“I wasn’t trying to cause trouble—I came looking for you, to let you know it’s time to add the bones and broth to the stewpot,” Bobbi said, her voice shaking only a little. She was more glad than she could say that Res. Tizlah had come in to break up the impending violence, but she still didn’t want to be blamed for it. She stepped quickly to the Saurian woman’s side, keeping her distance from both Zerlix and Dragon.
“Well, you shouldn’t have come in here, it’s not safe! I put you with a partner so you wouldn’t be alone!” Res. Tizlah scolded. She scowled at Bobbi and gave a long-suffering sigh. “Never mind though—I suppose there’s no harm done.”
No harm done? I was nearly raped! Bobbi wanted to shout. But before she could open her mouth, Zerlix opened his.
“The female should be mine. I saw her first, Mother!” he protested.
“Hush now and stop causing trouble.” Res. Tizlah shook a finger at him. “Your brother has never Claimed a female before, so you let him have her, Zerlix. Don’t be so selfish.”
It’s like she thinks I’m a toy the two of them are fighting over, Bobbi thought, glancing at the Saurian woman. She doesn’t realize—or won’t let herself realize how close these two just came to killing each other!
Zerlix didn’t seem to realize how close he’d come to death—or at least a very severe beating by the enraged Dragon—either. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the big Kindred.
“You can have her—for now,” he emphasized. “But we’ll just see what happens at the feast tonight.”
Then he tucked his corkscrew dong back into his trousers and swaggered out, bumping Dragon’s shoulder aggressively with his own as he passed him.
A low growl rose in Dragon’s throat, but Res. Tizlah put a hand on her adopted son’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, son—I didn’t realize he’d be here,” she said. “I was sure that your little mammalian would be safe in the middle of the crowded kitchen.”
“I should never have let her leave my rooms.” Dragon’s voice was deep and angry. He turned to Bobbi. “Come—we’re going.”
“But you can’t just drag me around wherever you want!” she protested. “I’m still helping in the kitchen. I mean you can’t—”
But apparently, Dragon was through listening. Leaning down, he swung her up over his shoulder in the exact same way he had when he’d kidnapped her the day before.
“Hey! Hey!” Bobbi shouted and beat on his broad shoulders. But there was no way she was getting free of his grip. She had to deal with being carried like a bag of flour through the crowded kitchen with all the Saurian women watching as Dragon took her back to his rooms.
25
Bobbi had no idea what lay in store for her back in the big Kindred’s rooms. Would Dragon be angry with her? Blame her for the situation he’d found her in? Res. Tizlah certainly seemed to blame her—she had scolded Bobbi as though she were a naughty child who had caused the trouble between Zerlix and Dragon in the first place. But then, she had scolded her sons the same way, seemingly ignorant of the imminent violence about to erupt between them.
Whatever goes down between those two, it’s been building for years, Bobbi thought, from her upside-down position over Dragon’s broad shoulder. It’s not my fault—I’m just the catalyst. The spark that lights the fuse that’s been growing between them all this time.
But would Dragon understand that? Or would he transfer the rage she’d seen on his face from Zerlix to her? Would he blame her and beat her for nearly getting raped?
It wasn’t a sensible or right way to think and behave, but Bobbi knew that many, many cultures blamed the woman who was assaulted rather than her attacker. And Saurian society certainly fit the mold for that kind of behavior.
So when Dragon carried her into his room, shut the door behind him, and put her on her feet, she was prepared to run and hide if she had to. She couldn’t get the sight of his blazing eyes out of her head.
Just like the eyes of the man in the dream we both had, she thought. That’s what his eyes looked like!
But she was too frightened to concentrate on the strange likeness between Dragon’s eyes and the man in her dreams. She was waiting for the reprimand—and possibly the beating that might come with it.
So she was completely surprised and taken aback when Dragon dropped to his knees before her and took her shoulders in his big hands.
“What happened, Bobbi?” he asked. His voice was tight with emotion but it sounded more like anxiety than anger. “What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?” he demanded, scanning her up and down, as though looking for injuries.