Dragon Trap [Coalition Mates 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Sarah Marsh

  “Sure,” she answered in a disbelieving voice. “I’ll totally adjust and this entire situation won’t seem overwhelming at all.”

  Luca slowed down a bit and then finally stopped once he came across a small stream.

  “I think you’re coping remarkably well so far, Marisol.” He gently laid her down on the leaf-covered ground and jumped up to grab a branch of a nearby bush. “I have to admit, I’ve never met any humans before, but I’m surprised that you’re so brave for such a tiny female.”

  “Well, I also have to admit, I was beginning to freak out there pretty bad before you guys showed up.” She watched him fold the thick leaves into a kind of bowl and then dip it into the running water. He handed it to her. “I can’t believe what those bastards were going to do to me—it was awful, just having to lie there, not being able to move. In the last year, my weird-shit-o-meter has gotten more than enough exercise. I was really hoping this trip to Dolovia would be the end of it before I settled into a nice quiet life.”

  Mari shivered, trying not to let that doctor’s horrid voice play over in her head, with the knowledge of how short her future really could have been.

  Chapter Ten

  It had been over an hour now since their escape pod landed, and there was still no sign of Baelion with a shuttle. Luca had decided to keep moving to higher ground, just in case something had gone wrong and they would be forced to be on the surface overnight. If that was the case, he would need an easily defendable spot to stash Marisol. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this. If Bae had escaped with the shuttle, he should have easily been able to pick up their life signs and find them.

  “So what’s the plan, anyway?” The small female made her way back to the stream to refill her water. “Is your partner supposed to come and pick us up?”

  This one was very strong for someone so small. He liked that she was not afraid to see to her own needs instead of asking him to fetch her more. Luca studied her curvy frame under the sheet, her pale skin closer in color to Baelion’s rather than his own tone. She had beautiful green eyes, despite the dark circles under them, and her long black hair was a wild mess around her shoulders. He had also noticed her watching him carefully as he used the leaves of the boyab bush to make a bowl. She studied the plant, seeming to ensure that she would remember it was safe to use. She was resourceful, and his dragon took notice.

  “That was the plan, yes,” he answered, looking toward the sky once again, “but if he succeeded in stealing a shuttle, then he should have found us by now. So we will head to higher ground before the suns set.”

  “Do you think something went wrong? Oh my God, I hope he’s okay.” Her tiny hands clutched the sheet tighter to her, making Luca notice that they needed to make her something to wear.

  “Bae and I are very resourceful, and I have no doubt that he’s fine. It just may take us longer than planned to get off the planet if he wasn’t able to get a shuttle.” He looked at her, trying to figure out the easiest way to turn that sheet into something wearable. “Now, what are we going to do about your attire?”

  Marisol looked down at the sheet and frowned. “That’s a good question. How are your tailoring skills?”

  “Give me the sheet.”

  The female simply blinked back at him as though her translator wasn’t working. Which he knew wasn’t true.

  “Give it to me and I’ll fix it.” He motioned for her to hand him the cloth.

  “I’ll be naked,” she finally squeaked. “I’m not giving you the damned sheet!”

  Luca sighed. Of course, non-shifters were always so squeamish about nudity. Well, he hoped she got over it quickly, because if they were stuck out here for any amount of time, he didn’t think the soft material of the sheet would hold up in the humid heat of the jungle.

  “I’ll turn my back and you can hand me the cloth,” he answered, turning away from her.

  “Here.”

  He felt the material brush against his shoulder, and he took it from her. He studied it for a moment and figured the easiest thing to do would be to make a hole in the middle for her head to go through. Luca ripped a spot in the middle and handed it back to her.

  “There. Just put it on over your head and let me know when I can turn around once more.”

  “Okay, you can look.”

  She was standing there rather awkwardly, still holding the sides, but it had been a large sheet and she was fairly covered.

  “That worked. Let’s go.”

