SapphireDare, page 2
Sapphire nibbled at the bread. “Locked in?”
“Consummated. Once the couple has formed a bond of that nature, no one can break it without damaging the partners.” He casually reached around and swiped more fruit off her plate.
Lona smacked his hand with the back of a spoon. “Leave her alone, sir. The little chicken needs all the food she can get.”
Sapphire rolled her eyes at the moniker but ate everything put in front of her. She could feel every small movement that Galen made and Lona watched both of them with a peculiar amusement.
After she finished her meal, she asked, “Lona, what species are you?”
“We are called the fire lizards. We don’t have a proper species identifier.” Lona shrugged and gave her a wink with two eyelids on the same eye, one horizontal, the other vertical.
“Oh. You do seem rather, warm.”
The woman snickered and exhaled a stream of flame. “That I am, little chicken.”
“My name is Sapphire.”
Galen nodded, “So Ruby told me. All of your set are now on this side of the human barrier. What are your plans?”
She had opened her mouth to reply when a thunderous knock sounded.
He frowned and got to his feet.
Lona zipped to the front room without looking back.
“What is that?”
Galen moved between her and the open doorway. “I am a registered healer and not only wounded dragon swans end up at my door. I treat breaks, cuts, fight gashes, all of it.”
Lona came back into the room and she was shaking her head. “He doesn’t need a healer, he wants to meet miss.”
Sapphire puckered her brow, “Miss?”
Galen frowned and quickly pressed a kiss against her lips before he said anything else. “You. They will be coming to meet you until you make a choice.”
“A choice?”
“A choice of mate. You are not ready to make a decision, so I will act as your champion if you have no objection?”
She frowned. “Since I am really not sure what is going on, by all means, act as my champion.”
He grinned and stripped off his shirt, tossing it to Lona.
She clucked and folded the shirt in seconds.
With no other words, Galen left the two women in the kitchen and dull thuds were soon heard from the front room.
“Oh dear, I was just about to sweep in there. Well, I will make him clean up the furniture.”
“Furniture?” A thunderous crash reached her ears and Sapphire couldn’t wait any longer. She moved toward the sound of the melee, her bare feet making no noise on the granite tile.
Galen was locked in battle with two other men, all had flashing eyes and heavily muscled physiques, but only Galen was fighting alone.
She was going to go and help him when Lona’s hand held her back. “Sir can handle this. He needs to handle this and needs you to see him doing it. Many confuse his healing with a soft nature. The healing is a talent. He is as much a male as any of the dragons above.”
“I understand it. I just wanted to help him.” Sapphire returned her gaze to Galen in time to watch him flip one of the dragons through a doorway and onto a charming settee that was suddenly flatter.
The man lay back and groaned, leaving Galen his current competitor.
The brunette came under Galen’s left side, trying to flip him, but her host dodged him, letting him slide to one side and bringing his knee up into the man’s midsection. The man flipped through the air with the force of the blow and lay on the floor, his eyes dazed and unfocussed.
Galen was breathing lightly, his body coated in a sheen of sweat. When another male came through the doors, he snarled and pinned the man to the wall, snarling, “She is protected.”
The male nodded and the moment Galen let him go, he lunged.
Galen swept out with his foot and toppled his attacker, kicking him in the jaw. He stood over his vanquished foes and started to vibrate in place.
Sapphire was going to go up to him, but Lona held her back.
Galen shouted and a blast of power pulsed through the air, knocking her backward into the wall.
“Healing might be his talent, but he is not meant for violence. It builds up and his body rejects it.” Lona squinted at him. “Now, it is safe for you.”
Sapphire walked forward and touched Galen’s arm. “Would you like some help cleaning up?”
He nodded, his jaw tight.
She tied the loose fabric of her skirt to one side and gripped the ankles of the most recent arrival. She hauled him out of Galen’s home and then returned for the third while Galen took care of the second.
“Lona mentioned tidying up the wrecked furniture. Where shall we put it?”
“Out back behind the kitchen. She can use it for firewood.” Galen grabbed an armload of the broken settee and carried it toward the kitchen.
She followed him with the broken furniture bits and tossed them onto the ones he had previously dropped.
“They were here for me?”
“Yes. With our birth rates, finding a female is a very competitive event. Now that your sisters are well known, there are males who will follow your energy trails wherever you go.”
“Energy trails?”
He nodded and picked his shirt up off the counter. “We all operate with a different signature for our talents and when we open portals. Your portal energy is usually controlled, but when you came to me injured, you spiraled a signal through the dimensional rift that lit a beacon for all searching males.”
She took a seat back at the counter where she had been eating and poured him a cup of tea. “What can you tell me about what it is to being a dragon?”
He grinned and sipped at the tea. “Where would you like me to begin?”
“Why are the males such assholes?”
The spray of tea across the countertop got a disapproving noise from Lona as she swept in to clean it up.
Galen wiped his lips and looked at her with a baleful gaze, “I beg your pardon.”
“You heard me. Start with that.”
