Selena

Sunrays coming from the window woke me up. I searched for Lance in my bed and soon found the bed empty. I frowned, disappointed. I sure could use his heat. I smiled at that. Not just the heat emanating from his warm body, but also the other kind of heat, the one that still pulsed between my legs. I spread them and touched myself, then winced. Okay, maybe leave that heat for tonight. Would he come again then? I didn’t know. I thought we’d shared something special last night, and for now, I’d leave it be.

The smell of breakfast drifted past my nose. Throwing off the thermal cover, I stepped on the floor and found last night’s cart cleared of dinner and replaced with breakfast. Boiled eggs and sliced salmon filet with fresh-baked bread. I picked up a cup filled with a yellow liquid. I sniffed, unfamiliar with the scent. I didn’t know what it was, so I put it back on the cart.

After I used the bathroom and dressed in pressed new black clothes, I attacked the breakfast. So tasty! I bounced a little on the bed. The food here was amazing. Those people in the habitat didn’t know what they’d been missing out on. All those megatron ads for “tasty, nutritious bars” made me laugh out loud. I would never eat a single one again. Wherever I ended up on the journey that was my life, I would buy a few chickens, a rooster, and then a boat. The chickens would give me eggs, and I could use the boat to go to sea and fish.

A shriek made me jump.

Water splashed over my hand, and I shook it off then went to the window to see the dragon flying on the horizon. Oh, but he was majestic. To think that this creature with a wingspan….what had Belle said…sixty some feet long and a body that weighed two tons had given me pleasure last night was almost like a fairy tale. Yes! A fairy tale. What with all the castle stuff and the beast inside it. I knew exactly which tale. It ended with a happily ever after. I wanted my tale to end the same way. I snorted. What a ridiculously hopeless romantic I turned out to be.

I rushed outside, but stopped at the stairs. They went up, and I hadn’t been up yet. I climbed the stairs two at a time and emerged outside. It looked like a platform without rails. It reminded me of a habitat’s parking lot.

The indigo dragon shrieked again.

I yelped and jumped, then found him hovering above me. “Hey, quit scaring the crap out of me.”

He batted his wings, the wind of it moving my body. I extended my hand. “Don’t pee on me, ya hear?”

He showed me his teeth, then circled the castle.

A black dog emerged. I willed myself not to be afraid, even when his piercing gray eyes locked with mine. But soon, the dog wagged its tail and came to stand next to my leg. I patted it behind the ear. “You’ve got some thick pelt there, buddy.” I crouched and shoved both my hands into the fur around his face. I scratched behind his ears. “Oh, you’re so cute, you big bad you.” I kissed the side of his face.

The dragon shrieked again and landed behind me. I knew he’d landed behind me because the entire roof shook. Getting uneasily to my feet, I stood and spun around.

He stomped one foot, his head lowered, gaze locked with the poor dog.

“You’re gonna fall through the roof,” I said.

The dragon stomped his foot again, showing his teeth. Boy, those teeth were the size of my forearm.

The dog barked.

I glanced at the animal and patted his head. “Shhh.”

The dragon rolled his eyes. I was sure of it now. I clearly saw the eye roll. Then he slumped, his nose resting near my body. One big eye trained on me, he huffed.

“What?”

The dog barked. Is it suicidal?

The wind picked up, and I shivered. I put my hands around me. Damn, it was cold. The door opened, and Belle came running out. “Selena, you forgot your jacket.”

The dog barked at her and went inside the castle.

Belle handed me the jacket and patted the dragon, her small hand near his muzzle. “I love him,” she said.

Something ripped through my chest. Something angry and possessive. I crossed my arms over my chest and pinched my lips so I didn’t tell her to fuck off. How dare she touch my dragon, I thought, but knew better than to voice such things. I had no claim on the lord of the castle and certainly not over this majestic beast.

