Dragon in the Dark (Kindred Tales)

“Don’t hurt me!” he wailed, as Dra’vik reached for him. “Please don’t hurt me!”

“I’m sure Iyanna was asking you the same thing before I came in here,” Dra’vik snarled in his face. He shook the guard roughly. “Because you didn’t touch her the way your fucking partner did, you get to live. But I swear by the Goddess, if you ever touch another female against her will again, I’ll find out about it and come back and fucking bash your brains in, too! Do you understand me, you slimy little fuck?”

“I understand! I understand!” Nak moaned, nodding his head in quick, jerky motions so that his hair flopped over his forehead.

“Good! Then unfasten my female from this fucking thing!” Dra’vik snarled at him. “Make it quick if you want to keep breathing.”

He let Nak go and the Lix’dorian guard fumbled with the controls on the Arch. Hands shaking, he pressed a series of buttons and the copper manacles holding Iyanna in place at last snapped open and she was free.

Finally! Oh sweet Jesus, finally!

Iyanna wanted to run—wanted to bolt, screaming from the scanning room at once. But her legs were suddenly as weak as Jell-O and she found herself collapsing to the floor instead.

Before she could reach it, Dra’vik was sweeping her up into his arms and cradling her close to his broad chest.

“Come on, little girl,” he rumbled. “We’re getting out of here.”

Then he swept her out the door and down the long, curving tunnel that led from the checkpoint into the rest of the spaceport.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Dra’vik hated himself almost as much as he hated the two males who’d attempted to rape Iyanna.

Why did I leave her alone? Why did I entrust her safety to another when it was my job to look after her?

The Minister of Botany—a rotund, self-important little male with little round oculars clipped to the bridge of his pudgy nose—had come to find Dra’vik personally, while he was standing in the male checkpoint line.

“Hello, I am Master-Doctor Ostensio, Minister of Botany and head of the Royal Botany Society of Lix’dor Prime. And you must be the Ambassador from the Monstrum Kindred we have been waiting for!” he exclaimed, upon seeing Dra’vik. “Your appearance is exactly as your superior, Chief Commander Rarev, described you, Sir Dra’vik.”

“Uh, just Dra’vik is fine,” Dra’vik had told him. “I’m a physician but I don’t care for titles.”

“You do not?” Behind the little round oculars, the Minister’s eyes had grown large with surprise. “How very singular! But no matter—I have come because I have documentation that you must sign now if I am to hand over the treasured pleasure plants to you tonight. They are a rare species, you know,” he added. “And my office has the only currently viable male plant in existence on our planet.”

“Um, okay, but I think it’s my, uh, cherished wife you want to talk to,” Dra’vik had protested. He nodded over at Iyanna, who was standing in line, staring straight ahead. He couldn’t see the expression on her face, but he thought her shoulders looked tight.

The Minister of Botany had given him a confused look.

“Why would I wish to speak to a female?” he asked, as though Dra’vik had suggested something extremely odd—and slightly beneath him.

“Well, because it’s Iyanna—Dr. Washington—who’s actually the expert in Botany,” Dra’vik explained patiently. “It’s a hobby of mine, but she’s actually got an advanced degree in it. Also, she’s the Viridi Femma.”

“Ah yes—Chief Commander Rarev told me about that!” Master-Doctor Ostensio had nodded eagerly. “We’re actually planning a little display to highlight your wife’s talents at the Annual Botany Banquet tonight. Most exciting!” He cleared his throat. “But before any of that can happen, I must have you sign the proper paperwork!”

“But I really think it’s Dr. Washington who should be signing,” Dra’vik pointed out again, frowning. “She’s the expert—I’m just here as her backup.”

This time the Minister of Botany looked really offended. His pale purple complexion turned almost puce and he puffed up his cheeks in apparent irritation.

“Really, Sir Dra’vik, I know you’ve never been to Lix’dor Prime before, so allow me to educate you a bit about our customs. We never allow females to sign legal documents—it’s simply not done. It’s for their own good, of course—they really aren’t intelligent enough to allow them to enter into legal contracts. Why, it would be like allowing the family pet to sign a contract—amusing, of course, but hardly legally binding. So if you’d just come with me…”

At that point Dra’vik had wanted badly to tell the little male where he could shove his misogynistic ideas and get back on the shuttle to head back to the Monstrum Mother Ship. Such stupid, sexist attitudes made the Fire inside him want to rise and he could feel his chest getting hotter.

But he reminded himself that they had known the balance of power between the sexes was extremely unequal on Lix’dor Prime before they came here. Also, they needed to get these plants for the good of the Mother Ship. So he was going to have to suck it up and deal with the Minister’s attitude.