MARISSA VOLANDER
I walked into the board meeting, sure that the gentlemen of the board had come up with a new solution for King Rykor’s request. I had confidence after sleeping on it and letting the stress of the ridiculous request melt away from me.
"Good morning, gentlemen. I am sure that Archer Payne has told you about our meeting with King Rykor. I am ready to hear the various solutions that you have come up with and together we can decide the best course of action to take," I said as I sat down at the conference table.
Everyone was quiet and they looked at each other. I began to panic. Archer Payne cleared his throat and looked at me as he said, "Marissa, we have decided that you shall agree to the king’s request. You will depart with the prince back to the planet of Mooreah. This is the best way."
I was silent while I was in shock. He could not be serious. This was not happening.
"Come again?" I said.
Archer got up from his seat and paced the room as he spoke. "We have weighed all the options, and the best way to continue good business with the king is to agree with him on this request. When you think about it, it is not a bad thing. In fact, it puts Gladonetics in a very good position to be the only corporation on Earth to see the scientific advancements of their society first hand. Not even our government can boast such a thing. We must take advantage of it. It is your duty, not only as CEO of this company, but also as a human of Earth. We have made arrangements for you to get a crash course in space travel starting at lunch today. You have very little time to get your affairs in order, so I just suggest you get started."
"No. I won't do it. You cannot make me do this. It is a four-week trip to the planet and the king did not state how long he wished me to be there; it could be months. Then another four weeks to get back. I could be gone for half a year, if I am able to return at all. What if something goes wrong?"
"Marissa, may we remind you that you will be traveling with the prince? It is not like you will be traveling in bad accommodations. You will be traveling in the best accommodations with the best treatment the Drackon can offer. When you arrive on the planet, you will be a guest of the king. Do you not see how special this is? Anyone else would jump at the chance," Archer said.
"Then you go, why don't you?!" I said as I pushed my chair back violently as I stood up. I was in a rage. My entire body was flushed and overheated. I stomped toward the door.
Archer Payne called after me. "Marissa! If you do not go, you will be fired."
This made me freeze in my tracks for a second. Then I continued to stomp out of the conference room and made my way to the elevator. I needed fresh air.
Moments later, I stepped out onto the roof of the building. I walked back-and-forth, trying to cool down as I shouted at no one.
"How dare they make me do this! Don't they see that the Drackon treat women in an inferior way? Nothing will come of this. They will not take me seriously. I do not want to leave my life here and my job. How dare they threaten me like this!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
I felt the wind change around me. I looked up at the sky and turned in a circle, wondering where the sound was coming from. Then I saw it. As I stared at the ledge of the building, Prince Jarith rose up from behind the wall like a majestic creature. He was shifted into dragon form.
My mouth fell open at his silver wings and the silver dragon scales on his body. It was a sight to see, and one that had me frozen, partly in fear and partly in excitement. He was a fierce sight. His dragon form was unlike any other that I had ever seen photos or video of. It wasn't the color that was different; it was the size of him, with a massive wingspan unlike any other I had seen. It was the confidence and skill of his flying.
He hovered at the edge of the building, staring down at me. I tilted my head back, looking up at the magnificent creature that he was. Then, in a flash, he darted straight up into the sky faster than I could actually see. Then… boom! He landed on his feet, his boots making an echoing sound on the roof as he stood in front of me. His wings were spread out to their full length and flapped forward, making a gust wind hit me, and then they flapped back and he folded them behind him.
"Holy shit," I said, completely stunned by the show of alpha dominance by this weredragon.
He stomped toward me. He looked angry, but I was not going to cower at him, even though I was scared.
"What are you doing up here? Don't you know it's dangerous?" he said sternly. His sudden protective demeanor toward me confused me. What had happened to the flirty playboy I ran into in the courtyard?
"What is that to you? I will do what I like, when I like," I spit the words back at him. He picked the wrong time to mess with me. I was in a rage after the board meeting that I had where those men were telling me what to do, and now this weredragon was trying to do the same thing. There was no respect for women.
"I am to deliver you to my father! That is what it is to me, human female. What good would you do the human and Drackon negotiations if you are to die before then by recklessly playing on the roof like a child!"
"How dare you speak to me like that! Just because you are a prince you think you can speak to me like that? Well I got news for you! You might be a prince, but you are not my prince! I don't have to listen to what you say. You are nothing to me," I said, turning my back to him and stomping back toward the elevator.
Whoosh! Boom!
The wind swirled around me, blowing my hair and my skirt wildly. Jarith had flown around me and landed directly in front of me. Now he was facing me, only a foot away; my lip trembled as I tried not to be frightened, but was still very angry.
"How dare you turn your back on me! Drackon that turn their back on their prince or on their king on my planet are severely punished."
"Sucks for them then. Now get out of my way, or else," I said.
"Or else what?" He raised an eyebrow at me and crossed his strong arms over his chest, amused by my useless threat.
"Or else…or else…" was all I could say.
"Yes? Or else what, human?" he said.
"Or else I won't go on your stupid trip to your stupid planet," I said angrily.
