Julie couldn't help but to gasp as she thought of Candy. "Oh no!" She covered her mouth with both her hands. Her eyes filled with tears. "Poor Candy. She also jumped into that river with me." She spoke into her hands. She didn't know her very well but the idea of her drowning or worse was just too much.

"The light-haired female is fine." The shifter said, then he turned and walked away. Her heart stilled. Thank G.o.d. Although, just because she survived the rapids and the waterfall did not mean that she was fine. She couldn't worry about it right now though.

Julie made herself count to sixty before forcing herself to stand up and to hobble in the opposite direction. Escape was probably futile but she had to try and get away. This savage thought that he owned her. Come morning he would want to... Argh!!! She couldn't think about that. She had to get away, even if her feet hurt and her knee throbbed and her teeth chattered.

Chapter 8.

Coal deposited the squirming female on the ground next to the fire. It was the second time she had tried to run away in the last hour.

He threw a couple of logs onto the embers and set to work gutting the hare he had just captured. It was small and wiry but would be enough to quell the worst of her hunger.

"I don't know why you insist on bringing me back every time. I don't want to be here. I don't want you. Don't you get that?" Her words were sharp, her eyes refused to meet his.

With one easy move, he pulled the skin from the carca.s.s. The female made a noise of disgust. "That's revolting. I hope you don't expect me to actually eat that."

"I do." He admired the female's determination. At the same time, he wasn't thrilled about her att.i.tude. "This animal died so that you could be fed. I would ask that you respect that." Using a carefully selected branch, he pushed it through the carca.s.s and began to cook the meat over the fire.

"I didn't ask you to kill the poor thing." Her voice had lost its venom.

"You said that you were hungry."

"If I had known you were going to kill Thumper, I would've kept my mouth shut." She finally lifted her eyes. They weren't as dark as he'd first thought. They were the color of toffee and fudge. That light b.u.t.tery brown. There were a few leaves in her hair and smudges of dirt on her face. Her dress was streaked. All of the females had been covered in mud that first time they had spotted them. A clever attempt at masking their scents.

The darkest smear was on her nose. He had an overwhelming urge to rub it off. Maybe he just wanted to touch her. It had been too long since he had rutted. That was it. His male urges were getting the better of him.

"Who is Thumper?" He asked. The meat crackled as the fat melted. He saw her nose twitch.

The female licked her lips, her gaze on the meat. He had to suppress a smile. She pouted her lips. "Thumper is a cute, cartoon bunny."

It must be a human thing. "What's a cartoon?" He asked as he turned the meat slightly.

Her brows drew together. "You have got to be kidding me." She sighed. "Don't you know anything?"

Coal shook his head. "You are the first human I have ever met. I know very little about your kind. I only know what the other males have told me and that's very little."

"Do you know what a television is?"

He nodded. "Yes, although, I don't understand why anyone would want to look at one for hours on end."

The human shrugged. "It's entertaining."

Flying was entertaining, hunting was entertaining. Rutting, now that was entertaining. His body tightened at the thought of s.e.x. A natural reaction. "It's not real. This is real. Right now is real. People sit and stare at a box while their life pa.s.ses them by. It's sad."

"When you put it that way... I suppose you have a point."

Coal felt himself frown. "Are you going to try and run away again?"

She pulled her shoulders back and turned those toffee colored eyes on him. They narrowed, her mouth pursed. "I will never give up. I also need to warn you, that should you decide to rape me, I will kill you. I might need to wait until you are sleeping but know that I will come for you. I will end you. It might take a week or a month but it will happen."

Coal didn't doubt it for a second. That same determination and hatred shone in her eyes. This was the same spirit that had attracted him to her. Not that he was attracted to her, as in, attracted. He couldn't help but to smile at her. All that spirit, all that fire inside one tiny human. Who ever would have thought? Not him.

"That's funny to you?" She growled. The little female actually growled. She did quite a good job of it too.

He shook his head. "I like you, human. I didn't expect to like you, but I do."

"The feeling isn't mutual."

He chuckled some more. "Next time you decide to stab me, make sure you use a silver object. Push it in deep and twist, ideally, you should remove my head or my heart. My head would be the most final."

She clenched her jaw and swallowed hard but not before he saw her grimace. So the thought of actually killing him did not appeal to her. Thank the G.o.ds for small favors. He wasn't sure where this talk of rape had come from. If she was afraid of him forcing himself on her, it would account for her level of fear. Maybe throwing herself into the river was not so crazy after all. Why did she think he would rape her? It was his understanding that Scarlet and Ash had explained things. He had also been told that this female, that all of the females, needed saving.

