Chapter Five

 

 

 

From the instant Tristan had met Melanie’s gaze, he’d had to battle both his attraction to her and the demands of his dragon.

With the children standing in front of him, his dragon was behaving—for the moment. The beast only thought of fucking her once every thirty seconds, which was only marginally better than having a constant need and desire broadcast inside his head.

When she stood next to him, the mixture of her feminine scent with his, because of the pregnancy, caused an overwhelming protectiveness to rush through his body.

Why did you abandon her? She is ours. We should take her home. Treasure her. Pleasure her. Fuck her.

Not right now. I need to help the young. Or do you want to leave them vulnerable? That thought silenced his dragon. Protecting the young was the most important.

Melanie asked if he was going to introduce her, and he turned to his morning class. “This is Miss Melanie Hall. You’ve probably scented it already, but she is a human female. From today, she’s going to come at least once a week to teach you human studies.” He turned toward Melanie. “They’re all yours.”

He barely registered what she said next as he studied the curve of her cheek, or the way the sun cast red glints in her hair. Her top clung to her breasts as if to tempt him, much like her jeans hugged her nice, wide hips and soft arse, reminding him what it was like to fuck her from behind.

Everything about her body called to him.

He resisted a frown. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He’d never felt such attraction to a woman before. Determined not to fall prey to her luscious, curvy body, he turned his gaze back to his students. He just caught Melanie telling them to ask her anything, and Misa’s hand shot up.

Mel nodded and the little girl said, “So, was I right? Are you carrying Mr. MacLeod’s baby?”

He watched Melanie cross her arms over her chest. Only through an ironclad will did he avoid looking at them as she said, “Yes. But since dragon-shifters also get pregnant and have babies, how about asking me something related to human ways?”

One of the boys shouted, “I heard that humans like to collect dragon teeth and talons and wear them around their necks. Is that true?”

“Hundreds of years ago, yes, it was. However, since then, things have changed. These days, there is a type of truce between most humans and dragon-shifters.”

The boy looked unconvinced. “Then why do some humans hunt us?”

Tristan was keen to hear her answer. Melanie took a second, and then said, “Because just like with dragon-shifters, some humans will always be jerks and will ignore the rules.”

“Are you one of the jerks?”

Melanie smiled. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve actually studied dragon-shifters for years. Someday, I want to write a book and help get rid of the nasty rumors.”

That piqued Tristan’s curiosity. Was the female being sincere or just saying what the children wanted to hear?

One of the other boys said, “Which rumors? Like, do all humans think we’re strong and fierce monsters? Or I’ve also heard they think we steal their belongings in the middle of the night. And there’s the one about us breathing fire. Or...”

As the boy rattled off all the old stories and rumors about their kind, Tristan watched as Melanie calmly answered and dispelled most of them. Considering how tight-lipped the dragons were, she knew an astounding amount about them. He wasn’t sure if that made him more or less suspicious of her.

But by the time the lunch cart was being rolled toward the students, it was clear that she’d won over his pupils by being honest and open. She never dismissed them as too young to understand or said their questions were silly or daft.

Tristan started to wonder if Bram’s words were true and that his mistrust of her was unfounded.

But he would talk with her in private before making any final decisions on what to do with her.

He raised a hand in greeting at the middle-aged dragonwoman rolling the lunch cart toward them. The scent of warm roast beef hit his nose and his stomach growled. While dragon-shifters weren’t carnivores, their beasts always loved the smell and taste of meat.

He turned to dismiss the students for lunch when he saw Melanie holding a hand to her mouth and looking rather pale. He glanced around, but he didn’t see any threats. He moved to her side. “What’s wrong? Are you ill?”

She nodded and dashed for the far side of the clearing, leaned over, and dry heaved. He asked the lunch attendant to keep an eye on his students and he went to Melanie’s side. Without thinking, he rubbed her back as she lost what must’ve been her breakfast.

