The Dragon Claims His Treasure (Starcrossed Dating Agency)

by Georgette St. Clair

  Rosamund raised an eyebrow. “So…you were fighting about school and boys?”

  “They don’t respect my rights and they treat me like I’m still in beta!” Dot-R stamped her foot.

  Kodran waved to get their attention. “Lee ra ve vee snar?” he said. Or something like that. He pointed to a door that led out of the cargo bay. His men were already walking through the door, and some of them were carrying Rosamund’s shopping bags.

  Rolling her eyes, Rosamund followed him, and Dot-R followed them.

  The walls of the ship looked like wood paneling, and the floor was plush red carpet. Alien landscape paintings were set into the walls, and when Rosamund looked at them, they slowly moved, with trees changing seasons and the suns moving in the sky.

  “I seriously can’t believe I’ve been kidnapped by a dragon because of a bad translation by a juvenile delinquent robot,” Rosamund griped as they walked into a huge central room. The room had scattered table and chair groupings, and a counter where robots served up food and drinks. People were playing games that looked like holographic chess, eating and drinking at the tables, and chatting with each other.

  “I am not a juvenile delinquent! You sound just like my parental units!” Dot-R stormed off in a huff. Rosamund thought about following her, but then shrugged. They were on a spaceship; Dot-R could only get so far.

  Kodran stopped and shouted out…something. He pointed at Rosamund. He bowed to her.

  Everyone in the room leaped to their feet, clapping and cheering. People began blowing smoke rings and sending out streams of fire and shouting at the top of their lungs.

  Had he just told everyone he was marrying her?

  “No! Not true!” she called out to them, waving her hands frantically in denial.

  They cheered louder.

  Great. She’d probably just told them she was pregnant with his triplets, or something even worse.

  Grinning, he grabbed her hand and led her out of the room, down a long hallway, and finally into a large, plushly furnished bedroom. She saw that all of her shopping bags were piled up on his bed.

  His gigantic bed, which looked as soft as a cloud and was draped in acres of silvery silks. The frame of the bed was made of twisted branches polished to a glossy sheen. They were of some kind of wood Rosamund had never seen before, and she assumed the branches had been cut from trees native to the Draell homeworld. The cabinets that lined the walls had the same organic look, and the carpet underfoot was plush and an expensive-looking shade of sage green.

  Altogether, it looked more like a room designed for seduction than the quarters of a starship captain.

  Rosamund put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what you think is going to happen here, but you are very much mistaken, mister!”

  He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a jeweled necklace.

  “And furthermore, I will not sell my virtue for some fancy jewelry! Well, it’s not so much that I’m virtuous, but… I mean, I’m not un-virtuous either, of course…” Where was she going with this argument? Every time she was in his presence, she turned into a babbling idiot.

  She wouldn’t have sex in exchange for jewelry. Yeah, that was it. Not even if the man with the jewelry was so drool-worthy that she wanted to lick him from head to toe.

  He walked back over to her. In one sudden movement, he dropped the necklace over her head. “Now can you understand me?” he asked. The necklace was a translator!

  “Oh, thank God,” she said. “I mean, you big, scaly jerkwad! Why did you kidnap me?”

  He frowned at that. “If I understand you correctly, you are saying that I took you without your consent.”

  “Yes. Exactly.”

  He reached out and tapped the necklace. “Is this thing working? What you are saying does not translate properly. You are my heart’s fire. And you proposed to me.”

  “I didn’t mean to propose to you!” she protested.

  “If you were not planning on going away with me, why did you purchase all of these travel clothes?”

  She spluttered in outrage. “Do you think that every woman who shops a lot wants to marry you?”

  “No, only those who propose to me,” he said.

  His lips quirked in an amused grin. It softened the starkly beautiful lines of his face and made little crinkles form at the corners of his eyes. A sudden wash of lust weakened Rosamund’s knees, and the fact that he held such power over her, could make her body respond with nothing more than a smile, made her even angrier.