"I was told that you were dest.i.tute. That your life was... difficult. Is this not true?"

Coal could scent her surge of adrenaline. He could smell the anger roll off of her in waves. Her head snapped up and her frame became tense. "My life has got nothing to do with you. What do you mean you were told that I was dest.i.tute? What the h.e.l.l is this?"

"Were you told about our species and why you are here?"

This made her even angrier. She jumped to her feet. "You are the biggest a.s.shole I've ever met in my whole entire life. Yes, I was told in minute detail why I am here. Why do you think I keep on trying to escape?"

It didn't make sense. She shouldn't be this angry, this afraid. They had expected a degree of weariness and uncertainty but not to this level.

"Please sit down."

She didn't budge. The female folded her arms across her chest. "Are you going to make me?"

Coal shook his head. "You are tired and cold. It would be better if you sat down but if you would prefer to stand, that is fine by me." He sucked in a deep breath. "There are very few females of our kind. One day, females just stopped being born. There were one or two but for the most part, that was the end. Essentially, we are a dying breed. Something needed to be done and soon. There are only a handful of dragon shifter females within the four kingdoms."

For scale's sake, by the way she was looking at him, he could see that this was news to her.

"So what? You decided to abduct a few women so that you could rape and impregnate them? Well, I have it on good authority that s.e.x between our species does not work. Look how freaking big you are. How small I am." Her voice quivered. Although he could still scent anger, her fear was back. "You'll hurt me. Tear me apart. I would never survive it."

"You have my word of honor that I will not touch you without your consent."

"Your word means nothing to me," she spat.

When he got back to the lair he was going to have a good talk with Scarlet. The female was upset that they hadn't ended up mating, that things hadn't gone her way. This was obviously her way of repaying him, all of the dragon males for that matter. They had no choice. He had no choice.

"I could've had you a dozen times by now." He growled, unable to keep the emotion from his voice.

The female didn't flinch and his respect for her grew.

"I could rut you right now and there's not a thing you could do about it."

The female gasped and took a step back. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear. Her scent turned acrid with it.

"I told you that I'm not going to touch you and I won't. Sit down!" He couldn't help the commanding edge that crept into his voice.

She did as he said.

"Centuries ago, our species were hunted and persecuted by the humans. I'm told that there are stories and legends of armor wearing knights on great horses. These knights carried swords and spears. What the stories and legends do not mention is that these blades were silver. We were hunted and slaughtered until only a few of my forefathers remained. We were forced to flee, to abandon our homes. We sought refuge here in the mountains, forced to keep our existence a secret." He decided not to tell her of the stag runs, for fear of scaring her. "With our numbers being so low to begin with when we went into seclusion, we have continued to lose numbers as the years have gone on. Therefore, when we discovered that the vampires had a program that allowed them to breed with human females we felt we had no choice but to give it a try.

Although she pretended not to be interested, he could see how she leaned forward and held her breath. "We would have preferred to have approached human females instead of just taking them. In the vampires' breeding program, the females voluntarily sign up to meet with vampire males. It seems that all of the nonhuman species are suffering with fertility problems. This program has been a success. The first of the children are about to be born. We cannot allow for our existence to become public knowledge through the methods that they used though for fear that the persecutions would begin again. Do you understand that?"

She ignored him so Coal went on. "Although dragon shifters are much more powerful than humans, there are so few of us comparatively. We would never stand a chance." He turned the the stick and the hare sizzled, its flesh was becoming a beautiful golden color. The meat was nearly ready.

"Cry me a freaking river," the female mumbled. "Tell someone who actually cares."

"We have been left with very little options. It was either take human females or die out. Since we couldn't announce ourselves, we were forced to-"

"Just take what you wanted anyway?" Her eyes flashed to his. "That's wrong. You can't go around kidnapping women and you have to know that."

"It's not ideal."

"Not ideal?" She huffed out a breath. "Cavemen, barbarians, that's what you all are."

Coal had to suppress a smile. Such a feisty female. He didn't know much about humans but he suspected that she was rare.

"We have little choice, we proceeded by handpicking the females. It was important that we choose unmated, healthy specimens who-"

"Specimens? Really? We're not handbags or cattle or scarves or something, we're human beings. We have feelings and rights. What you are doing is not fair. It's wrong, don't you see that?" Her nostrils flared with her emotion.

Coal did see it. He understood her anger. "Maybe specimen was a bad choice of word..." He caught a certain look in her eye. "Okay, okay. Specimen was a terrible choice of word. I am well aware that you have feelings. I do not see you as a cow or any of those other things." He was shocked to find that it was true. "Please know that we felt we had no other choice. The females that we chose," he paused. "The reason why we chose you, is because we hoped that we could help you. That this could be a mutually beneficial relationship."

