“Both, then?” she asks, studying the short dark claws on the ends of my fingers.
I nod.
“You want me. And you want to protect me,” she confirms.
Again, I nod. But I’m not sure she wantsme, so I point to her, then to myself.
Brynna squirms a little as she shrugs. “Just don’t torch me before the week is over? I’m…uh…well… You’re definitely hot and strong. But forgive me if I’m hesitant. Death by demon is not what I had envisioned.”
I’m not surprised. I shake my head and point to the sky.
“Not a demon?” she asks. “A dragon then?”
I waggle my head. Cinuska would say so. But I’m not from the depths of a planet like Earthen demons. I am from another solar system.
She runs her hands over my bruised and scarred sides. Her touch is silky and unexpected and sends a rush through me, lighting up my chest. “Are you okay?”
Seeing her face glazed in my light tells me just how much I’m losing control already. I jerk back.
Brynna releases me. “Sorry! Whatever I did…”
I take her hands and put them back against me. I need to get used to her contact and breathe through the tides of scorching desire that make me want to tear the clothes from her gorgeous flesh and take her on this landing.
“Wow, that strong of an effect, huh?” She bites her lip. “Not going to lie. I’m definitely curious about you. I’d like to get to know you better.”
My heart thumps harder. I’m anxious to explore her more as well.
“But I’d also like to get back so I can check on a friend. She’s a Blue.”
I want to make her happy so she will pick me. So I don’t hesitate to pick her up and sling her over my shoulder again, then hustle down the hillside.
“You…can…slow…down.” Brynna laughs in bursts like my hurried pace is a bit too fast. So I ease my speed and aim for the Mingle Celebration.
“Thanks,” she gasps. “Sometimes, being human in this universe really sucks. We’re not strong like so many of you.”
But she has saved so many with her skills.Humans create things when they do not have our natural strengths. They engineer far past their species’ age.
The thumping electronic music of the mingle hall on the bottom floor becomes audible as we enter the race valley again. I carry Brynna past the hedge maze and the prep huts, past the ropes course, and catch the scent of the Mindor male that licked my fated.
My Inferno growls as I look around at the other males carting their chosen inside. My wings twitch, wanting to be free so they can curl around my female and protect her from him.
She is mine. He cannot have her.
“Are you hungry? Your stomach sure is rumbling.”
I blink and glance at Brynna’s plump ass. I’m hungry for something, for sure. It’s just not food. Pressing my nose to her hip, I inhale a deep breath of her scent: sweet flesh, a hint of something herbal and floral, and light musk.
When we enter the Mingle Celebration with booths along the edges and buffet tables loaded up with food along the walls, I reluctantly set Brynna back on her feet. The sensation of her luscious body gliding down my chest and over my rigid cock drives me crazy with need.
She closes her eyes and hums a note of delight. “You keep sliding me over that magic wand of yours, and I might forget my manners.”
My heart stalls for a beat before charging in my chest. I catch the Mindoran’s scent as he walks closer to us, no female under his arm.
Brynna is mine, and I have to make my claim known. So I draw her against me, guide her face close to mine, then gingerly rake my pointed teeth over her neck, covering his scent with mine, and leaving red marks in her skin in a pattern any Drathious would know. But it’s enough to stop him in his tracks.
I glower at him as goose bumps spread down her neck and Brynna’s surprised inhale registers in my mind. Several alien males and human females look over at us in disgust, a few in horror.
But Brynna almost seems turned on by the mild pain I’ve caused her. All I care about is what Brynna thinks. So I straighten and peer down at her.
