by Cara Bristol
“Nothing yet,” Biggs replied. “The settlement program is still top secret. At the appropriate time, they’ll be informed their loved ones were attacked by dragons.”
“But, you heard Rhianna—that’s not how it went down,” Helena said.
“As far as we’re concerned, nothing has changed,” Biggs said. “The president and I have a few things to discuss, but you may return to your office.”
The dismissal indicated how far her position had fallen over the past few months. She used to be included in all high-level discussions. Once, the expulsion would have rankled, but that was before she’d learned how dangerous Biggs was. Grateful for the chance to escape, she pushed back from the table.
She looked at her father. “Thanks for including me.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” He hadn’t called her that in years. “I know how much Rhianna meant to you.”
Meant. Past tense. Because they were proceeding with the plan.
Why, Dad, why? Why did you bring Biggs into your administration? How did he get his hooks into you? What does he have on you? Those questions would never be answered. Couldn’t be asked without consequences. It was too late anyway. What was done, was done.
She strode to the door.
“Helena.” Biggs brought her to a halt. “One more thing…”
Her hand on the knob, she turned.
He focused his laser-eyed gaze on her face. “You considered fashion tips important, why?”
Fear lodged in her throat. Keeping her tone cool with a touch of the disrespect Biggs had come to expect from her, she said, “I wanted to be certain they hadn’t hacked into our identification software, and that Rhianna really was Rhianna and speaking to us in real time. So I asked her a question only she would know.” Helena paused. “She passed.”
Biggs nodded grudgingly. “Good thinking. Next time, keep me apprised.”
She nodded and fled.
Chapter Twenty-One
Beaming and smelling of happiness, Rhianna emerged from the tiny room outfitted with a communication module. K’ev had remained outside, agreeing with her that his presence might have hindered her government’s openness and cooperation. His absence demonstrated how much he’d come to trust his human mate.
He dropped his folded arms. “It went well?”
“Better than I expected. The president said they’ve been considering withdrawing from Elementa. I cleared up some misinformation.” Her smile folded. “They thought you had attacked first.”
His dragon growled at the insult.
K’ev bristled, too. “Why would they think that?”
“I’m guessing that’s what the colonists told them. They’d screwed up, and they were covering their asses.”
Flicking his tail, K’ev paced the flex chamber. “You think your government is serious about leaving?” He could sniff out deception from a hundred yards away, but that wasn’t an option in this case. He’d have to rely on his mate’s assessment.
“The president told me so himself. Whether they do?” She spread her hands. “We’ve opened a dialogue, and we can continue to work toward a solution.”
“The king is not the most patient of dragons.”
“Are any dragons patient?”
“Patience is not one of our virtues,” he admitted.
“Have you told your father about the colony yet?”
“I waited in hopes of having positive news.” There was no need to rouse his fiery temper until he had to.
“This is positive.”
“Not positive enough. My father will not trust talk.” He wished to avoid insulting his mate, but humans spoke a lot of untruths. Promised things they never delivered.
Humans talk too much, his dragon agreed.
If you’re not careful, Rhianna will hear you, and you’ll hurt her feelings, K’ev warned.
Never. Want to hold mate. Touch her. Smell her. She smells delicious.
Rhianna narrowed her eyes. “Did the dragon say something?”
“He says you smell delicious.” K’ev paused. “He’s right.”
Always right.
Since K’ev marked her, and she’d become his dragoness, she’d begun emitting mating pheromones, exuding a mix of her own scent and his essence. Smelling himself on her, knowing she belonged to him, put him in a continual state of arousal. As soon as they finished this conversation, he had plans for her…
Rhianna snorted. “How long before we arrive on Draco?”
“Two days, if we take our time.”
“Can you hold off telling the king until then?”
“I can…but why?” The longer the delay, the more impatient and furious the king could become. However, even the Draconian monarch knew communication transmissions could be iffy in space. Perhaps if he truncated a message, omitting key details, his father would assume the message had been disrupted. It might work.
“I think Earth will contact me with an update. If we could hold off until we arrive?”
He frowned. “How will they do that?” He doubted Earth had the interface to hail the ship directly.
She bit her lip. “Before I boarded, I was given a communication unit.”
She’d been in contact with her people? Alarm and suspicion raised his hackles. Automatically, he took a deep sniff to scent out her emotions then felt guilty for doubting her. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? Where is it now?”
“At first…well, we weren’t exactly on good terms.” She winced apologetically. “I didn’t know what was going to happen to me. Then we went to Elementa, and our relationship changed. I’d taken it off before we went to Elementa so I wouldn’t lose it, and then after being shot, I forgot about it.”
“What did the message say?”
“Well, it was from the president. He urged me to meet with the king and the royal court and work things out diplomatically.” She shrugged. “He didn’t give me a whole lot of information.” She looked up at him. “They were worried about the threat of war—that they would lose.”
“Earth would lose.” Softening the truth wouldn’t accomplish anything.
“That’s why I have to do everything I can to avert a military confrontation. I don’t want to be the sole survivor from my planet.” Her eyes teared, and the scent of rain drifted to his nostrils.
