Slave Dragon: Earth Dragons Series: Book4

by Hartnady, Charlene

  “Commando, but I’m guessing it would make you uncomfortable.”

  She nodded. “You’d be right.”

  Sand headed to the trunk and grabbed himself the boxers. “You’re one heck of a female. Not timid at all. That happens to rank high on my list.” He used the same words she had earlier.

  Sand could already feel his balls tightening. He could feel his dick hardening back up, but he had a feeling he was over the worst. The pain would be bearable now.

  Although, when the Feral came back, chances were good their real troubles would only just start. “We need to try to find out what her name is,” he blurted. “That way, when she releases me, I can go to my kings. We can seek the help of the Feral royalty to track her down.” He was thinking out loud. “Human females have several weeks between cycles. She will need to wait before bringing a Feral male. In that time, we could possibly find you.”

  Macy shook her head. “I don’t want you to go. She could bring one of those Feral men immediately after you leave.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “No.” Her lip wobbled. It was the first time he had seen her truly afraid. “What if you can’t find me?”

  “We need her name. If we manage to identify her, I’m sure we will be able to find you. Then I can get you out of here. That’s first prize.”

  She pulled in a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right.”

  “We’ll figure out a plan B as well. I’m not just going to leave you here. I swear it.”

  “You might not have a choice.”

  Sand would find a way. He had to. He would do whatever it took.

  Chapter 9

  The next day…

  Her eyes blazed. They looked like they were on fire. She opened her mouth, flinging her head back and screeched long and loud.

  Macy and Sand covered their ears with their hands, trying to block out the noise. Sand staggered and dropped to one knee. He was panting hard, his face scrunched up with pain.

  “What is wrong with you?” the Amazon woman raged. Her voice no longer melodic, but a high-pitched squawk. “I thought you would be a male and do the right thing.”

  Macy stepped forward. “It was my choice. Sand is a male. He was strong and—”

  She set her teeth when Sand pulled her behind his back. “We are not going to give you what you want. The human does not wish—”

  “Do you think I care about either of your wishes?” she screeched. “The answer is no! It’s a couple of months of your life.” She looked over Sand’s shoulder, directing her anger at her. “I told you I would care for the whelps. I wanted this done the easy way. Now you might be injured. Possibly even killed during the rutting.” She actually looked upset about the prospect. “Which will mean finding another suitable candidate. Not an easy task.” She shook her head.

  So, there it was. Macy was making her life difficult. That’s why she was so upset. It had nothing to do with Macy or Sand’s feelings. Heaven forbid that be the case.

  “Don’t do this.” Macy had to try. “Please don’t—”

  “I’m going to have to find a male who won’t kill you.” The Amazon lifted her eyes in thought.

  Sand snarled, his hands curling into fists. His muscles bunching.

  “Don’t try to be a hero,” she casually addressed Sand. Her eyes lifted again. “I might need to find a healer.” She tsked a couple of times, shaking her head. “This is all far more complicated than it ever had to be. Why couldn’t you do as you were told?”

  There was a loud crack and Sand went flying across the room. If Macy thought back, she might have seen the Amazon’s arm move. She certainly had heard the crack as the palm of her hand hit Sand across the face. It happened lightning quick. If she had blinked, she would have missed it.

  Sand was back on his feet a split second later. His back to her. His muscles roped. Scales visible in patches on his skin.

  “I’m done with you.” This time the Amazon addressed Sand, who wiped his face, his hand came away bloody.

  Macy could breathe again as she watched the non-human turn to leave. They couldn’t just let her go. As much as Macy wanted to do just that, she needed to intervene.

  She needed to try to change this woman’s mind. “What is your name?” Macy blurted, her voice shrill. “I’m Macy and this is Sand. We are people. We have feelings, desires, emotions, families. Please!” She watched the Amazon’s back stiffen, hoping to god she had gotten through to the woman, even just a little bit. “Please tell us your name. Please see us as people.”

  “My name is not important. Just as your names are not important to me. Nothing other than becoming a mother is important to me. With that in mind, you may call me Mother. I will be a mother. This is going to happen one way or another. Do not try to tell me anything about yourself again. I do not care. You are vessels to me. A means to an end. Nothing more.” She turned, leaving their cage. The door chinked shut. The heavy lock clicked into place.

  They watched her leave, standing like that for a good couple of seconds. Both of them were too shocked to move. “At least she didn’t take you away immediately,” Macy finally said, looking at Sand. “Oh no! Are you okay?”

  “It’s just a busted lip.” He gingerly touched a finger to the open gash. It was leaking blood down his chin. “She may not have taken me yet, but she does still plan to bring a Feral male. She made that clear. She needs to plan her next move. She never expected me to be able to resist you and I almost didn’t.” He used the back of his hand to wipe up the blood.

  She snorted.

  “I mean it, Macy. I’m not sure I would hold up a second time.”

  She didn’t say anything. Macy was sure he would. He didn’t give himself enough credit. “What are we going to do? I don’t think we’ll find out her identity.”

  “I doubt it as well, but you never know, she could slip up.”

  “How many Feral women are there? Maybe not nearly as many as you would think. There are very few dragon women.”

