Taming the Dragon Collection (10 page)

“I’m not so sure about that one,” Mara muttered.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” Mara said, forcing a smile. “Does he want me now?”

Abigail nodded and motioned for the door. It took Mara longer than usual to make her way across the room, out the door and down to the dining hall. Each step was agonizing. She felt like someone had filled her slippers with lead. But she eventually made it into the dining hall.

As per usual Alek sat at his table with his bowl in front of him, but there was another bowl at the seat directly to his right. Mara stopped and stared, unable to comprehend the reasoning for the second bowl.

Alek looked up and smiled at her warmly as she entered before motioning for her to join him at the table. The walk across the room seemed to take longer than the trek through his hallways, but eventually she found herself sitting beside Alek as he sipped at his stew.

Her eyes darted back and forth between Alek and the bowl, but she refused to pick up her spoon and eat. Eventually, after several excruciatingly long minutes, he put down his spoon and looked at her, his eyes still warm and inviting.

“Why have you not touched your stew?”

“I am not hungry.”

“Nonsense. It is a great honor to join a dragon for his meal. Pick up your spoon and eat.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Even with all the trouble you’re in, you still defy me.” Alek closed his eyes and shook his head. “Amazing.”

“I only defy you out of fear.”

“Fear of what?”

“Death.”

“Why would you fear death?”

“Because I defied the great dragon lord Aleksander. I threw stew in his face. I’m sure you’ve killed men for lesser offenses.”

“I have.”

“Is there poison in my stew?”

“A dragon would not use poison if he wanted you dead. We are not cowards. Now eat.”

There was finality in his voice that forced Mara to pick up her spoon and sip the stew. She had only ever had leftovers after the maids had finished feeding Alek. This was still warm and fresh and it was delicious. No wonder Alek never wanted the recipe changed.

“When will you kill me?” she asked after she had eaten a quarter of the bowl.

Alek’s expression screwed into one of confusion as he looked down at her. “Why would I kill you?”

“For the reasons we discussed earlier.”

“If I wanted you dead, it would have already happened,” he said.

She didn’t have to question him; she believed him. His words were so precise, so on point. They did not come from a place of deceit, only brutal honesty.

“So why have you asked me to come to dinner with you?” she asked.

“To thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yes. Your defiance and the words you chose woke something up inside of me. Something that has been asleep for a long time. You were right about me. I have wasted several centuries sitting around during the winter and adventuring in the summer. I spend the majority of my time in my human form now: reading books, eating stew, counting treasure and ordering my maids around. When I go adventuring in the spring, the only time I spend in dragon form is when I fly to my destination. I spend the rest of my time digging through tombs and dungeons as a human. I have lost what it means to be a dragon and I have become spellbound by collecting more and more treasure.”

“But that is what you enjoy doing,” Mara protested.

“Do not take back the words you spoke last night, Mara,” Alek said, putting his hand up to silence her. “They were true and do not need to be rescinded. A dragon’s life is precious. We are so few in this world and man has forgotten about us. I am shocked your husband was able to find me and try to slay me. So few, besides the tribes that worship me, know I live here. That will all change this spring.”

Mara’s interest was piqued. She turned and looked at Alek, raising one eyebrow in question but not speaking. The smile on his face reached from ear to ear. Mara could feel her heart swoon as she looked at his pearly white teeth. She was still attracted to him, she could not deny it.

“This spring I will remind the world how powerful dragons are and I will remind them that I exist and I am not to be trifled with.”

“How are you going to do that?” she asked, feeling her heart now begin to recoil in fear.

“This spring I will take to the skies for the first time in three hundred years and raze the crops of man. Attack their villages. Plunder their food stores. Freeze them out of their homes and destroy them with my bare claws. I will remind everyone who Aleksander the dragon lord is.”

“But so many people will die,” she said as a feeling of absolute horror washed over her body. ‘You will take so many innocent lives.”