Lance was the nicest man I’d ever met, and he would protect me. None of that meant he felt anything more for me than what he felt for Belle. For all I knew, they could be casual lovers. She could’ve been his companion at one time too. “Did you ever sleep with him?” came out of my mouth. Mortified, I clamped a hand over it. But it was out, my voice carrying on the wind.

The dragon went still. Its tail stopped wagging and landed with a thud while the dragon moved his giant head so both eyes could stare at me.

Belle blushed so profusely, she resembled a tomato, then she tucked her hand into her pocket.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “That was uncalled for. I didn’t mean to ask that.”

“It’s all right. I understand. Believe me, I understand.”

We stood there in awkward silence. Belle hooked a thumb behind her shoulder. “I’ll be going, then.”

I put a hand on her elbow. “Hey, you can pet him anytime. I didn’t mean it. And thank you for the jacket. I feel terrible.”

She smiled. If she was upset with me, I couldn’t tell.

I smiled in turn.

She said, “Are you giving me permission to pet him?”

My eyes widened. “Noooo,” I said horrified. “I’m just gonna shut up now.”

Belle winked at me and left us.

I stood there thinking I’d made an ass of myself. Those blue dragon eyes kept staring at me, probably wanting me to say something smart. The weather? When in doubt, talk about the weather. “It’s a beautiful day today,” I stated. Yup.

The dragon huffed.

The tail went up and wagged again.

Thump, thump, thump on the floor. It made my body bounce.

He nudged my side with his muzzle. This time, I understood. I climbed over his nose, over the length of his muzzle, and up to the horn, where I spun around and sat with my back against the horn. It was a strange little place to sit. A dent with raised sides as if a person should be able to fit there. Even one with an ass the size of mine.

The dragon stood.

“Wooo,” I whispered, nerves getting the best of me when presented with the view of the clear sky and the sea. No ground for miles and miles. He walked to the edge of the platform, dipped his head, and leapt. I screamed at the top of my lungs, then laughed hysterically as his wings shuffled when they spread out. He beat them with fury, but his head stayed steady so I didn’t move or feel like I’d fall out. Still, I dug my fingers into his skin.

It was so cold, so very cold up here. The wind beat against my cheeks, the sun nowhere near warm enough to heat me up. But I didn’t care one iota about the cold when the dragon lowered his body to nearly touch the sea. We cruised at God knows what speed, low and right above the sea. The fish seemed to follow him, big, small, red, green, yellow schools of fish raced with him. Then we slowed down, and the dragon settled on the water with a splash. He didn’t sink.

Instead, I turned around to see his wings fold and his body shudder, probably from the cold of the water. Out here, there wasn’t so much ice, I noticed. And sea life thrived, which was probably why he ate fish. I’d presumed dragons ate red meat, but meat was scarce unless one got some artificial beef from the several families who produced such things. “You know, some warm summer day, if I’m still around, you can take me out like this. I’d kick up my feet and tan.”

The dragon huffed.

“What? You’re not into tanning? Then you’re not from California. We work on our tans all year round.”

Schools of fish flopped around us. So strange to see the prey near the predator. Sure enough, the dragon opened his mouth and ate. These fish must be stupid. Why would they hop into his mouth?

Despite the warmth coming from his body, today’s winds whipped my skin. My teeth chattered, and I struggled to keep my jaw locked so he wouldn’t hear how the cold affected me.

But he had heard. I bet he had, because after a few seconds, he took to the sky again, our little outing over.

The dragon dropped me off on the tower’s top and disappeared into the horizon. I went inside and looked for Belle, finding her in the laundry room where I helped her fold piles and piles of clothes. We’d be here all morning.

Or so I thought.

An hour into our work, a man came through the door, tall, broad shouldered, handsome, and naked as the day he was born. I stepped back from him and glanced at Belle. She simply handed him black sweatpants and a gray shirt. “Sweater?” she asked.

“I’m good.” His gaze stayed on me. “I apologize. I didn’t know you were here.”

