Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition (65 page)

O
lena looked
at the cat-shifter in front of her, seeing Brouse’s gaze drift down over her body, which moved in restless offering. He licked his lips, focusing on her naked breasts.

This is too easy,
she thought.
Typical though, considering I may be one of the first women this kitty-cat has ever seen.

“Oh,” she pouted, with the ‘save me big strong man’ look. She bit her bottom lip, sucking it lightly before letting it go into a full pout. “My arms hurt so badly.”

The man’s eyes shot up to her, narrowing in suspicion.

She tilted her head to the side. “I know you can’t let me down, but do you think I could wrap my legs around your waist and let you hold me up for a while? I just want to give my shoulders a rest.”

The man licked his lips, glancing back to his sleeping comrades.

“Oh, they don’t have to know. I promise to be good. I can be very, very quiet. Please.” Olena gave him a wanton look. “I’m so cold. Can’t you come and warm me? I’d bet a big man like you would be real strong and real hot.”

She looked at his obvious arousal. The man-cat smiled. It was a dark and lecherous expression, as he decided to take her invitation.

“You keep quiet.” His tone filled with the sound of rolling gravel. “Or I’ll break your neck.”

Olena pretend to shiver, letting an excited smile come to her. With feigned passion, she said, “Oh, yes, master.”

A low growl sounded in the man’s throat. Olena pretended to shiver. Her eyes rounded as the man’s hairy fingers reached for her breast. Pulling with all her strength, she jumped off the ground. Just as she wrapped her legs around the unsuspecting man’s head, she saw a movement from the corner of her eye.

Handling one attack at a time, she twisted her body and gave a violent jerk. Brouse growled in surprise, waking the others. He shifted mid-twist and a fanged tooth dug into Olena’s thigh. She screeched at the pain but did not stop. A loud
snap
resounded as the cat-shifter’s neck broke. Her body swung back as she released him. The man’s fang dragged down her thigh, slicing her as he fell lifeless to the ground.

The other three captors lunged to their feet, partially shifted and ready for battle. She swung to see who else moved into the encampment. Dragon-shifters surged past her.

Olena trembled as three dragons met the three cats. There was a slashing of swords and claws, a gruesome melody of roars and growls. Ignoring her bloody leg, Olena tried to swing up to grab the branch. If she could just get her feet over the edge, she might be able to crawl off the end. The branch was angled upward and she couldn’t get enough leverage. That was why she’d needed Brouse. If the Draig hadn’t interrupted her, she would’ve used the dead man’s shoulders, pushing up as he fell. Instead, they broke her concentration and she’d ended up being bitten.

She kicked wildly at the tree, swinging high only to have her back crash into the trunk with a bruising thud. The pain didn’t stop her from trying again. After Olena’s body collided a third time, she hit her head and was too dazed to find an appropriate foothold to keep going. Looking over, she saw one of the Draig standing by her side, watching her in curiosity. She would have sworn he smiled at her with his rough, dragon face. Olena glared back. “Are you done staring? Get me down already, dragon!”

Instantly, his sword sung through the air, slashing through her binds. The breeze of the blade flew past her hands. If his aim had been off, she’d have lost her fingers. She dropped to the ground, falling to her knees. Without flinching, she nodded her thanks and shook her wrists free, scraping her skin as she did so.

Olena lifted her hand out to him. “Your sword.”

The Draig only smiled at her, lifting the tip of the weapon to the ending battle. The Draigs had conquered the Var, slaughtering them in a most honorable display of fury. Barely out of breath, the victorious dragons turned to her. They were covered with blood.

She placed her hands on her hips and frowned. “What do you think you are doing? I had this under control. If I wanted a rescue I would have screamed for one.”

The dragon-shifters looked at each other and then back at the outraged woman standing half-naked before them.

“Why isn’t Yusef with you?” Olena demanded, studying their shifted faces. Though the words were hard, her bravery wavered. She tried not to let the vulnerability show. Fear gripped her. “Where is Yusef? He’s hurt, isn’t he?”

One by one the dragons shifted to their human form. Olena didn’t recognize them. Hands still on hips, she stared each one of them down, unafraid.

“Do you think one of you could at least give me a shirt?” she asked, dryly. “Maybe then you could stop staring at my breasts long enough to answer me.”

“How is that for gratitude?” one of them mumbled.

The largest warrior took off his overtunic and tossed it to her. She slipped it over her head, not caring that it was splattered with the blood of battle.

“Who are you?” she asked, as her head poked out of the top. It was still warm from the man’s body and the sleeves fell past her hands.

“I am Zoran,” the shirtless man answered, the words clipped. He nodded to the next man to speak. “My brothers.”

“Olek.”

“Ualan.”

“You knew we were not Yusef?” Zoran questioned with a small show of admiration.

“Of course I knew. I know what my husband looks like.” Olena shook her head, eyeing him as if he were daft. “I only have one of them, you know.”

“Many wives complain that their husbands all look alike when they’ve shifted—at least for the first seventy five years until they’ve grown used to it,” Olek said.

