Dragon in the Dark (Kindred Tales)

“Do you want to take a minute to heal them?” Dra’vik asked, frowning.

“I can try.” Looking down at the plants, Iyanna murmured, “Come on guys, perk up a little, will you?”

She wasn’t touching them, but it seemed as though the drooping plants stood a little straighter and looked a little more healthy, which was satisfying.

“Oh—they’re looking better already,” Dra’vik remarked.

“Let’s hope so.” Iyanna sighed. “Look, let’s get going to the spaceport and pray we can get a ride on the next shuttle, okay?”

“Agreed,” Dra’vik growled, straightening up again. “Come on—let’s go.”

“Dra’vik?” She looked up at him, not moving. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him how she felt—the realizations she’d had during that brief, terrible time she’d thought he was dead. But somehow, when he looked down at her, nothing came out of her mouth.

I’ll tell him on the shuttle, she told herself. When we’re cuddled up in one of those big luxury chairs and he’s healing me with his kisses.

Just the thought made a different part of her throb and she knew she couldn’t wait to feel his mouth on her again—once his lips were no longer burning like a couple of red-hot coals, that was.

“Yes, little girl?” he rumbled, raising his eyebrows and wrinkling his brow.

“Never mind. Later,” Iyanna told him. “Come on—let’s get to the spaceport.”

“Let’s go,” he agreed, nodding, and the two of them started walking again, the big Drake leaving trails of steam behind him as they went.

FORTY-SIX

Dra’vik wanted to tell Iyanna how he felt—wanted to tell her he needed her in his life, now and forever. But now wasn’t the time, he told himself. He couldn’t hold her or touch her yet—his hide was still as hot as Frenthian forge—even brushing against her would raise blisters on her fragile skin immediately.

So he had to wait—but he didn’t want to. He wanted to get the hard part of asking her to bond with him out of the way and feel the joy rushing over him when she said “yes.”

She’ll accept me—she’ll agree to bond with me, I’m almost sure of it!

He couldn’t stop thinking about how the curvy little Elite had looked when she’d said there were no words for her feelings when she’d thought she had lost him. Her lovely dark eyes had filled with tears…with emotions, and all of those emotions had been for him.

She loves me—she feels the same way for me that I feel for her, Dra’vik told himself. And she wasn’t horrified at the bonding party and the way the female pleasure slave got pregnant immediately. I can tell her how it will be with us, how my Bonding Barb will inject her with hormones that cause instant ovulation and growth hormones to cause the baby I’ll plant in her womb to mature rapidly. She’ll understand and she’ll ask me to breed her anyway. She’ll bond with me and we’ll be one forever.

He would be returning from this mission with the means to save the Monstrum Mother Ship and a new bride he would love forever. It would be the best day of his life and once he had the little Elite in his arms, he would never let her go!

But he wanted to wait to ask her—perhaps on the shuttle with the privacy shield drawn would be a good place. He should have cooled down enough by then and he could heal her face lovingly before asking her to bond with him. Then he could make her come all the way home.

Yes, on the shuttle. That’s the place to ask her—the place to tell her how I feel.

They were going to have a beautiful life together, Dra’vik was almost completely sure of it.

FORTY-SEVEN

“I’m so sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t have any seats left in the Premium compartment. This is a last-minute purchase you’re making and those seats are typically booked far in advance.” The spaceport attendant at the purchasing counter shook her head regretfully.

Iyanna thought it was the same attendant who had seen Dra’vik touching her on their flight in to Lix’dor Prime. She had the same bright yellow skin and three eyes on long stalks sticking out of the top of her head. Also, the way she was looking at them seemed knowing.

Or maybe that was just her guilty conscience talking, Iyanna thought. It was embarrassing to be confronted with someone who had caught her and the big Drake basically in the act of joining the alien version of the mile high club. But at this point, she was so desperate to get off Lix’dor Prime, determination overruled embarrassment.

“What kind of seats do you have left?” she asked the attendant. “We’ll take anything to get out of here—hell, we’ll sit in the cargo hold if we have to!”

“We will not sit in the fucking cargo hold unless you want to freeze to death, little girl,” Dra’vik growled. He looked at the attendant. “Surely there’s someplace you can put us?”