7

AMY
The next daydoesn't provide more answers for me, just more questions. It's clear the dragon has no intention of letting me go. In fact, he doesn't want me out of his sight. I figure this out when he follows me back to the bathrooms again, and then when we go back to the roof and he grabs me in his claws and flies off. He hunts down a cow with me in his grip, snatching the thing with his mouth and then swallowing it in two gulps. It's done so fast I can't even scream, and then we fly back to the roof and he settles in again.
And watches me, waiting.
Okay, well, if I'm in charge here, I want a better place to stay. This isn't a home. I think of Claudia's place, with the hole in the roof so Kael can come and go. I need someplace that's accessible for the dragon but still is more comfortable for me than a hard rooftop. My leg hurts with every step today, so I know I'm going to need to stay off my feet unless I want to be crawling soon.
Some people can handle roughing it, but I can't. My stupid leg just doesn't have the strength. I hate it, and I hate that I'm a burden on everyone. But I can't do anything about it. I head to the edge of the rooftop and then stare out, thinking. A casino isn't the most hospitable place, especially when it's been picked over. My ability to survive on my own is next to zilch, and there's nothing to scavenge. I sigh in frustration and let my gaze move over the parking lot, down the long building…to the hotel at the far end.
Of course. There's a hotel on the premises. Why wouldn't there be? And at the hotel, I'm thinking there will be bedding, at least, provided the place hasn't been completely ransacked. I shield my eyes with my hand and look over at the building. It's very tall, easily fifteen or twenty floors. If I were a scavenger, I might venture up to the top floor, but probably not. Not when anything I find has to be toted back down to the ground. It doesn't make sense.
But it makes perfect sense if you've got a dragon who can take you to the top of the building. I get to my feet and approach Sam. He watches me, his body calm. I think the calmness is an act, though. There's nothing about him that feels calm in the slightest. More like…watchful. And his eyes are whirling with black at the edges, which tells me that he could easily be set off into a crazy spell.
As I approach, the gold in his eyes becomes more pronounced, and I wonder if it's me that's keeping him from flipping out? He hasn't gone on a burning spree since he grabbed me, and most dragons are highly volatile. If that's the case, I need to encourage his happy mood. I smile brightly at him and approach his head, even though a little part of me is quivering inside with terror. I don't think he'll hurt me, though. Not if he wants me for mating. I reach out a hand, testing the waters.
The dragon lifts his head, brushing his enormous snout against my fingers.
“All right then,” I whisper, and feel a bit of pleasure when his eyes go even more gold. If dragons could purr, I bet he'd be purring right now. I move closer and stroke my hands along his nose, learning the textures. Impossibly hard scales, so tight against his skin that it feels like one rippling sheet of metal. I stay carefully to the side of his mouth, because I haven't forgotten that his teeth are long and sharp. “Can we go on a journey?” I ask him. “A small one?”
Sam blinks at me, and in the next moment, I'm petting air and the naked dragon-man with the long, crazy hair is heading toward me.
Oh jeez. He misunderstood. He thinks I want to talk. I keep smiling even though I want to say something obscene with frustration. “This place isn't a good home,” I tell him, and when he gives me the slight head-cock that means he doesn't understand, my frustration mounts. My leg hurts, I'm thirsty and tired, and getting sick of yams. I rub a hand down my face, fighting back irritation.
He moves forward and reaches for my face.
I freeze, alarmed, but all he does is brush his claws lightly along my jaw, then watches my expression. He's…petting me. Oh. Does he think it was a greeting? I fight back a giggle at that, imagining saying hello to the Fort Dallas militia with a nice jaw stroking. Yeah, no.
I let him caress me a moment longer, and then point at the building on the skyline, just across the expansive parking lot. “Can we go there?”
His gaze follows my gesture, and then he points at it as well, one long talon slicing through the air.
I nod eagerly. “Yes. There. More food,” I pantomime eating. I don't know if that's the truth, but if there's anything that's not raided, it'll be the top floors of the tall hotel. “And clothing.” I pluck at my shirt, trying to demonstrate it to him.
Sam's gaze moves up and down my body, considering my clothing. After a moment, he reaches forward and rips at my T-shirt, tearing a hole along the hip. Surprised, I jerk backward to stop him and end up stumbling backward. “What are you doing?”
He growls low in his throat and crouches at my side, reaching for my face again. “Aahm?”
I wince and sit up, ignoring his hands. “I wasn't showing you my shirt so you could rip it off of me. I was showing you so you would know what I want.” I glance over at him, and his eyes are whirling blacker by the second, as if he's inches away from losing it. Okay, not good. I reach out and caress his jaw to calm him. “It's okay.”
Sure enough, the black in his eyes recedes a bit and he touches my face.
