Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Anna
The challenge hung there in the crisp chill of the deep night, a vocalized denial of the words of the most alpha dragon in the entire kingdom.
And my mate.
I tensed as five sets of eyes swiveled to land on me in unison. Each of them glowed, their dragons called to the forefront by my tone.
I had never used before that tone. It was impossible to inject alpha command into one’s words when you weren’t an alpha-level dragon.
So how had I just done it? And thrown the power at my mate in the process. I hadn’t meant to. It just sort of came out. I knew that his decision was wrong, and I needed to tell him.
But now the challenge of my strong words faded, the powerful steel-honed edge dissipating back into nothingness. I was returning to my normal self, only to be faced with the wrath of five dragons who could swat me down without a second thought.
Thanks a lot, lady.
The internal thoughts slid off my dragon like ice off a metal roof. She didn’t care. At all. She had the attention of all the males and was all but preening from her corner in the back of my mind.
“What did you say?” Caz growled, his eyes bright green, threaded with the silver glow of his dragon’s scales.
“I … Caz, I …”
“Did you just challenge me?” His words came from somewhere so deep in his chest the very ground rumbled underneath me.
Crap. Here it comes. His dragon was going to have to reassert itself. Show me who was truly alpha. Not that it would be hard.
More growls echoed behind him as the other dragons of our entourage reacted.
Caz swung on them, wings sprouting from his back with shocking speed and spreading wide to form a barrier between me and the others.
“Mine.” The snarled threat was backed up by a veritable avalanche of alpha power sweeping out from him.
Once more, it washed over me like a cozy blanket. Whatever I had thought he was going to do when I spoke that way, I was wrong. He could never hurt me. Our mate could never harm us. Even his power was a cocoon, a shield to comfort us and protect us. Never hurt.
I couldn’t see the other dragons, but I heard them backing down, submitting to his power as it billowed forth, unseen but harshly felt, I was sure.
Even Ella and the other slave they’d rescued were on the ground, whimpering in pain.
“Caz!” I barked, seeing my friend under such duress. “That’s enough. You’re hurting Ella.”
Once more the velvet and steel power of my voice lashed out, wrapping around him. He snapped pin-straight, turning to stare at me with eyes that were pure dragon.
Pure ice tyrant.
“You’re using alpha power on me,” he rumbled, stepping closer. “How?”
I shrugged helplessly as my dragon settled down once more. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to but …”
Caz’s eyes darted to Ella, and seeing her on the ground, her eyes rolled back into her head, he immediately pulled back on his power, reining it in. The women both slumped to the ground, gasping for air.
Out of the corner of one eye, I noticed Ella’s eyes land on me, and a tiny frown crease her face.
But I didn’t have time to address it because Caz was lunging forward with impossible speed, his snarl a whipcrack as it echoed out across the landscape.
“Sorry?” I whispered as he snatched me into his arms and drove us into the sky.
“Don’t be sorry,” he said. “That was hot.”
And his mouth found mine, covering it in a searing kiss.
Stunned by the totally unexpected desire and lustful aggression, I froze at first. But his lips found my neck seconds later, and I melted up into him, my legs wrapping automatically around his waist as heat coiled in my pussy and began to soak my panties.
“Caz,” I moaned, his strong fingers touching me everywhere and driving me wild with passion.
His cock was rock hard in his pants, and I ground my hips against it as best I could while we were in the air, becoming more feral with every lustful groan I worked from his throat.
“Mate,” he growled again and again, his fingers threading through my hair and pulling back to expose my throat to his mouth and tongue.
The heat and fire were on another level as he ravished me. Worshipped me. Pleasured me. We spun in the air, his wings easily keeping us aloft. I traced their lines with my fingers up his back, awed as always by the power in them.
“Caz,” I said once more. “We have to stop.”
“Don’t want to stop,” he growled, curling one hand under my ass from behind as his long fingers reached for my clit.
“We have to. Ella is down there with the others. She’s scared. I have to go to her.”
His eyes flashed blinding green, and the growl he let loose would be heard far away. “Mate.”
“I’m not saying we’re never going to have time together again,” I told him, patting his chest. “But not now. We have a mission to complete. Ella needs me. I have a duty to her.”
“Duty.” His dragon seemed to understand that, and slowly we began to descend back toward the ground.
“Thank you,” I said, scratching a fingernail against his chest.
Caz blinked and shook his head, the green light fading but not disappearing. “You used alpha power on me,” he said, staring wondrously.
“I know.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, his feet touching the ground and legs bending slightly.
“I don’t know. We can think about that later. Once we get Ella somewhere safe, okay?”
He nodded, setting me down with more than a little reluctance. I leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek before dashing over to my friend. She was still on the ground, though she’d pulled herself into a coiled ball, ready to strike at anyone who came near.
