"Keep your mouth shut unless you're on your knees, woman." The creep growled the words and snarled at her.
Ruby's mouth dropped open, but at the look this guy gave her, she snapped it shut. Every fiber of her being told her to slap him across the face and tell him nobody spoke to her that way. The way his eyes glowed, looking like a monster, and his own set of fangs, although different from the vampires, told those fibers to shut the hell up and do as she was told.
Because this guy was a monster and he had her in a place no bigger than her closet. This was the stuff of her nightmares.
"Come on. We've got maybe ten minutes before the effects wear off, so if you don't want to be their midnight snack, get a move on." Creepo shoved her into the darkness and she almost fell. No way she was ever getting on her knees around this guy. Like ever.
He pushed her again and her shoulder hit something on her right. "I can't see anything."
"Stupid humans. I don't even see how you've existed this long. I don't know why I'm even bothering with you. Such a pain in my tail." He placed his hand on the back of her neck but yanked it away quickly. A low rumble resonated in the passageway.
Was that coming from him? Was he growling at her again?
This time he took her by the elbow and guided her through the dark. She stumbled several times, especially when he didn't warn her they were going down stairs. When they came to a dead end, he slid another panel open and Ruby hoped to smell fresh air. She coughed and gagged at the scent of sewage and probably dead rotting animals.
"Oh god. I think I'm going to throw up."
"Don't. The ladder is already slick, and I don't need your falling to your death. You're not worth anything to me with broken legs." Creepo flicked a switch and a yellow security light illuminated an enormous, insanely deep hole with a rusty ladder hanging from the side.
Ruby hurled, mostly bitter bile since she hadn't eaten anything today. She wiped her mouth on her arm and turned away. "I... I can't do it. You might as well kill me now, because if you make me go in there, I'll--"
"Damn it. What the hell have I gotten myself into with you?"
Creepo shucked off his jacket, tied it around his waist and then grabbed her, pinning her arms to the side. "I suggest you not try to get away if you don't want to fall. Got it?"
Where was she going to escape to? "Let go of me."
"You don't want me to do that." He smiled and jumped over the side into the great crevice and into the dark.
Ruby screamed and buried her face so she couldn't watch them plummet to their deaths. They freely fell for maybe ten feet and then - whoosh. Something slowed their decent like a parachute or something. She peeked one eye open and looked up at the monster. He grinned down at her like this was the funnest game ever.
"You asshole. You had a parachute or whatever this whole time and let me think we were going to die." She'd hit him, but she didn't want him to drop her. Ruby opened her other eye to see what kind of device has saved their lives. They were deep enough now that the light from above was nothing but a dot now, and nothing like a parachute hung in the air. There were not cords and even if there were, she didn't know what they would be attached too since he'd taken off his jacket and wasn't wearing a harness or anything.
A jet pack, like around his waist? But no.
That's when she noticed the intricate drawings, like tattoos, along the walls of the cavern. They were glowing blue. She squinted and tipped her head to the side. They weren't on the wall, but moving down alongside of them, behind El Creepo.
It had to be some kind of alien gizmo that she didn't understand. Technology that looked a whole lot like... wings.
Ash
Ash would do anything to get the hell off this icy cold planet. But that wasn't going to happen. He'd heard some of the other blood slaves talk about a human paradise that sounded a lot like home with warm water, sandy beaches, and sunshine for days on end.
Stars above how he missed the sun. Conscripted to vampire warriors meant the light of day was nothing more than a faded memory. Well, not anymore. He'd found just the ticket to buy his freedom and break the bond that kept his ability to shift into fully into his dragon's hunting form locked away.
She was soft and plump and exactly what the shiny new black market wanted. He could see why. Besides her shitty attitude, her smart mouth, and her propensity to purge her stomach when scared, she would make someone a very luscious mate.