Chapter Three
He grimaced. “I suppose that the desperation to continue our bloodlines has led to a competitive nature. The thought of being able to run a house or to be part of a family is the most pleasant dream we have once we settle as adults. Unfortunately, few if any women are available to males. Those women who have not been promised to a male at birth are highly prized and dragons fall over themselves for them.”
“So, engagements as infants are common?”
Yes, daughter. It is why I had to leave your father to bring all of you into these worlds. I wanted a larger choice for you and if I had not done what I did, four daughters instead of twenty would have graced the palace.
Mother, do the others know about this?
They are learning as they meet males who may be a match for them. Galen has proved himself a friend to our family and a very handy male to have around. He is also more interested in you than he will admit.
He kissed me.
Did you kiss him back?
No, there wasn’t time.
Try it, see if it feels right. If not, Galen will wait for another one of your sisters. By the way, you had best restore your skirt to proper levels, you are teasing him horribly.
Blushing, she quickly unknotted the hem of her skirt and she looked into Galen’s eyes and saw that his gaze was firmly locked on the mid-thigh spot that had just been flashed.
“I have received some advice. May I try something?”
He nodded and opened his mouth just as she lunged toward him to plant a kiss on his startled mouth. Heat surged in her blood as she tasted him and her head spun until she gripped his shoulders for support.
She felt his hands on her waist and he pulled her into his lap, settling her against him.
His warmth surrounded her and he turned her lunge into a warm exploration that sent tingles through all of her limbs. She shifted on his lap and her bright blue gaze locked with his green one as they parted. Her chest was heaving and she had more adrenaline racing through her than she had ever had, when her life wasn’t at stake, before.
“Oh.” Her swollen lips parted but that was all that came out.
“Was that what you wanted to try?”
She suddenly had a laundry list of things she wanted to try with this man, but instead of telling him that, she levered from his lap and moved back to her chair. “Yes, it was. Thank you.”
He smiled at her, shook his head and started to laugh.
Lona came in and snapped him with a kitchen towel. “Never laugh at a lady. She might not care to try something like that again.”
He sobered so fast that it was Sapphire’s turn to laugh. She looked at him with appreciation. She had never seen a human male to compare. He was large. Very large. His muscular arms were almost as big as her thighs and his shoulders almost as wide as the doorway to her cell. His tight shirt did nothing to hide the ridges of muscle beneath it and his tight leather pants held together at the waist by a wide leather belt showed off his muscular thighs to perfection. Hair almost the same shade as gold, brushed his shoulders as he stared down at her with a bemused expression.
“Perhaps we should try that again,” he said with a smile, his white teeth gleaming in contrast to his lightly bronzed skin and she wondered at the twinkle in his eyes.
“Perhaps I should go to bed.” She stared at his surprised expression and lifted a brow. “Alone.”
Restless energy filled her when she lay down to sleep in her room. Her mind spun with a thousand images of Galen and none of them involved clothing. Heat ran through her veins and followed her into her dreams.
Sapphire awoke to find a servant bustling though her room, humming a strange tune. The girl, who appeared approximately twenty human years of age, threw open the drapes to allow the bright light of the sun into the room. The light gleamed on the stone floor. The sheen was so fine, she could almost see her reflection. Sunlight shone through layers of beveled glass, causing colorful prisms to dance across the cream walls and the polished floor as the curtains fluttered in the breeze.
Sitting up, Sapphire eased her legs over the side of the bed and rested her feet on the thick fur rug that covered the immaculate tile next to the bed.
“Good morning, lady,” the woman said in a singsong voice. “I am Nela. Master Galen sent me. I am your new companion. He will be happy to know you have risen.” She pulled a cord in the corner, then turned to face Sapphire. Lifting the hem of her gaily-colored skirt, she gave a small curtsy. Nela’s long, white hair bobbed. It drew Sapphire’s attention to her blood-red roots.
“Good morning to you, Nela.” Sapphire tilted her head to the side, blinked with both sets of eyelids and waved her hand. “Is that your natural hair color?” It was an odd combination. “I apologize if that was an inappropriate question,” she said to the girl’s blank expression. “I was merely curious. On Earth, where I was raised, some women color their hair for various and sundry reasons. I thought, perhaps, you could tell me why they would do such a thing when it ultimately leaves their hair two different colors.” One of which, the women never seemed to like and did almost anything to cover up.
Nela smiled. “I take no offense, lady. Your question is not inappropriate as you may think.” Reaching up, she fingered a lock of her hair. “As children, our hair is one color. As we mature, it changes to another.” She smiled. “Some may think it is strange, but in the olden days, the color of our adult hair determined our fate.” Nela walked to a door and opened it, revealing a closet full of clothing that appeared to be Sapphire’s size. “Master Galen was so certain that one of you ladies would appear here, he had an entire wardrobe made.” She waved to the contents. “Do you see anything you like? It is all in your size, thanks to your sisters.”
Sapphire stared at the closetful of colorful clothing. She’d never seen so many different colors of leathers in her life. Barely thinking, she slid out of the nightgown Lona dressed her in the night before and entered the small room filled with clothes.
