Dragon’s Temptation: Red Planet Dragons of Tajss Book Fifteen Page 9

He points. Suddenly I’m awkward and shy. Is he going to… watch? Is it wrong that a small part of me wants him to? Stopping the runaway train of my thoughts as I suddenly imagine what he looks like under that robe, I turn away quickly, trying to cover the flush of my cheeks.

  “Thank you,” I murmur.

  He turns and walks away. Daring a glance in his direction, he goes back into the tunnel and disappears.

  Unbuttoning my shirt I’m more than ready to head into the water. Quickly stripping, I dip my toes into the pool. It’s warm but not too warm. There are carved steps leading into the water. Nora moved quicker than I have and she’s already treading water.

  “This is great!” she exclaims, ducking her head under.

  I’m about halfway down when I feel a prickle of awareness. Turning back toward the tunnel my gaze clashes with Khal’s. His eyes drop down to the good amount of cleavage revealed above the water, his gaze heating. My breath catches in my throat, but he turns away again and disappears through the tunnel without a word.

  I let out the breath that caught in my throat. It felt good to be looked at like that, and I feel the same attraction that he apparently does. It’s often a matter of reflex, something that we can’t really control. Either attraction is there, or it isn’t. I can’t deny the charge between us since the beginning, before he stamped it out with duty.

  He is clearly the uptight sort, the type to always follow the rules, the kind who takes protocol very, very seriously. But...

  As far as I’m concerned, there are always loopholes. Always ways to skirt around the letter of the law. I’m all for towing the line when it suits the situation. Sometimes though, I have to get creative. We need one another, the dragons of this Order and our human-Zmaj hybrid territories.

  We share a common enemy, have resources that we can trade between us, and the hope of a future for both of our races.

  Fact is, the writing on the wall is very clear. There aren’t enough humans to ensure the survival of our race. The Zmaj may have it even worse with no females. No way for their line to live on without us. Those are all cold hard facts. One that the Order doesn’t seem ready to face.

  Beyond even all of that, it might sound cheesy, but the truth is...love always prevails over worn-out traditions. Heck, we’ve seen it time and time again with all of the matings that have happened. With the mating that happened between Archion and Nora now.

  If the Order can’t see that the future is inevitable, they’re deliberately closing their eyes to it. If there’s anything I’ve learned so far, it’s that being too rigid is a death sentence. The mining settlement finally realized that, mostly. Hopefully the Order will also realize it, without so much drama.

  For now, I shelve it in favor of kicking off into the water and swimming out to Nora. We splash and laugh, letting the tension of the past few hours slip away. We have some fun then swim to the side, letting the warm water loosen knotted muscles.

  “God, that feels good,” Nora sighs, resting her head back against the edge of the pool.

  “Yeah,” I agree, lowering myself up to my neck. “I feel like I haven’t bathed in weeks.”

  She nods, her face suffusing with more color. I’m glad to see it. Stress can’t be good for her in this condition, but there really is no help for it. We scrub ourselves off with the sand at the bottom of the spring before floating for a while. Then it’s time to clean our clothes.

  “I can wash my own,” Nora protests when I grab hers as well.

  I wave her away.

  “I’ll be done in a second,” I reassure her. “You just rest.”

  She shakes her head.

  “Thanks, Ashlee,” she murmurs. When I turn to look at her, her eyes are on me. “I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through any of this without you here too.”

  I shake my head.

  “You would’ve gotten through it,” I say, confident in my answer. “You’re stronger than you’re giving yourself credit for.”

  “Maybe, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate you.”

  “Well, maybe you can name the baby after me,” I quip.

  I grin when she laughs.

  “A baby,” she sighs, rubbing her still-flat stomach. “I still can’t wrap my head around it.”

  I nod, understanding that. What would it be like? Knowing you have something growing inside of you? Especially something that is a product of the love she and Archion have for each other?

  “I don’t even know where we’re going to live,” Nora adds, frowning.

  “Don’t think about that now,” I urge. “Those are just details. You guys will figure it out.”

  She nods, but I can see the stress seeping back to her face. There’s no help for it. There’s no way not to be stressed in a situation like this, when she’s separated from her mate and she doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Done washing the clothes, I lay them out flat to dry. They’ll probably take longer here than they would in the room where it’s not as humid.

  I slide back into the water where we stay for quite a bit, enjoying the feel of it lapping against my skin. Eventually, even we have to throw in the proverbial towel. We’re beyond pruney.

  Pulling ourselves out, we make our way over to the tunnel entrance. Grabbing one of the largest drying cloths from the shelf Khal pointed out, I dry myself off and then wrap it around me for the trek back to the room.

  Nora does the same. Then we grab our clothes and trudge back up the tunnel. We find some hooks on the other side that we hang our clothes on.

  “I hope they dry fast,” Nora murmurs, re-tucking the drying cloth. “I don’t feel very secure wrapped in a towel.”

  “I hear you,” I agree, lowering myself onto a cushion. “At least they’re comfortable.”

  She nods, joining me on one of the cushions.

  “True.”

  Luckily, I guess, we’re left alone for a quite a while. Hours slip by without event. It’s long enough that the clothes are dry enough that we put them back on. Eventually, we both combine cushions and lie down to wait.

