He pressed his hand against the tree behind my head, his tendons taut. His whole body was taut and hard.
“I can feel that. Why—” Then I sensed what he must have sensed. Another dragon.
This time, my groan had nothing to do with desire as I dropped my face into his shoulder. “What now?”
His hand shifted from the trunk to the back of my neck and he massaged my muscles, tingles of magic flowing from his fingers.
“Zav,” I protested. That was going to make it harder to collect myself, if that was what I had to do. I assumed so. Even though I didn’t recognize the aura of this new dragon, I assumed he was coming toward us for some unfriendly reason.
“Perhaps…” He rubbed his cheek against the side of my face and nuzzled my ear. “Perhaps if she came upon us in coitus, she would leave in a huff and never speak with me again.”
I lifted my head. “She?”
So far, the only female dragons I’d met had been his sister, who hated me, and his mother, who also hated me.
“The queen is attempting to arrange a political pairing for me,” Zav said as the female dragon flew closer. “She wishes me to dissolve my Tlavar’vareous with you and mate with an appropriate female dragon.”
I unlocked my legs from around Zav and let my boots settle to the ground. My knees felt weak, so it was a good thing the tree was behind me for support. Not that Zav had released me. He was still holding me, his eyes narrowed as he contemplated the idea of being caught in coitus when his visitor showed up.
“We’re not having sex in front of another dragon. I don’t want to be incinerated by some jealous lover.”
“She is not a lover. This is all political. I’m not sure it’s even that. My sister reported back to the queen—our mother—that you were integral in retrieving the Starsinger egg and keeping our clans from going to war. I thought the queen would be pleased to know I had chosen a superior female, but I’ve since learned that she was angry. She wants me to mate with one of our kind and have hatchlings who will grow and add numbers to our clan.”
“And I’m from the wrong side of the tracks.”
His brow furrowed. He was still rubbing my neck, and it felt insanely good, but I made myself clasp his hand and push his fingers away.
“You figure it out with her. I’ll stay out of it.” Actually, I planned to run to the Jeep and grab my weapons. Just in case. I assumed Zav could and would protect me, but… better to be holding a dragon-slaying sword than not when an angry female showed up.
Her powerful aura blazed above the trees overhead, and I remembered Zav’s warnings that female dragons were the most powerful and that males acted to serve them.
The canopy opened up as if it had been unzipped by a giant, and sunlight streamed down to the forest floor. Worried we were still compromisingly close, I pushed Zav farther away. He let himself be pushed, but there was a stubborn set to his jaw, and he eyed my mouth, as if he still thought his idea was a good one.
His idea seemed like a great way for me to land on the radar of another dragon who might show up to kill me when he wasn’t around.
A great red dragon descended, trees and branches leaning away from her to make room for her to land. She radiated such power and magic that my senses ached from being in proximity to her.
Zav sighed and turned to face her.
“I’ll wait at the Jeep while you guys figure it out.” I grabbed my jacket and started to jog away from them, hoping to escape the female’s notice entirely, but I hadn’t gone more than five feet when the power of a vice wrapped around me, keeping me from moving.
Hell.
8
As I stood frozen with one foot in the air, crushing power making it difficult to breathe and impossible to even move my head, I wished I hadn’t told Freysha and Gondo to leave. Not that they could have driven off an irritated female dragon, but maybe they could have brought me my weapons. Or Freysha could have given me a crash course in how to escape magic binding me.
“Release her!” Zav boomed out loud, as well as telepathically.
It is true! the red dragon’s feminine voice boomed even more loudly in my mind, causing an instant headache. You have a female here on this vermin-infested planet!
More power wrapped around me, and I winced, imagining myself being squeezed to death. But this was Zav’s power. He peeled the other dragon’s bindings away from me.
You dare pit yourself against me! You dare test your mettle against a superior female dragon?
Apparently, Zav dared, for I was able to get my legs working. I scrambled up toward the road, afraid that if I looked back, a tree trunk or some other piece of the forest would slam into me from behind and kill me instantly.
I will not allow you to harm my mate.
The queen said you wished me to be your mate. That you were available for a mating as soon as our families ironed out a treaty.
A treaty. How romantic.
I rushed across the road and grabbed my gun holster and sword scabbard from the back seat and strapped everything on.
The queen knew I was mated already. She should not have told you that.
