BROGAN_A Steamy WereDragon Romance

by Bonnie Burrows

  “They’re undercover operatives,” the pilot answered. “One of them, a male, is with the Corps. Holman and Goss think the other one, a woman, is from either the IBI or Interstar Intelligence.”

  Adrenaline pumping again, Skinner got himself back up almost as if he had never been knocked down. Dr. Harkins helped him, but his renewed fire and vigor almost suggested that he had never taken a blow from a Lacertan sparring partner at all. He brushed the doctor away again and spoke to the pilot’s voice, “The hell you say! Spies? From the Corps? And maybe from Earth? Infiltrating my operation? What did Holman do with them? Are they still alive?”

  “They’re alive, sir. Holman had them captured and confined—sealed up tight. He’s bringing them with the water.” After a slight beat, he added, “Holman…thought you’d be pleased, sir.”

  A look of dark and twisted pleasure came over the crime boss. His voice lowered, almost becoming a growl. “Pleased? Pleased that the Dragon Corps and the fools on Earth got their people into my operation? That they tried to plant people among my soldiers to try to pull a sting on me? Pleased—is that what he thinks? Pleased does not describe it.” He paused a moment, twisting his neck to work out a little kink.

  “I hadn’t expected to have a member of the mighty Lacertan Dragon Corps on hand when my treatment was finished. I thought I’d have to rely on one of my own dragon people to test myself. This is much better. Much better. See to it that Holman and Goss know they’ll be properly rewarded when they deliver me my water—and my other two souvenirs. Skinner out.”

  With Dr. Harkins standing by to continue her examination, Skinner faced his sparring partner. “Did you hear that? It looks like we’re going to have a change of plans for our activities later today. An unexpected and not at all unwelcome change of plans. Things are going to be better today than I ever thought. You’re dismissed.”

  Bowing his massive reptilian head, the Lacertan boxer turned and made for the exit of the gym. Then, to his physician, Drakkar Skinner said, “You have two hours to make sure I’m ready to receive my special guests.”

  “I won’t need two hours,” said the doctor. “After I’ve scanned you for a concussion and treated you for any skull or neurological injuries, I want you to lie down and rest. And resting means exactly that. You’re to rest.”

  “Whatever you say, Doctor,” Skinner replied. “Continue and finish up.”

  Samantha Harkins touched her device to the gangster’s head and a new set of holo-readings flashed in the air. Skinner let her work, while his thoughts rolled ahead to the next couple of hours. On his way to him now was the prize he had sought for so many years, and some other unanticipated rewards for all the planning he had done for this day. He was sure these were only the first of the prizes that awaited him. Soon he would be ready to claim so much more. So much more…

  CHAPTER 8

  The fact that Holman, Goss, and a couple of other thugs had brought them to a luxurious suite inside the Lernaea resort was of no reassurance to Brogan and Gabrielle at all. Their surroundings were, to be sure, as posh and as sumptuous as any of the finest places on Lacerta. In fact, the place reminded Brogan more than a little of the aerie of Nest Moran, his friend Tynan’s home. It was that kind of place, a place for people who had much more to spend than just their Commonwealth stipend.

  Bound with their hands behind their backs in polycarbon manacles strong enough to hold a transformed weredragon, their weapons confiscated and their comm devices jammed, they were seated in plush, cozy chairs in a room filled with plush, cozy furniture and rugs, with elegant tables, tall windows, a full and well-stocked bar, and a magnificent view of the gas giant Catalan VI and a half dozen of its moons in space outside.

  In spite of their dire predicament, Brogan could not help but think in some corner of his mind that at any other time, under any other circumstances, he would love to have Gabrielle in a suite like this and screw her like a man or dragon possessed on the bed, on every chair and divan and ottoman, on every rug, and on at least one of the more sturdy-looking tables. In fact, once this whole thing was over, he would not at all mind dipping into his saved wages and bringing her back out here for exactly that purpose.

