by Ruby Dixon
The door to the bathroom flies open. It slams into the opposite wall, the subway tiles crumbling under the force. A human-sized Kael stalks in, his eyes black, teeth bared.
“It’s okay,” I tell him, taking a step backward. “It’s just water. I promise. Nothing’s wrong.”
He looks at me, then at the spraying tap. His nose twitches, and it’s almost comical to see him realize that he’s panicking over nothing. He leans over the water, sniffs it again, and then straightens. “Clau-dah,” he rumbles in a deep voice.
“Right here,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest with amusement. “Not letting all that killer water get me.”
He reacts to my smile with one of his own and moves toward me with a possessive prowl that makes my skin prickle in ways that are not entirely driven by fear. The big, clawed hand brushes down my arm. “Clau-dah Kael.”
“Yeah, yeah. Clau-dah’s not going anywhere without Kael,” I say, shivering at the gentle touch. I step aside and gesture at the water. “Clau-dah just wants a drink and a quick bath, if that’s all right.” I take another step toward the water and mimic washing, and when he doesn’t stop me, I put my hands back under the tap.
Oh god, it feels amazing. The water is cool and crisp, and I scrub at my hands and arms to clean them off, and when the filth is gone, I cup my hands and drink mouthful after mouthful until I can’t drink anymore. There’s a rack of old paper towels nearby, the stack puffy and warped from exposure to the elements, but I grab a few anyhow and wet them down, then scrub at my filthy body.
In the mirror, I can see Kael watching me with interest. After a moment, he moves forward and cups a handful of water, then gently pours it down my arm.
“Yup,” I tell him, doing my best to ignore his movements. I shiver because it’s that weird mixture of fear and enjoyment again. I both love and hate that he wants to take care of me. I hate that I’m so lonely that even a dragon’s attentions are exciting. I need to stay focused, though. I have water here, and I want to finish my quick bath before I get interrupted. “I’m cleaning off, because I’m gross.”
He watches me, then touches my wet arm, brushing his fingertips over my skin. “Clau-dah.”
I freeze, pausing in my scrubbing. The tone of his voice makes my hackles rise in awareness. Goosebumps prickle all over me. There had been an utterly husky note in his voice just then. I glance over at him, but he simply reaches for the paper towels I hold in my hand and begins to gently wash my arm. His strokes over my skin are soft, loving, and he’s careful to avoid my wounds.
I let him, because what else can I do? Sure, he’s a little, er, randy, but he’s been kind to me, and protective. Pushing him away with an angry ‘no’ when he’s being gentle might test his patience and send his eyes to black again.
And okay, maybe I’m weird, but his touch is actually really nice. His fingers are warm, and his caresses skim over my arm in a way that doesn’t feel grabby, but appreciative. Exploratory. When it’s clear he’s not going to grab at anything I don’t want grabbed, I relax and let him continue. When he brushes the wet paper towels over my shoulders, I turn to give him better access to my back, lifting my filthy hair to help him out. “Thank you,” I murmur, watching him in the mirror.
He’s got a massive hard-on. I mean, of course he does. The man always seems to have a hard-on. But the look on his fierce face is intent, as if he’s determined to be the best shoulder-cleaner ever. It’s charmingly endearing.
Strangely enough, I’m not afraid of him anymore. Kael has been nothing but gentle and attentive, and despite his obvious arousal, he hasn’t tried to do anything about it. Even the bathing is innocent so far. For some reason, he views me as his, and he’s determined to take care of me. There are worse situations to be in.
His fingers slide down the curve of my back, and I shiver at the small touch, my skin prickling with awareness.
Did I say the bathing was innocent? Because it seems to have taken a bit of a turn…
Strangest of all, I find his touch…intriguing. Pleasant. My nipples are hard, and I shift in place, a little uncomfortable with my body’s response. Am I getting aroused at his touch? Dear lord, what is wrong with me? He’s a dragon and half mad. I’m pretty sure he’s killed more people than I have squirrels. He’s definitely the enemy. And yet…his touch makes me feel breathless and squirmy. Like I can’t wait to see if he’s going to move his hand lower, and what would happen if he did.