“A human’s life is inconsequential to me. They will die for the greater good.”

“Greater good?”

“The greater good of the world knowing who I am and what I stand for. Hopefully other dragons will follow my lead and take to the skies too. It’s time for a revolution. They will beg your husband to slay us, but in the end I will destroy him single-handedly.”

Is that what this is about?
Mara thought.
Is he still jealous over my fake husband? Is he trying to prove a point?

Mara looked up at Alek as he stood and stretched, his back cracking and his monstrous pecs popping in her face.

“I will leave you to clean up,” he said. “I like the job you did cleaning my hoard and I would like you to go back to cleaning it tomorrow. Also, I will require you to take a bath every night again.”

“Yes, Alek,” she said, staring into her half-empty bowl of stew. She felt as if someone had just punched her in the gut with all their might.

I’ve made a terrible mistake,
she thought.

Chapter 13

The next day Mara could barely concentrate on the treasure she was tasked with cleaning. The devilish smile on Alek’s face as he told her he was going to raid villages and bring terror from the skies kept popping into her head.

What have I done?
she thought as she scrubbed a coin so hard the face on it began to rub off.
My anger has awoken some sort of beast inside Alek, and the worst part is he’s not even mad! He’s happy about it! How could he? I thought he was better than that. I thought he was different.

She stopped and dropped the coin to the ground as a wave of realization swept through her body. She wasn’t mad because Alek was going to kill people, she was mad because he wanted to. It was a very fine distinction, but she wasn’t upset by the act; she was upset by the fact that someone she had feelings for would do something so heinous.

“I have feelings for Alek,” she said, not realizing she was speaking out loud. “I really like him and he’s a dragon. My father will be so disappointed.”

Or maybe he would be happy. There had to be some sort of prestige that came from having a daughter married to a dragon. A dragon would be richer and more powerful than any man she could find. Looking around the hoard, she knew he had more treasure than everyone in Atherny combined.

As she bent to pick up another coin she heard a mountain of coins jangle close by. She turned to find a waterfall of gold in the distance as Alek moved and stretched on top of the pile. She grew silent and watched as his dragon-head turned towards her and regarded her with his pupil-less blue orbs. He let out a deep sigh and began to crawl down the other side of the pile, no doubt off to count his treasure.

Did he hear me?
she wondered.
Was I talking out loud? How keen is his hearing?

If Alek had heard that she had feelings for him, that might be the end for her. He would know he had her and he might decide to go ahead and take her as his own. But would that be so bad? Or would he just toss her out because she was too close?

The thought of Alek casting her out and moving on brought a great pain to her heart.

“But I want to go home,” she said. “I swear I do.”

It was a lie and Mara knew it. She tried to deny how she felt, but it was futile. She had feelings for Alek and she wanted to stay with him and see what happened. She knew he was lying about his disgust with a human’s body. He enjoyed looking at her body too much to be repulsed by it. He definitely had, at the very least, lustful feelings for her. She shared those feelings, but she felt a little bit more for Alek. And she just couldn’t allow the man she had feelings for to become a cold-blooded murderer who brought the world to its knees.

“It won’t happen,” she declared, stomping her foot for nobody to see. “I’ll find a way to stop him.”

The only times Alek wasn’t brooding and looking like the world had stepped on his tail were when he was discussing his future conquest of the countryside or when he was looking at her body. His eyes lit up the same way when either one was involved.

It was no shock; she had been told by more than one wandering bard that the pleasure center of the heart lit up the same for sex as well as violence. Some bards claimed they were always intertwined, right before they tried to get her to make a mistake and become the bard’s nightly adventure. Mara had refused to allow herself to be the subject of any future fireside song, plus she hated the way lutes sounded anyway.

Mara rubbed her hands down her body, feeling each and every curve as she did so. It was strange that the dragon would be so interested in a curvy woman, but maybe he enjoyed more flesh than not.

