This time around, they hadn’t expected humans to be so socially and technologically advanced. Humanity had refused to simply mate with the dragon shifting aliens, so the Draconians offered the human race advanced technology in exchange for their cooperation.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t given humans any guidance on how to deal with the quickly changing social environment that the new technology had created. There were those who opposed the Draconians in every way. To Loretta’s knowledge, this was the first time that anyone had taken such dramatic action.
“What’s wrong with you?” an older woman screamed across the room. “You threaten your own kind to get rid of the aliens?”
The lead terrorist stared at her, his face covered by the face mask. “It’s young fertile women the Draconians want. They would threaten our entire way of life for a chance to mate with our women. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good.”
Loretta could hear people crying around her and a tear slid down her own cheeks. At twenty-six years old, Loretta was definitely a young fertile woman and the terrorists would certainly put her on the chopping block. If something happened to her, her grandmother and younger brother and sister would be destitute.
Beyond the shattered glass window, she could see police cars and news vans crowding the street outside. She prayed that someone would be able to help her.
Chapter 3
General Mylash Shin, leader of the Draconian commandos, walked onto the command deck of the Draconian mating armada and faced Commander Nash Or. Mylash had traveled thousands of light-years from Draconia to help humans deal with the problems Draconian technology had created on their planet. Taken away from war with the Mulgor, Mylash didn’t appreciate being given this assignment. The Mulgor were the Draconians’ ancient enemies and needed to be dealt with. The economic problems of a mating planet did not take priority over defending Draconia from a scourge like the Mulgor. However, the president of Draconia had ordered Mylash and his commandos to go to Earth and bring order to the chaos. This was his assignment, and he would do what it took to bring the human race into some semblance of order.
“General Shin, so good to see you,” Commander Or said. The two men clasped each other’s forearms in the traditional Draconian greeting, and pressed their foreheads together for a brief moment before standing back.
“It is good to see you as well, Commander,” Mylash said.
“How was the trip over from Draconia?”
“As to be expected. Long. Bad food. That sort of thing. Fill me in on what is happening on this Earth planet?”
“The Earthlings are not adapting to advanced technology particularly well. Because of the problems in their native social system, the new technology has created tremendous economic strain. Particularly among the poor. You and your commandos have been tasked with helping them find a better way to distribute the wealth the new technology has brought to them.”
“I understand what I’m here for. My concern is whether or not the humans will accept our help. It seems that these creatures enjoy living with disparity between the rich and poor. My fighting force has its work cut out for it. As there are only twenty of us, we will each focus on a different aspect of the human problem.”
“Sir,” a technician said from behind a computer screen. “There is a disturbance in an Earth city called New York. It appears some humans have bombed one of their own buildings and are holding human hostages. They demand Draconians leave the planet or they will execute a fertile female every hour until we do.”
“How is it that we found this race to be an appropriate match for our DNA?” Mylash asked. The fact that they would kill their own people to get rid of an enemy proved to Mylash that humans were inherently stupid.
“Human DNA is an excellent match for Draconian DNA. I already have a mate of my own and couldn’t be happier,” said Commander Or.
“Congratulations, Commander. However, these humans are barbaric. Even with their advanced civilization and technology, they aren’t the kind of species we should be dealing with in the first place.”
“It is too late to back out now. We are mating with humans for the next decade. With the war back on Draconia, we don’t have the resources or time to arrange another mating mission,” Commander Or said, folding his arms. Mylash’s old friend looked thoughtful. If it had been up to Mylash, he would have turned the entire armada around and found a less self-destructive race to mate with somewhere else in the universe.
The entire mission had been a last minute fiasco when the Mulgor attacked Draconia. Many believed that the mating mission should be canceled, but the President sent Commander Or and his ships to Earth anyway.
“You’ll understand when you see the Earth females,” Commander Or said. “They are curvy and luscious and beautiful. I haven’t seen any more exquisite women in the entire galaxy. Trust me. We’ll put your DNA into the lottery and get you a mate of your own.”
“No, no, no. I don’t need a human mate. I don’t need to be mixing with these barbarians. If I remain a bachelor for the rest of my life, that will be just fine with me.”
“I think you’ll change your mind as soon as you see them,” the commander said, throwing his head back in a hearty laugh.
“A race of people who kills their own kind? I think not.”
Chapter 4
After coordinating with his men, Mylash decided to take on the terrorist attack on the New York building by himself. As the leader of the Draconian commandos, he would be the first to take on a challenging human problem. They all took transport vessels down to the planet surface. Mylash landed at the Draconian consulate in New York City and had a debriefing with the Draconian contact there. After getting more information on the particulars of the terrorist attack, he headed down to the street where the standoff was taking place.
Until now, the Draconians and the human government had not been working together on anything except the exchange of technology and the organization of the mating lottery. Now that the president of Draconia was taking an interest in the human society, and the preservation of the human race, the Draconians would be working in conjunction with human governments. They would even take control of those governments if necessary.
