by Siren Allen
She stepped away from the couch and raised her hands. Closing her eyes, she whispered the spell she’d learned during training. The spell that once helped her move her classmate from one end of the room to the other, thus granting her an A on the assignment.
She’d learned that the larger the mass of the object you’re trying to move, the more you needed to focus. Sin opened one eye and peeked at her target. The sheet had risen from his lap, that was it.
Okay. She just needed to up her focus. Closing her eyes, she started to chant the spell again. This time, when she opened her eyes, her target was still resting on the couch with his eyes closed, but the sheet was nowhere in sight.
Sin looked up. There it was, touching the ceiling. Another whispered spell returned the sheet to his lap. This was harder than it should be. The student she moved in class hadn’t been the same weight as her dragon, but it still shouldn’t be this hard to move the creature.
What to do? Sin began pacing in front of the couch. She didn’t want to move him herself. That would require touching him. She hadn’t even wanted to touch him when it came time to undress him earlier.
She’d done so with her eyes closed. It had taken her an hour of tugging, pulling and lifting to finally get his clothes and weapons off of him. His three guns, two daggers and whatever that vial of liquid was he’d had in his pocket all belonged to her now.
Along with the syringes she’d found and his communication device. She would keep the power dampening handcuffs she’d found on him. Those would come in handy in case some witches tried to jump her, again.
They probably wouldn’t try it after the last ass-whipping she put on them. As for his clothes, she’d trade them in for items she needed down in the black market. His boots would get her enough frozen veggies to last a month. Boots were on high demand around here.
If they’d been her size or even close, she would’ve kept them. She would’ve kept his clothes also. Though he was a hunk of a man, there was no getting her thick thighs into his pants. She’d tried.
It hadn’t worked. Because of her need to sell his clothes, he was naked on her couch. And since she wasn’t a strong enough spell caster, she would have to lift his heavy behind the old fashion way, with her hands.
Her spell game used to be strong. She’d been one of the best in Guardian Training. Top five for sure. She didn’t even need to use traditional spells. She had the power to make some up.
Why weren’t her spells working right with him? Could it be because of his animal? She’d never used her magic on a real shifter. Definitely not a dragon. Maybe her spells were weaker against his kind. She’d figure it out later.
Right now, she needed to move him to the back wall before he awakened. Where to touch? Sin bent down and wrapped her arms around his waist. His cock pressed against her boobs.
Ignore it, she thought as she lifted him up. Groaning, she realized she was getting nowhere. She whispered a spell for strength. It helped, a little. Seriously, why was her magic off around this being?
The strength spell enabled her to lift him up but she still struggled. She let out a deep breath once she had him pressed against her, with his head slung over her shoulder. He was dead-weight in her arms.
Shuffling instead of walking, she moved towards the back of the room. A couple of times she had to stop and adjust him in her arms to keep from dropping him. She could feel him slipping as she neared her destination.
Stupid dragon. Why couldn’t you be a scrawny beast? At the back of the room, she used her teeth to move the curtain aside since her hands were occupied. That had to be a sight to behold.
She was torturing herself instead of this being. Once the curtain was out of the way, she positioned the beast against the wall. It took her forever to get his wrists and ankles strapped to the wall.
On her knees, she cheered for her progress as she strapped his right ankle to the wall. There, she was done. A low growl forced her attention upward. Her gaze connected with his cock. Still hard. Seriously? The growl grew louder.
Her gaze jerked to her captive’s face. He was finally awake and he looked pissed. No more smiles for her. Oh well! She didn’t want his smiles anyway. She wanted his screams. When she stood up, her shoulder brushed against his cock.
He gasped. She jerked away as if burned. Their eyes met. What was that look? He looked... it couldn’t be. He wasn’t turned on by her, was he? Surely not. She was his captor. His ass was about to be sliced and diced on.
Yet, he was staring at her like a man who wanted to lay the world at her feet and then fuck her on top of it. No. She didn’t have time for that look, no matter how fast it made her heart race.
There was no room for Stockholm Syndrome around here. Or reverse Stockholm Syndrome. Was that even a thing? She’d never heard of it before. Leave it to her to make it a thing.
Angry at the desire her own body was feeling, she told him, “It’s not my fault for bumping it. The damn thing shouldn’t be that big. And for crying out loud, why is it still hard?” That cost her another growl. “Oh, shut up. I’m not going to bump it again. I’m going to do something more painful than that.”
She winked. There, the look of lust had vanished from his eyes. Now she could breathe again. He pulled against the restraints. Those buddies were clamped on tightly. He wasn’t going anywhere.
She tapped the clamp clasped around his left arm. “Pure iron that’s been spelled a thousand times over to make sure you can’t break free.” Not really a thousand. Who had that kind of time? He didn’t need to know that. “You’re not going anywhere, dragon.”
His eyes widened briefly before narrowing. Yet, he remained silent. Come to think of it, he hadn’t said a word since he’d been here. Sin placed her hands on her hips.
“You’re awfully quiet for a man who’s about to be tortured.”
His gaze had followed her hands to her hips and there they remained.
