by S. E. Smith
The symbiot paused for a brief moment, opened its enormous mouth filled with large, impressive, razor-sharp teeth, unfolded its tongue, and promptly licked the spoon clean. If that wasn’t bad enough, it sat down in front of her, tilted its head sideways, and gave her a silly-ass grin when it was finished.
“Really? You know, that isn’t a very intimidating look,” Pearl stated dryly, raising an eyebrow.
A reluctant but amused smile curved her lips. The thing looked so damn proud of itself that it was hard not to be amused by its pleased expression. She was about to drop her arm when the man standing behind the golden creature transformed. One second there was a gorgeous hunk of masculinity in front of her and the next there was a massive, fire-breathing dragon with long claws and sharp teeth. Pearl had to check herself when she started to release a wolf whistle. Even as a dragon, the guy was impressive in a turn-you-on, heat-me-up kind of way.
At least, that was her first thought. Her second one was that she was in deep shit when said gorgeous dragon reached out with his tail and wrapped it around her waist. Pearl released a strangled cry when she felt her feet suddenly leave the ground.
A second later, the golden goofball that had been in front of her transformed. Pearl watched in horrified fascination as long tentacles of gold rose up and reached outward from the creature to form an ornate, adult-size bird cage. If watching the creature transform wasn’t disconcerting enough, the thin threads of gold that reached out and wrapped around her wrist was enough to send her into panic mode. Pearl released a startled curse and raised her other hand to try to pull away. Before she could break free, new threads wrapped around her right wrist, creating a matching bracelet on each arm.
She had been so focused on the delicate golden bracelets forming around her wrists that she didn’t noticed the other change occurring right in front of her until it was too late. Confused by what was happening, she glanced around to see if anyone else was noticing that things were quickly going to hell faster than Satan on a Sunday drive. Her mouth fell open and she stared at the man in front of her in surprise.
Correction – the dragon in front of her was close enough now that she could see every tiny detail of his face. Dark, gun-metal-gray scales lined his face. He had a high brow, long black lashes, and small, white spikes along his cheeks. His eyes had turned to a darker golden color and she swore she could see a bonfire burning in them.
“Oh shit,” Pearl whispered in a strangled tone. “To hell with a spoon, I need my fucking gun!”
Lost in his dismal thoughts, it had taken a moment for Asim to realize that his dragon and his symbiot were not suffering from the same self-doubts as he was. If he hadn’t been so preoccupied, he would have been aware that the two were silently conspiring against him. He smothered a groan when he saw that his symbiot had ignored his orders to stay and was circling around him from behind. It landed on silent feet a short distance from the woman.
Asim uttered a choked snarl of warning. His symbiot did more than land near the woman; it was now scaring the hell out of her! Asim winced when white globs of creamy dessert flew through the air, splattering tiny dots across his face. He raised a hand to wipe at the food particles while he watched with exasperation as his symbiot licked clean the spoon in the woman’s hand. This was not the first impression he wanted to make.
He opened his mouth to protest, but quickly realized something else – his dragon had taken advantage of his distraction to seize control of his body – and this time the damn thing was determined to retain it. Asim understood that none of them wanted to lose the woman now that they had discovered her, but there were better ways to do that than by kidnapping her – in front of the entire royal family. He opened his mouth to warn the woman, but promptly made the situation worse, if that was even possible.
“You are mine!” slipped from his lips in a barely recognizable voice.
Oh, Pactor’s dung, this is not going to end well, he thought as his body shifted to that of a powerful, gray dragon on a mission.
“What the…? Who the hell are you talking about? What the hell is going on? Riley!” the woman demanded in a loud voice that held a clear message – she was not happy with her first impression of him.
5
Asim’s dragon and symbiot were totally out of control. Since he couldn’t fight them both, Asim decided that he might as well focus on damage control. He would concentrate on planning how he would fix this mess once he regained control.
