Dragon's Taming Page 4

  My heart pounds in my chest.

  And then he kisses me.

  And man, he doesn't hold back.

  The switch from stoic Spock to passionate Kirk is so fast I’m dizzy.

  I make a sound at the back of my throat as his tongue slides right into my mouth, as practiced and sure as if he does it every day. It tangles with mine as my hands come up to hold onto his shoulders. Heat courses through me as I kiss him back, feel the odd beat of two hearts against my chest.

  Oh.

  Oh, yes.

  This is what I want.

  Thoughts of saving him, of reaching the man inside fade away as the kiss sweeps me away. In that moment, I'm just a woman and he's just a man. And we're just kissing because we want to. We're not locked away in this cell and there's nothing wrong.

  He parts my legs with his thigh and I’m straddling him, bent backwards with the weight of his body. A gasp escapes my throat as I feel his truly impressive, almost scary erection.

  All right.

  Maybe he's not just a man.

  6

  Ryuth

  She tastes and feels as good as she smells.

  Perfect.

  I tighten my hold on Mei, enjoying the feel of her smooth, bright hair, the way her soft breasts press against me. She is small and delicate. She smells like the flowers of the cactus that blooms only once a year.

  Mmm.

  My treasure.

  I feel a pulse of heat sliding through my body. My cock is hard and ready from having her in my arms, from having her so close our breath mingles. I want her this close forever.

  Then she pulls back from me. Her mouth is no longer on mine. I find I do not like that.

  Not at all.

  Her light skin is pink, her mouth swollen and wet from what we have just done. She is making those sounds with her mouth now that she likes to make. I would prefer it if she put her mouth on me again instead. But she puts even more distance between us as she moves out of my hold. I let go reluctantly, watching as she looks away and stands.

  She is going to leave me here again while she goes outside among the other males. The ones who are free and spend more time around my female, my treasure, than I do. Out where I cannot protect her, where I cannot see to her needs.

  Where I cannot have her.

  I suppress a growl that wants to escape. I know my treasure does not like it when I make those kinds of sounds.

  I watch as she moves over to the place for food in this small cave that they locked me in. There is no other way out of this place but the opening my treasure comes through, the one that she and the others make sure remains closed to keep me trapped in here. Why they must keep me here, imprisoned, I do not know.

  I have been imprisoned for . . . much too long already, though I do no not how much time. First by my other captors, the ones that hurt me and made me fight. And now by these. These ones that look like me and have females that look like my treasure. I like these captors much better than the others, though I still do not like being trapped.

  My eyes move over the room, though there is nothing more interesting in it than my treasure. There is not much in here. The soft place they've built for me to sleep on, the raised platform for food, the smaller platform that my treasure likes to sit on.

  I am tired of seeing only the inside of these walls. The only thing that makes it bearable are the visits by my beautiful treasure. It's always her voice I look forward to, her face, her scent.

  She is so beautiful.

  I want to touch her everywhere. Her soft hair, the plump curves of her breasts there under her clothing. The soft place between her legs.

  I turn my attention back to her as she picks up the platter she brought in with the food and starts to walk towards the door she comes in from.

  No.

  I feel a surge of anger and desperation.

  I cannot let her leave me here again.

  She is the fire that I must have, must possess.

  And now she has shown me that she desires me as well. She put her mouth on mine, allowed me to press her softer body against my much larger, harder one. Yes, she desires me. I cannot wait any longer. I cannot open the door myself when she leaves. There is something they use to prevent it from opening. And it is the only way out.

  So.

  I must leave when she opens the door. There is no other way.

  But I will have to be swift in my actions. She always looks back to make certain I am deeper in the cave before she opens the gate and leaves, to stop me from leaving too. I do not follow her like I want to when she walks toward the door this time. I remain where I am as she reaches it, allowing her to believe everything is normal, that I will stay inside like I always do.

  Outside of this cave, there is a flat path that zigzags up the face of a cliff. I remember it from when they first brought me here. After I am out of this cave, I will likely have to fight my way down that path with my treasure.

  It will not be easy. There are many other Zmaj but I must find a way to take my treasure away from here, away from all the threats to my dominance. There are too many males here plotting ways to take her. My hands clench at my sides so hard my knuckles ache.

  I will not allow it.

  She is mine.

  She desires me.

  My body tenses as she reaches the door.

  My moment is here.

  She looks over her shoulder at me and smiles slightly, saying something in a soft voice. I do not know what she says, but I like the tone, the way she shapes the sounds with her full lips. Lips that I will soon have on mine once again. I will make certain of it once I have my freedom. Once I have my treasure all to myself. She opens the gate and looks away for a moment.

  Now.

  I leap across the room and am at her side within a heartbeat, the distance short for me. She did not realize that I could close it so quickly. She lets out a gasp, her eyes widening.

  She is surprised.

  No matter. All will be well.

  I will take very good care of my treasure.