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “She said their males were desperate, which indicates that there aren’t that many, but we can’t be certain.”

  “How many of them are stark raving mad, though?”

  “She comes across as mentally unstable to us, but she might just be normal amongst her kind. I’m afraid we don’t know much at all about these creatures. We need to find out more. That much has become apparent. I’m also not even sure her king would help us.”

  Macy nodded. “She brought us more food.” She pointed at another canvas bag lying on the ground where the Feral woman had thrown it. Macy had never seen such anger before. For a few moments there, her life had flashed before her eyes.

  “I could eat,” Sand announced. “No clothing, though.” He looked down at the black boxers he was wearing. The shifter could really rock the color black. It contrasted perfectly with his sandy hair and beautiful, light brown eyes. Then again, he could also rock silk. Not many men could pull it off. He could.

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “This outfit could use a wash as well.” She was still wearing her jeans and shirt from the day before. “At least I can put something from the trunk on without fear of you jumping me.” She giggled.

  “Yeah…of course.” He ran a hand through his hair, squeezing the back of his neck.

  “I noticed you didn’t tell me how cute my snoring was this morning.” She laughed harder. “You were funny when you were so…so…”

  “Horny?”

  “Yeah. You were so complimentary during my heat. Since when is snoring considered cute? I mean, come on.” She rolled her eyes. He’d told her numerous times how attracted he was to her. All hormones, of course.

  Sand smiled and nodded. He didn’t say anything.

  “So, what now? We hang around waiting for her to throw me to the wolves?”

  “If only it was just wolves you had to worry about. Wolves still have honor. These Feral, though…” Sand’s brow was
furrowed. He looked really tense. “We have to find a way to get the bitch to keep me. As the seed donor. We need to tell her that you changed your mind. You won’t resist this whole thing anymore. Maybe she won’t send me away. It’ll buy us more time.”

  “She’ll see right through it. She was very clear about giving us one chance and one chance only. Nothing has changed.”

  “We have to try. She’s so damned strong. She doesn’t turn her back on me. Not for a second. I’ll take my chance if it presents itself, but fuck!” He shook his head. “I didn’t see that blow coming, and she didn’t even try.” He touched his mouth again. It had stopped bleeding. “We need to figure out where the hell we are and who she is.” Sand grabbed the bars of their cage. “We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. There are zero landmarks. How the hell would I find this place again? That Feral isn’t stupid. She wouldn’t move me while I’m still conscious. We need time. If we have that, she might just screw up. An opportunity might present itself.”

  “We’ll have to figure something out.” Macy couldn’t fathom what that something might be. She needed to resign herself. That Feral woman was coming back. She was most likely going to take Sand. Things were about to get worse for her. Infinitely worse.

  Unless.

  Unless she could come up with a plan. Macy started thinking.

  Chapter 10

  One week later…

  Sand put the pop tart on the side-plate.

  “So that’s it?” Macy asked, eyes glued to the tart as well. It was tiny.

  “That’s it.” He folded his arms, staring at the treat.

  “We have nothing left to eat after this?” she asked, even though it was a stupid question because she already knew the answer.

  “I’m afraid not.”

  She’d been racking her brain the first few days and had come up with half a dozen reasons for allowing Sand to stay with her. She had to convince that Feral woman. The best reason so far was that she was attracted to Sand and would find it easier to make a baby with him than with a stranger.

  Weak.

  The excuse was incredibly weak. Amazon woman would see through it in a hot minute. Essentially, they had to come up with why things would be different next time or a plausible reason why they hadn’t worked this time. What had changed? Another one was that she hadn’t known Sand long enough before. That she had been shy. Since they began rationing food, she hadn’t been able to think of anything else. It had to be something rational. Logical. That’s how the Amazon woman was. It was all facts. No emotion. Her reason needed to come from that place. She didn’t understand humans. Didn’t care about either of them. The only thing they had going for them was that the Feral woman would prefer it if Sand stayed. She didn’t want to have to find another guy to replace him. It would be too much effort with less chance of reward. These were all things the Feral knew already, of course.

  Her stomach twisted in her gut. Her mouth watered just looking at the delicious tart. The center would be sweet and gooey. The outside crispy and delicious. They’d lived on crackers and peanut butter for the last two days. The measly amount of fruit and greens the Amazon had brought ran out quickly. Macy never thought she’d ever crave salad and yet, there she was, mouth watering just thinking about all that was green and crisp and juicy. “What I wouldn’t give for a double cheeseburger and a huge salad. With dressing too.” She licked her lips.

  Sand chuckled. “You take it.” Sand pushed the plate over. “Dragons can go without food for long periods.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

  Take it, Macy! Take the pop tart! Take the offer! Do it! Macy forced herself to shake her head. “We should share it. We’ll cut it in half.” It was the best solution. The only solution that was right. She taught the kids about right and wrong on a daily basis. She needed to stick to her guns now that times were tough. “Sharing is caring,” she added, thinking of a certain purple dinosaur.

  He pushed his lips together for a few moments, gaze still on the tart. “Just eat it, Macy.” He pushed the plate over to her. “You are a human. You need it more than I do.”

