12. Chapter 11

Jasmine strode back up the passage the way she came. She didn’t race the way she did before, but her mind still seethed in turmoil. Now what was she going to do? Every Kratak on the planet was really a dragon. They could change into dragons and back again at will. They would have a massive advantage when it came to fighting the Allies. They would take advantage of the element of surprise, and the Allies wouldn’t know what hit them.

That advantage would last a little while, but it couldn’t defeat the full military might of the Allies force. Once the Allies realized what they were up against, they would come down hard on this planet. They would crush the Krataks, dragons or no dragons.

In the last analysis, only one force on this planet could defeat the Allies: the Ulasso. The Ulasso might be the Assans’ oldest, most notorious enemy, but they were also Kratak’s only hope. No one else on this planet could stand up to fully armed battleships, armed storm troopers swarming over the land, economic blockades, unlimited supply chains—the implications staggered Jasmine’s mind.

The Ulasso had all that technology and more besides. They had advanced food production, millions of people, maybe even billions. They had everything the Allies had, plus one key advantage the Allies couldn’t match. They had the home field advantage. They had underground cities to which they could retreat and regroup.

The Allies invasion force would be light years from home. They would spend countless fortunes in money and supplies just transporting their force here. They would have to set up shop on an alien world for who knows how long. The Ulasso could hold out for decades, maybe even centuries.

Fawks flashed before her eyes. That man held all his cards close to his vest. He never revealed the truth about his people. He didn’t have to.

Halfway up the passage, Jasmine heard footsteps coming down to meet her. She pushed her thoughts aside and prepared herself to deal with her teammates. She had to be ready to act natural around them and never give them any indication she kept a secret from them.

Her carefully constructed smile dissolved when Rocor appeared. Her face hardened. He came right up to her. He put his arm around her and tried to kiss her, but she shoved him away with all her strength. “Get off me! Don’t touch me.”

He let his arm drop. “That’s not the reception I was hoping for when I haven’t seen you all day.”

Jasmine turned away. “Get used to it. That’s the only reception you’ll get from me from now on. I never should have gotten involved with you in the first place.”

He made no move to intercept her. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and rolled the words in his mouth. “You must be upset about what you saw outside.”

Jasmine whirled around in a flash. “What did I see outside?”

He shrugged and looked the other way. “You saw me fighting Warku. You saw both of us shift. You must have been surprised, and now you’re reacting.”

She stared at him in shock. “How do you know that’s what I saw?”

He looked her up and down. “I saw you hiding behind the tree. I caught your scent, and when you ran away, you made enough noise to catch my attention. You saw the fight, so you know the truth about us now.”

Jasmine shut her mouth with a click. “If that’s true, you understand why I can’t have anything more to do with you.”

“No, I don’t. Why can’t you?”

She waved her hand up and down in front of him. “You’re a dragon. You’re not a man at all. I should have known when I saw that pattern on your face, but I didn’t put two and two together. Now I know. You’re not a man. You’re…. you’re something alien. I don’t know what you are.”

He pushed himself off the wall and faced her. “I am a man. I’m the same man you slept with last night.”

She turned her face aside to hide her burning cheeks. He always knew what to say to make her cave in. He always knew how to get her to do what he wanted. “Whatever you are, I can’t do it again. I have to keep my distance from you. If any of my team finds out about you, the Allies could crush Kratak.”

He shrugged. “I’m not worried about the Allies.”

“No,” she snapped. “You’re only worried about the Ulasso. When are you going to wake up and realize fighting them is the worst thing you can do? The Ulasso have the technology to defeat the Allies. Why don’t you make them your allies instead of your enemies?”

His eyes widened. “So, you know about that, too? Well, so much the better. Now I don’t have to worry about keeping a secret from you.”

“No. It’s only me who has to keep a secret now.”

“You don’t have to.” He waved her down the passage. “Go on and tell your friends what you know. No need to give me or my people a second thought.”

She glared at him. “What do you take me for? How many times have I stuck my neck out for your sake? How many risks have I taken to help you? If I told Rex what I know, it would be all over the Allied Command in a matter of hours.”

