Page 60 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons

Tor paces in front of the desk. ‘But Aziel?—’

‘Aziel still has to abide by the law, and I’ll make sure it goes your way. He won’t be able to take her. No one will.’

I feel his eyes on me.

‘She’ll stay in my private rooms when she’s not earning her keep.’

‘Fuck,’ Brax mutters. ‘You can’t have her work?—’

‘She’s still a human,’ Drey interrupts, ‘and every human here has to work. Even a Tribute. I can’t do anything about that, Brax.’

‘Fine,’ he snarls, ‘but we want her to see Del. Mari was out in the wilds all her life. She might need meds.’

Drey stands. ‘I’ll take care of it. Say your goodbyes. She’ll be here when you get back.’

He leaves the room via the smaller door at the back of the room, and I get a glimpse of a black couch and a grey rug beyond before it closes.

Tor is cupping my face and Brax’s arms are curling around my middle before I can draw my next breath.

‘This isn’t ideal,’ Tor breathes.

‘But it’s gone better than it could have,’ Brax finishes.

‘How long will you be gone?’ I whisper, biting back the anger I feel at them throwing me into the deep end like this.

‘Five weeks at least,’ Tor answers, ‘but we’ll do everything in our powers to make it less.’

‘Why didn’t you warn me about any of this?’ I ask, not keeping the reproach from my tone.

They glance at each other over my head.

‘Because you were scared enough,’ Brax says. ‘We didn’t want to add to it. We’re sorry we didn’t prepare you better.’

Tor turns my head gently and tuts. ‘Fucking Raina,’ he snarls at the wounds on my neck from her talonlike fingernails before bending over them, his tongue darting out.

‘What are you doing?’ I exclaim as I feel him licking me, trying to move away.

‘Healing you, silly,’ he murmurs. ‘Hold still.’

I do it, shivering a little and then giggling a little as I bat him away. ‘That’s enough,’ I gasp.

‘I believe our little human is ticklish,’ Brax murmurs in my other ear. ‘If only we had the time to explore that a little more.’

Tor gives me a small smile. ‘When we return.’

Brax makes a deep noise of assent, but steps away.

‘What happens now?’ I ask.

‘We have to go,’ Tor says. ‘Drey has vowed to take care of you. And you’ll meet the doc, Del. If you need anything, go to him.’

Brax nods. ‘None of the other dragons though. Except Del. Not the humans either.’

I frown. ‘Why not the humans?’

‘Just trust us,’ Tor says.

‘Okay,’ I mutter, but I already know I’m not going to take everything they say at face value.