 

~~~

 

As soon as the smell of roasted meat had hit her nose, Mel’s stomach had started churning right before the nausea hit her. Apparently, her early morning sickness had decided to rear its ugly head in front of Tristan of all people.

To avoid embarrassing herself by getting sick all over him, she rushed away from Tristan and the children to a spot near the wall of rock. She dry-heaved for about thirty seconds before her breakfast finally came up, burning her throat. At some point, a warm hand caressed her back, and the reassuring, warm touch made her feel a little better.

When she had nothing left to vomit, she stood up and a blue reusable water bottle was thrust in front of her face. Tristan said, “Here. Take it.”

Wanting to get rid of the awful taste in her mouth, she took it without a word, rinsed out her mouth, and spit out the water. After a few sips of water, she started to feel somewhat normal again.

And to think, she had months of this to look forward to. At least she had Samira and Liam to help her through the worst of it.

After one more inhale and exhale, she looked up to thank Tristan for the water, but her words died in her throat at the fierce look in his eyes. The look kicked her temper into gear, and before she could stop herself, she said, “What have I done now to deserve that look? Is my vomit, caused by your baby by the way, offending your sensitive dragon nose?”

He growled. “No. You’re ill and my dragon doesn’t like it.”

She’d been civil in front of the children, but she decided to let loose in a quiet, steely voice. “Oh, that’s right. Only your dragon cares about me because I’m breeding. You are perfectly all right to ditch me at the first scent of pregnancy.” She waved toward the students. “Go eat your lunch, Tristan. My time is up, so I’ll leave you alone for today.”

She moved to leave when Tristan’s hands clamped around her upper arms. “I will see you home.”

She gave a pointed look at the grip on her arm and back to his face. “Why? I can walk, and you made it clear that I’m on my own. I fulfilled my end of the sacrifice contract by conceiving and I don’t need your protection. If something happens, Samira or Liam will help me.”

As soon as she mentioned Liam’s name, Tristan’s pupils flashed to slits and back again. “You shouldn’t be asking another male to look after you.”

Aware of the children, Melanie kept her anger to a restrained whisper. “You gave up any claim as to what I do or who I ask for help the instant you snuck out and left me alone in that bed.”

“I have my reasons for doing that, but you wouldn’t understand.”

She narrowed her eyes. “If this is about what happened to your mother and sister, I know about that.”

His fierce look grew fiercer. “Who told you?”

“All that matters is that I know. And while focusing hatred on all humans might seem like a fine idea to you, it’s useless, Tristan. And I would think you’d see that if you only gave me a chance.”

“Giving you a chance would mean being near you. As long as I remain with the children, my beast’s need to claim you is replaced by a need to protect the young. If I meet with you anywhere else, even in front of others, my dragon will push to the forefront and seek you out.” He leaned down until his breath was hot on her ear and whispered, “My inner beast is already attached to you. I guarantee that if you let me fuck you even just one more time, I won’t be able to keep my dragon away from you as I’ve been doing the past week. And you remember what happened the last time my dragon broke loose, and that’s just a glimpse of what could happen.”

 

~~~

 

He was trying to scare her away from him. For himself, or because of his dragon’s throbbing need to claim her, he didn’t know. As he waited for her reply, he was overly aware of her womanly scent filling his nose, making him hard all over again. He was tempted to lick her ear, but he had just enough self-control to stop himself.

Take her home. Care for her. Protect her. Let the other dragon watch the children.

His dragon was starting to demand more than just sex; the beast wanted to look after her.

Fuck, that wasn’t good. The attachment was getting stronger, and after the last half-hour of watching Melanie deal with the children before being sick, even the human-half of him was starting to wonder if he’d been too harsh on her.

Melanie turned her head to look him in the eye. “Before I let you fuck me again, Tristan, I want to meet your sister.”

His dragon hummed. The female wanted to fuck him. He wanted to claim her harder. They needed to do anything to make her theirs. Next time she wouldn’t think of leaving.

Tristan gritted his teeth, ignored his dragon, and focused on Melanie’s request as he said, “My sister likes humans even less than I do.”

“You’re really going for the gold with your compliments, aren’t you?”

He growled, his arousal dimmed by anger. “This isn’t a laughing matter. They beat my sister within an inch of her life, and if my mother hadn’t succeeded in distracting the human dragon hunters, my sister would’ve been raped and butchered for parts just like what had happened with my mother.”

Melanie’s look softened. “Tristan, I’m so sorry.”

“I didn’t ask for your pity.”

“It’s not pity. I’m being sincere, as I couldn’t imagine what that would be like.” She put a hand on his chest and the touch soothed his anger a fraction. “But believe me, I’m not an undercover dragon hunter. I’m going to be the mother of your child. Doesn’t that count for something?”

He stared at her for a second and decided he needed to ask her something before he brought her anywhere near his sister.

He resisted a frown. Why was he thinking of introducing her to his sister? Meeting with a human was the last thing Arabella needed.

But the curiosity that had been bouncing around inside his head was strong enough to make him ask his question anyway. “Did you mean what you said earlier to the students, about wanting to write a book to help stop the nasty rumors about us?”

