by Jadyn Chase
Rose’s eyes snapped open and she straightened, bracing herself against Adam's cool hard chest. His arms and body went absolutely rigid as he set her aside and turned to face the other Dragonman – a scarred one – who had Ellie standing beside him.
Beside him stood Ellie, and Rose realized this Dragonman must be Ice.
Rose caught Ellie's eye and tried to smile at her, but Ellie just looked frozen. Rose felt the same way herself. Why was Ice trying to challenge Adam?
Adam glared at Ice with the same cold rage she had seen when he was in dragon form as The Diamond, back in his cave. Without thinking, she took a step back, and so did Ellie.
"Go away," said Adam in a cold, hissing voice, still glaring hard at Ice. "Go. This is my place. There are plenty of others for you."
Ice gave him a lazy smile and cocked his head. "My mate deserves the best,” he said. “I want this one. And I intend to take it."
Chapter 11
Before any of them could blink, Adam had made a fist with his right hand and struck Ice so hard that the Dragonman dropped to the sand. Then, to Rose and Ellie's horror, Adam grabbed Ice by his blond hair and punched him so hard in the face yet again that Rose feared the Dragonman might actually be dead.
Ellie cried out and started to go to Ice, but Rose stopped her. Don't get between them! Don't! She wanted to shout, but just held tight to Ellie's arm instead.
"I will say it again," said Adam, looking down at the Dragonman at his feet. "Go away. Find a place of your own. And do not challenge me again."
Slowly, Ice got up, and then turned and walked away as though nothing had happened. Ellie hurried along with him, trying to look at his face as they moved into the flickering light of the campfires on the beach. Adam was perfectly calm, but Rose found herself feeling quite shaken. She could only imagine how Ellie felt.
Then Adam took her in his arms again and pulled her close, exactly as before, as though it had never happened. Rose found that unnerving, too.
"I was afraid you'd killed him," she said, as he bent down to her again.
"No," he said. "I need him. But I cannot allow any of them to challenge me. I will fight them all if I must."
Rose certainly hoped it would not come to that.
He picked her up in his arms and carried her a little farther down the beach, into the darkness past the light of the campfires and to a low spot that seemed to be out of sight of the others.
There, in the deep shadows, he placed her down on the soft sand and immediately straddled her. "Remove your clothes," he said.
She began to feel something like fear. Yes, this was The Diamond, this was Adam, but still –
Rose sat up and tried to place one hand on his chest. "Wait – I mean, I want to, but – "
But he only took hold of her arms and gently but firmly pressed her back down again. She became aware that his breath had quickened and that his clear eyes glittered in the moonlight – and he was almost looking at her.
"You are my mate. I need you. Remove these clothes or I will remove them for you."
She also became aware that his body stood ready and that the tension in him only increased with every heartbeat. The thought flashed through her mind that if she refused him, he would not force her, but she would no longer be his mate and would probably never see him again.
She didn’t want that.
Anyway, there was no denying that in spite of her fear, her body was still responding to him. She could feel how hard he was as he rocked his pelvis down against her, and she automatically shifted her legs a little wider, wanting to feel him inside of her.
There was no reason to hold back. They could worry later about the logistics of having 32 alpha male Dragonmen in one place.
Besides, Rose trusted him. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have let him carry her thousands of miles away from their base in Antarctica. She would never have keyed in her code to access his cavern. He wasn’t going to hurt her.
Rose scooted back a little, still in the darkness, and stripped off her scrubs, bra, and panties as fast as she could. Her own breathing came faster, too, at the sight of him kneeling in front of her.
She set all of the clothes aside and faced Adam again. "Yes," she said quietly, though her voice caught a little. "I am your mate. I am – "
He grabbed hold of her legs and pulled them up on either side of his hips. She fell back so that she was lying flat on the sand once more. He pinned her there, his strong body looming over hers, and in one swift move, he entered her fully.
Rose’s back arched and her fingers scrabbled at his arms as she tried to anchor herself against him. She cried out in pleasure and pain, moving her body against his to press him even deeper inside of her.
It had been so long since she had been touched like this, and even though somewhere deep down, she had always imagined that Adam would fuck into her, she had never really believed it would happen.
But it was happening now.
His hands moved restlessly along her arms and shoulders as though he couldn’t get enough of her – touching her, feeling her body react to him. Everywhere that his fingertips touched, he left a trail of goosebumps in their wake. She shivered, right on the brink of coming already, acutely understanding in that moment, the immense frustration that all of these very powerful male dragons must have been living with for so long.
He pushed her legs up higher, until they rested on his shoulders, so that he was bending her nearly in half. Rose howled in ecstasy as the change in position drove him ever deeper inside of her. She climaxed hard, her vision fading to a brilliant white, much like the snows in Antarctica that they had left behind.
Adam slowed, allowing her a moment to catch her breath in the wake of the climax, but he didn’t stop thrusting into her, quickly bringing her a second orgasm that left her feeling languid and exhausted against the sand, her whole body open to him.
