by Lucas, Naomi
We stare at each other. I wait for him to tell me more. He doesn’t.
What could poison a dragon? If I struggle to wrap my head around his age, how could I understand the creature that could poison him? Drazak’s dragon was gigantic. Hundreds of me put together would’ve still been smaller than his body’s size. I’ve seen sea serpents off the coast and giant mountain eagles fly overhead, but nothing as large as he was.
What could possibly poison a massive creature like him?
I’m afraid to ask. Do I even want to know? Is having an answer worth the nightmares?
I hand him one of my rations. “I don’t want you to starve,” I whisper, changing the subject.
He looks at my offering.
“Wait!”
I set the meat aside and wrap my arms around him. He stiffens in my embrace.
He growls. “Let me do this. I will sit up on my own.”
“You can sit up all you want later.” I’m used to dealing with kids. “For now, I will help you while you heal.”
Positioning myself behind him, I haul him into a sitting position, but when I start to let go, he drops. Indignant growls and curses fill my ears but I ignore them. Looking around I find a boulder a few feet behind him. Getting a better grip, I brace and drag him to the rock.
A few minutes—and lots of grunting—later, he’s propped up against it.
Catching my breath and ignoring the renewed pressure in my head, I drop beside him and wipe the sweat off my brow. I’m strong, but he’s still large for a human and much bigger than I am. And he’s got those tails, and those horns, I moan. Horns I want to explore thoroughly.
Maybe even lick.
When I catch his eye, he’s angry.
“I will not get any stronger if I am not given the opportunity to challenge myself,” he snaps.
“You will not get better at all if you starve to death.” I grab the rations. “Dragons may not have to eat for long periods, but humans must eat every day. You’re human now. Mostly.” I put the dried meat in his hand. His fingers wrap around it.
“Thanks to you,” he grumbles.
There’s a surge of guilt. “I—”
“I am moving again, thanks to you. I have not yet decided if that is a good thing. Though I never thought I would be bonded, lose my immortality, or my power, now I am able to perish with a voice again.”
I can’t tell if he’s mad at me or not. “I am sorry, regardless.”
“You know of the dragon’s curse,” he states it more than asks.
“Yes.”
“Then why did you not claim me when you first came upon me?”
“First came—” my eyes flick to the jewel on his brow, and I watch the puffs of dark smoke coming from it “—upon you?”
“I heard you, felt the warmth of your fire stick. You were by my hindleg, then you were before me. Why did you not claim me?”
“It didn’t feel right.”
“Any human would bind a dragon if given half the chance. The bond does more than mate us for life, it also strips away our threat.”
“I thought you were dead,” I murmur.
His brows arch. “And you did not want to make sure?”
I shake my head, then wince. I rub the sore, swollen flesh at the back of my head. Drazak’s eyes narrow, and I see through the corner of my vision his hands shake and clench.
“You were beautiful,” I tell him, ignoring his reaction. “I’ve… searched for you for so long that I’d given up. I no longer had hope that I’d see a dragon one day, let alone bond with one… You were beautiful, and I—I didn’t want to change that. I couldn’t, not like that. Not so my hopes could come true. It felt wrong. It felt selfish.”
“A mistake, human.”
“Mistake?”
“For not taking the opportunity when it presented itself.”
“And you would have? If the roles were reversed?”
He glances at the meat in his hand. “Do you want to be bound to me?”
Taken aback, I stare at him. It’s a question I don’t know how to answer. Yes, I want to scream, but then the part of me that approaches with caution—with every possible outcome already played out in her head—hesitates. “I’d given up,” I repeat, as if that’s an answer.
His jaw ticks. “Why?”
“Because only the lucky among my tribe are given the honor to mate.”
“And you did not have that honor?”
His questions make me uncomfortable. No one else ever cared enough to ask these questions, and I don’t know what to do about it. As a protector of Sand’s Hunters, all my tribe cares about is that I perform my duties and that I remain healthy enough to continue doing so.
Perhaps that’s why I love our children so much. I gaze down at my hands, feeling my chest squeeze. The tribe’s children are so sweet and innocent and loving. You never had to wonder if you were loved by them. You knew it the moment they wrapped their little arms around you with laughter.
“No. I did not have that honor,” I say.
Drazak lifts his free hand, and I look up to see what he’s doing. Slowly, he brings it to my face and rubs the back of his finger up my cheek. Our eyes find each other again.
My chest squeezes harder.
“Milaye,” he says my name softly, and I don’t know why, but it makes the hurt worse. “Why?”
I shake my head.
“Why?” he demands, his voice getting rougher.
“My family… My mother only ever bore females, and her mother before that. When my sisters and I were born, the elders decided that they could not take any chances by pairing one of us to the last-born male of the coastal tribes. They chose a female from a lineage that had males in their recent ancestry. That, and she, being one of the youngest in the tribe, is closer in age to the male. The pairing made sense.” I see confusion etch across Drazak’s expression. “My sisters and I were raised knowing we would never mate.”
“I do not understand? There are no other males?”
