by Lucas, Naomi
If I can stumble upon a rare dragon and he can become a man, then anything is possible, right? Even surviving this.
I make up my mind.
We’ll escape together.
I turn around and go back to him.
9
Drazak and the Invader
I hate that she can leave me at any moment and I am powerless to stop her. All I have to remind me she was here at all is her delicious, lingering scent and the fire beside me. Its crackles fill my ears, making it harder to hear my human as she gets farther and farther away.
Then there is the smoke the fire gives off. It is bitter and strong, and to my frustration, the longer it burns, the more it clears away the human’s smell. Soon, it will be gone, and I will be alone again.
A growl tears from my throat. I open my eyes and gaze in the direction she went.
Human, come back. Another growl comes forth. First, you bind yourself to me, and now you leave willingly? The daring of this female frustrates me.
I do not even know what she looks like. I kept my eyes closed when she lit the fire. The sudden light hurt too much for me to bear. But I am healing, I realize, and with each minute that passes, the poison dragon’s toxin lessens within me. Liquid beads my usually cold body—from the fire, no less—and it is helping me expel the poison’s effects.
Perhaps that was all I needed these long years—a way to sweat it out of me. If dragons could sweat…
Why has she not returned? My weak human fingers twitch at my sides. She should be here where I can see her. Can protect…
Yet another growl expels from me. I cannot protect anything, not even myself right now.
A dragon male protects his mate. That is his sole duty after his mate has been claimed and seeded. Until a dragonling is born, and even then, the male remains, lingering until the dragonling is grown enough to protect itself—then and only then do the femdragon and offspring leave.
But dragons bond differently with humans. That bond is unique because of the red comet that shifted Venys. When the comet first appeared, the world twisted, and all species upon it suffered.
The red comet brings out the heat in dragons—the wild urge to reproduce. It was a boon as much as it was a curse.
I do not know whatever blight fell upon the other species of Venys from the comet. It had never been my concern.
I have missed many comets though, I am certain… stuck in this cave. Does Venys even suffer the red comet anymore? For all I know it is possible, after all, long ago when I was young, the red comet did not exist.
Is this why a female human has found me? Is the red comet in the sky at this very moment? My tails lift and my fingers curl. Bond or not, my need to mate is powerful. And with a human female no less. Where is she!?
As soon as I can rise…
Thoughts whirl through my head. She will never leave my side again, and I—I will reclaim all that has been taken from me! I will start with her.
I flick my tails, purposely this time. And that… that is everything. Excitement joins my annoyance. I may never fly, but I will be able to eat and rut. I will be able to run and hunt. I will be able to move again.
I can search for the bones of the poison dragon and ruin them.
But first… Where is my human? My nostrils flare. Too much time has passed.
My human is hurt, I know this. Is the hurt on her head? I like it less and less that I cannot rise to care for her. My gaze shifts to the cave ceiling, and I watch the golden cast of the fire’s light dance over it. It is an easy trance, and it dulls the pain I sense from her. I can be stable while she is in the dark.
A hissing noise pricks my ears. A second later, it happens again, louder this time.
My eyes drift from the fire, searching for the source.
I see something move. A long and angular mass. It slowly gets bigger. It pauses when I move, managing to drop my head to the side. The first thing I notice is its tail-like body, it’s gaunt frame.
Not a human. I inhale. It is not the other human who was with mine from earlier. But I know this already…because of the tail.
A naga?
White and yellow eyes pierce the shadows to pin mine.
This time when I growl, a growl comes out. The naga does not flee, but it also does not come closer. I strain and flex again, urging my body to do something, anything. If the naga attacks, there will be nothing I can do to defend myself. Nagas are base beasts of the jungle, a staple of any dragon’s diet.
I taste its flesh in my memories.
The beady yellow dots of its eyes flash in the dark. I am prime food offered up on a platter. Any beast as gaunt as this one would not balk at the opportunity to engorge.
I manage to make a fist with my hand closest to it, bracing, readying it. I do not want to die, and I growl again, but the noise is not nearly as loud or as frightening as it used to be.
I wait for the attack but the naga only stares at me.
What is he waiting for?
Suddenly, the bond inside me flares up. I hear my human’s footsteps. No! My useless body goes rigid.
“Watch out,” I try to say in my human’s language, but it comes out as a gurgle. I try to move my head in her direction, but I fail.
The naga hisses once more, a warning, and then slithers back into the darkness.
“You’re awake,” my human gasps, dropping next to me with a huff. Her hands cup my face and shift my head so I might face her. My eyes linger, staying on the spot the naga disappeared.
When her face fills my vision, I am struck by her beauty. “Naga,” I warn. “Not safe.” It comes out a croak.
Her brows furrow. “Grala no safee?”
“Naga.”
She shakes her head.
I flick my eyes back to the shadows.
And she gets it, glancing up. Her lips flatten, and she pulls out a sharp weapon from her side. Pride swells. My human is brave.
