Page 26 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons

‘Look at that hair,’ he murmurs.

Is he going to do what Tor said the dragons would? Already? I thought I’d have until we got to wherever their home is.

I gape at the huge man in front of me, fear turning my body to stone and making my head swim.

Breathing hard, my heart racing, I open my mouth. To what? Beg? Pray? Scream?

But I do none of those things.

Instead, my knees give out and everything goes dark.

I almost let the human girl fall to the floor. But then I realize his scent is all over her and there’s only one way that could happen.

I catch her before she can bash her skull on the concrete, tutting as I easily hoist her limp body over my shoulder.

‘Tor, Tor, Tor,’ I murmur almost gleefully. ‘What a time to start breaking your own rules.’

I take her into the living area and deposit her on the couch, letting my eyes rove over her as I stare down. She’s pretty. With plump lips and hair that looks like fire. Her clothes are almost formless, and I take the edge of the old, knitted sweater she’s wearing with my forefinger. I pull it upward, glancing underneath shamelessly at the fitted undershirt, at the outline of her tits I couldn’t see before.

‘What are you doing?’

I turn slowly, not bothering to hide my smirk.

‘Just looking,’ I say lightly, my eyes narrowing at him enough for him to notice. ‘Nowhere near as much as you’ve done it seems.’

Tor stalks forward, unamused and not bothering with formalities as it’s just the two of us, even though I officially outrank him.

‘What are you sneaking around for?’ he asks. ‘You know the perimeter alarms would have alerted me.’

I shrug. ‘I’m hardly sneaking. I landed, changed, found a pair of pants, and came in here. This one,’ I look down at the unconscious human, ‘with your scent all over her, was lurking so I went to introduce myself and the poor thing fainted, so I put her on the couch. That’s all.’

His nostrils flair and he says nothing. My lips curl upward and I take pity on my friend. ‘He sent me.’

Tor snorts, throwing himself onto the other couch. ‘Of course he did.’

‘Can you blame him for being worried, T?’

He rolls his eyes.

‘It’s not like you to let a little injury curtail your punctuality,’ I continue, my eyes taking in his distinctlackof visible wounds. ‘Is it any wonder he sent me? As soon as the whelp returned without you, before Drey even gave the order, I was getting ready.’

‘How magnanimous of you, Brax,’ he mutters. ‘And I suppose setting your eyes on the Tribute had nothing to do with your speed.’

‘Nothing whatsoever,’ I deadpan. But I make a show of looking down at her, mostly because I think it’ll bother Tor.

When I hear his low snarl, though, I look up in surprise. ‘Been getting in touch with the inner beast?’ I enquire, pretending calm I don’t feel.

Tor’s dragon doesn’t speak to him, doesn’t communicate, and definitely doesn’t make noises like that while he’s in human form.

He says nothing in reply, and I look back down at the girl.

‘Did Drey give you leave to fuck his Tribute?’ I chuckle.

He just watches me, his eyes unblinking. The eyes, I realize with a start. They’re black.

My own gaze on him, I take a step away from the human, and then another. He visibly relaxes, his tense muscles unclenching and his eyes returning to normal.

‘Fuck, Tor,’ I breathe, and he blinks as if coming out of a daze.