barked a laugh at his reply.
“I meant to tell you about Florian’s treachery when I met you at the graveyard. But you were so distraught. I couldn’t bear to add to your sadness.”
She threw the blanket over his shoulders and pressed into him, sharing her heat. “Yeah, and were you also going to tell me that you told him I lied about my troops?”
He jerked under her arms, but when she didn’t stop rubbing his arms to warm him, he relaxed. “I didn’t tell your brother. I told the Council Chair.” He paused as if to hint at a deeper meaning.
“Oh, hell no. Florian has been talking directly to the Dragon Council all along, hasn’t he?”
Kai nodded solemnly.
“Please tell me you didn’t know?” Alara knew little about this dragon, but enough to know he’d never stoop that that level of deception.
He shook his head. “I swear to you, Alara.”
Her head fell into her hands. “Holy fuck. If Florian had something to do with my father’s death I swear, I will kill him.”
Kai took her hand and held it tight. “I am not familiar with the laws of your land, but I believe you would be well within your rights to do so.”
Shame curled on her. “I’ve been disgraced, though. Florian’s made me look unstable, untrustworthy.”
Her dragon leaned back to pull off his wet pants. His damp boxers clung to his butt as he sat back down with a dusty flop. “Well you’re fortunate to have myself and my men here then.”
She caught his little smile. “And why is that, dragon?”
He shrugged, his expression sheepish but also amused. “Because if there’s one thing my people know how to do, it’s remove our enemies from positions of power.
Chapter 14
Karon brought the zodiac full of mere children to a stop. The tiniest boy cried; the oldest girl looked wary. Guilt nipped his heels, but he couldn’t drive them any further, nor could he give them his boat.
“All right. You’re going to have to swim from here. Good luck. And you can tell your parents and the police or whatever you have where you live where I am.”
The children sat still, looking around as if wondering whether or not to believe their good fortune. One of the older girls narrowed her eyes. “Did that pretty woman make you to let us go? Is that why you did it?”
Karon thought about it. “Yes…No…Maybe.”
The girl nodded once, already hardened by her experience. “You should be nice to her.”
The girl stripped her clothes off, looking boldly into his eyes until he turned away in shame. He kept his eyes averted while splash after splash signaled Dr. Grathers’ subjects’ departure. Alone and adrift, he sat down, placed his head in his hands, and began his wait.
* * * *
Mid-afternoon sun shone bright against the snow as Alara strapped the ancient snowshoes on Kai’s feet. The panels had hung on the cabin’s walls, but she seemed to think they would still work. His legs hung out the doorway and down onto the first step outside the cabin. Her head bent as she affixed straps to his feet. The scent of her hair mingled with the fresh, cold air.
He loved her. He loved her kindness and her anger, and even her off-color comments. His mouth opened to tell her just that, but her gaze snapped up. “Don’t!”
His eyes widened. What woman wouldn’t want to hear love professed by a dragon such as him? “You didn’t even know what I was about to say.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You were going to spout some soppy nonsense, right?”
Kai raised his eyebrows. “Perhaps.”
“Well, don’t. I like you well enough, OK. But you still work for the Council, and I’m still mere, and…” She was getting flustered, and the sight warmed him more than any poetic words.
He smiled. “All right, then. I will refrain from telling you how much I love you.”