Page 12 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons
‘What’s going to happen to me?’ she asks. ‘Why did you choose me? What do you want a woman for, anyway?’
I’m not sure what to say to her, mostly because I don’t want to tell her what awaits her in the mountains with my faction. She might try to run again if she knows more now, and I don’t have time for it. As for her other questions, Drey never actually told me why I specifically was tasked with locating the sought after Tribute. I haven’t had a mission for a very long time and there were others who could have done this. I wondered if it was a test, but now I think that perhaps Drey wasn’t sure who to trust with bringing her to him. He and I go way back, and, despite my problems, he knows I wouldn’t betray him.
‘Tributes are chosen by fate,’ I finally answer, ‘and they usually bring good luck and prosperity to a faction. Possessing one is… Well, it’s a big deal.’
‘Butyouchose me.’ She sounds incredulous.
‘Fate ensured you would be where you were and that I would choose you. If you weren’t the Tribute, I’d have chosen the female who was.’
I turn around to face her and then wish I hadn’t. The shirt I brought is too tight, making her breasts appear bigger. They strain against the cloth, her nipples pebbling as I stare. The sight combined with the scent of her makes me want to…
I swallow hard, trying to get a hold of myself. I’m known for my control over myself and my instincts. It’s why I’m a teacher to the young ones. I remind myself of that as I make my eyes move to the wall behind her, gritting my teeth and telling myself I stay away from females. ALL females.
‘Are there other Tributes?’ she asks.
‘All humans in our settlement are servants,’ I tell her. ‘There are no other Tributes there.’
Humans are easy enough to find closer to home, and, usually, more than willing to sign away their lives in return for food and shelter despite the dangers of being so close to such mammoth creatures as us.
‘So, I’ll be a servant?’ she asks.
I shrug. ‘It’s not for me to say.’
I make the mistake of looking at her again and almost wish I hadn’t sent Orin on such a long flight. He’ll be gone for hours. That was the intention, of course, but…
‘The other girls…’ she trails off and I sigh.
‘Speak,’ I mutter.
‘They said dragons might take humans for…pleasure.’
‘Pleasure?’ I hold in the wince as I say it because it’s not unusual to see a drake in human form fucking a human over a table, whether she’s a hundred-percent willing, or not. Drey is trying to change things, but Morcai let them do as they willed to the females, more or less, for a long time. Some of them still do. I know that even the females indulge, though not typically outin the open. They simply have thefinermale specimens come to them in their private chambers at night. The humans don’t say no if they know what’s good for them.
It's an open secret.
The human nods and I shrug again. ‘I was only sent to collect a human from the south for Tribute. That’s all. You’ll know more when we get there.’
‘When will that be?’ she asks.
‘Two days’ flight.’
She baulks at my words. ‘Two days? Flying? Like that?’
I nod. ‘It’s the only way to get to where we’re going.’
She sits heavily on the bed. ‘But…’
‘Enough, female. You’re clean and your belly is full. Sleep. And no funny business.’
She looks over her shoulder at the bed and stands, ripping the covers off as if she expects there to be snakes or insects lurking. When she sees neither, she puts the blanket back on the bed and looks at me anxiously.
‘Where will you sleep?’
I snort. ‘Beside you. But don’t worry. Your kind don’t tempt me.’
Not anymore.
The female gets into the bed and turns away from me. I’m surprised she takes my words at face value, but I suppose she is tired, and I’ve noticed their species has generally become more pragmatic since their modern world crumbled. There’s no escape for her, and the sooner she understands that her life is no longer her own, the better.