"So that you can stay here and straddle the human male in your bed like last night?" he said.
I gasped in shock. "How the hell do you know that?"
"I have my ways. I can't exactly bring a foreign human to learn the knowledge of our technology without knowing more about that human, now can I?"
"You spied on me? How dare you!" I said as I stepped toward him and slapped him across the face.
His face turned with my slap. But as it turned back toward me, he let out a very low and intimidating growl. My heart dropped to my stomach in fear. He was going to pick me up and snap me in two. I regretted slapping him… kind of. He did deserve it for spying on me in an intimate moment. Then I suddenly felt very flushed as I realized that he had spied on me while I was having sex. My body responded and I felt my nipples get harder and grew wetter between my thighs. Then just when I thought he was going to devour me, he put his arm around my lower back, pulled me toward him, and planted a firm kiss on my lips. It was shocking. It was thrilling.
It was hot as fuck.
I could feel the hardness of his cock pressed against my stomach. I wanted to put my hands on it. I wanted to run my hands through his long hair. I wanted so many things in that moment. His kiss was so overwhelming, flooding me with all kinds of emotions that confused my mind.
I could barely decide what I should do in that moment. It was as if his kiss was hypnotizing me and paralyzing me, all at the same time. I opened my mouth and his tongue explored and swirled with mine. It was a soft and delicious kiss and my body betrayed me by letting out a very seductive moan that I did not want to give him. I did not want him to know what he was doing to me. It was frustrating but so good.
Finally, he pulled away from me and I stared at him with wide eyes; his sea-green eyes were full of lust and desire. His chest moved up and down rapidly, breathing in the air as though his lungs were twice the size of any human's lungs. Then he acquired a look of anger as he pushed away from me. Then... whoosh! He took off, straight up into the sky and disappeared out of sight in a flash.
I was breathless. I was speechless. I was extremely confused, dumbfounded, and turned on.
"What the hell was that?" I said aloud to myself. I ran to the edge of the roof and put my hands on the wall, looking over the edge of the building. He was nowhere in sight. This just got extremely complicated.
"Fuck."
The next three days, I spent every hour in a crash course on space travel. Although the ship would have gravity, it would not be like Earth, so I had to acclimate to a lesser gravity environment. I brushed up on my study of the Drackon race and their planet.
But most importantly, I met with the board and they drilled into me how important it was for me to accomplish their agenda in secret. It would not be an easy one, but I would do my best to get the intel. I did not dare tell anyone about my rendezvous with the prince on the roof. I didn't even know what it was if anything other than a heated moment. I would keep that our secret, even though if the board found out they would consider it complex enough to replace me on the journey. I thought about using it to get out of the situation, but then I thought they might think I was lying just to get out of the situation.
And after much thought, I knew that Archer Payne was right: the opportunity to go to Mooreah was the opportunity of a lifetime and I should not pass it up. Even though there was an arrogant and infuriating prince that was driving me mad with frustration.
The night before my departure from Earth, I called my one-night stand from the bar, David, and invited him over. We had drinks in my apartment and then I moved him to the bedroom, leaving the drapes open. I did it on purpose. If I was going to be spied on, then I would give him a show to remember. Would serve him right for spying on me, but I did not want to admit to myself that I was doing it because I liked it.
The thought of the prince hovering in dragon form outside my window, watching me as I let David fuck me hard was very hot. It made my time with David even better than the first time when I only felt like I was being watched; now I knew. It felt good. It made me feel desirable. After the prince had pulled me into his arms and kissed me, I knew that there was some sort of attraction between us, and he felt it too. This would be a very interesting trip indeed.
The next day, our departure was met with a lot of fanfare. The Drackon spaceship was massive and it reminded me of a space station hotel. It was based at the government bass port station protected by the Earth army.
As Archer Payne led me down to the ship, I felt panic form in my throat. I was really going through with this. I was leaving Earth for the first time in my life. Even though I knew that many human females had made the trip and now lived on Mooreah, it still made me very nervous to be doing this.
Then I saw the prince. The same, four warriors that I saw in the office were leading him. There were many human females adoring his every move as he walked past them through the crowds. I rolled my eyes at them. He was practically a rock star and I found the adoration he was getting annoying.
As I was led to the ship, he turned and saw me, as though he sensed my presence before actually seeing me. He narrowed his eyes at me in anger. Was he still mad about the slap? Or was he angry about the show I gave him last night? I smiled a devious smile as though I had won a fight between us.
"Enjoy yourself, Marissa. But don't forget why you are really there," Archer Payne said to me quietly. I nodded my head and then handed my traveling trunk over to one of the warriors outside of the spaceship. He pulled it aside and began to go through it. I rolled my eyes at the lack of privacy. We all waited for the prince to board first and then the rest of us boarded as well.
"Marissa Volander. I am Axon. I am the lieutenant on this ship and I will show you to your quarters. Your trunk will follow once it has been cleared. Follow me," a very attractive and charming weredragon said to me. He had blond hair and blue eyes and he was already friendlier than the prince. Perhaps we would even be friends, as this long voyage could get very lonely.