Chapter 5
Kendra
I was getting snatched up by a dragon because I had to pee.
That was the thought running through my head as the dragon’s claw tightened around me and took me into the sky.
I twisted and kicked, and then I froze. On second thought, I didn't want it to let me go because if I hit the ground from this high, it would end in pain.
Then we shot into a cave.
The second he let me go, I started swinging.
“Get off me!” I screamed, even though he was no longer touching me. I shoved at his chest. He stumbled back a step. I threw a hard punch and hit him right in the jaw. He didn't move.
He was tall and muscular with dark skin and full lips. The kind of man I would have looked twice at if we passed by each other somewhere.
But not when he had just been a big-ass dragon that had snatched me. His eyes were glowing, and he was opening and closing his fists.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and I immediately felt silly. This man, this dragon, had kidnapped me, but I was standing here worried about his well-being. He didn't say anything. He just stood there watching me.
This man is crazy as hell, I thought.
I took a couple of steps backward and ran toward the mouth of the cave. Maybe he was going to let me go. But then he was right in front of me, so close that I could feel the heat pouring off of him in waves.
“You’re not leaving,” he said. His voice was low.
“Yes, I am. You can't keep me here. HELP! Somebody help me!” I screamed.
“Nobody can hear you up here,” he said as he walked towards me.
My back hit the wall. He looked me up and down.
“I need you,” he said.
“What?”
“Stay Mate with me. Take the edge off. I’ll make you rich. Give you whatever you want.”
I stood there looking at him like he was out of his mind. In what world did it look like I wanted to make some type of mate negotiation?
I knew at that moment he wasn't just crazy. He was unhinged.
“Who the hell are you to ask me something like that?”
“My name is Jaceon.”
“Okay, Jaceon. Why me? You got a thing for women who pee in the woods?”
His jaw flexed.
“You’re my mate.”
“I’m your what?”
“Mate. The dragon chose you.”
“Well, the dragon can unchoose me.”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
I scoffed.
“Well, get on Tinder and swipe left or right. I don't know, but you have to let me go.”
“No, I can't.”
“And why can't you?”
“I’m in a rut.”
“What’s a rut?”
“Dragons go into rut. Once a year.”
“I need release. Constantly. And I can’t do it myself. Touching myself makes it worse.”
My eyes dropped to his hips before I could stop them.
He took a step back and smiled.
“Do you want to see?”
“No. Of course not. I don’t even know you,” I said as I did my best to keep my eyes on his face.
But my mind was in the gutter. What did a dragon look like in rut? How big was he, and did dragon dick do different things? My nipples beaded under my shirt.
Kendra, girl, get it together. You are standing here in the middle of a cave with a dragon who is out of his mind, and you are worried about whether he can give you a good time.
He inhaled deeply. His nostrils flared.
“I can smell you. You are interested.”
I pressed myself flat against the wall. He leaned in closer, and I had to fight the urge to lean into him. Maybe he was using some type of magic on me because there was no good reason why my knees were shaking.
“What happens if I say no?” I asked, trying to get us back on track.
“You’re still not leaving.”
“So, I’m a prisoner.”
He didn’t say anything. He just watched me.
“What if I fight you?”
“You can try.”
I thought about it. He was twice my size. He’d already caught me once.
“I’m not a prostitute,” I said.
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You just offered to pay me for sex.”
“You are my mate.” His voice dropped lower. “I want you. I need you. And I’m willing to pay to make that happen. I’m not calling you a prostitute. But even if you were, I wouldn’t give a damn. Because you are mine.”
Mine.
I shivered.
I looked around the cave. It was basically empty, so how was he offering to pay me? Was he really wealthy?
I already owed my mom for helping me with the lawyer, and now with this new case, I was going to need more money.
Having a stack of cash could help me move through this thing quietly and quickly.
On top of that, if I had money, I could hire security.
A bodyguard. Someone to watch the house while I slept. Someone to make sure Zoe was safe.
I hated that I was even considering it, but I looked him up and down. He was fine as hell, so a week of sex for money wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.
My phone buzzed.
He looked at me and snarled.
“It’s my mom.”
He stared at me. Then stepped back.
“Take it and put it on speaker.”
I pulled the phone out. Mom’s name was on the screen. I answered and put it on speaker.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Kendra? You okay? You sound funny,” she said.
