KAEL

Terror as I’ve never felt before grips me as I gaze down at Claudia’s pale, limp form in my arms. She bleeds, her side hit by the spitting fire from the fat man’s stick. At her side, her sister wails, pushing her hands against Claudia’s wound. She keeps repeating the same word over and over again.

Dawk-terr.

Dawk-terr, she weeps. Babbles a few more incomprehensible words, then that one again. Dawk-terr.

What does it mean? I try to push her hands away from my mate’s wound, and to my surprise, the weak, pale female slaps my hands away. She repeats her word, along with a string of other nonsense syllables, and I wish I’d taken the time to learn the human language like Claudia kept trying to teach me.

I repeat the word back to Amy. “Dawkh-terrrr?”

“Yes!” she screams, practically jumping up in excitement. “Yes!”

I know the word yes. “Dawkh-terrrr yyyyesss?”

“Yes! Doctor!” She points at Claudia and pressed on the wound again. “Doctor for Claudia!”

I don’t know what this dawk-terr is, but judging from her sister’s anxiousness and the way she keeps pointing at the wound, it might be something to help my mate. I cradle Claudia close, feeling her cool skin against mine. I would do anything for my mate. Anything.

So I stand, gathering her in my arms. Her weight is slight, her body limp, and it makes me feel cold inside to see her like this. I gaze down at her, heart aching, and then look to her frantic sister again. “Dawk-terr?”

Amy nods eagerly and points over the side of the building, practically running. She is trying to show me something. I carry my mate, carefully cradled against my chest, and follow the sister.

“Doctor,” Amy cries, pointing over the side. “Doctor!”

I gaze down below and notice that Amy keeps pointing at a small human burrow with a symbol written over the door. Whatever it is that Amy wants, it is in there, and she believes it will help Claudia.

I will get it, then.

Gently setting my mate back down on the roof, I touch my brow to hers and rub my mouth against hers, the way she’s showed me. Then I get back to my feet and change back to battle-form.

I gather Amy in one claw, and my Claudia ever-so-gently in the other, and take flight, swooping down into the city to find this dawk-terr.

CLAUDIA

My entire side feels like it’s been set on fire.

I groan, pushing through the haze of sleep and trying to surface. It’s difficult. Everything—and I mean everything—fucking hurts. I feel as if I’ve been trampled. By elephants. Carrying wrestlers. Overweight wrestlers. My head is muzzy, and there’s a horrible taste in my mouth in addition to the gnawing pain in my side. Overall, all of this is telling me that perhaps it’s not quite time to wake up just yet.

I demand you return, my Claudia. Kael’s imperious voice rings through my head. You are not allowed to hurt.

That makes me snort softly, even if I can’t open my eyes. “Says you, dragon,” I murmur. “I can hurt if I want to.” I mean, I don’t want to, but it’s not like Kael demanding it can stop it.

“Claudia?” A soft, unfamiliar voice catches my attention. “Are you awake?” A second later, something hot presses against my side, and I hiss, trying to squirm away.

Is the dawk-terr hurting you? Alarm colors Kael’s thoughts, and I hear a low, draconic growling from overhead.

Doctor? It makes sense that there’s one here, given the amount of pain that I’m in. I must be in the clinic back in Fort Dallas, though I don’t know how I’m going to afford treatment. I still have no money. Though my foggy brain still can’t figure out how Kael is here with me. His growling intensifies, and I send him soothing thoughts to calm him. I’m fine. Really. Just give me a minute.

Familiar, achingly hot hands grip me, and then I’m pulled against Kael’s massive chest a moment later. I feel his hand drag through my tangled hair, stroking it, and I don’t even mind. Tell me you are better, my mate, he demands.

Aww. So overbearing and pushy. That’s kind of sweet, really. Overbearing, but sweet. “I feel like shit, but thanks for asking.”

“Hmm?” The soft hands pressing on my side pause. Someone’s changing bandages. The doctor. The bandages lift and then are patted down again. That’s brave, given that I’m being held by a dragon-man at the moment. “You said you feel like shit?”

“I’m okay,” I say automatically, and bite back my protest when Kael gently sets me back down on something soft. A bed. Almost feels like my bed back in our apartment. I lift one hand—jeez, that’s tiring—and search for Kael. I want his touch. A moment later, his hand grips mine, all big fingers and claws, and I’m comforted. I tuck his hand against my cheek and snuggle lower in the bed. I’m so tired.

Rest, he commands, though there’s a gentle note in his thoughts. I will not leave your side.

I know, I shoot back, amused. You never abandon me, ever.

Never. You are my life. Without you, there is nothing.

So fierce. I smile at that and turn my head so I can press a half-assed kiss to his hand. I’ll do better next time, when I’m less pooped. I continue to snuggle his hand, because I don’t want him leaving while I sleep. I like the thought of him watching—okay, lording—over me while I rest. Is Amy okay?

