Crux: Dragon Brides #1 (Intergalactic Dating Agency)

by Kate Rudolph

  But Crux just scooted closer and laid down between her and the entrance to the cave. Courtney laid down, careful not to touch him, but comforted by the warmth of his body.

  She wanted to ask him to hold her and tell her everything would be okay, but she couldn't make the words come out. She told herself it would be okay and hoped that eventually she could manage to sleep.

  Then Crux's arm came over her side and she smiled.

  7

  Crux knew he shouldn't enjoy the warm body pressed up against him as much as he did. She wasn't his mate. She wasn't his anything.

  No, that wasn't quite right.

  For now, she was his responsibility. He had to get her off this planet and to safety. Anything else would be reprehensible. But that wasn't why he was here. The matchmaker had told him that his mate would be waiting for him.

  Had he been tricked?

  Many things were said about the matchmaker. But he'd never heard any word of her being malicious.

  Courtney shifted as she fell deeper into her slumber, and her body brushed against his. Crux had to bite back a moan and shift away to keep her from feeling the effect she had on him. She was so deeply asleep that it might not register, but he was unwilling to take the risk.

  She wouldn't want him, and he couldn't have her.

  A small, ironic laugh escaped at that thought. He was a dragon prince. Almost everything in the kingdom was his for the taking. And yet he was reduced to lustful sleep in a cave because the woman in his arms was not his.

  The conniving part of his mind tried to convince him that he could take her, provided she was willing. His mate was nowhere to be found. He had made no vows. For all he knew, she was a fantasy dreamed up by a false psychic matchmaker.

  But he wouldn't.

  Courtney was in no position to take a lover, not with a slave collar around her neck and stolen shoes on her feet. She wanted nothing to do with him.

  And under other circumstances, he might have said the same about her. She wasn't a refined lady who knew how to play the seductive games of the dragon aristocracy. She wasn't a warrior who was up for a bit of bed sport with no promises. She was human.

  He'd never fucked a human before.

  His cock plumped up at the thought.

  Crux grit his teeth and tried to think of anything but what the curvy woman in his arms would look like if she was stripped bare. Unfortunately, his mind was only able to focus on exactly what he wasn't supposed to think about.

  Curse it.

  If it didn't have the potential to send his human screaming, Crux would stroke himself to relief right there. She was deeply in sleep and would never have to know. But if she woke…

  No, it wasn't worth the risk.

  Damn it all.

  He couldn't touch the woman in his arms. He couldn't touch himself. And he had no idea where his real mate was. Instead, Crux turned his mind over to the slavers who had crash landed. They would feel the lick of his fire and edge of his claws.

  A cry from outside broke through the force field, and Crux grinned cruelly. That was, if they survived the night.

  If he had to bet, he'd say that most of them would. Slavers were a lot devoted to stubborn survival. The ship was probably intact enough to reinforce and defend against the planet's monsters. And if it was, whatever captives were left had a chance at survival.

  For that reason and his blood lust, Crux hoped the slavers survived. For now.

  Courtney shifted again and let out a little sigh, and all of Crux's martial thought flew out the hatch as his cock surged back to life.

  He reached down and pressed a hand firmly against his trousers, as if that would somehow make his offending organ behave.

  It only served to incite him.

  He rolled away from Courtney. The temptation of her skin was too much for him to handle. He sprang to his feet and checked the force field, since he had nothing else to do. It was holding nicely and he had no worries about it lasting until morning.

  That only took a minute, and his cock was still hard as stone.

  He looked at the sleeping Courtney and wondered what it was about her that made his body react like a man with no discipline. He'd been in much more tempting situations and hadn't flinched from his duty. There was nothing tempting about this, and now he found his hand creeping to his cock again.

  Stress?

  His father's dictate?

  The fact that his freedom was being torn away?

  Or was there something special about the human woman dozing on the dirt?

  Thinking about it only made it worse. Rather than spend the night staring at the object of his desire, Crux explored the cave. It wasn't much to look at. From the disturbed pile of leaves and branches in one corner, he imagined something had made a nest in here at one point, but whatever had, it was long gone.

  He turned a corner and found a pool.

  Crux grinned.

  He wanted to dive right in, but his survival instincts were stronger than that. He went back to the fire where he'd laid down his small survival pack and pulled out a scanner. A quick scan of the water showed it was safe to drink and use, though the temperature reading made him shudder at the thought of the cold.

  Just what he needed.

  He stripped off his clothes and settled in, wincing as the icy chill settled into his bones. He was a dragon, made for fire and heat, not ice. But the shock of the water was enough to calm his body down.

  Crux submerged himself completely and stayed in the icy water until his teeth started to chatter. Once he was done, he pulled himself out of the pool and summoned his warrior form, letting out some of his own fire to warm his body and dry him off.

  He was careful not to look at Courtney. Thinking of her would make the whole exercise pointless.

  He put his clothes back on and sat by the fire, within reach of the woman but not close enough to touch. That way lay a danger he wasn't ready to face.

