Dragon in the Dark (Kindred Tales)

“Why can’t you have a bride?” she asked reasonably. “Is it because of this?” She nodded down to his right thigh, where his shaft was still more than half hard. “I have to admit, it’s a hell of a big trouser snake. You afraid you can’t, er, fit it where it needs to go?”

Dra’vik barked a laugh.

“Something like that, little girl.”

“But I thought that the compounds in a Monstrum’s saliva was supposed to help a girl, er, open up,” she said, frowning.

“It’s not just the size of my shaft that would make it frightening to a human female,” Dra’vik growled. “And no, I won’t tell you any more—you don’t need to know,” he added, warningly.

He already knew that Iyanna showed no interest in having children—she would probably show even less if she knew that his Breeding Barb could instantly make her pregnant with his child—a child that most humans would consider a monster because it would undoubtedly look like him—like a Drake Monstrum.

The Monstrum genes always bred true—there was a zero percent chance any child he gave her would look even remotely human. That was a lot to swallow for any female—let alone one that didn’t want children in the first place.

So he only shook his head warningly, when she looked ready to ask more questions, letting her know that the subject was off the table.

Iyanna looked frustrated at his refusal to talk.

“All right, if you won’t tell me why you can’t marry an Earth girl, at least you can tell me about yourself—about your past. What was it like in your own universe before you came to ours?”

“It was beautiful—before the Darklings invaded,” Dra’vik said. “But even before the Darkling Wars, our people were in trouble. There were no more viable humanoid species for us to call females from—our ‘verse was much smaller than yours is, you see,” he added, by way of explanation. “We knew we faced extinction even before our ‘verse became overrun with evil.”

“But then you wound up here and saved the Earth and now you can all get brides from my planet,” Iyanna pointed out.

“Most of us can. But not all.” Dra’vik looked away, studying the stars through the window at their side. “As for my species—the Drake Monstrum—well, our extinction is imminent.”

Iyanna frowned and shook her head.

“Maybe not. I mean, maybe there’s a solution to your problem. But I can’t help you find it unless you tell me the problem in the first place.”

Dra’vik refused to rise to the bait.

“My problems are my own, little girl,” he growled. “Look, we still have two standard hours left of this flight and I’d like to get some rest before we reach Lix’dor Prime. All right with you?”

“Sure, I guess.” She shrugged. “Um, can you sleep with me, er, laying all over you like this, though?” She indicated their current position, with her still resting against his chest.

“Not a problem,” Dra’vik assured her. “Take a nap. You’ll feel better for it—we’re going to want to be well rested and sharp when we reach our destination.”

“Right…okay.” She nodded and then smothered a yawn. “I’m pretty sleepy, anyway.”

“Well, having two screaming orgasms will do that to a female,” Dra’vik remarked dryly.

She blushed and shook her head.

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer. I’m just going to close my eyes and take a nap.” She shut her eyes determinedly and crossed her arms over her ample breasts.

Dra’vik had intended to take a nap himself as well…but he found himself staying awake to watch the little Elite instead. Gradually her “nap” lost all pretense and became reality. In her sleep, she turned and pillowed her soft cheek against his chest and her breathing became even and regular.

He couldn’t stop watching her, he found. The way her long black lashes fanned out across her high cheekbones and the peaceful expression on her lovely face fascinated him. He liked the way she felt in his arms, too—so soft and small and delicate. Though she wasn’t nearly as small as some human women he’d seen, he reflected. Some of them he would be afraid to even touch, they were so tiny.

He didn’t have that fear with Iyanna. She had claimed she was tall and large for a human woman—maybe that was so. At any rate she didn’t feel so fragile in his arms that he was afraid to hug her and hold her close to him. Maybe she was right, maybe there was hope for him to find a bride from Earth. Maybe even one that looked like Iyanna with a larger, taller frame than most Earth females and smooth brown skin and big, gorgeous dark eyes…

Admit it, Drav, whispered a little voice in his head. You don’t want a bride that looks like Iyanna—you want Iyanna herself.

He pushed the thought away roughly. There was no point in wishing for things he couldn’t have. In fact, he was being damn foolish, sitting here cuddling her and indulging in fantasies of things that could never be.