Priya squinted into the bright sunshine. She spent so much time on her ship she forgot it was summer back home.
“Kitten, you came back!” Gracious waved and the henchman shuffled her forward, strong hands propelling her into a seat. In a blink, she had her own cold drink. It smelled vaguely minty. Keenly aware of eyes on her, she took a sip to be polite. “Have you had time to reconsider my offer?”
“I’ve come to pay my family’s debt.” She set down the drink and brought out the bag of credit. It clanked as she set it on the table, careful to advert her eyes.
Gracious visually inspected the bag but did not touch it. “I won’t insult you by counting.”
“It’s all there.”
“I know. You are far too honest to attempt to cheat me. Now tell me, how did such an honest person like yourself acquire such a fortune? Who did you sell yourself to? What did you barter?”
Priya fought back her blush. Yes, her arrangement with Ragnar was financial but it was more than that. She didn’t sell herself. Ragnar never made her feel as filthy as Gracious managed to with a look.
“Whatever they paid you, I’ll double it.”
Priya ignore him, refusing to negotiate. “It’s all there. Now I’d like to see my family.”
“Kitten, am I so bad? Would a bad male lounge in the sun while his children played?”
Priya said nothing.
“You could at least look at me and tell me the reason why you’ve declined my generous offer twice.”
Priya forced her eyes up from the ground, skimming from his feet and up his legs, half-hard cock, tight abs, tattoos, and finally resting on his face. “I don’t like tattoos.”
Gracious laughed. “Triple. Stay with me. You will be the favorite in my harem.”
“No thank you. My family please.”
His eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, planting his feet down firmly on the ground. His tail swished aggressively side to side. “Is it that scaly green giant?”
She tried to school her reaction to be neutral but her eyes widened slightly.
Gracious sprang to his feet and circled her. With his claws extended, he brushed back her hair and skimmed over her shoulders. “He’s helping you, isn’t he? That’s his credit. What did you promise him, kitten?”
She said nothing, eyes forward, not watching him but hyperaware of his presence.
“Shame. I think we’d have gotten on famously.” Gracious reached for a device on the nearby table and summoned more henchmen. “The Barbers. Tell them their day of jubilation has come.”
Gracious resumed his prowling around Priya. “Is it the tail? The ears? You can’t tell me you don’t like sampling off-worlders. I could make you purr.” His voice rasped in her ear, eliciting a shiver. He chuckled. “No? Maybe if I had wings I’d be more to your taste.”
A joyous cry tore her attention away. Nora, still dressed in the same plain blue work jumpsuit, rushed to Priya. Hamish, Nathaniel and Nisha followed.
Her mother’s arms enveloped Priya. Nora smelled strongly of lemony cleanser but otherwise felt whole and unchanged in her embrace. Her chest swelled and felt like it might burst. She couldn’t catch her breath. Nothing could ruin this moment.
Gracious leaned in and whispered so only she could hear, “I won’t be denied so easily, kitten.”
Almost nothing.
Family hugged and squeezed and assembled, she hustled them back to the ship before Gracious had a chance to change his mind. Or find a new bill.
“See you see soon, kitten,” he called after her retreating figure.
***
In the ship, Priya quickly introduced Ragnar as her “friend” who helped her raise the money to pay the debt.
“Friend? Why haven’t we heard about him before, sweetie?” Nora asked.
“Later, Mom.” Leaving Blackborn quickly was too important to introduce her fake-fiancé. Gracious would let them leave his compound but Priya had a sinking feeling that if they lingered on the planet, they’d have a bad time.
“Friend?” Ragnar scoffed, tone offended. “I’m her husband.”
“Husband!” The entire family burst into questions and excitement and proclamations.
“You’re not my husband yet,” Priya snapped. “And you might not be if you don’t sit down and shut up. All of you! Get out of the cockpit. I need to fly.”
“What’s the plan, sweetie?” Nora sank into the seat next to her.
Priya gritted her teeth, concentrating on clearing the atmosphere and ignoring her mother’s big brown eyes.
It was a pointless fight.
“We have to go to Wye, Mom.” Then, muttering, “For the wedding.”
“Sweetie!” More hugs and kisses. Priya could swear she heard Ragnar’s booming laugh, followed by the higher pitched laughter of the twins.
It was small ship and her passengers were loud. The two-week journey to Wye would be long.
It was pointless to fight the grin on her face.
Chapter Nine
Ragnar
Lady Sorrel’s pixelated image slowly came into focus on the screen. Communicating via tablet was far from ideal but the Barber clan crowded the ship. Locking himself into the cleansing room with the tablet was the only way to have a private conversation with his mother.
“Ragnar? This is unexpected.” Her voice sounded thin and hollow from the device.
How to even begin to explain everything that happened to him in the last two weeks? Unconsciously, his wings flexed, tips brushing against the walls of the small room. Better start with the obvious. “Mother, I have news.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I thought you might.”
“I endure my first Fever.” Every day, resisting the alluring scent of his mate grew more difficult but he endured. Her scent filled the cramped ship, wrapping around him, driving out all sane thoughts from his head until it was a relentless pounding of mate, claim her now and how hot and wet and tight she would feel around his cock. Still, he remained the master of his flesh and he endured.
