Slave Dragon: Earth Dragons Series: Book4

by Hartnady, Charlene

  Calm down!

  “Listen,” he walked right up to her, standing in front of her, “I’ll protect you.” He touched the side of her arm for a second. “I’ll do whatever it takes. I was assigned to your wellbeing and I take my duties very seriously.”

  “O-okay.” She nodded once. “Thank you.”

  “Right now, I need to try to get us the hell out of here before it returns. Quite frankly, I don’t want to find out why he took us. I’d like to be long gone by the time he comes back.”

  “I’d rather not find out why we are here either.” She shook her head. “Leaving sounds fantastic. I didn’t mention my puppy earlier…he’s all alone at home. I’m trying not to worry too much. He’ll start barking when I don’t come home. My neighbor, Colin, will go and check on him. I know he will.” Concern ate at her. “He’s a sweet guy. Not really a dog person but a sweet guy, he’ll take care of my pup for me. His name is Scout but I call him Pup. He’ll be so lonely.”

  “I’m sure your puppy will be okay,” Sand reassured her, his eyes on her. “In fact, what do you say I get us out of here so that you can get there before he even has a chance to bark?” Sand asked, smiling. “I’m going to partially shift…might even go the whole hog, if I have to. I need to break us out of this place.” He looked around them as he spoke.

  She nodded. “Okay. I’m sure you can do it.” She glanced back down at his chest and biceps. He wasn’t as bulky as Rock had been, but Sand was taller and just as powerful looking. “I’m pretty sure you can do it.”

  “Go stand on that side of the room.” He pointed to the far side. “Get yourself behind the bed. Rock and debris might go flying. I don’t want you injured. Also,” he unclasped the first button on his jeans, “you might want to close your eyes if you’re squeamish about nudity.”

  She watched in fascination as he turned the other way. Sand took two steps, his hand moving down as he unzipped as he walked. He stepped out of the jeans in mid-stride and her mouth dropped open.

  She’d seen a naked shifter before. Macy had spent the night with one, for goodness sake, but still. Seeing his meaty ass and muscular back. Wow! She was reminded of how well built they were how— He turned around and her eyes moved down his muscular chest and abs to his… She swallowed thickly. He was sporting a semi. Why was he sporting a semi? Maybe it was normal just before a shift. Something to do with blood flow in the body or something. It was possible. Wasn’t it?

  “Normally, I wouldn’t mind a beautiful female starring at my dick,” Sand said. “But unfortunately, we don’t have much time here.”

  Oh shit! Caught staring. “I wasn’t…it…” she stammered. “Ummm…you didn’t give me time to look away.”

  “Riiiiiight.” She could hear he wasn’t buying it. Sand grinned for a second or two before becoming serious. “I need you to hunker down behind the bed and to stay put until I give you the all-clear.”

  “O-okay,” she stammered, working hard to keep her eyes on his. What the hell was wrong with her? Macy quickly turned and rushed to where he wanted her. She did as he said and crouched down behind the bed.

  “Keep your head down. Don’t get up until I tell you.”

  “Sure.” She ducked down, listening. Within seconds she heard pounding and the sound of rocks and dirt showering on the floor below.

  Sand grunted with each hard blow. There was a cracking noise, followed by more debris landing on the floor.

  Macy risked a glance, since it didn’t sound like any of the rubble had made it anywhere near where she was hiding.

  She gasped as she caught sight of Sand. He was much taller than he had been. His muscles were bigger too. Scales glinted where they mingled with his skin. There were patches of them. His hands were curled into large fists. Beautiful wings had sprouted from his back. Dragon wings. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him as she watched his muscles shift beneath the scaled patches of skin. “Fuck!” he snarled. The sound guttural. So far from being human it sent shivers down her spine.

  He stopped, letting his hands fall to his sides. She noticed that his knuckles were dripping blood. The wings receded, the scales pulled back disappearing on his skin as well. As he breathed out, his muscles seemed to normalize. Going from huge, to just plain big. “We’re in a cage,” he announced, in the same harsh, guttural voice. “A fucking silver-infused cage. Not huge amounts of the metal in the steel but enough to hold us in here.” He grabbed his jeans and yanked them on, looking irritated.