  “I did not, repeat not, propose to you!” she shouted.

  His smile faded, and he looked bewildered. That tugged at her heartstrings. Damn the man for being so delicious. He kidnapped you, she reminded herself. Went full Cro-Magnon and dragged you back to his cave. But that didn’t stop the pang of yearning that swelled inside her as he held her gaze.

  “You are saying that you are not my heart’s fire?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t even know what that means.” She sort of did, really. She just didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening here.

  Now he was looking at her skeptically. “You did not feel as if you were drawn towards me the first time you saw me?”

  She could have denied it, but for some reason she found that she didn’t want to lie to him.

  “Before I first saw you,” she admitted reluctantly. “I kind of sensed your presence in the room.”

  “Of course you did.”

  She snorted. “Arrogant, stuck-up jerk.”

  The smile returned. He nodded in agreement. “I am all of those things, but it does not change the facts. You are meant for me, and I am meant for you. Are you saying that you did not feel a strong sexual attraction the moment our eyes locked?”

  She felt her cheeks heating with embarrassment. Why couldn’t she just lie to him? She tried, but her lips wouldn’t obey her. “Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” she said, dodging the question. “You’re drop-dead gorgeous. Of course I felt desire.”

  “Drop-dead gorgeous.” His brows drew together quizzically. “Deceased beautiful….like… a zombie?”

  “No! It’s an Earth expression. It just means that you’re extremely physically attractive.”

  “Ah!” He smiled in triumph. “That I understand.”

  “Of course you do,” she snorted.

  “Those things that you feel, they mean that you are my heart’s fire. You work for the Vulfans, correct? The Vulfans call it True Mates.”

  Rosamund spluttered. He wasn’t backing down. He really intended to marry her – a total stranger. “But…I just met you. I can’t marry you!”

  He just stood there, looking at her with that gleam in his eyes. As if he wanted to devour her. Slowly and sensually.

  She threw her hands up in exasperation. “Look— It’s— Earth women don’t do the proposing!”

  He shrugged. “But Draell women always propose. When I first saw you, I was expecting you to propose to me, but I am not familiar with your Earth traditions, so I decided to just wait. I was sure it would happen, of course, because it is meant to be. And it did. I just did not expect it to take so long.”

  “Three days?” she said incredulously.

  “It felt like a lifetime.”

  From anyone else, that would have sounded like a cheesy, ridiculous line. From him, it sounded utterly sincere. His intense green eyes burned into hers, and she knew he meant it with every fiber of his being.

  “It doesn’t matter. You have to take me back to Agora. Right now.”

  “Why would you not want to be with me, if you admit that you are my heart’s fire, and you also find me to be zombie beautiful?” He was starting to sound exasperated.

  “Drop-dead gorgeous is different from zombie beautiful. The zombie thing doesn’t even make any sense – they’re all gross and rot-y. And, among other things, I can’t be with you because I saw you beat up that lion shifter who was half your size, and I don’t like bullies.”

&nbs
p; He nodded in agreement. “Good! Neither do I. I saw him beating his mate and cubs as I walked by his stall. I told him to stop, and he swore that he would, but then I saw her yesterday with fresh bruises. She begged me for help. So I went by his stall today and told him that his mate and cubs were leaving him, and if he pursued them, I would tear his limbs off one by one and then strangle him with his own tail.”

  Sounded reasonable. “Oh. Well then…”

  “So, what other objections do you have?”

  “My friends and family don’t know where I am and they will miss me,” she said.

  “Well, of course you will send them a subspace message explaining that you are now with me. You can even invite them to the Harla. That is our mating ceremony. They’re not Klee Fa Normars, I hope? Please say they’re not.” At her quizzical look, he added, “Their tribe insists on watching the consummation. I am not quite that open-minded.”

  “No!” she spluttered. “I just… I don’t know you at all! Humans get to know their spouse first, then they get married. We could… Maybe after you take me back to Agora, you could take me out to dinner. We could go on a date.”

