by Ruby Dixon
A new scent touches the breeze, and I frown to myself, sniffing.
What is it? Gabe asks, his hands buried deep in the mechanical parts of the generator.
A bad smell. The boy in my hands gives my hair another tug, shouting something in my ear, and I smile and set him down. Nearby, two of the children are playing a game with chalk-lined squares and rocks, hopping on one foot. They are close to the fences, where the strange smell wafts ever closer. I scan the distant buildings—
And then I see it. A cat of some kind, but much larger than the meows that come for ear scratches and like to sit on laps. This one is human sized and buff-colored, and he slinks toward the fence as if stalking one of the small girls that plays nearby. He could eat her easily, her small arm or neck crushed instantly between those jaws.
I spring into action. Without thinking, I detangle myself from the group and race toward the fence. Before I even make it there, I shift forms, launching myself into the air. Someone screams, but I do not stop.
The cat sees me and freezes in the shadows, and there’s no time to even go airborne or extend my wings. I race forward, and when it tries to slink around the building, I catch it in my claws, snap its neck, and then swallow it whole.
Problem solved.
Holy shit, you got him, Teva. Gabe’s tone is impressed. You all right?
It was moving too close to the young ones, I tell him, as I take to the air to scan for other predators. There is nothing on the breeze, though, so I circle low over the hive again. Did I do wrong?
You did awesome, babe. Just watch where you land so you don’t squash anyone.
I do. I carefully find a spot on the roof and then hop down before shifting to my two-legged form. One of the children is holding the shreds of my pretty dress, an astonished look on his face. No one says anything.
I walk slowly forward, my heart pounding. Have I cost Gabe his hive? Is everyone afraid of me now?
“Teba birb,” the little boy says, toddling up to me. He holds his arms up for me to pick him up, and I look over at the mother.
She blinks, and then smiles at me, nodding slowly.
“Birb,” I agree, relieved. They do not fear me.
They know you’re different but it’s okay, baby girl. You’re protecting the little ones and no one’s going to chastise you over that.
I look over at my mate and he’s so proud as he gazes at me. There are greasy smears on his chest mingled with the sweat, but the look on his face is nothing but pleasure. You thought you didn’t have a place here? he teases me. You’re the best protector these children could ever have.
Pleased at the compliment, I take the child and haul him into my arms. I settle him on my hip and then return to my seat. Another child—the one holding my dress—carefully drapes it around my shoulders, and I realize absently that I am naked. Someone chatters and then sticky, small hands grab my hair and start to braid it again.
Protector.
Not a destroyer. Not a wild creature, or a mad creature. Just a protector. Part of the hive.
I like that.
Epilogue
TWO MONTHS LATER
GABE
A cat jumps on my chest, waking me up from sleep. With a grunt, I pet Miss Scarlet and glance over at the other side of the bed…but Teva isn’t asleep next to me. I’m getting better all the time at touching her mind without being intrusive about it, and the patter of vague thoughts and amusement tell me that she’s awake and talking to someone.
Yawning, I plop the cat on the other side of the blankets. She curls into a ball and ignores me, and I swing my legs over the side of the bed and rub my face. It’s early as shit. I peer at the morning light streaming in from the open window at the far side of the room—a luxury now that the fort is protected by two dragons (and sometimes a third). It means that we’re not getting attacked by interlopers looking for new territory. That means windows don’t have to be covered in metal to protect from fire. It means a breeze at night. Mosquito bites, sure, but sometimes the breeze is worth it.
“Scooter?” I call, slapping my leg. No response. The dog’s probably with Teva.
All right, then. I rub a hand down my face one more time, then pull on my jeans and a shirt. I slip on a pair of work boots as I head out of the room in search of my mate. I can feel her laughter again, and it makes me hungry to see her. Two months of Teva at my side and in my bed hasn’t been enough. It’ll never be enough, even if I live to be a hundred.
I’m happily addicted to my mate.
