Opalite

by Viola Grace

  "Do you want to take that chance?" Kronos took her hand again and squeezed her fingers. "What would you do if he suddenly appeared and demanded you mate with the male who tortured me?"

  "I would refuse."

  "Once your father approves the union, the male would have every right to force your compliance. You would be his prisoner."

  Opalite sighed. When had her life become so dark? Why could she not choose to live alone if she wished? She glanced at Kronos and sighed. She must admit, at least to herself, that she found him attractive. Some strange thing fluttered in her middle every time she looked at him. What's more, she wanted to stay with him. No matter what she had hoped, she would never allow her father to take her choice from her. She had lived her life for others for far too long. It was time to take control of her destiny and take control she would.

  They followed Ruby to her mate's office. Her sister didn't so much as pause as they reached the closed door. Ruby merely reached out, grasped the handle and pushed the door open.

  Opalite barely held back a gasp of surprise. Her fingers tightened on Kronos's as she stared at the half-dozen males who surrounded a large golden desk in the center of the room.

  Ruby breezed into the midst of the males and approached the man who sat at the desk.

  The males all turned to face Opalite and Kronos. The men stared through narrowed eyes at her hand held in Kronos's light grip.

  "Oton, my mate," Ruby said, her voice loud in the growing silence. "I would like you to meet my sister, Opalite and her…mate, if I am not mistaken."

  Lifting her chin into the air, Opalite stared back at the men who seemed so rude. If she must mate, it would be with the male of her choice. Not some diplomat her father chose for her. She gave her sister a nod. "Kronos is my mate."

  You will not regret your decision, my lady.

  Be quiet, you. I regret it already. I do not want to answer to you or anyone else. She looked at him and took a deep breath, taking in his delicious scent. My life has had too few freedoms. Do not mistake my choice as anything more than what it is. My choice.

  "Before any of you have any thought about abducting me, my choice is made." She gave them all a level stare and drew herself up to her full height. "I am free to choose whom I wish and I have chosen this man." She turned to Kronos and gave him a slight smile.

  Choosing him really wasn't a hardship. He was very well put together for a dragon male. He wasn't difficult to look at either. As males went, Kronos appeared to be very handsome. Not that she had much for a basis of comparison. All of the males in this room appeared to be what Earth women would deem attractive.

  Before, she had never understood what the human females saw in certain men. Now she knew what drew them. The color and length of their hair, the flashing of their eyes, anything they said or did could be considered something attractive if they are the right male.

  Opalite still didn't want to give up her newfound freedom. However, she watched Ruby with her mate and realized that with the right man at her side, her freedom would never be in question. She glanced up at Kronos and thought he must be the one for her. Ever other male here made her skin crawl when she thought of them touching her. Yet, she stood here hand in hand with Kronos and felt nothing more than the comforting warmth of his body next to hers.

  Oton stood and extended a welcoming hand. "Welcome, sister." He moved to open a door behind his abandoned seat. "Please follow me and we shall join your other sisters who await us in the courtyard."

  She and Kronos followed the mated pair through the open door. Opalite felt immediate relief when the door closed behind them. The weight of the unmated males' stares had almost been too much for her to bear.

  It was difficult to go from never seeing a male dragon, to seeing so many in one place, especially when they stared at you as if you were some sort of lab experiment. Closing her eyes, Opalite suppressed a groan when she realized that she and all of her sisters, save four, were just that--a lab experiment.

  It does not matter how you came into being, sweetling, her mother interrupted her thoughts. All that matters is that you are here and you are mine.

  Her mother's words soothed her as they were meant to do. However, Opalite still could not shake the horrible feeling that she was never meant to be.

  She frowned at the thought. When had she become such an infant? She was finally free. Free to live her life, to live and love where she would. It was something she had never dared to hope would happen. Yet, here she stood on a new world, surrounded by new friends and, hopefully, her pod sisters. Her life was now her own and she was determined to make it a good one.

  Ruby and her mate led them down a shadowed corridor. The sound of running water surrounded them as they passed what sounded like small waterfalls within the walls. Perhaps they were. If there was one thing she had noticed, it was that dragon males loved to live near water for whatever reason.

  After leading them through a tall archway, Oton opened a large, golden door and made his way to the center of the courtyard. "You can show yourselves. We have brought your sister. Galen was correct in assuming she would soon seek you out."

  Topaz and Emerald launched themselves from the shadow and hugged Opalite close.

  "We were afraid we would never see you again."

  "I see they are still forcing you to dress in those horrible grey scrubs when they lock you down for the night."

  Both of her sisters spoke at once and Opalite looked at them each in turn. "It is good to see you two again as well, Emerald. We worried that perhaps you had perished until Mother told us of your defection. The doctors are certain you had gone mad by now."

  "Of course they would. None of them could know about Galen and his ability to remove their leashes from deep within our flesh." Ruby moved to join them.

  Opalite turned her gaze to Topaz. "Yes." She plucked at the drab top she wore. "They still make us wear these colorless articles." She couldn't help but stare at the magnificent leathers her sisters wore. They even matched the color of their eyes. "If anyone thinks I am working in white, they are sadly mistaken." She took a seat when their host sat down with Ruby in his lap and waved toward the other furniture in the courtyard.

  "Sit, please." Ruby urged the men who moved into view and took their places at her sisters' sides.

  At least Opalite presumed the men were her sisters' mates, but there was no time for introductions now. They had wasted too much time already.

