“Well, this is nice.” Heather surveyed the room they found themselves shoved into with wide eyes. Room didn’t really encompass it. The room was as big as her apartment, and several more of the same size. Everywhere she looked were magnificent cloths in beautiful colors, precious jewels embedded into gilded furniture, and the most extravagant chandelier she had ever seen outside of a magazine.

Christy burst into laughter. “Girl, I must be dreaming or dead. Dragons, castles, and a room that looks like something out of a Goth-mansion. No way is this real.”

“I know right? Only it is real and…” Tears blurred her vision. “What do we do now?”

Christy’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know, really. I mean, what can we do?”

Heather was at a loss. Her mind kept going back to Max. God, he was hot. Not just because he was a fire-breathing dragon either. He was just….yum. Everything about him turned her on even though she didn’t want it to.

She sighed and said, “Okay, so they said something about a portal. I suggest we try to find out when, exactly, it is going to open and if there’s another way to open it. And if there is another way to use it.”

Christy surveyed the chair she stood next to. “Maybe we should also try to figure out how to do it as soon as possible, but we’re not going to get any answers at all in this room.”

True. Heather went to the door. She reached for the doorknob, holding her breath a little as she tried it. She had half expected it to be locked but it opened easily under her fingers, and she peered out at a long and winding hallway. “I don’t see anyone around.”

Christy came up behind her and peered over her shoulder. “Me either. Should we run for it?”

“Where would we go?”

Heather stepped out into the hallway despite those words. Her nerves went on high alert, and her senses did too. She asked, as Christy stepped up beside her, “So what do we do? Just explore and hope we run into a sympathetic dragon willing to tell us how to get back to our world?”

“I guess that’s the plan.” Christy looked down and added, “We need to do something about that boot.”

“I know. It’s killing my foot and hip to try to walk on that broken heel.” Heather looked down with a grimace twisting her face. “I just don’t know what to do about it. I can’t just go barefoot, after all. There’s no telling what’s on these floors.”

“Can I help you?”

Heather jumped half a foot off the ground and stared at the older woman standing nearby. She looked human, but they all did. “Um, hi. We’re new here. We just…”

The woman smiled. “You got brought here by that idiot Blake. I heard.”

Heather muttered, “Glad to hear you share the same opinion of him.”

The woman stepped forward. Her eyes were a brilliant green. “I’m Julie. I’m from your world too, so I know it’s a little disconcerting to find yourself here.”

Heather’s heart slammed into her ribs. “You’re from our world? Did you get dragged over here too?”

Julie shook her head. “Oh no. I came looking for the place. I went through the elf caves.”

Heather just blinked. She looked to Christy for help, but Christy looked just as stupefied. “Did you say elf caves?”

“I did.” Julie gave them a warm smile. “Are you hungry or thirsty?”

“No, thanks. Could you tell us if there’s another way back, I mean, besides the portal? Or if there’s a way to open the portal earlier? Wait. You came through some caves? Is there a way back through them?”

“Only if you don’t mind the elves, and since neither of you seem to have any powers, I would say you would. They can be nasty when someone trespasses, and they really dislike humans, especially ones without magic, traipsing through their lands.” Julie frowned. “I think the caves have been taken by the Orcs in recent years. At least that’s the way I understand it.”

Orcs? Heather shivered all over. “Oh. Is that why you haven’t left yet?”

Julie said, “No. I haven’t left because I wanted to be here. I heard about it and sought it out. Now, as to the portal—it only opens at certain times. Nobody knows why and they’ve spent centuries mapping out the rhythms of it. It will open soon enough, but not before that I’m afraid. You two might as well get comfortable.”

Heather watched her walk away, her heart sinking lower and lower. “Ugh. I guess that answers our biggest questions.”

They turned around and Heather, gamely trying to walk on the heels, groaned out, “I need some shoes.”

“Yes, you do.” The words came from behind her. The voice was Max’s, and she froze, her body going tense as he approached. “You’re going to break your neck if you aren’t careful.”

She looked down at her feet and muttered something under her breath that she hoped he would take for agreement. He knelt on the floor, the crown of his dark head resting right at the level of her crotch, which just had the effect of making that flesh go both damp and hot.

His hands reached for her boot, and she grabbed at Christy for balance as he studied the heel. “Hm. It’s definitely gone. If you had it with you, I could just put it back on for you.”

Oh my God, please let go of me. The silent prayer was not born out of disgust at his touch; it was born out of sheer fear of the overwhelming lust that was riding through her veins and body just then. Her nipples chose that very moment to go erect and plump and to strain at the fabric of her shirt and bra. Her face went scarlet, and she tried to step backward, forgetting he had her foot in his strong and capable hands.

That slip caused her to lean too heavily on Christy, and then they both fell to the floor. Heather, her breath knocked out of her by the fall, stared up at his face, which was sporting an evil grin. He carefully dropped her foot onto the floor as well and stood. “Give it to me, and I will fix it for you.”

She stared from his face to the ruined boot. Her mouth was dry, her pussy wet, and she had no idea at all what to say or do next. She had zero pretense of dignity left, and as Christy struggled to her feet, Max shot a hand out and helped her, then he held that hand out to Heather.

She muttered, “Wait,” and yanked the broken boot off, and then the other one too. She passed them over and carefully climbed to her feet, ignoring his hand. The last thing she needed was for him to touch her. Her panties were barely holding back the flood of her oils as it was!

He grinned at her again as she made a big show of dusting off her ass and legs and then tried to fix a haughty stare on her face. Her voice trembled a bit as she said, “I would appreciate the repair, thank you.”

He leaned in closer. His eyes held her. A short, sharp gasp came to her lips, and she quickly smothered it as his fingers hooked into her hair and then ran down it. She stared at him, confused.

His sexy and low baritone intoned, “You’re welcome,” and then he walked off. She had the unfortunate angle of sight to see that his lean hips and long legs were offset by a narrow waist and a high, tight ass with full cheeks that practically begged to be gripped during a session of hot sex.

Shame hit. There was no way she should be thinking about sex with a…a monster! He was a monster, and one who had just grabbed her up and out of her world and dropped her into this scary place. Not to mention she had no chance with him.

Seriously.

None at all.

Christy said, “I guess that’s it then. We’re here for the duration.”

Heather wailed out, “What do we do now?”

Christy drew a little closer to her and then grimaced. “Right now? We figure out how to work a bathtub and get you in it. Girl, you smell bad.”

Heather’s shoulders dropped. “I know. I guess you’re right. I mean what else can we do?”

She told herself to look away from Max’s ass as he strode further along the hall and away from her but she stood there until he had completely vanished from sight.