“Eyes up here, buddy.”
When he didn’t look up, Sin snapped her fingers in front of his face, hoping to get his attention. He lazily returned his gaze to hers, eyes taking in every inch of her, making her feel naked. She almost glanced down to make sure she was dressed.
Almost. She knew she was dressed. He was the only naked being here and she was trying her best not to stare at certain parts of his anatomy. She was completely covered. The clothes were too big and probably made her look like a hippy, but at least she had clothes.
For the first time in a long time, she wished she had better clothes. It was hard to come by items that fit here. Most of the females on this plane were thin from lack of nutrition. Those who weren’t, had protectors.
Therefore, it was a hassle trying to steal clothes from them. She was proud of the items she had on. She earned these threads. And from the look on her captive’s face, she could tell he wasn’t put off by them.
Once his eyes were on her once more, Sin swallowed. Why did he have to stare at her like that? And why did he have to look so sexy when he did it? He was lucky those cannibals hadn’t attacked his ass yet.
Because he looked good enough to eat. Or simply lick. Licking him would be fun. A low growl filled the room. It took her a minute to realize it was coming from him. He inhaled deeply then leaned forward, as far as he could in his condition.
Face inches from hers, he closed his eyes, sniffed and then shivered. There was no mistaking the lust in his eyes when he opened them. The intense look on his handsome face damn near took her breath away.
She took a step back. Maybe if she moved away from him, she wouldn’t feel like she was the one caught in a trap instead of him. In all her life, no male had ever affected her this way. Her heart was racing, mouth was watering.
What was going on? Could she be having a heart attack? She needed some air. Yeah, that was what she needed. Sin whirled around and headed for the door. His growl filled the room. She stopped and looked over her shoulder.
He said nothing, just glared at her. Yet, his expression
wasn’t one of anger. She couldn’t quite make out what the look was. What she did know was it made her want to go to him. It made her want to see if he needed anything.
For instance, her... butt naked on her knees before him. Sin shook her head. She really had to stop thinking like this. Blame it on the two-year drought. Ignoring him, she rushed to the front door and pulled it open.
Wind and snow blew into the cabin, causing her fiery Christmas tree to flicker but not die out. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Back pressed against the door, she closed her eyes and ignored the roars coming from inside her cabin.
Sin took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart down. She sucked at being a kidnapper. He should have three knives in him by now. So far, she’d done nothing but bump his dick and listen to him growl.
Why wasn’t he talking? Wait a second. Could he be mute? Did she kidnap a fucking deaf and mute person? Sin’s hands flew to her mouth. I’m going to hell. Technically, she was already in hell.
But she was going to hell-hell for this. Who kidnaps a handicap person? Only her. Then again, his ass had been trying to kidnap her. His wrong canceled out her wrong, so that made her right.
Lowering her hands, she nodded. Yep, that made her right. Her grandma was wrong – two wrongs could make a right. But he couldn’t be mute. She could’ve sworn he uttered a word back at the train station, right before he passed out.
She’d been so intent on not being kidnapped that she hadn’t paid attention to what he’d said. But she had heard his voice. It was deep with a heavy accent. And it had made her feel slightly dizzy. Or was that just in her imagination? Couldn’t be.
A bright green light flickered in the distance. Her wards. She looked across her yard to the gate surrounding her house. The gate was glowing green. A creature was standing close to her gate.
If it got any closer, her alarms would sound. It was dark, but the green light from the gate illuminated the creature’s features allowing her a glimpse at his face. The creature was clothed in layers upon layers of fur and he had a crown of bones on his head.
A cannibal. A wolf cannibal to be exact. Wolves feasted on meat. Dead, living, it didn’t matter. Shifters only feasted on living meat when in their shifter form. Not cannibals. This motherfucker here would roast her and eat her while in his human form.
He couldn’t get past her wards. Right now, he was no threat to her. Having him standing near her fence still made her uncomfortable. Sin said nothing. She never started a conversation unless she had to.
“I smell dragon here, witch,” the creature yelled.
Sin remained silent. She’d seen him before. This wasn’t his first time coming to her home and simply standing. One time he stood for hours. Even walked around her whole house. She assumed he’d been looking for a weak spot in her spell.
He found none. Still, the next morning, she got up and reinforced the spell, just in case. You could never be too cautious around here. When she didn’t respond to him, he repeated himself.
“I smell dragon, witch.”
She’d come out here to get away from one creature only to encounter another. She just couldn’t catch a break.
“You don’t eat dragons,” the cannibal reminded her.
No shit. I don’t eat people like you, you jerk.
The creature lifted a bag. “Trade you this for the dragon.”
Hell no.
“This is fur from the woolly mammoths that live deep within the mountains.”
Woolly mammoth fur? She could use some woolly mammoth fur. She’d been shocked as hell when she’d seen her first woolly mammoth here. The creature was extinct on her plane. Here, their numbers were great.
But they lived deep within the mountains. You had to cross the Ice Lake and the Dark Forest to reach them. Even Rhen had never ventured into that part of the Frostlands and he’d warned her against it.
