"We'll make our homes in the smaller caverns up and down the cliff face then?" Astrid asks.
"That's what I was thinking," Penelope says. "What do you think Olivia?"
"It sounds fine," I say.
"Those of us who don't have a… mate?" Astrid turns her statement into a question and looks at me.
My cheeks burn hot and I can't meet any of their eyes. "Yep," I say, pushing the attention away. "That's what the Zmaj call it."
Mates sounds so… primal. It makes me feel, owned, in a good way though. I'm his, claimed by Ragnar. He's everything I have ever dreamed of and more. Seriously, what girl ever dreamed of a dragon-man, one with two… well yeah. I know I didn't, not in my wildest fantasies.
Blood rushes to my face and my ears burn. Damn, I embarrass myself without saying a word.
"So yeah, those of us who aren't mated can share a space, just like on the ship," Astrid says, picking up where she left off.
"Oh, I like that," Delilah says. "I don't think I could sleep alone. It'd be too strange, you know?"
"It's a good solution," Bailey says.
"Well I'm not going to live in a bare stone cave," Penelope says. "Can we work out some comforts?"
"We've got blankets," Delilah says. "But that's not living in comfort."
"The thicker furs off those… what do they call those things? The ones that look like overgrown buffalo with teeth and a weird mutation?" Bailey asks.
"Bivo?" I ask, guessing at what she means.
"I think so, yeah. Those have the thick fur. If the hunters could gather that for us, we could start out making bedding. If we treat it and preserve the fur, then we could use those in place of a mattress."
"That's good," Astrid agrees.
"Where's Arawn, he's the leather worker, he'll know if we could do that," I say.
"Which one is Arawn?" Penelope asks.
I describe him to her and she smiles with a spark in her eye. "Oh, yeah, I saw him outside working on something."
"Okay, I'll talk to him later then," I say.
"Storage, that will be the next thing," Astrid says.
"Could we weave something? Make baskets?" Penelope asks.
"What would we weave?" Bailey asks. "Problem with this whole damn planet is there's not that much material to work with."
"Astarot says there's an oasis not far from here to the west," I say. "The one that Ragnar and I stopped at after we got lost in the storm had a lot of plants. Surely this one would have something we could use as material for weaving."
"A trip to the oasis then?" Delilah asks.
"We'll have to coordinate that with Ragnar, too dangerous to go on our own."
Everyone gives their agreement.
"So, since we're standing outside the entrance here," Bailey says, nodding at the crevasse in the wall.
All of us fall silent, looking at the tight opening. The faint blue glow emanating through it is a siren's call. It's been on everyone's mind, though we've avoided talking about it.
Epis.
We are living in the closest supply, giving us easy access. It also puts us in charge of the easiest source, which the city needs. This wasn't necessarily our plan, but it puts us in a good position.
"This is our home," I say. "Nothing will change that. We should make the best of it."
A murmur of agreement goes around.
Happiness swells inside me.
"What are you grinning about?" Delilah asks.
"This, you, us," I say, shaking my head. "Look at us! We're going to be okay. More than that, this will be good."
"Yeah," Delilah says and we all resume walking around the cavern.
"I feel it too," Penelope says. "The ship wreck was good, but I never felt hope for the future. It was just survival, you know?"
"Oh, yeah, that's it!" Astrid agrees. "It's like there's something more than surviving. A reason to live. Hope."
As we walk out of the cavern, back into the bright double red suns of Tajss, a sense of well being washes over me. Looking out across the rolling sands, I'm home. I've found my place and for the first time in my life I'm happy.
24
Ragnar
"The females are helping to build a smoking station in that cavern over there," I say pointing.
"Okay," Bashir says.
He and Melchior carry a stretcher between them that we've loaded with harvested meat and leather. It's been a good hunt. We have enough food here to feed the Tribe for a week or more. Olivia will be happy with the furs we've brought.
Shadows are falling as the suns set and the soft glow of a fire emanates from our new home.
The females will probably have a meal ready but I need to do something first. Olivia will understand.
Turning away, I climb the tight, crumbling path up the cliff opposite ours. It turns back and forth as I make my way until I'm near the top. The cavern I approach has a metal grate attached to the rock wall, courtesy of Padraig. It's made of scavenged metal from the wreck of the human ship. It's less than a day's walk for a Zmaj and our smith brought several pieces back and is excited to continue working with it. I've never seen him so happy. He's talking about trying to make actual lochabers. I haven't wielded a lochaber in years, my fingers itch to grasp the hilt of one once more.
Humming comes from beyond the metal gate. My brother's tune is familiar, but I can't quite place it.
The sound stops and the memories it calls fade back into oblivion.
A metal rod hooks the clasp of the gate which I work open and it screeches as I pull it aside.
The clank of chains resounds heavily in the now silence and stepping into the shadows of the cavern, I brace myself.
Will he attack me today?
Ryuth sits at the back, staring at nothing. He doesn't react to my presence.
"Hello brother," I offer.
Still nothing.
Sighing, I pull out chunks of my recent kill. When I hold them out on my palm his eyes move, the only sign that he knows I'm here. We have to keep him bound so he can't feed himself. Leaning in, moving slow, I raise the meat to his lips.