I head down one of the school halls, toward the cafeteria. Teva doesn’t really like the food humans eat—she’d much rather go hunting for a deer or a rogue cow when we’re out and about—but she likes hanging out and listening to the kids chitchat. She gets along well with all the adults, but Teva’s got a special bond with the kids.
I stick my head into the cafeteria. It’s early, and breakfast is just now getting started. There’s a few of the ladies in the kitchen, and to my surprise, I see Charlie. He’s recently gotten sweet on one of the elderly cooks, and I grin as he leans over the counter and gives her a wink. Did I think he had one foot in the grave two months ago? Amazing what a recovery a man can make when he gets himself a girl.
Another one of the cats curls around my legs, meowing. I absently pet this one—one of Mrs. Peacock’s new kittens. We’re becoming a little overrun with cats, but they’re also keeping the rodent and bug population under control, so no one’s complained. Plus, it gives all of us a sense of normalcy to have pets around.
I take another quick look in the cafeteria, but there’s no Teva. No children, either. My mate will definitely be where the children are, so I need to locate them. I could just reach out to her with my mind and let her know that I’m awake, but…I like surprising her. I like watching her from afar, too, like some creepy pervert. But there’s just something so damn open and pure about her expression that I can’t help myself. She’s all smiles when I touch minds with her, and sultry invitation, but when she talks to the children, her eyes are as wide and full of pleasure as theirs, and I want to see that.
So I don’t touch my mind to hers. It’s kinda silly to try and surprise someone you have a mind bond with, but I freely admit that I’m that silly fool when it comes to Teva.
I open the door outside and the early morning humidity dampens my skin. I step outside, glancing around the weed-strewn blacktop and the neat rows of plants on a fleet of flatbeds, ready to be wheeled under cover at a moment’s notice. I don’t see Teva.
But I hear a child’s shriek and giggle, a touch of Teva’s mind showing her pleasure, and I head in that direction, grinning.
Sure enough, back behind the school, there’s a large muddy ditch that probably had some use once upon a time, and now just serves as a magnet for every child in the vicinity. Teva’s there with them, her bright red hair gleaming in the morning sunlight. It’s in a loose braid this morning, tendrils falling out and dancing on her shoulders. She wears a yellow tank top and brown shorts, and she squats in the dirt with Toby and Reggie. Both of the boys have pails, and as I watch, my pretty mate shoves her hands into the muddy dirt and raises them into the air, working her fingers through the mud.
“There’s one!” Toby shrieks.
“Worm,” Teva says, her voice thickly accented. “Yes?”
“A big one,” Reggie cries out, clinging to Teva’s arm. “You touch it!”
Teva leans over and scoops it up, then puts it in Toby’s bucket. “More worm?”
“I need more,” Reggie says, holding his blue pail out. At the boy’s side, Scooter wags his tail and tries to nose the pail, no doubt thinking it’s food.
“More worm,” Teva agrees, leaning over and digging into the mud up to her forearms. She pulls a huge mound of earth free and begins to dig through it while the children peer over it, looking for worms.
I grin to myself, watching. Worms. Right. We promised to take the kids fishing at a pond a short flight away, and so of cour
se they’re out bright and early getting some bait.
“Worm!” Teva cries, holding something dark up and a lot longer than a worm should be.
Ah fuck, that’s a snake.
I send a panicked thought even as I surge forward, and Teva turns to look at me at the same time that the snake latches onto her finger. The kids scream and scatter.
Gabe! You’re awake! She beams at me happily, her thoughts all sunshine and sweetness.
Baby girl, toss that thing away, I tell her, my heart hammering. It could be venomous.
It is not. His teeth cannot even break the skin, she tells me, plucking the thing off her finger and holding it up. It is not a worm then? I did wrong?
You were doing great, I reassure her, moving forward. The snake has a long, thin head and I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank fucking god it’s just a grass snake. Maybe we release it somewhere that the kids won’t get near it.
