He nodded once. “I know.” He smiled, still looking sleepy. His eyelids were hooded. His eyes were hazy. “Did I say anything interesting?”
“I couldn’t hear much, just a whole lot of garbled nonsense.”
He shrugged. “My head did get knocked in. I’ve been known to have full-blown conversations. To give away trade secrets…okay, not as bad as that, but bad enough that I don’t let myself sleep with humans…ever. Especially since they, generally, don’t know about the existence of dragons.”
“They’d think you were dreaming.”
“We don’t like to take any chances.” He shook his head. “Your turn.” He pointed back at the bed.
“I’m fine. I don’t need to sleep…but I could do with a double cheeseburger and half a ton of fries.”
Sand rubbed his abs. Eyes up, Macy! “That sounds so good.”
They’d eaten the apples earlier. The sustenance long gone. “I’m sure whoever put us in here will have to come back soon to feed us.”
Sand shrugged. “We can survive just fine for days on water.”
She widened her eyes. “I hope they don’t starve us. I must warn you, I get hangry when I’m denied food. I’m an eater. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert…snack on occasion. I won’t lie. I should probably be too nervous to eat right now.” She shook her head. “But I’m not. In fact, I eat when I’m stressed.”
Sand chuckled and she waited for him to tease her about her eating habits. “You sound just like a shifter. We love our food as well. There’s nothing better than a female who enjoys her food.” He turned serious. “I’m sure we won’t be left to starve. Here,” he poured a glass of water, handing it to her. “It’ll keep you ‘pretend’ full for a while.”
Not really, but he was sweet for trying. She nodded, taking the glass and sipping it. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better.” His eyes were completely clear. They were a gorgeous light brown. Almost golden in color. Very warm. “I’m so glad my splitting headache is gone.” He widened his eyes for a second. “I’m back to full strength, which is great.”
“So, what’s the plan…when it comes back, that is?”
“Simple…you need to get down and out of the way. I don’t want you getting injured in the crossfire. I’m hoping this non-human comes inside, in which case I will attack immediately. I’ll go at him full force…” He narrowed his eyes on hers and his jaw tightened. “There won’t be any second chances. It doesn’t matter if its species is unknown or if it’s a Feral. You need to be clear of the action. It could get crazy in here.”
“I hope it’s not one of those griffin shifters.”
“Me too.” He nodded once. “They’re hardcore. Stay out of the way.” He looked worried.
“Do you think you can take it? If it’s one of those Ferals, that is?”
“I’ll give it all I have. I’ll have to catch it unawares. Thing is, your scent is going to get stronger by the hour. I need to take action ASAP. There will be no waiting. No asking questions. It came hard at me. I plan on returning the favor.” He turned his neck to the one side and then the other, eliciting a click.
“What if he doesn’t come inside?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we have to. We’ll gather info, regroup, plan and take action. Our goal will be to get this cage open, so that we can escape.”
“You make it sound so easy.” She sighed. “What if there’s more than one?”
“I won’t be able to take more than one Feral. I’m betting it’s alone, though. Then all you have to do is get down and out of the way. The rest will be up to me.”
“Again, you make it sound so simple.” She choked out a nervous sounding laugh.
He shrugged. “It is.” Sand pushed the blankets aside and got out of bed. He was wearing his jeans. He stretched, putting his hands above his head. His muscles roped and tightened along his back. “I think you should rest. It’s been an ordeal.” He pointed at the bed.
“I’m really not tired.” She shook her head.
“Humor me,” Sand said. “It’s dark out. At least lie down and rest. I’ll let you know if anything changes.” He sat on the edge of the bed, facing towards the four entrances to their…cage. It might look fairly decent, but it was ultimately a cage. A jail. A cell. They were locked in.
Don’t think about it!