She stands with her fire stick and steps over me. I lose sight of her. Fear for her safety gives me the strength to thrash my tails and lift one hand—but it thumps to the ground.
If she is hurt on my account, I will perish dishonorably. I will never forgive myself!
I claw the dirt.
I can do nothing but wait, nervous that any sound might be the last sound I ever do from her. I had only gotten a glimpse of my human. A single look. It is not enough and never will be.
Then her footsteps reappear, and relief temporarily strangles me. Her leg falls into my vision as she steps back over me and sits down to face me.
Her eyes meet mine. Dark brown orbs framed in thick black lashes with striking, arched brows.
I capture them to memory. We have only just met, and yet I am uncertain if we will live long enough to know each other.
Her eyes flicker away and peer around us, and my human cants her head. She is listening for something. For the naga I saw. Knowing it is still there bothers me greatly. I hope that it will not return until I can rise. My fingers continue to curl at my sides.
“I didn’t find anything,” she says. “But I laid out some shells and some sticks in case there is something.”
I do not understand, but she places her dagger at her side instead of putting it away. That is enough to assure me she is being vigilant.
She glances out again into the dark, and her eyes vacant as if she is lost in thought.
“I won’t leave you again unless I absolutely have to.” She looks back at me. “The cave…” She shakes her head. “We’re in a cavern of some sort, and there’s a path that leads out.” Her lips purse. I am momentarily distracted by how full and enticing they are. “There’s a path, but it goes too deep, and I was getting too far away… When you’re better, we’ll leave together.” Concern etches her face, at least what I think is concern.
She is not telling me something. Has she discovered something I do not know?
She is concerned for me.
I part my lips. “Not safe,” I say. I am conc
erned for her too.
“Not safe?” she asks.
Yes! I groan in agreement.
Her head drops. “You can understand me,” her voice lowers. “I’ll protect us until you’re well. It seems this cave is deserted.”
Deserted? Frustration spikes.
“Why can’t you move?” she asks. “Did I… cause this when I fell on you?”
Fell on me? I hmph. No human would pass up the opportunity to steal a dragon. But then I remember her presence, how she’d explored me before I transformed, how she did not bind me at the first opportunity.
The naga did not attack me either.
Has Venys changed so much? Have the creatures gone mad?
Her gaze steadies on me. She is waiting for me to answer. What should I tell her? I do not want to share my shame. That I was struck by a lesser dragon, that I was brought down? That I allowed a human to touch me without putting up a fight…
For some reason I am not as bothered by that, not as I should be… not as I was before it happened. I am waiting for her to touch me again, I realize. And if she falls this time, I will catch her.
If I could just get up!
“Poison,” I answer.
She stares at me before nodding. “What bit you? Do you know? Or where?” She scans my body.
I tense, wanting her to like what she sees.
Am I pleasing? I know horns and tails are not human traits, nor are scales and claws—my dark jewel—but could she overlook them?
If she recoils from me…
She bites down on her lip and turns away. My chest constricts. She finds me repugnant. I close my eyes in embarrassment.
Something thuds, and I hear a rip of cloth. I reopen my eyes to discover what she is doing and find the scraps of her bag hanging in her hands. She drops it over my jutting shaft with a squeak and threads it under my hips. Confused, I try to lift them to help her. Her warm skin is on me again and my embarrassment fades long enough to enjoy the pleasure of having her near. Then her hands find the base of my tails.
I moan.
She stops what she is doing but her hands and the bunched cloth remains.
“I’m sorry,” she says quickly, shaking her head. Her cheeks have gone red.
I do not respond. Her hands move to tie the cloth into place. I peer down.
She has covered my root, I realize. And not in the way I would have preferred.
She shifts, and our eyes meet. “I should have covered you sooner,” she says.
I part my mouth to argue—
“I’ll look for that bite now,” she mutters, beginning to circle back down me, wandering out of my line of sight.
“No bite.” I stop her. “Wounds healed long ago.” My voice is clipped.
“No bite?”
“No.”
She returns. Her dark eyes capture mine again. Skies, is she lovely. I may not be to her liking but she is to mine.
“Is it something you ate?” she asks.
“No.”
“Something that touched you, something you absorbed?”
“No.”
She sits back. “How can I help you then? What can I do?”
Stay here with me. Do not leave my side. Make sure I can see you at all times so I do not worry. But I do not tell her this. “Rest,” I respond. Though this is not what I need, it is what she needs.
Knowing there is a naga lurking somewhere in the dark unnerves me. She needs to rest, to regain her strength, and I… I need to get the skies up!
“Rest… Okay, rest it is.” She nods.
She goes quiet as we stare at each other. Her mouth opens and closes several times as if she has more she wants to say, but she remains silent. Her hand lifts to the back of her head, and she winces. It comes away with blood.
Her wound. My face tightens.
“Rest,” I order.
She straightens and drops her hand. “No. I’ll keep watch.”
I will not have it. My eyes narrow. “You rest. I do not… need it…”
“And if something attacks?” Exhaustion etches her face. She cannot hide it from me. She needs sleep more than I.