Good idea. To the children, she calmly announces, “Not worm,” and gets to her feet. “It go.”
“Did it bite you?” Reggie asks, his little face bleach white. Scooter licks him and whines, worried.
“Teva good,” my mate promises, and I’m impressed at how excellent her spoken English is. She’s better every damn day.
It is because you help me. I hear the words and feel you think them. It makes it easy. Teva saunters toward the fence to release the snake.
I follow behind, still feeling protective. My heart won’t stop fucking hammering, even though I know it’s a grass snake. More than that, Teva’s a dragon. It’s not like a snakebite can fell her….at least, I don’t think so.
It will need to be more than that, Teva tells me with amusement as she crouches at the edge of the fence and lowers the snake. “Bye bye,” she tells it, and the kids giggle.
“Let’s keep it to worms, shall we?” I say aloud, pretending to give Teva a stern look. “I’ll get a shovel and we’ll do a bit more digging.”
You are joining us? Teva’s mind fills with pleasure. I like it when you play with us, my mate.
Just hearing her thoughts—full of sultry promise—makes my dick go hard in my pants. I wag a finger at her even as I head into the gym for the gardening tools and discreetly adjust myself. Now you’re not playing fair, I tease her.
I never play fair when it comes to you, she purrs.
Damn. She really does not. I love that fucking woman. I love her quick, clever mind. I love the way she’s determined to learn spoken English because she likes talking to the kids. I love that she’s ferociously protective of both the young and the elderly—and really, of everyone at Fort Shreveport. From the moment we returned, there’s been no question that this is now Teva’s home. Everyone adores her—from crotchety Lester all the way down to the most traumatized, shy women. It doesn’t matter that Teva’s drakoni or that she occasionally struggles to remember simple things like all drakoni do. She’s one of us.
More than that, she’s mine.
But because she’s mine and I know what she needs, I don’t let her have the last word. I push back against her playful thoughts. I’ll make you regret those words later, I send, filling her mind with a mental image of me holding her down while I fuck her hard.
I can feel the quiver of pleasure that rushes through her, distracting her from her task. She recovers a moment later, but the arousal is still humming through her, coloring her thoughts. Hurry with the shovel, Gabe, Teva tells me as I head into the gym. We need many more worms. I told Deirdra that we would bring Ella and Karl with us this afternoon after we bring Reggie and Toby back. Their mother says she needs a day off.
I laugh to myself, even as I grab a shovel and another bucket from the supply closet, then jog out to meet them. You know we don’t have to take on every child in the fort, little destroyer.
I like it, she tells me sweetly. I like being the protector of all of them. She looks up from the muddy ditch as I head back toward them, her golden gaze meeting mine. You are all mine to look after.
Well, you’re damn good at it, love.
A sly smile touches her face as she digs her hands into the muddy earth again. Besides, it is good practice.
“What’s good practice, fishing?” I ask as I approach, distracted by the cleavage she’s showing in that yellow tank top. Damn, but her tits look incredible this morning.
Not fishing, she admits, and looks up at me.
I squint at her, not following. “Then what?”
Teva gets to her feet lightly and crosses over to me. She takes the shovel out of my hands and then grips my wrist. Her claws are shorn short—she doesn’t want to risk hurting one of the children—and her fingers are muddy. Her touch is warm as she takes my hand and presses it against her belly.
Today is good practice for our child.
I stare at her for a long moment. My brain’s still on fishing so it takes me a second to catch on to the fact that she’s not talking about fishing at all, but being with the kids instead. Because…
Did she just say…child? No fucking way.
Yes. That is what I said. Her lips twitch with amusement. “Baby,” she explains aloud, and then winks at me in a gesture she learned from Charlie.
I…can’t breathe. I drop to my knees, overwhelmed, and then thump to my ass on the ground.
Teva giggles.
“Holy shit,” I murmur.
“That’s a bad word!” Reggie hollers at me.