  Bending at the waist, I pick up her slight weight, throw her over my shoulder, push the door open, and step out of the cell. She cries out, squirming as I hold her to me with an arm across the back of her knees. I enjoy how her body moves against me, but she is making too much noise.

  There is nothing I can do about it. She has likely alerted everyone already. But I cannot change my plan. There is only one way out and I have to take it. I cannot hesitate or they could easily block the way out of the cave.

  With no time to waste I run forward, out of the cave and into the bright sun.

  The sunlight is freedom against my skin.

  Yes.

  I tilt my head back for a moment and soak it in.

  There will be time for that later. I turn at the sound of approaching footsteps.

  There are more shouts coming from below, but I focus on the two running at me at that moment.

  The smaller one reaches me first.

  My treasure struggles to see. "Samilrun!"

  I do not know what she says, but she sounds alarmed.

  She does not understand yet that she is my treasure, that I will allow nobody and nothing to harm her.

  I engage with the male, knowing I will win against his smaller frame. He has not my strength.

  As expected, it is no real fight, even with my treasure encumbering me.

  Stepping back from his lunge, I grab him by his clothing and throw him hard against the cliff face next to us. I need to be efficient.

  He hits with a thud and slides down.

  "Samil!" my treasure cries out next to my ear.

  Ignoring her, I focus on the larger male now approaching with more caution, his face tense as he watches me.

  I growl.

  I have no time for this.

  Soon I will have others to contend with.

  I must move forward.

  Bending my knees slightly, I rush at him head on, my eyes locked o
n his face.

  His own eyes widen. He is not expecting a direct attack.

  He recovers. His eyes narrow as he lowers his head.

  He runs right at me.

  Perfect.

  Stepping forward with my unencumbered side as my new opponent lands a solid blow to my torso, I grunt as I grip him by the arm and use his own momentum against him.

  Spinning quickly, I let go when we are facing the edge of the ramp.

  I throw him over the side. He bellows, sailing through the air.

  "Ohnobashir!" my treasure cries. I do not know what she means.

  It does not matter right now. I cannot take time to comfort her.

  Time is precious.

  I turn back to the ramp and rush forward again, my hearts beating quickly as determination courses through my veins.

  Nobody will stop me from taking my treasure. From taking my freedom.

  It is mine.

  She is mine.

  But then someone else comes running up.

  A familiar male.

  I slow, hesitating. I . . . know this male.

  He stops with some distance still between us, spreading his arms out and bracing his feet, his jaw tense. Deliberately blocking my exit.

  "Ryuth, stop." He makes more sounds, his eyes watching me with a strange entreaty.

  He is in my way. But I cannot bring myself to hurt him. Not this male. This male who is strangely familiar. Who watches me with an expression I do not understand.

  I will not hurt him.

  I must find another way.

  I see the surprise on his face when I turn and run back up the way I came, my treasure lifting herself up with her hands, yelling something over my shoulder at the other male. It does not matter. Soon I will have her alone with no other males vying to take her from me.

  As I reach the top near the cave we just left, an idea forms. Remembering what the other male did when I threw him off the edge, I take a running start. I need to travel farther than he did. I pull my treasure off my shoulder and into my arms so my wings will have room to unfurl.

  She screams as I leap off the edge of the cliff and snap my wings open, my eyes scanning the ground under us. People are running towards the path that leads up to the cave, but I am no longer there.

  We are no longer there.

  I look past them to the vast expanse of the desert, the suns still extra bright to my eyes. I see nothing but sand.

  I tighten my grip on my treasure. She’s shrieking. Her hands clutch me tight. Good. I do not want to drop her. We descend in a controlled fall, my wings slowing us enough that we should land safely. I adjust our path as I hear shouts behind us, fainter now as we glide.

  We clear the wall.

  I cup my wings to slow our descent even farther as we near the red of the soft sand. And then my feet sink into it, my knees bending to absorb the impact.

  I glance back at the wall and bare my teeth.

  My freedom.

  My treasure.

  Turning away, I break into a run.

  I refuse to lose either.

  Ever again.

  7

  Mei

  Ryuth runs for a long time, his body seeming untiring. I’ve fallen asleep against his chest more times than I can count, long since giving up on struggling. He controls me simply by tightening his arms, his eyes on the sand ahead of him as he flares his wings and glides across sand that I would have had to fight my way through, sinking in at every step.

  I still can't believe what's happening.

  I’ve been kidnapped.

  Ryuth kidnapped me.

  I still can't wrap my head fully around that reality. I thought I was safe with him. Safe in that cell where he always looked so calm when I was the only one there. I grew too complacent around him, started thinking of him as safer than he is.

  Yes, I worried that he might try to escape. That was why we were all very careful to keep the gate locked, even when we were in the cell with him. Even when I was alone with him, I made sure to keep it locked.

  I had no idea he could move that fast. Or that he was thinking clearly enough to pull off such a deceptive and obviously thought-out move. I never thought he would take me with him if he did decide to make an escape attempt! No one would have even guessed that he’d be able to actually leave the Tribe's place without the others stopping him.

