by Mary Auclair
“You will.” His voice was deceptively soft but it carried more threat than if he had yelled. “Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming. Don’t think I won’t.”
Lord Fedryc paused, his eyes on her like two metallic beams, the never softening presence of the dragoness behind him. His resolve showed on his face, as clear as the way he took a step to stand close enough to touch. Her fingers twitched at her sides and she refrained from cowering when he glared at her. She knew he was waiting for her to bow and accept his dominion over her, his absolute domination over her mind and body.
Maybe this was why she couldn’t submit. Because she had every reason to.
“I can’t let you take me back.” Marielle moved those fingers that twitched, glancing at the hard chest they itched to touch, but not doing it. Instead, she hugged herself, shaking her head stubbornly. Lord Fedryc growled, a low sound of impending danger, but she didn’t look away from his molten silver eyes. “He will die. He’s all I have left, and he will die if you take me back.”
Lord Fedryc’s expression changed, losing some of its harshness. He frowned deeply, and his all-seeing eyes stared with an intensity that made her squirm. “What do you mean?”
“I mean if I don’t go back, he’ll die,” Marielle insisted, her voice getting higher pitched. She was losing control over her barely contained panic. “And it will be my fault.”
“Explain yourself to me, woman, or I swear I will throw you on Nyra’s saddle and not hear another word coming from those lovely lips of yours.”
Marielle’s mind rebelled against the domination in his tone, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think she could have the upper hand on him if things went to a display of physical strength. As much as she hated to admit the depth of her family’s trouble to a stranger, she had to tell Lord Fedryc the truth.
“Ignio Marula will kill Devan if I don’t repay his debt. Twice his debt, in fact.” Anger as hot as fire burned inside her chest when she saw the expression on Fedryc’s face. Pity—pity and disgust for what Devan had done. She would not let this rich, powerful man judge her brother this way. “He wanted to help me take care of us,” she said angrily. “He’s only seventeen.”
“He should have known better. He endangered you through his foolishness.”
Lord Fedryc’s merciless tone slashed through her like a knife, and hot tears of anger burned her eyelids. She let them fall freely down her cheeks.
“Don’t you dare judge him!” Marielle almost shouted. “I’m the one who should have known better! I’m the one who left him all alone, all day, every day since he was twelve years old, to work so we could eat, so we could buy water and have a roof over our heads. He’s only what I allowed him to become.”
Lord Fedryc stared at her for long seconds, the frown fading on his face as a soft expression pulled on his perfect, rock-hard features.
“How long have you been your brother’s mother?”
The question, asked in a soft, almost tender voice, brought more tears to her eyes, and she felt a sob coming up her throat. She could stand Lord Fedryc’s anger, his ultimate domination and counter it with rebellion and her own anger, but she couldn’t stand this caring, almost tender side of him. Her shoulders shook with another sob and soon, her entire body was wracked with incontrollable sobs as the flood of her tension and pain washed over her.
How long had she been Devan’s mother? Too long, that was the answer. Way too long, and what a poor job of it she’d done.
Strong, powerful arms wrapped around her shoulders and she was pulled against the warmth of a hard chest. Marielle turned instinctively inside Lord Fedryc’s embrace and buried her face against him. She inhaled, deep and long, absorbing his good, masculine smell. It soothed the burning pain inside her guts to low embers, until finally her body stopped shaking and she lifted wet eyes up to him.
He was looking down at her with an expression of complete shock, like he had no idea what to do with her, yet he’d done the only thing she had needed him to by wrapping his arms around her.
“My mother died when Devan was only two, but we still had our dad to keep us safe. It was hard without Mom but we were never hungry, never cold. Then Dad died when I was fifteen and Devan ten.” Marielle swallowed against the tide of sadness that the memory brought up. “I had no choice. I couldn’t even spare the energy to mourn my father. Every day since then was a fight for survival.”
“I am sorry for what you have been through.” Lord Fedryc’s hand gently patted her hair away from her face. “I swear to you, never will you have to fight alone again.”