  “I can’t sleep,” Nora murmurs into the silence.

  “Just rest then,” I urge her. “We need to all we can.”

  She sighs, shifting on the cushions.

  “Okay.”

  Neither of us sleeps, but we lie there for maybe another hour before the door opens. Both of us sit up, Nora looking hopeful, but her expression falls when Khal walks through the door.

  At least he has food with him. He carries a tray laden with steaming containers to the low table, setting them out carefully.

  My stomach rumbles in response as I look at the array of meat dishes, vegetables, and what looks like some kind of rice maybe. I’ll say one thing, they aren’t trying to starve us.

  “Where is Archion?” Nora demands.

  Khal straightens, his face impassive.

  “He will return to you soon enough,” he reassures her.

  “What does that mean?” I ask. “Tonight? Tomorrow? Two days from now?”

  “All I can say is soon enough,” he returns.

  Nora and I look at each other. I would get mad, but I don’t think he’s the one in charge here.

  “Okay,” I agree, speaking for both of us. “We’re willing to wait for as long as it takes. I am certain the Council will...see the value of peace in this situation.”

  An odd expression crosses his face. His eyes lock on mine then slide down toward my chest. Does he shiver? It’s a moment only but then his mask slides firmly back in place in an instant. That probably doesn’t bode well for a good outcome here.

  “Enjoy your meal,” he murmurs, backing away toward the door. “I must leave.”

  Then he’s gone once more and we’re alone.

  “Well. He was eager to leave our company,” Nora observes.

  “Yeah,” I agree, looking at the closed door thoughtfully. I turn back to her. “You should eat something.”

  She shakes her head, standing up.

&nb
sp; “I don’t even want to look at the food right now,” she informs me, pacing the length of the small room. “If I take even one bite it isn’t going to end well.”

  “I understand, but try to eat something. Maybe one of these things—they look kind of bland.”

  It actually looks like a cracker of some kind. She takes it from me.

  “Thank you,” she says, taking a small nibble of the crunchy thing.

  She chews for a moment then swallows. She takes another bite. Good.

  “Maybe you can sit and have a couple of bites of something else,” I start.

  She shakes her head.

  “I need to keep walking. It feels as if my whole world has been turned upside down in an instant. I don’t want to sit.”

  “Fair enough.”

  She looks over at me apologetically.

  “Sorry,” she mutters. “I’m not in the best mood.”

  “You’re allowed.”

  I don’t know who would be more allowed. She shakes her head.

  “It looks like we might have come all this way for nothing.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  She looks over at me.

  “What do you mean?”

  I shrug.

  “I mean, you are carrying one of their bloodline. An alliance feels almost inevitable in that case, even if only a weak, surface one at first. I can’t see how a shift of perspective is eminent in this case. Maybe it won’t happen right away, but I think it will happen.”

  “I hope you’re right,” she says, the worry not leaving her face.

  I hope so too. Grabbing one of the bowls, I serve myself some of the food. Taking a bite, I can’t help but make a noise of appreciation.

  “Good?” Nora asks, watching me.

  I nod enthusiastically. It’s deeply flavored, so good that I can’t help but wonder at the quality of the food they have here in general.

  “There is meat, but there’s also vegetables in here that I’ve never seen,” I say, swallowing the bite in my mouth. “Another reason to build an alliance with these people.”

  Nora sits down and I ladle some of the stew into a bowl for her.

  “It does smell good,” she agrees, taking the bowl. I didn’t fill it as far up as I filled my own. “Thank you. I hope I can keep it down.”

  “Just go slowly. Maybe have some of those crackers while you do.”

  I wonder if they sent those specifically because of her state. I watch her eat it, relieved when she keeps it down. The food really is good. I’m guessing the origin of it is another secret I won’t find out on this particular journey.

  But if we can figure out how to get the Council to agree to a meeting... matters may very well be different sooner rather than later.

  That’s a big if. Fingers crossed.

  13

  Khal

  I carefully maintain my distance from the females. I oversee their meal preparation, bathe separately in the spring, do everything I can to keep that so-necessary space between us. Between the emerald-eyed woman and myself, if I am honest.

  Even now, when I am not around her, she has a way of slipping into my head, overtaking my thoughts without trying. In truth, I do not know how to deal with this. Focus comes easily to me in the usual course of events. Even when I feared Archion was lost, I was able to do what needed to be done.

  But this, this is new territory for me.

  She is beautiful. Her head covered with thick, silky hair, soft skin that lacks any scales whatsoever and that utterly feminine body. I shouldn’t have looked back, but I couldn’t resist the urge. Something has awakened, testing the limits of my control.

  The moment I saw them… no, saw her, I’d wondered at the swell of her chest. Zmaj females did not have such a swollen chest. At first, I wondered if they had been injured, but they didn’t move as if they had been. Curiosity was too much. I had to know.

  No, that’s not honest. Honesty with self is the first steps to enlightenment. I was curious about her. The other one—she is Archion’s—there was nothing there that drew my curiosity. It was wrong. My scales itch as I recall the image of her walking into the water. My prime cock stiffens, rock hard and throbbing even as embarrassment colors my scales.