The female stood back up. She put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. "Like h.e.l.l. You could help me by taking me back and right now."

"I was told that you are dest.i.tute. That you need our help just as much as we need yours. Is this information incorrect?"

Her jaw was clenched, her hands flew to her hips. "Just because I'm homeless, jobless and my best friend hates me right now doesn't mean you had any right to take me away from my life, my home. Not that I had a home." Her bottom lip quivered. "It's irrelevant," she choked out, sounding wounded.

So she was dest.i.tute. She did need help. By all that was green and scaly, the female was going to cry. Something inside him clenched. "I'm sorry." His voice was rough. "I'm sorry you didn't have a home and that this happened to you." What the h.e.l.l was he saying? He'd rarely apologized, if ever. Then again, he needed to win her. For his brother and his kingdom. This was no time to take the moral high ground.

"Sorry is not going to help, is it?" A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Blast and d.a.m.n. Tears didn't normally affect him. He was trying to picture himself in her position. He could understand her pain. "I swear to you that I will not hurt you or force you to do anything you don't want to do." Coal rose to his feet. "I will look after you. None of the males will harm the females they won today. Neither will they force them. It is not how dragon shifters operate."

"That's bulls.h.i.t!" She shouted. "I saw that big guy climb on top of Pauline."

"Flame was putting his scent on her. He wasn't hurting her."

"You might not consider rape as harming but us humans do. What the h.e.l.l is putting his scent on her?" Although her eyes were still watery, she looked mad. "It's so wrong and so disgusting." She narrowed her eyes and growled the words. If she were a fire dragon, she would have flames erupting from her mouth.

"Flame might have touched her briefly, so that he could put his scent on her and he will have kissed her, but that is where it will have ended. Why do you keep speaking of rape and force? Where did you get this crazy idea?" He had a notion but he wanted to hear it from her.

She chewed on her bottom lip. "You seriously don't plan on raping me and impregnating me? Why am I here then? You just told me a whole sob story about how you dragons don't have any women. What is this all about?"

"Dragons are not without honor." He felt anger rise up in him. "We would never force a female to do anything she did not want to do. I'm sorry that you were abducted. This too is not normally something that we would do. I won you which means that you are under my protection. I hope that you will get to know me and that you will agree to mate with me, in the long run. This could be mutually beneficial for both of us"

Her mouth fell open in a gape.

"I also hope that if things work out, that eventually you will also agree to carry my children. To continue my species. This will be your choice though. I will not force any of it on you."

What the h.e.l.l was he saying? It was her choice, but she didn't need to know that. Coal needed to keep some leverage in this situation.

It seemed that his tongue was not done flapping because he went on. "In the long run, should you decide that you wish to go home, I will take you back. You have my word as the fire prince."

"You'll take me back?" She didn't sound like she believed him. Not even one little bit. "I'm never going to agree to this whole marriage and children thing so you might as well take me back right now."

"You need to agree to give it some time. Get to know me. I wish to get to know you." Intimately. Where the h.e.l.l had that come from? He had gone far too long without rutting. It was wreaking havoc on him.

Time.

Get to know him.

Had he gone completely mad? They didn't have time. He had no idea how to go about changing her mind. Blaze was going to roast his a.s.s.

"No need. I know enough." She shook her head.

"A couple of weeks," he blurted. "You would be under my protection. Safe, warm, a roof over your head."

"I'm not some hooker that you can bribe with things in return for..." She let the sentence die.

Coal frowned. He didn't always understand what she was saying. "What is a hooker?"

"A hooker is someone that has s.e.x for money." She looked guilty. Her eyes dropped to her lap. "Not that hookers are bad or anything. It's just, it's bad manners to offer food and shelter in return for... s.e.x."

"I am offering food and shelter while you are on fire territory. You will get these things regardless of whether or not we rut." The female didn't look like she believed him. He reached over and offered the browned hare to her, stick side. "It's hot but it should be really good."

Although she shook her head, he could see how she eyed the meat greedily. She licked her lips.

"Take it. You are hungry and you need the sustenance." He pushed the stick further forward.

"Maybe just a small taste."

She accepted the morsel and Coal felt a warmth blossom inside of him. He watched as she took a small nibble and then another and another. The warmth spread.

"It's good." She gave him the ghost of a smile.

Coal smiled back. They were sharing a moment. This felt important. It felt like the start of something. The female was interesting to him and her scent appealed. Maybe there was something there. Chances were small... tiny even, but at least it was something.