Marielle sighed with relief, then blinked. She pulled away, and Lord Fedryc reluctantly opened his arms to let her break the contact with him.
“What do you mean?” She eyed the Draekon suspiciously as he stilled, his gaze on her like she was about to run again. She wasn’t. She was done running. Crying had wiped any intention of escaping from her mind.
Lord Fedryc straightened, his face as smooth and perfect as a statue’s. Only his eyes trailed over her face like the embrace of a lover. It made her squirm and want to turn around and run back to the hole in the rocks, but she didn’t. She was under the spell of those eyes, unable to move and escape her fate.
“Were you aware of the terms of your contract with Lord Aymond?” Fedryc studied her as he spoke, missing nothing of her most minute reactions.
“I didn’t have the chance to discuss anything with him,” Marielle answered, disappointed at the turn of the conversation despite her best effort not to be. An uneasy feeling began in her belly at the memory of Silva’s words. Would Lord Fedryc try to sell her, despite what she’d told him about Devan? It made her sick just to think about it.
Lord Fedryc nodded, his eyes still on her like a hawk’s. “You are bound to House Haal.” His voice was like velvet and acid at the same time, so soft and deep, but announcing a fate she would do anything to escape. She didn’t have control over her own body anymore. “The contract is valid until you give birth to a living child.”
“So I’m a whore now, right?” The bitterness in her voice flowed, and she let it. “Is that what you want to do, send me off to some stranger in a land far away? Even after I told you about my brother?”
She looked away, unable to sustain his silver stare any longer. It had been a mistake to think he had any kind of heart behind the metal in his eyes.
A hand closed on her chin, forcing her to look back up. Lord Fedryc’s handsome face was filled with shadows as he turned his back on the rising sunlight.
“I will give you a choice.” He spoke slowly, articulating each word carefully. “I can send you back to your brother and free you of the contract.”
He paused as Marielle felt her heart beat stronger, the sound of drums drowning her own thoughts as what she was being offered became clearer. “You would set me free?” She eyed Lord Fedryc as the prospect of freedom rose in her mind. She longed for it like she’d never longed for anything.
“Yes.” Lord Fedryc’s tone was cold and controlled. “Or you can choose to stay and I will repay the debt your brother owes directly to this Ignio Marula.”
Marielle felt her eyes widen and her mouth hang slightly open. This Draekon man was offering her a chance at freedom, yes, but it wouldn’t save Devan. Nothing had changed, she was still trapped.
She had to save Devan. If Lord Fedryc repaid the debt, her brother would live. He wouldn’t have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. All she had to do was give up her own life.
Because she knew one thing for certain: she would never abandon her child to the Draekon. She would stay with the baby in the Draekon’s castle, would beg and plead if she had to.
Marielle bit her lower lip hard enough to hurt, then hardened her gaze on the Draekon. “I can’t. I can’t go back.” She shook her head. “I can’t have freedom.”
“If you will not have your freedom, then I will fulfill the contract myself.” Lord Fedryc straightened, studying her
reaction as she understood the meaning of his words.
Marielle blinked. A sudden burn spread over her cheeks and she thanked the shadows for their gray blanket. Lord Fedryc would fulfill the mating contract? Her heart was suddenly beating so hard it hurt, and her throat felt like sandpaper.
“You?”
His lips pursed into a cruel line, and his surreal eyes shone with cold intensity.
“Yes, yes, of course.” The words left her lips, but it was a remote fact. Something of little importance. “He was your father, so it only makes sense that I would be compatible with you…”
Her voice faltered as Lord Fedryc’s chest stopped moving. He looked at her with an intensity that was hot enough to melt rocks.
Finally, he nodded, but it was a single motion, controlled and elegant.
She watched him as he studied her, this man made of power and fire, who could wipe out her entire future with a single word. She shivered from a place deep inside her belly, from somewhere forgotten, but now awakened and female inside her. A hidden place that now screamed to life and pushed forbidden thoughts into her head—of hard flesh and male demands. Of Fedryc on top of her.