Macy slipped into the still-warm bed. She lay down, noting that the sheets and the pillow smelled of him. It was a masculine, woodsy scent. Not unappealing. Not unappealing at all. Moving on swiftly. Sand was fairly sweet, but he was also arrogant and she was sure he was a bit of a player. She’d had a one-night stand before. With a shifter. A dragon shifter if she was going to get technical, and they weren’t for her. Not shifters, one-night stands. Not that she hadn’t had a good time ‒ because she had. She really, really had. A very good time. Rock had been amazing. Sweet, kind, attentive and amazing. So much so that she’d found herself thinking of him often over the last six months. She’d been disappointed not to see him at the bar when Shale had turned up. Truth be told, she had been looking for Stone. Not Shale. Shale had been a complete coincidence. One she was glad about, since her best friend’s twins had him as their father. Since it seemed like the two of them were actually seeing one another as well. Making a go of it. Who would ever have thought?
Macy was happy for Georgia. It only made her want the same thing for herself even more. A one-night stand? Nope, she was an emotional person. Macy associated sex with feelings. She struggled to separate the one from the other. It’s just how she was wired. Besides, she was made to be a mom. It had to happen for her. She loved kids ‒ absolutely loved them. She would never have studied to become a preschool teacher otherwise. She had been warned that she might learn to dislike kids, working with them so much. That at the very least she wouldn’t quite love them as much as she had before, and yet, here she was, ten years later and nothing had changed. She looked forward to the first day of school each year and cried on the last day when it was time to say goodbye to her kids. After all those hours a day, for a whole year, she would have come to think of each and every one as being a little bit hers. Then she’d watch them leave. On to the next year. On to bigger things. Not her kids at all.
She wanted her own. She burned with the desire. Maybe—
The bed shook as Sand stood up. He inhaled sharply, causing the hairs on her arms to rise. “Someone is coming,” he whispered. “It’s flying. Coming in fast.” He sounded a touch panicked. Sand kept his eyes on the entrances. “There is only one,” he growled. More confident. “You ready?”
“What?” Shit! She needed to hide. To get out of the way. “O-okay. Yes!”
Macy threw the covers off herself just as claws scraped against the stone of one of the ledges. Those terrible eyes looked in on them as its beak receded.
Beak? Did that mean it was one of those griffin creatures? It let out a loud screech as its body folded in on itself. Using a key on a lanyard around its neck, it opened the cage. The sound of the key turning in the lock made her spring to action. She dropped over the side of the bed, huddling against the edge, her head under her hands. There weren’t very many places to hide. Any second and Sand was going to attack. Fists against flesh. It would be harsh and violent. She squeezed her eyes shut. Then again, maybe she should leave them open. She needed to see in case she had to move out of the way. Macy opened them again.
She was breathing heavily. Macy had never been this afraid in her whole life. This was worst-case scenario. A Feral. It was stronger than Sand. Shit!
“What do you want?” Sand asked. His voice laced with confusion.
What? Why was he talking to it? He had said that catching it unawares would be most important. He’d said he would go at it hard. No questions. No small talk. He’d said he had one shot to bring it down. This was that one shot, and yet he wasn’t doing any of those things. No hitting. No attacking. No blindsiding.
“You are a decent specimen.
” The creature had a strange high-pitched voice. It was melodic. Quite beautiful actually. The voice didn’t match what she had seen moments earlier.
Sand cursed under his breath. “Did I get this the wrong way around?” he asked. It sounded like he was talking to himself. “I’ll ask again, why are we here?” More forceful, definitely directed at the creature. “You can let the female go. You have no use for her.”
What?
No use. Why was that? Macy slowly lifted her head, wanting to get a look at what was going on.
“I most definitely have use for the human.” That same pretty, melodic voice, only it sounded… She frowned, sneaking a peek over the bed. What? Macy felt her eyes widen. Pecs. Those weren’t pecs, they were breasts. The demon wasn’t a he at all. It was a she. Macy’s gaze dropped lower and lower to the juncture between her thighs. A her. Oh, yes…this was very much a woman. Her vagina was hairless. There was no question as to the sex of this creature.