Maybe it’s just been a really long time since someone’s touched me with kindness and that’s why I’m getting all turned on. Or maybe it’s some sort of perverse dragon version of Stockholm syndrome.
Kael is oblivious to my worried thoughts. He dips the paper towels into the running water again and dabs at my opposite arm. As he does, he makes that low, thrumming sound in his throat…and then pauses. I look over, and he’s gazing down at the long, angry red line of my gunshot wound. It’s not much more than a deep scrape, but as I watch, his eyes flare to black again, and I know he’s getting upset.
“It’s okay, Kael. It doesn’t hurt, really.” I put a bright smile on my face. It does hurt, but him losing his shit could potentially ‘hurt’ a lot worse. “It’s barely anything.”
His eyes flick from black to gold, gaze settling on me.
“I’m fine. Truly.” When his eyes go dark again, I take a chance. I touch his chin and force him to look me in the eye. “I need you to be calm. I promise I’m fine.”
“Clau-dah.” His voice is ragged, upset.
“I know. Clau-dah’s fine, I swear.” My mind plays back the image of him biting the soldier in half, over and over again. Why does my small wound matter when he chomped someone else in two? Why am I so important? Is it because I’m a girl? Or is there something deeper here? I don’t know what to think.
Kael bends over to clean my wound, and his touch is utterly tender. He takes great care to make sure he doesn’t hurt me, and when he’s done, he leans in and gently brushes his mouth over the wound. Then he looks up at me, as if apologizing for it. His eyes have gone black again.
“See?” I tell him shakily. “No problem at all.”
He trails his fingers over my now-clean shoulder and presses his mouth to it again. This time, his eyes flick back to a deep, deep gold and remain focused on me.
I can’t help it. I gasp at the bolt of pleasure that rushes through me. Maybe it’s the intimacy of the moment, or maybe there’s something in the air, but I’m tingling at his touch. My pussy feels hot with need, and my breasts tighten in response. And I’m suddenly wet between my thighs and aching deep in my core.
As I watch, his nostrils flare.
Before I can react, Kael pushes me back against the sinks, the low growl in his throat wild.
I give a little whimper as my backside slams into the marble counter, and then he’s pushing between my thighs, the hard length of his cock rubbing up against my pussy.
And it feels…good. I’m not scared, I’m aroused.
Oh god, I’m really messed up in the head, aren’t I? Totally sick for enjoying the way it feels when he growls low in his throat and rubs his cock against my aching pussy. Crazy for leaning forward and scraping my nipples against his chest. Doing that feels amazing and sends hot little shocks through my body, and I can’t help but suck in a breath. He’s got my thighs spread wide, his hands clenching my hips, and it would take nothing for him to slam into me and fuck the daylights out of me with that massive dick.
His face looms close to mine, and he cups my jaw, forcing my gaze to his. His eyes are black with need. “Clau-dah,” he grits out, and rubs his enormous length along my slick folds. It’s a question, and he wants an answer.
He’s leaving it up to me. If I say his name, he’ll take that as assent, and he’ll fuck me right here, right now. And…then what? Discard me like the soldier? Snap me in half once his anger is sated and let the pieces fall to the ground?
I can’t reconcile his two halves. There’s the kind, tend
er half that’s almost human…and the crazed dragon with the black eyes. I don’t know which one I get if we have sex. I don’t know which one I get after sex. Do I lose all appeal for him once his itch has been scratched?
It might be in my best interests to never scratch that itch, no matter how much I might want to.
So I shake my head. “No.”
Kael makes an almost-human grunt and pushes away from me, leaving me weak-kneed against the sink. I should be relieved. I should. Instead I just feel…empty.
KAEL
It is progress. I must remind myself of that.
Darkness gnaws at my edges, but I force myself to ignore it. I think of Clau-dah and her green eyes and her cloud of soft red hair. It makes me want to lose myself in the mating urges. To return to the strange lair she hides inside, push her against the stone, and claim her as mine. Taste her. Claim her. Bite her and give her the fire for her blood that will mark her as mine.