  “Wait!” She stepped back as he went to pick her up once again. “This is almost worse. The sides are completely open. A stiff breeze comes along and you’ll be able to see all my goodies!”

  Once again he sighed. Females.

  “Marisol, we are both adults. Surely you know I’ve seen plenty of other goodies, as you say. I can assure you that shifters are quite used to nudity.”

  “Well, you may have seen a lot, but you haven’t seen mine,” she grumbled, not giving in.

  He took another look at her and then, lightning fast, he grabbed the hem and tore a long strip from the bottom of the sheet. Luca then held it out for her as she stood, staring back at him.

  “Here. Use this as a belt.”

  “Sheesh, give a girl a little warning before you lunge at her and start tearing at her clothes,” he heard her mutter under her breath as she tucked in the open sides and tied the belt snug around her waist.

  Luca barely was able to hide his smile at her grumbling. She hadn’t screamed when he’d lunged. She’d just watched him with huge eyes, not moving a muscle. His dragon was enjoying teasing her far too much, and Luca was intrigued by its reaction to the female. She was special, this one. He just hadn’t figured out why.

  * * * *

  Baelion cursed loudly as he trudged through the muddy swamp that his escape pod had crash-landed into. The explosion of the space station had caused a shock wave that pushed him far off course. Luckily, it hadn’t wiped out the computers in the pod, or his landing would have been even worse than it was. He did know, however, from the readings in his pod before he landed that Luca’s escape pod wasn’t anywhere remotely close to him. The readings told him he was on the complete opposite side of the continent from his mate and their rescued female. It was going to be a trek to get to them, and lucky for him, air was the safest route to go.

  It was hot and humid on the surface of Draxis. Some of the foliage was familiar to him, but everything was on a much larger scale than he’d ever seen before. No wonder the predators here had grown to such uncontrollable sizes. When they created this ecosystem, the scientists had been fools to not realize it would quickly be beyond their control. Some things were never meant to be tamed. He only hoped that once he found Luca and Marisol and they made their way to the resort docking bay, the jungles wouldn’t have reclaimed everything, including the shuttles, or they were going to have a hell of a time trying to get out of here.

  Bae was just about to shift and begin his flight when he heard a rustling sound toward the tree line. He hadn’t seen many animals except for birds and rodent-like creatures since he’d landed. He knew that the larger hunters would be sleeping through the heat of the day and that come sunset the jungle would be a much more dangerous place, but he was curious as to what would be coming to check out the noise of the landing. It wasn’t being quiet, so he assumed it was a predator of some level during the day if it had no fear of him.

  Finally, a head popped out of the trees just at eye level. A reptile of medium size, covered in green and iridescent purple scales, looked at him curiously—as if it were trying to decide if Bae was something to eat or not. But with the size of the sharp teeth he could see from where he was standing, Baelion didn’t really want to have to show this creature he was indeed not dinner for anyone. He quickly removed his shorts and shifted into his other form, which had the reptile screeching before it bolted back into the jungle.

  Baelion grabbed onto his meager wardrobe with his claws and lifted himself
into the sky easily. He just hoped that Luca would think to give him a sign as to where to find them, or this job would take a whole lot longer than they’d anticipated.

  Chapter Eleven

  “You don’t have to carry me, you know.”

  They’d been traveling for hours now. Mari had noticed that Luca was limping, and she worried her weight would only make it worse. “Are you all right? Did you hurt your leg?”

  She felt him tense up at her question.

  “I have a limp sometimes. It’s from an old injury,” he answered abruptly. “Your weight is no burden to me.”

  When they’d stopped earlier, Mari had noticed that he had some significant scarring on one of his legs, which confused her, as he’d also said he was a shifter. From her classes, she knew that shifters had faster metabolic rates and healing abilities far superior to most species. Why did he have any scarring at all?

  “You mentioned you were a shifter. Which type are you?” She hoped that wasn’t an inappropriate question, like asking a woman how much she weighed, but Mari hadn’t met any shifters back on Sirus yet and she was very curious.