Not a demon… The female creature had been partially shifted before. So big and toned, Macy had accidentally mistaken her for a man. A big, scary, demon-like man with broad shoulders and pecs. The nonhuman woman was still tall in her humanoid form. Not as tall as before, but almost as tall as Sand. Her eyes were still that freaky yellow color but that’s where the strangeness ended. Her muscles were toned but they were also lithe in a feminine way. She had abs that would put many men to shame but above them were breasts, for sure. Small, high…but definitely boobs. Her hair was medium length, it was tousled about her face. Her jaw was distinctly feminine, as was her neck. Long, giving her a graceful appearance. If Amazons existed, this is how one would look in the flesh. Tall, toned, seriously athletic and yet distinctly feminine. She noted that Sand wasn’t checking the woman out like she was. In fact, he seemed more agitated than before. His eyes were locked with the woman’s.
“Why are we here?” Sand asked, his hands were clenched into tight fists and his muscles were bunched. “My people are looking for us. I’m a prince amongst my people. You have made a grave mistake by taking us. Bring us back right now and I will be willing to forgive and forget.”
“Calm down, dragon. I can see that you are a royal. Superior blood runs through your veins. You are strong.” She cocked her head, in a quick movement that reminded her of…of a bird. That was it exactly. A bird of prey. Her eyes too… they were predatory but at the same time, they were distinctly birdlike. “It is one of the reasons I picked you over the others of your kind,” her head cocked to the other side, her eyes still on Sand, “for your blood and your strength.” Sand may have seemed unmoved by her nudity, but she did check him out big time. “You will pass these traits to your young. It is your seed that I want.”
What the heck!?
Seed? As in sperm?
Macy watched as Sand’s jaw clenched. His muscles rippled beneath his skin. His jaw ticked. “I’m not interested!” he all but snarled. “If you have a condom handy,” he opened his arms, “I’m all yours, but otherwise,” he shook his head, “forget about it! I have no interest in becoming a father.”
“Good.” The Amazon nodded and smiled. It lasted all but one second. “Because I don’t intend on making you one.”
“I thought you said you wanted my seed.” Then he chuckled. “Wait just a minute. Let me guess.” He glanced back at Macy, winking at her. She wasn’t sure if it was suggestive or conspiratorial in nature. He looked back at the Amazon. “You have interesting tastes, female. Very interesting indeed.”
What did that mean?
Her blood ran just a little bit cold. Was he suggesting…? Was the Amazon wanting…? The three of them? No! This was too kinky for her. No freaking way. Macy stood up, intent on putting her position forward on the matter, namely, ‘No way. No how! Not happening.’
“I can tell you right now,” Sand said before she could say anything, “the human won’t be game. She is timid and prone to crying. Her eyes leak for no reason. I just looked at her the wrong way earlier and the waterworks opened. She’s a noisy crier too. She’d completely ruin the mood. Take the human back. I’ll wait here. You can have at me once we’re alone. I realize that,” he glanced back at her again, “that she’s hot. Those mammary glands…fuck!” he growled, sounding like he meant it. “Believe me, I get it. Those hips and thighs…” He made a low whistle, eyes back on the Amazon woman. “She wouldn’t be into it though. Not even a little bit.” He sounded disappointed. At this point, she was sure he was talking shit. Sand was laying it on too thick. “You and I can have far more fun without her. That’s all I’m saying.” He was trying to get the woman to let her go.
“I’m glad you like the human so much. That you are attracted to her.” The Amazon turned those yellow eyes on her, and Macy wanted to shrink away. She was that intimidating. The Amazon cocked her head, those beady eyes scrutinizing her. Moving from her face to her breasts and lower, before slowly moving back up. “She is a good specimen indeed. Wide, childbearing hips.”
Macy gasped.
“Her mammary glands are indeed…made for nursing babies.”
“What?” both she and Sand said in unison.
“The human…” The Amazon woman sniffed the air. “My sense of smell isn’t nearly as good as yours and yet,” she sniffed again, “even I can tell that she is about to come into her heat. Impregnate the female and you can leave, dragon.”