The woman was staring at him with a look of dismay, and with his dragon in control, all he could do was grunt out like some primitive idiot that the woman belonged to him – not that she could understand what he was actually saying since it was his dragon speaking! He could picture Lady Ariel rolling her eyes at him the way she did at Mandra when he tried talking to her in his dragon form. For now, Asim was consigned to watching in despair as his dragon wrapped his tail around the woman and gently lifted her.
The woman’s curse echoed through the air, drawing the attention of the others. His dragon carefully deposited the woman in the golden cage his symbiot had become and waited for the bars to seal around her. It was obvious his dragon and symbiot were going to completely ignore everything and everyone around them except the woman.
You know there is going to be hell to pay for this, as Lady Ariel would say, don’t you? Asim informed his dragon in a stern voice.
Yes, I know. All be good. We get our mate. You fix trouble, his dragon chuckled.
Asim released a long stream of mental curses, wishing he could say them out loud as his dragon pushed up off the ground. Correction, he thought with a grimace. …My dragon’s large, battle-scarred body is lifting off the ground gripping the cage with a very enraged woman inside. Asim winced when the woman released a long series of threats.
Yes, they were going to be in big trouble – and most of that trouble looked like it was going to come from the delicate beauty they had just kidnapped. The only saving grace was that none of the royal family appeared to be too concerned about his unusual behavior – especially Lord Vox if the Sarafin king’s grinning face was anything to go by.
Correction number two – none of the royal family with perhaps the exception of Lady Riley. She doesn’t sound as pleased as her mate, Asim thought with a wince when he heard Riley’s frantic yell. I can just see another Great War about to begin.
I tell you – you think too much, his dragon replied, releasing a triumphant roar as the small group turned in the air and retraced their flight from a few short minutes before.
“I’m going to cut your wings off and feed them to the buzzards,” the woman growled.
Asim snorted in response. She had already threatened that. His least favorite was when she threatened to cut his balls off and use them as a door knocker. Even his dragon grimaced at that promise.
“Where in the hell are you taking me?” the woman demanded.
Asim glanced down. Far below them were the thick forests of Valdier. They would be crossing the North River soon. He turned his gaze to the woman when she muttered under her breath. Concern swept through him when she rubbed her arms. With a swift thought, a section of his symbiot dissolved and formed a thin blanket.
“What…? Oh, thank you,” she said with a sigh when the golden blanket wrapped around her. “So, your name is Asim?”
Asim bowed his head and grunted. He mentally ran a hand over his face when his dragon continued to grunt, snort, and speak in dragon speak. The damn thing was rambling on about how long they’d been looking for their true mate, how happy they were to find her, how he couldn’t wait to share the Dragon’s Fire with her…
Enough! She can’t understand a thing you are saying, Asim said in exasperation.
“What the hell is the dragon’s fire?” the woman asked before she released a long hiss. “Never mind, I think I get the picture.”
Yes, she can. Symbiot showing her, his dragon replied with satisfaction.
You are going to doom us. She will
run as far and as fast as she can the moment we release her, Asim groaned.
“My name’s Pearl St. Claire, by the way. Not ‘woman’, ‘female’, or ‘she’ if you think anything like Vox and Viper,” Pearl dryly replied.
Asim closed his eyes when his dragon continued to talk to the woman – Pearl. Damage control – he kept repeating to himself – just focus on damage control. He didn’t even bother to listen to what his dragon was telling Pearl anymore. He had a feeling he was going to be answering a lot of questions anyway, if Pearl was anything like Lady Ariel.
An hour later, they swept through the last mountain pass and into the valley where his home was located. Pearl had grown quieter the closer they got. Normally that would have been a good sign, but the way she was drumming the fingers of her right hand on her knee told him that he needed to be wary.
Take us to the edge of the lake and give me back control, Asim ordered.
Why? What you do if I give control? His dragon asked.
