“There are planets like that?” Jen sat up a little, befuddled by the suggestion there were other planets with homo sapiens other than Earth. That was a first.
“Heh, of course. It would be selfish of your kind to think they’re the only ones to evolve in such a way. This form definitely has its advantages.”
“That’s another thing...” Jen sat up a little more, looking more awake. “Why do you choose to look human instead of...?” She gestured at Dominic’s body with a raised brow.
“It’s easier for you to understand without running away in fear. Our true forms tend to have that effect.” For good reason. Being several hundred feet long didn’t make conversations with humans very easy. They tended to scream and flail their arms before taking off in the other direction.
“Then promise me one day you’ll show it to me?”
Dominic felt his face grow warm. He cleared his throat while standing from the bed. He’d never had that kind of request before, and her eagerness to see his true self touched him.
“If that’s what you wish, then yes. That’s a promise I can easily keep. You still look confused about something.”
“I thought this would play out like some bad romance novel. No lustful enticements to your bed, stripping me bare for our bodies to find each other?”
The color that lighted his cheeks revealed what he thought about that suggestion. Jen found that curious and amusing.
“And here Torfan told me you people were powerful, feared by all. Yet, you blush at the mere mention of sex.”
Dominic cleared his throat, his expression becoming serious.
“Don’t mistake my reaction as being virginal. I’m quite experienced. Your comment just caught me off-guard. Most women would never suggest or even entertain the idea once they learned what I was. Honestly. You are the first to know and stay.”
“Perhaps you’d do a better job wooing women back to your home planet than kidnapping them. Just saying.”
“Yes. Well.” He cleared his throat again. “Sleep well. We have the entire day to ourselves tomorrow.”
“Good night, Dominic.”
As tired as she felt, Jen felt a renewed sense of hope, proud that little old her had managed to put someone like Dominic Draxor in his place and still have her head connected to her shoulders.
Maybe Torfan’s story had just been an act on Dominic’s part to keep them in line, tall tales spun to ensure they continued the terms of their contract.
That pride, however, left her with dreams unfulfilled, of a life left behind that could never be reclaimed, of a man she would never see again. Her sleep was troubled yet undisturbed, unable to wrestle herself from the grasps of unconsciousness. It was a slow, self-inflicted torture to witness a life that would never be.
And throughout that night, Dominic remained just outside her door, listening to the small whimpers escaping her sleeping form.
Half-torn between leaving her be and gently waking her, Dominic chose neither. Knowing what she had endured, it felt like a betrayal to let her continue suffering in silence. So he remained, with a chair and a book for company.
Chapter 8
The feel and sight of fire enveloping her and everything around her was what ripped Jen from her slumber. She sat up with a short scream, sweat soaking the clothes to her skin and making them uncomfortable. Her surroundings were unfamiliar until her brain caught up with the rest of her and recalled the memories of the night before.
She clutched the front of her nightshirt and spied some small movement by the door.
“Hello?” she called out quietly. She didn’t know if this Dominic had servants of his own to take care of the place and didn’t want to take any of them by surprise. When she didn’t hear an answer, she called out again. Nothing.
She slipped from under the sheets and grabbed the closest thing she could find – a heavy glass thing – and hefted it against her chest. She felt it better to be safe than sorry, even though the shadow hadn’t moved on her approach. She worriedly chewed on her lip as she tiptoed forward and gently pulled the door open.
Once she got close enough, she realized there was no reason to panic. The “skulking shadow” was only Dominic, asleep in a chair with a book by his feet. His shoulders rose and fell gently with his breathing and he was still wearing the clothes from yesterday.
Why had he decided to situate himself outside her door? For protection? To keep watch over his new “quarry”?
“Hey.” She nudged his shoulder lightly. Dominic rocked gently before righting himself again. “Hey.” A slightly harder shove sent him teetering over the edge, enough to jolt him awake and stop from falling face-first to the floor.
Confused by his circumstances, he looked around in confusion before he found the culprit.
“Care to explain yourself, Miss Davis?” His tone was stern but not harsh, and definitely warranted. Jen would have been upset too if someone had played a trick like that on her.
“What were you doing outside my room?”
“What are you doing with that lamp in your hands?”
She suddenly remembered the glass thing she’d been clutching. It definitely didn’t look like a lamp.
Dominic rolled his eyes and traced a circle on its surface, where it then lit up. It took Jen so much by surprise that she squealed and dropped it. She shut her eyes, expecting an ear-splitting crash and an ensuing yell from her host... only she heard nothing.
When she finally found the bravery to open her eyes, she saw the “lamp” hovering mere inches off the ground. Dominic’s fingers were twisted in some weird gesture and a proud smile on his face.
“Were you going to hit me with this?” he asked. Another gesture brought the lamp back up to eye-level, spinning end over end before Jen’s eyes.
“You can do magic,” she blurted out, completely ignoring his question. “You can do magic.”