Lacy underthings hung on padded hangers next to the leathers, dresses, skirts and blouses in a rainbow of colors to match the outerwear in reds, greens, yellows and black. Her mouth hung open for a moment when she saw a set of leathers in the same blue color of her eyes.
Never had she seen so many colors in one place. Never had anyone cared to gift her with anything save the bracelet she wore that tied her to her sisters. Quick as a blink, she yanked the blue leathers and matching underwear from the hanger. Donning the clothing, she turned and faced the floor-length mirror on the wall next to the door.
“You look beautiful, lady.” Nela hurried through the door and opened a cabinet filled with matching boots. “They complete the set, lady,” she said as she handed Sapphire the blue foot coverings.
Tears filled her eyes and she dashed them away. “Look at me, crying over clothing. What must you think of me?” What did she think of herself? Was she going soft here? “What did that poison do to me? I’m not one to cry over clothing.” She bent to slip the boots onto her feet and pull them up to her knees. “I have never bawled over a pair of boots in my life.”
“Perhaps it is long overdue then.”
Sapphire spun around at the familiar voice. “Ruby!” She ran to her sister and gave her a hug. “I thought to never see you again.”
“As did I when I first found my mate.” Ruby smiled and gestured behind her. “Come in before Sapphire thinks only I cared enough to come see her.”
Sapphire again felt her mouth drop open as the other sisters in her pod entered the room. She stared at them for a moment before she burst into tears. “I’m sorry. I do not know what has come over me. It must have something to do with the poisoned arrow that pierced my shoulder yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Her sisters looked at one another and laughed. “You have been sleeping for three days. Galen has been beside himself with worry. He was certain he had removed all of the poison, yet you didn’t wake when you should. He’s been blaming himself for your slow recovery.”
“Blaming himself?” Sapphire’s heart slammed in her chest at the thought that he suffered needlessly for one moment. “If there is anyone to blame, the fault is mine. I underestimated my targets. I would like to think it will not happen again.”
“As did we when it happened to each of us.” Emerald laughed. “We were not unconscious for three days, mind you, but we too have underestimated those we have taken upon ourselves to send home.”
“You’re still working?” Sapphire shook her head at the ridiculous question. Of course they were. They all wore leathers of different colors that looked a lot like the clothing she wore. Every few days, a rift opened on Earth and someone dumped humans through from the other side. Who else could it have been but her sisters? “I’m sorry. Of course you are.” She looked at them all in turn. “How do you know where to look? Isn’t it difficult to find them without the human’s equipment?”
It all clicked after she asked the question. No wonder the tools she’d become accustomed to using seemed so hard to find these days. She giggled, then covered her mouth, her eyes wide. She hadn’t done that in years. Not since their handler punished their entire pod for it when they were four.
“Don’t worry, sister,” Topaz said with a soft smile. “There is no one here to punish you with a stun rod because you laughed.”
“In fact, our men get rather testy if we don’t laugh several times every day.” Opalite stepped up and wrapped her arm about her. “We would like to think that you would try to get to know Galen. He is a good man and he has helped us all through a very rough time. We would all be dead if not for him.”
“Yes,” Ruby agreed. “He has removed the leashes from us all and healed us when the poisoned capsule the humans hid within our bodies would have killed us.”
Sapphire looked at all of her sisters and sighed. She never thought she would have to live her life with another. In fact, she had looked forward to being alone, at least for a little while. Would she go from one form of captivity to another? “What if he is not the man for me?” She had to ask the question even though a small part of her protested it. Something told her that he was the man who could tame her desire to roam about the dimensions.
“Then he will let you go. The choice is always yours, lady.”
Sapphire spun around, her hand held to her throat, her fingers fluttering over her pulse, heart pounding. Galen stood in the doorway, his golden blond hair disheveled. It appeared as though he slept in his clothing and she wondered if it was because of her.
The smile on his face made her stomach flutter and her insides feel funny. Sapphire held a hand to her stomach and frowned. What was it about the man that made her feel so strange and why did his presence affect her the way it did?
You desire him, dearling.
I don’t know what desire is. Our handlers made sure of that. She knew something of it from listening to the handlers talk. Still, what did she know of things she had yet to experience?
Your body knows what it is. It is a natural function, one that nature gave us to ensure the continuation of our, and other, species.
Sapphire frowned. I don’t like it. It feels funny.
Her mother laughed through their link. It only feels strange because you have never experienced it before. Once you have experimented with the way things make you feel, you may decide you like it.
With a sigh, Sapphire returned her attention to Galen. “And if I choose to leave here, to continue to hunt on my own?”
“Then I will not stop you.” Galen moved away from the doorway and waved his arm. “However, there are others out there who may not give you a choice. There are those that polite company would not associate with, but they exist nonetheless.”
“Isn’t it against our laws?”
“We have no laws to protect the females from claiming. If we did, perhaps they would all choose to never mate, then where would we be?” Galen shook his head. “Our laws state that a male cannot coerce you when you are under the protection of another unless they wish to challenge the male who protects you.”
