Sacrificed to the Dragon (7 page)

Melanie frowned. Despite her best attempt at researching the dragon-shifters before coming here, all of this information was new to her. “From one kiss, his inner dragon knows all of this? But how?”

“Not even we understand everything about our dragons. But if nothing else, our inner beasts rely on instinct. It could be something about your scent or the build of your body that draws the dragon. All I know is that I’ve never seen a dragon act so possessively during a First Kiss without that dragon going on to try to claim the person in question. The same reaction happened when Samira’s mate, Liam, kissed her on this same stage, almost four years ago.”

She took another deep breath. This was too much to process right now; she’d have to sort it all out more carefully later. In the meantime, she was going to use this opportunity to get more information on the dragon mate business. “Okay, let’s pretend I accept all of this for the moment. Why would this put me in danger? If his dragon wants me as a mate, I would think that Tristan’s inner dragon would want to protect me, not harm me.”

Bram shook his head. “Not necessarily. We may look human, but our dragons are primal and take what they want. If Tristan loses the battle with his dragon-half, he could very well take you against your will and keep taking you until he can scent you’re carrying his child.”

Someone put a dish of food in front of her, but Melanie was no longer hungry. “Is there a way to stop him? After all, you said ‘potential mate’, which means it doesn’t always succeed.”

Bram’s mouth turned grim. “A dragon will only move on in two instances. First, if either party dies. Second, after a child is born. In the latter case, the dragon is satisfied with an offspring to care for and is willing to try again with someone else if the female doesn’t want him.”

So much for finding a way to keep the sex-crazed dragonman from chasing her or for transferring her sacrifice contract to another dragon-shifter male. She had a feeling that if Tristan’s dragon-half was determined to have her, no other male would be stupid enough to stand in the way.

She was stuck with him. “And neither of those two cases qualifies right now, right?”

“No. At this point, the best thing is for you to allow him to take you early. Otherwise, we’ll have to drug him unconscious until the third day, when the contract allows him to touch you. And even then, while human Tristan would wait for your consent if you weren’t ready by the third day, the dragon-half probably won’t.”

Melanie noticed the water glass in front of her and started tracing shapes in the condensation with her finger. The action helped her to remain calm and resist letting her emotions break free.

So much for trying to get to know both Tristan and his clan tomorrow. Bram was suggesting for her to jump into bed with Tristan blind. Yes, although she was attracted to him, could she do it? Could she allow a man she barely knew, and who had treated her badly except for a short period this evening, to have sex with her?

She wasn’t completely terrified of the idea, but she wanted more information. “How long do we have before he returns?”

“I’d wager he went for a hunt, and he should be out until mid-morning tomorrow. Our dragons always like to sleep in dragon form on a full belly, and they can be lazy bastards when they choose.”

She had a feeling Bram was trying to lighten the mood a little, but it wasn’t working. “Let’s say I agree, and I have sex with Tristan early and he keeps at it until I’m pregnant. Then what? I know he doesn’t like humans. Will he just closet me away until I birth his child and then toss me aside?”

“Since I’ve never fallen prey to a dragon mate frenzy before, I don’t know. I think it’s best you talk to Samira. She’s the only human female we have here who has both experienced the frenzy and accepted a dragon-shifter’s claim.”

Mel nodded. From what little she knew of Samira, the woman was happy. That gave Mel a small hope that things might not be as bad as her gut was telling her they were going to be.

Bram signaled for one of his men to come to their table. After he whispered an order, he stood and offered his hand to her. “Will you allow me to see you safe to your cottage? If I’m by your side, the others won’t start pestering you with questions. And since I just sent for Samira to meet you at your cottage for a chat, I think you want to get there as soon as possible.”

Mel placed her hand in his and straightened her shoulders. The memory of Tristan’s kiss, his act of leaving her, and the whole news of a dragon’s mate frenzy was starting to sink in and it was overwhelming. She needed to find somewhere private to process everything that had happened to her in the last twenty minutes. As it was, she was on the verge of an information overload-related breakdown. Nevertheless, she was half-British. She could keep a stiff upper lip like the best of them and contain her emotions for a little bit longer.

