“I was once called Amanda. Now I am referred to quite differently.” She extended her hand to help the human male to get off the ground. “But you may call me Amanda if that is what suits you. Everyone else will refer to me as Princess. It is my name and my title. You see, you are not really speaking to Amanda. You are speaking to a dragon. I share her body now.”
Dean, as her memories told her he’d been named, took her hand. His blue eyes were huge and his mouth hung open as he regarded her.
He can speak to us, Blue said to her, yawning widely before settling down to sleep for the rest of the day. And we lost Dore.
That is too bad. He will be missed. Sleep well and thank you for your service.
This male could communicate telepathically? She never would have guessed that to be the case, but then again, her own vessel had been horribly limited when she had arrived.
“What do you mean, you were once called Amanda? And that I’m speaking to a dragon?”
“I am not Amanda any longer.” Well. That didn’t happen to be entirely true, only Dean didn’t have to know that. “I once was but now I am the princess of dragons.”
The human male smelled good, even though his body was covered in dirt, sweat and all manner of disgusting crud. He required a bath.
“You did something to Amanda?” He kicked the water barrel beneath the sleeping hold. “So not only did I let her father and mother down, but I didn’t just kill Amanda Sugar, I left her to be somehow violated by the dragons.”
“Dean Andrews, you take a lot of responsibility on yourself. Amanda Sugar is not harmed and even had she been, it would not be your fault. This is the side of human beings I do not grasp. Even living with Amanda I cannot make sense of it.”
“Dragons. It’s not bad enough that you fly around destroying everything in your path, you now invade bodies too.” He looked up at the sky. “Why would you take our bodies? You have your own. Something wrong with them?”
Princess smiled at the small-brained human. She had to be calm and patient with them, as they were so limited in so many ways.
“We take your bodies for many reasons. The first is the ease with which we can communicate with you through them. How else should we speak with our servants if we are not able to form your words?”
Dean shook his head. “Try not having human slaves. How about that?”
She ignored him. His railing about things he could not change would not be noted. “The other reasons that we take your bodies are complicated. But the top two are thus. First, only some of us can do it. The topmost of our kind can human join. It’s a show of rank.”
“You can’t know how ridiculous you sound to me.”
“The feeling is mutual, small thinker.” She continued. He had asked a question—he would get the full answer whether he liked it or not. “The second reason is that we like how your bodies feel.”
She ran her hand up her human arm. Goose bumps appeared and she shivered. So much pleasure could be found in the body she possessed.
“My own nerve endings are not as sensitive as yours. You could cut off my wing and I would not feel it as intensely as the cutting off of a human arm. The feelings are...enticing.”
“Of course you do this—of course you do.”
The human made no sense. “I’m not following this conversation.”
Human beings were such complicated, emotional creatures. They did not take proper care of themselves. For instance, as Princess she would never have brought her dragons here. Why would she waste the resources? It would have made better sense for them to have stayed at home. Statistically, they were likely to lose more people this way than the numbers they would lose from one of their raids.
A pang in her heart made her rub her chest. Amanda did like to communicate. Any way she could. Right now, she wanted Princess to focus on something other than numbers. Relationships. Right.
She had other things on her mind, which included getting this human male settled so he could relax and accept the dragon that would fill his mind. True connections with humans were rare and, as much as Dean Andrews had a nasty temper and a difficult way about him, he would eventually take his place and form a relationship. Ultimately he’d love it, as all their hosts did. After all, those who had hosts held leadership positions.
What more could anyone want?
“Come with me, Dean Andrews.”
“No.” He wrenched her forward, slamming her body against the marble wall. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” His hands went around her neck, positioned to squeeze should he decide to do so. “You’re going to let me out of here or I’m going to take the life from your body. Do you understand, dragon?”
She couldn’t swallow and speech would hurt. Yet he needed to hear what she said so she could be sure he understood his decision correctly. “You may kill this body. That will only...” She gasped. “Eliminate Amanda. She lives with me. Or not at all. I have two bodies. You will never take out my dragon.”
Dean snarled. She recognized that look from the feral beasts they occasionally brought home to store during food shortages. Despite the humans’ beliefs, they only ate human flesh on rare occasions. Mostly, wild game sufficed. The question remained, would he get hold of his temper or should she leave Amanda to die?