I am going to try to smooth things over. She is sure to be upset about our kidnapping her, Asim replied.
Maybe she not upset. Maybe she like we take her, his dragon suggested in a hopeful tone.
We are about to find out, my friend, Asim dryly retorted.
He wasn’t feeling as optimistic. If he wasn’t mistaken, her fingers were moving a little faster and the tension in her body was radiating outward. Asim connected with the part of his symbiot wrapped around her wrist and winced.
Yes, she might be just a little upset, Asim thought in resignation.
His dragon circled around and swooped down low over the water. He swerved upward, his powerful wings keeping them airborne while he gently released the cage. His symbiot stretched out, cushioning the cage for a soft landing before it dissolved and reformed in the shape of a large puppy complete with big, pointy ears.
Asim concentrated, focusing on shifting back to his two-legged form. He landed near the edge of the water. His boots sank into the mixture of sand and fine, colorful pebbles. He lifted a hand to run it through his short hair and drew in a deep breath, trying to think of what to say.
“First, I would….”
Asim never had a chance to finish his sentence. The deep breath he had inhaled whooshed from his lungs and he found himself stumbling backwards when a well-placed, booted foot landed squarely in his stomach.
Caught off guard, he lost his balance on the loose gravel under his feet. He barely had time to brace for the icy water that greeted him. He closed his eyes and clamped his lips as the cold water washed over his face. Stunned by the unexpected force of the attack, he lay in the shallow water for a moment before he sat up.
“That is a warning to keep your cotton-picking claws off me unless I tell you that you can touch me. You’re lucky I didn’t kick you in the balls,” she snapped.
Asim blinked up at where Pearl stood on the bank with a large piece of driftwood in her hands. She was pointing the stick at his symbiot and her finger at him in apparent warning not to try anything. Asim ran both hands down his face and shook his head. His symbiot had its butt up in the air, the long tail wagging while its tongue lolled out and its ears twitched. The last time he had seen it behave like this was when he was a dragonling.
“He wants to play,” Asim informed her.
Pearl glanced at him and rolled her eyes. “Duh. I think I can figure that out on my own,” she retorted, waving the stick.
Yep, just like Lady Ariel, he thought with a grudging smile.
“I guess I deserved this,” Asim grimaced, waving his hands at the water he was sitting in. “Though, technically, I did try to stop them from kidnapping you, so I believe my dragon and my symbiot deserve the cold bath more than I do.”
Pearl glanced at him again and frowned. “Aren’t you all the same thing?” she asked.
Asim pushed up off the ground and stood up. This was his third bath of the day, and it wasn’t even late afternoon yet. A shudder of distaste ran through him when he felt the water in his boots as he took a step forward.
“Yes and no,” he stated, slowly walking out of the water. “While I can shift to my dragon and we are the same, we still have our own awareness. It is… complicated.”
She gazed at him with a skeptical expression. “Obviously,” she replied. “So, besides having multiple personalities that can shift into a fire-breathing, mythological beast and having a….” She waved her hand at his symbiot who was now gnawing on the other end of the branch she was holding out. “…whatever in the hell that is, plus a problem with kidnapping the wrong woman, do you have any other psychological issues I should be aware of?” she asked with a raised eyebrow before turning to frown at his symbiot. “Will you knock it off? This is my branch. Go find your own,” she ordered in a stern tone.
The symbiot paused and reluctantly released the end of the branch. Asim watched it turn and trot over to several pieces of driftwood. It tested each piece of wood before picking one and returning to sit in front of Pearl with a happy, sloppy grin on its face, a two-meter branch clenched between its jaws. Pearl released a loud huff, threw a hand up in the air in exasperation, and shook her head.
“You are all crazy,” she muttered.
Asim didn’t bother to hide his amusement. Part of it was because he was beginning to see the humor of the situation and the other part was the joy his dragon, his symbiot, and he were feeling at finding such a perfect woman for him – one with fire! He quickly adjusted his expression when she shot him the same stern look that she had directed at his symbiot.