I've lost count of how many times he's bitten me. It's the way it is. I don't know what the Zzlo did to break him, but I will reach him. I know he's in there, somewhere.
"We had a good hunt," I say, searching his eyes for any hint of recognition.
His stare is blank, empty. He takes the piece of meat when I press it to his lips. I watch him chew while I talk about my hunt. He swallows the last of the meat and I rise, backing my way out. Even though he's chained, he's still dangerous. Fully in the grip of his bijass, I can never let my guard down around him.
As I slide the gate closed, he is watching me. When I turn away, he hums the same tune as when I approached.
Then it hits me, I remember where I heard it before!
Turning, I rush back to the gate, staring in. The moment I'm at the gate he stops humming, staring into space.
"Ryuth?" I ask, hoping beyond hope for him to answer.
Nothing. He remains stock still, eyes fixed on something in the space ahead.
My stomach sinks as I walk away but now I have a glimmer of hope. That tune is one our mother hummed to us when we were children.
Locked inside, somewhere, is my brother and I will find him.
The main cave is a bustle of activity. The females and a few craftsmen have constructed a smoke pit on the left side. Bashir and Melchior are there helping them load the freshly harvested meat onto the racks. Olivia glances over as I walk in then she runs to me.
"Hi!" she says, throwing her arms around my neck, our lips coming together with rising passion.
"Hi," I respond as soon as she comes up for air.
"I missed you," she says.
We walk back to the others with our arms around each other.
"We're going to need better storage," Olivia says.
One female says something and Olivia answers her. They banter back and forth while I pitch in, helping
lay the meat out on the carefully built racks. Olivia stops, cocks her head to one side, then frowns.
"Ragnar," she says, grabbing my attention. "Have the Zmaj tried growing things?"
"Growing what things?" I ask.
"Food stuffs," she says.
"Why would we do that? It grows just fine in the oasis."
Olivia snorts and says something to the females in their language before returning to me.
"You're such a male," she says.
"What else would I be?" I ask, confused by her statement.
She shakes her head. "Never mind. So the answer is no, hmmm."
The females talk amongst themselves. Bashir, Melchior and I exchange glances wondering what they are planning. The other two hunters say nothing and I shrug in response.
"So we have an idea," Olivia says at last.
"Yes?" I ask.
"Well, there's water down where the epis grows, and sandy dirt. Maybe we can find edible plants that will grow down there."
"It's dark," I observe.
"Sure," she says. "But maybe we can work it out. Or maybe we can get it to grow outside the cave. I don't know, isn't it worth a shot?"
"Would it make you happy?" I ask.
"Yes," she smiles, her cheeks flushing a luscious shade of pink.
"Then I'll see it done," I say. "We'll go to the oasis in the morning."
The females converse while we finish loading the meat. When it's almost done Bashir, Melchior and I leave them to finish and go help Arawn with the leather we brought back. It needs scraping, which removes any remnants of flesh before it spoils. It's full dark by the time we're done. My limbs are heavy, I'm exhausted. Olivia and I head to the private cave we claimed.
I pull aside the leather hanging that gives us some sense of privacy, letting her in first. She ducks as she enters, her full ass brushing against my cock. She laughs, glancing over her shoulder with a smile.
"I thought you'd be too tired?"
"I'm never too tired for you," I say, pulling her close.
Her body molds against mine. Kissing my way down her neck and across her shoulder, I caress my way around her hips and across her stomach. She wraps her arms around my neck. Moving as one we make our way to the blankets and I lower her into them.
25
Olivia
"What about these?" I ask, pointing at a purple-blue berry looking thing.
"Those are edible but very sour," Ragnar says.
We work together and carefully dig it up, taking great care to make sure we get all the roots then add it to the stretcher with the other plants.
"This looks like enough," I say, wiping sweat from my brow.
"Good," Ragnar says. "We need to head back, I don't want to be out after dark."
Bashir and Ragnar take up the stretcher and we head for home, the shadows are growing long when at last we enter the main cave.
"Welcome home!" Delilah says.
"Thanks!"
Astrid and Penelope come over and look at the plants we've gathered.
"We prepared the ground outside for them," Astrid says. "And Padraig crafted two buckets for us to haul water out of the caves to water them with."
"Oh, nice," I say.
Lana walks by with Astarot. She waves as they pass by, working on their own projects. I haven't seen much of her because we've all been so busy. Something about her catches my attention. I can't quite put my finger on it…
"Let's get these in the ground," Penelope says.
Bashir and Ragnar follow Penelope outside with the stretcher and set it down next to the turned earth.
"We had to dig down quite a ways to find actual dirt and we hauled out quite a lot of soil from inside the cavern hoping it would help encourage things to grow," Astrid says, motioning her arm around the turned area.
It's a square about twelve feet long and four feet wide. It drops two feet down. Stiff leather with steel bars reinforces it every few feet.
"Wow, that's a lot of work girls," I say.
Ragnar grabs me by my waist and kisses me. "I'll be back," he says, glancing up the mountain.
It's time for him to feed Ryuth.
"See you at home love," I say.
He nods then heads up to feed his brother.
