Mated To The Alpha Dragon (A BBW Paranormal Romance) (17 page)

C
HAPTER EIGHTEEN

Victor frowned harder, uncomprehending, and I suppressed the tiniest of smiles.

"You're forgetting something super important. You're forgetting how I could really help you and your men during the fight."

He sighed. "I know you're very talented with a crossbow...and I really am very impressed by that and proud of that. But-"

"No, I'm not talking about my crossbow skills. Although you're right; they'll really help me against any non-magical attacks from Oppressors. But that's not what I mean."

I shifted on his lap, pulling up a towel that had fallen from around my shoulders. Even with warm steam rising up from the pool of bubbling water several feet away, the hot springs caverns could become a little chilly late in the evening if you weren't actually in the water.

"I'm not thinking about my crossbow skills. First, let me ask you this. While you and your men are battling the Oppressors, what's going to happen to their slave women and children? You don't think any Oppressors are going to try to use them as human shields? You don't think any Oppressors will try to murder them out of rage if they feel cornered by you and the other Keepers? You don't think any Oppressors will try to kill some of them simply out of spite when the battle starts to not go their way What will you and your men be able to do about all that? Not much, unfortunately, but through no fault of your own. You'll completely have your hands full dealing with Oppressors."

Victor didn't say anything, his expression troubled, and I continued.

"Also, there's no way to tell if the Oppressors are going to fight you in the air above Cold Creek, or if they're going to make you come down into the actual city to get them. And from what I've heard about Cold Creek, it's a fairly small place with high cinder block walls topped with barbed wire all around. Do you think all the other men will really be able to move around much while in dragon form without knocking over buildings where the slaves and their children are kept? Do you think you'll be able to avoid running them over and hurting them if some of them flee the buildings in a panic?"

Victor didn't answer right away. His hand, which had been caressing the side of my arm, had long since stopped in its movement. When he finally spoke, his voice was thick with emotion.

"I realize that there may be some casualties during this battle. I realize that some innocent women and children may be hurt or killed. And the thought of that...." He paused, sighing. "It's weighing heavily on my heart, to say the least. There there's no other way to approach this battle. The women and children can't be rescued first without the Oppressors being alerted. We've got to first destroy all the Oppressors and then rescue the women and children that remain. Then we have  to try like hell to keep the casualties of the innocents at a minimum. We  we have to do what we have to do. Because my number one priority is protecting you, first and foremost, and the other residents here at Stonebrook.  There is no other way."

"Yes, there is, though. There's actually a way that every single slave woman and child can be rescued, just whisked right away from the fight, immediately after the battle begins. You Keepers don't have to do it, you can focus on the Oppressors. And this way, you all can probably focus even better and fight harder, because you won't have to worry about accidentally harming or killing an innocent woman or a child."

I paused and levitated a bottle of water from my bag of odds-and-ends that I'd brought to the hot springs with me. I'd discovered about two months earlier that a marriage rite called The Mingling of the Blood gave me the power to move and lift objects with my mind. I could even levitate people. When Julia, Elizabeth, and I had been kidnapped by Miles, the former Oppressor leader, I'd levitated us right out of their encampment, along with two of their slave women, Rose and Brook.

I uncapped the bottle of water, took a quick drink, and replaced the cap. "Here's what I'm suggesting. You take me into Cold Creek with you and your men, and then while all of you are attacking the Oppressors, I'll levitate all the women and children to safety."

I couldn't be certain in the dim light from the electric lights hung at intervals along the cavern walls, but I thought Victor paled. And then he swallowed, and I was certain of that.

"Absolutely not."

"But-"

"Over my dead, rotting corpse."

"But I can help. On so many levels. And-"

"And you could be killed. Easily. I will never, ever allow this. Never. Your brush with death today was your very last. I will never, ever again allow you to be in a position where your life could be put in danger."

"But-"

"I'm not allowing you to go to Cold Creek, Kate. Under any circumstances. That's my decision." He paused, muscles in his strong, square jaw working. "And it is final."

I didn't need the towel around my shoulders anymore. Anger made a sudden rush of heat course through my veins.

"Well, doesn't what I decide count? I decide to go! And that's
my
final decision. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"No. Not in this case. Not when your safety and very life is at stake. No."

I sputtered for a few moments, uncertain of how to respond. "Well...well, that's stupid!"

I made to get up from Victor's lap, intending to huff out of the cavern, but he held me fast.

"Listen to me, Kate. Please. Listen to me."

I struggled against his arms. "No. No, I'm leaving. I'm just about to go and...." I sighed, pushing against what felt like iron bars around me. "I'm just about to bolt right on out of here!"

After a few more futile pushes and squirms, I gave up, realizing that I probably wasn't going to be able to free myself and make a dramatic, fiery exit. After all, shifter dragons had the strength of about two hundred men while in human form, and Victor was the strongest of them all.

I sighed, slumping in his well-muscled arms. "All right, fine. Say what you have to say. I'm listening."

To my surprise, he didn't answer, and instead, began planting slow kisses all over my face, his mouth firm and warm.

After maybe the fifth one, I exhaled a fluttery breath. "I'm mad at you."

"I know."

He resumed the kisses, and after a few more, I bit back another fluttery breath.

"How dare you. How dare you try to kiss me while I'm mad at you

"Oh, I dare. Because I find your beautiful, angry face simply impossible to resist."

My anger quickly dissipating, I tried to make a noise that sounded like a
humph
, but it came out more like a sigh.

He gave my face a few more slow, tender kisses before lifting his own and looking at me. "I want to explain something to you. Will you listen?"

