Page 8 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord (Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii Warlords #2)

C estapal makes me turn around as she clucks her tongue.

I’ve been used to making my own clothing for the last few weeks here on Vorostor, using the garment maker Darax had.

It was basically a magic box of delights, and with my tech knowledge, I got to grips with the machine almost instinctively, producing everything my friends and I needed.

I’m guessing Dexx has a garment maker too, given the range of gowns Cestapal has produced. They’re all long, floaty, and cling to me like a second skin.

I don’t like them much. Despite what anyone might think, because I have long, curly blonde hair, I was never one for dresses. I did live on a hill farm, after all, and spent most of my time in the lab I’d built on my family’s land.

Getting dressed up wasn’t a thing for me, hence my surprise at being able to work the garment maker as well as make things we all liked.

“Do I need to wear this?” I lament, swinging the fabric around my legs and knowing I won’t be able to run in it.

“Lord Dexx will expect it.”

“Yeah, but do I need to wear it? Couldn’t I wear something more comfortable?”

“You are not comfortable? I created the garments to be as soft as possible. Sarkarnii females have sensitive scales.”

“You knew the Sarkarnii females?” I ask.

“I helped nurse them before they died,” Cestapal says, dipping her furry head.

“I’m sorry,” I say, hating myself for making Cestapal sad.

“Don’t be. It was not your fault.” Cestapal shakes herself. “They were at pains to point out they had lived good lives, and they understood what was killing them was not of Vorostor’s making.”

“They sound like good females.”

“They were. And they liked to wear garments like the one you have on.”

“At least they liked to wear clothing, unlike the males.” I laugh.

Cestapal’s eyes twinkle. “I hear on Lord Dante’s ship, they don’t bother with garments at all,” she says.

I roll my eyes. “It was very much optional on Darax’s ship too. Good if you like looking at male bums, but after a while, once you’ve seen one Sarkarnii bare bum, you’ve basically seen them all.” I shrug. “Not that it stopped Maggie looking.”

“You lived with the other females in Lord Darax’s sector?” Cestapal asks.

“Yes, I miss them.” I sigh. “Being taken from your planet isn’t fun, but meeting Kerra, Maggie, Rosalie, and Lydia made it a little better.”

I feel like if I say their names, they’re a little closer to me.

Cestapal looks thoughtful. “I might be able to get you something more comfortable, if you wish it,” she says.

“Will it still be a dress?”

The furry creature nods.

I consider my position. If it means I’m not squeezed into something which shows what I had for breakfast, it has to be a good idea.

“Yes, please.”

Cestapal smiles. Or grimaces. It’s hard to tell. She hurries to a small door which is more of a flap at the rear of Dexx’s quarters. I’ve already checked, and it is locked, at least when I approached it.

I don’t know where Dexx thinks I’m going to go. It’s not like I’ve got a space ship (or would know how to fly one if I did) to leave this planet. And I’m not in a hurry to get back to Earth.

But I guess it makes him feel big and powerful to keep me locked up in his dark ship. I grumble to myself about him being a big beast who should wind his neck in.

“Do you have sensitive scales?” A voice rumbles out of the gloom.

I jump about a foot in the air.

“Fuck’s sake, Dexx, how long have you been there?” I spin on the spot to come face to face with a huge set of abs.

At least he’s wearing pants, or I’d almost be face to…crotch with something else.

“Long enough,” he rasps. “You miss your friends, the other females?”

“What do you care?” I turn away from him, only to have a huge hand grip my shoulder and turn me back.

I resist, but it’s not enough. Dexx is huge, and he could snap me in half and not even notice it.

“I care,” he rumbles. “I care about my crew. I would not want to be separated from them.”

He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a small rectangle, which I immediately recognize as the communication device I was given by Darax and which allows me to contact the others via a sort of text system.

It’s something we all took to immediately.

I snatch it from Dexx’s hand and see all the messages from my friends, quickly typing a reply to tell them I’m safe and with Dexx.

Instantly, I’m bombarded with concerned replies.

Dexx glares at the thing as it pops with the messages. I fear he might take it, so I turn it off.

“You have told them you are well?” he asks.

“Yes.”

He makes a noise somewhere between a growl and a purr.

“Good. You will accompany me to the celebration.” He takes in my dress in a long look.

“I’m not going in this,” I say as Cestapal flaps back in carrying more garments.

“You are, or you will wear nothing. Either way, my warriors will not care,” Dexx says, extending his claws. “Only I will.”

I bristle. The gesture of giving me back the text device is entirely cancelled out by his suggestion he would make me go around naked.

“Come,” he says, curling a hand around my upper arm. “The celebration awaits.”

Whether I wanted to go to a party or not, I have zero options as I’m towed out of Dexx’s quarters and into the rest of his ship. The lights are as dim in the passages as they were in his quarters, and I keep bumping into the walls.

“Does it have to be so dark in here?” I exclaim as I hit yet another wall.

“It does,” Dexx growls. “We were mutated when we went through the wormhole, so strong lights for any period of time cause us pain.”

Oh great. I’m stuck on a ship with a bunch of snarly dragon warriors who prefer to live in the dark, like moles.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse, we turn a corner, and the passage opens out into a huge vaulted hall. A hall filled with mayhem, smoke, and…dragons.