He caught her hips in his hands, his grip almost bruising, and rolled her over so that she was on her hands and knees in front of him. He quickly entered her again as he arched up over her back in what she imagined must be a mating of dragons.
This time, Adam moved more deeply and more slowly, allowing her to feel just how perfectly he filled her up. She felt suspended in perfect pleasure, unable to think at all, heedless of the cries of the other couples on the beach who had settled into lovemaking of their own. Her entire world narrowed down to Adam and the things that he was doing to her.
Her body clenched with one final orgasm which wrung Adam’s pleasure out of him as well, finally. He spilled his seed inside of her, groaning, his hips finally stilling against hers. He was draped over her, his chest pressed against her back, and for the first time, he didn’t feel quite as cold as he had always been.
At last, he pulled away from her. She dropped down on her side, gasping for breath, and then started to sit up again so that she could reach for him. It would be so good to go to him now and collapse in those very strong arms and rest her head on his very strong chest –
But he only stood up, brushed the sand from his knees and legs, and walked away. Only the moonlight let her see where he was, since it caught the traces of diamond dust in his skin as he moved along the edge of the campsite and walked down to the water.
It was a shock to her, but it was entirely in character for The Diamond. For Adam. She knew very well that he had always been as cold and unfeeling as the jewel for which he was named, and now – though he had not been cruel – he had been very distant and had had no thought for her once it was over.
Rose did not know if she would ever be able to adjust to this, but she felt sure such things rarely, if ever, changed. As she reached for the clothes she had tossed aside, she realized that she might have to adjust her expectations for their relationship.
After all, nothing in her life had turned out as she'd expected. The world had ended and her mate was a dragon in human form. All things considered, maybe she could find it in herself to adjust to that just a li
ttle.
Chapter 12
The next morning, Rose woke up to find that all of the Dragonmen were back in dragon form again. But all of these dragons were behaving very strangely – they were creeping up to their women and stretching out on their bellies in the sand, laying their long white necks down flat in a clear invitation for the women to get on and fly off with them again.
Even The Diamond was doing the same. But the women all adamantly refused and turned to Rose for some idea of what to do.
"We're not leaving here!"
"We've gone far enough!"
"We nearly died on the way up here."
"We want to stay here! At least it's safe."
"And warm!"
"And has air to breathe!"
Rose just looked from them to the dragons and back again. "I don't know what to tell you," she said, feeling helpless and not liking it. "I don't know why they want us to leave again. I don't think they really understand that we can't tolerate flight the way they can."
"Then we've got to make them understand." Ellie walked away from the scarred Ice to stand beside Rose. "These women – none of us – can go through that again."
"No. They can't. But Ellie, I'm afraid I have to."
"What are you talking about? You're not serious about going with them!"
Rose looked up again at the dragons, who were now standing up and swinging their necks over the heads of the women. It was clear that they were very much displeased.
She walked straight up to the angry Diamond and spoke to him. "Diamond! I will go with you. You can show me what you want the women to know. If you bring me back, I will tell them. They are too frightened. But I will go."
He began to quiet down somewhat, and then lay down and stretched his neck out in front of her again. The other dragons began to back off, but Ice did the same in front of Ellie.
"Well, Rose," Ellie said with a sigh, "I guess this makes two of us. I don't think they're going to let all of us stay. I'll go with you and we'll find out what it is they want us to see."
"Okay. We'll get dressed in the Warmsuits and then we'll go."
Before long, once again wearing their Warmsuits, Rose and Ellie rode on the necks of their dragons and wondered where the creatures were taking them. They seemed to be heading almost due north and flew for a least a couple of hours. And they seemed to be going higher and higher.
Then, just as Rose was about to try to get The Diamond to take them down lower, she caught sight of their destination. Oh, my god, I should have known – !
The Diamond, in life, had been a man of the sea. He was still drawn to water. And to ice. So where would he want to go, if he was looking for a safe place to establish a fortress and keep his family safe from the other two bands of dragons?
To the tallest, iciest place in the world, that's where. High and cold, just the way the Shinies would like it. To the monstrous, towering peak that loomed up there in front of them now.
Mt. Everest.
Rose began to feel a rising panic. She was certain that Ellie did, too, and Rose felt tremendous guilt at allowing her friend to come along. Ellie should have stayed with the others. The Diamond would have allowed that, she was sure, so long as Rose went with him. And she would have.
But now they were climbing ever higher. She seemed to recall that Everest was – what – nearly thirty thousand feet high? That was as high as some jetliners cruised, back when there were such things as jetliners – but at least they’d had oxygen and pressurized cabins!
She should have talked to Adam about this while he was in human form and made certain he understood that humans simply could not survive the altitudes and the cold – but maybe it would not have mattered. Just because he would understand it as a man did not mean he would understand it as a dragon. And she wasn’t sure how much of the consciousnesses overlapped.
