Dragon Joined

by Rebecca Royce

  Dragon Joined

  Rebecca Royce

  Dean Andrews watched in horror when sixteen-year-old Amanda Sugar was carried away by the dragons. He swore to destroy the beasts before anyone else could be taken. Six years later, he leads his people in a war against the dragons and finds someone he never expected to see again—Amanda, who has grown into a passionately desirable woman.

  Amanda has spent the last six years as a prisoner of the most monstrous dragon imaginable. When she lays eyes on Dean she can’t believe he is there—she has dreamed of him since she was a teenager. Together they will discover a way to finally end the dragons’ rule over humanity, or die trying.

  A Romantica® futuristic erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

  Dragon Joined

  Rebecca Royce

  Chapter One

  Above Amanda, the sky appeared so blue. It seemed a terrible day to be executed for stealing. Especially since she hadn’t even delivered the bread she’d taken for her starving brother and sister. At least if she’d been caught after feeding them she might feel better about the whole mess.

  Made for a woman twice her size, her dark clothes hung from her body. They were all she’d been able to find the last time she’d scrounged around abandoned farmhouses for discarded garments. She knew she looked scruffy compared to the tight-fitting, tucked-in collared shirts and khaki pants the members of the township wore.

  The hot sand of the desert burned her feet through the holes in her sneakers. Years of calluses did nothing to protect her from the onslaught of the ground’s heat. If she lived through the day, she’d have to find a new pair of shoes. Compared to other places where she and the kids roamed, New Strauss constituted a downright hospitable environment. There were even forests in the distance and a lake on the outskirts of town. If her feet couldn’t survive her current environment, she’d never make it anywhere else.

  Surrounded by men with guns and restrained by the hard grip of an oversized Enforcer, she couldn’t take her eyes from the man who stood directly in front of her. Dean Andrews.

  This day—the sixth of the seventh solstice—happened to be her seventeenth birthday. Not that she’d had any kind of a celebration.

  Rubbing her nose, she stared up at the face of the person who would be her executioner and prayed to a god she didn’t believe in for one more day on the planet to make things right. Not for her. But for her little sister and brother. They were hidden away in a barn miles away from New Strauss and would starve to death if she never returned with the food. Unless the Wanderers found them. If that happened, Lily would be sold into slavery and any number of horrific, unthinkable things could happen to Steven. Starving to death would be a blessing in comparison to abuse by the Wanderers.

  Dean stared down at her, his curly brown hair blowing in the warm wind. Mama had always said that Dean Andrews had been born with steel in his spine and a temper that could shatter the stars. Right now, his blue eyes showed none of the anger she knew he must feel. No one robbed the leader of New Strauss. Even the Wanderers understood what would happen if they crossed Dean.

  I’m such a giant idiot.

  “Amanda Sugar.”

  She blinked rapidly as his words penetrated her constant inner dialogue. With no one to talk to except two six-year-olds, she’d long ago given up expecting adult conversation. Being on the run didn’t let her meet too many other sixteen-year-olds. And she never spoke to respectable adults if she could help it. That just led to more questions and interference in things that were none of their damn business.

  “You know me?” She rubbed at her nose. It seemed to be itchy today. Her knees weakened. At least if she passed out from starvation, she wouldn’t be awake when Dean chopped off her head.

  He crossed his arms over his chest before glancing at the man who stood to his left. They must have been having some sort of silent conversation she couldn’t follow. What did she care? One of Dean’s goons seemed just like the others. Township bullies were township bullies. To her, they all appeared the same. Big, brawny and murderous.

  Dean turned his gaze back to her. “Where are your mom and dad?” His eyes held steel in their depths. “I haven’t seen them in years.”

  Yes, she knew that too. Not since they’d all run off like criminals in the middle of the night because Mama had been pregnant. New Strauss only let a woman give birth to one baby. Mama hadn’t wanted to have an abortion. So they had run and never looked back.

  Amanda should have listened to her parents and stayed away from this place, not gotten so close again.

  “Dad died right after we left here. He took a fall. The wound got green. After that, you can imagine.” She shuddered at the memory before she pushed it away to where it couldn’t bother her any more.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Dean ran a hand through his curly hair. She watched, fascinated, as if she’d never seen anyone make such a simple gesture before. What the hell had happened to her brain? Dean Andrews had to be twice her age and, besides, it seemed downright stupid to be fascinated by a man who was going to execute her.

  “Thanks.” She nodded, hoping the deep breath she took would make the world feel steadier. It didn’t. “And Mama died four years ago. She got real sick. I don’t know from what. But it was over very fast.”

  Dean narrowed his gaze, squinting his eyes in a way that made him look like a prairie dog hunting his prey. “When she left here, she was pregnant.”

  “Yes sir.”

  If the men with the guns hadn’t looked so tense holding their weapons, she might have told him to go to the devil for even talking about the kids. The guard to her left kept twitching his finger. She hoped he didn’t accidently blow off her head.

  “Where is the baby now?”