  She moved her gaze to where he had been focused, namely, the hole in the wall. It too contained the same silver bars between where the rock had been broken. It looked like if Sand were to break this whole place to pieces, they would still be trapped.

  He looked up at the ceiling. “I have a feeling we’re enclosed by these cage bars everywhere.” Without warning, he punched up in one hard move that brought a large clump of rock down. It smashed on the floor below.

  Sand cursed as more bars became apparent in the ceiling.

  “We’re trapped,” Macy whispered. “Sitting ducks,” she added, feeling adrenaline hit her veins. “What are we going to do?” she asked. She forced herself to take deep breaths as she pictured the creature. Its eyes. Its sheer size.

  Not bigger than Sand had been. It wasn’t. It was freakier looking but—

  “Hey.” Sand’s voice had a soft edge. He took ahold of her upper arms and gave them a light squeeze. “I said I would protect you. I will.”

  She nodded once, feeling slightly better. “What if there are more of them? What if…?”

  “We will end up driving ourselves mad if we start going down that path.” He let her go. “Look over there.” He pointed at the side table next to the bed. “If this creature meant us harm, it would not have left that jug of water and those apples.”

  “Oh,” she pushed out. “I hadn’t even noticed.” She shook her head, eyes on the filled jug. There were two glasses next to it and the reddest apples she had ever seen.

  “There are blankets on the bed and those are folded towels.” He pointed to the foot of the bed where, indeed, a couple of folded towels had been left. “This place might be a cage but it’s a fairly comfortable cage.”

  “So, you’re just going to settle in and—”

  “No one said anything about settling in.” His jaw tightened. “I am, however, going to regroup. I’m going to try to save my energy. My head is pounding again.” He touched his right temple. The white of that eye was no longer the deep scarlet it had been before, but more of a pinkish color.

  She nodded.

  “First a shower and then I should try to catch some z’s.” He looked around them, his gaze settling on what was most likely the bathroom.

  “You’re going to sleep at a time like this?”

  Sand nodded. “Yes, back to needing to regroup. I have a feeling I’m going to need my strength if we hope to escape. He’ll come inside here, and I’ll attack.”

  “Maybe he won’t come in.” There was a panicked edge to her voice.

  “Then we’ll have to come up with a plan to get him in here, so that I can take him out.”

  She clutched her hands together. “I’m not sure I like that idea. The part about him coming in that is.”

  “We need this cage open if we have a hope in hell of getting out of here. Once it’s open, I’ll strike and that will be the end of that.”

  “You sound really sure of yourself?”

  “I will do my best, and yes, I am that sure of myself. I’m a dragon shifter and a prince. I’m one of the strongest males in my tribe.” He flexed his pecs. They bounced! His chest was solid muscle. “This male caught me unawares before. It won’t happen again. I have to be at full strength, however. We’ll have to take turns sleeping.”

  Macy pushed out a heavy breath. “No worries in that department. I might never sleep again.” She watched as he did the whole ‘bounce the pecs’ thing a second time. If they had been in any other situation, she would probably have laug
hed. Flexing muscles was such a male thing to do. It was right up there with comparing the size of a just reeled in fish, or bragging about the size of their package.

  Then again, in that regard, Sand would have most guys beat. She tried not to think about that last comparison as she watched Sand walk to the foot of the bed. He grabbed a towel. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Wait!” Her voice was high-pitched. “You can’t leave me out here alone.”

  “I’ll be two minutes. You can shout if he comes back. I’m sure I’ll be able to hear if—”

  She shook her head. “No…no way I’m staying here!”

  Shale smiled. “You are welcome to join me.”

  She frowned. “What…no…I…”

  He pushed out a breath. “If you don’t want to be left alone, you’re going to have to come with me.” He began walking towards the bathroom. “You’ve already seen me naked, so what’s the big deal?”

