Dragons of Preor: Taulan (8 page)

Slowly. Methodically. Painfully.

L
ana woke with a splitting headache
, her head throbbing in time with her heart. She squeezed her eyelids and then pulled them open, blinking against the blinding light. She slammed them closed once more and turned her head away from the glow. Her next attempt came one eye at a time, a slow reveal that didn’t sting quite so much. Of course, with her head turned, her first view wasn’t of those glaring bulbs but the face of a stranger.

She jerked back, unnerved by the male’s closeness, only to groan and curse herself for the movement.

“She has woken, Healing Master.” The stranger spoke and pushed to his feet. It was then she noticed his uniform—of sorts. The Preor warriors wore straps that crossed their chests and tight pants, both made from a tanned leather-type material that was native to their planet. The markings on one of the thick straps denoted his rank—First Warrior.

Hands gripped her, one wrapping around her wrist while another clipped something to her forefinger on the other hand. She wrenched her arms free, swallowing her moan of pain as she sought to evade their grips. She’d already been held down by another Preor. She didn’t want to add others to the mix.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” she growled.

“War Mistress—“ One healer attempted to grasp her wrist again.

“Lana Coburn—“ That healer clipped the device to her finger.

This time, she wasn’t as nice. Despite the pain throbbing through her body, encasing her veins and sinking into her muscles, she crawled away from them. She pulled her legs up and crab walked backward until she clenched the edge of the platform-bed-thing.

She gritted her teeth and swallowed the agony that came with her next movement. She kicked against the platform’s surface and held the edges even tighter. Between the push and the tightening of her muscles, she flipped up and back, rolling until her feet landed on the ground with a resounding thud that sent a jolt of pain up her spine. She hadn’t retained much about the defense portion of her self-defense class, but Steven taught her one thing—the importance of getting away. She was very, very good at that.

She swayed on uneasy legs, fighting for balance as she kept her attention focused on the males in the room. The two healers and the First Warrior weren’t the only ones around her. No, two others lingered near other platforms. Like hers, they held bodies. Unlike hers, the bodies lying there were covered in translucent pods.

The Knowing rushed forward.
Freeze containers for the dead.
At least it didn’t try and spout the Preor language at her.

Who’d died?

Movement drew her gaze back to those surrounding her, the healers and single warrior standing uneasily nearby. Well, the healers looked uneasy. The warrior had a speculative gleam in his eyes.

“War Mistress…” The elder of the two healers—a Healing Master if the Knowing was to be believed—took a step forward.

Lana countered his movement with one of her own, heading backward and farther away.

“Lana Coburn…” The younger healer tried again and she bristled at the name he’d used.

“My name is—“

The First Warrior finished berating the male on her behalf. “
Lana joi Taulan Coburn
. And you will remember this or I shall beat it into you.”

Okay, she liked the warrior. She still didn’t want the healers touching her. Not that she wanted the warrior, but she liked him a hint more than the other two.

Her location was obvious, but the reason escaped her. She hadn’t been
that
hurt. Had she? She could take a punch. Steven proved that many times over. “What happened?”

“You suffered from a broken cheekbone, fractured ribs, several contusions—“

Lana licked her lower lip. She would have just called it a split lip, but whatever.

“—And shock.” So… nothing new. “It also appears you have suffered many such injuries in the—“

The first question that came to her during every hospital stay jumped forward once again. “Can I go?” She ached, but didn’t
hurt
. “Where’s Taulan?” She didn’t want to talk about what she’d endured in the past. At all. Ever.

“I do not know why you rose before your healing was complete, but you still have additional—“

She held up a hand, silencing the healer. “I’ve been healing on my own for a long time.” She pressed her fingers to her ribs, checking her pain level. “And I’ve felt worse. This’ll be gone in a day or two.”

The elder healer wasn’t giving up. “You must—“

“I shall escort you to your quarters, War Mistress.” The First Warrior stepped forward and she decided he was her new best friend.

“Where’s Taulan?”

The First Warrior’s lips tightened and formed a white slash beneath his nose. “On the command deck.”

And the command deck was on the way to her quarters. “We’ll swing by there on the way home.”