  Amanda stared off into the distance. If they were gonna kill her anyway, maybe it made sense to just run. Let them shoot her in the back, like the disloyal cowards she knew them to be. She wouldn’t make it far. Most likely she’d trip and fall on her face before she made it to the trees. Still, at least she’d die trying to get away from them instead of at their mercy and in their time.

  “Don’t run.”

  She glared at the leader of the only place for hundreds of miles that could be called civilization. He gave orders, people followed them. It had been six years since she’d seen him, but that much she could remember well. No one disobeyed Dean Andrews. Except her mama and dad.

  And now her.

  “I don’t want to hurt the child. I didn’t want to hurt the baby back then. I wouldn’t have. Your father and I…we misunderstood each other. He never gave me the chance to make it right.”

  “Why would you want to?”

  His smile made her heart stutter. She hadn’t expected him to grin like a fool. Nothing she’d said should have come across as funny. “Your family belonged to this community. I take that very seriously. You were all under my protection. I’ll consider you mine until the day I die.”

  “Look.” Amanda closed her eyes for a second before she reopened them. The time for fooling herself had long passed. “There were two babies. Mama had twins. I’ve been raising them for four years now. They’re starving. I’m sorry I stole from you. It won’t happen again. If you just let me go, I won’t bother you people no more.”

  Dean took a step toward her. “You’re exhausted.” He looked up at the man behind her. “Take her inside—give her the cabin that belonged to her parents. Tell me where your siblings are, Amanda, and I’ll go and get them myself. Bring them here.”

  “No.” She struggled against the strong hand that took her arm. “You’ll kill them. You always wanted them dead.”

  Dean swore. “I’ve never wanted to kill a child in my life. There are rules to protect us all. Your parents k
new that. I was even willing to work with them.” He pointed to the sign above the entryway of the township. “What does that say?”

  Amanda stared in the direction he indicated, hoping her cheeks weren’t as red as a rotten tomato. She could make out the words New Strauss just fine, but after that she didn’t have a clue what the damn thing said. She’d never read very well, even when she’d gone to school in the township, and whatever skills she’d had had gone haywire after she’d left. Her brother and sister would never learn to read because she couldn’t teach them. If she felt shame about anything, not being able to teach the kids had to be it.

  “I’m not reading it to you. Read it your own damn self.”

  Dean’s eyes widened and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “Excuse me?”

  Yeah…she’d probably done it now. Her mama had always said that she didn’t have one lick of sense when she got mad.

  Before she could muster an apology of sorts, everyone’s attention turned to the sound of beating wings in the distance. Each flap of the beast’s movements in the sky sent shivers up her spine. God, how she hated the evil creatures.

  The man next to Dean pointed upward. “Dragons.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes. Anyone could see there were dragons coming. Why make so much noise that they were bound to be spotted? Her mouth went dry. The kids were alone. Far enough away that maybe they would be safe, but too close for Amanda to be totally certain.

  “Inside.” Dean’s voice sounded calm, even slightly cold. How could he so cool with dragons in the sky? Did ice run through his veins?

  Her heart lodged in her throat. She would not leave the kids alone while the dragons were out and about. Yanking hard, she ripped her arm out of the hand of the guy who held her.

  He reached for her but wasn’t fast enough. The dragons were getting closer and after a second of chasing her, he turned and ran toward the township gate. Amanda moved quickly. With the kids hidden two miles away, it had taken her twenty minutes to sneak into the township. She could run it in less time, although her starvation made her slower than she wanted to be.

  In and out, her breath came fast. Her legs burned but the sweet faces of her brother and sister fueled her. A hard grip on her arm yanked her backward and she almost fell, until she was pulled against a strong chest.

  Dean shouted in her ear to be heard over the loud sonic booms of the dragon’s wings. “This way. We have to get out of the open.”

  She struggled, trying to pull free, desperate to escape his hold. “The kids. I have to get to the kids.”

  “You can’t do that if they catch you.”

  His words made sense, even if she didn’t like listening to adults. She let him pull her toward the woods. The area had caught her attention earlier and it had seemed like a good place to hide out before she and the kids moved on.

  Out of breath, she leaned against a tree while Dean stared at the sky. “Don’t worry.” He didn’t seem to have been affected by their run at all. But then he hadn’t been starving for days. “They’ll take down the dragons. The monsters don’t get past us.”

  Amanda watched the sky, wishing she could be as brave as Dean appeared to be. What if he was wrong? What if the township didn’t take down the beasts?

  I’ve never felt this exposed.

  “In all the years I’ve lived on my own with the kids, we’ve only seen them this close twice.” She shook her head.

  “Then you were lucky.” A loud explosion shook the earth. Amanda covered her ears with her hands as her knees threatened to give out. She wouldn’t faint. She wouldn’t. Dean pointed at the sky as one of the giant beasts felt the blast of a cannon. It roared, flapping its wings rapidly as it tried to stay airborne.

  A second explosion made her step back, as if she might be blown over by the sound alone.

  She hated this. Had always detested the dragon attacks. Why wouldn’t the dragons leave? “Or maybe you draw them to you because lots of people living in one location is an easy snack for them.”