“Where is Yusef?” Olena was unmoved by their smiles of admiration. She didn’t think she would feel completely safe until she saw him again. Not that she cared, she told herself. He’d saved her life and she owed him one was all. She would never admit it, but her heart was stuck in her throat, refusing to beat until she heard that her husband was safe. “Who are you to him?”

“We are his brothers,” Olek answered.

“Brothers,” she repeated, vaguely remembering someone saying he had them. She eyed them, not readily seeing her husband’s darker looks in their lighter features.

“And I am his father,” the Draig behind her said. He had been so quiet Olena had forgotten he was there. Spinning around, she eyed the man.

“Wait.” She paled. “Is this some kind of a joke?”

The men looked at each other confused.

Olena pointed at Ualan. She wobbled slightly on her feet, her leg throbbing where Brouse’s fang had cut her. “You’re a prince. You punched Agro at the Breeding Festival. He told me.”

Ualan narrowed his eyes and curtly nodded.

“And you,” she said turning an accusatory eye to Yusef’s father, “are the king.”

The man nodded to confirm. He too dared to smile at her.

“That would mean.” Olena swayed. “I married a prince?”

Feeling lightheaded, Olena looked down and lifted her borrowed tunic to see her bleeding leg. Her lashes fluttered. “Blast the stars. Not again.”

O
lena collapsed on the ground
, unconscious. She had shown great bravery in fighting the Var and hadn’t even flinched at their shifting. But the second she discovered she was a princess, she suddenly looked like she was going to be violently ill.

Zoran grinned, chuckling as he hit Olek in the chest with the back of his hand. “You get her, Olek. I don’t want to be the one holding her when she wakes up.”

Olek flinched, looking at the red-headed wood sprite lying on the ground. Cursing under his breath, he went to pick her up. Ualan and the king laughed, moving to follow Zoran.

“And see to her wound,” the king said.

“
H
old
, woman!”

Olena flinched, coming fully awake ready for a fight. It took her a moment to realize she was on the back of a mount, riding before Prince Olek. She relaxed her arm.

Zoran and Ualan broke into laughter. King Llyr watched, amused. Olek held his side where Olena had tried to elbow him off his ceffyl. Gripping the center horn of his mount, Olek pulled himself back up behind the beast’s bare shoulders, only this time he was careful not to touch the woman in front of him.

“Don’t call me woman,” Olena said under her breath, shooting all of them a dark glare. “My name is Olena.”

The ceffyl’s wide back shifted. Its fanged mouth darted open with a hiss of its long tongue.

“These mounts are sorry looking things,” she mumbled, looking at the reptilian-horse hybrid they rode. Louder, as if nothing had happened, she asked, “Where are we going?”

“Good morning to you too, princess.” Olek rubbed his stomach.

Olena grimaced at the name and Olek looked somewhat vindicated.

“Home,” Ualan stated in answer to her question.

“But?” Olena saw the large mountain palace looming before them. Twisting around, she pointed behind them. “I live down there.”

“Not anymore,” the king decreed. “The Var smashed all the windows. Besides, the Outpost is no place for a lady right now. It’s not safe. You will be better off in the protection of the castle.”

“First of all, I’m not a lady. Second, I can protect myself,” Olena said.

The king looked shocked by her statement.

“Third,” she continued, “I’ve slept in worse places, and a little broken glass is nothing. And last, by Var, do you mean the, it’s going to take a lot more than the fur-ball gang back there to scare me.”

Olek chuckled.

She ignored him, expectantly watching the king. “If Yusef hadn’t left me tied to the bed, I never would have been taken.”

The men exchanged looks.

“I had time to study them. They would be easy to defeat.” Olena gave a confident nod. “So, take me back to the Outpost. I’ll take my chances there with Yusef.”

“Those Var you faced were hardly a true showing of our enemy’s best warriors,” the king said.

Olena didn’t want to go to the castle, despite her pirate instincts telling her it would give her rich rewards. As a princess, they would be watching her very closely. They would expect her to act in a certain, civilized way. She couldn’t do it. The idea of trying petrified her, though she didn’t readily admit it to herself.

Besides, how would her crew find her if she were locked away in a castle under protection? She didn’t want them to go up against the Draig army to rescue her. They would possibly be slaughtered if they came unprepared for it. Never in a million light years would the crew think she’d married a prince.

“Yusef is at the palace,” Zoran said.

Olena turned to the large warrior in disbelief. “What? That knight is lounging at the palace while I—
ooooh!
”

The brothers shared a frown. Olena shook her head in anger.

The traveling party had made it to the small village and rode through the center street. None of them spoke. People came out of their houses and shops to watch them. Young boys waved at the passing princes, some cheered and shouted. They all pointed in excitement to see their blood stained clothing. The princes waved back, acknowledging them.

A courtyard was before the hidden fortress. Once they had passed the villagers and were making the shallow climb up the side of the mountain base to the front of the castle, the king stated, “Yusef was stabbed.”

Olena spun around in surprise to stare at him. Olek stopped the ceffyl near the front gate. She felt the blood running out of her face.

Olek swung down, lifting a hand to her to help her from the mount. Olena ignored him, jumping off the other side on her own. Her sore leg caused her to wobble. She looked down at the roughly bandaged wound, having forgotten completely that she’d been injured.