She watched his indecision for one second before he dropped his hands from her throat. Princess rubbed the tender skin there. Her own scales, safely hidden away in her private sleeping area, would have handled the assault better.
“If I look in a reflective pool, shall I see your fingerprints on Amanda’s skin?” The man had some feelings left for a girl he’d known only briefly. Perhaps he’d treat her more kindly if she reminded him of that fact.
“You will.” He grabbed her arm to stop her from moving forward. “I want to be clear. You’re a dragon. I’m going to find a way to free Amanda from you. She’s going to leave here. You aren’t.”
“There is no Amanda without me. I am the stronger creature. When I joined my mind with hers, I took her as my own. She lives, sort of, within my soul. My relationship with her is much like that of a parent to a child. She softens me and I make sure all is well in her world.” Princess stared up at Dean. “I want you to understand that. If she dies, I return to my body and at some point I will find another host. It matters not. If you kill her, she’s dead. Because that’s all you humans do, when it comes down to it. You die.”
The human male had the audacity to smile at her. A big, toothy grin that showed his gums. In dragon-speak it would be considered threatening, and she held no doubt that Dean intended it that way as well. “Why, dragon, I think I’ve rattled you. How lovely.”
There seemed no point giving this man any more thought than she already had. He would fall into line. Amanda had been resistant, which might be remembering it mildly. Yet she’d gone along because she had no choice. Force the human consciousness down and the dragon could control it. Dean Andrews would live by the consent of one of her comrades. End of story.
“Come with me. You require food and, before that, a shower.”
“Oh really? Does my human dirt bother you?” He laughed but followed her forward. “Here are a couple of things you should know before we continue.”
Princess sighed. Whichever dragon took him would have its work cut out for it. He liked to chatter on. “What’s that?”
“I know I’ve failed you many times, Amanda, and I’m so sorry for that. Your mom and dad. What happened to you.”
“The day I took Amanda saved her. Before my intervention, she could neither read nor take care of herself properly. As you can see,” Princess stepped back so he might examine her, “she aged much better than she would have. Filled out.”
He shook his head. “I’m not talking to you. I’m speaking to her.”
“She hears only through me.”
“Shut up.” He pulled her close up against him. “I don’t want to hear your voice. I just want you—both of you—to listen to this. Am I clear?”
“Fine.”
He rolled his eyes and she stared at them. Human eyes were considered windows to their so-called souls. What did his tell her? She couldn’t read him. He guarded himself from exposure. That much she could understand.
“You really can’t stop talking. Here’s the deal. I failed Amanda in all but one way. I saved her brother and sister. I want you to know that, Amanda. They live with me. In my home, like my own. They’re thriving except that neither one of them has stopped missing you. When they came in, some of the elders told me they were so small they’d forget you. They were wrong.”
A jolt slammed through Princess’ stomach. She ignored it. Amanda had loved those children. She’d seen it in her memories. This momentary emotional distress would pass.
Maybe she shouldn’t have let the human male speak so much. She’d always been too soft for her own good.
“I’m going to take you home to them. I promise. I know you have no reason to believe me, because I keep screwing up with your family. Believe this if nothing else— you will be going back to your brother and sister.” He bent over to whisper in her ear. “And this dragon bitch will rue the day she took you from me.”
Princess grabbed Dean by the arm and hauled him with her. If he gave her much more of a problem, she’d call for help. Her dragons would make him do what she said. In all her hundreds of years, she’d never had an introduction go this badly. Hysteria she knew how to handle. Denial could be managed. Dean’s unbelievable arrogance made the hair on the back of Amanda’s head itch. What did that even mean?
She bit down on her lip. The human would be made to comply.
They arrived at the barracks that housed the human counterparts when they were not needed.
She marched in and everyone stood up. Being Princess had some perks. Respect and obedience from her dragons happened to be one of them.
The eating room consisted of three long tables where the humans could eat if they so chose. The whole area always smelled of cooking food. One of the rules required there always to be food preparation going on. No matter what time of the night a human got hungry, they were able to feed.