Inside her.
“I accept.” Somewhere from far away, she heard her own voice. Small and powerless, but steady. “I will enter the contract with you.”
Lord Fedryc inhaled like he had been hanging on her words, unable to breathe.
And she knew she had sealed her fate.
Chapter 7
It’s done.
Lord Fedryc’s eyes trailed over her body with an owner’s appreciation, and Marielle was suddenly aware that they were alone. He could decide to take her, here and now, if he wanted to. The thought sent a rush of arousal and fear all the way to her core.
Then the dragon moved its large head to come right beside Lord Fedryc’s side. Her primitive fear of the predator returned, and Marielle took an involuntary step back. Sapphire eyes locked on her with sharp intensity, and suddenly all she could think of was to run.
“Don’t. She won’t hurt you.”
Lord Fedryc stepped closer to the beast, then flattened his palm against the dragon’s snout. He bent his head, touching his forehead to the dragon’s scales, and Marielle could have sworn something passed between man and beast. The dragon’s vertical pupils shrank to fine lines and those reptilian eyes settled on her again, only this time, there was no hatred or anger in them.
“This is Marielle Jansen.” Lord Fedryc spoke almost tenderly to the dragon, his hand gliding over its scales with warmth.
The dragon made its way around the Draekon, who turned slightly to give it more space but didn’t take his hand away from its skin.
“Don’t scream, and don’t move.”
It was unnecessary advice. Marielle couldn’t have moved even if she’d wanted to. She was paralyzed with fear, but also with a strange, almost mystical fascination. It was like the beast could see inside her soul and she was unable to stop it.
The dragon inhaled loudly, closing its eyes at the same time, and Marielle had the strong impression it was sniffing her to decide if it would accept or reject her. Then the dragon opened its eyes again and that gaze settled on her.
There was intelligence in those eyes, something that felt too much like a soul.
“This is Nyra.” Lord Fedryc’s voice came from beside the dragon’s head. “She and I are bound together.”
“She’s beautiful,” Marielle said in a small voice, not wanting to startle the beast. Those sapphire blue eyes shone with animation as the creature studied her intensely. Staring into her eyes, Marielle couldn’t help but think that the dragoness was listening to her. No, more than that. “Can she understand us?”
“Every word.” Lord Fedryc was caressing the dragon’s cheek in an almost sensual motion. “And more. She is as intelligent as you and I. Most of the time, more than I am.”
There was so much affection in the way Lord Fedryc spoke, it changed his entire being. When he chuckled, his silver gaze locked with the dragoness’ and Marielle understood that the dragon was not merely an animal. It wasn’t the monster her people thought it to be but a sentient being. A sentient being capable of reducing entire cities to rubble.
“She agreed,” Lord Fedryc told Nyra in a low, intimate voice. A voice that made Marielle wish he would talk to her that way, too. “Marielle will stay with us.”
Nyra looked at her again with those jewel-like eyes. This time, her gaze was filled with some strange curiosity—curiosity and no small measure of possessiveness. Nyra inhaled loudly again, then her pupils dilated until there were only tiny rings of blue around the black and she closed the distance between Marielle and herself. The large snout brushed Marielle’s dress, then went to her hair as she stood frozen, too scared to do anything but hope not to die slowly and painfully.
Then, the dragon withdrew and locked eyes with the Draekon. Lord Fedryc’s eyes widened and when he looked at Marielle again, she took an involuntary step back.
“I will take care of your brother.” Lord Fedryc spoke, but it wasn’t his voice anymore. It was a low rasp, more a growl than speech. “Have him learn a trade of his choice, anything he wants to do. He will never want for anything in his life ever again.”
Marielle sensed the danger in his words, in the male way his eyes trailed over her, like a brand. Her body lit up and arousal came from somewhere low in her belly. There was no mistaking what he was implying.
There was a price to his offer, a steep price that would crush her under its weight.
“But I have one condition that cannot be negotiated.”
“What is it?” she asked in a voice like a dying breath.