  “It’s not fair if I eat the whole thing. You already insisted I take that extra cracker last night. Don’t think I didn’t notice the extra peanut butter either. It’s not right.” Her stomach growled noisily at the mere mention of food.

  They both looked down at her midriff. “See. You need the food more than I do.” He scratched his newly shaven jaw.

  They might not have food, but they had plenty of toiletries. “Pity we can’t eat shower gel, sex toys and lingerie,” she muttered.

  “We’d be stocked up for weeks,” he grumbled right back. “I’m not sure what the hell she’s playing at here.” He pushed out a pent-up breath and touched the plate. “Eat…please.” His own stomach grumbled loudly.

  They locked eyes and laughed. It took a few seconds for her to gain her composure. “By the way, you were talking about food last night…in your sleep,” she said as she opened one of the drawers, taking out a knife.

  “That makes sense.” He smiled. “I tend to talk about whatever is on my mind.”

  “It sounded like you were out to dinner or something. You were ordering food. Lots and lots and lots of food.” Macy cut the tart in half. “Then you kept asking for people to pass you food items. Mainly steak or ribs…which makes sense, I would imagine shifters have a thing for meat.”

  She watched his throat work. “Don’t even get me started. You’ll just make us hungrier than we already are. I’m sorry I talked so much.” He frowned. “I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

  She shook her head. Her stomach had woken her up. Their predicament had woken her up. “No…it’s this place. When do you think she’s coming back? Surely, she won’t leave us to starve? Could she be that angry with us for not doing what she wanted?”

  Sand’s jaw tensed and his eyes flared with anger. “She still needs you. Withholding food is a classic method used to make people more accommodating. More susceptible to suggestion.”

  “Do you think that’s what this is about?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. It seems that way. It’s the only logical explanation.” He looked back down at the food. What little of it there was. “I thought you said you get hangry when you don’t eat.” Sand looked back up at her. “You haven’t lashed out once and are handling this better than I would ever have imagined.”

  She nodded once, trying to smile. “I’m a mess inside.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “I am.” She nodded, picking up her tart and taking a small bite. She closed her eyes and savored the flavor burst on her tongue. When she opened them, Sand was looking at her in a way that reminded her of how he had looked at her when she was ovulating. The look was gone almost immediately. His eyes flashed to the pop tart and he licked his lips. It was the food, she realized in the next instant. They both had food-lust.

  He picked up his half of the tart. “You sure about this? We have no idea how long she plans on withholding food. It could be a couple more days, or more, before she comes back.”

  “Half a tart isn’t going to make much difference either way.”

  “You’re right, but…”

  “No buts. We’re in this together…at least for now.” She shoved down the panic that rose up at the thought of Sand being taken away. Of being alone in there. Of not being alone…of some non-human— No! She couldn’t think along those lines. Macy had to think of something. She would think of something.

  “You okay?” Sand touched the side of her arm.

  She nodded once. “Maybe we should have done it. Given her what she wanted. I’m scared, Sand. I believed I could handle it, but I don’t know if I can.”

  “I won’t let her take me. We’ll find a way to convince her and I won’t let her go through with this fucked up plan either.”

  “Thank you. What if we do convince her? What will happen when we still don’t give her what she wants?”

  He gripped the
tops of her arms looking her in the eyes. “We need to take this one day and one step at a time. Right now, I need to stay. We can’t have her throwing some other male in with you. All we have to do is convince her that me staying is the better option. It is the better option, so I’m sure she’ll agree.”

  She nodded. He had a way of making things sound so simple.

  “Eat your food.” He looked pointedly at the tart in her hand.

  They both ate in silence. Sand popped the entire thing into his mouth. He chewed a few times and swallowed. Washing it all down with a big gulp of water. Macy took her time with each bite. She savored them all, loving the burst of flavor. The tartness. The sweetness. The crispy outer crust. It was gone in less than a minute. Macy licked her fingers and just stood there, enjoying the taste that was left in her mouth.

  She watched as Sand stepped out of his jeans. She wanted to look away. She really did, but she couldn’t. Macy watched the glutes of his ass move up and down as he took the last few steps to the chest. The guy had become infuriating with his nakedness. He had no qualms about dropping his jeans, boxers or briefs. It was a natural and normal thing for a shifter. As far as Sand was concerned, she’d seen him naked a good couple of times already, so what was the big deal.

  What was the big deal?

  What was the…?

  Unfortunately, she could not possibly tell him what the big deal was. Macy couldn’t tell him how she got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach when she snuck peeks at him or how her heart sped up just a little every time she ogled all the hard planes of his body. His abs were tight. His back was…could a back be called beautiful? His was. It was muscled and sculpted. His ass. Lord help her. He even had a great penis. It was still big even when he wasn’t aroused. Long and thick. The guy was well-hung. He didn’t have any hair down there either. By now, she got the impression he was like that naturally. That shifters maybe didn’t have hair down there. His chest was also clear of any hair. All he had was that gorgeous tattoo. It glinted in the sunlight. It was bad of her to even notice Sand in the first place, given their predicament. But how could she not? There he was right in front of her. She was trapped here with him, for god’s sake, and she had eyes.