Origin (Scales 'n' Spells 1)

To hell with that. Cameron needed to kiss the shit out of his dragon and make sure he understood what Cameron felt about him. He needed to know Cameron was proud to be his mate and that he’d do anything to be the best mate possible because Alric was…

The vehicle came to a sharp stop, and Cameron was thrown forward until he hit his forehead on something hard. Maybe the seat in front of him. Bastards. They could at least make sure he wasn’t getting hurt on the ride. So much for being precious cargo.

He could hear doors being thrown open before the engine shut off and he was pulled out. The moment his feet touched the ground, his knees gave out. He winced and moaned, trying to get his body to properly move as people hooked their arms through his on either side of him, while another person freed his legs. He was half marched, half dragged from the car. The ground changed from asphalt to gravel to dirt and grass to…concrete. The sound of birds and bugs surrounded him. Definitely not within a bustling city. No voices. Just the heavy breathing of his captors holding him.

When he reached the concrete flooring, the sounds of nature disappeared and there was a slight echo to their steps. They were inside now. In a large, open space.

They walked for a while, making two rights before heading up some metal stairs and then down what felt like a long hall. At long last, he was dropped into what felt like a metal folding chair. It was hard and cold under his ass. With his nearly numb fingers, he could feel some of the smooth metal.

At last, someone was speaking. The words were muffled, and he nearly moaned when he realized they were in German. God help him. When he got out of this, he was ramping up his German lessons. Maybe Alric could help him work out a suitable reward system for when he reached certain goals.

Really? He rolled his eyes at himself. Sex. He was thinking about sexy-times with Alric while being held by Jaeggi mages. Just wonderful. He needed to get his head in the game and focus. If he didn’t pay attention, there wasn’t going to be any more sexy-times with his dragon.

The voice got closer, and Cameron’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t understand the words, but he recognized the voice. There was a feeling of someone close to him and the black bag on his head was slowly pulled off. He blinked several times against the bright light, trying to get his eyes to adjust. Air rushed into his lungs, as it was now so much easier to breathe.

His kidnapper leaned down and carefully resettled his glasses on his face, allowing Cameron to clearly see the face of the man who’d threatened him and his sister. That wicked grin was back, and Cameron’s blood ran cold. He’d suspected he’d be faced with this bastard sooner or later, but he’d been hoping it would be later. Preferably when Alric had found him and he was no longer bound with duct tape.

“Our slippery American,” the man said in English with a crisp British accent. “I knew we’d meet eventually.”

He straightened and barked out an order to one of the two other mages in the room. Cameron took the chance to quickly look around. He’d been expecting the white walls and white floor of the building he’d seen them in thanks to the drone cat. Around him was drab grey concrete while the floor was painted a darker shade of grey. Where the other building had a hospital feel, this was more military utilitarian. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be in the same building, just on a different floor. The room was largely empty, but there were a few long tables with a scattering of junk. The air was cool but smelled stale.

The door on the far wall opened, and a woman rolled in a leather desk chair. The man took it from her with a snarl and placed it directly in front of Cameron with another ugly smile. Cameron leaned back in his own chair, trying to put as much of his body out of easy reach from his man as possible.

Dropping into the seat, he seemed content to just stare at Cameron for several seconds, as if inspecting a treasure that had at last fallen into his hands. Cameron stared right back and had to admit the man wasn’t what he’d expected. The mage was large. Of course, other than himself, all the mages he’d met so far were women, but this man was built more like the dragons in Baldewin’s royal guard. Broad chest, wide shoulders, muscular arms straining his plain black T-shirt, and thick thighs filling out his blue jeans.