  Her legs moved even though she told them not to. She didn’t want to watch Sand shower. The thought of being out there, though ‒ shiver ‒ all alone. No…nope…forget about it.

  Sand turned back towards her in the bathroom, which was very basic but looked functional. His jeans were hanging open. His abs were…spectacular. She forced her eyes up. “You’re welcome to hang out. You can even wash my back…if you want, but I’m afraid we can’t have sex.” He shook his head, looking serious.

  She frowned. “What?” Had he just said that? Was this guy for real?

  “It would divert my attention too much.” He shook his head again. “I need to keep my ears open for...the obvious.” He shrugged, looking completely serious.

  No way! He couldn’t be. Macy waited for him to laugh, or to point his finger and yell, ‘gotcha’. It didn’t happen! Good lord, but he was serious. “That’s fine. I think I’ll be okay.”

  Sand nodded once, not picking up on her sarcasm. He pushed his pants down without warning and she realized how close she was standing to him. She turned away but not before noticing…

  What?

  Surely not?

  Sand may have been sporting a semi before but…she glanced at him over her shoulder and gasped. His cock was full-on hard. It jutted from his body, bouncing a little as he stepped into the shower. “What the hell?” she squeaked, unable to take her eyes off the thing. “What is that? Why do you…? What the…? Why are you…?” She pointed at his erection.

  Sand shrugged. “It’s your scent. Ignore it.”

  Okay. She needed to look away, and right then. It seemed to actually get bigger under her scrutiny. Macy looked at the floor. “I’m not sure what that even means. We’re trapped and about to be…who knows what the hell is about to happen to us and you’re…you’re… You have an erection?” Her voice was filled with shock.

  “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Why the heck do you have an erection? My scent…what does that even mean?” She sniffed her armpit.

  Sand chuckled. She made the mistake of looking at him. His cock bounced as he laughed. “Ignore it. I am! Non-humans are very sensitive. You’re not on any birth control.” He made a face. Like it was a terrible thing.

  “How would you even know that?”

  “I can smell that you’re about to come onto your heat…it’s…” He paused, his eyes lifting in thought. “Oh shit!” He shut the shower door. The whole cubicle vibrated. “This is bad!” He scrubbed a hand over his face, the stubble catching.

  She frowned. “What’s bad? Why is it bad?”

  Sand pointed at his erection. “Your scent is amazing. I can’t help my body’s reaction. It’s about to get a whole lot better…or worse, depending on how you look at it.” He spoke more to himself.

  “What do you mean ‘better’? Or worse? What does this have to do with anything? With that?” She pointed at his dick, which was pointing right back at her.

  Eyes up!

  “You’re becoming fertile.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Non-humans are base creatures in the end. We’re driven more by our instincts than humans are. You’re a good-looking female…” He licked his lips as his eyes skimmed over her body.

  Her nipples tightened. The stupid little nubs actually reacted to this guy. Right then, and at that moment. In a cage. In extreme danger…and yet they reacted.

  “Sexy as fuck, in the prime of your life and about to go into heat. Your scent is amazing. Your pussy is…” He cleared his throat. “That was vulgar of me.”

  “It was!” She smoothed a hand over her shirt. Trying hard to ignore the tightening she had felt in her belly as he said ‘pussy’. This whole thing was ridiculous. She was afraid. Her hands felt sweaty and her mouth dry. That’s how nervous she was and yet…her stupid body was still reacting to him. It was ludicrous!

  He nodded once. “Whatever took you isn’t human. He’s going to be just as affected as I am. Maybe even more so. He will want to breed you as soon as he gets a whiff of you. Every instinct in him will be telling him to do so. You need to shower. Right now.” For the first time, he sounded a touch afraid. It unnerved her. Then she thought about what he was saying.

  “What?” Maybe she had heard wrong. “Did you say shower? I’m not taking my—”

  “Get in the stall. Wash! Do it now!” His eyes narrowed in on hers. “Wash your underwear as well. They’ll be…” His nostrils flared, and he groaned. “They’ll be soaked in your juices. You smell fucking amazing. If it’s a Feral, or some other base creature, he’ll go off his head with need for you.”