“Yes,” Teva purrs, and she’s still got that delighted look on her face. “Bad words. Bad Gabe.”
I stare up at her, astonished. “You’re sure?”
Very sure. And she smiles.
I throw my head back and laugh. Holy shit. I’m going to be a father. I’m still laughing as I reach over and grab Teva, pulling her down into my lap, muddy arms and all. “Teva, baby,” I murmur eventually, pressing kisses to her face. “A baby for us.”
Part Gabe and part Teva, and hopefully as strong in mind as Sallavatri. Her eyes are gleaming with excitement, and I can feel her sheer joy.
“She’ll be amazing,” I tell my mate. “Just like her mama.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Hello there!
Each book has its own unique pace. This one was glacial. There was no particular reason that this one wanted to come out in little bits and dribbles throughout the day instead of steadily charging onto the page. Such is life, though. At any rate, this one took forever and nearly had me pulling my hair out with how slow it came out. What DID come out was good, it was just slow. But I’ve learned that you can’t fight it. You can bitch about it, but at the end of the day, the book does what it does, and you just give it what it needs. On YOUR end this is probably coming out right on time, but on MY end it’s been on my desk for months now. :)
Teva and Gabe were an interesting dynamic to write. I wanted Teva to be fierce but to also be true to the character I had established earlier in the series - aka, she’s obsessed with babies. Some of it is instinct, naturally, but a lot of it is her personality and how she likes to be nurturer and protector. At the same time, she had to be fierce and aggressive, just like how the female drakoni have been portrayed. I hope you found the balance fun!
It also made their mating dynamic a challenge. Teva knows instinctively how a mating should go in her mind - the male answers her challenge, defeats her, and then babies are made. Boom, done. But humans don’t think the same, and so in a lot of their conversations, she’ll push him or try to take the lead. Gabe being the decent guy that he is, he lets her have the reins…until he realizes that’s not what she wants. I liked playing with the concept of mating this stranger — and then figuring out just how much of a STRANGER they really are and how you adapt.
So many of you have been excited for Teva’s story - and for more dragons. I’ve had several people email me and ask about stories of humans in the drakoni world (instead of drakoni here in our world) or to show more background about what they were like in their world. Annnnd I’m here to be the party pooper
and say that probably won’t happen. It’s in one of those ‘never say never’ categories but for me, a lot of the fun in the dragon books comes from taking these monsters (who are actually people) that went through a massively traumatic experience. I’m less interested in where they came from and more interested in where they’re going, if that makes sense. I like taking the scraps of their humanity and seeing how they can build themselves into new people with a mate at their side. I guess as a writer I’m more interested in showing characters coping with the hand that was dealt them.
That being said, WILL there be more dragon books? Yes. One more, at least. Azar (our naughty Salorian) will have a book at some point. In the meantime, you’ll notice I didn’t leave a thread dangling for a future book, or point an arrow at someone that will be the next hero/heroine. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike. :)
(It normally strikes about a week or two after I put a book to bed, which is really damned annoying, because that means I can’t get to the story in my head for months)
Will it be one of the dragons mentioned in an earlier book? One of the dragons hovering around outside Kael and Claudia’s nest? Will man-hungry Kayla get herself the protector she needs? WHO KNOWS. :)
It also depends on how well the next book does. I watch each one to see how it performs. At the end of the day, I’m writing for me, but I also think of my head as a bit of a jukebox. I’ve got a bunch of CDs shuffling around in my brain, full of plots and characters and ideas. If everyone responds really well to a book and it performs amazingly, I shuffle a few mental “CDs” of those plots to the front. If it does poorly, I feel like I’m not hitting the mark with what my audience wants, and so those ideas get shuffled behind more ‘popular’ items.
So if you love dragons, please let me know! Reviews help. Recommendations help. I used to feel weird about asking for reviews, but they tell me whether or not I’m delivering. So please, definitely let me know if you want the series to go on.