No. Not mate. What the fuck was his brain doing to him? Just because his warrior marks had lit up in the dark when he'd unfurled his wings to float them down, didn't mean she was his mate. This was not Dragos and she was not a dragoness. Female dragons were few and far between as it was. It's not like he would find one on this backwoods frigid planet.
She would make someone a good slave. Whether her new masters mated her or ate her was not his problem. All he cared about was selling her for enough credit to buy passage back to his own galaxy.
He landed on the bottom of the water and sewage tunnel and folded his wings back in. He almost hated to since it was the only part of him besides his claws he could still shift. The second her feet touched the ground, the woman freaked the fuck out again. Dammit. Maybe he shouldn't have kidnapped her.
She pushed away from him and looked damn green again. "What the hell are you? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What have I done?"
"Relax, lady. I'm not like your vamp friends. I won't bite you unless you ask me to." Not even then. The only woman he would ever bite and share his fire with was his mate and he doubted he'd ever be lucky enough to find her.
She was hyperventilating and sweating like she was on fire. It was warmer down here in the underground world beneath the cities. If he couldn't have the sun on his face, at least he could feel the warmth of this planet's core. It certainly wasn't hot enough to make a human drip with sweat. Shit. What if she was ill?
Ash needed to get her sold off as quick as possible if that was the case. Shouldn't be too hard. The way her cheeks heated, and the perspiration glistened on her skin she looked like sex on a stick. Probably smelled like it too. Not that he would be able to scent her until the zinc gluconate spray wore off.
He couldn't smell a damn thing. But neither could any other non-humans who inhaled it.
"You need to slow your breathing, woman. We have a ways to go to get to the market and I don't want to have to carry you the whole time because you passed out."
"Market?" With that one word, she perked right up and seemed to forget all her troubles. "What kind of stores do they have? Do you think they'll give me credit?"
She wasn't going to like the trade at the underground black market half as much as she thought she was. Ever since the vamps had touched down on Earth, species from all over the nine galaxies had set up shop. The vampires had declared humanity under their protection, but that didn't mean a swift and steady trade in human flesh, their tech, and their drugs wasn't rampant.
It didn't take long to lead the woman to the juncture of tunnels where so many aliens to this planet set up shop. She followed along docile enough, but with wide eyes at the array of vendors and their wares. Very few humans ventured into the underground and fewer still returned. Those that did try to trade here were pretty damn desperate for something. That I understood.
After several minutes of searching, Ash found the stall he was looking for. Xion moved from day to day. She didn't have to worry about people finding her. If they wanted her services bad enough, they always eventually got here.
A huge Dilarian warrior sat, very uncomfortably, at Xion's table set with a china teacups and saucers. He growled and slammed his fist on the table rattling the tea service. "I need a bride, not an unwilling whore."
"I'm afraid I'm fresh out of young brides. Try the surface, I hear there are plenty of humans who'd like to try a taste of alien. Maybe you can woo one into crossing the galaxy for you." Xion sipped her tea like pissing off a Dilarian was no big deal.
The warrior
stood and everyone within three meters of the stall froze waiting for him to pull a weapons and chop of heads. Ash pushed the girl behind him prepared to protect her at all costs. The Dilarian growled at them all and stomped off.
Zion smiled and waved Ash over. "Why is it these cranky warriors all insists on coming to this strange little planet thinking I can magic them up a mate? A roll in the hay, as the humans say, sure. But not a mate. Fate and I are not on the best of terms."
Ash knew exactly why there was a huge influx of males exactly like that warrior coming to Earth. Females here were plentiful, unlike his home planet of Dragos. Human men often had multiple wives, one right after the other. As if a mate was nothing more than goods to be bought, played with, and sold.
But wasn't that exactly what he was about to do with this woman? It was and he would deal with his own guilt over that once he was back home.
"What is it you want, dragon?" She invited Ash to sit and then glanced up at the woman. "Oh, and who do we have here? You look very familiar my dear. Come closer and let me look at you."
"Who me?" His little princess looked around like there were any other human females Xion could be talking to.