Home. Was their suite home now? A home of sorts, anyway. Private, quiet, and theirs. With her fight with those two Preors came something else—the destruction of her hold on the Knowing. Now information flowed freely, Preor words identifying every part of the ship rested at the tips of her fingers and the edges of her mind.

The First Warrior kept pace with her, his heavy boots thumping against the metal pathway. He kept his pace slow—or at least slow
er
—for her. His steps were shorter and matched her own, the massive male not drifting from her side or attempting to lead her.

“What’s your name?” She might as well learn as many names as she could. It seemed she’d be on the ship—with Taulan—for the rest of her life. Might as well learn about those involved in it.

“Skala sen Hweda, War Mistress,” he murmured.

They turned yet another corner and Skala froze in place. When she turned her attention to him, it was to see his wings fluttering. His nostrils flared and a glare overcame his eyes. She followed his line of sight and her eyes fell on a splotch of red that marred the silver.

Blood.

Probably her blood.

He growled low, maroon scales coming into view while his wings shimmied once more. “Skala? I…” The Knowing surged. She had to appeal to his need to nurture and cosset a female. She softened her voice and swayed. The swaying wasn’t faked but the hoarse whisper was. “Skala sen Hweda.”

He slowly tore his attention from her. “War Mistress?”

“I’m getting tired. Are we close?”

He glanced at the spot once more and then nodded. He gestured for her to continue. “This way.”

Skala didn’t say a word as they traversed the rest of the hallways.
He
was quiet but
she
was not.

Who were the males who attacked Taulan and me?

Droze and Luuvak. Cousins and Droze’s father was an important male to the council.

How did they come through the battle?

Dead.

Dead.
Dead.
The word rang through her mind, bouncing around her brain and refusing to be banished. Dead?

“I didn’t think—“

“They breathed when you departed,” Skala assured her.

“Then who was it? What happened?” She slowed her travels. If the men were alive when she and Taulan left, who’d completed the job?

“The Preor…” he frowned and looked away.

“Skala?”

“Droze and Luuvak were taken into custody and then the War Master vowed that—“

Skala’s words were silenced by their arrival at the command deck. And the shouts from within. He pressed the palmpad to part the doors and they emerged into… chaos.

No, not chaos, her mate on a rampage.

Taulan stood in the center of the massive space, his skin a deep purple and covered in scales. His shoulders were broader, thicker and more heavily muscled. His legs stretched his pants near to bursting and his hands were tipped with deadly claws. The massive screen at the other end of the room was split down the middle, two males glaring at her mate.

Then their words filtered through.

“My female still sleeps! A full turning since your dragonlets attacked and she still recovers!” Taulan roared.

The male on the left sneered while the one on the right snorted.

“So you
kill
worthy males? You, wingless bastard, dared—“

“At least she still breathes and lives to taint your line!”

Taulan inhaled and released the breath slowly, his body expanding even further. “If you dare speak another word—“

“What shall you do Taulan sen Pavon? Shall you murder me as you murdered my son?”

Lana sucked in a harsh breath and pressed a hand to her stomach. Had he killed for her?

“I would be justified to end the life of a male who dared touch my mate.
Justified!
” Now, every word was a ship-shaking roar.

“You. Lie,” the left Preor hissed.

“Say the words again, Councilman, and I will forget who you are and rip the words from your lips.” The banked violence in her mate’s tone told her he’d do it, too.

Lana took a step forward, intent on ending the verbal battle before it escalated further. She wasn’t sure of the details, but these two had to be the fathers of the dead males. Dead males Taulan destroyed? Did she care? She shifted her weight and swallowed her groan of pain. No, maybe she didn’t. Not when the agony throbbed through her veins like a burning blaze.

A soft, barely-there touch from Skala had her hesitating and she quirked a brow in question. When he remained quiet—not attempting to stop her—she returned to her path.

Her steps were silent as she approached, the males around her slowly coming to notice her presence. But her mate did not. Not yet. She didn’t stop until she stood at his side and a soft touch to his arm was all it took to garner his attention. He looked to her with a snarl on his lips that quickly disappeared beneath the stark relief in his gaze.

“
Shaa kouva
.” Large arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, and she sank into his tight hold. “
Shaa kouva
,” his warm breath fanned her cheek.