He felt ashamed for doubting even for an instant.
Never doubt our mate.
“I don’t want that, either.” He pulled her close and rested his chin on her head. “I can’t say I trust your government, but I trust you.” The dragon was right; she wouldn’t lie. Not now. They’d gotten past their wariness of each other. “I couldn’t bear it if you lost everyone you loved.”
“Thank you for that.” She squeezed him tight. He didn’t think he could ever get enough of her touch. “Anyway,” she said, “I never could get the message to replay, but the president said they could contact me through the unit once I got to Draco.”
Interesting. “Where’s the unit now?” Better safe than sorry. Like he’d said, he trusted Rhianna. Her people? He’d sooner turn his back on a tetrapod.
“In my storage cabinet.”
“Go get it,” he said.
Rhianna disappeared into their bedchamber. He would always prefer his mate coming toward him rather than moving away, but he had to admit he enjoyed the attractive backside view. Her hips swayed, and her rounded ass jiggled enticingly. His mate was soft and cuddly. He almost considered following her, but if he did, he’d forget about examining the device. Soon, he promised himself and adjusted his erection.
Rhianna returned with the device. He held it to his ear, listening for moving parts, but it was silent. He shook it and listened again. Nothing. He sniffed at it. His inspection didn’t yield anything suspicious, but he ordered the ship to scan it.
The results came back: the unit was a simple, primitive digital recording, designed to play before erasing itself. It wasn’t sending or receivin
g signals of any kind. “It’s not anything,” he said, relieved. “Just a lump of metal.” He handed it back to her.
“I’m supposed to wear it and wait for a message,” she said.
He shrugged. “Well, you can try. It couldn’t hurt—although I don’t think it’s operational.” He was certain she wouldn’t get anything through the unit.
“Could something be interfering with it?” she asked.
“Like what?”
“Like this ship. It’s so high tech, maybe it demagnetized the device or something?”
“Possibly,” he said. “The ship could be blocking it, or it could have deactivated it altogether.” The spacecraft operated like a living organism with electronic antibodies that sought out and destroyed what it perceived as foreign invaders. “Electromagnetic radiation can disrupt communication, too,” he said. Many reasons could account for why her device had stopped working—including the unreliability of Earth “tech.” It was amazing the primitive device had worked at all. But, he wouldn’t be so rude as to say so.
“That’s what happened when I was talking to the president. Everything went fine until they started breaking up. Then the transmission cut off completely.”
“It happens.” He nodded. “Solar flares, the eruption of volcanoes on Elementa, even your own planet’s weather could have affected the connection. In addition, human and dragon tech don’t sync well. It’s why your people can’t contact the ship. We have ways to work around the limitations, but your people don’t know how.”
She nestled the unit in her left ear. “I’m going to wear it. Maybe something will happen.”
“If it doesn’t, I’ll arrange for you to contact your president from Draco before we meet with the king.” He would like to have something concrete to report. And if he could credit the positive news to his mate, it might soften the king’s heart toward her.
“That would be great,” Rhianna said.
K’ev frowned as memory flickered. “You said they,” he recalled. “Who did you speak to besides the president?”
“Oh! Helena was there.”
“Ah, Helena.” On the one hand, he didn’t like her. She’d reeked of lies when he’d met her. On the other hand, if not for her, he never would have met his mate. “How is she?” he asked politely.
“She was…okay. Seemed glad to see me, but she didn’t say much, and when she did, she was more interested in my clothes. It was a little weird, even for Helena.”
“She’s feeling guilty for abandoning you,” he suggested.
“You could be right.” She brushed her hair back, and his eyes were drawn to the reddened bite mark. The color would fade as it continued to heal, but it would always be stark against her skin for all to see. No two bites were alike. Besides the revealing pheromones, his signature bite marked her. His chest swelled with pride and possessiveness.
Yesss. Rhianna is ours.
From her neck, he let his gaze drift over the curve of her breasts, the indent of her waist, the swell of her hips, the delta of her sex, and back up. She parted her lips, and her blue eyes widened before her lashes lowered. Her fragrant arousal teased his nose.
He couldn’t wait anymore. “Mate,” he said. “I need you.” He kissed her and then swept her up in his arms and carried her into their bedchamber.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rhianna had never seen sky so red. In every direction, from horizon to heavens, it appeared as though a painter had washed the expanse with bold strokes then set the paint on fire. Huge columned white structures, many of them round with domed roofs, towered in stark contrast against the scarlet backdrop. Overhead, roaring dragons swooped and soared like planes at a busy airport without flight plans or traffic control. She cringed, half expecting a midair collision. K’ev had explained the ship would land in the capital city named after his father, King K’rah, but she hadn’t expected a metropolis this huge.
And on the ground, Draconians in demiforma gawked at her. She’d never seen so many dragons. If not for K’ev at her side, holding her hand, she might have fainted out of fright.
“Remember to use your respirator,” he said.
“Got it.” With her free hand, she patted her pouch, and wrinkled her nose at the lightning-scented air.