“What?” they both said again, in unison. Sand turned back to look at her. His eyes were stormy. He was frowning deeply.
“I just told you I was in no way interested in becoming a father and I have a funny feeling the human won’t want me anywhere near her either.”
“And I told you, dragon, that I don’t need you to be a father to the young. You see…” She pulled in a deep breath, her eyes shone with…pain for a moment or two before she schooled her emotions. “I cannot have children of my own. I’m barren. A terrible, cruel fate for a non-human. I crave a child. I must have one.” She smiled. “Your kind have two in one go…is that right? A dual birth every time.” Her eyes shone with excitement. “Get the human with child and you can go.” She spoke to Sand, using harsh tones, even though her voice was methodical. “Human,” she turned those eyes back onto her, “you will stay here until the eggs,” she shook her head once, corrected herself, “whelps are born. I will release you once I have my young. You will want for nothing. I will take excellent care of you. You will also be rewarded financially.”
“Not happening!” Sand growled.
“Firstly,” Macy stepped forward, knocking her leg against the side of the bed. “Firstly,” she repeated. “Like Sand pointed out earlier. I won’t let him anywhere near me and then, let’s just say I did get pregnant. Not happening!” she added. “But let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that it happened ‒ I would never in a million years hand my babies over to you.” She shook her head. “Not for any sum of money. I hope that’s clear.” This woman was mad. She might seem lucid, but she was out of her damn mind.
“Why not?” the Amazon woman cocked her head. “You could do with financial reward. Your nest is small.”
Macy’s mouth fell open for a few seconds. “Are you for real? Are you seriously for real here?”
“I am not sure what you are asking.” The woman touched herself, running a hand over her arm and then her belly. “Of course I am real. You can see that I am here. We are talking.”
Sand chuckled. He held up a hand. “I’m sorry. That was funny. It shouldn’t be…I guess. But it was.”
She gave him a dirty look and Sand wiped the smile off his face. “That’s not what I meant,” Macy went on, her voice laced with frustration. “I can’t believe you would ask such a thing. I would never hand over my children.”
The woman frowned, her eyes filling with confusion. “You can have more. Many more. As many as you wish. Besides, I wasn’t—”
“That’s not the point. People don’t just give away their kids. Well, I guess they do sometimes, under certain circu
mstances.”
“This is such a circumstance.” The woman stared at her, unblinking.
“No, it’s not.”
“It is!”
“I’m not rutting this human. I refuse to get her with child,” Sand growled. “End of discussion.”
“I have a feeling your body might betray you, dragon. You will be stuck with her for an entire cycle. It will be hell for you. Why not just give me what I want? The young will be well taken care of. Follow your instincts and rut the female.”
“You can stop!” Macy put up her hand. “Sand won’t…hurt me in that way.”
“He wouldn’t hurt you.” The Amazon snorted. “On the contrary, he would give you great pleasure.” She looked him over. “I think you would enjoy the rutting very much. Even humans must be governed, somewhat, by their instincts. Your body wants to be filled with seed.”
“Humans are not governed by their instincts at all. I can tell that you don’t know the species very well.” Sand pushed out a breath. “The female is right. I would not lay so much as a finger on her, despite what my body wanted. You might as well let us go now because there will be no rutting, no impregnating, no whelps.” He shook his head, folding his arms.
“You have one heat cycle, dragon. I will find another male if you do not get this female with child. I am certain I could convince one of my own kind to do the deed. The males of our kind are starved of females. Desperate. I am sure that one would not be able to deny his instincts when presented with a female in her heat. My concern is that he might injure or even kill the female. Such would be his need, his drive.” She shook her head. “I have thought this through. You would be the better candidate. My young would still be strong. They would be winged. I would raise them as my own. And even though a child of my own kind would be preferable, it might take two or three human females before one survived the mating but—”
Sand snarled.
The Amazon ignored him and shrugged. “I will have to do what I must do to achieve my goal of becoming a mother.”
Slave Dragon: Earth Dragons Series: Book4 Page 4