And now it was too late. Rose looked down at the treacherous snow-covered landscape below, far more dangerous than even Alaska or Antarctica because it was so steep. With every second it became harder to draw breath in the thinning air. In a moment, both she and Ellie would slide from the cold, hard necks, either unconscious or already dead.
She made one last attempt to push on the dragon's neck and try to get him to dive. If The Diamond would take her to a reasonable altitude, Ice would follow with Ellie; but as before, there was no response.
Only one thing had made The Diamond change his course before. Rose managed to catch Ellie's eye and pointed down to the mountain below. Ellie nodded, even as she clutched tight to Ice's neck.
Rose had no wish to die. The last thing she wanted to do was send herself plummeting down to that terrifying landscape that was literally miles below. But both she and Ellie would be falling anyway if they continued to ride the dragons higher and higher, and then it would be too late.
The two women looked at each other one last time, and then deliberately slid off of the white necks and let themselves fall. The last thing Rose remembered seeing was the ice and snow and rocks rushing up at her.
Chapter 13
It seemed to be a very long time before Rose awakened, and when she did, she felt sure that she must have been suffering through a nightmare. All she remembered was a terrible fall, hurtling down and down towards far, far distant rocks and snow. And, as in any nightmare about falling, the sleeper always awakened before hitting the ground.
As she had now. Opening her eyes, she saw the warm, sunny, and now-familiar beach where they had all been staying, and found that she was quite comfortable lying here in the sand.
Trying to sit up, Rose also found that she was surrounded by the other women of the group. Ellie was there, too, lying motionless on the sand beside her.
Then reality hit. She remembered what they had tried to do. "Oh – oh, Ellie! Is she alive? Please tell me she's alive!"
"She's alive," said one of the other women. "But both of you were lucky. The dragons brought you in with the two of you lying across their backs. We thought – we thought we'd find you dead."
"But you didn't," said Ellie, slowly sitting up. "Thanks to Rose."
"Not me," Rose said. "We really had no choice. We would have been dead if we'd let them take us any higher."
"I never would have been brave enough to try that on my own," said Ellie. "Damn dragons."
They all managed to laugh at that. "No kidding," said Rose. "Like any other men, you just can't get them to understand anything." The women laughed again. "But I promise, we're going to let them know that we're not going anywhere with them again. We're staying here. We're no good to them dead."
"Well, here's our chance," said Ellie, and they all turned to see the Dragonmen walking towards them from the far end of the beach. "Better start talking."
Each of the Dragonmen found his own mate and sat down on the sand with her. Rose and Adam were in the center, and Rose sat down while Adam remained standing in order to speak to the gathering.
"Listen to me," he said, and they all sat in silence. "One thing that dragons did not well understand was how weak and fragile humans truly are. We are learning quickly that you cannot drink seawater. You cannot eat raw fish. You cannot tolerate any but the slightest cold air. And you cannot fly with us more than just a very short distance above the earth."
The women all glanced at each other, wondering if they should object. Rose did not feel so very weak or fragile after all that they had survived in the past days; but the important thing right now was that Adam was beginning to understand true human limitations. That was what mattered most.
Besides, she thought with a small smile, compared to the dragons, she supposed they really were weak and fragile.
"We, the dragons, will remain as Dragonmen long enough to help our mates establish a settlement here on this beach. We will find sources of fresh water. We will make certain that you are provided with fresh fish and meat. We will keep the campfires burning here. We will help you find the plant foods which you must have to thrive, though we do n
ot need them. We will bring in materials to build you suitable shelters. And we will take you with us to search for those items which you say you need and which may remain in the deserted towns and cities."
Rose felt very hopeful, even as the women all looked at each other again and were nodding and smiling. But Rose was sure that there was more to come. It was never that easy with dragons.
"We will stay among you at least part of the time," Adam went on. "We will stay here as Dragonmen so that we can speak to you and live with you as your mates. But we will also have a fortress of our own where we can live as dragons. That fortress will be up on the very tall mountain where no humans can live or breathe."
He turned and looked towards Rose. "I took you and the other woman with me because I wished to show it to you, before I well understood that you could not make such a journey."
Rose stood up to face him. "You mean Everest," she said, her voice shaking. "You're talking about going to live as dragons on Mt. Everest! That would be no better than living out on the ice in Antarctica!"
Adam just stared in her direction, completely silent, and stood motionless until she sat down again. "You will not be going to Everest. None of our females will go there. I just informed you that we will make certain that you have everything you need right here."
"But – " Rose was determined to speak, even if she remained sitting at his feet. "I am glad you understand that no human, whether male or female, can live more than a short distance up on a place like Everest. But we have all seen that this place, this beach, is very good for dragons, too, as well as for humans.
"We know you enjoy sunning yourselves on this lovely warm sand. I always felt bad that – that such creatures as yourselves were confined to the terrible cold of a place like Antarctica. I just – we just don't understand why you would want to go away and live on a place like Mt. Everest!"