Anna pulled against the shackles over her head. Dammit! Honest-to-goodness medieval shackles! Torches burned along the walls, scorching the stone behind them and casting flickering shadows through the cave.
This had to be a sick joke. She ran her fingers beneath the thick metal collar chaining her neck to the wall. Dragons were bad enough, but this Game of Thrones crap was a little much.
She giggled a tiny, nervous, crazed sound as Gale crept toward her. His jeans rubbed against his long, dark coat, making a scraping sound that cut though her with each advancing step. Behind him, the walls reached into a cathedral ceiling that seemed to have no apex, except for a scattering of multicolored glow worms that blinked high above, feigning the night sky.
A smile spread across Gale’s face as he neared. “Comfortable, my love?”
Back in the alley, that first night, he’d done something to her, hypnotized her into wanting him, into being completely at ease with his touch. Now, he wasn’t so merciful. Now, she knew him for the monster he truly was.
“I am not your love.” This animal probably wasn’t even capable of love. She elevated her chin, doing her best not to quiver.
“True enough. We’re not even bonded.”
“And we never will be.” At least, she hoped not. Deep within her, she could feel a longing, a pull to something in the distance. Puff’s big, icy-blue eyes filled her thoughts, warming her from within. He’d bound himself to her. She didn’t know how, or why, or even if he’d had a choice in the matter. But his essence ran through her, comforting her even in his absence.
They were intertwined, melded in a way that she never dreamed possible. She wouldn’t give up this beautiful sense of belonging, and she certainly didn’t want any of this magical Draconic blessing tainted by the sicko leering at her. “Keep away from me.”
His smile turned wry. “Fear not, lovely. I have no intention of bonding myself to you. It’s far too inconvenient.” His gaze flicked to the floor, where a circle had been etched in the stone around her. He remained on the outside. They all did, come to think of it. But Puff hadn’t kept away. They’d spent each night together with her snuggled under his wing. Then, when he was a man, she’d cuddled against him, drinking in his warmth.
“Proximity,” she whispered. “You can’t come close to me, or you’ll bond.”
His eyes flashed. “Smart girl.”
But it must have something to do with the amount of time, as well. She hadn’t bonded to Gale while he’d carried her, and she hadn’t bonded to the dragons who’d tied her up here. The ring must have just been a precaution.
The chains jangled as she reset her footing. She’d spent an entire night trapped inside Puff’s wing after he’d saved her from Gale, and then she’d slept covered by that same wing each subsequent night. Every morning she’d felt closer to him, more at ease.
She was as bonded to her little white dragon as he was to her.
Gale prowled back and forth in front of her, stepping over the chain that anchored her right ankle to a chain that disappeared into the floor several yards away from the wall. “Luckily enough for me, I don’t need the bond to plant my seed within you. I need only to touch you when we mate, and when you give birth to my fledgling.”
She gulped. “And then what?”
His eyes darkened. “You’ll do what every good mother does. You’ll feed him.”
She had a bad feeling he wasn’t talking about nursing the baby.
Anna yanked against the shackles, choking down the terror building in her chest. “You can’t do this. I belong to someone else.”
But he didn’t care. She could see it in his eyes. She was a means to an end for him, nothing more. Puff be damned.
She looked up toward the ceiling, where several flying dragons circled in their own private sky. “Help me, please!”
“They’re my people,” Gale said. “They’ve come to see me confirmed ruler once more.” His gaze lingered on their lazy flight pattern. “The only help they’ll provide, is holding your legs apart, if I ask it of them.”
A whimper escaped her throat, and she hated herself for it. Yes, he held all the cards, but he would not conquer her soul. She needed to keep her wits about her. Eventually, one of these godforsaken reptiles would be careless. It might only happen for a split second, but it would happen. She needed to find her chance to get away, and take it.
A dragon roared somewhere, followed by another. Streams of flame blasted through the sky, lighting torches mounted to the rockface for what looked like a mile overhead.
The walls began to move.
No, not the walls. Dragons. Hundreds of dragons sat perched on shelves lining the bulwark high into the darkness above. The worms no longer comforted her with their light.
Gale turned from her. “Brigham Solstice has ended!”
The dragons bellowed in answer, the sound echoing off the stone walls.
“Once again I stand before you, as your king.” He pointed to a line of gray dragons on the floor, some small, some large. “My sons will soon have another of my brood to teach the ways of governance and law.”
Those were all his sons? How long had he been king, and where were the previous mothers?
Gale’s words hissed through her mind. You’ll do what every good mother does. You’ll feed him.
Jesus, he wasn’t just trying to scare her. He was serious.
Anna propped her foot against the wall and pulled. Dammit! Shackles always came loose in the movies. Why not now?
The dragons drummed their talons on the rocks. The sound reverberated off the stone like the march of an army. When she turned, she no longer faced Gale the man, but the largest dragon in the room.
Anna’s back slammed against the wall, and she realized she’d retreated. The dragon lowered its head until its eyes were level with hers. She wasn’t going to back down, though. If Gale wanted her, she was going down fighting.
Joe’s icy-blue eyes filled her mind. She reached to them for comfort, for the warmth she’d relished in the caves, but the vision broke away, splintering until nothing was left but the sight of the yellow-eyed monster before her.
Gale’s gaze bored into Anna, making promises and threats that she knew he had every intention of keeping. But she found life in those threats, new meaning. A haze coated the room as his warm breath encompassed her, she reveled in the essence of smoke and endless power.
She was his queen, the only woman in New Zealand who could bear him a child. And she would.
She sighed, breathing him in, knowing he’d soon make her his. Lolling her head, she bared her neck in submission, accepting him. Wanting him.
Gale raised a talon, snagging the edge of her pants.
“Yes,” she whispered, leaning back and exposing herself to his might.
“Gale, stop!” The voice rang through the chamber. The drumming of talons stopped, leaving the air empty and wanting.
Three men stepped into the light. Two dark, and one fair with ghostly white skin.
Gale lowered his talon.
Anna weakened from the loss of his touch. “No,” she begged. “Please.”
The dragon ignored her, turning to the newcomers, growling.
The pale man lifted a torch into the air. “This female is mine, bonded to me by right. She was taken unlawfully and forced here against her will.”
Gale roared at them. The heat of his breath tingled through the room, Anna twisted, coating herself in his glory.
“I will not back down, Gale. She is mine, and I will not allow this.”
Throughout the room, the dragons galloped in place. Gale puffed three times, snickering.
Who was this boy to challenge a full-grown dragon? Blood would be spilled today, and Anna thrilled at the thought.
She laughed, swinging from her bindings. “He’s going to kill you,” she sing-songed. The massive gray dragon glanced back to her, and she leaned toward him. “Do it. Slit his throat and be done with it.”
The dragon growled and spun on the intruders. The pale boy took a step back, but his gaze remained pinned to Anna’s. His forehead wrinkled, his eyes weary and pleading.
Did he think that she’d want him? Ridiculous, when she already had someone so magnificent.
Anna blinked, and the haze about the room cleared. Gale had his back to her. His tail twitched at the floor between her feet. She shook her head, clearing the rest of the fog before the remainder of the room came into focus.
Joe’s presence screamed into her psyche, calling, caressing, and promising to end this madness.
No, not Joe—Puff. Joesephutus. Her dragon. He’d come for her.