Mylash was prepared for that inevitability, but he wanted to avoid it if at all possible. Taking control of human civilization was not something he was looking forward to doing.
He approached the police line, his Draconian uniform giving away his identity. The police officer in charge of the situation looked him up and down with a questioning expression on his face.
“What is a Draconian doing here?” the police officer said.
“This is a Draconian issue. These terrorists demand we leave the planet or they will kill human women. We will now take a more active role in your society. I an Mylash Shin, leader of the Draconian commandos. I will bring the situation to an end immediately.”
“You have no jurisdiction here,” the police officer said.
“I’m afraid I do. I have ultimate jurisdiction here. Do you know why?”
The police officer shook his head no.
“Because I could take out every single person on this street before you had a chance to pull your weapon. The only reason Draconians have not shown force in the past is because we didn’t want humans to kill themselves. However, it seems that you can’t help doing that, no matter how much room we give you. We will no longer allow you to kill yourselves. Step aside, the grown-ups are here.”
The police officer’s mouth dropped open with astonishment, but Mylash simply brushed past him. He was going to deal with these terrorists immediately, and he didn’t care what the human police officer had to say about it. Mylash was already tired of talking with these people. They obviously had no control of their own species or their own passions. It was below him to even speak with the creature in the first place.
Mylash stepped into his dragon form and charged forward. Screams rose all around as he shot a bolt of super-hot fire at
the wall. The wall melted in drips of molten lava. The terrorists shot at him, but their bullets had no effect on his dragon hide. All at once, the black uniformed men threw themselves at Mylash, triggering explosive devices within their uniforms.
A dozen men exploded against Mylash, sending him hurling backward several paces. Humans screamed all around and the sound of exploding human bodies pierced his ears. When the chaos calmed, Mylash found himself surrounded by the broken bodies of the terrorists, bloody and disfigured on the ground. All dead. Stupidity.
With a growl, Mylash shifted back into his human form, flicked his uniform back on using the button at his throat, and strode into the building. He blinked into the dusty darkness, slowly taking in the figures crowded on the floor.
“Everyone get out,” he said. “They’re all dead. This building isn’t safe for you. Now go.”
The humans seemed as frightened of him as they had been of the terrorists who had threatened to kill them all. They hesitated, but finally began to stir from their hiding places. They hurried out of the building. Mylash inspected his surroundings, glancing at the humans as they ran by. His gaze settled on the form of a huddling female in a taupe colored suit. Her curvaceous form and caramel brown skin caught his eye, and he couldn’t look away.
He stepped toward her and offered her his hand. She looked up at him with the most brilliant brown colored eyes he had ever seen. Her hand slipped into his, the skin smooth and soft to the touch. A spark of desire shot from her hand and into his. It coursed through his body and centered at the base of his brain before sinking into his heart. He helped her stand, but she was missing a shoe. One leg was bent at the knee while she stood barefoot on the other.
“You seem to be missing appropriate footwear,” Mylash said. The feelings inside his heart and mind were spiraling with such violent passion he had no idea how to process it all. The scent of the woman hit him like a ton of space debris, sending his mind hurling through the atmosphere.
“You saved us,” the woman said.
“That is my job. Draconians will no longer allow humans to self-destruct.”
“Self-destruct?”
“Killing yourselves seems to be a favorite pastime of yours,” he said, pulling his hand away and crossing his arms over his thick chest. The tingle running through his body that had started when he touched her became even more intense. He had no idea what was happening to him. It was disturbing and thrilling at the same time. He had to get a hold of himself quickly or this could spell disaster.
As a man who was driven by self-control, ambition, and determination, being struck with this kind of emotional unbalance was extremely unsettling for Mylash. He had never felt anything like it before. With the desire and anxiety coursing through his veins, it slowly became clear to him why his body had taken on a mind of its own.
“Killing ourselves?”
“How many human wars are occurring right now on this planet?” he asked her, barely able to keep himself standing straight on his weakening knees.
“I have no idea. That doesn’t mean we enjoy killing ourselves.”
“What else could it possibly mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s complicated. It’s always been that way. Thank you for saving me, but I have to go.”
The woman limped around him, still missing a shoe. She made her way towards the exit. Mylash used his heightened Draconian senses to locate the missing piece of footwear. He scooped it up quickly and strode after the woman who was walking swiftly down the sidewalk with her broken gait.
“Human woman,” Mylash bellowed after her. “I have located your missing footwear.”
The woman slowly turned around and faced him, crossing her arms. She waited as he approached. Without thinking, he knelt down in front of her and held out the shoe so that she could slip her pretty little foot into it. He took in her shapely legs, wide hips, and slim waist before his eyes settled momentarily on her voluptuous breasts. Finally, he made it to her full pink lips and then gazed into her eyes.
