It was far from the first time since I had been following this story, since I had met Pavar and his brothers, that I wondered whether I was about to meet my death, but it was one of the more jarring.

Watching the massive force of a dozen large dragons, the size of small aircraft, most of them, and hearing Pavar tell me they were just a small hit squad, it occurred to me that I was in way over my head.

But when Pavar looked at me and said we were going to finish this, I felt emboldened, inspired. Somewhere along the way, I had become a part of this, not just a witness to it. I wasn’t sure when I had started caring about their cause, but maybe it had something to do with having spent so much time without ever really feeling like I had a home of my own to fight for.

Vaxivia was my birthplace, but it had never felt like my home, more like a place I was always working to get away from. As I witnessed the duty and loyalty they felt for their homeland and what they were willing to risk in protecting it from its enemies, I could not help feeling drawn in.

If I were being honest with myself, I wasn’t moved just by the noble nature of what they were doing. I was moved by my own feelings of attachment. When I was with Pavar, I felt alive in ways that I had never been before. When we made love, it was like nothing I had ever known.

I had always been driven by a need to understand, to investigate, to experience different cultures, and to seek adventure. When we had crossed that line the night before, our bodies connecting in erotic harmony, it suddenly felt like I’d found what I had been seeking. It felt like I had found this microcosm of all the things I wanted to experience.

All of that would have to wait until after this saga had unfolded, until we had reached Vahakun and stopped the looming threat that they unknowingly faced.

When the King’s Guard had flown off with the captured, we proceeded with care, both of us jumpy and as alert as ever for any sign of danger. I could tell that Pavar was edgy, and I wanted to soothe him, but I knew there was nothing I could say or do that would dispel the fear or concern for his brothers or their mates.

I also thought of Nurin and Laniope. Laniope was a wide-eyed innocent and Nurin was, if not wide-eyed, then innocent at least. Both of them had joined this expedition hoping for the thrill of adventure, to see parts of the universe never witnessed by humanity before. They were both unconscious when they were taken, but I couldn’t imagine the terror of waking up as the captives of an alien king who wanted you dead.

“What will happen to the humans?” I asked Pavar as we fought our way through the thick brush.

He was quiet for a moment before answering. “I’m not entirely sure. Mulkaro has always felt threatened by us, particularly Zaruv. He will not be receptive to the idea that my brothers have taken mates without his consent. As for the crew, they may be able to negotiate some diplomatic lenience as they were simply hired hands.”

“You have to get permission to take a mate?” I asked, surprised by the strictness of their laws.

“As directly in line for succession to the throne, yes, we all need approval—technically, from the council of Elders, which is then ratified by the king. Once in exile, it’s a mere formality, and many don’t bother with it, but then, no one ever comes to visit after they’re exiled, so it’s not usually a problem.”

He breathed deeply. “Honestly, I don’t know what will happen to any of them. The brother I knew was jealous and insecure, surely, but he was never violent or hateful. The Mulkaro I grew up with would never have ordered us shot down. I knew he would not be pleased, but I didn’t expect this.”

I touched his arm in a silent show of support and met his eyes. There was a wealth of emotion there I didn’t quite know how to process, and it felt like we stood on the cusp of something, something bigger than either of ourselves. Instead, I swallowed and we kept moving.

The heat was sweltering, and the cool, heavy drops of rain that splashed into my humidity-frazzled hair felt heavenly until suddenly, deep, ground-splitting thunder shook the ground.

The rain began to fall in earnest. Torrents hit the canopy and channeled into streams that soaked everything on the ground floor.

Pavar grabbed my hand and raced with me, seeking shelter. A short time later, he pulled me into the roots of a large tree. The thick, ropy roots were raised and created a private, mostly dry alcove.

I huddled next to him, somewhat alarmed by the suddenness of the storm and the violence of the thunder.

“Damn, we were only a day out from the capital. We’ll have to wait this out. It’s not safe to travel in the open,” he said, looking out and surveying the sky.