K’ev’s chest expanded with his inhalation, and a smile quirked his lips.
“You like being here, don’t you?” she asked, wondering if she’d ever see her home again. She would miss Earth and her family, but she would never leave K’ev. With every passing moment, their bond strengthened to become unbreakable. Leaving him would feel like dying. Now she understood what having a mate meant. Being a consort, girlfriend, spouse, couldn’t compare.
“It fuels my fyre.” He flattened his palm against his chest. “It will pain me when the time comes to go.” He looked at her. “We’re scheduled to meet with the king at the palace later this afternoon, so I thought we should visit the temple first. Paying homage to the Eternal Fyre helps to center me. It will also give you an opportunity to see more of the city.”
“Fine by me.” She was eager to see it all. “I’m surprised the king didn’t demand to see you immediately.”
“Since I didn’t inform him of our arrival time, other matters have arisen. Ruling a population this large claims much of his time. Believe me, he’s puffing smoke waiting for me.”
A dragon king in a bad temper? Not a good combination. She gulped. “And you haven’t told him you’re bringing a mate?”
“He won’t believe it until he meets you.”
“Why?”
“Because dragons and humans don’t mate.”
“How will meeting me convince him?”
“Because he will smell it. You exude the mating pheromone.”
“He can smell we’ve had sex?” she gasped.
“Dragons smell everything. It’s a core part of our communication. Yes, we can detect if a couple has had sex, but that wasn’t what I meant. Once we mate, body chemistry produces an ester that alerts others.”
It brought new meaning to the phrase nosing into someone’s business.
His nostrils flared, and then he frowned. “You’re embarrassed by this?”
“Yes, I’m embarrassed!”
“How is smelling that someone has mated any different from seeing it?” he asked.
“I don’t understand.”
“Isn’t it a tradition on your planet for couples to wear special jewelry signifying their commitment to one another, and they’re unavailable to others?”
“Wedding rings. That’s different.” Everyone on the planet would know when she’d had sex, and probably for how long and in what position.
“I’m proud for everyone to know you’re mine,” he said.
Despite her ambivalent emotions, she couldn’t help but lean closer to him. He smelled wonderful. Mixed with his burnt-cinnamon scent was an undertone of vanilla. He smelled like a cinnamon roll. No wonder he makes my mouth water.
She’d only noticed the vanilla scent since…they’d had sex. Rhianna blinked. Is that my essence I smell on him? On Earth, the aroma of cinnamons rolls would not keep other women at bay—it would draw them in like a 50 percent-off sale. Hopefully, it affected dragons differently.
His alluring scent was making her wet.
He growled. “We’d better leave before I embarrass you,” he said. “Are you ready?”
“Ready.”
“Grab my clothes, will you?”
“What?”
He released her hand, stepped back, and shifted into the dragon. He whuffed.
“Oh.” She grabbed the scattered scraps and then squealed in surprise when he snatched her up and launched into the air. She’d expected they’d ride public or private transportation like a monorail or an intelligent limo. She hadn’t expected to fly. Well, duh. No wonder there were so many dragons zipping around.
K’ev climbed high into the sky until he topped the tallest s
tructures. The breathtaking metropolis stretched for miles. Tall, wide-spaced columns, their capitals decorated with ornate curlicue flames, supported massive pavilions. Spires, obelisks, coliseums, and parabolic arches seemed to cover every inch of space like an elaborate, urban diorama. The Draconians’ lives were captured and frozen in stone statues of dragons in flight, spewing fire, hoarding treasure, fighting in battle, and tending to little dragonlings.
Gripped in strong claws, she was confident he wouldn’t drop her, but she hung on, just in case. Beyond the city, a thin glowing stream of lava snaked over blackened rocky ground. Around it, a few fumaroles emitted wisps of steam. No astrogeologist, even she could see the difference between Elementa and Draco. The Draconians’ massive population lived on a planet that would soon be unable to support their life.
They flew over a pretzel-like structure of interconnected tubes, the only area absent of people and activity. Was it a quarantine? A forbidden zone?
K’ev landed outside a huge rotunda constructed of solid white stone, smooth and glossy like marble, only veinless. A ring of unadorned columned spires were spaced equidistant around it. Between the columns, menacing dragons in full form sat on their haunches, staring straight ahead. Guards.
K’ev whuffed, nudged her with his enormous head, and then shifted into demiforma.
“This is the Temple of the Eternal Fyre,” he said.
Unlike the other structures she’d seen, the temple was unadorned. For something so essential, she expected more grandeur, like the cathedrals on Earth. We’re not on Earth anymore, Toto, she reminded herself.
“You’re disappointed?”
Would she ever get used to how easily he could read her? “Everything else is so ornate.”
“We do not wish to detract from the importance of what is inside.”
“What is inside?”
“The source of our existence, the Eternal Fyre. As long as it burns, we live. That’s why there are guards.”
None of them appeared friendly. “Are they going to let us in?”
“Yes, the priestess is expecting us.”
“You contacted her?”