I shrugged, trying to show him that I was still mad, but not really feeling it any more at all. "I guess."

"All right, then. I want to make something very clear to you. Although I am very, very, very in love with your beautiful body, and I gather you're similarly enamored of mine, and though we've been expressing that love of each others' bodies quite a lot recently, which has...intoxicated me on a level I'm certain I could never adequately describe, your body and the pleasure it brings me isn't the only reason I'm so in love with you. Not by a long shot. I'm in love with the whole of you. Your body, your mind, your soul, and your heart. I'm in love with your caring and compassion and bravery. That that began on the first day you came here to Stonebrook as the annual bride sacrifice, when I learned that you had actually volunteered to be the bride to spare the other young women in Haverbrook fear of the unknown. I found you not only beautiful, but incredibly brave, selfless, and intriguing. Since,, since then, you've shown bravery in numerous other ways. You had the courage to shoot Alexander with an arrow. You had the courage to make an escape from Miles' Oppressor encampment. During this time, you've also demonstrated your kindness and compassion. Miles was only able to abduct you because you took pity on what you thought was a poor, helpless, injured rabbit and tried to help it. Then,  after that episode, you helped free Rose and Brook from slavery under the Oppressors, you've shown them incredible kindness. I know what a good friend you've been to the both of them, and I know how hard you've worked to make them feel at home here and get them integrated into our society."

Victor paused for a moment, studying my face, his deep gray eyes even deeper than usual in the dim light. "Kate, I think you're special beyond words, and I love you more than I'll ever be able to express, and on such a level I myself can hardly even comprehend. You cannot be replaced. Ever. And some say that I'm a strong man, but I know my limitations. I know I'm not strong enough to endure the pain of ever losing you. So for that reason, and because I want you to live a long, happy life, with no untimely death, I'm saying no. You may not come to the battle in Cold Creek. You may not put yourself in harm's way. I'm telling you no. As your husband."

My previous anger, which had become replaced by a feeling of love swelling in my chest while he'd had been talking, suddenly returned. Full force.

I sat fuming for a moment, having difficulty forming words. "
As my husband
? You're telling me no
as my husband
? As if being my husband makes you...makes you the boss of me or something?"

He clenched and unclenched his jaw a few times. "Am I the boss of you when it comes to your safety? Yes. Absolutely. One hundred percent."

"So you even admit you think you're the boss of me! How dare-"

"You're a fully human woman, and I'm a shifter dragon with the strength of several hundred human men. How remiss would I be as a husband if your safety wasn't my number one priority? How remiss would I be as a husband if I wasn't the 'boss' when it comes to your safety? So I'll say it again, and hear me clearly, Kate. Am I the boss when it comes to decisions concerning your safety? A thousand times, yes. Believe it."

I sputtered, something like hot lava flowing through my veins. "Well...well, I don't accept that! I completely don't accept that!"

"Well, then, try this on for size. I'm not only your husband, but I'm lord of Stonebrook and all its residents, and what I say goes. So how's this? I'm telling you as your
lord
that you will not be going to the battle at Cold Creek."

I gasped and then fell silent, anger seeming to have my tongue tied into knots. That didn't last long.

"Well, how's this, Lord Victor? Then, as one of your subjects, I'm telling you that you're acting like an absolute ass! You're acting like...like, an absolute ass and then some!"

He made a noise between a faint growl and a sigh. "Kate." He pulled me closer to him from where I sat on his muscular thighs, moved his mouth to my ear, and spoke in a low voice. "You're acting as if you need a good spanking right now."

I gasped for the second time, pulling my head away from his mouth to look at him. "How...how dare you. I'm genuinely mad at you right now; I'm nearly enraged at your bossiness over me. I'm in no mood for any fun and games."

"Who said anything about fun and games? The way you're acting, you seem as if you could genuinely use a legitimate spanking."

Suddenly, for reasons I didn't even fully understand, I felt like I did. Maybe because in my heart of hearts, I knew how much Victor loved me. To a degree I could hardly even wrap my mind around. Maybe because I also knew in my heart of hearts that whether he was right or wrong about saying he was the boss of my safety, I
was
acting kind of rude and bratty. And by kind of, a lot. Although I didn't want
him
to know I realized that.

If I was being completely honest, I maybe felt like I
did
deserve a spanking because he and I were both still completely naked from our lovemaking earlier. Even the towel I'd had around my shoulders had fallen to the floor. Being bent over Victor's lap while both of us were completely naked always felt so incredibly good.

He asked me if I thought I deserved a spanking, and, still more than a little mad at him, I crossed my arms over my chest and tilted my chin in the air, knowing full well my expression was probably a childish-looking scowl.

"Well, maybe I do. Maybe I actually do. That is, if you're
lord
enough to give me one."

I hadn't been able to resist. I truly hadn't. And that did it.

Without saying a word, he shifted me in his strong arms, fully flipping me over, holding my upper body, my arms still folded across my chest, in his left arm, leaving his right hand free to use on my now-upturned bottom. He then immediately delivered at least two dozen swift, stinging swats to my bare rear, his hand decidedly a fraction harder than it normally was during our more playful spankings. By the time he delivered the last one, I was squirming on his lap, whimpering, my rear cheeks blazing.

He only rubbed them for a few quick seconds before, again wordlessly, flipping me back over, demonstrating his shifter dragon strength. But he didn't set me back on his lap how I'd been sitting before. He cradled me to his chest, holding my bottom up off his lap.

With his voice a little husky, he spoke near my ear. "You have to admit, you more than deserved that."