Does he not know? Does he even know about the red comet? I can’t believe he would not know. “Male children are very rare. They’re rarer with every generation,” I tell him. “For nearly thirty years, my tribe and our neighbors at Shell Rock have only had one male child, Leith. Just one, in thirty years, the lowest birth rate our tribes have ever suffered, and the northern tribes are not faring any better. The chance of me being chosen for the honor of Leith’s mate was slim to none. His chosen mate is also six years younger than me. I had fewer childbearing years to give.”
“Why not have him take multiple mates? I have seen other species have multiple partners. Dragonkind only mate for a time, long enough to bring forth young. We do not mate for life… unless a human binds us,” he adds.
“Other tribes have their males take harems.” I swallow. I remember arguing that very point in the past, before I knew better. “I had asked the elders to allow me the opportunity to lay with Leith, even if he was to be mated to another, so I may have a child—”
Drazak growls.
“—but I was refused, like I knew I would be. They were right to refuse me. Pure bloodlines are imperative among the coastal tribes. They would not risk letting me be an exception, knowing other females of my tribe would want to do the same thing. If Delina—Leith’s mate—dies, then he may take another of his choosing, but until then he will remain Delina’s and Delina’s alone.”
“I would not like to share you,” Drazak’s voice lowers. “I am glad you were not chosen.”
His words sting as much as they give me pleasure.
“You are mine, human, mine. You may have not touched me willingly—if you are to be believed—but you have touched me nevertheless, and that makes you mine.”
“I did want to touch you,” I tell him. “Desperately. I was… I was also afraid.”
His lips twitch. “I instill fear in all,” he boasts. “But I will not have you be afraid of me, not anymore.”
“I’m not.”
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His hand which had fallen onto my lap, comes up again, and this time cups my cheek. His clawed thumb softly grazes my lips. My mouth parts. He’s so close that his body heat envelops me.
“You will never be afraid of me,” he states.
I inhale. “I won’t be.” My want for him grows desperate. I feel myself becoming wet between my thighs.
“You will bow down to me.”
My brow furrows. “What?”
“As your male, you will allow me to protect you, human. I am healing fast now, and it will not be long until you are taken care of, until we mate.”
The butterflies in my stomach vanish. “I can protect myself, Drazak. Very well, in fact.” I push his hand off my face.
“You have hurt yourself, and that cannot happen again.”
My eyes narrow. “I have been hurt in the past and will be hurt again in the future. I can still protect myself—and you. I am a Protector of the Mermaid Coast. It is my honor and duty.”
“Now it will be mine.” He reaches for me again. “And I will give you the child you seek.”
I move away. I don’t want him to touch me. My body aches for him, but… “It is not a negotiation. I am more than capable of protecting myself, and others too. I even train—”
“Not anymore, human.”
“My name is Milaye,” I snap. A spike of pain shoots through my head. I palm the back of it.
A rumbling growl fills my ears. Drazak tries to grab me, but I get up and move to the fire and out of his reach. Darkness flashes in his expression, and my throat constricts.
I bend down and find my dagger, sheathing it.
“Milaye,” he says, deep and raspy. The sound does things to my body, and I nearly go back to him.
Instead, I dig my heels into the ground. “I need to find us more roots to burn. The fire moss will keep these going for a bit longer but not forever. Eat.” I nod at the ration he’s dropped. I grab mine and bite into it, hoping it’ll take away my arousal. It doesn’t. “It’ll help you regain your strength.”
“Milaye, it is dangerous. I will join you.” Drazak presses his hand to the boulder and tries to rise, but slides back down. An annoyed snarl tugs his lips, and his tails curl.
Good.
I stuff the rest of my ration into my mouth and move to his side, but not before taking a half-burned root from the fire. I put it beside him. “One thing you should know, dragon, is that I am a huntress, a good one. I may be a human, but I have survived this world like you have. I may want to be a mother, but I will not lose what else I am in the process. It’s your turn to rest. You can use the torch as a weapon if you need, but I’ll be back soon.”
I shift back. He grabs my hand. “There’s a naga lurking, be careful,” he says. I can see this omission takes a lot out of him. There’s frustration and something else in his eyes…
He knows I’m going to leave and there’s nothing he can do to stop me.
He stares at me with such intensity it nearly roots me to the spot.
Some of the butterflies return to my belly.
“I will,” I say, swallowing.
Drazak squeezes my hand and then lets go.
11
Will He See Me?
So the naga is here in the cave. I grab my still-burning torch and head back into the darkness. He hasn’t attacked yet, and may not attack at all, but I remain vigilant anyway.
Maybe he knows a way out of here…
I scan the darkness. How would I even ask him if he did? Humans and nagas speak different languages, if the noise a naga makes could be considered a language at all. I've encountered enough of them to know they hiss in different tones to communicate, but that was it.
And even if the naga did know a way out, and even if we could communicate, I’d have to find him first.
I rub my fingers together, the place where Drazak squeezed them.
His touch lingers. His warmth. My fingers twitch, and my hand opens and closes as the sensation of him spreads. Like the bond, it fills me, comforting me. Each step away becomes more difficult. All I want is to return to his side and be within his presence.
I want to press up against him and absorb all that he is. I shudder thinking about it. I’ve never felt like this before.