  He needed a plan. It was a necessity of any battle, and that was what this excursion was. So Crux planned.

  Step one: remove Courtney's collar and send her to his people.

  Step two: kill the slavers and free their captives.

  Step three: find his mate.

  Simple. So simple it only took him a minute to think it.

  The sky was still dark, and if it weren't for the predators, he might risk a longer walk to think things through. He was missing something. Something that he knew was important. But the day had been long and Crux was not a god. He needed his rest too.

  He looked at Courtney for a long while before settling down several feet away from her. He would not allow himself to give into that temptation. He was a man of discipline, even if his fingers ached to feel her hair.

  Think of your mate, he implored his mind. But that was a blank. The matchmaker had told him nothing of his mate, other than the fact that she was here. If it was a trap, it was finely sprung.

  But he believed the matchmaker. His mate was somewhere on this planet and he was going to find her.

  He just had to put Courtney out of his mind.

  8

  Courtney splashed water on her face to try and clear the sleep from her body. Crux had shaken her shoulder to wake her up just as dawn broke outside, and she was shocked at how well she had slept.

  Maybe knowing a dragon was keeping her safe was enough to keep the nightmares at bay.

  She splashed herself again, not particularly caring if she got her clothes wet. Besides, the collar was blocking most of the water from hitting her shirt. That was one good thing about it.

  Cold water in the face wasn't as good as coffee, but it was all she had. She took one of the granola bars once she was done cleaning and scarfed it down. They were surprisingly filling for something that tasted like old cardboard, but she'd much rather have an omelet.

  "What's the plan?" she asked as Crux doused their fire. It filled the area with smoke that made her eyes water until he breathed deep and sucked up all the s
moke, reminding her he wasn't as human as he looked. "Neat trick."

  Crux gave her a polite smile. There was a distance to him today that hadn't been there last night, and Courtney tried to think of what she'd done to cause it. But unless she'd said something terrible in her sleep, she couldn't think of anything.

  Oh god, had she said something terrible in her sleep?

  She was saved the embarrassment of asking when Crux spoke. "We're going to get that collar off you and get you out of here. Hopefully your nightmare will be over in just a few hours."

  He sounded optimistic, and Courtney wanted to believe him. But her cynicism ran deep, and nothing so far had gone the way it was supposed to. "I'm ready when you are," she said with false confidence.

  She didn't know if Crux believed her or not, but they set out anyway. She didn't see any sign of the monsters that they'd heard the night before and wondered for a while if she'd imagined them. Then they made it a little further down the hill and passed by the bones of a creature that hadn't been there the day before.

  "Did those monsters do that?" she asked, trying not to imagine what it would feel like to have her flesh ripped from her bones. There wasn't even a speck of blood left.

  "Most likely," he confirmed. "We're safe as long as we have cover," he tried to comfort her.

  It wasn't much comfort.

  They continued on and Courtney's collar chafed. She stuck her fingers under the metal and tried to pull it away from her skin for a bit of relief, but it didn't loosen. When that didn't work, she rolled her head around, trying to stretch her neck. That didn't do much either, and she stopped bothering. Crux was going to find the tool he needed to remove the collar and get her to safety.

  She hoped she was right to put her trust in him.

  They passed another pile of bones, this one with a skeletal structure that was almost, but not quite, human. "Is that one of the aliens that took me?"

  Crux studied the bones. "It appears so. Don't waste your pity on him. He died too quick."

  "No pity here." She didn't care how fast or slow that thing had died. She just wanted to be away from them.

  As they got closer to the remains of the ship, Crux moved with more care, and Courtney became insanely aware of every step she took. Every leaf that crunched under her feet was a potential alarm for the surviving aliens.

  She hoped the monsters had thinned the herd.

  Crux had shifted to look more alien with those faint scales and claws, and the promise of fire. Compared to that, her roller skates didn't feel like much, but they were still slung over her shoulders and ready to bash in any alien heads that got too close.

  As they got closer to the ship, she found herself wondering about where exactly Crux was sending her. It was too dangerous to ask now, and she realized that she'd wasted her opportunity the night before. He'd told her a little, but she wasn't prepared.

  She trusted him. She didn't want to get sent to some other random planet far from home.

  But hopefully there wouldn't be monsters there.

  Did dragons count as monsters?

  Well, maybe the bad ones. But she seemed to have a good dragon on her side.

  "Stay close, we don't want them snatching you," he warned.

  No, no they did not.

  She didn't hear any screams this morning, but didn't know if that was good or bad. Screams meant survivors. But they also meant fear. She hoped whoever was still trapped on the ship was merely exhausted and nothing worse.

  Footsteps echoed around them as they snuck onto the ship and hid in an out of the way corridor. The alien slaver that crossed their path didn't know what hit him as Crux launched himself at him with a speed that made him blur in front of Courtney's eyes.

  She thanked any deity that was listening that he was on her side.

  He lowered the dead alien quietly to the floor and rifled through his pockets with scary efficiency. He came up with a small electronic device and studied it for a moment.