  All of that, of course, was assuming that Drakkar Skinner’s organization were successfully brought down and the two of them made it to the end of this mission alive. At the moment it looked like a colossal assumption—but then, Brogan was in the Dragon Corps, trained for danger and jeopardy. It was just that the danger and jeopardy of the moment were the greatest he had ever faced. Gabrielle was taking the whole thing about the same as he was. Things at the moment did not look promising and they both knew it.

  They did not have to wait long for their host to arrive. A door at one side of the suite slid open, and in he strode, wearing an armor skin in the red, silver, and black colors of a Lacertan Knight. Brogan felt insulted to see this upstart human criminal clad in the garb of dragons whose scales he was not fit to shine, but he gave no voice to his contempt. He only wondered if Drakkar Skinner could see the contempt in his eyes. If he did, Brogan did not particularly care. He and Gabrielle were “guests” in this place only in the broadest sense of the word. What they could expect here was something far from hospitality.

  “I bid you greetings and welcome,” said the crime boss in a tone and a manner that all but mocked the situation. “My name is Drakkar Skinner. But of course I’m sure you know that. I’m sure my reputation more than precedes me with you—and that is the only area where you have me at a disadvantage right now. All that I know of the two of you is that you,” he cocked his head at Brogan, “are one Squire Brogan Holt of the Lacertan Dragon Corps.” He turned his attention to Gabrielle. “And you, young lady, we know only by the name that you assumed to gain entrance into my organization. Would you do me the honor of sharing with me who you really are and who it is that sent you to us, please?”

  Unimpressed with this pretense of civility on the part of her host, actually her captor, Gabrielle saw that continuing the charade that she had attempted back at the Orochi Cascade was now quite futile. She replied, “Agent Gabrielle Long, Interplanetary Bureau of Investigation.” She studied Skinner’s face and saw traces of trauma: hints of cuts that had been closed with stitching gel, bruises that had been treated and faded with subcutaneous therapies. She wondered what this madman had been up to before she and Brogan were brought here. On the whole, it didn’t matter; it only made her wonder just how criminally insane he really was.

  Nodding with satisfaction, Skinner acknowledged, “The IBI. Of course. It had to be either that or Interstar Intelligence. I know how thorough the authorities on Earth can be about matters like this. They must have checked every detail about your assignment and checked it again before sending you out. Regrettably, there was one small thing that escaped them. They probably knew that Mr. Goss, here, was an associate of Liona Vess, the dragoness who was once involved with Prince Tynan Moran.

  They would have had a full dossier on him as a member of my organization. What they failed to account for was the scans that Ms. Vess exchanged with Mr. Goss on a purely social, private basis—scans that identified Squire Brogan as being, let’s just say not one of our kind. That’s what brings the two of you here as something other than my newest recruits.”

  “Nobody’s perfect,” said Brogan, unsmiling.

  “No one is perfect, indeed,” agreed Skinner. “But we aim for perfection whether we can get it or not, because aiming for anything less allows for too many variables, too many uncertainties. And in an organization like mine, with the goals and objectives that we have, it’s vital to control and contain the uncertain. Precision is key to everything we do, in my work as it is in yours.”

  “We all take pride in our work,” said Gabrielle, flatly.

  Skinner let out a hearty laugh at that. “Yes, Agent Long, that we do! That we do! I appreciate your attitude about things today, the whole ‘grace under fire.’ And if you’ll allow me to say, your personal
grace, under fire or otherwise, must be considerable.”

  At hearing these words from this man addressed to Gabrielle, something seethed and burned inside Brogan. It made him wish that he had the strength of the legendary enhanced dragon warrior Sir Rawn Ullery at this moment. Had he the strength and power of Sir Rawn, he would use them to break his bonds like brittle candy and then breathe a jet of fire on this human who dared speak so flatteringly to Gabrielle, as if she were dressed up and sitting at the bar of one of the Lernaean casinos and he were setting out to romance her. This creature was not fit to look at Gabrielle, let alone make passes and overtures at her. He was violent, criminal filth who deserved to be in her presence only to be apprehended, cuffed, and dragged off in the arms of the law. The female who had shared her bed with Brogan was too fine for the attentions of the likes of Drakkar Skinner.

