“N-no,” Bobbi stuttered, shaking her head rapidly. “No, he just talked at me. I, er, think he was about to try something—well, I know he was—but you came in just in time. He didn’t touch me, Dragon—I swear,” she told him earnestly.
“Thank all the gods that ever were.” Dragon crushed her to him, wrapping his muscular arms around her and pulling her close. “Gods, if he’d hurt you…”
His deep voice was harsh and relieved and he was holding her so tightly, Bobbi could hardly get any air.
“Dragon, please…” she gasped. “Can’t…breathe!”
“Sorry.” He pulled back and looked at her. “You’re sure you’re all right?”
Despite the fact that he was on his knees, they were still basically eye-to-eye and the concern she saw in those bronze depths surprised and touched her.
“Fine—I’m fine,” she promised, putting her arms around his neck, while he kept his wrapped around her waist. She had the urge to soothe him for some reason, though she knew she ought to be mad about the way he had carried her around like a caveman.
Dragon shook his head. “I should never have let you out of my rooms. I should never have underestimated Zerlix’s desire to Claim you.”
“I can’t stay locked up all the time,” Bobbi protested. “And I was perfectly fine in the kitchen—I met a really nice girl and we got to be friends. I just had no idea that Zerlix was anywhere around there.” She shrugged. “I went looking for your mom and unfortunately, I found him instead. I…”
She shook her head as the reality of the situation hit her. She had nearly been assaulted—would have been assaulted if Dragon hadn’t come back at just the right time and found her.
“Hey, are you all right?”
He studied her face intently.
“F-fine.” Bobbi tried not to hear the way her voice was shaking. “I’m just fine,” she repeated, not sure if she was trying to convince herself or him.
“You don’t seem fine to me. Come here.” He pulled her close again, enfolding her in his embrace. Bobbi buried her face in his broad shoulder and breathed deeply, trying to quiet her emotions. She had to control herself. Breaking down like this would only make him even more certain he should lock her up—how would she ever get out of here if he did that?
But despite telling herself she had to calm down, a few tears still slipped down her cheeks.
“Sorry…I’m sorry,” she whispered, though she didn’t know what she was apologizing for. “I was looking for your mom and then the guard said she was in the storeroom and he was there instead and he was saying all these awful things…”
“Like what? What did he say to you?” Dragon’s voice rumbled in her ear as he stroked her back soothingly.
“He…he said you would give me to him,” Bobbi whispered. “And that…that I would…would…” But she couldn’t go on. Couldn’t repeat the crude things Zerlix had said about how ready she would be to have him and how she would beg for him to fuck her—to “spike” her as the Saurians said.
Just the thought made her stomach fist into a knot and she found she was crying harder. God, what was wrong with her? How could she be so calm and defiant while Zerlix was threatening her and break down completely now?
“I would never give you to anyone, little feela—least of all my brother,” Dragon rumbled in her ear. “You’re mine and I take care of what’s mine. I’m just sorry I failed you today.”
“You didn’t though,” Bobbi protested. “You…you got there in time.”
“Barely.” There was a possessive growl in his throat. “But I swear it won’t happen again.”
Bobbi wanted to point out that it wouldn’t have happened in the first place if he hadn’t kidnapped her off of Avria Pentaura, but she was beginning to wonder if that was true. Zerlix had shown a determination to get to her that went beyond mere lust—the Saurian bastard was like a psychotic stalker. She was more than halfway convinced that he would, indeed, have come after her if Dragon had left her on the other planet. Maybe keeping close to the big Kindred really was the only way to avoid the unwanted attentions of his adoptive brother.
But what’s going to happen to Dragon when the other Kindred come after me and he refuses to let me go? she wondered. There’s going to be a bloodbath—I have to get away before that.
Well, good luck with that plan, since she was apparently going to be locked up in Dragon’s rooms for the foreseeable future, she thought grimly. So she was surprised when he pulled away from her and looked into her eyes again, which were blurry with tears.
“Here,” he rumbled. Reaching into a pocket of his leather trousers, he pulled out a crumpled but clean piece of fabric and wiped her cheeks with it. “Can’t have you crying—we need to get ready for the feast tonight,” he told her.