Page 15 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons

‘I see why they make sure the females are afraid. The smell of your fear is intoxicating.’

His hands delve under my sweater and find the breasts he’s been so interested in. He’s rough, squeezing them and making me yelp in pain.

The irony isn’t lost on me that I avoided the village boys, and the dirty old men so well at home that I’ve saved myself for a fucking monster.

Just my damn luck.

I cringe closer to the stone. I have to do something. I can’t let this dragon rape me to death just because he doesn’t know any better.

I prepare to strike, moving all my weight slowly from one foot to the other. He doesn’t notice. He doesn’t protect himself. He’s probably never had this happen before, so he doesn’t know what to look out for.

So, when my knee makes contact with his, albeit much higher than anticipated, gonads, he gives a whimpering yelp and falls to his knees, clutching his junk.

I skitter away from the wall just in time to feel the beating of Tor’s huge wings as he lands no more than twenty feet away.

I don’t care how big he is, or if he could kill me. I still rush toward him, hoping that he’ll protect me.

There’s a weird shimmer in the air as he transforms into a human.

‘What happened?’ he snarls at me, rushing toward Orin, who’s still rolling around in the dirt groaning.

‘I kneed him in the balls,’ I say, my breathing stuttering. ‘Really hard.’

He freezes mid-step and turns back to look at me. ‘You? Kicked him?’

His eyebrows raise and I get the feeling I’ve surprised him.

But my breathing is suddenly getting faster, I’m struggling for breath and getting lightheaded. I’m scared and panicking.

I claw at my neck but there’s nothing there to pull at.

‘I can’t breathe!’ I whisper, tears filing my eyes.

His hands are on my arms. ‘Deep breaths,’ he says.

But I can’t breathe!

I hear him swear under his breath and his arms tentatively go around my body, hugging me firmly.

‘Feel my arms around you. The rock under your feet. Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth in time with me.’

I struggle to do as he says, my eyes locking with his as I try to calm down.

‘The girl kicked me!’ I hear Orin snarl. ‘I should be allowed to scar her.’

I tense, but Tor doesn’t let me go. He doesn’t even look at the other dragon.

‘If you feel you’ve been wronged, you can petition Dreythos to punish her. But she is his until he says differently.’

I hear Orin stalk into the dark caves and Tor stays with me, holding me tightly.

It’s a few minutes before my breathing begins to return to normal. When it does, he releases me and I’m suddenly very embarrassed.

‘Thank you,’ I say quietly, my cheeks hot.

He doesn’t say anything to me, just turns and strides into the darkness, leaving me on the huge, high mountain ledge.

I hear him yelling for Orin, and there’s some scrambling before the younger one sprints out of the cave in dragon form. He leaps into the air, beating his wings so hard that I’m knocked to the ground, and then he’s gone.