I am a patient drakoni. Normally. But around Clau-dah, I lose control. She makes the emotions in me go wild. It is not surprising. Ever since I have been pulled to this infernal place, I have been nothing but wild emotions, most of them angry. With Clau-dah around, my senses are under a different kind of attack.
I need her. Crave her.
And she still fears me. Not as much, but it is still there.
Progress. She tells me no, but I can smell her arousal. I could see her eyes dilate when I touched her. Perhaps her word will not always be no.
I didn’t intend to pounce on her. I’d simply been exploring her, taking care of her. She was letting me touch her, and it was a moment I intended to cherish. Taking care of my mate is a joy, and I wanted nothing more than to continue doing so for hours. But as soon as I scented her aroused musk in the air, I’d lost control. Just the barest taste of her female scent in the air had been enough to drive sanity away and brings me back to the edge again. Only the knowledge that I would lose her forever if I forced her to mate kept me from pushing deep between her thighs.
Her arousal is curious to me, though. Females of my kind do not go into heat unless they have been conquered in battle. But Clau-dah? She responds to soft touches and affection.
I can be soft with her.
And I can be patient.
Until then, I must leave her alone. I retreat across the room and take the highest vantage point so I can watch both the sky and the lair my mate is hiding in. It will give me distance from her so I do not smell her arousal again and lose control. I need all of my control right now.
11
CLAUDIA
I don’t have the courage to leave the safety of the bathroom just yet.
I finish my makeshift bath, my hands trembling the entire time. Every time I rub one of the rough paper towels over my skin, I’m reminded of Kael’s fascination and intense concentration as he bathed me, and I can’t quite stop shivering. And the worst? I’m not shivering from fear. But arousal is no good—he lost his shit the moment I got wet, so he must be able to smell it. I can’t let this distract him. I scrub between my legs, confused by my own arousal and more than a little annoyed by it. This is not the time to get turned on. This is the time to be a stone-cold bitch. I just need to stick things out until it’s safe to return to Fort Dallas, and then I can make a break for it. The mayor changed his mind. Even if he didn’t and it’s a trap, I still need to go back and get Amy. Kael will just have to find a new girl to hover over.
A big dragon-man with hot amber-on-gold eyes and possessive caresses that make me want to abandon all sanity? Not part of the deal.
I’m a loon for getting turned on in the first place. He’s a killer. A dragon. The scourge that destroyed the Earth and caused most of humanity to be wiped out in a matter of years. It’s only through sheer luck and determination that Amy and I haven’t been counted among the billions that perished.
Dragons are the enemy.
It doesn’t matter that Fort Dallas wants me to ‘tame’ him. What am I going to do with him even if he is tamed? Tell him to go away? Fat chance. The way he hovers attentively around me, he’d never agree to that unless I went with him. Even now, I bet he’s lurking outside of the bathroom, just waiting for me to come out again.
Dragons are killers. I have to remember that. I repeat this to myself over and over again as I finish bathing, then wash my hair in the sink and try to work out the worst of the tangles. When I can’t stall any further, I peek out the bathroom door and give him a wary look.
Kael crouches atop a mound of rubble, looking just as majestic and fierce in human form as he does in dragon. He’s scanning the skies, and the moment I open the door, he glances over at me. His eyes are calm, gold on gold. That’s good, at least.
I manage a friendly smile as I shut the door behind me and head out again. He descends from his little mountain, moving toward me with authoritative strides. When he gets to my side, he gives me a possessive once-over, sniffing me, and then touches my wet hair, rubbing it between his fingers.
I rub my arms, a little shivery due to the fact that I’m naked and it’s windy. Yeah, those are the reasons. Sure. “Don’t suppose you happen to know where the nearest un-pillaged department store is, do you?” At his blank look, I sigh. “Guess not.”
