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I noticed the state of the entrance and frowned. Looked like Asteroid, in his haste to see that scum out of our mate’s proximity, had broken the structure. That needed fixing, immediately.
“Leave her be.” I shrugged, stepping up to the wooden construct which seemed to be hanging onto its purpose by a thread and placing my coarse warrior’s hand on it in commiseration. “I have a feeling our fire goddess isn’t going far.”
The lights flicked on as I tipped my chin to the door. I could hear her panting, likely pressed up against the surface right inside. Sounded as though our little meeting of minds had shaken her just as thoroughly as it had me. I patted the solid wood affectionately, determined to fix this one simple thing for my intended mate, even if I couldn’t fix the rest.
I turned, my brain still buzzing with Tess’ scent, and the flush of her skin as she retreated. The sound of her labored breath. That wasn’t the sound of an unaffected female. She was hiding, sure, but not running. It was as Asteroid had said. Tess was a fighter, down to the last, but she was no quitter. Well, neither was I. I’d survived much worse than the temporary scorn of my intended mate, as painful as it might be.
After repairing the damage we had wrought to her front door with a soft hum on my lips, I carried the new, comforting turn of my thoughts all the way into our small hut. However, as soon as the door slammed behind me, I was instantly and irrevocably transported back into the home I’d shared with my fathers. The empty shelves and the barren walls. Panic rolled up my spine as I took in the familiar stale scent of the air recycler.
My breath caught in my throat around the lump that formed there, just as fast as the useless tears which had filled my eyes. Treacherous beasts. Just because our mate was pulled sexually to us, didn’t mean she would survive our special brand of attention. Didn’t mean she would live through the burden of loving a Drakon male. Hormones and sexual attraction didn’t mean anything, not when your mate’s body gave up under the weight of that heavy burden.
It didn’t matter if Tess wanted our knots. Craved our seed. Not if that union became the very curse which stole her from us in the end.
9
Tess
“All right,” I grumbled as soon as Samantha mooched on into my bar, ignoring the industrious clattering and clanging as someone–probably Radon–fixed up whatever Asteroid broke. I pressed my legs firmly together as another red hot flush stole over me at the thought of inspecting Radon’s handiwork. I rather liked the idea of bossing that surly fucker around. It was taking my full concentration not to give into the primal urge to throw down with that prickly bastard in another battle of the tongues. He was smooth and sexy when he wanted to be, like a topshelf liquor that knew it didn’t have to try so hard to grab you by the throat and hold your attention. “Spit it out.”
My learned friend pretended she didn’t hear me as I took another hit of the good stuff. Sitting rigidly on a bar stool with a bottle of whiskey, I was already part way through a generous pour. A bad sign, perhaps, for my rapidly unraveling mental state. But I figured on the night I’d been roughed up by a gang of bikers–no,witches, that’s what the trio of librarians who were definitely not just librarians had called them–with something that felt suspiciously like telekinesis, I was allowed to take some liberties.
If I planned on getting wasted, who here had the right to say boo?
Not a fucking one of those gathered outside, that’s who.
“I heard that smart arse, Quasar,” I grumbled as I topped up my glass. “You promised to explain, but you haven’t coughed up dick. So rip that fucking bandaid off, woman, because I need to know whatever I’m swimming neck-deep in this time.”
“Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses,” Samantha smirked. “I’m coming. Just giving that busy head of yours a chance to cool off after coming face-to-face with her first dragon. Ahem. Excuse me. Firstaliendragon.”
“See, I’m going to ignore thealienpart for now–because what the actual fuck?–and focus on the other major problem in that sentence,” I drawled. “I really don’t like that qualifier, Sam. What do you mean by ‘first’. Just how many other of those terrifying bastards am I going to meet?”
My friend’s eyes glittered as she crossed the floor, got up on the stool next to me and poured herself a drink.
“Now that you’ve been hunted down by a Drakonian mating comet speeding across the cosmos, you mean?” Samantha chinked her glass to mine. “Oh, loads and loads, I reckon. You’re not going to be able to shake the stubborn pricks, especially not the purple-skinned hotties. Those pesky dragons are going to fill up every gaping hole in your life.”
I snorted my drink at the blatant innuendo, then glared at Samantha who chuckled evilly as I spluttered, “My Drakonian what now?”
“Drakonian comet. You know, that thing you saw heading straight for your bar last night?” She waited for my reluctant nod before continuing on. “It’s a locator spell of sorts which the Drakons–that’s a spacefaring humanoid race who’ve been plundering our shores since the time of the Vikings–have been using to locate their fated mates scattered across the galaxy.”
“How romantic,” I growled, my heart sinking. “What’s that got to do with me, then?”
Samantha shot me an exasperated look. “Oh, don’t play dumb with me. I know you’ve come across the fated mate concept in those books you can’t seem to stop reading.”
I didn’t bother answering that one, nor did I bother to hide my flaming face.
Sure, I’d enjoyed daydreaming about the thought of a fated mate or two busting into my life and filling it up with their special brand of, ahem, magic, as much as the next girl. Never in a million years did I think it would actually fucking happen though. I wasn’t crazy. Yet. “Wait. Are you saying that they’ve been coming to Earth and stealing women to take back to their home world like barbarians?”
“Who said it was just women?” I glared at her and she waved me off. “It’s not exclusive to gender, but there is an unfortunate deficit of young-bearing females on their home planet, so their missing fated mates are often women, yes.”
“Sam…”
She sniffed. “If you believe the lines being fed by the Drakon Hunters? Then, abso-fucking-lutely.” It was Samantha’s turn to glower into the bottom of the glass. “And, let’s be serious, I’m sure not all of their early scouting missions were peaceful. Neither were the Vikings. But so far, the modern Drakons I’ve met would rather die than hurt their mate by forcing them from their home.”
“Well, I don’t fucking plan on leaving Earth’s atmosphere,” I spat, turning a furious gaze on my friend who was talking about completely blowing apart my future. “Spacefaring fated fucking mates with their weird magical sex-mojo or not.”
She grinned at me, cocking an eyebrow. “Oh, so you admit that you feel the pull of their weird magical sex-mojo, do you?”
I shut my mouth and turned back to my whiskey, slamming down what remained in one go. I wouldn’t be admitting squat and Samantha didn’t really need me to. She knew what she was about and I didn’t feel like fighting her on that one. Yes, the aliens were damned fine. Sure, I was probably going to climb one or all of them like a tree if my lady bits had anything to say about it. No, I wasn’t going to upend my entire fucking existance for a tumble in zero gravity.
