Hidden Rage: Kindred Tales

“So…I’m coming too?” Bobbi asked in surprise. “I mean, you’re not going to leave me locked up in your rooms?”

He shook his head.

“You’re my female—I must have you beside me at the head table. But don’t worry, little feela,” he added. “I’ll be with you every moment. Zerlix won’t get anywhere near you—I swear it.”

Bobbi couldn’t help remembering how the sadistic Saurian had promised her that Dragon would hand her over and that she would be eager to let him “spike” her. But that must have been a lot of talk on his part, she decided. There was no way Dragon was letting her go. And no way she would ever want that scaly, corkscrew dong with its spiked tip anywhere near her.

Going to the feast would be a good thing, she told herself. It would be a great way to observe the Saurian holiday traditions and food—and it would make a great addition to her article comparing the lizard people of Saurous to the inhabitants of Avria Pentaura.

She just hoped she would get back to Earth at some point to write it.

26

“Oh Bobbi, there you are! Are you all right?” Keelah looked at her anxiously, her lizard face showing concern in the slightly crinkled area between her scaly eyebrow ridges.

“I’m just fine—though I can see why you’d wonder after Dragon threw me over his shoulder and carried me off,” she said dryly.

She was in a huge dining area lined with black and white tiles, standing behind the chair she would be occupying at the head table. Dragon was a few feet away, speaking to a Saurian male she thought might be his adoptive father. Though he had his back turned to her, he glanced over his shoulder every so often, obviously keeping tabs on her.

“Did…did he beat you very hard?” Keelah whispered, her yellow eyes going wide. She scanned Bobbi’s body, as though looking for bruises or cuts or other signs of a beating.

They would certainly be visible if she had any, Bobbi thought. She was wearing another wrap dress, though this one was considerably skimpier than the one she’d put on this morning. It was a deep red which clashed with her hair, but Dragon had pronounced it to be “fucking gorgeous” when she’d put it on and so she’d decided to wear it anyway.

The dress had spaghetti straps and was made of a thin, silky material which clearly showed her braless breasts under it. It tied in such a way that there was a slit in it that went almost all the way up her right thigh. And of course, she had no panties on under it. The Saurians didn’t seem to wear undergarments of any kind.

The slinky red dress was like something she might wear in her home state of Florida where it was warm all the time, which was definitely not the case on Saurous, Bobbi thought. She was glad that Dragon’s blood was still keeping her from getting too cold, although she had an idea it might wear off eventually and she would need more. But for now she was comfortable—well, as comfortable as she could be wearing such a revealing dress in public, anyway.

“Did he beat me?” she said frowning, since Keelah was still waiting for an answer to her anxious question. “No, of course not. He hugged me and asked if everything was all right.”

“He did?” Keelah’s yellow eyes widened in shock—she looked like she couldn’t have been more surprised if Bobbi had told her the big Kindred had grown wings and flown up into the sky.

“Uh-huh.” Bobbi nodded and then decided to change the subject. “You look beautiful tonight,” she told her new friend, motioning to the silky yellow dress Keelah was wearing. “That color really brings out your eyes and, uh, compliments your scales.”

“Oh, do you really think so?” Keelah’s flat cheeks turned bright green with a blush and she smiled prettily. “Thank you. I couldn’t believe it when Rep. Zerlix said I was to be his dining partner tonight! Just think—he chose me over twenty other girls. They were all so jealous.”

“And now you get to try the delicious bullah bulb soup we made together,” Bobbi remarked, smiling at her new friend’s excitement.

“Yes, I can’t wait!” Keelah exclaimed. “And guess what else—oh, you’ll never guess so I’ll tell you,” she went on excitedly. “Rep. Zerlix and I are to sit at the very end of the head table and I am to have the honor of pouring everyone’s cups!”

“Wow, that’s quite an honor,” Bobbi said, though she really didn’t know anything about this particular Saurian custom. But she was glad that Zerlix would be sitting so far away from her and Dragon. They were going to be seated in the middle of the large, U-shaped head table, right by Dragon’s adoptive father.