  “I am a dragon.”

  “Har, har, very funny.” She looked up at his face. “I’m sorry if that was a rude question, but you don’t have to make fun of me.”

  He just gave her a puzzled look. “I’m not joking.”

  Well, what the hell did she say to that? Clearly, the word dragon had to mean something different to shifters than it did to humans. Maybe he turned into some kind of lizard man or something.

  “Umm, okay.”

  With the swift change in his attitude when she’d brought up his limp, she figured he was sensitive about it.

  I guess men aren’t that different out here after all.

  Everyone had their own crosses to bear, she supposed. Mari certainly had hers. She was trying her best not to get agitated at the fact that Luca was still carrying her. It wasn’t as though she was an invalid or anything. After her debacle of a marriage with Jordan, she’d adopted an unapologetically independent nature—since some assholes you just couldn’t depend on. Her “council-appointed” therapist after she’d awoken on the strange planet of Sirus had told her it was detrimental to her emotional recovery. Not a huge surprise. Mari had taken enough intro psychology classes to have agreed with the assessment, but diagnosing someone else and going through it yourself were two very different things. Mari held on to her independence like a security blanket, and she’d be damned if some overgrown male model was going to take it away from her now. So if he could get his grump on—then so could she.

  “Look, Luca. I really appreciate all you’ve done for me, but I’m pretty used to being on my own and I don’t really like to be touched. So I’d appreciate it if you’d just let me walk.”

  He seemed taken aback at what she’d said. Mari wondered what part gave him pause. It was probably the bit about her not liking being touched. She didn’t figure a man who looked as good as he did got a lot of refusals from the ladies.

  “Miss, I’m afraid that you may be injured if I were to let you walk on your own—”

  “No ‘miss.’ Just call me Mari. Jesus, I’m half-naked here, no need to be so formal. That just makes it weirder, and I’m not some weak female who can’t even walk on her own.”

  “Mari, then. Many of the plants, animals, and insects on Draxis are poisonous,” he explained. “Without proper foot protection, I would be putting you at risk.”

  He just continued on after he’d said that, as though it was the end of the discussion…which it wasn’t.

  “What about you? You don’t have shoes on either. Just because you’re a man doesn’t make you any less safe than me, buster. That’s just hogswallop.”

  Mari could have sworn she saw a grin trying to break free of his lips, and she was getting angrier thinking he was amused by this entire conversation.

  “I am not a man, Mari. I am a dragon,” he answered smugly. “We are immune to any natural toxin, so there is no danger for me…and that is why I will continue to carry you.”

  Mari didn’t have any comeback for that, and she begrudgingly came to the conclusion that in fact, it was probably safer in his arms. No one wanted to worry about getting poisoned, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

  “Fine.”

  He continued on for several minutes before he quietly spoke. “You know, Mari, there is no shame or weakness in needing help from someone. It’s being too proud to ask for help when you need it that would imply weakness.”

  Instantly she was furious at his remark. How dare he Dr. Phil me! She stewed in her anger as they continued on, refusing to look at him. But her mind wouldn’t leave it alone, and when she really thought about it, he was right. Mari didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t deny that her control issues had manifested out of her damaged pride when her relationship with Jordan imploded. But still, she said nothing, embarrassed that this stranger could read her so easily.

  As they continued on their nature walk through the dense jungle, Mari found herself fascinated by all the colorful and enormous birds that were eyeing them curiously from the branches above, their exotic calls echoing through the trees.

  “Wow, some of these birds are huge! I can’t believe they can even fly.”

  “Oh they can fly all right, and if you weren’t with me they’d be eyeballing you for dinner right about now.” He hissed at one particular bird that looked remarkably like a parrot—except that it was the size of a golden retriever and had been following them for the last half hour or so, hopping from branch to branch above, but when Luca bared his teeth to the animal, it finally flew off.