“Do you walk around naked all the time?” I asked.

His lips tipped up. Boy, he was a looker, this one. Belle clearly thought so too. She watched him like he hung the moon. I knew that look. She had it bad for this guy…Jake. Yeah, Jake. I remembered him. Jake, the man who’d gotten into a bit of a scuffle with Lance yesterday.

Jake dressed. “You might see nude men around here. We are…a nudist colony. Kind of.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, your kink is not my kink, but your kink is okay with me.”

“Exactly like that.” He glanced at Belle, then his eyes narrowed. He stepped near her. She stepped back. He stepped closer still, but she had nowhere else to go. He’d pinned her, and Belle kept her eyes on the floor. Okay, okay, this was weird. I didn’t know what to do. The whole thing made me uncomfortable. I stayed there if only to offer her support in case she needed it.

Jake hooked a finger under the seam of her shirt and pulled to expose her shoulder. “What happened here?”

Here where? I stepped closer and rose on my toes. There was a bruise on her shoulder. I glanced from her to him and back. I knew I was intruding, but I didn’t care. I didn’t know who’d given her that thing.

Belle shrugged. “Got into a fight.”

Huh? Belle got into fights?

“With whom?” he asked.

“Alberta.”

“Again.”

Belle nodded. “Please don’t chastise her for it. You’ll only make it worse.”

“I’m going to move you.”

Belle looked up for the first time. “Where?”

“To my brother’s pack.”

Belle balled her hands into fists. “Fuck you, Jake. Fuck you ten times over.”

My eyebrows shot up.

Jake spun around and left, leaving the door open. Cold rushed inside and replaced the heat he’d brought in. I closed the door and leaned against it. Belle continued folding. She sniffed, and I knew she wanted to cry. “Do you want to talk about it, or should I leave you alone?”

“Do you mind if I stay here?” she asked.

“No, but I want you to know I’m a really good listener. And there’s a lot of whiskey in the library. Good stuff. I could probably get us a bottle to share.”

A smile tugged her lips. “Thank you.”

With much hesitation, I left Belle alone. I didn’t know her well enough to pry into her business, but I wasn’t stupid either. Jake was hot. On a scale of one to Lance, he was just below Lance, sharing the place with the other dragon who appeared to have left the castle for the day. Belle wanted Jake. Jake had other plans. I felt bad for her, as it could happen to me too. Lance could come in one day while I folded laundry and say he was moving me someplace else, and there’d be nothing I could do about it. And, in all honesty, as long as it wasn’t to a habitat, I’d be okay with the move. Or so I told myself.

Outside, I searched for things to do on the island. I wanted to help out where I could, but people seemed to have it all under control. This place ran like a well-oiled cyborg, with no screeching parts. Speaking of cyborgs, a group of them inside the circular military pods popped up. They must’ve flown from the back of the castle and now they hovered near the shore.

What the hell?

I looked around, but saw no one. Shouldn’t someone greet them? Suddenly, Jake burst out of the castle, followed by a group of males. He stopped at the shore and spread his arms. “Land on the island, and you’ll lose your parts. We’ll leave the human parts for the dragon. He’s overdue for some red meat.”

His men laughed.

One pod crept closer but didn’t land. I walked a few more steps and…recognized the dark-haired driver. Diego. “What are you doing here?” I shouted so he could hear me.

He reached up with his mechatronic hand and flipped something. His voice carried over the wind. “Selena. Thank God. I’d searched everywhere for you, then they delivered your car, and I thought the worst. Baby, what are you doing here?”

Jake spun around, gray eyes furious. I froze in place.

“Selena?” Diego said.

“Yes, um. I left the habitat.”

“Why?”

I said nothing, didn’t want to air my dirty laundry in public.

“Talk to me!” he shouted.

Fine! “I’m not gonna marry you, Diego.”