The fur of a woolly mammoth would go for a great trade down at the black market. She could probably trade it in for enough fresh meat to last her a few months. Along with some clothes, boots and hair oils.
“What say you, witch?”
She was tempted. What should she do? Roars arose from inside her cabin. Oh, shut up, dragon and let me think.
“Dragon dangerous,” the creature yelled. “Can’t be trusted.”
Yeah, and like you can. She trusted no one here. Except for Winter. The rest would turn on her if things went south for them. Though she wanted to teach the dragon a lesson, she wasn’t evil enough to turn him over to a cannibal.
No one deserved that fate. The dragon was just confused. So, were all the agents sent by The Deciders. When they first started coming after her, she’d tried to tell them what Winter told her.
The Deciders would never grant them freedom. They were just using them. The agents never believed her and they kept coming. She gave up trying to force them to see the truth. Hell, if working for The Deciders was truly a way to freedom, she’d take jobs for them too.
It shamed her to admit it. But she was desperate to go home. Desperate people made poor choices. Her dragon had made a poor choice. That didn’t mean he needed to be fed to the creatures who lived in the mountains.
“This is my last offer, witch. Take the fur.”
A loud roar sounded from inside her cabin. Sin rolled her eyes, but she didn’t miss the look of fear that crossed over the cannibal’s face. Oh right. He didn’t know that her dragon was chained up. He was probably afraid the dragon would come out and kill him.
“Who is that beast to you?” The creature asked.
That was a weird question. The creature stared from her to her house.
“Give me the dragon, before you’re not able to give him up. Do it now?”
Again, with the weird talking.
“This is truly my final offer, witch.”
She wanted to say screw your offer but she didn’t want to talk to the creature. It stepped closer to her gate causing the green light to glow brighter. If he stepped any closer the warded gate would...
His scream rent the air. That’s what happens when you touch my gate, Sin thought, smiling as she watched him leap away from the gate. She’d come outside for a moment of respite. That wasn’t going to be had tonight.
Rolling her eyes, she turned her back to the creature, opened her door and entered her house. She closed the door, shutting out the sounds of his anger as he called for her to come back. She entered her home to angry roars from the dragon strapped to the wall.
Sin sighed. She just wanted a second of peace and quiet.
Who knew kidnapping a dragon could cause this much ruckus?
Chapter Six
HOW DARE SHE CHAIN me to a wall?
Kaede’s wrists bled as he pulled at the restraints. He needed to go to her. The fucking witch was outside with a cannibal. He could scent two more of those bastards behind the house.
He could hear his witch’s one-sided conversation with the creature. Though the creature was asking for him, it wouldn’t hesitate to take his witch also. He had to save her. Did she not know that her wards weren’t full-proof?
Yeah, the being couldn’t break through them right now. But if enough beings continually tried to break through, eventually they’d get through. He’d seen it happen. Hell, he and his crew had made it happen a few times.
How had she survived this long all the way out here by herself? She was too close to the mountains. Too close to the area most Frostland creatures refused to venture into. Kaede stared around the room again.
And she was living here like she was back on the mortal plane. She’d decorated the place for Christmas. It was probably her who’d put up those lights at the train station. She was treating her life here as a game.
It wasn’t. The report he’d gotten on her said she’d been here for two years. Many didn’t survive that long. His clueless witch had. Someone had to be watching over her. Someone had to be protecting her because she was doing a shitty job of protecting h
erself.
Said the dragon chained to the wall. He’d allowed a witch who was barely able to protect herself to kidnap him. Kaede sighed. He needed to stop thinking of her as incapable. She was highly capable of taking care of herself.
His present situation was proof. That didn’t mean she completely understood how things worked on this plane. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be taken by a creature of the Frostlands and murdered or worse, turned over to The Deciders. Which was exactly what he’d planned to do with her.
We cannot turn her over, his dragon’s raspy voice filtered through his mind.
No longer accustomed to hearing his beast speak, he was slightly surprised. His head began to ache. That would go away the more he and his beast communicated with one another.
We will not turn her over.
Shit. What was he going to do now? This female was his mate. At least, he thought she was.
She is.
He had to be sure though. He couldn’t risk angering The Deciders over a creature who didn’t belong to him.
She does.
“If she does, I’ll figure something out. If she doesn’t, well, we’re back to plan A.” Which was capture and turn over.
There’s one true way to tell if she’s the one. Speak.
Right. He’d been able to speak when she captured him. Now was the perfect time to see if he could truly talk. His first words would be calling her ass back into the cabin. Kaede opened his mouth and yelled for her to return to his side. His lips moved. No sound emerged.
Impossible, his dragon whispered.
Disappointment washed over him. He’d really thought... he’d even spoken earlier... he’d....
Try again.
Kaede cleared his throat. This female was his mate. She had to be. It had been so long since he’d spoken. His lungs and windpipe were just a little rusty. After clearing his throat for the second time, Kaede took a deep breath then called out for his witch.
Nothing. No sound. Not even a croak. What he could do however was growl. His beast roared his displeasure. The sound was so loud, it caused his body to tremble.