by Mina Carter
Not that she wouldn’t be averse to a little feel…maybe a big one. Jesus Christ on a cracker, Jenna, get yourself together and stop being a damn perv. Her self-argument ended the minute he finished building the fan and set it in front of her. The blades started to turn and the cool air hit her in the face.
“Oh my god, I think I love you,” she moaned.
He looked up, running his hand through his hair to shove it back from his face. She thought she saw the hint of a smile under the scruff across his jaw. “If I’d known it was that easy, I would have arrived with the damn thing.”
He continued working, his hands swift and efficient. He had nice hands, strong and capable. Her gaze traveled up his forearms and across the rest of him. Like her, he was obviously stranded, and from the look of what he was wearing—the ragged remains of a flight suit—he’d been here a long time.
Her gaze fell to his feet. Bare feet? In this heat?
Her hand having a mind of its own reached out and moved a strand of hair that had fallen across his forehead. Jenna was shocked at her own actions, but now that she had started, she followed through with it. His skin was so cool to the touch she frowned.
“How are you so cool? Why does the heat not affect you like it’s affecting me? How long have you been here?” Are you single and can I lick your biceps?
The last questions luckily got filtered and did not fire out of her mouth although she would have liked to know the answers.
He gave her an odd look. “My body copes better with the heat than yours does.”
“Uh huh.” His hair was like silk under her fingers, hijacking her attention. “Special forces training. Am I right?”
Instead of answering she felt his gaze on her face as she continued to play with the lock. When her eyes lifted to meet his, she became lost in the depths. The color again reminded her of the clear skies from home. He had scars on his face too. One was right under his eye—a faint silver line that she barely would have seen unless this close. Dropping the lock, she ran her finger across it, her body now taking the reins from her mind and dictating the show completely.
“How did you get this scar?”
He’d stopped moving and she found herself the subject of his attention. It was unwavering and focused. Intense. Like being stared at by a snake. But with him, the idea didn’t make her shudder. Instead, her body blossomed under his look, like her ovaries had kicked her responses in the ass to get his attention.
“Which one, little female?” he asked, his voice a deep rumble that did things to her that should be illegal. If they could bottle that, they’d make a frigging fortune.
“This one,” she said again as she touched the scar with the pad of her finger, running it down the length where it met his nose. That rumble happened again, and Jenna felt her body contract. Hell if he continued to do that, she may just climax right here and now.
“You have so many,” she whispered and scooted closer.
He gave a little shrug, the movement constrained as though he were scared to move. Perhaps in case she stopped touching him?
“This… special forces thing,” he commented. “Is not without risk. Why are you touching me that way? Do you wish to mate?”
Jenna’s finger paused as she took in his words. Then her eyes widened. By mate he meant sex… right? That was a loaded question. Flicking her eyes to his, she saw his gaze was intense, focused, and it made her shiver. Holy shit. He wasn’t joking.
Dropping her hand, she sat back. “Sorry, your scars are…pretty.”
The answer was about as lame as they came, but it was better than, “Can I see if you have a pet iguana?” God, she needed to get a grip, and by grip she meant on herself and not on the man in front of her. Anyone would think she was a nympho by the way she was acting.
“Thank you for the fan,” she added, trying to calm the situation and avoid answering his question. She didn’t want to answer the question. No. Yes. She did. But it was too quick. She hadn’t expected him to just come out with it like that.
He smiled and lifted a hand to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
“You’re welcome, little one. And, just for the record,” he added, “I would not be averse to mating.”
Jenna opened her mouth yet nothing came out, so she snapped it shut. Well that was a first…stuck for words was a rarity for her. So instead of answering, she smiled shyly and looked away, not able to deal with the intense gaze aimed her way. Or the way her body reacted to a simple sentence.
She practically felt his amusement fill the air as he manhandled her gently into the path of the cool air. Wrapping his arms around her, he lay down so she had his colder body behind her and the fan in front of her. “We need to cool you down quickly,” he explained in a low murmur. “Rest. The heat will dissipate as the suns set. Then it will get cold.”
Jenna didn’t move, her body going rigid as she felt his own pressed to every inch of her back. The urge to wiggle and get comfy was overwhelming, yet she resisted. She didn’t want him to get any ideas…or did she? NO! Jenna, you dirty bitch. Calm yourself down…no matter how lickable he is. You are not going there.
She was begrudged also to admit he was right. With his cooler body against hers and the fan at the front, she felt a hundred times better than before.
“Thank you,” was all she said as she let herself relax if only a little in his embrace.
7
She was a strange little creature. And scales, she never stopped talking. Ever. Ranaar watched her splashing in the water out of the corner of his eye as he sorted out the traps he’d laid this side of the river. But… his lips curved a little… the last two nights she’d curled up trustingly against him as she slept. Contentment, the likes of which he’d never known, had filled him.
Although the sight of her constantly barely clad, wearing those small undergarments, was starting to take its toll. He wanted to stop and stare as she rose from the water like a goddess, a sight that would remain with him for many years to come.