She rests. Kael sends a mental image of my sister curled up in blankets on one of the sofas I’d had Kael drag to our apartment in the sky. She is well. Only you were hurt. His tone changes. And if you ever confront a human that is spitting fire again, I will skewer you with my own claws. Touches of grief and worry shade his mental tone. You are mine.

“Nag, nag,” I mutter.

“Did you say something?” the doctor asks.

“Just talking to my dragon,” I say with a yawn.

A clinical hand immediately presses to my forehead, and I have to suppress a giggle. The doctor probably thinks I’m hallucinating. Then again, maybe not, given that I’m holding Kael’s hand, and even in human form, he doesn’t look all that human. I’m guessing the doctor put two and two together. Are you safe here in the clinic? I ask him. I don’t want humans coming after you while you’re not in battle-form.

We are home.

We are? With a doctor?

I stole her.

I try to picture Kael leaving the human city with my bleeding body in tow, along with a terrified Amy and captive doctor.

It was not easy, he chides, amused. They screamed a lot and made a lot of noise. But I wanted to make you well.

You know you’ll have to return her, right?

She does not smell as bad as other humans. She will make an acceptable mate for someone.

I hold tighter to Kael’s hand. Someone else, right?

Claws touch my cheek tenderly. I will give my fire to no one but you, my Claudia.

I know that. I just like hearing it.

* * *

It takes a week before I’m able to get out of bed and move around inside our apartment. In the meantime, I’m hovered over by three very different people.

Amy, who’s ecstatic to see me and even more ecstatic that I didn’t die.

Kael, who’s determined to hover over me and growl menacingly, just in case anyone might cause me distress.

And the medic, Melina, who hovers because I’m pretty sure she’s terrified that Kael will eat her if he thinks I’m not being cared for properly.

It would all be pretty amusing if it wasn’t so damn annoying and I didn’t hurt so much. The shot I took was a clean one, straight in and out, and the wound had been cauterized to prevent infection. Luckily, I hadn’t been awake for that part, just the painful aftermath of it healing. But it still means that I’m weak and not able to do much on my own.

“Quit touching me,” I tell Amy crabbily as she holds my arm, helping me back from the bathroom. “I’m fine.” I’m not, but I’m also a terrible patient, and all I’ve done is snap at Amy all day and then feel guilty about it.

“You’re not fine until that big dragon looks like he thinks you’re fine, and I’d rather piss you off than him.”

“Kael?” I snort. “He’s a big softy.”

“To you, maybe,” Amy says, helping me get back into bed despite my efforts to push her away. “You should have seen him freaking out when you got hurt.”

I roll my eyes, wincing as I slide under the covers. I’ve been regaled with whispered stories from both Melina and Amy about how a very naked Kael had been acting like a madman, tearing through the city with me bleeding in his arms, bellowing “DAWK-TERRR” in that rolling voice of his. Melina had passed out in fright, so he’d simply grabbed her and Amy both and flown back.

I can’t help but grin—just a teeny, tiny bit—at that mental image. My big dragon thought it wasn’t necessary to learn the human tongue because mind-speak was so much better, but maybe now he’ll see the wisdom in talking to others. I reach out mentally to caress him, but he’s too distant to talk to, and I feel a little twinge of loss. I keep my voice chipper, though, so Amy doesn’t know how needy I’m turning. “Speaking of, where is the big lug?”

“I…I think he went off hunting. He kept pantomiming something about eating.” Amy shudders delicately as she sits on the edge of my bed. “You should have seen what he did to a wild pig—”

I wave a hand, cutting her off. “Yeah, I’ve seen it. Trust me. After a while you start to get used to it.”

Amy gives me a horrified look. “You do?”

“He’s killing it before he cooks it, right?”

Her eyes go wide in horror.

“Then yes, it’s better than it was before,” I finish. When she makes a gagging face, I shrug. “Come on. It’s more food and better than what we had in the city. And fresh.”

“But…he’s a monster. He’s the enemy.” She looks over her shoulder as if expecting a dragon to appear and flambé her simply for airing her thoughts.

I say nothing. I’ve had this conversation with Amy a dozen times since regaining consciousness, and every time, she makes me feel guilty. I love my sister, but right now, she’s being kind of irritating and small-minded. Yes, he’s a dragon. Yes, he’s different than humans. Yes, he used to be crazy. But that doesn’t mean he’s bad. I curl my toes, thinking about Kael and how thoughtful and sweet he is. Amy just doesn’t get it…yet. She will eventually. “He’s a dragon, but that doesn’t make him a bad guy. He’s been really good to me.”

“But he’s claimed you, you said. Like you belong to him.”

Well, there is that. But is it bad that I like being claimed? Maybe I shouldn’t like it as much as I do.