  Her mouth fell open for a moment. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Oh, I’m very serious, human. You need to do as I say, and right now. Wash yourself well down there. Use soap. I saw some in the stall. Wash your underwear as well, hopefully it will be enough, at least for now.”

  “Why for now?”

  “You’re only at the start of your heat. It’s going to get much worse.” She watched his Adam’s apple work. “Much worse. Don’t worry about me though. Dragons have control.” He swallowed again.

  “I can see that.” She muttered, looking pointedly at his erection.

  “You have nothing to worry about…not from me. I’ve never spent time with a female in her heat but…I am strong. Some other base creature would have you on your knees in seconds.”

  She gasped, clutching her chest at the horror of his words. Her eyes were wide. Her mouth even wider. Her heart suddenly raced. Surely not.

  “A male will have increased strength after catching a snoutful of you, so I might not be able to stop him. He’ll be out of his mind with need. It’ll be base, instinctual…raw…”

  “Okay!” she yelled. “That’s enough. You’ve convinced me. Turn around!” She was still yelling but couldn’t stop herself. “I’m going to shower. I’ll do as you say.”

  Sand walked to the door of the bathroom. “I’ll stand just outside. Be quick and be thorough,” he barked.

  Shit!

  Crap!

  Her hands fumbled as she undid the buttons on her blouse. They were shaking so much. Her breathing was ragged. Was this really happening? She quickly stripped out of the rest of her clothing, placing them on a small table. Then she turned on the shower, waiting for hot water. It didn’t take long before steam filled the shower.

  She got under the stream of water, trying hard not to panic. This was going to be okay. Sand was there. He would protect her. He’d said so and she trusted him to do that. She quickly washed, lathering plenty of soap in that particular place. Then she washed her underwear. Lastly, she rinsed off, again concentrating between her legs.

  Her skin was flushed red when she got out. Macy toweled her hair and body, quickly dressing. She only wished she had more layers of clothing to protect her from that demon monster.

  On her knees.

  Macy squeezed her eyes shut and chewed on her bottom lip. It was going to be okay. It was! That scenario was not going to happen.

  “How are you doing in there?”

&nbs
p; “Almost done.” Her voice was shrill.

  “It’ll be okay, Macy,” Sand said, using a reassuring voice. “I swear I’ll protect you, even if it means getting gravely injured or even death. I’ll do whatever it takes. When that creature returns, I’ll tear it apart.”

  “Thank you.” He was quite sweet, even if he was a little arrogant. “I appreciate it. You can come in now,” she added.

  The door opened and a still naked Sand walked in. She noticed ‒ even though she tried not to ‒ that his penis wasn’t as erect as it had been before. He pulled in a big breath through his nostrils. “Much better,” he announced. “I’m going to take a shower and then I really think we need to try to get some sleep. Like I said, we’ll have to take turns. Unfortunately, I’m not completely healed, and sleep is one of the…ways to help that along. I have to be at my best when the time comes.”

  He had taken a knock she didn’t think he’d ever recover from. His head had cracked. She was pretty sure it was his skull breaking on impact.

  Macy nodded once. “I’m too wired to sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

  “I’ll be quick.” Sand stepped into the shower stall and turned on the water. He made a groaning noise as he put his head under the stream. Half a minute later, Macy realized she was staring at him while he showered. While he lathered his body in soap. While he tilted his head under the stream of water, eyes closed. Macy forced her eyes off of the dragon. Shit! She was stuck in a cage with someone she was attracted to. This wasn’t good at all.

  Chapter 5

  She felt Sand sit up in the bed behind her. He grunted as he stretched. Macy glanced back, watching as he yawned. He scrubbed a hand over his face. His eyes still hazy with sleep. “How long was I out?” His voice was croaky.

  She glanced at her watch. “Two and a half hours.”

  He lifted his brows. “That long?”

  She nodded. “By the way, you talk in your sleep.”