“Our union will be Draekar.” He lifted his chin, his eyes glowing like mirrors in the dim light. “You will not leave after the birth of a healthy child.”
“Then when?” Marielle frowned. The risks of a single pregnancy were high. She had a fifty percent chance of dying during the difficult childbirth or the dangerous pregnancy preceding it. Giving him two heirs would make it even more unlikely that she would survive the contract. “When can I leave?”
“Never.” Lord Fedryc lifted his head ever so slightly. “You will be my Draekarra, my dragon mate. You can never leave.”
Marielle felt the sky close up above her head. The face of her brother came to her in a flash, filled with surreal clarity. She would never return to him. But he would live. He would lead a long, happy life free from poverty and danger.
There was no choice, really. She had given up on her life the day Ignio Marula closed his fists around her family’s throat. Her world lost all light and she heard someone far above her head, some stranger who spoke with a familiar, feminine voice.
“I accept.”
She didn’t even see him move. Suddenly, a hard body was pressed against hers, molding her curves against the shape of a man. Silver eyes bored inside her mind, made her soft and defenseless as strong arms closed around her waist. She was pressed to the hardness of him, down against her stomach. A storm brewed in her belly, in that soft place that screamed for the possession of the male, and arousal spread wetness between her legs at his contact.
His hand closed behind her neck, gently tilting her head sideways. His thumb ran along the shape of her jaw, and settled on the pulsing beat of her jugular.
“Lord Fedryc—” Marielle began, her voice shaky and filled with fear.
“No,” he cut her off. “I am Fedryc to you. I will be your Draekar. I will reign over your life much, much more than just your Lord. Say it. Say the name of your Draekar.”
“Fedryc.” The name was on her tongue and she loved it more than she had any right to.
He nodded with approval.
“Such fragility.” Fedryc looked at her with a puzzled expression. “Yet filled with such fire. And mine. You belong to me, Marielle Jansen. Now and until we fly together in the Night Lands.”
Marielle opened her mouth to answer. She wasn’t even sure wha
t she wanted to say. There was such fire in Fedryc’s words, a commitment of such implication, she was dizzy just thinking about it. But no sound came from her lips.
Then he kissed her.
His mouth was on hers like a brazier, laying waste to her sanity as his hard lips mercilessly massaged hers. This kiss was a burning iron on her and she was helpless to stop it. Worse, she craved it as soon as it began, and her own lips parted. Her mouth was immediately invaded by Fedryc’s tongue, and his taste flowed in her mouth as their tongues met.
His free hand was everywhere, running from the small of her back to her ass in a feverish dance. Already, Marielle melted in the kiss, ceased to be herself to become something else, something new and full of need. Something that didn’t quite belong to her, but entirely to the male hunger that radiated from Fedryc’s skin with every assault of his mouth.
His hand was firmly locked on her neck, holding her head in a vise-like grip, like the hold of some large predatory feline. Finally, as she was beginning to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen, he broke the kiss. Marielle gulped air in large, greedy mouthfuls. Fedryc’s lips didn’t lose time.
They closed at the base of her neck, and a ripple of shock traveled through her body as sharp fangs pressed on her jugular. His tongue licked slowly at the taut skin as she stood frozen under his control. Suddenly it occurred to her that he was an alien. That this handsome, powerful man was not human, and she had no idea how he would act with her. He could be harsh and uncaring. Could he be violent?
She shivered, deep and long. No, she didn’t think he would hurt her, ever.
Fedryc’s hand traveled from her ass to her waist, then slipped up to her breast. He caressed the soft flesh gently, pressing with his fingers spread wide. Marielle gasped, a small sound of want and need. A sound of surrender.
This made Fedryc wild.
She was suddenly lifted off her feet, held closely against a hard Draekon body. A split second later, she lay on her back on the desert ground, her legs spread as a hardness all too male pushed against the pulsing need against the hot wetness there. Fedryc kept kissing her, but now his mouth traveled down her throat as his hands pulled the panels of her dress open to the point of tearing the fabric at the seams.