  I thought the ramp was the only way out. The narrow path is easily defensible, one of the reasons it’s the only way up to the caves we live in. I completely disregarded Ryuth's wings, only ever having seen them used to glide over sand as he's doing now, or for extra lift when jumping, especially during a fight or a hunt.

  How stupid am I?

  Even more idiotic? I’m glad that Ryuth wasn’t hurt in his escape.

  Glad my kidnapper didn't get hurt!

  Maybe I’m as damaged as he is.

  I sigh, feeling completely at a loss. I'm thirsty, hot, and hungry. We're moving farther and farther away from the Tribe and safety. And even though I'm being carried, I'm still tired. I don't know how Ryuth's still going, his body moving smoothly, like a machine that could go on forever.

  I'm starting to wonder if he's just going to run us aimlessly across the desert of Tajss for days.

  The blazing suns beat down on the red earth and on us, glittering savagely off the hot sand. I am not built to be out in the desert for this long. I don't know how the Vulcans ever expected anyone to live long and prosper if this was the kind of world they came from.

  Die fast and wither seems like it would be more accurate.

  I am really not feeling great. My skin feels hot and my stomach is kind of queasy. At least Ryuth is cool against me, his lower temperature combating some of the heat.

  He pumps his legs, running up another dune, like the countless others we've already traversed. I expect to see the same. Another expanse of rolling, striated sand.

  But I'm wrong. As we crest it, something I don't expect comes into view.

  Color.

  Color that isn't just red or white.

  I see green.

  Green, dotted with reds and purples, a crisp contrast against the wavy rich red of the sand everywhere else.

  An oasis!

  He's been heading for an oasis this whole time! And it isn't just any oasis—I've seen a few in my time so far on Tajss. No, this one is large, maybe three or four times the size of the one close to the caves.

  Oases are rare. The desert climate here means that sand and rock are the prevalent view everywhere you look, something that was true even before the Devastation, when an inter-world war set the Zmaj back to basically cave-men. An oasis this size must be almost unheard-of.

  I stare, my eyes straining as I try to make out details.

  As we draw nearer, I see signs of structures past the thick trunks of trees that tower above us, their short umbrella of leaves at the tops providing some shade. Thick foliage nearer the ground fills in the gaps between them.

  There’s an odd rushing sound and I frown, scanning for the source of the noise. I freeze as sunlight sparkles from . . .

  . . . A waterfall?

  I blink, wondering if it will disappear.

  Am I hallucinating?

  But then I see another.

  And another.

  Big, beautiful streams of sparkling water falling from lush green cliffs into pools that must be below, but I can't see them—mist obscures some of the view. I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole life, and it’s so damn beautiful I can barely breathe. No wonder this oasis is so big. Look at how much water is here!

  Penelope would blow a gasket if she could see this.

  "What is this place?" I murmur, not expecting an answer from my erstwhile guide. And I don't get one.

  He hasn't spoken the whole time, not even any growls or grunts. Or humming, which would have been nicer than silence. Or the sound of my own voice, which I used nonstop until I felt myself getting a little hoarse. None of my pleas to
turn around or let me go changed anything.

  He still doesn’t understand what I was saying. I might as well be speaking gibberish.

  At least now I know we have a real destination and aren't going to run until Ryuth can't run anymore.

  I stare in quiet awe as we reach the edge of the green patch, where sand gives way to large, waxy leaves and huge flower-like plants that could probably eat me. I've learned almost everything in this place is deadly, just biding its time to kill any unsuspecting living thing that happens to wander by. I'm still not used to even rooted life being able to attack.

  Ryuth finally slows, his eyes alert as he scans the area, moving carefully now.

  I keep quiet too.

  Water attracts more than just killer plants. There's a whole host of animals that could be here, lying in wait. None of them the friendly kind. I have yet to see the Tajss equivalent of a kitten or koala. I don't think cute, cuddly things can survive here.

  As Ryuth continues to walk forward, through leaves and branches, we finally reach a true break in the vegetation.

  I can't hold back a gasp as what was hinted at from farther away becomes clear. A massive, interconnected compound greets us. Maybe a ruin of a once-grand grouping of structures.

  I suddenly feel like I should be wearing a fedora and carrying a whip, Indiana Jones style.

  The cream-colored stone that makes up the place is only rubble in a couple of corners and areas, though there are a few sections that are still intact, reaching up maybe four or five stories high. The stone itself is carved with intricate designs, though they look somewhat worn away and hard to see due to time and the elements wearing them down.

  Just like they do to all of us.

  Ryuth picks through some of the rubble and we push into what must have once been a courtyard. We're surrounded by the structure—or remains of the structure—on all sides, with no roof above us, suggesting it was probably an outdoor area.

  In the center, there's a stone piece that might have been a fountain, judging by the round shape and the mostly intact ledge, though there are multiple cracks in it, both large and hairline. The cracks are everywhere in the stone along with broken pieces.