The rest of the day continues kind of like the last one. We circle around each other warily, trying to communicate and failing. Kael stalks me with every step, shadowing me wherever I go, watching me with hungry eyes. I take a nap when I’m tired of exploring—though it’s not much exploring when you’re afraid to do anything that might alarm the other party—and when I wake up, I’m starving. Through a few pantomimes, I ask Kael for food.
Hunger’s not the only reason I ask. If he leaves, I can slip away and return to Fort Dallas. I’ve decided that I need to check on Amy, regardless of if my life is in danger from the militia. My sister can’t fend for herself, not with her bad leg. She’s got no food to eat and we’ve got no money saved. I have to get back to her. Amy’s counting on me.
And that means risking a return to the city. So I have to make Kael leave, and I gesture that he should go hunting.
He does, but he takes me with him, carried in his claws. So much for that. And it seems he’s trying to anticipate my needs, because this time, when he runs down an animal, he doesn’t bother to snap its neck.
He just breathes fire on it and roasts it as it tries to run away.
The pained bellows of the dying cow are awful to hear. I sob as it dies, because I feel responsible. Kael’s trying to please me, and because he is, this critter gets a terrible death. I sob even harder when I eat a hunk of his flank, because I’m too hungry to waste food, even if it died badly. And I sniff unhappily as I wash my hands in the sink afterward. We’re going to have to have a talk about humane butchering of food.
Provided we can ever have a talk, that is. Our dialogue is mostly our names and ‘no.’ I’m not getting anywhere with him. It’s like he’s not interested in learning, and it’s frustrating.
That night, I sleep curled up against him again. He remains in dragon form after the hunt, protectively cradling me between his forelegs and against his breast. His enormous heart thunders against my ear, and it’s almost peaceful.
Except…I keep thinking about that cow. And my sister, who’s probably starving to death waiting for me.
Unless she goes to talk to Blowjob Becky about work… I shudder. Not Amy. Not happy, innocent Amy, who sees the good in everything and refuses to get cynical like her older sister.
I close my eyes and try to sleep, but I see the cow in my dreams. Running away, crying out in terror, and then blasted with flame. Sometimes in my dream, it’s my sister.
Sometimes it’s me.
12
Three Days Later
CLAUDIA
“Let’s try this again,” I say to Kael. “Water.” I run my fingers under the tap of the bathroom sink. “Waaaaa-terrrr.”
“Clau-dah,” Kael rumbles in that deep, overtly sexy
voice. “Clau-dah Kael.” His hand slides around my waist, big and scorchingly warm against my skin.
I flick droplets of water on his face from my fingertips. “You suck. I know you understand me. You’re just being difficult, aren’t you?” But I find that my mouth is curling into a bit of a smile anyhow. “Difficult and flirty.”
It’s hard to stay mad at Kael when he’s showing a mischievous side. I’m in a surprisingly good mood this morning despite my vicious dreams. Maybe it’s because of Kael himself, I think, as I turn off the tap. It’s been a few days since Kael found me, but they’ve been surprisingly easy days. I’ve been fed, I’ve got water to wash with and to drink, and a warm place to sleep at night curled up against Kael. I’ve found an old janitor’s uniform in one of the closets, and even though it’s paper-thin and will probably rip to shreds with the wrong move, it’s clothing. The new building’s kind of nice, and it’s quiet.
The only thing I’m missing is Amy. Sasha, too, but I worry less about her being able to take care of herself. I’m haunted by thoughts of Amy starving, but I can’t get Kael to take me back to the city. He’ll do a lot of things for me, but I don’t think that’s on the table.
So I pass my time with Kael, and…he’s a surprisingly good companion. His eyes whirl black less and less, and he hasn’t had any crazy episodes. It’s like the longer he’s around me, the better he is. I’m good with that. He hasn’t tried to rape me, or touch me in the middle of the night when he thinks I’m sleeping. He’s attentive and flirty, sure, but one simple ‘no’ shuts things down. He’s comfortable to be around, and I never thought I’d say that about a dragon. We don’t speak a lot, but I still feel…pampered. Coveted. It’s weird, but I can’t deny it.