  "Ruby and I have determined that we must return to Earth and try to gather the records of the off-world teams they have stored at the labs." Opalite assessed everyone's reaction. "Do any of you agree?"

  "Well… it would make it easier to find the worlds on which they reside." The male sitting next to Topaz said. "It would also cut down the time needed for each extraction. Right now, we all go on every mission. We have no idea how many people to extract, nor do we know the danger level for any given mission. Some foresight would not be amiss."

  "That is sound reasoning." Kronos said as he wrapped his arm around Opalite's waist, mimicking the stance of the other males.

  "That's true," Emerald agreed. "Right now, we all go together in case there are too many or they choose to fight us, like Ruby's first assignment."

  Emerald's green eyes sparking with excitement, "I, for one, cannot wait." She rubbed her hands together. "I would love to have a reason to stun Janus and hope he falls on his face and breaks his nose."

  "You're so bloodthirsty, my love," her mate said then kissed her on the temple.

  A pang of something Opalite could not identify shot through her system and lodged deep in her belly. It was strange how she suddenly wanted that same kind of affection from Kronos. A lump formed in her throat and she cleared it to remove the strange blockage.

  "We must concentrate on the mission at hand." Which was to return to Earth and grab every document they could find on how many teams were off-world and where to find them. Opalite pulled her hand from the comfort of her mate
's grip. "We have the element of surprise. Yet, with their new stunners, they could easily recapture us all."

  "Not with our new suits," Ruby chuckled. "They not only look sexy as heck, but they are functional, too." Reaching behind her head, Ruby pulled a hood up from what seemed like nowhere and pulled it over her head to cover her face. Nothing showed but her hands, feet and eyes. Small holes cut into the fabric allowed her to breathe through her nose or mouth.

  "These suits are coated with a special polymer that deflects energy. They could shoot us and harm us with projectile weapons, but a stunner will merely bounce off us." She grinned. "It's Galen's invention. We really should try to convince one of our sisters that he would make a good mate."

  "I am sure we will, sister," Emerald said with a grin. "Now… how do we go about breaking into the lab and snatching up the records?"

  "That is a good question. One we must work out before we go storming off to the facility," Oton replied. "For now, we should all go into the dining hall for dinner where we can discuss it."

  * * * *

  The facility was smoking when it was time for the dragons to leave. Electrical fires broke out amongst the computer equipment and the armory was devoid of weapons and other useful objects. None of the humans were harmed at the ladies' request. All unconscious, those left behind were locked in empty cells where they would remain until the night shift arrived.

  The group of dragons stood in the debarkation room and looked around with distaste.

  "It is too bad we could not find their sisters. We could all quit this place like a bad habit once and for all." Kronos said with a sneer. "I have often wondered what their accommodations looked like. Now that I know, I would like nothing more than to end this project here and now." He sighed. "It is just too bad we cannot destroy the lab without inadvertently harming the other dragon swans."

  Turning, Opalite watched as Oton opened a portal and they all stepped through to his world before returning to their respective dimensions.

  Kronos carried her through to his world. He took her to his home where they sat in his dining hall, getting to know each other better. Opalite liked this part of their relationship. It was difficult at first, but after the initial coupling, she found it got easier and easier to look him in the eyes afterward. Not once had she ever thought the natural act of mating would embarrass her, but it had the first few times.

  "It is unfortunate that we didn't get more records than we did," Opalite said as she sat in Kronos's lap and fed him the small pieces of fruit from a plate.

  He took the fruit gently with his teeth and licked the juice from her fingers. "It is enough to keep us busy for a while. Soon, they will become complacent again and we shall be ready to hit the lab once more. Only the next time," he paused to kiss her on the nose, "you and your sisters shall remain behind. I refuse to risk you all a second time and now that I know my way around the inside of the facility, there is no reason for the threat to you all."

  Opalite glared at him through narrowed eyes. "You said you would not dictate to me." She pushed at his chest in an effort to get up. "Let me go, you cretin." She would have really fought him if it wasn't for the fact that he had allowed Sela to accompany them to his world. He even saw to it that she had something to do to make her feel useful and a man who interested her. Perhaps she could begin a new and better life here.

  "I will never release you, Opalite. I thought you knew that by now. I do not dictate to you, lady. I only ask that you acknowledge my experience in matters concerning your safety." He squeezed her and stood. "Enough of the fruit. I am hungry for something else."

  "You're always hungry for that." She felt herself flush. Never had she blushed as much as she did when she was with Kronos. Before she met him, she never knew she could blush. Now it was almost a daily occurrence.

  "Your blush is a natural and beautiful thing, my lady love." Kronos grinned. He carried her from the room and up the stairs. "Now, let us see how deeply I can make your color change."

  About the Author

  Tianna Xander is an eclectic author of numerous paranormal, sci-fi, time travel romance erotica books. Gaining inspiration for her characters and dialogue through her family and her addiction to the internet, she never fails to amaze readers with each new book she creates. As a reading junkie herself, Tianna has no problem reading whatever is available at the moment from romance novels, murder mysteries and encyclopedias to books on solar energy.

  Tianna's life wouldn't be complete without a happily ever after of her very own. She resides in Michigan with her husband, two children, three cats, two dogs and an intimidating bunny. Never one to fail to give credit where it's due, she commends her family for their constant support. After writing many books and receiving rave reviews, her family is just as proud of her. Always full of ideas, Tianna rarely puts the pen down, so readers can look forward to many more exciting stories in the future.

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola's fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.