  Had she just asked a man out on a date? Good lord, she was getting awfully forward these days.

  He shook his head. “We cannot remain on Agora. There are…political problems. We only went there to pick up urgently needed medical supplies.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling a surprisingly sharp stab of regret lance through her.

  His face fell. “You truly want me to return you to Agora?”

  She felt as glum as he looked. It wasn’t what she wanted at all. She wanted to fling herself into his arms and melt against his body. She wanted to know what it would feel like to have his lips moving against hers, to get drunk on the taste of him as he murmured sweet nothings against her mouth. She wanted to know what it would be like to be with him, to surrender to him. But it didn’t matter what she wanted.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” she said. I can’t just run off like this.”

  He heaved a sigh. “We need to deliver those emergency medical supplies and help administer the medicine. Our trip will take us approximately ten solar-circles, including the time we need to remain on my planet for the medical treatment. Will you agree to travel with us for that length of time? After that, I will return you, if you still insist.” A solar-circle was the generally accepted Galactic Federation term for a day.

  She nodded her assent. She could hardly deny the delivery of emergency medicine.

  “And will you agree to let me court you during that time?”

  She should say no. Of course she should turn him down. Why let him court her when there was no chance of this working out?

  Then again, he was incredibly sexy and charming, even if he was a stuck-up, arrogant jerk, and not only that, he was a dragon. And when was the last time anyone had wanted to court her? Never, that was when. She was lucky if a guy so much as asked her to Netflix and chill – and then they got huffy when she turned them down, as if it were some kind of favor they were willing to do for her.

  And she wanted him. Even if she knew she couldn’t have him, that it would never work, couldn’t she let herself pretend, just for a few days?

  “Yes,” she said.

  Instantly, his mood brightened. His huge smile lit up the room. Those little crinkles appeared at the corners of his stunningly green eyes again.

  “But it’s not going to work!” she called after him as he turned to leave.

  “Of course it will. I am Kodran Sky-Reign, the most excellent and handsome and charming of all the Draell, and you are my heart’s fire. Ten solar circles will be more than enough time to convince you to agree to a lifetime of pleasure.”

  “Don’t make me regret saying yes,” she warned him, but the door was already shutting behind him.

  Chapter Four

  The Draell ship’s bridge was enormous, and reminded Rosamund a little of old Star Trek reruns. Banks of computers ringed the space, flashing lights and high-pitched alerts summoning Draell crewmembers, who moved around the space in an efficient, well-choreographed bustle. All of the crewmembers wore black silk tunics and pants, with an insignia of a red dragon breathing fire stitched onto the right side of the shirt.

  A vast viewscreen showed scattered stars and the occasional tumbling asteroid. It made Rosamund feel odd, as if she were falling through the night sky. She quickly looked away. The last thing she needed was to get spacesick. Was that even a thing? Probably, knowing her luck.

  In the center of the bridge were three big leather chairs, each with a freestanding console. Behind each sat a Draell officer. Rosamund supposed they were…setting a course or engaging the thrusters or whatever it was shapeshifting alien dragons did on their spaceships. She wasn’t exactly an expert – a few weeks ago she hadn’t even known there was life on other worlds.

  Kodran had left her to deal with some official business that he’d tried to explain but that had made her eyes cross. But before he’d left, he’d steered her towards the communications officer, Prenzal, who’d opened up a channel on a hyperspace frequency so she could call Talia. Dot-R, who was apparently done with her sulk, was there too, chatting with the crew and examining their control boards with fascination.

  Prenzal was watching Rosamund with a wary expression, as if he didn’t quite know what to make of her.

  First Rosamund tried to call Talia and Lukan at the birthing center. As it turned out, Talia was busy giving birth – finally!. Rosamund figured that Dot-R’s parental units were probably with Talia, so she left a message with the attendant at the birthing center, saying that Dot-R was with her and she was safe. Then she had Prenzal call Darfan.