“What do you mean he was stabbed?” She gave the men a hard look. “He was in Draig, wasn’t he? So he’s fine. He was protected by that thick skin of his.”

The brothers exchanged looks. The wound in her leg tingled now that she’d put pressure on it. Her hands shook and she clenched them into fists to hide the weakness.

“He was attacked from behind and stabbed in the back,” Zoran stated. He tossed his mount’s reins to Ualan, and Olek took the king’s. The two men walked the ceffyls to the stables. Zoran continued, “He didn’t have time to shift.”

Olena’s heart nearly stopped beating. The anguish she felt was worse than any injury she’d ever known. Her eyes teared. She felt as if her whole body was being sucked into an abyss. “He is dead?”

“No.” The king took a step forward, ready to catch her as she swayed.

Olena took a deep breath and stepped away from him, not wanting him to touch her. Hardening herself, she waited for them to continue.

“He’s in the medical ward.” King Llyr dropped his hand. “He’s alive, but he is in bad condition and unconscious. The doctors say they are hopeful, but his life is still in danger.”

“Take me to him.” Olena stopped quivering by mere force of her will. She might not want to stay as Yusef’s princess, but she definitely had no desire to see him dead. He had saved her life. It was time to repay the favor. Whatever it took, she would make sure he lived.

O
lena stood frozen
in the entryway to the medical ward. There was a row of large empty beds along one wall and a reception desk by the other along with rows of glass cases. In the back were two private rooms and an operating room. Seeing Yusef on one of the beds, she ignored everything else. He was as still as a corpse, his naturally tanned complexion had paled. His eyes were closed, purpling around the sides of his lids. His handsome lips were edged with an eerie blue.

Pressing her lips tightly together, she refused to cry.

As Zoran and the king had led her to the medical wing, Olena hadn’t taken in her surroundings. Her mind worked furiously with the lingering fear that Yusef might not be alive, that he might have died while they came for her. Damn her stubborn pride. If she would’ve just relented and said she was his wife, he would’ve taken her with him to the palace and she would’ve been able to protect him from whoever did this.

Now, seeing his chest rise in a shallow breath, Olena could relax enough to breathe.

Queen Mede was by her son’s side, her face drawn. If she had any lingering doubts about who he was, they were squelched the moment she saw his mother. Olena stiffly nodded to the woman, before taking a step toward Yusef.

With so many eyes on her, she grew uneasy, knowing they watched to see how she would react. How was she supposed to react? What was normal for wives? Did they expect her to cry and scream? Did they expect her throw herself into a womanly frenzy? She wasn’t that type of woman. She didn’t show weakness to anyone.

Their eyes alone kept her from crying out and rushing to him. She stared coolly at Yusef’s unmoving features and went to his side. She wanted to touch him, but held back. “Has he woken up?”

“No, dear.” The queen said. Seeing the bloodied front of Olena’s borrowed tunic, she frowned.

“Princess Olena?” The king gestured at her leg. Olena stiffened as she heard the title. “Perhaps you should have that examined.”

The queen glanced to where her husband motioned. The bandage on Olena’s thigh was seeping. Queen Mede gestured to the doctor. Olena dutifully followed the doctor’s command, hopping up onto a bed next to Yusef. The queen ushered the men from the room to give the woman privacy as the doctor ripped through her pants. Before leaving, Queen Mede told Olena she would be back in a while to take her to Yusef’s home within the castle.

Olena ignored them all, letting the doctor work. Lying down, she stared at Yusef. He didn’t move, save for the rise and fall of his chest. Inside, she felt as if she was falling through empty air with no landing in sight.

O
lena refused
to go to Yusef’s wing of the palace, telling his family that she was tired and content to spend the night in the medical ward. Later that evening, Tal came in carrying a mug of steaming blue liquid. The man looked at her in surprise, but then slowly shook his head and continued back to one of the offices without saying a word. Moments later, he passed by again, nodding to her as he left.

Once they were alone, Olena sat up and hopped off her cot to go to Yusef. Looking around to make sure no one saw her, she touched his forehead. He was warm, not anything like the deathly cold she imagined. She trailed her hand down his neck, feeling for a pulse. It beat steadily against her fingers. She sighed in hesitant relief. Next, she moved to his naked chest to feel the rise and fall of his lungs. His breath was shallow, but it was there.

Olena frowned. She didn’t know what she was doing. She wasn’t a nursemaid. She was a pirate. Taking the pirate approach, she leaned over next to his ear. Goading him, she ordered, “Get up off that bed now, you lazy good-for-nothing knight.”

She pulled back and studied him for a reaction. He didn’t move. She leaned over again.

“Did you hear me, knight? If you don’t get up right now I’m going to rob your family blind and burn down your precious mountain fortress.”

She pulled back, swallowing. Not even a twitch.

Olena frowned, standing tall. She didn’t touch him again. Not knowing what else she could say to convince him to wake up, she crawled back into her bed and pulled the blankets over her body.

“If you survive this, Yusef,” Olena said softly, turning her back on him. “I’ll kill you for scaring me.”