“I will never pass her on or give her to anyone.” Dragon’s bronze eyes blazed. “She is mine and I will keep her always, Sire. She will bear my sons.”
“Now wait just a minute!” Bobbi exclaimed. “Bear your sons? Don’t I get a say in this at all?”
“Of course not,” Dragon frowned down at her. “I have Claimed you and I will wed you, little feela. That’s all there is to it.”
Bobbi opened her mouth to protest again, but her words were drowned out by a huge, booming GOOOONNNG!
27
“Oh!” Bobbi gasped, putting her hands to her ears and looking around as the sound reverberated from the black and white tiles that covered the walls and floor of the banquet hall. “What in the world?”
“That’s the feasting gong,” Dragon explained. “It means we must sit—the feast is about to begin.” As he spoke, he drew out her chair and motioned for her to sit down. “I added a cushion for you,” he murmured in her ear. “So that you’ll be tall enough to reach the feasting table, little one.”
Bobbi saw that he had, in fact, produced a plump blue cushion with a round button in the middle. When she sat on it, she was high enough to reach the table—which was quite tall.
Dragon settled himself beside her and his Sire, the Komendant, settled on the other side of him. Res. Tizlah was seated on the other side of her husband. She gave Bobbi a little wave as they all settled themselves and Bobbi waved back, polite as always.
But inside, her mind was churning. She had known that Dragon wouldn’t want to give her up, but now he was planning to marry her?
And without my consent either—I mean, I barely know him and even if I did, there’s no way I would marry my kidnapper! Bobbi thought indignantly.
But apparently, what she wanted hadn’t entered the big Kindred’s head! He had decided he was going to marry her and that was that.
I have got to get away from here before that happens! Bobbi told herself. What if he marries me and then wants to have Bonding Sex with me? Then I’ll never get free of him!
She didn’t know a lot about Kindred biology, but she knew enough. Kat had explained about Bonding Sex and how it was different for each kind of Kindred.
“But once you do the deed, doll, that’s it—it’s for life,” she’d told Bobbi. “You form a mental bond with your guy—or guys, in my case—that can only be broken by death.”
Of course, Bobbi didn’t know exactly what kind of Kindred Dragon was—she didn’t know the other half of his heritage—so she had no idea what Bonding Sex with him might entail. He might have some kind of special equipment that came out when it was time to do the deed, or it might be as simple as letting him come inside her without protection.
But wait…another thing that Kat had told her suddenly came back to her. Dragon was a Hybrid and hadn’t Kat said that Hybrid Kindred had a much harder time bonding with a woman?
Bobbi wracked her brain, trying to remember, but she couldn’t be sure if she was right or not. Either way, she didn’t want to take a risk.
I’m not letting him anywhere near me, she told herself, looking up at the big Kindred. No matter how handsome he is or how good he smells or how kind and gentle he is when I least expect it.
Dragon was her kidnapper and she had to keep that firmly in mind and not succumb to any form of Stockholm Syndrome, Bobbi decided. He was also an enforcer for the Mob—well, the Saurian version of the Mob, anyway—and there was no way she wanted to get involved with organized crime. Even lizard people organized crime.
I’m just going to have to keep him at arm’s length, Bobbi thought. Absolutely no hanky-panky of any kind!
She had no idea how soon she would have to break the promise she had made to herself.
28
Bobbi was so busy thinking about the implications of her impending engagement and marriage to the big Kindred, that she barely tasted what she was eating. There was a variety of exotic dishes ranging from tiny pastries filled with ground meat paste to the bullah bulb and roasted bone stew which she had made with Keelah, to a kind of fondue.
For this dish, a pot of bubbling broth was placed between Dragon and herself. They had a tray of raw meat slices to share too, as well as long utensils that looked like fishing hooks to go with it.
The idea was to hook a piece of meat, then dangle it in the boiling blue broth until it was as cooked as you wanted it before sliding it off the hook and onto your plate. The meat was served with a condiment that looked like grape jelly but tasted like strong mustard mixed with horseradish.