"Yes, sit. Let me pour you some tea."
Ruby
The strange woman quickly grabbed a second pot from a tea cart behind her, this one with little flowers all over it. Finally, someone who understood what good service was. She poured a fragrant stream of ebony liquid into a cup.
"Uh. Is it organic? Because I don't put anything in or on my body that isn't." Ruby hated watching what she ate and was starving all the damn time but being in the spotlight of the public eye meant every media outlet on the planet talked about her extra pounds. No matter how much she starved herself, she still had to shop at the plus-size stores. Which of course she refused to do. Online shopping was her drug of choice if she couldn't have chocolate.
Mmm. Chocolate. She hadn't even smelled candy in like a century.
"That's very wise of you." The woman nodded and stirred the black liquid around. "I assure you, I offer only the best in organic herbals. This blend is especially for women as fine as yourself. Very exclusive."
"Well. Good. That's what I like to hear." Ruby sat on the makeshift stool and picked up the delicate cup. The aroma wafting up from the brew was similar to hot fudge and she took a tentative sip. "Oh, that's delicious. I don't suppose you have any cookies to dip in it. I haven't eaten yet today and I'm famishhhhh--"
The world around her went fuzzy and sideways. She couldn't feel her face and her head drooped to the side. The guy who'd brought Ruby here lurched to grab her before she fell off the stool.
He pulled her onto his lap and his touch only added to the weirdo electricity coursing through her body and fritzing out her brain. She could see and hear, but when she tried to open her mouth to ask what was going on, her tongue wasn't there. Or it was and it had turned into a bunny rabbit. That didn't seem right either. When had she fallen down the hole and changed her name to Alice?
"How much do you want for her? A human like her will make me a lot of money. The vampires like the haughty ones." The woman, who Ruby suspected was the Queen of Hearts lifted her chin.
Who was this her they were talking about? Whoever she was would get stuck with a vampire. Wouldn't be so bad if they loved the woman like her sister's new husband did. Maybe she should ask the Queen to find someone who would love her too.
No. Nobody would.
A deep delicious voice popped into her brain. "I need to appear cool and collected, like I know what the fuck I'm doing. Especially if I expect to get the money I need to get passage back to Dragos. Smuggling a blood slave off planet is not something any old crew will do. But Xion will know who will for the right price."
Strange how the man's lips hadn't moved when he said any of that. She wondered what else he could do with his magic lips. Lips that were on fire.
"Four million." Oh. His mouth moved that time and the words weren't in her head. She liked it better when they were.
"That's double the price I need. Xion didn't even laugh. She's going to be a shrewd negotiator."
Xion. The Queen of Hearts? Ruby could negotiate for him. She was very good at haggling. Never paid full price, even though she could. "Hmm. What makes you think she's worth that?"
"You'll have clients lining up for a taste of her blood. She comes from very good stock. Even the Vampire Prince thinks so."
Blood. Oh no. The man was negotiating to sell some woman's blood to a vampire. That was horrible. Whoever she was, Ruby felt sorry for her. Now she was glad she hadn't seen whoever it was they were talking about. She was much more content to drift in the fiery heat of the man holding her.
Xion frowned and grabbed Ruby's cheeks, digging her nails in. Didn't even hurt. Whatever was in that tea was ah-mazing. She felt so gooey and nice. "I knew I recognized her. You get her out of here right this second, dragon. You'll get my whole operation shut down."
Dragon? She'd thought her kidnapper man was the caterpillar, not the Jabberwocky. No, no. None of this was right. They were at the tea party, so he must be the Mad Hatter. Where was his hat?
Ever since she'd seen the Tim Burton version of Alice and Wonderland, she'd had a crush on the Mad Hatter. Sigh.
The woman, or was she the March Hare? The hare grabbed her teapots, cups, and saucers and shoved them into a canvas bag. "I can't believe you would kidnap the disgraced sister of our new princess and bring her down here. Where did you even get her? You mark my words, you'd better hide her somewhere far, far away or you'll have every vampire from here to Chaltor Nine after you. Better yet, claim her and take her off the market."