“I’m fine.”
“When you come back, we need to talk about what’s really going on,” my mom said.
I should have known she wasn't going to just let this situation go.
I looked over at Jaceon; his eyes were locked onto me. His eyes were glowing, but the wild thing was I didn’t feel threatened. I mean, yeah, he had snatched me, but he hadn’t hurt me. He had even offered me money.
“Okay, Mom. We will. I promise.”
“I love you. Give Zoe a kiss for me. I’ll call back soon.”
“Love you too, baby. Be safe.”
I hung up.
“You have a daughter,” he said.
Every muscle in my body locked. Was he going to use her against me? Threaten her? I’d kill him. I’d find a way. I didn’t care how big he was or what he could turn into.
“Don’t even think about it.”
He frowned.
“Think about what?”
“Using her. Threatening her. Whatever you’re planning.”
His expression shifted.
“I wasn’t.”
“Good. Keep it that way.”
“Where were you going?” he asked.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I had some legal business to take care of.”
“So, you broke the law.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
I stared at him.
“You have no right to question me when you just kidnapped me.”
He scoffed.
He sat back against the cave wall.
“Is this some type of family curse?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You chased my mother. She said she found some jewelry up here, and you chased her all the way back to her truck before you tore it up.”
His face hardened.
“I remember your mother.”
“So, it is a curse.”
“No. Nothing like that. I chased her because no one touches the hoard.”
“What is that, just some type of dragon thing? Treasure and all that?”
“No.” His voice was flat. “This stuff isn’t random trinkets. It belongs to people who died out here.”
“What, did you eat them?”
He bristled.
“No. I find them. And then I take them back to their families.” He paused. “The ones I can find.”
I followed his eyes to a small circle of things. I saw a teddy bear with a brown blanket lying across it. Next to it was a backpack and a white sash that said brIDE.
That gave me the chills. I had worn one just like it on the night of my bachelorette party, even though it had been just two of my old friends and me going out for drinks.
“You are cold,” he said.
He walked over to the pile and picked up the brown blanket.
He brought it back to me and held it out.
I took it.
“Thank you.”
I wrapped it around myself and tried to stop shaking. But I kept my eyes on him.
Then I thought about what he’d just told me.
This stuff belonged to dead people.
I threw it off. It landed on the cave floor next to his feet.
He looked offended.
“Why did you throw it?”
“This is a dead person’s blanket. That’s what you just said.”
He picked it up and dusted it off.
“No. It’s a sweater. Someone made it for me.”
He held it back out to me.
I didn’t take it.
“Who? The last woman you had this type of arrangement with?”
I was surprised by the fact that my voice sounded angry. I was jealous, and that made no sense to me. This man had taken me against my will, proposed an inappropriate contract, and I was jealous. Maybe I was crazy too.
“No. Gladys helps me take the things back home.”
I looked at the pile. Then back at him.
How many families had gotten closure because of him?
I pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. He was still holding me prisoner.
But I couldn’t stop looking at the teddy bear.
He walked back to the pile and sat down near it.
My stomach growled. I immediately put my hand over it. Now how on earth was my body comfortable enough to be out here digesting? I was supposed to be in fight-or-flight, but it was like my nervous system had forgotten how to protect me.
He turned to look at me. He walked over to a corner, picked something up, and brought it back. He handed me a small tin.
I opened it. I was surprised to see that it was full of little cookies. They were covered in icing, shaped like little coins, and they smelled like straight icing.
I picked one up, put it in my mouth, and started crunching.
He reached out and wiped away a crumb that had been on my cheek, and instead of flinching, I leaned in.
His eyes glowed. But he turned and walked away from me.
I sat down and wrapped the sweater around me.
I was sitting in a cave, wrapped in a handmade sweater, eating coin-shaped cookies that someone had baked for a dragon.
Well, my life had taken a turn, I thought.
I was reaching for another cookie when—
His whole body seized.
His head snapped forward, and his hands clawed at the stone. The sound that came out of him was low and guttural.
His back arched, and talons pierced through his fingertips.
He sat up slowly, wiped his face with the back of his hand, and sat there staring at the wall.
I sat there watching him and knew one thing for sure.
If he kicked the bucket, I was out of here.