Part 7 (1/2)

Julie couldn't help but to gasp as she thought of Candy. ”Oh no!” She covered her mouth with both her hands. Her eyes filled with tears. ”Poor Candy. She also jumped into that river with me.” She spoke into her hands. She didn't know her very well but the idea of her drowning or worse was just too much.

”The light-haired female is fine.” The s.h.i.+fter said, then he turned and walked away. Her heart stilled. Thank G.o.d. Although, just because she survived the rapids and the waterfall did not mean that she was fine. She couldn't worry about it right now though.

Julie made herself count to sixty before forcing herself to stand up and to hobble in the opposite direction. Escape was probably futile but she had to try and get away. This savage thought that he owned her. Come morning he would want to... Argh!!! She couldn't think about that. She had to get away, even if her feet hurt and her knee throbbed and her teeth chattered.

Chapter 8.

Coal deposited the squirming female on the ground next to the fire. It was the second time she had tried to run away in the last hour.

He threw a couple of logs onto the embers and set to work gutting the hare he had just captured. It was small and wiry but would be enough to quell the worst of her hunger.

”I don't know why you insist on bringing me back every time. I don't want to be here. I don't want you. Don't you get that?” Her words were sharp, her eyes refused to meet his.

With one easy move, he pulled the skin from the carca.s.s. The female made a noise of disgust. ”That's revolting. I hope you don't expect me to actually eat that.”

”I do.” He admired the female's determination. At the same time, he wasn't thrilled about her att.i.tude. ”This animal died so that you could be fed. I would ask that you respect that.” Using a carefully selected branch, he pushed it through the carca.s.s and began to cook the meat over the fire.

”I didn't ask you to kill the poor thing.” Her voice had lost its venom.

”You said that you were hungry.”

”If I had known you were going to kill Thumper, I would've kept my mouth shut.” She finally lifted her eyes. They weren't as dark as he'd first thought. They were the color of toffee and fudge. That light b.u.t.tery brown. There were a few leaves in her hair and smudges of dirt on her face. Her dress was streaked. All of the females had been covered in mud that first time they had spotted them. A clever attempt at masking their scents.

The darkest smear was on her nose. He had an overwhelming urge to rub it off. Maybe he just wanted to touch her. It had been too long since he had rutted. That was it. His male urges were getting the better of him.

”Who is Thumper?” He asked. The meat crackled as the fat melted. He saw her nose twitch.

The female licked her lips, her gaze on the meat. He had to suppress a smile. She pouted her lips. ”Thumper is a cute, cartoon bunny.”

It must be a human thing. ”What's a cartoon?” He asked as he turned the meat slightly.

Her brows drew together. ”You have got to be kidding me.” She sighed. ”Don't you know anything?”

Coal shook his head. ”You are the first human I have ever met. I know very little about your kind. I only know what the other males have told me and that's very little.”

”Do you know what a television is?”

He nodded. ”Yes, although, I don't understand why anyone would want to look at one for hours on end.”

The human shrugged. ”It's entertaining.”

Flying was entertaining, hunting was entertaining. Rutting, now that was entertaining. His body tightened at the thought of s.e.x. A natural reaction. ”It's not real. This is real. Right now is real. People sit and stare at a box while their life pa.s.ses them by. It's sad.”

”When you put it that way... I suppose you have a point.”

Coal felt himself frown. ”Are you going to try and run away again?”

She pulled her shoulders back and turned those toffee colored eyes on him. They narrowed, her mouth pursed. ”I will never give up. I also need to warn you, that should you decide to rape me, I will kill you. I might need to wait until you are sleeping but know that I will come for you. I will end you. It might take a week or a month but it will happen.”

Coal didn't doubt it for a second. That same determination and hatred shone in her eyes. This was the same spirit that had attracted him to her. Not that he was attracted to her, as in, attracted. He couldn't help but to smile at her. All that spirit, all that fire inside one tiny human. Who ever would have thought? Not him.

”That's funny to you?” She growled. The little female actually growled. She did quite a good job of it too.

He shook his head. ”I like you, human. I didn't expect to like you, but I do.”

”The feeling isn't mutual.”

He chuckled some more. ”Next time you decide to stab me, make sure you use a silver object. Push it in deep and twist, ideally, you should remove my head or my heart. My head would be the most final.”

She clenched her jaw and swallowed hard but not before he saw her grimace. So the thought of actually killing him did not appeal to her. Thank the G.o.ds for small favors. He wasn't sure where this talk of rape had come from. If she was afraid of him forcing himself on her, it would account for her level of fear. Maybe throwing herself into the river was not so crazy after all. Why did she think he would rape her? It was his understanding that Scarlet and Ash had explained things. He had also been told that this female, that all of the females, needed saving.

”I was told that you were dest.i.tute. That your life was... difficult. Is this not true?”

Coal could scent her surge of adrenaline. He could smell the anger roll off of her in waves. Her head snapped up and her frame became tense. ”My life has got nothing to do with you. What do you mean you were told that I was dest.i.tute? What the h.e.l.l is this?”

”Were you told about our species and why you are here?”

This made her even angrier. She jumped to her feet. ”You are the biggest a.s.shole I've ever met in my whole entire life. Yes, I was told in minute detail why I am here. Why do you think I keep on trying to escape?”

It didn't make sense. She shouldn't be this angry, this afraid. They had expected a degree of weariness and uncertainty but not to this level.

”Please sit down.”

She didn't budge. The female folded her arms across her chest. ”Are you going to make me?”

Coal shook his head. ”You are tired and cold. It would be better if you sat down but if you would prefer to stand, that is fine by me.” He sucked in a deep breath. ”There are very few females of our kind. One day, females just stopped being born. There were one or two but for the most part, that was the end. Essentially, we are a dying breed. Something needed to be done and soon. There are only a handful of dragon s.h.i.+fter females within the four kingdoms.”

For scale's sake, by the way she was looking at him, he could see that this was news to her.

”So what? You decided to abduct a few women so that you could rape and impregnate them? Well, I have it on good authority that s.e.x between our species does not work. Look how freaking big you are. How small I am.” Her voice quivered. Although he could still scent anger, her fear was back. ”You'll hurt me. Tear me apart. I would never survive it.”

”You have my word of honor that I will not touch you without your consent.”

”Your word means nothing to me,” she spat.

When he got back to the lair he was going to have a good talk with Scarlet. The female was upset that they hadn't ended up mating, that things hadn't gone her way. This was obviously her way of repaying him, all of the dragon males for that matter. They had no choice. He had no choice.

”I could've had you a dozen times by now.” He growled, unable to keep the emotion from his voice.

The female didn't flinch and his respect for her grew.

”I could rut you right now and there's not a thing you could do about it.”

The female gasped and took a step back. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear. Her scent turned acrid with it.