  Brogan’s silent flare of hostility passed unnoticed. Skinner continued to address them, confident in the upper hand that he held over them.

  Skinner sat himself down facing them in another of the suite’s comfortable chairs, with Holman, Goss, and the other thugs standing nearby. He now took on a less genial demeanor, becoming less the cordial host and more the ruthless crime lord that he truly was. And he began: “Squire Brogan, Agent Long…you’re joining me today on the most important day of my life. This is a day that I’ve looked forward to since I was a young boy. Today, for me, is about a very simple thing. That simple thing…is power. Do you know what the most powerless thing in the universe is?

  The most powerless thing in the world is a child. To be a child is to be surrounded by bigger people, stronger people, people who know things that you don’t know and can do things that you can’t do—adults. Adults who may say they love you, say they care about you, but have the power to do whatever they like with you or to you. And you haven’t the power to fight back.

  In fact you haven’t even the permission to fight back. Think of that. You may be hurt, abused, terrorized—but you are not permitted to defend yourself. That, to me, is the ultimate in being powerless. That was my experience of childhood: having no power. And the story of my adult life has been never wanting to be powerless again—against anything or anyone.

  “When I was very young, I learned of a place where everyone was powerful, where everyone was strong. The reason everyone was powerful in this place was that no one there had only one body. They all had a human body—and another, much stronger, more powerful body. Everyone on the planet Lacerta was both a human and a dragon. And as a little boy with no power of his own, I fell in love with dragons—the imaginary dragons from the stories people told on Earth, and the real dragons of your planet, Squire Brogan.

  I wanted to know everything about them, the myths and the reality. And what I knew more than anything else was that I wanted someday to be one. I wanted to be a dragon. The problem was that your world, Squire Brogan, puts such obstacles in the path of someone wanting to join you. It’s all very well to live on Lacerta, but to live as a Lacertan—that becomes problematical. It’s a shame that anyone has to take extreme measures to get the simplest thing that he wants, even if it’s his heart’s desire.

  But that, essentially, is what I’ve done. I’ve gone to extreme lengths to accomplish a simple thing. I’ve accomplished many things in my life, things that I’m sure you would consider unsavory. But this thing—this simplest thing—this is the thing most important to me.”

  “Well,” said Brogan, “since we’re not in a position to complicate your life any more right now, maybe you’d like to tell us, just for our entertainment, just how you’re going to do this simple thing of yours.”

  Skinner smiled, charmed in his perverse way at Brogan’s dauntless manner in this most daunting situation. “Yes, Squire, for everything you’ve been through to join me, you deserve to know. You may have guessed my method already. It’s another very simple thing. There are many asteroids in this belt from which water is extracted for export to other planets—water lacking the essential qualities of the water from your planet, but still valuable.

  My people and I are going to ship the Lacertan water we’ve obtained out of one of your asteroid facilities as non-mutagenic asteroid water. We’ve carefully set up how this is to be done: the vessels we’re going to use, the specific asteroids from which the water will be shipped out to holding facilities of my own in other systems, the people we’ve paid to assist us or at least look the other way. It’s all being done very precisely, as I mentioned before. And once it’s done, I’ll have the ability to share the water and its mutagenic qualities to any lieutenant or soldier that I choose—and I’ll have an army of Lacertans of my own. My own Dragon Corps, my own Knights, all at my command. And then…my ambitions will go forward.”

  “And you really don’t think Lacerta will send the Knighthood against you? You really don’t think the Corps will be ready to stop you when your dragon soldiers come for our planet?” Brogan argued. “For someone who’s supposed to know all about us, you don’t seem to know us that well after all.”

