Page 83 of Shifter Marked and Claimed

Some part of my brain was desperately screaming that this was what they did. The creatures lulled humans. Compelled them to let their guards down through coercion or other means. But that part of my brain wasn’t loud enough to undo the web of relaxation he was weaving around me.

I placed my hands against his chest for balance and pressed my head more firmly into his hands.

The clicking started up again.

I didn’t care. He nudged me, moving me partially under one of the shower heads to rinse my hair. I kept my eyes closed as he conditioned it. But they flew open when he started washing my shoulders.

“No,” I said firmly.

He didn’t listen. He briskly washed everything, leaving my chest tingling, and I thanked the gods I’d kept my underwear on when he dropped to a knee and started scrubbing my legs. As soon as he was finished, he stood, turned off the water, and left me alone in the shower.

Only one thing kept me from feeling molested by him. And that one thing had hung loosely between his legs as he left.

Yet, if all that clicking wasn’t a sign of his interest in me, then what the hell was going on? Why had he taken me in the first place?

Alone in the bathroom, I retrieved a towel and dried off. My plan to put on my wet clothes came to an abrupt halt when I saw they weren’t on the sink where I’d left them. They weren’t under the sink, in the toilet closet, or anywhere else that I could see. How could they just disappear? That wasn’t possible, was it?

Frowning, I wrapped a towel around myself. It barely covered me from chest to hip, and I had to tuck it by my armpit rather than my front because the two ends didn’t want to meet around my torso. It didn’t make sense to have such a small towel. Vedar was a big guy. Then again, Vedar left the shower without bothering with a towel.

A dragon didn’t need clothes, and the man didn’t want them.

Was that what this was? Vedar’s shunning of clothes extending to what I wore? Oh, hell no. There was no way I was going to strut around his rooms naked like he did. I needed my clothes.

I left the bathroom, my gaze scanning for the missing items.

Once again wearing his red scales, Vedar lay under the sunlamps. His eyes weren’t closed, though. He watched me closely from across the distance.

“I want my clothes. Where are they?”

He closed his eyes in response and let out a contented breath. In my mind, that only confirmed my suspicion that he’d done something with them.

“Oversized lizard,” I mumbled under my breath.

Determined not to be bullied into conforming to his life choices, I marched over to the bed and pulled the sheet off. He lifted an eyelid and watched me tie the oversized sheet around myself, toga style. There was even enough material to tie it at the bust and hip.

The moisture from my damp underwear started seeping into the sheet. I debated my options for half a second before returning to the bathroom to tug them off. If they disappeared like my other clothes, Vedar would be fishing more than a few gold coins out of his pool.

After washing my undies out, I hung them on a towel to dry and entertained myself by looking through the vanity drawers. There was a hairbrush, which I used. A brand-new toothbrush, which I claimed as my own. And a bottle of gold nail polish. That one made me stop and frown. Why in the hell would a dragon have nail polish? Was it just because it was gold?

If I thought he’d answer, I would have asked. Instead, I sat on the floor, carefully tucked my sheet between my legs and started painting my toenails. It’d been ages since I’d done something so normal. Not that I let myself pretend that’s what my situation was. The activity helped keep my hands busy so my mind could work on the list of problems I faced.

A dragon had kidnapped Zoe and me. Our cousin, Joey, had killed two of our friends and had kidnapped and beaten a third. He’d also sent two creatures to kidnap me and Zoe. What was up with all the kidnapping? And how in the hell was Joey involved with creatures? Zoe and I hadn’t even known they were a thing until Adira found us in the gutters.

I sighed and moved to the other foot.

Zoe and I needed to escape so we could help Chloe. How? It was obvious that the dragon didn’t want us to go anywhere. And he didn’t listen worth a crap. Most of the time, he didn’t even pay attention to me. Unless I messed with his things, kicked him in the nose, or touched him. Honestly, I didn’t like any of those options as a way of getting his attention.

I blew on my toes to make sure the first coat dried. My toes sparkled prettily in the light but definitely needed a second coat. I started on my fingernails instead.

How could I get the dragon to let us go? I wished I’d been smart enough to grab my phone. One call and Zoe and I would be free. Heck, I cared about freeing us less than I cared about freeing Chloe.

Vedar was weird, but he hadn’t beaten either of us. I didn’t know what Joey would do to Chloe once he realized his giant and snake-man failed to get us.

My mind raced as I polished.

A sudden thought stopped me, and I stared at my half-polished finger. He’d wanted my name and had promised me everything in the room. That included him, right? And his hand? Could it be as easy as walking up to him and dragging him across the room?

I capped the bottle and left it on the floor as I scrambled to my feet. Vedar didn’t open his eyes at the sound of my approach. It didn’t fool me, though. He always seemed aware of me on some level.

---