But if he’s going to try and take my honor…
I inhale sharply. I’ve earned my title. I will not give it up unless I absolutely have to, and nothing Drazak says could change that. I’m not some little girl unable to throw her spear or set up a cockatrice trap or impale a sand shark. It’s been years since I had one of the elder huntresses with me checking if I could survive out in the wild.
I’m that elder huntress now. I watch over and keep our younger huntresses safe. I take the jobs that the eldest of our huntresses no longer can.
I may have thirty-two years, but that does not mean I don’t have another thirty-two left to be what I am. And as long as I’m not maimed, my next thirty-two years will be full of dangerous adventures—always for Sand’s Hunters.
Always for my sisters, my people.
Haime’s face appears in my head. Has she made it back to the tribe? Is she safe? Is she… My thoughts shift back to the cave-in, and I shiver. I can’t think about it. If I do, I may lose my remaining strength and wither. The loss of Haime would be my biggest failure.
Then I would lose my honor. I wouldn’t have any left to give to Drazak. I’d never recover if I lost her. My chest constricts.
I realize my feet are taking me in the direction of the cave-in. I halt.
No, I need to find kindling for the fire. Losing my only source of light wouldn’t be good. I straighten. Fire moss can keep anything burning for days, if there’s enough to burn, but the roots don’t make good kindling, I think. I frown.
How long have we been down here? There’s no way to tell time. I’d been unconscious and asleep for part of it, but for how long? There’s no way of knowing. The only thing I’m certain of is that the dried meat ration barely sated me, and my stomach feels as empty as it’s ever been.
Right now, I need to push myself until Drazak and I are safe. I’ve rested, I don’t have the luxury to do so again. At least not so soon. And I don’t want Drazak to see me weak or in pain. I know the other dragon men are protective of their mates, but I never really imagined how that would be for me if I ever bonded with one. I’d never really thought about it.
Maybe because I gave up on that hope as well. Everyone else had.
But Drazak seems different from them…
Like he’s afraid, afraid I’ll go away.
I have to make him understand I won’t. But will he trust me? He’s been stuck down here for so long I can’t even comprehend it. What would that do to his mind? Being alone. In the dark. Without food or companionship. Without having anyone know you’re gone or missing? What would that do to any being? Dragon or not?
I force myself not to look his way.
I turn away from the direction of the cave-in and make my way around the cavern. Far to my right and in the distance, I see the fire and Drazak beside it. I know he’s watching me. I can feel it.
His eyes burn my skin. He’d be able to see me even without the light from my torch. I’m certain. There’s still disbelief that I’m even bonded at all, that I have a male to call my own.
That I have my own dragon. I have always envied Issa and Aida for their virile men.
I’ve barely had time to process him being mine, so little time has passed since seeing him for the first time, since the taut, sizzling heat in my soul sprang to life and knotted with his. Finding more kindling for the fire was a chore needing done, but it was also an excuse. I need to get away and clear my head. I’ve never needed someone or something as badly as I need him.
Years of lonely nights wishing for a mate did not prepare me for this. Years of overhearing the sounds of bonded pairs mating never heated my blood like this.
I want to consume him. Or maybe I want him to consume me.
&nbs
p; Will he?
He’s everything that I imagined. Dark, dizzying, and beautiful—even wicked. I’d never known a human could look wicked, but Drazak does. How is that possible? Drazak resembles a dark, fiendish male that had come from the shadows itself. And hadn’t he? I found him in the darkest place I’d ever been, and I swear it isn’t smoke coming from the jewel on his brow—it is darkness. Like he creates it.
But will he want me like I want him? He’s been erect for as long as I’ve known him… Is it only because of the strings that bind us, or can he want me for me? Making a male erect… It is a symbol of excitement for the females of my tribe. Even the mermaids love priming the few human males they know.
And Drazak is erect—primed—for me. Because of me.
I’m not the youngest or most beautiful female of my tribe. I’m not even the youngest or most beautiful of my two sisters. I may be a better huntress, but I can’t cook, my sewing is atrocious, and my craftwork is wanting. I’m the one sent to gather wild fruit and forage for supplies, not to actually make something with those supplies that betters the tribe.
Will he be ashamed of me if we get out of here and he sees me? Really sees me in comparison to the other females, ones he could have been mated to?
I feel my heart sink.
I want Drazak so badly it hurts. I’m wet and aching for him, but I shouldn’t be. It takes effort not to climb onto his lap and have him. My cheeks warm.
I want everything a mate could offer me—to never be alone at night again, to feel whatever tremendous way the other females feel when they’re being rutted.
I’ve never had the sexual training given to the other females—lessons in what to expect to happen after a mating ceremony, but I’ve heard and seen enough to know. That a male’s cock goes into me repeatedly—that there is discomfort and a lot of pleasure during it—that there is an intense burst of bliss. A bliss that couldn’t be had solely by rubbing your fingers between your legs in the middle of the night.
I wipe my arm across my brow. I’m clenching just thinking about Drazak filling that spot between my legs. The ones my fingers have only dared enter a couple times before, and only out of curiosity.