  Mari needed to give her head a shake and remember that she wasn’t even remotely close to the top of the food chain on this planet. She hated the fact that it made her hold on to Luca just a little bit tighter.

  Hours went by, and she’d figured out that Luca was headed toward higher ground. There wasn’t much conversation to be had. The first time that Luca shushed her and then shot his hand out to grab a snake out of a too-nearby tree, she decided she’d keep her mouth shut so she didn’t distract him. But eventually she couldn’t stand it anymore, and her muscles were itching to stretch out.

  “Luca, can we please stop for a bit?” She whispered, “I really need to stretch my legs and um—well, go to the bathroom.”

  “Oh, of course,” he answered matter-of-factly as he raised his nose and seemed to be looking for something. “Here, there’s a stream nearby and we can hydrate, as well. I’ve also noticed a change in the soil composition. We’re near the mountainside, and I’ll find us shelter for tonight.”

  They took an abrupt turn to the left and soon emerged beside a quaint little stream. Luca gently set Mari on her feet, and she was grateful that his hold lingered when her knees wobbled a bit.

  “Thank you.” She avoided his gaze as she quietly acknowledged his assistance.

  “You can relieve yourself to the left. There is no danger from the foliage, and I don’t scent any animals. I’ll turn around, but you’d best be quick.”

  She was grateful that he was at least turning around without her having to ask, but Mari still didn’t want to just squat and let her bladder loose this close to him. I mean, geez. So she edged farther down toward the water, and when she looked back and saw his big shoulders tense, she stopped before she pushed her luck. After taking a couple of steps toward the bushes, she almost moaned at how good it felt to relieve herself after all that jostling with a full bladder.

  Mari had just stood up and walked back to the stream to rinse her hands when a loud yowl and answering screeches came from the jungle behind her. She jumped and whipped around just in time to see a small furry, striped animal charging directly at her. Mari barely had time to bring her hands up as the bundle landed heavily on her chest, knocking her right back onto her ass in the cool water. Seconds later, four lizards about three feet high nudged out of the bushes and cautiously approached, snapping a
nd hissing, their sharp teeth bared.

  “Luca!” she screamed as the furry little animal tried to hide in her toga. She didn’t know if it was attacking her or not at this point, but she could feel the needle-sharp tiny claws as it struggled to seek shelter.

  Mari was relieved when Luca jumped in front of her, releasing an earsplitting roar, swiping his hands at the scary lizards. She gasped when the golden skin on his back suddenly darkened, shiny black scales flowing across him until they covered every inch she could see. His entire body seemed to also get larger, but that had to be her imagination, right?

  Holy balls! He really is a lizard man! The attackers scattered once they got a look at Luca’s alter ego, but Mari still had the mewling matter on her chest to deal with. She looked down and was instantly lost in the huge blue eyes of some kind of cat that looked almost like a tiger cub with its dark stripes and soaked white fur.

  “Hmm, it’s a gula cub,” Luca mused as he turned back toward her, his skin now melting back to its former golden hue. “I’m shocked it’s stayed alive without its mother to protect it on this planet.”

  She was trying her hardest not to stare, to just pretend as though she saw people’s skin change colors and texture all the freaking time, but it was tough.

  “H-how do you know its mother isn’t around here?” Mari suddenly began to panic, looking frantically around her. If some huge mother cat tore out of the bushes after all that, she was going to be mighty pissed.

  “Because”—he shrugged as he offered her his large hand to help her out of the water—“just like everything else on this planet, she would have tried to kill us already.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Baelion could have sworn he heard Luca’s roar off in the distance, but it was very faint and he could barely discern the direction it came from. Thankfully there was a mountain range to the northwest, and it made the most sense that his mate would look for a safe place there to make shelter overnight. At least, he hoped they made it there before sundown. It was now late in the afternoon, and as he flew, Bae could see the larger predators stirring in the jungle below him. No doubt they were getting ready for a long night of hunting in the cooler air.