He ducked back in and I felt the fear melt away as I took in his soaking wet form. After having watched the bulk of our party be kidnapped by a squad of dragons, just the two of us left to complete this mission and save their planet from ruin, there was a trove of stress and tension waiting to explode between us.

I met his eyes and saw my own passion reflected there. Without a word, we collided. Gone was the tenderness, the slow build of passion, the gentle discovering of one another. We tore at each other madly.

I felt his hand tangle in the wet weight of my hair, cradling my head as he took my mouth in a rapturous kiss. The force of our kiss rocketed through me, and I felt furiously eager for him.

I grabbed at his shirt, trying to pull it off. He stepped back, and in one quick motion, tore it over his head, unveiling the beauty of his muscular physique.

I felt myself smiling, and he angled his head. “What’s that about?”

“Nothing, you’re just so big and hard and sexy,” I said, reaching out and touching the broad, firm planes of him. Lifting up on my toes to his ear, I whispered, “And I can’t wait to feel you inside me.”

“Then let us not wait long,” he said, lifting my own top up over my head and feasting at my chest.

I could feel pleasure mounting within me as I stepped back from his hunger. Slowly, I lowered my soaking pants, enjoying the arousal on his face as he watched me undress for him.

Teasing him, I came back and ran my nail along his length, defined clearly behind his straining pants. “And what’s that about?”

He purred as he lifted me, gripping my thighs with his wide, splaying hands. “I think you know very well what that’s about.”

“Maybe, but I want to hear you say it,” I said as he settled me against him with one arm and unbuttoned his pants with the other.

“You’re a mischievous little minx, aren’t you?”

I felt his hardness pressing against my entrance as I responded, “I’m a reporter, after all. I like getting things directly from the source.”

Sliding into me, he said, “Is this direct enough for you?”

I gasped, feeling the incredible fullness of him as he sheathed himself within me.

He was incredibly strong, and even though we were braced against nothing, he wrapped my legs around him and lifted and lowered me, thrusting into my heat with mounting vigor.

This time, with the storm raging around us, I was liberated of the need to remain quiet, and I heard myself moaning, shocked by the wanton sound of it.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and let my head drop back as he lowered his mouth once more to my breasts, sucking and laving at the hard, sensitive peaks of my nipples.

I heard the deep, husky sound of his own grunting as he slammed into me and was driven to the point of ecstasy at his sensual sound.

“You’re so beautiful, so good,” he gasped, kissing at my neck again. “I need you, Denise, dear God, I need you,” he muttered, groaning as passion robbed him of all but the most basic of words.

“I need you, too,” I managed to get out, feeling weak as I felt pleasure taking over. “Take me, Pavar,” I said, whimpering and crying out at the pleasure that filled me.

I felt myself tighten around him, my body convulsing as he seemed to expand and grow within me. With a cry of his own, he drove into me, coming and sharing in the sweet rapture.

Moaning my name, he kept grinding into me, bringing my pleasure in building waves as he seemed to be caught, too, in the tides of bliss that rocketed through us. It was heaven, and I felt my body sagging, weakened by pleasure.

When he finally slid free of me, my knees felt weak. He steadied me as he set me down. Naked, we tumbled down onto our strewn clothes, leaning against the roots and watching the light fade as night settled in.

He put his arm around me and I relaxed against his chest. His hand absentmindedly stroked my breast, locking me in a state of semi-arousal. Of course, that was normally how I felt around him anyway.

“How much longer do you think this storm will last?” I asked, trying not to reveal how eager I was for him again.

“It is hard to know, but usually, showers on Dragselia are brief, lasting little more than an hour or two of heavy rainfall. We are lucky this is the first downpour. This area actually gets a lot of rain this time of year.”

I smiled. “Well if that’s how you usually pass rainstorms, that doesn’t sound like such a bad thing,” I said, looking up at him.

His eyes were serious as he looked back. “Nothing about that was usual for me. What’s happened between us is entirely new to me.”

I felt breathless at his candor, the clear emotion he wasn’t trying to hide from me, even if he couldn’t fully articulate it.

“It’s new to me too,” I said truthfully.