“My little nestling is all grown up. I knew you were a late bloomer, like your Uncle Jaxon.” Genuine joy colored her voice.
“I have a taken a mate.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.”
“She is Terran.”
Sorrel barked out a laugh. “Did you intentionally copy your cousin? Oh, my sweetest nestling, don’t give me that look. How did you meet your mate?
Ragnar frowned. He could not say that Priya attempted to kidnap and ransom him, so he glossed over the details. “Her family was taken as indentured servants to pay off debts. She needed help. I agreed to help her.”
“To help her?”
Yeah, even his mother didn’t believe that the shallow, gad-about fake Prince Ragnar could do something helpful out of the goodness in his heart. Better to be honest, then.
“She summoned the fire in my blood. My Fever came only because I chanced to encounter her at Aslan Station. I wanted… to spend time with her.” To put it politely. He wanted many things from Priya in those first days. Being near her was the most innocent. The needed to possess and protect, to hide her away in his hoard of treasures the most extreme.
“That is the Wyvern in you.” Sorrel nodded. “So how did you convince this Terran to be your mate? I assume she has more substance than your normal fare?”
“I told her I needed to be married,” he said, swallowing hard. “In order to secure an inheritance.”
Sorrel laughed again. “This she believed?”
“With my reputation, it is easier to believe me shallow and thinking of only my selfish interests. Priya did not believe my truth that I found the thought of slavery repugnant and would help her free her family.”
“Her name is Priya,” Sorrel said softly. “I like it. Soft but flexible.”
“It is an imperfect world. I did what I had to do to keep her close.”
“You lied to her.”
“She did not believe the truth. She wanted a lie
.”
“Unless a tragedy befalls your sisters, I do not have much inheritance for you, sweet one.”
“You told me once that Stoneledge House was mine when I was ready. I am in need of it now.”
Sorrel tapped a finger against her lips, thinking. “You really are all grown up, aren’t you? Of course. I’ll send over staff to have it prepared for your mate and nestling. It’s not much and needs a new roof. And the fields are fallow, not that they ever produced much. When will you return to Wye?”
“Stoneledge House is for her family.” Ragnar said. “If they choose,” he hastily added when Sorrel frowned. “They lost their farm. Priya and I only secured their freedom. We did not get back their homestead.”
“So, you called me to beg permission to dump these Terrans on my property, shelter and feed them while you continue to play with Korven?”
“I swore to the Queen that I would protect him.”
“He’s a grown male!”
“There is no time limit to an oath. They do not expire. I am bound until the queen releases me. And the Barbers are good people. Farmers. They can take that tumble-down property and make it productive.” Frustration took over. The dragon in his chest wanted to drive a fist into the wall but held himself back with the thinnest of control. An errant fist might breach the hull of the ancient ship, knowing his luck.
“My child returns an adult,” Sorrel said, smiling spreading on her face.
Her smiled soothed his fuming dragon. “When Queen Lasar releases me from my oath, I will return home with my family. You’ll be hip deep in nestlings and long for the days when you had peace and quiet.”
“Hip deep? Are we talking wall to wall or stacked up one on top of another?” Her eyes twinkled at the image. “You will come home for the wedding.”
“I expected as much. Priya is eager to meet you.”
“I doubt that. I really don’t know where you got that nasty predilection for lying from. Certainly, not from my side of the family.”
“Let’s say it’s a nasty habit I picked up off planet.”
“How many Terrans should I expect? Are they very small? I heard they come up to here,” she motioned to her waist, “and are so fragile a strong wind can break bones.”
Someone pounded on the door. Ragnar ignored it.
“Priya, her parents and siblings make five in total. And a little shorter than us, not so small or fragile. Terrans are surprisingly resilient.”
More pounding. “You’ve been in there too long. I know you’re hiding. Let me in.”
Priya forced her way into the cramped room, elbowing Ragnar in the ribs.
“This was not designed for two people,” he said, pressing as far back to the wall as he could.
“Why do your wings have to take up so much space? Budge over.”
“I am over as far as I can, female.”
“Quiet. They’ll hear us.”
“You cannot hide from your family.”
“Why not?” She tilted her head back, placed both hands on his chest, gave a sweet flutter of her dark lashes and pushed. “You are. And why are you so heavy? What do they feed you dragons?”
“Wyverns and I am trying to have a private conversation.”
Her brows knitted together until she spotted the tablet he held aloft. She flushed pink. “Oh. Sorry.”
Ragnar sighed dramatically, the ever-put-upon male. “Priya, my mother, Lady Sorrel of the Thirty-first Provence. Mother, my mate, Priya Marie Barber of Earth’s Blackborn Colony.”
“My apologies,” Priya said, stumbling over the word. “My family is loud and the ship is small. I can’t hear myself think.”
“Come home soon, nestling,” Lady Sorrel said, face perfectly composed but Ragnar recognized the small tilt in the corner of her mouth. His mother tried her best not to laugh at him. “I look forward to meeting your mate and her family.”
The call disconnected. Ragnar folded his arms and looked down at his Terran female.
