Chapter Three

Ashrac

SHE REMINDS ME of one of my college professors whose nickname was Battleax. Flora is younger than my professor was, but she has the same look and demeanor. When I say “Sleep,” she falls unconscious and slips into my embrace. I rarely use my ability to make someone sleep and often forget I have it. Thankfully it came in handy. I really didn’t want to waste time listening to her whine. I’m on a schedule.

I lift her higher in my arms. Her stocky body is actually as light as a feather, which makes me think she may be inadequate to carry my child. I rest her on the bed, ignore her ugly socks and footwear that flash when her skirt rides high, and quickly pack her a bag using a small tote from her closet. I barely look at anything while grabbing jeans and shirts that look comfortable. I finally locate her undergarments in the top drawer of her dresser. I hold up one of her bras—a black lacy thing.

The woman on the bed draws my attention. She doesn’t fit the image the bra invokes, but I toss the scrap of material into the tote along with matching panties anyway. I want my mate comfortable, and having her own clothing should help. I won’t have time once we’re back in the realm so I look around for anything more she could possibly complain about.

I accomplish my task in less than ten minutes. I remove my clothes and place them in my saddlebag. I lift Flora over my shoulder to make the leap from the bedroom window. We don’t hit the ground because I toss her high into the air and shift mid-jump with plenty of time to catch her in my talons and fly to the closest vortex that will take us to my realm.

My dragon is almost identical to my father’s. We are the Red Clan and the mightiest of warriors. My uncles Laryn, Sarn, and Tahr are blue, purple, and silver respectively. It’s not that red dragons are better than the other breeds but we are smarter, or at least my father and I think so. My uncles are not really my uncles by blood but after what they and my parents went through with the dragon curse that’s now lifted, we’re as close as any blood family. They’ll be happy to see me settled with my own mate, and I can’t wait for them to meet her. That will happen after she’s settled to the idea of being my mate and I decide to keep her.

I’m unsure why the need to mate became so strong. We’re unsure of the new rules post curse and this seems to be something new for the dragons in our realms. It began as a small twitch in my eyes and moved downward until just the scent of a woman made me hard. A seventy-year-old woman from the human village in Laryn’s realm left me in pain and a great deal of embarrassment. She had no teeth and gnarly hands that created a rotting ache in my stomach when I thought of her touching me. The problem was that I thought of her at all in that way. I went to speak with Uncle Laryn to confide my embarrassment and get some possible answers. My mother and father are currently taking a vacation in another realm, so the option to talk to them is closed to me at the moment.

Point of fact… I have little time for the complexities of a female. My Uncle Laryn suggested the dating agency when I told him about the need heating within my body. “The curse is lifted,” he said, “but we don’t know what exactly that means for our future. You will be the dragon who discovers our new destiny.”

I knew someday I’d need a mate I just didn’t expect it to happen now when I’m too busy to put time into one. For thousands of years dragons kidnapped their mates. It’s one of the things that got us into trouble with the goddess so she cursed us. My problem is I like the sound of kidnapping a mate I just don’t want the heartache that goes along with it. Listening to my mother and aunts talk about their terror left me with a sour stomach. I really think having everything spelled out up front is the way to go. This dating agency thing was Laryn’s best idea yet.

I took his prophetic words about what was wrong with me and added “finding a mate” to the list of things I need accomplished in my busy schedule. Laryn provided a small business card, which I used to call and set up an appointment with the dating agency after I flew into the earth realm. The first call left me feeling like an idiot, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it for too long. I’m in the middle of an experiment that could change the lives of the humans in our villages. Complex machines don’t work in our realm, but I may have discovered a workaround. I don’t have time for women in general much less a mate. I need a woman who will stay out of my way and satisfy herself with woman things like housework while I’m working in my laboratory.

Traveling to the vortex with the woman takes an hour. After I cross into the red realm, I head straight for my castle. It’s new and still a disheveled mess. I just don’t have time to keep up with the day-to-day running of a castle. I admire the tall stone walls as I approach. My father helped me build it. The castle sits nestled within mountain peaks. It’s a monstrosity of a thing with four towers and plenty of room for a dragon to move around. I’ll give the woman one tower, and I’ll sleep in mine for now. My lab is in the third tower and the fourth will make a good place to raise my young. Even without a lot of time to plan this whole mate business, I have it figured out.

I fly high up to the highest turret of her tower and deposit the female on the bed I prepared for her. Servants would be nice, and now that I have Flora she can see to hiring them or doing the work herself. I sneeze when I place her on the smelly bedding. If she doesn’t like her accommodations, she can clean them. I straighten her skirt so she’s covered appropriately, which seems to be important to her in regard to her ugly clothes. I fly to my lab in the opposite turret. I resisted the urge to check her body for deformities. That would be ungentlemanly while she sleeps.

I run my hands together at the thought of getting back to work. Thankfully, finding a potential mate was painless and fairly quick. It would have been nice if she was comely. I might need to try again with another woman but I’ll worry about that later. I can always place her on her stomach when I bed her so I don’t need to look into her tightly pinched face. I land on the outer balcony and shift. I stride into my lab, grab a pair of jeans from the saddle bag I’m carrying, and a lab coat from a hook on the wall. At least I remembered my pants this time.

I open the saddle bag again and pull out Earth electronics that I stole while in their realm. There are cell phones and laptops in the bag, and I dump them on the table. Dragons love shiny objects. I kind of let fellow dragons down by staying away from gold and silver but these Earth machines are my gold. I pick one up along with the tools I need. Excitement rolls through me as I begin tearing apart the first phone.

It’s time to save the world.