“Yes, I would think that was a given since...” What kind of statement was that? Didn’t it make sense that he could since he didn’t stand before her in his true form? What was more fascinating was that she still wasn’t running away.
Dominic cleared his throat and plucked the lamp out of the air to set it on the chair.
“As to why I slept outside your door last night, you sounded very troubled in your sleep. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Jen’s cheeks warmed. She hugged herself, concerned as to the things she might have said in her sleep.
“What did you hear?” she asked.
“Whimpering, mostly. You didn’t really say anything. But you didn’t sound happy.”
The images she could recall sent a chill down her spine, and he picked up on it. She wasn’t comfortable at all and he feared that prying even further would make her fully withdraw from him.
“Breakfast? Just the two of us to worry the day away, and I’ll answer every single one of your questions. It’s only fair, right?” He clapped his hands together and put on his best smile What she needed was a distraction, and he was determined to give her just that.
They headed to the kitchen, and again it was like the kitchen knew they were coming and set out platters of food. Hot, delicious food. She didn’t ask where it came from, she just grabbed a plate and started piling on the food. They sat at the table together.
“First question,” Jen mumbled through a bite. The food seemed to send a sense of calm through her body and put her mind at ease. It actually made it easy for her to lay her questions out on the table. “Explain this dragon thing to me.”
“You are going to have to be more specific.”
“You use magic to look like this?” She gestured at him.
“Yes and no. We are shapeshifters and–”
“Can you change into a lamp?”
“A lamp? Why would I–”
“What about a giraffe? Only sentient things?”
“I don’t know what that is–”
“Can you look like someone else? Could you turn into me?”
The curious questions were not stopping long enough for Dominic to answer. He raised a hand and looked her in the eyes.
“I can only change from what you see before you and my dragon form. I can’t make my face look like someone else’s, and I most certainly cannot change into a lamp.”
“Can you be a small dragon? One that can sit on my shoulder?”
“Now why would I want to do that?” He ran a hand down his face. “No. I cannot become a smaller dragon.”
“Huh. I thought there would be more to you than that. But you do have that magic stuff, right? The way you waved your hands around.”
“That was magic, yes. But changing the shape and size of my fixed form is not something I can do.”
“And here I thought you were supposed to be impressive.” She took another bite from her piece of fruit.
“I didn't realize I was supposed to be trying to impress you in the first place.”
Jen almost choked on a piece of fruit.
“You should be if you’re still trying to woo me to be your concubine.”
Dominic was taken aback by her attempted explanation of what she thought this working relationship was going to be. In fact, she rendered him so utterly speechless with her snark that he couldn’t help the smile that spread his lips apart.
Torfan had been right; this one was like no other he had met before. Fiery. Persistent. Determined. So full of life. It had been right of the wolf to try and claim her from him.
“If I wanted to woo you, as you said, you would be already. You really have no idea what I am capable of until it is too late. By then, I will have you wrapped around my finger so tightly, you will never want to leave.”
Jen flushed hot and angry at that. She wanted to defy all of his words, to cram them down his throat and watch him choke on them. But she would be lying if she said that she didn't find him a little attractive.
His hair, those eyes, the way his broad shoulders filled out that gauzy blue shawl he still wore from yesterday.
“Right now, I’m more interested in leaving because you are still wearing that thing. You haven’t showered.” She gestured at him with a torn piece of meat in hand, smirking.
Dominic had been so wrapped up in ensuring she was made comfortable that he hadn’t paid any attention to his own state.
“Right.” He stood and straightened out his clothes. “You finish your meal, I will be right back to finish this conversation.”
Jen snickered to herself as she watched him leave the room. For all his power and wisdom, this Dominic could still be taken by surprise.
Realizing the direction her thoughts were going, she quickly smothered her grin and shoved more food in her mouth. She hadn’t said yes yet, hadn’t even considered whether she was where she wanted to stay. If he was the person she wanted to stay with. She was getting ahead of herself before she was even ready.
Before she’d even finished mourning Dennis.
“What should I do?” she asked the empty air as she continued picking at the food on her plate.
Could she just put the past two days aside and pretend as if they never happened? What would that do to his memory? She waited eight months for him to come back.
She closed her eyes and thought of the things she would have done to him that night. A hand ventured down her side and slipped under the soft fabric of the pajamas she still wore.
A soft gasp escaped her as she recreated the memory in her mind, pretending as if her fingers were his, pretending as if he was the one touching her, embracing her body and her curves.
Her brows knitted together as she found the soft curve of her hip, rousing herself with her own touch. Then she remembered where she was and pulled herself out of the fantasy.
She glanced at the door; Dominic was having a shower and getting dressed. It wouldn’t hurt to take care of business. She walked as casually as she could back to her room, leaving the food behind, and softly closed the door behind her.
She could explain her departure away as wanting to change her clothes, to be ready when he was done.