“So,” she said.
“So,” he replied. Silence stretched between them.
Her heady scent, cool and green, overpowered the cramped cleansing room. The Fever burned within him. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. Next to his heated flesh, she felt refreshing. Her kiss would be a tonic to soothe his dragon. His thumb brushed along her lower lip. Her mouth parted, pale pink tongue darting out to caress his digit.
Her eyelids dropped and her gaze grew heated.
“You have your family,” he said. “I have fulfilled my half of our bargain.”
“Are you looking to collect?”
His mate tested his control. He burned for her. He wanted to sink his cock deep in her, fill her with his seed and plant his nestling. Already pressed together, his hand rested naturally in the small of her back. Hard, always hard where his mate was concerned, his ground his cock against her. “What do you think?”
“I don’t want my family to hear,” she said, voice quiet.
That wasn’t a no. That wasn’t exactly willing, either.
“Then you better be quiet,” he said, flipping her around and pressing her belly down onto the counter. His fingers hooked into her waistband and pulled down both her pants and panties. “Look at your pussy. I bet you’re wet for me.”
She moaned at the dirty talk. His mate liked that. He filed away that bit of information for later.
He knocked her thighs open and knelt, enjoying the view. So pink and so wet, for him. He stroked her feminine folds, dragging his finger, relishing the slickness and her responding shiver. “I only had a little taste. I want more,” he said.
He leaned in, breathing in her musky desire. “Tell me yes, Priya. Just a taste. I won’t have you for the first time in the cleansing room.” Once he finally got the time and privacy with his mate that he craved, he would need space to do everything he desired.
“Yes,” her voice shaky and quiet. “I’ll think I’ll explode if you don’t.”
Who was he to deny his mate?
Ragnar dove in, feasting. Her taste, feminine and musky and perfectly her, burst on his tongue. She shuddered almost immediately. He barely had time to plunge a finger in, her inner walls squeezing him tight before fluttering. His tongue worked her sensitive button and she climaxed, moaning through clenched teeth.
He stayed in that position until she stopped shuddering. Satisfied she finished, he planted a soft kiss just where the curve of her ass met the top of her thigh. It was a good spot.
Her eyes caught his in the mirror as he stood. “What about you?”
He stroked her back and hips, enjoying the feel of her soft skin. “I burn for you, mate, but I must wait. I will not be quiet and I require privacy.” There was no privacy to be had on the small ship. He might have to wait until they reached Wye. Every day the Fever grew more insistent. Without medication, it became harder and harder to control his instincts.
“Then you better be quiet,” she said, hand wrapped around his cock.
She worked him hard, sliding up from the root and to the crown, spreading his slickness with every stroke. Deliciously slow and torturous all at once, he sagged against her, head lolling on her shoulder. His hips jerked, forcing himself deeper into her grip. He sought her mouth, hot and wet; her pink tongue soft and slick against his.
He shattered, groaning into her mouth and releasing his seed on her hands and her stomach.
He admired the pearlescent gleam to the fluid on his mate. Now marked, she bore his scent. Other males would know she belonged to him. Priya was his.
He took a cloth from the counter, damped it, and worked his seed into her skin.
“Are you just spreading that around?”
She tried to snatch the cloth but he issued a warning growl. She jerked her hand back as if he might bite and waited until he finished his ministrations. It was primitive but he couldn’t control the instinct.
“How bad is your Fever?”
“More intense with you close.” And her scent
filling the air.
“So, sneaking off to cleansing rooms for a quick snog is a bad idea?”
“It is a long journey but I remain in control of my fires.”
“Hmm.” Her tongue darted out between her teeth, thinking. “We have to stop for fuel and supplies. I’m all out of soap. Mom and Nisha are wearing my clothes. How about at the next stop, you and me rent a room for a few hours?”
“You think your family will notice if we disappear for an afternoon? Or longer?” Hours would not be enough to quench his thirst. He wanted days with his mate.
“They notice whenever we sneak off for five minutes, so yeah. Everyone knows what we’re up to.”
“And you do not mind?”
That charming pink blush came back again. “No. Yes. I made a deal, right? And I like you. I shouldn’t, but I do.”
“You like me?” Ragnar angled his head down and smiled, wrapping his arms around her. “My mate likes me.”
She made a shushing noise. “Stop talking. I want to enjoy the quiet for a minute.”
She liked him. There were maybe a handful of people who honestly liked him. Hope soared in his chest.
Chapter Ten
Priya
Rebus Moon didn’t have much in the way of charm or natural resources to recommend it. What it did have was prime real estate near a major trade route and endless amenities for the weary space traveler: cheap rooms, hot food, fuel, general stores, cargo and couriers, shops to patch up ships, junk and scrap yards for the ship too far gone to save and, of course, used ship dealerships. Rebus Moon was exactly the type of soulless hub of intergalactic industry where Priya made her living.
The Barber family needed fuel, food and the chance to get out of each other’s hair for an hour. Lord Ragnar, however, wanted to go shopping for a new ship. It seemed her ship was too cramped for his lordship.
Ragnar: Dragon Lord of Wye Page 7