  His face appeared on the screen in front of her. He was mostly human in appearance, except for his pointy ears, tufted with fur. All Vulfans had pointy ears even in humanoid form, unless they took medication to suppress it, like Lukan had when he went to Earth.

  Other than the ears, Darfan just looked like a perpetually annoyed, middle-aged bureaucrat with a squarish face and streaks of gray in his hair.

  “It is about time you called!” he snapped, sounding annoyed. “We are hearing conflicting reports from downtown. Some of them say you were kidnapped by the Draell that you were supposed to fire. Some of them say you proposed marriage to him.” He scowled at her. “That’s not true, is it?”

  Rosamund winced. Word travelled fast. “It’s really hard to explain. It’s really just a big, hilarious misunderstanding, you know.” She forced a chuckle to show how hilarious it all was.

  The expression on Darfan’s face – that of a man who had just smelled something really bad – didn’t change.

  She sighed. “So, what happened was, I didn’t propose marriage to Kodran, but he thinks I did.”

  “That is very bad news,” Darfan said, looking alarmed. “Once you have proposed marriage to a Draell, there is no backing out.”

  Prenzal, who was standing nearby, nodded in agreement. So did several other crew members who were within earshot. Apparently everyone in the universe knew that but her. Literally everyone in the universe.

  Rosamund shot Dot-R a dirty look. “I’ll get you later,” she warned.

  “Ha! I am faster than you,” Dot-R informed her. “And I am made of self-repairing nanite metal, so I am hard to damage.” Then she stuck her silver tongue out at Rosamund – and all the Draell in the vicinity, including Prenzal, burst out laughing.

  If Rosamund survived this ordeal, she was going to have some serious words with Mar-ee and Far-ex about their robot offspring’s AI design. A sass module, indeed.

  She returned her attention to Darfan. “It’s fine. He says that he will take me back to Agora. We’re just, uh…taking a short trip first.”

  Darfan shook his head angrily. “No, that is not acceptable. You must come back at once.”

  “I can’t. They purchased some medical supplies and they have to drop them off first. I’ll be back in about six solar c
ircles, I promise.”

  Darfan looked suspicious. “I have heard nothing of this. What kind of medical supplies?” he demanded. “Who are they delivering them to? Why don’t they just transport them?”

  Members of the Galactic Federation could travel instantly by transporter – but the transporter had some limitations. There had to be both a sending and a receiving station, and the transporter could only send a maximum of a thousand pounds at a time. Also, it took an enormous amount of power, and had to recharge for several hours after each transport.

  So small groups of people and small amounts of goods, such as medicine, could be sent via transporter, but spaceships were used to transport large amounts of cargo and large groups of people.

  “I don’t know,” she said impatiently. “You’re asking me about interstellar transport? I just found out that aliens are real three weeks ago.”

  Darfan scowled. “This situation is more complex than you realize. You must return at once.”

  “Gee, I didn’t know you cared.”

  He snorted. “I don’t. I didn’t even want to hire you. But you are important to Lukan’s pair-bond, which means I must keep you safe. Which means this is a terrible inconvenience to me. And if you die, Lukan will very likely remove my pelt and make it into a wall hanging as a warning to others. So I am ordering you to return at once, if you want to keep your job.” His frown deepened. “Also, there are things you do not know about Kodran – things that make it very dangerous for you to be anywhere near him. Tell him that you demand to be returned at once.”

  She shook her head in exasperation. “I can’t. I’m not going to interfere with the delivery of emergency medicine. Oh, listen! Space interference!” She pressed a button in front of her and made loud crackling, hissing noises with her mouth. “Sorry, bad connection, gotta go!”

  “I can still see you,” Darfan said, scowling. “You are just sitting there making those noises yourself.”

  “Am not!” She began frantically pushing more buttons.

  He leaned back and folded his arms. “I can still see you. And hear you.”