She shed the pants on her way to the bed and slinked under the sheets once more. Her loins ached for her touch and she rewarded them for their patience. Fingers dove between her thighs to discover she was already a little wet, the friction of her tips making her clit swell. There. Ah. She closed her eyes and resumed the fantasy she had left behind.
He would graze her neckline with kisses, drag his rough beard across her skin, as he whispered filthy things against her ear.
Things he wanted to do to her, things he’d thought of but wasn’t brave enough to try. She would caress his shoulders, graze her hands down his hard chest over the smattering of hair on his belly.
“Don’t worry,” she would whisper, before her hands dove even further to find his hanging girth. He would wince and grin, delighting at her forwardness but never taking the initiative. Dennis had always been like that, letting her take the lead.
She worked her fingers in time to the stroking of his length in her mind, imagined it growing harder in her hand until he was fully erect. She imagined the sighs and grunts that would escape him and feeling him slip inside her. He would continue that long, slow rhythm inside her, staring into her eyes as he worked her pleasure.
“Harder,” she would whisper, and harder he would go, but only slightly. Just enough to deepen the intensity of her loins, to send a small spark up her spine to make her notice. Never harder than that, not enough to make her gasp or squeal.
Slicked fingers teased at her pink flesh, probing deeper until they could go no further. She clenched against her own digits, pretended they were Dennis. Her hips gyrated against an imaginary partner in hopes of attaining her pleasure. And when she came, she had to bury her face in the pillow to stop from moaning too loud.
Her needs had been suppressed so long she was left shivering and quaking by the end, the release exactly what she needed. Just a few hours into the day and her body was already exhausted, ready for sleep.
A knock at the door told her that was not happening.
“Sorry, one sec.” Grumbling, Jen stumbled out of bed and on her feet, annoyed at the interruption and the fact that, as wonderful as her orgasm had been, it had been accomplished alone.
Dominic greeted her – after she got her pants on, of course – looking much more refined than he already was. J
en should have been impressed but she was still drunk from the hormones coursing through her, and it took all she had to remain standing. She only hoped he wouldn’t notice the faint quiver of her legs.
“I thought I would get ready looking for something to wear, but it seems the closets in here are empty.” She gestured to the wardrobe over in the corner.
Dominic blinked in surprise.
“My mistake, let me grab something for you to change into.” He turned back to the hall and disappeared around a corner for a few minutes before returning with something draped over his arm.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
Jen closed the door before he could reply and tossed the clothing on the bed. She was tempted to have a second go, to leave him waiting out there as she amused herself for a second round. But the moment and the magic were lost.
Dominic busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen, knowing full well he had placed several outfits in the wardrobe two nights before. He would have said something, called out her lie, had it not been for the scent of lust and satisfaction that surrounded her when she opened the door. It nearly brought him to his knees.
He decided it was better to leave her alone to her business and not put her on the spot with questions. It wasn’t his place to judge her for how she chose to deal with her new situation.
It was hard not to be enraptured by her scent, however. It was so potent, he was intoxicated with its power. He had to remind himself that she wasn’t his. Not yet.
She hadn’t agreed to anything. She seemed determined to figure things out
for herself and he wasn’t going to rush it.
Thankfully, it had faded by the time she returned from her room, dressed in something comfortable and green. It was nice; it brought out the color of her eyes and made her hair shine even more brilliantly.
Jen found Dominic’s appearance pleasant as well, now that she got a full look of him. She was still short of breath from her “entertainment” but eager to continue the conversation while they walked.
“My people are mostly male-oriented and require human females to continue our species. That may be what led to the myths about dragons taking virgins and hiding them away in their castles. Not a far stretch from the truth, but we are far from evil.”
“And the women your people bed? What happens to them?”
“They get to join us, of course. Our genetic makeup has been transformed through technology so when we choose to...” Dominic’s hand waved in the air, searching for a delicate way to put it. “Impregnate them, it transforms them as well. Makes them one of us.”
“A dragon shifter?” Jen didn't believe such a thing was possible. To fly through the air on wings of her own? Wasn’t that what every little girl dreamed of?
Well, probably not like this.
“Yes, and their children too. That’s really all it is.”
“And then you dispose of me,” Jen said matter-of-factly as she ran her hand through a collection of planted flowers. The sunlight felt warm against her skin, but she didn’t want to allow herself to become too comfortable with this place.
“What? No, I’d make you my wife. I’m not some– is that what you think of me?” Dominic asked bluntly, almost foaming at the mouth. “Our people are not interested in one-night-stands. We are interested in establishing long-term relationships with the women we accept.”
“And for those who say no?”
“They are free to do as they please!”
Jen felt a little bad about angering him. Here, she thought this was just a one-time deal and then she would be discarded. To learn he was actually invested in maintaining a relationship with her, likely for the rest of his long life, well, that changed things.
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