“All of you sit. He’s a difficult one. But he’ll be made to be manageable, or we can chuck him out of the building.”
Koda sucked in her breath. As a human, she appeared to be about forty with graying hair and broad shoulders, good for carrying large loads. In her dragon form, she appeared almost white, an excellent camouflage in battle with other dragons.
“Throw out a compatible human? Really?”
“Yes, really. Believe me, if I decide to chuck him out, you’ll be glad for the interference.”
Dean laughed. “I think your leader here is having a bad day. It’s hard when new members don’t toe the line. Believe me, I know your pain. Maybe you’ll have to punish me.”
“Maybe I will.” She kept yanking and finally he went along.
The bathing room had to be kept clean at all times. Four times a day, one of the humans, on a rotating schedule, went in and cleansed the space. Princess stepped around one of the cleaners as she went in.
“Doon, is all well with you?”
Her dragon brethren bowed his head. “Princess, all is well.”
“Good. Give us the room.”
“Yes ma’am.” Doon scuttled out.
Dean crossed his arms over his chest. “You want to get me alone?”
“You’re not yet joined. My understanding is that humans like their privacy when they bathe. We don’t care about such things. I am trying to be considerate of your feelings.”
“If you’re in here with me, Princess, then I’m not alone.” She hated how he made her name a sneer.
“You obviously cannot be unguarded at this point. That would be ridiculous. If you prefer, I’ll get one of the men to watch over you.”
Dean shook his head, yanking his shirt off his body. “No I would not prefer that. I’d prefer you vacated Amanda’s body right this second, then flew into a volcano.”
Princess gripped the wall behind her and hoped it looked as if she was only lounging. She had seen many naked human males. Dean had only partially undressed, yet heat traveled through her body at the sight of him.
He appeared so muscular as almost to have been made out of stone. Years of battle would have done that to him. How did she know that he’d been in so many wars? Amanda’s memory. Her human part knew quite a lot about this difficult man.
Aha. It suddenly made sense. Amanda’s teenage self had desired him. Not in the way a grown woman lusted for a mate but in the quiet, removed way a young human female liked a much older man who would be completely forbidden to her. Princess scanned her human’s memories. In their brief encounter, Dean had only acted like a leader trying to help a young member of his society. He’d shown no preference for her sexually.
But when he’d looked up and noticed her today, his eyes had taken in her body very differently. Thanks to being fed regularly, Amanda had the curves of a woman now.
And her memories of desiring Dean were making things uncomfortable for
Princess.
Dean unzipped his pants and pulled them off, shoving them into the corner of the room. Someone had shaved his blondish-brown hair so that it grew barely an inch long. Military style. The humans thought the length of their hair would make a difference in their battles? It made so little sense. Yet the length complemented his face, showing off high cheekbones and thick eyebrows. His strong, straight-edged nose had a scar across the top of it. War wounds.
His whole body seemed to be covered in scars. All the way from his neck down his back, even marring his tight ass and the backs of his calves.
“Did someone take a whip to you? Humans are so barbaric.” Dragons didn’t do those things to each other.
Dean turned around. He now stood in front of her completely nude. His penis, long, hard and erect, stood out in front of him. She longed to reach out her hand and stroke it.
“I’ve been whipped, beaten and burned, all in the protection of my people. Every scar on my body reminds me never to turn my back on what I believe in. Stop looking at me.”
She stepped away from the wall. “That is admirable. These are traits I can understand. You see? When you are not being obtuse, you are an interesting human.”
Princess turned on the water. At least the movement gave her something to do with her hands.
“I have no desire to be interesting to you. I really don’t care one way or another if you understand me. The only thing about you that I am at all interested in is how I can get you out of her body.”
“Yes.” Princess nodded. Her mouth watered and she couldn’t keep her eyes off his hard cock. When had she ever been so out of control of her human body? “But perhaps I can give you another way to be interested in me.” She let her gaze drop to his manhood. He should know exactly of what she spoke.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole. That’s Amanda’s body you’re using. I’m not going to touch it with you in it. This whole place disgusts me.”
She might have believed him if she didn’t watch him storm into the stream of water she’d put on for him. He groaned, closing his eyes for a second. “You didn’t tell me you had warm water.”