The growl that was never far away filled his chest and rumbled lowly. Every male instinct he had urged him to claim her, to make her his own. There was nothing to stop him… she certainly couldn’t. He could take her, pin her beneath him and bond her to him with his bite on her shoulder.
But… he looked over as she laughed, the high sound filling the air like the finest melody… he couldn’t. She had no idea what he was. She still thought he was one of these “special forces” creatures. He’d gone back to her ship, nosing around to see what he could recover or work out about her. It was a design he wasn’t familiar with.
He gave in and stared at her. The traps all checked and working perfectly, he sat on a boulder and watched as she washed her long hair. The wet tresses fell down her back, wrapping around her enticing curves. Wherever she was from, she was no doubt important. A princess perhaps. And they would want her back.
The rumble got louder. She was his. He wouldn’t take her back. Not ever.
But then his attention was caught by a movement on the bank. It wasn’t much, just the hint of movement. A slither and a rustle.
All his instincts went on high alert and he was moving within a heartbeat. He threw himself toward the water, toward her. All the time he was aware of the shadow moving under the surface, the serpentine form arrowing toward its prey.
Her.
She was oblivious to the danger, her body angled so she didn’t see her impending doom. This was why she needed him. She needed his protection. He reached her before the snake, his heart thudding with fear for her. Snatching her up out of the water, he turned to shield her with his bigger body as the predator launched itself out of the water, it’s low rattle one of fury as it saw him and not the soft prey it had expected.
He roared back as it struck, getting an arm up between them and shoving it into the thing’s gaping maw. It bit down, its teeth breaking on the scales that flared over his arm. There was nothing in the universe harder than a Draak
on’s scales. The creature’s teeth, even lethally razor sharp as they were, had no chance.
The hiss of fury turned to one of pain as the snake disengaged, sliding beneath the water. He let it go for now. Without its teeth it wouldn’t be able to hunt and would quickly die of starvation. That was if it didn’t end up someone else’s meal. Unable to defend itself, there was a good likelihood of that.
In his embrace Jenna was panting, her body frozen as her hands gripped the arm he had around her. In between breaths, he could make out words, yet they didn’t make sense other than fuck, snake and big. He had tried his best to keep her body aimed away so she wouldn’t see anything, yet she must have caught a glimpse as it slithered away injured.
“Shhh,” he murmured, striding from the water with her in his arms. He didn’t need to actually hold her, given the death grip she had on him. Her arms and legs were wrapped around him so firmly he would have had trouble extricating himself from her hold.
He didn’t. It was easy to smell her terror on the air. More. He could feel the hammering of her heart where she was pressed against him.
Reaching the bank, he sat down on a nearby rock with her in his lap. “Shhh, shhhh,” he soothed, his hands stroking over her back. “It’s okay. It won’t hurt you.”
* * *
U Her voice slowed as she stopped for breath.
“You’re small.” He tried not to let his voice slide into a deep rumble that signaled his interest in her as a male to a female, but it was hopeless. It just happened anytime she was near. “Small, soft skinned and look delicious.”
He slid a gentle finger up her arm, leaning back so he could make eye contact with her. “I’d eat you in a heartbeat.” He winked to show he didn’t mean it in a bad way. “I’m sure you’d quickly become my favorite meal.”
He watched as she blushed, her cheeks going bright red from his honest statement. Why did she find his interest so surprising? It’s not as if he had hidden it. He would have to be dead and buried to not find her appealing to the point she kept his cock in a constant state of arousal and his mouth watering.
But she seemed flustered, muttering something under her breath, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. He hid his smile when he noticed she still slid little glances at him from under her lashes. She wasn’t immune to him then. That pleased him inordinately.
Then her gaze dropped to his arm, his scales still prominent, and she gasped aloud.
Jenna’s day had been going swimmingly. A trip out of the hotbox that she had now christened Ranaar’s little home and the chance of a wash was all she wanted. What girl didn’t enjoy getting clean?
The river he had taken her too was set in the most beautifully secluded glen. Stunning trees that didn’t bite surrounded them and made her forget for only a second that she was trapped on a planet in the back end of beyond.
Ranaar, for his gruff demeanor, was the perfect host. Too perfect from his somehow sexy toes right up to the hair on his head, he was a delectable treat of sexiness that she couldn’t stop looking at.
So that was her day, wash her hair and stare at Ranaar when he wasn’t looking. Perfect…or so she thought.
One moment she was pondering the pros and cons of licking Ranaar’s abs and the next she was grabbed and hoisted out of the water as a snake the size of a dinosaur made an appearance. Terror had filled her, soul-deep and all-encompassing that she had almost passed out.
Almost.
Again her rescuer Ranaar had saved the day, making her like the big lug even more. She was slowly coming to rely on him and that was bad.
When you relied on someone they always let you down. He was also taking chunks out of the wall she had built around her heart, and that too was bad.
So here she was trying not to stare as she was perched on his lap, getting over the fear of her life, when something glistened from the corner of her eye. Jenna turned her head and became transfixed by the scales that shimmered on Ranaar’s arm.