“May I formally introduce myself? I am Asim Kemark, protector of the royal family, knight of the Valdier, and your true mate,” he stated with a deep bow.
Asim waited for several extra seconds when silence greeted his introduction. It wasn’t until he heard the soft sound of footsteps against the loose rocks that he glanced up. Slowly straightening, he stared at the back of the woman as she walked away from him. He released a deep sigh.
“Well, at least she didn’t hit me again,” he said with a shake of his head.
She going wrong way. Home other way, his dragon pointed out to him.
“Sarafin hair balls! Well, what are you waiting for? Help me bring her back!” Asim ordered in aggravation.
He glared at his symbiot who just sat there watching Pearl walk away. He grimly strode after his mate – loud, squishy boots, chafing leather, and low expletives filling the air as he chased her down. He was going to have a serious man-to-man talk with both his dragon and his symbiot later tonight.
We still find true mate, his dragon huffed before he yawned and curled up with a happy sigh. It exhausting work.
6
Would you like some hot tea?” Asim asked nearly an hour later.
Pearl turned from where she was standing on the wide deck overlooking the waterfall that flowed from underneath it. She saw a flash of uncertainty flicker through the man’s eyes before it was replaced with the same stubborn, determined expression that had brought her to his home. Crossing her arms to keep from reaching out to smooth away the worried expression on his face, she shrugged and nodded.
“You have hot tea?” she asked in surprise.
“Yes. Lady Ariel enjoys it,” he replied.
“I would love a cup,” she said.
He nodded, turned, and retreated back inside. The moment he was gone, Pearl uncrossed her arms and fanned herself. A snort from the golden creature watching her made her scowl.
“Hot flash,” she lied.
The creature shimmered and she could feel the warmth shoot up her arms. It was obvious it knew better. Turning back around, Pearl couldn’t prevent the amused grin that crossed her face.
It would appear her later years in life were going to be filled with firsts. The first time she met an alien. The first time she traveled to another planet. And last but not least, the first time she was kidnapped by a horny, dragon-shifting, alien warrior. She wondered what other firsts were in store for her.
The sound of dishes rattling told her that she hadn’t spoken as softly as she thought. She turned to see Asim standing just outside the doorway. His hands clenched the tray so tightly that Pearl was surprised the metal didn’t bend. She lifted her gaze to his face.
Yep, he heard me, she thought with a sigh.
His eyes burned with intensity. He had slipped on a shirt when he changed out of his wet clothes and a pattern of scales was visible under the collar. Vivid images of tangled sheets flooded her with warmth and made her question her sanity. She honestly didn’t know if that last thought was hers or his.
“Both,” he said in a tight voice. “It has been a long time.”
“Honey, if these bands wrapped around my arm are any indication, I’d have to say it has been way too long,” she dryly retorted.
“I’m not opposed to correcting that issue,” he replied with a grin.
Pearl gazed at Asim for several seconds before she threw her head back and laughed. Damn, but if this man – alien – dragon – warrior – whatever in the hell he was – didn’t make her feel young again. Shaking her head, she placed her hands on her hips and grinned.
“I think a cup of hot tea is in order before we jump in the sack,” she chuckled.
Asim’s face flushed and he returned her grin. “I will hold you to that promise,” he said with a matching mischievous grin.
Pearl’s eyes widened and she caught herself before she raised her hand again to fan herself. The symbiot knew exactly what she almost did. She shot it a quick glare when it snickered at her.
“Oh, go fetch another stick,” she murmured.
Asim’s smothered chuckle told her that he’d heard her. It was obvious that these men did not have the same issues with hearing loss that most humans did when they grew older. She would have to remember that – not that it would keep her from speaking her mind.
“So, do you make a habit of kidnapping poor, unsuspecting women with the intention of ravishing them, or did you just start your nefarious career?” Pearl asked.