His eyes widened, and he flipped another switch. The window slid open, and the pod lowered, now almost landing on the shore.

Jake stepped in front of me. “Fuck off about half a mile to that iceberg before I rip out your parts.”

Diego looked him up and down. He ignored him and smirked, probably thinking a human guy even as big as Jake couldn’t possibly tear out his parts. Which was true. Cyborgs were incredibly strong, much stronger than human men. “Baby, you’re having cold feet,” Diego said. “Come back. It’s gonna be fine. I promise.”

“Don’t baby me, Diego. You know you shouldn’t.”

Something dark passed over his eyes. “You little whore,” he hissed. “Did you really think you could escape someplace I couldn’t find you, hm?”

Everyone heard him. “You should leave,” I said.

Diego closed the window. He flipped some things on the roof, and the four pods behind him aligned with his pod. Weapons spurted out of the sides, one laser gun above each door.

Everything happened in seconds. Jake crouched and turned into a black dog with piercing gray eyes. A man had just turned into an animal.

More men turned into dogs and began howling. Okay, so these weren’t dogs, but the feral animals known as wolves. Huge wolves, their shoulders above my hips.

“The pack. It’s a wolf pack.” A whine escaped my throat. I feared for their lives. I’d seen those laser blasts burn holes into buildings; they could kill five men in one blast. I was lifting my hands to try to say something and prevent a massacre when I heard a dragon screech.

My ears rang.

The dragon flew above me and straight into the pods. They fired but didn’t get him. Instead, his big body crashed into two pods, ripping them into pieces. Circling, the dragon screeched again. When the three pods spun around and flew toward the habitat, he chased them, knocking two pods out of the air. The last pod made it behind the plasma, and I watched in horror as the dragon flew straight through the barrier.

Waves formed around the castle and crashed into the shore here and against the icebergs. As if they were living things, the waves joined and formed one big one that grew and grew as it picked up speed until it smashed against the habitat’s shore. Water splashed over the plasma barrier while the dragon in the sky shrieked and shrieked as if mad with anger.

Cy ships descended from the sky, and the dragon flew toward them.

“Oh no, come back. Come back!” I shouted.

It must have been my imagination, because there was no way he could’ve heard me, but the dragon snapped his head around and batted his wings back to the castle.

He landed as a man.

A human man with blond hair and blue eyes.

Water played havoc over his nude body.

He didn’t walk to me. He prowled, with heat in his eyes, stepping so close that he nearly knocked me over. Unable to form words, I just ran my hand over his smooth skin.

Dragon scales first appeared on his foot. They crawled up his body and covered him, changing his appearance completely. I stepped back so I could see all of him. The sun reflected off the indigo-blue scales covering the muscular male. The scales on his belly looked hard, smooth, and yellow. Three-inch long horns, or maybe spikes, stuck out from each of his shoulders. He was bald, his eyes blue with yellow surrounding vertically slitted pupils, and in place of eyebrows, flat bones framed his eyes and flared out. His nose was human, though boney and smaller. His black lips parted, and his clawed fingers touched his face.

The people around us went about their business. They’d seen him before, so his appearance was nothing shocking around here. I didn’t want to seem as if I was staring at him, but I couldn’t stop staring either. My legs carried me closer. Something warm took up residence in my chest as I approached this strange creature. Inside, Lance held on to his humanity, but on the outside, he was all dragon on two legs. I ran my hand over his shoulder and down his arm. He stepped away.

I snatched back my hand and put it in my pocket. “I’m sorry.”

“You want me to protect you. I raise the seas.” He spread his arms out. “I raise the seas!”

Water stirred, and a wave the size of a castle formed right before my eyes, hovering as if waiting for this man to command it. It was…unbelievable. Wolves howled, people cheered.

“W…what?” I felt nauseated, a little weak at the knees.

A small hand touched my elbow, and Belle appeared beside me. “Do you want to go upstairs?” she asked.

“Yes. Definitely.”