“Whooaa,” she gasped and bent her head. She took his arm in her small hands. Moving it so the sun hit the scales. Shots of greens from across the color wheel flashed with hints of gold. Jenna couldn’t help but touch them. What could she say, she liked shiny things.
“Wow…scales,” she breathed and finally looked up at Ranaar. “You have scales?”
“Yeah. Natural armoring,” he replied, watching her with an unreadable expression as she explored his arm. He didn’t stop her, so she ran her finger over the scales, exploring the texture, and then traced individual scales.
“That’s so cool.” Jenna couldn’t keep from touching them, or him for that matter. The feel of his flesh, even hardened by the scales, under her hand was surprisingly silky. The colors held her transfixed. Green had always been her favorite color, even more so now.
“So you’re not special forces then.” She smirked and finally looked away from the shiny scales although she didn’t stop touching them. “I’m gonna go out on a long ass limb here and say you’re not human as well. Am I right?”
He lifted his chin proudly. “I am Draakon.”
Jenna’s eyes widened slightly. Oh she knew about Draakon. Knew the stories of how brutal and archaic their species was. Most races did not believe they actually existed as the Draakon kept to their own side of space and didn’t play well with others…apparently. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Was he lying?
“A space dragon? Really? Maybe you could introduce me to your friend the unicorn.” Yeah she was being a smartass. It was her party trick after all.
He frowned, confusion on his features. “Unicorn? I have no friends of that name.”
“How about bigfoot, or maybe nessie?” She smirked, her hand still touching his arm. Why did he attract her so much? He was like her own personal bloody catnip.
“Space dragon indeed. Tell me a new one?”
“Bigfoot? Nessie?” He shook his head, a frown on his handsome face. Then his face cleared and surprise took the place of confusion. “You don’t believe me. The scales don’t convince you?”
* * *
Jenna watched his face, taking in how cute he looked when he frowned. As if he wasn’t good looking enough, he had to go and have dimples.
Sigh.
“Scales mean nothing. I’ve met a few races with scales. Doesn’t mean they are a fire breathing, world stomping space dragon. It could simply mean their mum got jiggy with a lizard.” Jenn shrugged and removed her hand from his arm, but she missed the feel of him instantly. Instead she slid off his lap and stepped away from him and further away from the water.
“Got. Jiggy. With. A. Lizard.” He just looked at her, bafflement on his face. “Female. Do you ever speak in language others can understand? Is this a thing humans do so other species can’t understand them?”
Jenna opened her mouth and then closed it. She folded her arms across her chest, cocked her hip and then tapped her foot. Frustration filled her belly, mainly at the hulking brute in front of her who was ruining her ego and her rep for being the best smart ass in the galaxy. She was also frustrated at still being unable to help herself when it came to wanting to climb him like a cartonian pole dancer. But most of all she felt the frustration of being stuck on a bloody planet with giant ass snakes and killer plants.
He didn’t get her jokes. That hurt.
“Yes I’m deliberately obtuse just to annoy you,” she snapped and walked to a small boulder, one that she could maybe sit on, only it still reached past her hip.
“Dammit, sucks to be a short ass,” she mumbled to herself.
He was right behind her and picked her up to sit her on the rock. Once there, he put his hands on either side of her hips. Looking into her eyes, he said, “You’re upset. Why? This is not about this… unicorn. Are you really that scared of predators? Your species is a prey species maybe?”
The little tilt of his head and the expression in his eyes said he was on the level. He seriously was concerned. That look made her want to tell him everything
, tell him her deepest, darkest fears in the hopes he could chase them away.
“I want to go home,” she stated simply. “I hate being out of my comfort zone,” she admitted as well but left it at that.
Jenna needed to find a way to get back to her ship without getting eaten and see if she could fix her. She had a life back in the vastness of space. Bounties to collect, assholes to catch. She couldn’t do that sitting on a rock. Could she?
He lifted a hand and stroked the backs of his fingers against her cheek. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, the deep rumble of sound whispering across her skin like an auditory caress. “Will your people send out search parties for you? We’re a little out of the way here.”
Jenna shook her head, unable to say the words. No one would look for her. No one out there cared. Most would be glad as it freed up work for them. The touch of his fingers made her close her eyes. She could quite easily lose herself in his touch alone.
Yeah definitely like catnip. Jenna-nip. Jenna wants to nip.
Stop it, for god’s sake, and get a grip…and no not on him.
Jenna had issues. As she opened her eyes again, her main one stood looking at her with an expression she couldn’t quite fathom.
He breathed a word she couldn’t understand and then pulled her closer into the embrace of his arms. She blinked, about to struggle, but then settled against him, closing her eyes. She could just stay here a moment, absorb his strength, and then she’d be good. Just a moment. Honest.
In his arms she felt centered. It was a strange feeling and one she didn’t want to delve into. Jenna didn’t have feelings like that. Not like her whole world was changing and becoming focused on the man-dragon in front of her. No she was a straight-laced, use ‘em and lose ‘em sorta girl who avoided commitment like the bubonic plague.
So why was she contemplating any sort of future with him? It wouldn’t work, couldn’t work. He was a “dragon,” or so he said, and she was a bounty hunter.