Yeah, we're pretty much going to be stuck here all day patting jaws if I don't get him to understand me. I can’t help but giggle at the absurdity of this situation, and his eyes flare pure gold for a moment, and he smiles.
Oh gosh. When he smiles he’s…breathtaking. I smile back, and point up at the building again. “So shall we go there?”
RAST
It is clear my mate wants a new nest. This one displeases her, and she points and chatters at another tall, thin building nearby. She wants that one. I consider it. It is much higher off the ground, but that is a good thing. It means she will be safe from more foul-smelling humans if they arrive. But I do not like that it is so high up, because that means her scent will carry so much farther on the breeze. It will surely bring challengers who seek to take her from me.
But then she reaches out and caresses my face with her small, soft hands, and I can refuse her nothing. Just that small touch pushes back the smoke of anger that clouds my mind, and for a moment, it feels as if my mind has righted itself. It is only a fleeting moment, but it makes me hungry for what we can have if we are together. She must be comfortable enough to challenge me for mating rights, and if she wishes for a different nest, I will give it to her. I change back to battle-form, gently scoop her up in my claws, and then take to the air.
As always, I open my senses, filtering through the myriad scents on the breeze. There are no other drakoni in the immediate vicinity, but I can smell char and smoke in the distance, which tells me there are others nearby, but upwind from us. That is good. The stink of humans is all but gone, and I can also scent more of the grass-eating hoofed animals that make such tasty meals. Those remain nearby for easy hunting.
If her tall nest is as she likes it, this is a good place to stay for now.
I launch my powerful body into the air, cradling her close. She clings to my foreleg, making frightened noises, and I wonder at a creature that is so scared of flying. If she has a battle-form of her own, would she not embrace the air? There is something I am…missing. The harder I try to concentrate, though, the more my thoughts scatter and drift away like smoke.
She touches my foreleg as I circle the building, pointing over and over where she wishes to go. The very top. That makes it easy to land, then, but I am displeased at the thought of staying so high up in the open air. Surely she will draw others with her sweet scent. I growl at the thought, and then her fear-scent rises around me. I am scaring her, which only makes my frustration greater.
Very well. If she wishes to be high in the air, then that is what we will do. If this is so she can watch me challenge all comers for mating rights, then I shall destroy any and all that arrive. Whatever she wishes, I will do.
I land atop the roof with a heavy thud, shaking the building. Somewhere nearby, there is the tinkling crash of something breaking, and I go alert. There are no new scents on the air, though. Just a reaction to my weight settling here.
My human mate pats at my claws, indicating she wishes for me to let her go, and she gestures and babbles in her fluid, soft-sounding words. I reluctantly release her and she smiles back up at me, as if very pleased. I bite back a snarl of pleasure at her response, watching, waiting. Is this the moment she will assume her battle-form and challenge me so I can conquer her? So we can mate and bond?
But she only steps away, favoring her bad leg and heading for something across the flat rooftop. I realize a moment later that it is a door. She wishes to go inside this strange building. I will need to switch to my two-legged form for such things, then. I crouch low and shift, and when I get to my feet, I see her waiting patiently for me, her hair fluttering in the high wind. Her fear-scent is gone, and the sight of her fills me with such pleasure that I cannot help myself; I move to her side and pull her to me, burying my face against her neck and breathing deep of her scent, enjoying the feel of her body against mine.
She stiffens, but then relaxes against me. There is no fear-scent, not this time, and that fills me with joy. She is learning to trust me.
I can make a nest inside this ugly, tall building, then, if this is what she wants. Every time I please her, we are one step closer to mating, and my goal is to have her on all fours, shuddering underneath me as I fill her with seed.
Whatever she wants, I will do it.
I carry her down another set of stairs, and she puts her arms around my neck, holding herself close against me. I like this. I keep holding her, waiting for her next pointed direction even as we come to a flat area, but she slides out of my grip and limps over to another door, opening it.
The inside of this strange building is different from the last one. This is more like…something I have seen before. I frown as we step forward. There are trees inside, their leaves still bright, but they do not smell alive. They are in colorful pots in the corners, and the long hallway has a patterned floor that feels fuzzy under my feet. Along the corridor there are several sets of doors, and she casts me an excited look before heading toward the first one.
She opens it to reveal a small room that smells musty and bitter at the same time. My mate looks unhappy at the sight, moving forward and picking through the cluster of objects on the shelves here before sighing and shaking her head. I notice something fastened to the wall and pick it up. It looks like a long stick with thick ropes of hair on one end. Curious. I sniff it, but it smells like mildew and dirt. With a snort of disgust, I return it to its spot.
My mate says something else and then indicates I should follow her to the next door. Whatever this is, it is not what she seeks.
The next door opens up and she makes a sound of pleasure at the sight of it.