A Dragon's Choice

Erik watched from the top of a building across from the bar. Why am I here? And a guttural growl of frustration emanated from his throat. He’d asked himself that question so many times in the last few months, yet he had no answer. But each time he caught her scent in the air, his groin tightened in painful arousal and he never turned away.  She’d changed—her hair was now a short contemporary cut and she wore clothes much too revealing. Her lips were one night painted red, then bronze, and tonight a dark ruby shade. He wanted to bite the full bottom one as he claimed her, made her his mate. Her light green eyes were so unique against the ebony color of her skin. He’d seen dragon females with darker skin tones before, but their eyes weren’t green. The green eyes were hereditary to the warriors and royalty, so he wondered whom the Shen had defiled to make her. 

Defiled, abomination—words that described the Shen, but he couldn’t regulate them to her. In his mind, he still called her Bliss, and Erik wondered if she kept the name. Months after the battle in the swamp where they saw the king and her existence was still unknown because he’d told no one about her.  He was trying to protect her because surely they would want to kill her even though she hid from the Shen herself. Those eyes were always watching, wary as she moved through this new city—Biloxi, Mississippi. He looked around at the lights and the people walking on the streets below. She’d taken a job as a bartender in Gulfport, and from what he saw, she sucked big time. Her body kept her the job. He saw the way human men, her boss, they leered at her and tried to touch her.

She dealt with the attention till she didn’t want deftly and he grinned when she dropped one human male like he was a stone in a matter of seconds. Erik watched her train, keeping her fighting skills honed. He watched her eat with gusto. And he watched her dance. Those days when she let loose without a care in the world—she was magnificent, and all eyes were on her.  He wanted to swoop down and take her from their gazes because she was his to look upon.  He’d never seen her take a lover, not in the times he’d watched. Erik knew within himself if he saw another man touch the skin he craved that it would make his dragon rage.

Tonight, she was wearing some kind black leather looking dress that accentuated every curve. The heels of her shoes made her taller than he knew she was. As she left after her shift, she walked down the packed sidewalk, very aware of her surroundings. He’d noted that she never shifted, not once in the months since the battle. He longed to see what her dragon looked like. She said she didn’t look like a Shen, and from the way she avoided water, Erik had no doubt that had to be true. He inhaled, catching her scent between all the others, and then something else, a foul smell. He sifted his gaze and spotted three men following her. With a grunt, he moved from his position and began to follow them from roof to roof, making sure to keep to the shadows. She sensed them too and began to move towards the alley, but turned quickly and back stepped.  Erik saw two more come out of the alley and they began to corner her towards the water. He saw the fear in her eyes. She hated the water, and after their first meeting, he didn’t have any doubt of that.  They got her away from the crowds with the water at her back. Where the hell did she hide those? He wondered with a grin when she reached over her shoulders and pulled two daggers from her back. Bliss got into fighting stance as he moved from his position and landed next to her with almost silent feet. 

Her eyes widened in surprise. I didn’t scent you tonight, dragon. It must be an off night for me.

Let’s blame it on your long shift of fending off unwanted advances, Erik murmured.

Who said they were unwanted? She grinned. These guys need my attention right now, so go away.

That comment made his dragon roar in rage. Five of them, two of us. We kill them and then we talk.

Fine, she grumbled.

He moved left and swung his sword in an arc. He felt the blade connect with the body of a Shen. They wouldn’t shift in this setting, but their bite could still be dangerous and they were rabid vicious fighters in close quarters.  He’d dispatched two to Bliss’s one when he heard her scream in terror. They had her by the shoulders and dragged her to the water. Erik cut the head off the one Shen he was fighting, but before he could reach them, they’d thrown her into the water. 

The two laughed as they ran away, and while he wanted to follow and stomp them into the Mississippi mud, seeing Bliss flail around and try to get out of the water turned his attention to her. They hadn’t managed to throw her far, the water was waist deep at the most. Still she was in a panic and you would think she was submerged in acid from her screams. Erik walked out to her calmly and pulled her up by the shoulders. He wasn’t unhappy that she wrapped herself around him like a wet blanket and clung to his body for dear life.

I’ve got you, he murmured in a low, soothing voice.  You are unhurt, I am out of the water, you can stand.

She didn’t answer, and when he pushed her head back to look at her face, her wide light green eyes were looking at him, unseeing. He knew the signs of shock and she was trapped in her own mental terror. Erik knew where she lived. He’d watched her sleep on the streets until she had enough money to get a small studio apartment. He wasn’t going there. Erik had acquired his own accommodations in the city. He moved quickly through the back alleys and the darkness to the house he’d rented fully furnished.  He stepped into the back door and when he turned the lights on, his warrior brothers were sitting there. Mursi, Aki, Bior, Hawke, Orin, and Raul sat around the large table.

We’d be very interested in who you have there, Orin commented.

Have you been spying on me? Erik snarled. I am a warrior of the Paladin court….

Orin slammed his hand down on the table. Who has been going off without anyone knowing anything and staying away for days. I ask you again, who is she?

Please tell me you haven’t turned to kidnapping, Mursi said, amused.

She was being chased by the Shen. I saved her, Erik said.

She’s more than human, Aki commented. Her scent is unlike anything we’ve encountered.

Let me lay her down and then we’ll talk, Erik said.

He took her to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He quickly and efficiently undressed her from the wet clothes she wore and wrapped her in the thick blankets. By the gods, he thought he’d covered his tracks better, but knowing his brothers, they’d tracked him easier than he thought possible. He’d known this day was coming when he would have to explain her.  After one last look at her lying on the bed, he stepped out to face the consequences of his deceit.  Orin was pacing the length of the kitchen and the others looked up when he entered the door. The air was thick was tension as Orin turned to face him.

Explain yourself, warrior, Orin commanded. His voice was cold and authoritative. He may not like being king, but from Erik’s point of view, he met the challenge and surpassed it.

She was at the battle when we fist encountered the Shen king, a captive of the Shen, a hybrid, Erik said.

More of an abomination than the things she consorted with, Raul said.

The growl that emanated from Erik made them all look at him in surprise.

Say it again and face me in battle, Erik said to Raul. She was born of us too and the only female in that den of snakes. She was tortured, bitten, and learned to fight to protect herself.

But she was at the battle and drew swords on us, Orin pointed out.

No she did not, she left the battle, saw it as a chance to escape, Erik pointed out. She was the one I chased into the swamp.

 So you’ve known about her, tracked her all this time and said nothing? Orin asked. "Why?

Erik paced as he explained. She wanted freedom, no part of this war I kept track of her and to make sure. Tonight is the first night the Shen has tried to take her.