  "This should do the trick." He pointed it at her and pressed a button.

  Courtney flinched, expecting pain. But all that happened was that the clasp of the collar came undone and it fell off her neck. She caught it at the last minute and then had to quickly rebalance to keep her skates from slipping off her shoulder.

  Crux shot her a look that was half amused, half impressed.

  Courtney glared.

  Then she rolled her neck and enjoyed the sweet freedom of movement. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to even wear a necklace again. She didn't want to be reminded of what it felt like to have all that metal around her throat. No, thank you.

  Crux stowed the remote away in one of his many pockets and then pulled out his teleportation device.

  "Thanks for saving my life," she said before she lost the chance. "Will I ever see you again?" She couldn't help but feel like she was missing out on something right now, like there was something she was supposed to do.

  But that was probably just the trauma talking.

  "I'm sure I won't be far behind you," he promised. "You'll see me before you return home." He pressed a button on the teleporter.

  The day before, the portal had opened immediately, a scar of white light on the fabric of reality.

  Today nothing happened.

  He pressed the button again.

  Still nothing.

  "Is it out of battery?" Courtney asked, though the idea that some sort of practically magical teleporter ran on batteries was ludicrous.

  "Of course not," Crux bit out. Then he shook it and hit it against his palm just like a television remote that was running out of juice. He hit the button again.

  Nothing.

  "Damn it all." He raised his fist high in the air, ready to toss it away, but seemed to think better at the last moment and lowered his hand to glare at the device. "It appears the device is malfunctioning. Something must have been knocked loose while I fought. Don't worry. There will be something that can fix it on board the ship."

  Would there?

  Courtney's heart sank. Sure, she hadn't wanted to leave Crux behind and travel to an unknown planet, but now that she had no choice but to stay, she found herself almost desperate to step through the portal to safety.

  But there was no such thing as safety. Not on this planet. Probably not where he was from, and certainly not back home. She had no choice but to soldier on and survive.

  "Okay, let's go find the parts." If they kept moving, she wouldn't have to think about how terrified she was.

  Crux looked ready to say something, but more footsteps echoed down the hall. "Is there something we could use to cover him up?" He nodded at the body on the floor. "I'd rather he wasn't immediately discovered."

  Good point.

  They found a large storage trunk that was only half full and it took both of them to manage to stash the corpse away. Courtney tried not to think too closely about what she was doing.

  She just had to survive a little longer.

  She didn't have another choice.

  9

  Crux tried not to let the frustration get to him. A broken teleporter was entirely fixable. And, if not, he could always send a message for help. But he hated to be a failure, and he didn't want to risk Courtney.

  "Let's find you some place to hide," he said once the slaver's body was stowed away. He'd start to smell soon enough, but they'd be long gone before he was discovered.

  "Hide?" It came out loud enough that Crux glared at the human and strained his ears to make sure no slavers were coming.

  "Of course. You'll hide, I'll find the parts I need, then I'll send you to Dragon City where you can rest until I send you home. That's the plan." Why were they wasting time reiterating it?

  "I thought we established that hiding me just makes it more likely that the slavers will find me and enslave me again. No, thank you." She shook her head violently, one of her wheeled shoes bouncing against her chest as she moved.

  But he wasn't looking at her chest.
>
  "That was when I thought we'd only be here a matter of minutes. Please, be reasonable." He needed to be rid of this woman as soon as he could. She played havoc on his mind and made him forget his mission.

  "Reasonable? I've been so much more than reasonable. Have I complained? Have I argued? No. Come on, Crux."

  He didn't need to think about how good his name sounded on her lips. "You're arguing now." His mate wouldn't argue, that he was certain of.

  "Because you're being stupid. Let's go get this part, then you can send me off to god knows where and you can do whatever it is you're here to do. Why are we waiting?" She nodded down the hall and leaned forward, as if she were ready to walk off, but when he didn't move, she stayed still.

  "You put every captive on this ship at risk by arguing with me. Especially my—" he cut himself off.

  But Courtney heard him anyway. "Your what? Why are you really here? It's not random, is it?"

  He could lie. He could tell her only half the truth. He didn't owe her anything. But lies withered on his tongue. "I came through the portal to find my fated mate. I have reason to believe she's on this planet."

  Courtney blinked a few times in surprise. "Sure. Why not? If dragons exist, mates are a thing too. Do you have any other bombshells you want to drop?"

  "You mock me." A mate was a gift like no other, something Crux had thought impossible for himself. And Courtney reacted like he was speaking nonsense. His inner fire surged within him, lighting his blood as he seethed.

  Her eyes got wide and she took a step back, but there was a wall in place to keep her from moving very far. "You're smoking."

  Crux looked down and saw she was right. Smoke rose from his skin, a lack of control that only happened to the youngest or most emotionally unstable dragons. He doused his inner fire, calling it back to the core of himself, and the steam dissipated. "Let's find you somewhere to hide."

  "I'd really rather be next to the guy who breathes fire rather than hiding in a closet somewhere." She wasn't going to be put aside easily.