As Bram maneuvered her down the stairs and through the crowd, she kept her gaze fixed ahead on nothing in particular. She just needed to make it to her cottage, and then she could change her clothes and try to figure out what to do from here.

~~~

Thirty minutes later, Melanie was curled up on the couch in her cottage trying not to cry. Despite changing into her favorite cotton pajamas and taking out all the pins in her hair, relaxed was the last word she’d use to describe her situation. All she could think about was how a half-crazed dragonman wanted to fuck her until she was pregnant.

Yes, “fucking her” was the appropriate phrase to use. She could hardly call a dragonman crazy with lust thrusting into her until she collapsed or conceived as doing anything else. It certainly wouldn’t be making love.

She squeezed the pillow in her arms for comfort. She’d never expected a fairy tale ending by coming here, but at the very least, she’d wanted a day to get to know Tristan before getting naked with him. She’d spent more time with the single one-night stand she’d had during her undergraduate years than she had with the dragonman who intended for her to bear his child.

Now more than ever, she wished some of these practices had shown up in her research. Of course, she could understand why the dragon-shifters kept the mate frenzy a secret. It would deter a large number of women from ever signing up to be sacrifices, and considering the uneven birth rates of thirty-five percent female to sixty-five percent male amongst the dragon-shifters, they needed human women if their race was to survive.

The fact that dragon-shifters needed humans to survive was ironic considering the humans were the ones who had decimated their numbers in the first place.

There was a knock on the door. Melanie tossed aside her pillow and jumped up to answer it. She desperately needed a distraction.

She opened the door a crack, but it was Samira, so she opened the door wide. She tried to smile, but failed, and tears started to roll down her cheeks. She didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t help it. Losing her family, being thrust into a new culture she didn’t understand, and finally, being the object of a dragon’s frenzy despite the fact he hated her was enough to make even the strongest person break down.

Samira put an arm around her shoulders, closed the door, and guided them toward the couch. Once they sat down, she said, “There, there, dear. I know it sounds scary, but it doesn’t have to be. Dragonmen in a frenzy can be overpowering and passionate, but they will also protect you with their life.”

Mel managed to blink back her tears and wiped her hands across her eyes. “That doesn’t sound like what Bram told me.”

Samira tsked. “Of course not. His dragon has never experienced a mate frenzy, and he thinks humans are too fragile to survive it. Yet dragonwomen deal with the frenzies when they happen without a problem. They’re quite rare, you know, the mate frenzies.”

“Maybe so, but at least the dragonwomen know what to expect.”

Samira took Mel’s chin in her hand and forced her to look at her. “Listen to me. Imagine the best sex of your life with the hottest man you’ve ever known. Not only that, but a man who turns into a fierce protector type of father from the second his child is born. That is what you get with a mate-frenzied male. Tristan may fight it at first, but he’s not intentionally cruel. After all, he trains the young dragons. I had wanted you to see him in action with the children tomorrow, but it looks like you might not get the chance to see him in his teacher role for quite a while.”

“A teacher? Tristan?”

Samira nodded. “It’s one of the hardest jobs in the clan to teach young dragons how to control their beasts as well as to fly and hunt without breaking the law. But Tristan has done it with ease for the past twelve years.”

The image of Tristan being patient or kind with anyone was foreign to her. “I just wish I could see that side of him first.”

Samira’s face softened. “I saw the way you looked at him back in the main hall, and I know you’re attracted to him. Is it really so bad to have sex with him a day early? The sooner you’re pregnant, the sooner you can get to know the real Tristan and not his half-crazed dragon.”

If she were honest with herself, Mel didn’t think the sex would be that bad. However, a small part of her had wanted Tristan to get to know her without being forced to do so because she was carrying his child. Especially since once she was pregnant, there was a high chance she might not live past the birth.

There was another thing for her to worry about; she could die in less than a year.

Speaking of pregnant women, she remembered Caitriona and her aura of defeat. “Did Cait’s male succumb to the frenzy, too?”

“No. Neil only did his duty and impregnated her before he screwed everything up. He was a selfish asshole with no sense of honor.”

She wanted to ask why he’d been assigned a human sacrifice in the first place, but Mel decided to focus on her fast-approaching fate. After all, Tristan should be back in less than twelve hours. “So you and your mate are the only ones who’ve experienced this before?”

Samira shook her head. “No. There is a dragonwoman paired with a dragonman. It’s not just a human-dragon-shifter thing. It’s probably impossible to set up a meeting tonight, but I’m sure either I or Bram can set up a meeting with them in time.”

She turned to face Samira. “Tell me, did you sleep with your mate before you knew him, too?”

Samira smiled. “I spent maybe an hour more in his company than you have with Tristan by this point. But yes, I slept with him the very first night, after Bram and Ella, the female dragon-shifter who also went through the mate frenzy, talked with me. Liam is kind to everyone from the start, whereas Tristan takes some time to open up, which made things a little easier on my end. I was scared for about two minutes before Liam made a joke and I soon forgot about anything except his hot, naked body over mine.”

She did remember Tristan’s toned chest and arms from back in the hall, and how it’d felt to be pressed up against his hard body. She would be lying if she didn’t say she wanted to feel his heat pressed up against her skin again, such as with the rough hair on his chest rubbing against her bared breasts. Or to feel his rough hands caressing the soft skin of her hip.

She nearly blinked at the sex fantasy that had started to play out in her mind. It seemed that talking with Samira was helping to calm her nerves. Mel realized she’d only been afraid and crying because she’d had no idea of what to expect. But it was starting to sound less like a nightmare and more like hot sex with a stranger.

She was very close to saying screw it and just let Tristan have her. But before she could take the last step to acceptance and vocalize her thoughts, Samira spoke again. “The decision is up to you. But if you think you can’t do it, then you can come stay with me. Liam, my mate, has already said he’d gather his brothers, sister, and his friends to protect you from Tristan until the third day.” She took and squeezed Mel’s hand. “Just tell me what you plan to do.”

She stared into Samira’s deep brown eyes and decided that she’d made an ally who might turn into her friend. Mel hadn’t been sure at first if they’d get along since Samira had seemed to dismiss Cait’s depressed state. Now, after the woman was all but saying she’d chase off a crazy dragon just to help her, Mel decided she’d been wrong about her. No doubt, there were things about Cait that Mel didn’t know. Samira could just be acting as the other human woman had asked.

She took Samira’s hand in hers and squeezed. “Thank you for the offer, but no. As soon as Tristan is back, he should come here and I’ll start doing what I was brought here to do—have sex with a dragon-shifter.”

Chapter Two

Tristan had resisted the pull to return to Melanie for as long as he could. The hunt, taking down two bucks, and the resulting sleep had preoccupied his dragon-half for a little over half a day. Now the dragon was overpowering him little by little, and he knew that it was better to track down Melanie with his human
-
half marginally in charge rather than with his dragon in complete control.

Especially since he knew full well his dragon wouldn’t bother with consent, and human or not, Melanie didn’t deserve that.

Female. Home. Now.

Still in dragon form, he jumped up and beat his wings until he was high enough to use the wind currents to glide toward Stonefire’s land. He trusted that Bram had prepared Melanie for what was about to happen. Otherwise, he would face the ultimate test of control once he landed back home.