  “I expect there will be resistance,” said Skinner. “And we’ll be ready for it. I’ve spent these many years stockpiling weapons and training my people to use them. I have well-trained people not only in my business enterprises, but culled from other places—actual warriors. Mercenaries, if you want to use the common word. People who I’m confident will be a match for your Knights and your Corps once they become dragons. What I’ve acquired from your planet and the help of my chosen people will bring me the one and only thing that has ever mattered to me: power. Endless power.”

  “Everybody needs an ambition,” said Brogan.

  Skinner laughed at that, a low, hearty chuckle. He stood up from his seat, with a restless feeling coming over him. “I like that, Squire Brogan,” he said. “And I like you. I think it’s going to be very satisfying when I’ve carried out the initial phase of my plan. It’s a part that I’ve improvised a bit, because of your presence. I hadn’t planned on you, but your being here serves my purposes in a way much better than I expected.

  You see, before I ship the Lacertan water out for distribution, I am of course going to be the first to enjoy its benefits. Before my plans go forward, I’m going to take the first sample of what my people have obtained. A long drink, a deep bath—and then I’ll be ready. I’ll finally become what I’ve most wanted to be. And I’ll need a test of my new body, my new strength, my new power; a test against a worthy opponent—a dragon opponent. I was going to use a Lacertan already in my employ, but what I have now is much, much better.

  Now I have an actual Squire of the Dragon Corps to test my new mettle. Now, Squire Brogan, I have you. And that makes it all the better, because where I wouldn’t waste the life of one of my trusted lieutenants in a duel…the life of someone who would tear down everything I’ve built, if he could, is a good deal more expendable. So after I’ve made my passage to dragonhood, Squire Brogan, I’ll see you in a duel. To the death.”

  Gabrielle had listened quietly to all of the foregoing. She had felt very much on the periphery of it all. Skinner’s interests were in Lacerta, its mutagenic resources, and its dragon people. She was merely a human, and an agent of human law enforcement. She was an enemy and a danger, to be sure, but even so, she was mostly an after-thought to Skinner, one detail among so many others. But now, in spite of being an Agent and a professional, Gabrielle felt a much more personal stake in what was happening.

  Now Drakkar Skinner had made himself a personal danger to Brogan. He was never going to allow Brogan, or Gabrielle, to live, in any event. But now, to hear Skinner call Brogan out to a duel of dragon-to-dragon combat in which he had every intention of personally slaying Brogan—this made it more than just a matter of the safety and security of thousands of planets.

  This was a direct, personal danger to the man who had shared Gabrielle’s bed and given her a greater pleasure than she had known in years. Brogan, who had caressed her, kissed her, tasted her, shared with her
the sweetest things that a man can share, been inside her and come inside her, was now under direct threat. This had to be stopped before it started.

  “Skinner, listen to me,” Gabrielle spoke up. “Don’t go through with this. The Commonwealth will move against you. If they do, it won’t be like a gang war. It will be much bigger and much more dangerous, and no matter what kind of weapons and how many mercenaries and mutated soldiers you have on your side, it won’t be like fighting a rival mob. And it won’t go well for you.

  As powerful as you are and as powerful as you’re going to be, you can’t fight the entire quadrant. You’ll lose—probably everything, including your life. Dragons are powerful, yes, but they’re not invincible and they’re not immortal. You’ll be a dragon, but you won’t be a god. And you can’t win.”

  “That is a very rational argument, Agent Long, and I commend you for it,” said Skinner. “But I’ve been playing a very long game and I have more people in more places than you would ever guess. Before coming to Catalan, I’ve been spending years moving everyone and everything into position. Once I give the word, my people will start moving. And we’ll start to distribute the water to the places and individuals where it’s needed.

  The other gangs in the quadrant, and the authorities, won’t be able to stop us. We’ll be in place, and it will be very difficult to remove us. That’s what it means to have power, Agent Long: knowing where and when and how to use it. Power and planning will make the difference.