  Dean took his eyes off the sky and eyed her. “You’re, what…sixteen, right?” She blinked rapidly under his regard. Her cheeks felt warm.

  “Um, yes.” She watched as another blast assaulted the dragon. It didn’t seem the time to mention her birthday. “You’re just taking down two. There are three of them. What about the other one?”

  “When dragons break the tree line,” Dean pointed at the top of the tree they stood beneath, “they get blasted. Don’t you remember any of this?”

  “We got put away during attacks. Locked up. Everyone just stayed quiet and hoped it would be over soon.”

  “There’s no place for kids during an attack. And there are four dragons, not three. Can’t you count?”

  She whirled around, her head spinning. Yes. There had been four dragons. Where had the last one gone? Her eyes spotted the creature in the distance. Hovering more than flying, it circled a distance from the other flying lizards.

  The clear blue sky let her really see its markings. Like all dragons, the one that circled them had green, scaly skin. She hadn’t seen them many times but they each seemed to be a different shade. The one she was staring at also had red and blue spots up and down its spine.

  All of them are green. She didn’t want to let herself start to think too hard about them. They were monsters. They killed everything and everyone who came into contact with them. So what if they were beautiful?

  “They are gorgeous for being so deadly.”

  She jolted at Dean’s voice. “Can you read minds?”

  “You’re pretty transparent.”

  His voice did funny things to her. A tingle traveled up her spine. “How old are you, exactly?”

  “Too old, Amanda Sugar.” He stepped away from her to lean against one of the trees. She had no idea what he meant by that. Too old for what? He looked pretty fit to her. He’d chased her when everyone else had run. Dean looked healthy and young.

  He kept speaking. “When the dragons leave, I’d really like to come with you to collect the kids. Come home with me. You should have been in New Strauss this whole time. Let me…undo what never should have happened.”

  Were his pretty words and sincere eyes enough to make her forget all she’d been taught about him? “Nothing can be undone. Not unless you can bring back Mama and Daddy.”

  “I don’t have super powers. Although sometimes I wish I did.”

  A loud roar filled the air and she winced. The dragon under assault finally succumbed to the cannon fire and hit the ground. Loud beats of flapping wings scorched her eardrums as the next two dragons lined up to either assault the township or leave.

  Dean placed his hands over her ears. She wanted to object. People didn’t simply touch her whenever they felt like it. But the heavy pressure of his strong hands blocked more of the noise than her own, smaller fingers had.

  He shouted right next to her ear. “I’m half-deaf anyway.”

  She smiled before she pointed off into the distance at the dragons leaving. “You know, when I was terrified, hidden in the safe spots for the children of the township, I had no idea you were all out here so unconcerned about the violence.”

  “I’m concerned. Sort of.”

  She bit down on her lip. One way or another, she needed help. The kids couldn’t be left to starve. Someone had to teach them things, since she wasn’t exactly educated. They had to have a chance, even if it made her stomach ache with despair that by asking for help she’d be breaking every promise she’d ever made her mama. Don’t go back to New Strauss. What in the seven halls of hell should she do?

  “The kids are hidden in a barn that way. About two miles away. They won’t come out—not willingly—for anyone but me.”

  Dean nodded. “I’ll come with you. You’ll introduce us. Kids like me. All the children do.”

  This strange man, whom she didn’t quite trust but whom she needed if she was to survive, had no shortage of confidence. It almost made her believe she could survive a dragon at
tack just by hanging out in the woods.

  He removed his hands from her ears, and they were heated from where his fingers had touched her. She rubbed them. “So it’s over, then?”

  Dean glanced up at the sky. “Appears to be.”

  “And they did all that without you there?”

  “The guardians of New Strauss are like a well-made machine. They know how to work together whether I am there or not.”

  He took her hand and tugged her out of the woods. “I think you’re going to like being back. There are so many people your age. Maybe you’ll be able to pick up some old friendships.”

  Making friends? The idea seemed so foreign, so completely out of the realm of the possible. “I don’t know. I want the kids to have friends.”

  “You don’t want to?”

  Did she? Could she? After all that time on her own, she might be too weird to get along with anyone.

  A boom exploded above her head. She startled backward, losing her footing and nearly hitting the ground. Dean shouted her name but it was all too late. One second she had her feet beneath her and the next she was tearing upward into the sky, with no dirt beneath her feet.

  Her stomach lurched and she screamed at the top of her lungs. Dean ran forward toward New Strauss shouting at the men with the cannons below her, but the higher she got, the more she knew his actions were fruitless. She hoped he was going to tell them not to shoot the dragon down. Crashing back to the ground would be a horrific way to die.

  Amanda’s shoulders burned where the evil creature’s claws dug into her skin. She struggled for a moment, then stopped. The only way she could go would involve falling to her death. She might not be smart but she’d never thought herself to be dumb either.

  Hopefully there’d be time to figure out how to kill herself if she was going to become dragon food. Until then, she could keep trying to escape, to get back to the kids.

  Thank the fortunes I thought to tell Dean where they were hidden. He’ll find them now. Even if they hide.