Mel nodded. “Yes. At first, I just wanted to find something unique for my doctoral thesis, but after three days of teaching the children of this clan, I want to help build a better future for them. The bias and discrimination will never completely disappear, but it’d be nice if humans and dragon-shifters could interact without living in perpetual fear of trying to kill each other.”

There was no trace of deceit or fear in her scent. That told him the human believed in her words.

Had Bram been right to say he was letting his prejudice get in the way? Even if it was true, and he wasn’t entirely convinced it was, he still had his sister to think about. Arabella was his only family, and if she couldn’t get past Melanie being human, there was no way he could have both Melanie and his sister in his life if Melanie decided to stay after their child was born.

As if sensing his doubts, Melanie added, “Believe me, I know what it’s like to want to protect your family.” She gave a faint smile. “After all, I came here to save my brother’s life.”

She stared down at her hand on his chest. As she started to stroke him, some of the tension eased out of his body. Her voice was soft when she continued, “I swear on my brother Oliver’s life that I’m not trying to deceive you or do anything to intentionally hurt your sister.” She looked back into his eyes. “And if that’s not enough, I’ll swear it on the life of our unborn child. Please, Tristan, let me meet your sister and see if I can help her get past her fear of humans.”

“Why do you seem so intent on helping everyone? First Cait, now offering for my sister. What’s in it for you?”

“I could ask the same thing, about you teaching the young dragon-shifters. It’s just something I do without thinking. I can’t stand to see people hurting who have a chance at happiness.”

Believe her, his dragon crooned.

A small part of him hidden deep, deep inside agreed with the beast. But the human-half asked, “Is that what I am to you? A fix-it project?”

She frowned. “I just want to get to know the father of my baby. Is that too much to ask?”

He was suspicious of Melanie’s ulterior motives, but with his dragon urging him to agree and the deeply buried part of him that remembered being interested in humans as a boy coming back to the forefront of his mind, Tristan decided to give Melanie a chance. Just one. If she betrayed it, he’d find a way to stay away from her, even if it meant leaving the clan for a few months.

Decision made, he said, “Wait here for a second. I’ll be right back.”

She blinked at his order, but nodded. He reluctantly released his grip on her arms and went to the dragonwoman currently handing out student lunches. Each step he took away from the human made his inner beast try to crawl out and take control. Let me take care of the young and then I will go back to her.

His dragon seemed skeptical, but with a few more reassurances, it grumbled and retreated. As soon as he was close enough to the dragonwoman, he said, “Can you watch the children and take them to their next class? I need to take care of the mother of my child.”

The dragonwoman darted a glance toward Melanie, but instead of the disdain he’d expected, the older woman had sympathy in her eyes. The dragonwoman nodded. “I remember what it’s like to get morning sickness, and it’s ten times worse for humans carrying one of our children. Take her home and pamper her, Tristan. Humans are so fragile, and who knows if these next nine months will be her last.”

No, she will NOT die, his dragon screamed inside his head.

He pushed the beast back and said to the female, “So you don’t care that she’s an outsider on our land?”

The woman, Lia, if he remembered right, shook her head. “Why would I? She’s helping our clan’s future by coming here and being willing to bear one of our children, despite the risks to her life and her reputation if she leaves here after the child is born.”

“You’re in the minority, then.”

Lia shrugged. “Maybe. But all that matters is that you take care of her, Tristan. I’ve heard the rumors about you not even checking in on her this past week, and it’s disappointing. I knew your mum, and no matter what race the mother of her grandchild was, she would’ve expected you to take care of your future family.”

He made a noncommittal noise. He wasn’t about to discuss his mother with who knew how many students listening to his conversation. What Lia had already said was bad enough. He turned and said, “I’m going now.”

Without looking back, he walked over to Melanie. As he approached her, he caught the human’s scent and his dragon started growling. Only when he put a hand on Melanie’s lower back did the beast fall quiet again. No doubt, it was semi-behaving because Melanie had just been sick.

Funny, that. His dragon stopped thinking about fucking her whenever she threw up. Morning sickness might work to his advantage.

He pushed against her back. “Come with me.”

Melanie looked up at him. “Where are we going?”

Without thinking, his hand started to rub her lower back. “You’re going to get cleaned up and then we’re going to pay a visit to my sister, Arabella.”

 

~~~

 

Sacrificed to the Dragon: Part Three will be available no later than September 5, 2014

(It will probably be ready at the end of August, but just in case).

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