“Ella, it’s me,” I said as I approached. “It’s Anna. I’m here now. Everything is okay. I promise.”
“Anna?” Her voice was ghostly soft and thin, weaker than I’d ever heard.
“Yes, it’s me.” I dropped to a crouch at her side, biting back a sob as I saw the silver band around her neck. “I’m here. You’re okay.”
Ella blinked and then threw herself into my arms with a ragged cry of pain and happiness. We held each other, and I wanted to let it linger, to reassure my friend everything was going to be okay now. But we didn’t have time.
“We need to get moving, Ella. We can’t stay here. Okay? Do you understand me? These men are going to take you somewhere safe. You can trust them.”
Ella’s brown eyes peeked out from under the tangled mess of her dark hair. “Is that the guy from the market? Did you find him?”
I smiled. She was terrified. In horrible shape. Had a slave collar on that was doing who knew what to her mind. But she was still sharp as a scale edge. That was my Ella.
“Actually, he found me,” I told her, “but there’s time for that later. We have to go now. We can’t be caught here. Can you stand?”
Ella hesitated but then nodded. Together, we got her to her feet. Then we helped Holly. The entire time, all the men stayed far back, but now Caz approached, slowly and cautiously.
“My name is Caz. These are my friends. We’re going to take you somewhere safe.”
“Not your home,” I said with emphasis, choosing not to call it the Ice Citadel. These women didn’t need that kind of shock right now. “Somewhere else, Caz.”
“Going home will be the safest place for me to take those off,” he said, pointing at the collar.
I blinked. “You can do that?”
“Yes.” He grimaced and met my eyes. “But it won’t be pretty. They’ll be in rough shape for a while. Days. Maybe a week or two.”
“Then we definitely aren’t taking them home. They need space. Silence.”
Caz thought about it for a few seconds and then nodded. “I know a place. But it’s not walkable. We’ll have to fly.”
I looked at the other women, first Holly and then Ella. “Can you trust me? These men won’t hurt you or abuse their power.”
Ella shivered, glancing at Florian. “I don’t want to be carried like some animal.”
Dirk stepped forward, his eyes still shining bright. “You won’t. You’ll ride on my back. Like a true dragon rider. I swear no harm will come to you.”
Glancing from Dirk to me, Ella still looked uncertain.
“I rode here on Caz that way,” I explained. “It’s fine. Better than fine. You get to fly, El. Like, really fly. Trust me. It’s okay.”
After another moment’s hesitation, she finally nodded. Dirk jogged away from the group, turning to present his rear while he undressed.
“Showoff,” Caz growled, moving to stand between us and block my view.
“Don’t get jealous,” I said, swatting at him. “I don’t see him that way.”
“I don’t care. I’m not taking any chances.” Caz winked, but I could see his dragon lurking just below the surface.
I could have been irritated at his dominance and possession of me, but I wasn’t.
Truthfully, the attention was like a comforting blanket.
It was a change in the way people of power had treated me.
It would be very easy to act like he was controlling me, or owning me, something I wouldn’t put up with.
But Caz didn’t do that. Caz wanted to claim me. Cherish me. Worship me. And he wanted nobody else to do it. Because he didn’t trust anyone else to treat me right.
Ella took in the byplay, her eyes flicking back and forth, but she stayed silent. The questions were burning below the surface, though. I knew she couldn’t wait to corner me when we were alone and learn everything about what had happened since we were separated.
I couldn’t wait to tell her.
A dragon loomed up over Caz’s shoulders. Dirk was ready.
“Just walk up his wing,” I said, guiding Ella to the patiently waiting dragon, its silver-white scales shining in the dim light. “Then find the seat between the spikes and plates and the smooth scales of his neck.”
Ella stopped just shy of putting her foot onto Dirk’s wing.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she said, shying back. “The collar knows I’m leaving against his will. It doesn’t like it.”
Caz snarled and stepped forward. “Get on the dragon,” he said, his voice full of alpha command. “Stay there until we land.”
Ella hissed in pain, but lurched forward against her will, settling on the base of the dragon.
“You, on his back,” Caz continued, pointing at Holly and then Kolar.
I lifted a finger, my mouth opening angrily, but something in his eyes stopped me.
“I’m sorry,” Caz said without waiting as he gestured behind me. “I didn’t want to, but we’re out of options. We’ve lingered too long already.”
I looked back to see that lights had sprung to life in the main building below, and figures were rushing out.
“Crap. We should—”
Caz had already shifted and dropped his wing at my feet. I climbed up it, and seconds later we were flying as low to the ground as the dragons could manage until we put some distance between us and any pursuers.
Only once we started to climb higher did I breathe a sigh of relief. We had done it.
We had rescued one of my friends.