I had been with men, sure, and I enjoyed men in a physical sense, but I had never met a man I felt such an intellectual and emotional affinity for, a man whom I wanted to get to know any better or whom I felt safe being vulnerable with.

Overset by this burgeoning power between us and needing to express it, I realized he was ready to go again and climbed onto his lap. Cupping his face in my hands, I rode him as the darkness fell around us.

Physically, we told each other what we didn’t know how to say yet. Slowly, gently, roughly, we discovered all the ways in which our bodies were made to relate to each other.

Hours later, he spooned behind me as I fell asleep. When the light began to creep in, we both came awake and remembered our mission. It was hard not to smile, not to touch, not to undress again, but I forced my mind back to the memory of everyone being carried out yesterday, incapacitated and caged.

“How much longer until we reach Vahakun?” I asked as we made our way out into the forest.

“Not long. Six to eight hours, depending on our pace,” he said, studying the sky.

“Do you have a plan when we get there?” I said, feeling a bit nervous.

I marveled at the intimacy when he took my hand as we walked on. “Felux, a friend of mine from boyhood, works the grounds of the palace. His mother is the head chambermaid. We’ll locate him, and after I apprise him of the facts, he’ll let us in through the servant’s entrance. I just need to get to Brinae. She’ll see the sense of things.”

“Are you sure she’ll be receptive?”

“She was like a sister to me growing up. I know her better, in fact, than Mulkaro, and I like her twice as much. She’ll hear us,” he assured me as we continued our trek.

Far sooner than I expected, the forest thinned out and we descended into a wide, mostly flat, grassy valley. In the middle of the valley, bisected by the flowing waters of the river we had followed, was the capital.

It was incredible, looking both ancient and modern at once. As we approached, we kept to the brush, staying out of sight as much as we could.

We moved quickly, and though I tried to absorb the sights and sounds, I barely had time to take in a fire dancer in the street before we were moving quickly to the next position as we weaved through the city.

Before I knew what was happening, Pavar had grabbed two large navy cloaks and thrown them over the two of us, allowing us to move more directly through the cobbled streets.

“We’re here,” he said as we arrived at a nondescript tan stucco dwelling.

He pounded on the door, nearly breaking it down as he did. The door swung open, and after a moment and a series of hushed words, we were silently ushered in.

I saw a man, slightly smaller than Pavar, with chin-length sandy blond hair and skin the color of a ripe tomato. His face was kind and warm when he let us in. He and Pavar whispered rapidly, and I missed most of what they said.

No sooner had we arrived than we were leaving again. Pavar’s plan was coming together successfully, and we made it through the completely unremarkable servants’ passage with the help of Felux. But Pavar was quick to send him away after we made it through the entrance.

“My friend, you can’t risk being involved with us. The danger is too great to you,” he said, concern ringing in his words.

Felux seemed reluctant. “This isn’t right. You should not be facing such a threat alone.”

Frustrated by my own inability to participate so far, I spoke up, grabbing his hand. “Don’t worry, he’s not.”

Both Pavar and Felux looked at me, startled, with Felux laughing. “So it would seem. Well then, friend, I wish you well.”

With that, he disappeared, and we raced through the back passages of a palace I barely glimpsed.

Finally, we slowed, coming to a wide marble chamber hung with gorgeous layers of transparent multicolored drapes.

In the middle of the opulent room, at a table, sat a beautiful, delicate young woman with the palest silver hair I had ever seen. Her skin glowed a pale, rosy pink, and she looked like some kind of ethereal, celestial creature as she stared blankly into a mirror.

“Brinae,” Pavar whispered as we slowly approached her and he slid back the hood of his cape.

She turned, looking confused and frightened. “Who are you?” Her belly was swollen and ripe from pregnancy, and were it not for the terrified expression on her face, she would have been the picture of maternal beauty.

Pavar stiffened as he looked at her and she continued to stare back blankly.

Then, as if looking from a distance, she whispered, “Pavar?” Shaking her head as if lost in a daydream, she muttered, “No, you fool. You know he’s not really there.”

I looked at Pavar, and in his expression was a look of clear alarm.