I knew you were up to something when you fled from the Eyries of Evenlor so quickly. I knew I would find your secrets if I followed you to this prison planet.
And so you have. But Val was never a secret, not to my family, and not to the queen. She should have told you that I have a mate.
You name her! Some mongrel who stinks of this filthy vermin world? A loud sniffing noise reached my ears. And you stink of her. I sensed you entwined, planning to rut against a tree like an animal. You are not worthy to be my mate, Zavryd’nokquetal Stormforge.
I stood beside the Jeep, feeling better with my weapons on, but not sure what to do. If she was angry enough to lash out at Zav, I should stay and help him. But maybe it would be better—easier for him to deal with her—if I wasn’t anywhere around. I wondered what the odds were that the elven sanctuary with its magical border would keep the female from finding me.
That is correct, Zav replied calmly. You may leave and tell the queen that you are not interested in her proposal.
You dare reject me! For a mongrel slut! Magic crackled in the air as the female hurled power.
Even though I’d run far enough that I could barely see them through the trees, I knew with all the certainty in my being that she’d lashed out at Zav.
Anger infused me, and I yanked out Fezzik and rushed toward them. How dare some self-righteous female dragon, who probably didn’t even know Zav, assume that he would hook up with her?
Power whirled about like a cyclone. It uprooted a tree, flung it in the air, and slammed it down not ten feet in front of me. The unbroken branches stretched upward, blocking my view of the dragons.
Had she done that intentionally? To keep me from running down and helping him?
Fear replaced my anger as I imagined her utterly destroying him. Again, I thought of how he’d said that females were the strongest. Were they above the dragon laws and willing to kill those who spited them?
More magical power swept through the area, ripping more trees from their roots. They slammed down hard enough to shake the earth. The wind whipping about was a hundred times stronger than what I’d felt when Zav nudged that car off the road.
It wasn’t directed at me—the snarls and thumps and snapping of jaws coming from the other side of the tree promised the dragons were focused on each other—but it impeded me all the same. I felt like I was in a wind tunnel as I leaned into the gale, determined to claw my way over the trunk blocking me. Even though Chopper was the only weapon I had that could harm a dragon, I would fire at her with Fezzik. That would distract her, and maybe Zav could take advantage of that.
The tree was so ancient and massive, and the tumultuous wind such an obstacle, that it took me far longer to climb to the top of the trunk than it should have. Zav had changed back into his native form. Clumps of dirt and broken branches flew as the dragons thrashed about on the ground, throwing magic as they bit and clawed at each other.
Gripping a thick branch for support, lest the wind tear me back down from my perch, I leveled Fezzik at the red dragon. Only to realize that Zav had gained the upper hand. The female lay on her back, taloned feet up and trying to push him away, but he stood unmovable as a mountain atop her, fangs bared as he stared down into her eyes.
An irreverent comment—was this still a fight or foreplay?—leaped to my tongue, but I quashed it. I hadn’t expected Zav to win, but now that he had the upper hand, maybe I should disappear.
The female dragon looked over at me, and I tensed, finger tightening around the trigger. Zav also looked over at me.
If they were still speaking telepathically, they were excluding me from it. I hoped the female didn’t feel that she had to kill me now that I’d seen her lose face—or at least lose the fight. It wasn’t as if losing to Zav was uncommon.
Release me! the female commanded, turning her eyes back toward Zav, and I had no trouble hearing that.
Agree not to touch my mate, and I will let you up, Zav replied, his gaze also shifting back toward his opponent.
You presume to pin a superior female.
I will protect my mate.
You cannot have spawn with a mongrel two-legs. That you rut with her at all is an embarrassment to your family!
Is that what the queen said? Zav’s anger and irritation leaked into his tone.
She didn’t have to say it. It is obvious to all. That is why she sought me out to claim you as a mate.
Zav stepped off her, but he kept his gaze on her. Expecting shady business, I also kept Fezzik trained on her.
You dare to strike a female. She growled as she spoke to him, staring straight into his eyes. With amazing litheness for such a large creature, she flipped herself onto her feet. Her tail swished, rattling the undergrowth, reminding me of a cat about to pounce on a mouse.
Why did I get the weird feeling that she’d liked fighting with Zav?
I protect what’s mine, he said.
Was that me? I thought about protesting being anyone’s property, but again, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. Even if Zav could handle her in a fair fight, that didn’t mean she couldn’t come to Earth sometime when he wasn’t here and flatten me.