He cocked his head. “Will you tell Rex? He would probably love you forever for that.”

She smacked her lips. “I don’t want him to love me forever, and I already had the opportunity to tell him.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I’m stupid. That’s why. I’m stupid enough to think you and your troglodytic people might actually appreciate some help from someone like me. I can see, though, that you don’t care what happens to you. You’ll just go on your stubborn way until the Allies come along and throw you all in a prison of our own making. Then you’ll wonder why nobody warned you ahead of time so you could do something about it. Lucky for me, I’ll be long gone. I’ll be back on my own world, and I never have to think about you again.”

Rocor nodded. “If you didn’t tell Rex when you had the chance, you’ll never tell anybody.”

She threw up her hands. “I don’t know why I keep repeating myself to you. I’ve already told you the Allies are a grave threat to you, but you don’t listen. I don’t see any reason to keep trying to help you.”

He moved closer to her. He smiled down at her. “Did you like what you saw in the forest?”

She glared up into his face. “Of course not. It was horrific. I can’t believe I ever let you touch me.”

He tugged her hand toward her bedroom door. “Come inside. Let me touch you again.”

She yanked her hand free. “Never! I’m leaving.”

“Where are you going? You can’t leave the planet until the Allies come back.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like the Allies to come and pick me and the team up so you can get your head caved in by the first storm trooper to come along.”

“I wouldn’t like that. I wouldn’t like you leaving. I haven’t finished with you yet.”

She threw up her hands and spun away. “You’re a pig.”

He seized her shoulders and whipped her around to face him. He pulled her against him and planted his mouth against hers. She slapped his shoulders, but she couldn’t break free. His mouth popped off hers with a smack.

He held her at arm’s length, and they regarded each other in matched determination. What could you do with a man like this? She couldn’t talk to him. She couldn’t get near him. He held himself at a distance, even when he kissed her and suggested they get closer than their own skin.

She tried to break free, but he wouldn’t let her go. The blue-black dragon imprint under his skin roiled and covered his face for a moment. She saw it, and she understood what it meant. That blue dragon she saw in the woods narrowed its eyes at her. It slithered its whip neck to get a better look at her. Then it submerged beneath Rocor’s skin where she couldn’t see it.

It was still there, though. It would always be there. When she kissed him, she kissed that dragon. When she bent over and stuck her ass in the air, she invited that dragon to nail her as hard as he wanted. When she climaxed on Rocor’s dripping cock, she climaxed on that dragon’s lizard spike. He licked her with his forked tongue. He mounted her with his scaly body.

She ought to shudder in horror. She ought to scream and run away. She ought to slam the door in his face and refuse to come out until the Allies returned to rescue her. She wouldn’t do any of that, though. She would only stare in fascinated lust at the intricate pictures covering his face and neck and hands. She would salivate over his rough skin and his cruel dominating treatment. She couldn’t get away. She’d already fallen under his sway. He commanded her. Not even knowing what he was could break that spell now.

He didn’t have to ask her permission anymore. All he had to do was look at her. He hypnotized her. His eyes and his alien face and his iron body turned her on beyond belief. They called her, and she had to come.

He let go of her shoulders. The deed was done. He took her hand, and their fingers intertwined. She was already there, in that room where she couldn’t say no.

She gulped down a mouthful of saliva to make her voice work. She only needed to know one more thing. “Who won the fight?”

A smile touched the corners of his mouth. “Nobody.”

Her eyes popped open. “What?”

“We didn’t finish the fight. Warku and I are too closely matched. Neither of us could best the other. Callan thought we might kill each other, so he stopped the fight.”

“That’s great!” Jasmine exclaimed.

He rolled her fingers in his hand. “He only delayed the inevitable. The challenge can’t be erased just by delaying it. Warku and I agreed to fight again as soon as Callan returns to Harkniss Keep.”

Jasmine’s heart sank one more time. So that was it. Rocor and Warku would fight to the death. One of them would take over as patriarch—if Callan didn’t decide to step in and fight for it, too. So much bloodshed and conflict!

She couldn’t think about that right now. Rocor led her the few steps to her bedroom door. He opened it, and she followed him inside.