"Thanks," Astrid says. "I think it came out great."
"Good idea, reinforcing the walls with leather. I wondered how we'd get around the sand wanting to slide back in."
"Thank Arawn, that was his idea, oh and Padraig helped too of course," Penelope says.
"Yeah, Padraig did most of the digging," Astrid says.
"No wonder you got so much done so fast," I say.
"Isn't he dreamy?" Delilah asks, her voice betraying a hint of wistfulness that makes me smile.
"Has anyone heard anything from the City?" Penelope asks, while we work on getting the plants into the ground.
"Nothing," I say, then out of nowhere it hits me. "Holy shit!"
"What?" both girls ask.
"Lana, oh my god, Lana!"
"What? What about her?" Astrid asks.
"You two haven't noticed?"
Astrid and Penelope look at each other than shake their heads.
"No?" they say.
"She's pregnant," I say.
"No way!" Penelope exclaims.
"You're sure? How do you know?" Astrid asks.
"Look at her, she's showing," Delilah says, laughing.
"That's amazing," Penelope says.
A warm fire burns in my stomach. A baby. Wouldn't that be nice? I can't shake the idea or the ticking in the back of my head while we finish working. Once we're done I head for home, determined to make a shot at having one of my own.
Our cave is half-way up the cliff and I stop to look out over our home before going in.
Home.
Beautiful. Simple, but ours. Maybe living in the city would be nice but I don't think it could be any nicer than what we're building here. This is ours. All of us, working together and creating a new life. And soon there will be a new life too.
Goosebumps race across my skin thinking about it.
Turning I pull aside the leather flap that serves as our door. As soon as I do, Ragnar takes my arm and pulls me into an embrace.
"Hi," I say, kissing his sweet lips.
"I've missed you," he says.
"You just saw me," I laugh.
"That changes nothing," he says, between kisses.
His hands roam down my back and across my ass.
I shiver as heat blazes through my body. My nipples harden and my pussy tingles as it grows warm and wet.
"Mmm," a moan slips out as he presses his hard cock against my ass.
"Are you happy?" he asks.
"I am," I say, running my fingers through his hair.
"You are mine," his voice is soft, almost a growl.
My head spins, breath catches in my throat as he claims what is his, then he scoops me up into his arms.
Turning around he carries me effortlessly to the bed, his tongue pushing past my eager lips to find mine.
Eagerly he jerks my shirt up and over my head, the only break in his lips against mine to let it pass.
He buries his face between my breasts. I gasp, adrenaline and desire spiking through me as he ravages my body with his mouth.
Stepping back his eyes move over my naked body, drinking me in.
"You're so beautiful," he says, his voice low and husky.
His hands slide over my skin, pulling me close. I fall into his lips and let my hands explore his rock-hard chest, chiseled abs and the hard grooves of his hips. His scales are cool to the touch as I work my way lower.
He leans into me and I moan, feeling the huge thickness between his legs pressing hot and powerfully against my belly. My fingers move lower, feeling his huge cock, unable to grasp its girth fully in my hand.
He groans.
"Like this?" I whisper in his ear, kissing my way down his cheek while moving my hand up and down his massive
shaft.
"Mmm," he groans, his hips thrust against me. "You unleash me. I can't control myself with you."
"Then don't," I say. "I trust you."
His eyes flash fire and his cock throbs in my hand.
I shriek as we suddenly tumble backwards onto the blankets. My heart pounds in my chest and desire spikes through me.
He looms over me, his muscles bunching and his jaw tight. His eyes lock with mine as he moves between my legs, his first cock pressing against my opening.
I'm more turned on then I've ever been before, his presence is dominating.
"Mine," he hisses, pushing his cock into my soft folds.
My eyes roll back in my head as he enters me up to the first ridge of his cock. Done going slow, he drives into my soaking wet pussy.
Nothing stops him, he takes me.
"Ragnar!" I cry his name as his humongous cock drives deep into my core.
"My treasure," he growls.
His lips take mine just as his cock takes my pussy. Wetness soaks out of me, drenching both of us as my pussy welcomes him . He holds himself over me, buried to his hilt.
He rotates his hips, a small circle, grinding the hard ridge at the base of his cock against my clit.
"OH GOD!" I scream in pleasure.
There is no control. I groan, then my orgasm claims me. My pussy clamps down on his massive cock. Every ridge of his huge dick swells inside. Liquid fire burns from my vagina through my limbs.
Stars and sensation wipe away thought. My pussy throbs with pleasure, clenching and unclenching, milking his cock and filling me with his seed.
Shuddering, reason returns slowly. He holds me tight, strong arms and bulging muscles carrying me through the power of my orgasm.
His cock softens inside me.
Smiling, a plan in my mind, I push against him. Slowly he slides out, rising back onto his knees.
He's kneeling between my legs as I sit back, a grin on my face.
His second cock rises, standing upright, pulsating its need for attention.
He just stretched my pussy and sated me but lust drives me still. Crawling towards him I work my way towards his beautiful cock, studying the vein that runs the length of the unprotected underside.
Dragon's Kiss (Red Planet Dragons of Tajss Book 5) Page 15