That evening she went to take her bath and found a surprise waiting for her: Alek, who was lounging in the tub. His head was thrown back and his eyes were closed as she entered the room. She moved slowly across the room, setting her stuff down by the large, steaming tub and letting her eyes travel over his body. Every inch of him was perfect, just perfect. She had always observed his chest, but right now her eyes wouldn’t leave his shoulders. It looked like someone had carved two perfectly round boulders and placed them where his shoulders should be. They connected to the thick, ropey muscles of his neck. Mara found herself growing hot and bothered again as she imagined her hands reaching up and gripping those shoulders and that corded neck as Alek manhandled her from the top.

No,
she thought.
He’s not interested in me like that. Or is he? Let’s find out.

Silently Mara removed her clothes, letting her dress fall to the ground. Her heavy breasts spilled out, perfectly exposed for Alek to look at when he opened his eyes. She then slowly climbed across the edge of the tub, like a cat stalking its prey. Finally Alek looked up, opening his eyes as she found herself on all fours in front of him, her entire body on display for him.

She arched her back and pushed her round ass into the air, hoping Alek would imagine himself behind her with his hands digging into the thick flesh of her hips. She looked over at him and smiled as his mouth hung open and his eyes traveled her body.

“I did not expect you,” he murmured.

“I bathe at the same time every night,” she purred, calling him out on his lie.

“It must have slipped my mind,” he said, coughing and trying to look away. It was useless for him; his eyes were fixed on her body and nothing else. “Well, go ahead and join me.”

“I don’t mind if I do,” she said. She giggled and then slid into the water. She slid in low and then came up, rubbing her hands down the front of her now slick breasts. Alek straightened up and swallowed hard as he looked at her breasts.

“Are you having a good soak?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said. “Everything I do is good. That’s why I do it.”

“I knew that,” she said, turning her back to Alek. “Do you mind scrubbing my back?”

She heard him move quickly through the water, reaching her in no time. “Of course not.” She could feel his hot breath on her neck as he leaned close to say it.

Even though he was using a sponge to touch her, she felt her clit begin to swell and throb with arousal. As he swayed in the water she could feel something stiff and hard poke her from behind. Alek was aroused and distracted. This was the best time to approach him and try to convince him to do something else.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. This entire plan may have been a bad idea. Mara’s desire was so great she considered slipping a hand between her legs and massaging herself discreetly. Surely Alek wouldn’t notice. She could spread the wet folds of her labia and sneak her middle finger deep into her tight opening. No, that would be too much. She had to concentrate. She had to do what was right.

“I have a question for you, Alek.”

“What’s that?” His voice sounded far off and distant. She wondered if she could even get through to him. Her body was obviously distracting him and having much more of an effect than she had intended.

“Do you really want to fly out in the spring and destroy people?”

“Well, my intention isn’t to destroy people per se, just to destroy their crops and villages. If they get in the way then they get in the way.”

“But why do you need to do it?”

“Because it’s fun, of course.”

“It’s fun to needlessly kill innocent humans?”

“Not this again,” he said. She felt water splash on her backside as the sponge dropped into the water.

“Don’t get upset,” she said, spinning around. “I’m just asking you about it. I’m human, remember? It upsets me that you would find my life so valueless that you would do something like this. It’s upsetting.”

Alek grew very serious as he narrowed his pretty eyes at her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Your life is not valueless to me.”

Mara felt a chill go through her body. Her face tingled and grew hot as she waited with anticipation for what he would say next. Unfortunately he continued to stare at her so she prodded him along. “It’s not?”

“No,” he said with an assured smile. “You belong to me. I care about everything I own.”

The tingle went away immediately as Mara felt her stomach knot up. “What? You don’t own me.”

“Of course I do,” he said. “You were sacrificed to me. That makes you mine.”

“And you view me as an object? Am I no better than your treasure?”

Alek thought about it for a second, which was way too long in Mara’s book. She was definitely better than his treasure. How could he feel this way?