“Have you grown so uncivilized that you no longer have any?” She shrugged. “We have hot water. Surely you could maintain yours.”
“We spend all our time trying to survive you. Fixing our water heaters has to come second.”
“You make poor decisions. Sacrifice some of your people to us periodically and we’ll basically leave you alone.”
Dean pounded on the wall. “That’s not how we do things.”
“I know. We will never truly understand you. There is, however, something I do believe.” She approached him at the same speed she might a wild boar. She wanted Dean—well, her body did—and the last thing she needed would be for him to charge her in act of aggression that had nothing to do with fulfilling her body’s current needs.
“What’s that?”
“Your cock would react if I touched it.” She pulled her shirt from her body, displaying her breasts to him. “You’ll want me in a few minutes. My figure is fantastic. It will turn you on.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Nothing happens between us without Amanda’s consent.”
Princess slipped out of her skirt, leaving it in a pile on the ground. Someone would pick it up later. “I’m never—what word did you use? Oh yes, ridiculous. My body wants you and you’re a human male. Any second your desire will win the war over your good sense. So why don’t we see if we can do something about your stressful day? We can both seek pleasure.”
“I’m not going to touch you.” Dean took a step back.
“Why not? I have kept Amanda’s body healthy and strong.”
Dean ran a hand over his face. “Hell. Don’t tell me that. I don’t want to think about her body. No one had better have touched her—if she didn’t get to say okay, then it’s akin to rape.”
Princess put her hands on Dean’s shoulders and he shoved her back. “Now that is nonsense. While I have not given Amanda’s body to someone else for sex, many of my brethren have done it. There is nothing wrong with it. You are a strong human male in top form. Although you try to deny it, you wish to have sex with this body. I wish it too. Amanda’s wishes are not important here.”
“You couldn’t be more wrong. The last time I saw Amanda she was barely sixteen years old. I don’t care how old you are now. If she’s not here to talk to me, then I’m not interested.”
“Actually...” Princess smiled. Amanda had a pretty face. Dean would like that. “She turned seventeen that day. Does that matter to you? Fix things?”
“No.”
Princess launched herself at Dean, who staggered backward from the act. She kissed him in the ways she had seen other females of his kind do. A slight brushing of their mouths. Dean didn’t respond, moving himself away from her again.
“She thinks of you as a man of honor. You took care of her brother and sister. I am certain that you would never have done an inappropriate thing to her, ever. Sixteen. Seventeen. There was no difference.” She ran her fingers through the spray of dark hair on his chest. He took her hands and held them away from him. “But this isn’t forbidden. In fact, I’d say it would be really good for both of us.”
Dean pushed her whole body away with one shove. “I don’t want to want you. There are a million things I need to do and this is not one of them.”
“Fine. Then maybe I just need to get you clean.”
Her senses had turned on. Every move she made, every brush of her skin against him, jolted her mind. Heat pooled inside her pussy. Human sex had never been so intense before. Yes, her body wished for Dean. She would have him.
Grabbing the soap from the holder, she rubbed it on his body, starting with his chest and moving downward until she approached his hard penis. “Very clean.”
She touched him with the soap and seconds later he threw her against the wall, the water slamming down on her. “I told you not to touch me.”
Princess closed her eyes. The sensation of the water mixed with his hands on her, even in this small way, made her brain feel dull. For the first time ever she could think about nothing but what she needed from him.
“You are wound up, aren’t you?” he whispered in her ear before moving to the other side of the showers.
“Dean.” Amanda whispered in his ear. “Can you hear me?”
“Obviously I can hear you. I’ve been listening to you jabber on since I got here. Are you listening to me? We aren’t doing this—end of story.”
“No,” she gasped. “Listen to me. It’s Amanda. Do you understand? Amanda.” Dean stopped moving. “Amanda?” He walked toward her.
“Please. Take me. I need it. You’ve overwhelmed her senses. It’s the only reason I can talk to you. Please don’t stop. You and I have to help each other.” She bit down on his throat. “In more ways than one. Do you understand?”
She wanted him inside her. They were going to have to wait a little before they both got what they wanted.