Cool, cool, cool.
“Yeah?” I mumble to whoever’s on the other side of the door, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and the drool from my chin.
My dragon isn’t suffering from any of the lingering grogginess apparently, stirring excitedly inside my chest and rippling scales across my skin. I rub my sternum and frown. What has him so eager and energized?
The doorknob turns and the door slowly creaks open. My whole body immediately heats at the sight of Drax sticking his head into my room. His horns are absent, his human form still firmly in place. He was hot as a demon, and he’s hot as a human, that’s just an objective fact. And, again, my eyes zero in on thechain around his neck at the same time my forebrain clocks the fact that he’s still naked.
“Do you own any clothes?”
He looks down at himself, then back at me.
“Why? Do you need to borrow some?” he asks.
“No, I meant…” I stop myself and frown again. “Shit, do I? Everything happened so fucking fast earlier. Is Auri going to let me go back to my place and get any of my stuff? Am I, like, a prisoner here? Is there somewhere I can read the fine print of the deal I made with him?”
Drax’s forehead wrinkles and his light blue eyes turn cloudy with concern.
“You didn’t ask for the details of the deal before you made it?”
My stomach twists and squirms and my face heats in a far less pleasant way than my body did just a minute ago. This isn’t a sexy heat, it’s a shameful one. Fuck, Drax’s concern is just as bad as my brothers’ sympathetic yet disapproving looks. Like I’m the biggest fucking idiot who’s ever lived.
I cover my face with my hands and groan.
My bed dips and I squeeze my eyes closed a little harder. His warm fingers wrap around my wrists in a firm, reassuring hold, and I let him pull my hands away from my face.
“How badly did I fuck up?” I ask quietly.
He’s still frowning, but his expression is more carefully neutral now.
“It’ll be fine,” Drax assures me. “Ask to see the contract the next time you meet with Auri. He has to show you. And no, you aren’t a prisoner, but you are bound to fulfill the contract, so simply leaving won’t work. You’re marked and tethered to him until the deal is complete, so he’ll be able to find you no matter where you go.”
“Great,” I mutter.
“It’s not so bad. Auri is…” Drax trails off for a second, like he’s not sure how to describe the demon daddy he called “Master” earlier. How long has Drax been indebted to him? What kind of contract do they have? Is it impolite to ask?
“But I can at least go home and get clothes and stuff?”
He nods. “I can even take you. It’ll be a shorter journey that way. I came to get you for dinner, but after that we can go get your things.”
I study him quietly for a minute, trying to figure out his angle.
“Why are you being nice to me?”
“We’re a team, dragon. You’ll see. We help each other and we have each other’s backs.” He brings his hand to my jaw like he did earlier, but he doesn’t actually touch me this time. My dragon vibrates inside of me, straining towards the surface. “And also, you smell nice and for some reason I feel like I would kill anyone who hurts you.”
“What? Why?”
He shrugs and stands up. “Because my instincts tell me so, and they haven’t lied to me yet. Now, let’s have dinner. You can meet the rest of Auri’s pets properly.”
DRAX
I leadMac through the familiar maze of the compound towards the dining room. The inky cloud of despair hanging around him has lessened slightly since I told him I could take him home to get his things, but it’s not completely gone. I suppose belonging to Auri takes some getting used to. It’s been so long since I signed my contract with him, I can hardly remember. But I think the others went through a similar adjustment period when they each arrived, I just didn’t care as much.
Why?
That’s what Mac wanted to know, and I wish I knew. Similar to shifters, we have our inner demons—our deepest, most primal instincts that rule our nature. And mine is telling me to protect the dragon. There’s no point wondering why, it’s just what I have to do.
Atlas, Roman, and Cassius are all in the dining room when we arrive. Working for Auri isn’t a picnic, but the food is definitely a perk. The long table is filled with a feast, just like it is most nights. Roasted meat and raw cuts for Roman and myself, decanters of blood for Cassius, and plenty of leafy greens for Atlas.