“I will… wake you. Rest,” I order again. I will not have my orders disobeyed, not by a human. Not by my human. “I have… good hearing. I will wake you.”
She sucks her lower lip into her mouth but nods. “All right, I will rest.”
Another wave of pleasure floods me. She knows to trust me. This, I can do for her.
She lies down beside me, just shy of touching me. I shift my hand, managing to press it to her arm. She does not remove it. I drop my head to the side. She is gazing back at me, her eyelids half-closed.
“Drazak,” I tell her. “My name is Drazak.”
She will fall asleep with my name in her mind.
She smiles softly, and my heart seizes.
“Drazak,” she breathes, saying my name back to me. “I’m Milaye.”
“Milaye.” I like it. It is sweet on the tongue. “Sleep now, Milaye. I will listen.”
Her eyes close, but her smile remains. And as her breathing softens, I take her in, wondering how much my life has changed in such a short amount of time. I lose myself in her nearness. Her sun-kissed skin. Her inviting lips. The way the firelight flickers across her face. It gives me the strength to keep working at my body.
Her lips become my goal.
And I listen and listen intently, knowing despite this quiet moment, we are surrounded by danger.
10
Receding Darkness
Something tugs at my hair, pinching it away from my skin, and I moan. Ticklish prickles shoot from my scalp, through my body. I long to bask in it, but the haze of sleep clears from my head. The pain returns.
Gone is the pleasure, and I groan, batting my hand at whatever’s in my hair. If Haime thinks waking me is… That’s not Haime’s hand. My eyes shoot open. There’s a strange and wicked male in front of me.
A male! In my cot?
My lips part to scream but then recognition hits. Drazak.
The cave. The dragon.
His eyes catch mine as he traps my hand, clenching my fingers between his. Heat surges, and my sex clenches. My legs twitch. I try not to show how much his touch does to me. How much I want him. How inappropriate the timing is for all of this.
Don’t glance at his groin. Don’t.
It’s so hard not to. I have a feeling his shaft is as hard as ever. And with mortification, I hope I’m right.
“I did not mean to… wake you.” His voice is rich and deep, no longer raspy. His words are clearer. His voice coils around me.
“How long have I been asleep?” My fingers flex against his, and his hold on my hand tightens.
“A while.”
He brings our hands between us, resting them on the ground. His engulfs mine, and even in the flickering shadows between our bodies, I’m dazzled by the purple twinkle of his scales. Even as my eyes lock on his short black claws.
“I’m glad you woke me.” I swallow thinking what those claws could do to me. I itch to stroke them and see if they’re as sharp as they appear. My gaze flicks back to meet his when he squeezes my hand.
“I am not. You are weak. I should have kept my hand to myself.”
“I’m not weak.” Indignation wipes away any lingering traces of sleep. I rise.
“Stay,” he pleads, keeping my hand hostage. “I do not mean it as an insult… I smell your blood.”
After a moment, I drop back down. At being mentioned, my head throbs and I wince. “You can smell it?”
“Yes.”
“It’s just a gash,” I reassure him because there’s concern on his face. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
“I caused it,” he rumbles.
“I fell. I lost my grip.”
“When running for safety when I transformed.” There’s accusation in his voice.
True, but I don’t tell him that. The way he’s gazing at me, the way his brow furrows, it makes me
think he’s profoundly unhappy about my wound. I don’t know how to take it. “I’ll be fine. And you’re—” my eyes widen “—you’re moving.” I sit up and check out his body.
He’s shifted. Now he is on his side with his arms reaching before him, the one that had taken my hand now placed palm down on the ground, holding his weight. And he is holding himself up, slightly, using his arm as a prop. His tails are behind him, and his other arm lies under his cheek.
I realize he’s been watching me. It would be easy to do so in this position. That he may have been watching for some time.
His eyes twinkle. “I am making progress.”
I scrape my teeth across my bottom lip.
“Your voice is clearer now too,” I say.
“It has not been used in many years. It is strange to speak again.”
I remember his unmoving dragon form. “How long?” I pull my legs under me and rummage through my scattered belongings for my rations of dried meat.
His dark eyes follow me. I know they do.
I can feel them like burning stabs.
“A long time,” he says.
“You were… When I found you, I thought you were dead.”
“I was sure I would die that way. Perhaps another hundred years or so, and I would have.”
A hundred years or so…
He continues, “But you came.”
I unwrap my dried meat and move back to Drazak’s side. “Hundreds of years is a long time. That isn’t close to being dead…”
“For a dragon it is.”
I shake my head. “So you’ve… been down here a long time?” I can’t even imagine it. “Hundreds of years?”
“Thousands, I believe.”
My lips part. My eyes go wide. “How? How is that possible?”
“Dragons are immortal unless something comes along and kills us. We will not die otherwise. But I have been starving, unmoving for so long… I was weakening.”
“From poison?”
His dark eyes glint again. “Yes.”