Mate.
His inner Dragon roared fiercely, louder than anything Mylash had ever heard in his entire life. As he stood, he almost toppled over from the force of it inside his mind. He felt dizzy and feverish all at once but forced himself to stand up straight.
The woman stared at him with a frown on her face. Her crossed arms pushed her plump breasts together and he could see the swell of her cleavage under the neckline of her blouse. He could feel himself stiffen as his mating impulse awakened within. Not good. Not good at all. This woman was clearly his mate. His dragon could sense it.
Usually, when the Draconians came to a planet to mate with the females there, they would take massive samples of DNA, sort them through a computer, and match them with the appropriate Draconian male. This was how the Draconians found their mates, usually.
But Draconians could sense their mates even without the help of the computer system. Because there was usually so much data to sort through, it was faster to use the computer. But when a mate was standing right in front of a Draconian, he would know it instantly without the computer’s help. This was one of those times.
Mylash never would have expected to find his mate naturally, or at all for that matter. He’d been against the idea of finding a human bride. Now his dragon insisted that Loretta was the one.
Mylash rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the little woman standing in front of him. She was obviously irritated, and he couldn’t blame her. She had just been a hostage and was then saved by an alien male who had set fire to a wall. There were dead terrorists lying on the street all around. It had been a bloodbath. Considering all of that, she was holding up particularly well.
“What’s your name?” he asked her.
“Loretta Franklin,” she said with an irritated tone. “Why?”
“I am Mylash Shin, leader of the Draconian commandos. Have you entered the mating lottery, Loretta Franklin?”
“No. I just finished my MBA and an internship. I came here for my first job interview in the city. I have better things to do than to wait around for some alien mating lottery to save my family.”
“Your family?” Suddenly everything about her was intensely interesting. He wanted to know about her family, her job, her education, everything.
“My grandmother takes care of my little brother and sister. I just had a job interview. If I get this job, I’ll be able to send money back to them every month. They’ll be able to keep the house. Why am I telling you all this?”
Mylash saw a tear swell in the corner of her eye and trickle down her cheek. The woman was traumatized and here he was, keeping her standing at the scene.
“Come, come with me now. I will get you away from here.”
He took her hand and led her down the street to where his hover car was waiting. He would take her back to the consulate and make sure that she was all right. After he knew that she was fine, he would make her his bride.
Chapter 5
The huge, hunky alien opened the door of an expensive looking sports hover car and Loretta climbed inside. Usually she wouldn’t just run off with a stranger, but he had just saved her and all of the other hostages. Aside from that, he was probably the sexiest man she’d ever seen. A strapping seven foot tall superhero with faintly green skin and sharp fangs inside his mouth, Mylash Shin was a force to be reckoned with.
She sat beside him in the car as he drove across town and gazed at his muscled thighs inside his skintight uniform. She could see the swell of his thick chest and a hint of the massive cargo he held between his legs. She felt a quiver of desire stir in her lady parts. She could tell the guy was as hot as a lava flow, but it didn’t make sense to her why she would be turned on in the middle of the most traumatic event of her life.
She chalked it up to stress, sat back in the luxurious car, and waited until he brought her somewhere safe. He finally parked in front of the Draconian Consulate. He opened her door and tried to hold her hand as they walked up the st
airs to the front door, but she pulled her hand away with confusion and looked up into his crystal blue eyes.
His face gave away nothing, but he opened the door for her and she stepped past. She was just happy to be safely away from the chaos on Wall Street.
“It looks like the secretary is gone for the day,” Mylash said, looking around the bright open building. There was no one sitting at the desk at the center of the room. She followed Mylash to a smaller room where there were couches and computers. She sat down, took a deep breath, and let it out.
“Would you like something to drink or eat?” he asked.
“Some tea would be nice,” she said. All she really wanted was to take the bus back to Alabama and hug her grandma and brother and sister.
“All right,” he said, looking around. “I’ll try to figure out what that is.”
He disappeared through another door for several minutes, then came back with a steaming cup of tea which he handed to her with a massive grin on his face. He stared at her like that as she sipped the warm liquid. It was unnerving how he looked at her, and she couldn’t understand why. Finally, he took a seat beside her. That goofy expression didn’t leave his face.
“Loretta Franklin, I have a proposal for you.”
“What?” she asked, hoping that he would explain why he was looking at her like she was the last piece of birthday cake.
“I have reason to believe that you are my mate. I would like to make you an offer.”
“Your mate? You’ve got to be kidding me.” She laughed and set the tea down on a side table.
“I felt it the moment I laid eyes on you. Believe me, I am as surprised as you are. I told Commander Or I would not be entering the mating lottery as I did not want to mate with a human. But clearly my inner dragon has other ideas. My mating impulse has already begun. I need you. I will do anything to have you.”
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