“You know, Melina and I have been talking…” Amy twists her hands and averts her gaze. “The next time he leaves, we can get away, you know. We could try going back to Fort Dallas.”

I sit up in bed, wincing as it pulls on my wound. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Maybe things would be better with a new mayor? Or we could always go to a different fort.” She reaches out and grips my hand. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to suffer for my sake. I know none of this is fair and isn’t what you wanted.”

I stare at my sister, our fingers laced. Here’s my out. I don’t have to be a dragon’s mate. I don’t have to endure the shocked, horrified looks that my sister and Melina give me on a regular basis. I can just get up and leave the next time Kael goes hunting, and we can sneak away, maybe to Fort Orleans instead of Fort Dallas. Be an anonymous human again. No one in particular, nothing to do with dragons.

Kael would try to find me, of course. He’d cover the ends of the earth looking for me, but there’s always a chance to hide, especially amongst a city full of other dirty, smelly humans. The psychic bond would be tricky, but with distance, he wouldn’t be able to locate me, I think. I could escape, really escape this time, now that I have my sister.

I…just don’t want to. In fact, I find the idea appalling.

I love my dragon. My big, bossy, domineering, half-feral dragon. I don’t care that he’s the enemy. I don’t care if it means I’m exiled from humanity for the rest of my life.

He’s mine and I’m his.

A little surprised at the ferocity of my thoughts, I squeeze Amy’s hand. My sister doesn’t approve of Kael, and…I kind of don’t care what she thinks.

So he’s a bit overbearing. He’s got a good heart.

So he sorta transforms into a bus-sized dragon and tends to flame goats alive as a show of his affection. His heart is in the right place.

He’s also incredibly tender with me, loving, wickedly sharp with his humor, and endlessly fascinating. He protects me, and in turn, he gives me control and he listens to me. I’ve never felt so badass as I do when I’m on his back.

Kael is also really, really good at sex. It makes me hot and squirmy just thinking about how good.

But Amy’s gazing at me with intent, worried eyes, and I need to reassure her. “I don’t want to go anywhere,” I tell her, giving her hand a sympathetic little pat, because I know she won’t understand. Not in the slightest. “I love Kael, and he loves me. I have a better life with him than if I went back to the city.”

Amy gasps, her nails digging into my hand. “You can’t mean that.”

“I do. I mean all of it. In the city, I was just another mouth to feed, and probably a week away from whoring myself for something to eat.” Like Sasha, I think unpleasantly but don’t say it aloud. I still need to talk to Kael, find out how Sasha is. If she needs rescuing from Dakh. “But it’s not like that with Kael. Here, I’m fed, pampered, and adored. I’m his entire world, Amy…and he’s becoming mine.” I give my sister an apologetic smile. “I hope you understand.”

“He’s not human.”

Yeah, I noticed that part,” I say drily.

She blushes bright red. “I just…I just don’t understand.”

“I know. Maybe you will in time.”

She nods quietly and gives my hand another squeeze. “I just…you know. Wanted to make sure you were happy.”

“Of course,” I say, still smiling. I know my sister doesn’t get it. It’s okay. As long as I do, it doesn’t matter.

“I’m going to, um, check on the tea.” Amy gets up from her chair and limps over to the fireplace, and I feel a twinge of guilt. Amy would never be so selfish as to ask what about me, but I know the thought has to be going through her mind. This is the first decision I’ve ever made that didn’t put Amy before me.

It’s…odd.

I know things aren’t perfect for her. I know both she and Melina have to wear my dirty clothing to cover the smell of them, because Kael’s worried other dragons will pick up their scent on the air and come looking for mates. I know they have to be extra careful with everything they do, and wash several times a day with my prized shampoos. But they’re safe here. They just need to realize that.

I snuggle deeper into the blankets, wincing when my side twinges again. I think about Kael and how it’s been a few days since he’s held me while I sleep. I miss it. Well, among other things. I can feel myself blushing, and I press my thighs tighter together.

As if my thoughts have summoned him, the shadow of my dragon circles lazily overhead, even as I feel his thoughts brush against mine. I sit up straighter in bed, resisting the urge to fix my hair. I probably look like hell from a week of being an invalid. I don’t want him to look at me and see a weak, fragile human. I want him to see his mate, to be happy when he looks at me.

Because I’m going to tell him that I love him and I’m staying, and it feels like an important moment. But it also needs to be an intimate one. I glance over at Amy, who’s pouring two cups of tea over by the fire.

Kael settles high on the roof above, his shadow falling over the open cooking area that we still haven’t figured out how to cover yet. To my surprise, he drops his kill, and the dead deer thumps to the ground next to Amy, who drops the tea kettle and stumbles backward. I wait for him to switch to his human form, but instead, he swoops low, claws extended, and grabs Amy.

My sister shrieks in alarm.