  If it was just how she appeared, perhaps I would find it easier to ignore her, but it is more than that. The more time I am forced to spend with her, the more things I notice that I like. While Nora is understandably emotional and angry, Ashlee is calm and nonthreatening in the face of everything that has happened. Well composed. A trait I truly admire.

  She is under a great deal of stress, but she does not let it show.

  My instincts tell me that she is cognizant of the political maneuvering she must do to get what they came here for. That she is deliberately playing a role that she thinks will accomplish what she wants. Those same instincts tell me that she is also sincere even while playing this political game.

  I don’t blame her for planning her words and actions carefully. It is a natural and understandable reaction to the danger she finds herself in. Why would she be open and honest with her emotions and thoughts when she has stepped into a dangerous situation here?

  I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I sympathize with her on a personal level. That softness that I can feel is one of the reasons I have not allowed myself more contact with her. She presents a clear danger to me. I cannot indulge myself in the lure of her delicate scent, cannot lose myself in that penetrating bright-green gaze. Cannot grow accustomed to the mesmerizing peace her presence seems to weave around me.

  My cock throbs, jumping under my robes in time with the beating of my hearts. She is a challenge like nothing I have ever encountered before. I want to be near her too much. I do not trust myself. So I shield myself. I maintain my distance, only seeing her to bring meals, to take care of them as guests. Though, in this case, the line between guest and prisoner is thin indeed.

  Pacing my quarters I try to find my center, that point of inner calm from which I remain in control. No matter how I try though, I see the image of her. The delicate swoop of her neck, that pale, soft skin leading down to her shoulder. The shocking mounds on her chest, full globes that look so soft. They bounced slightly as she turned to look at me and each of them was topped with small, perfect dark circles with hard-looking points standing out from them.

  It’s too much. I can’t push it away. Ripping my robes aside I grab my prime cock firmly in my hand and stroke, examining every aspect of the image of her in my mind. Her eyes, sharp, piercing but an unmistakable fire burning in them. Desire, matching my own, calling to me.

  My cock spasms and then my balls tighten, and my seed explodes from me with a force it never has before, spraying out as my balls squeeze and my cock pulses until at last it softens in my grip. My secondary cock stirs but that was enough to bring me back to my control place and I press down its desire for relief.

  I’m in trouble and I have no idea how to handle this. How to handle her.

  Right now, duty calls. Glancing at the counter on my side table, I am late for an appointment. Tashak will be interrogating Archion again, and I’m supposed to be close to hand. Quickly cleaning the mess I made, an empty ache in my core forms. But I push all that aside, then rush to my post.

  “Again,” Tashak’s voice says through the door as I arrive.

  The two guards on duty nod at my approach. Positioning myself between them I school my thoughts to patience and wait. Archion is giving the same story yet again. No flaws, which can only mean he’s telling the truth. Eventually I know Tashak will see this. I only hope it will be enough to satisfy the Council.

  There is no counter here but my internal time sense indicates at least an hour passes while I wait. The two guards and I are still as stones, no outward motion to give away that we’re more than statues. Another piece of our training. Any of us could stand so for hours on end, not blinking an eye. Watching, our awareness stretching out to take in every signal the environment
offers us.

  Something changes in the air. Someone inside the room is moving closer to the door. There’s a shift in the currents of the air that gives it away. As expected, the door opens, although it’s Tashak himself.

  “Take him to his mate,” he orders, looking at me.

  “Of course,” I respond, saluting with fist into palm and giving a slight bow.

  Tashak frowns, eyes cold before he turns and walks away. Archion is standing behind him, shackles on his hands. One of the guards inside the room walks over and removes them. Archion ignores everyone in the room and walks to me, rubbing his wrists. A simple nod is all the greeting we give each other, but he is my brother and that nod conveys much more than anyone else could read.

  “I think perhaps Tashak is softening on the matter,” he murmurs in a low voice, a spark of hope in his eyes.

  “Perhaps,” I agree, not wanting to grow his hope too much for fear that it is unwarranted.

  He stops in front of me, close enough that I can see every speck of color in his eyes. I can see everything in his gaze. The fact that he meant no offense to the directive. The fact that he has kept the Order’s secrets despite what I am certain was immense pressure from his mate’s people. And that he could not have done things differently if he tried.

  He found his mate and made his claim. A natural and inevitable conclusion in such a scenario.

  I see all of this with no further words exchanged. I know my brother. Know that nothing beyond extreme and unique circumstances would ever lead him astray from the protocols, the laws put in place to maintain the Order’s secrecy. I only wish I could do more to help him. The fact is, I have no power. I am not in a regulatory position, cannot make any decisions on the matter.

  I doubt Tashak will even ask my opinion, assuming my judgment is not to be trusted as my brother is the subject of the issue. And... perhaps that is for the best.

  Even if he did ask me, I am not at all certain what my answer would be. I fully sympathize with Archion, with the predicament he has found himself in. However, I also understand the reasoning behind the stringent code of conduct. The decision made here could affect more than just this contingent of the Order. We cannot threaten the peace between the territories of the Order.