"Claim her? Don't be ridiculous." He looked at her and flames flashed around his face, melting into his skin. Oh, it was his eyes. They were twinkling with a burning light... for her. Pretty.
"I will not be claiming anyone but my true mate.” Even his words were a hot blue flame in her mind.
The Xion Hare gave him a pointed look, but Ruby had no idea what it meant. Then the Hare stepped into the steady stream of beings filling the underground market and disappeared. Poof.
"Fuck," her Mad Hatter growled.
Ruby understood. She hated for a good party to end too soon. But she was tired and wanted to go home. Maybe she could talk him into joining her.
The voice filtered into her head again. "What the hell am I going to do with her now. I sure as hell hadn't counted on having her around for more than a few minutes."
"Frr nrrr, nrrph nrr. Louis Vuitton." She couldn't get her mouth to work right, but she was pretty sure she'd commanded him to take her home right now. That done, she turned her head, so she was tucked neatly into his shoulder as a lover might be, and snuggled up. He smelled so good.
"Shh, princess. I'll get you out of here."
"Whoever the hell this Louis was, he couldn't save her now. Unless...Maybe I could ransom her to him?"
Ash
There was still a good eighteen hours before he had to report back for his mistress's next feeding. Hopefully that would be enough time to get rid of his new burden. Shit. He'd have to take her back to his quarters and start searching Earth's databases for her lover, or whatever this Louis was to her.
The dragon inside of him rankled at the thought that she had a lover. Ridiculous. Ash held Ruby tighter and moved through the sides and backs of the vendor's stalls. He didn't want her jostled. But that took far longer than he wanted, and the sun was already rising by the time he got to the slave quarters.
No one would question him bringing a woman to his bed, even if he never had before. They all found what little joy they could in this world, until their mistress called on them. She was cruel and Ash had known many blood slaves that did not come back from her feedings. He was luckier than most that even without being able to fully shift, his dragon could heal him. It's why he was her favorite.
It was why he had to break her bond and leave this planet. Go home.
H
e laid Ruby on his cot and pulled the sparse blanket over her. It was clean and practically new. His own dragon's fire kept the small cubicle warm enough for him. Humans were fragile.
Maybe not her. She had freaked out when she was scared, but when she thought she was going to die, when the vampires were taking her away, she'd fought. Maybe behind her high and mighty exterior was a warrior woman.
His dragon liked the idea of that. It wanted a fierce mate, someone who would challenge him as women on Dragos did their men.
Claim her.
The thought popped back into his head unbidden.
No. Absolutely not.
Mate her.
Fate chose his mate, not him. She wasn't it. If she was her skin would already be alight with his fire marking her.
Fuck fate. Mine. She is mine.
Scales rippled across his skin and the fire in his chest pushed out, lighting the warrior marks he wore. The marks that only ignited when he was with his true mate.
Dammit, his dragon and his libido had to be on the fritz. He'd been gone far too long from Dragos if his body had decided this fragile human woman was mate material. She didn't even have a hunting form, couldn't shift to help herself heal. She would need to be protected all the time and from the looks of her, protected even from herself.
His dragon pushed at Ash's skin, groaning with need inside of his chest at the thought of wrapping himself around her lush body to keep her safe from the monsters of the world. Like the damn vamps... and those that would take advantage of her. Like he had.
She was not his mate. Even if she was, it wasn't like he had anything to offer her. No luxurious furs to lay her on, no intricately carved and painted cave walls, no woven baskets. That was all left behind when he'd been taken aboard the vampires' war ship.
He didn't even know if humans could mate with dragons. His mind raced like the fastest of wings riding the eddies of information and memories. Half the known universe was flocking to Earth to see if human women could fill the gap in their own races due to the plague. The women of this little blue planet had matched with dozens of other alien races.
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