Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I nuzzle at her brow, filled with such wanting for her. She is perfect in my arms, my sweet mate, and I never want to let her go.
But yearning will not give me answers. I stroke my claws carefully through her hair, and probe her mind. Her thoughts are crisp and focused compared to my own, no traces of madness, of overwhelming colors or sounds. There are no other minds tapping in, either. She is an island, entirely alone in her thoughts. I feel as if I am invading as I seek my answers, but her mind is open and welcoming. She’s a little wary of me, but she trusts me, and it feels like the greatest gift.
I see her home, the hive, in her mind. She calls it Fort Dallas, and once it was a great, thriving hive of so many that my head cannot wrap around the thought of it. After the drakoni swept through, there were not many survivors left. Rachel has scrabbled and struggled to survive through years of hunger and heat and never knowing who to count on. All of that changed months ago when Lord Azar—I recoil at her memory—stepped in and took over the struggling fort.
Her thoughts of him are odd.
She does not like him, but he is a fair leader in her eyes. He has sheltered the young females, makes sure they have food to eat, are protected from the ravenous attentions of unscrupulous human males, and gives them a place to stay. In her eyes, it is…kind. She knows they are being used, but her options are limited and this is the best deal available to her.
I see her conversation with Azar, the night the stayed in the clinic. He looks tired and drawn for a Salorian, his features disguised as if he wishes to hide amongst the humans and look like them. His once-elegant claws are filed to nubs, and his teeth are squared, his horns masked by a hat. He covers his body from head to toe like the humans, and has taken a human mate of his own.
It is odd, because when he speaks of the fort, he speaks of it as if it is his home, as well. I know that is not true. He came through the Rift just as I did, but it has not made him crazed. It has not flooded his mind with incessant colors and sounds that threaten—even now—to tumble in like the tide and wash away all coherent thought. He has not attempted to enslave Rachel or the other human females. Instead, he protects them. He has plans for them.
He wants them to bond with other drakoni males, males that are lost to the madness, and bring them back to the fort.
I pull away from her mind reluctantly. Thank you for showing me.
“Oh,” she breathes, her gaze heavy-lidded as she looks up at me. She sways toward me. “Are you…done?” A tinge of disappointment colors her thoughts. She liked the way it felt when I was in her mind. It was strange, but not unpleasant. My protective thoughts felt like a warm blanket. With me in her mind, she felt…not alone.
The hungry ache for my mate starts in my belly once more and I rub my knuckles up and down her cheek. I want to toss her back down onto the platform—the bed, her memories tell me—and claim her again. My cock is instantly hard, my body aching for her.
She blushes, and I realize she has picked up my thoughts. “Well?”
I try to focus, but she is so lovely, and so close. I skim the pad of one finger over the soft invitation of her mouth. Your people welcome a Salorian. He goes by the name Azar.
“I don’t understand. What is a Salorian?”
I try to open my mind to show her…only to find that my memories are empty. There are large, blank areas where thoughts and memories and experiences used to be. Frowning, I concentrate, but the blurred thoughts remain, and I can give her nothing. I cannot show you. Only know that he is evil and you must trust me.
Her laughter is rueful. “I figured he wasn’t leading Fort Dallas because he was pure of heart. But you have to look at it from my perspective, too. Before he took over, if you weren’t married or under a man’s protection, you had to live off of scraps or you had to whore for a living.”
My grip tightens on her as I pick up the truth of what she is saying. I am not familiar with the word “whore” but when it pairs with a thought in her mind…I do not like it. I do not like it at all.
I growl.
“At least with Azar, we’re protected from most everyone. Is he using us as dragon bait? Yes. But he feeds us and clothes us and keeps us safe from others, and…it could be worse?” She shrugs. “Ever since he arrived in Fort Dallas, the dragon attacks have stopped.” She pats my arm lightly. “With the exception of your visits.”