“Precisely,” he grins. “You get it.”
I’ve managed to defuse his irritation, and that is a good thing. I have to learn how to work Drako. I need to survive him as much as I need to survive this world.
“I was really just trying to get something nice for us to eat,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
The words feel like acid on my tongue, because I’m not sorry, but I lower my eyes as I say them and I make a big show of submissive contrition. Drako is an egotist. He’s also used to people rolling over and showing him their belly. He expects me to fold, so I do.
“Follow me back,” he says. “Stay close behind.”
I do as I am told, because I know it’s for the best. I want to see Thor again. He has not behaved as I expected him to at almost any turn, but I still sense he is a safer proposition for me than Drako. Thor came after me to rescue me, and in doing so saved my life. If I had been with Drako’s people when the monsters came, I would have been eaten with them.
“Found her,” he says when we get back to camp. “She was trying to call down a predator.”
“I was not. I got food.”
“We literally cannot leave you unattended for a moment,” Thor says, looking stressed. I wonder what he thought was happening while we were in the woods. There’s a jealous note to his tone.
“I am not sure you are supposed to leave me unattended. I got some eggs.”
Thor prepares breakfast. Drako watches the perimeter. I try to work out what I am going to do now that these two have decided to engage in the world’s most awkward alliance.
Breakfast is bits of bird fried up in eggs, along with some greens that Drako says are good for us. The act of sitting down with others and consuming some hot, freshly made food is good for the soul.
“Thank you for finding the eggs,” Thor says. “They were a nice touch.”
“Don’t thank her for that. She went and got herself lost to find them.”
“I’ll speak to her as I please,” Thor says. “We’re all lost.”
“I am not lost. And you will not be if you follow my lead.”
“I am not interested in being led. Not by someone who was our prisoner a few hours ago. You are no jarl to me, Drako.”
Oh, yes, Thor has woken up some kind of salty. I like it. I can feel the tension between them, and though I suppose it might get us all killed, it’s nice to not be the center of their attention for once.
Unfortunately, that state of affairs last approximately 0.2 seconds longer.
“You’re in a mood,” Drako observes. “Are you close to your cycle?”
Thor mutters something under his breath that I know would amount to fighting words if Drako heard them. Interesting, watching a massive, muscled warrior turn passive–aggressive because he hasn’t had his morning coffee, and won’t for a very long time.
“Suck his cock,” Drako says, turning to me, gesturing toward Thor.
“What?”
“Get down on your knees, open his pants, and wrap your mouth around his cock,” he says, breaking it down into steps as if my reason for objecting is just a general lack of understanding.
“You don’t have to do that,” Thor says to me.
“You don’t have to do it to him, but if you don’t do it with him, I’ll have you on your knees for me,” Drako says. “What will it be, Golden Boy? Do you want your cock sucked, or do you want to watch your girl service me?”
Thor narrows his eyes at Drako. “I’ll ask to fuck her mouth if I want to. She doesn’t have to give you everything you want every time you want it, either. She’s a free woman.”
“She’s not,” Drako says. “She never will be either. She’s got the temperament of someone who needs to be handled.”
Thor’s eyes narrow. “You might be right,” he says. “But women are their own people. They’re not toys for us to use.”
Drako laughs. “You think I think she’s a toy? No, Golden Boy. I know what she is. She’s a weapon. An animal. She needs to be trained with, and trained well, or she will turn on you, take off a limb or consume your fucking soul. The Vikar respect women. It is your people who do not.”