“Who’s that?”

“Are we not worth your attention,
War Master
?”

A deep growl vibrated through her and she stroked his chest in an attempt to sooth him. It didn’t work. Instead, Taulan released her and pushed her behind him so he could face off against the two males. “You will speak with respect within Lana’s presence or I will remove your ability to speak!” The bellow shook the area.

“
This
is the reason for their deaths? This useless—“

“End the comm,” Taulan shouted and the Comm Warrior gave her mate a doubtful look.

Lana nodded, trying to encourage him, not scare him beyond belief.

“You can’t—“

“How dare—“

The screens blinked out. They could and they did dare.

Strong, firm arms wrapped around her, engulfing her in his scent and sweetness. She felt nothing but safe in those massive arms, any hint of unease vanishing with the embrace. “I thought I would lose you,” he whispered.

“I’m harder to kill than that. It was just a few cracked ribs.”

His lips brushed the top of her head and then her temple, soothing her with nothing more than those barely-there kisses. “You are precious and vulnerable.” He released her and placed a finger beneath her chin, encouraging her to lift her gaze to his. “And you’re mine.”

Then he kissed her. Not sweetly or softly but with intent. He plundered her mouth with his passion, suckling and stroking as if he couldn’t get enough of her. He possessed her fully, taking and taking while she whimpered and moaned. She clung to him, fingers curled around his biceps in an attempt to remain upright. Despite her pain, her body reacted instantly, nipples hardening and pussy heating with the need for touch. For
his
touch,
his
caress,
his…
love.

Yes. Maybe not now, not right that second, but someday. At the moment, she was more concerned about her injuries, the dead bodies, and the Preors from the screen. She pulled from his kiss, slowly easing it until their passion simmered. “What’s going on, Taulan?”

He huffed and then sighed. “Come,
shaa kouva
. Let us retire and I… I shall tell you.”

T
aulan could not figure
out who he wished to kill first. The Healing Master, Skala, or the sires of Droze and Luuvak. Then there were all the males he passed as he strode down the corridors, Lana secure in his arms. One such Third Warrior’s gaze lingered on her body a moment too long and he bared his fangs with a drawn out hiss.

“Avert your eyesss.” Or he would claw them out.

Lana nuzzled his chest and rested her cheek on his shoulder. “
Shaa kouvi
…”

He shuddered, not believing he got a chance to hear those words from Lana once more. When he’d left medical and sought Droze and Luuvak… He hadn’t been sure he would be able to return. Murder, destruction, and death were all on his mind.

He would end them. End the Vender line with Droze’s passing and cripple Luuvak’s family.

But when he’d arrived at the holding cells they’d—

“Taulan?” Lana’s murmur was like a soft caress.

“Here,
shaa kouva
. We’re almost to our suite.” If she was well enough to rise and travel from medical to the command deck on her own two feet, she was well enough to heal in their rooms.

He ignored the warrior and returned to his hurried path, his determined stride eating up the space. Every male they came across jumped out of the way, their gazes averted yet they showed her respect by saluting as they passed. Once more, several whispered healing wishes and prayers to the stars for his mate. Already, they loved her. Loved her for the way she’d defended herself, suffered injuries and yet accepted his touch.

He made the last turn and did not slow until they were secured in the suite. No others would be granted entrance until his mate had been cared for. None.

Taulan carefully lowered her to the couch and he was once more thankful for its presence. He shifted his hold, pulling his arm from beneath her legs, and moved to release her further only to have her cling to him.

“Wait.” She snatched his hand and inhaled with a long hiss. He bet she’d harmed herself with that quick action. Her hold didn’t lessen, but she did slowly rest her back on the plush cushions. She whispered her plea once more. “Wait.”

He knelt at her side, one arm cradling her shoulders and head while she clutched his free hand. “What is it? What do you require? I can—“

“Hush.” Her voice was soft and thin and he wondered if it was that way due to fatigue or disuse. Deciding to listen to her request, he remained silent and waited for her to speak further. “What’s happened since…?”

Taulan settled on the ground, content to bask in his mate’s presence. He did not care if he sounded like a young, swooning dragonlet. His mate was
alive
,
awake,
and
with him
.

He just would not tell others of his behavior.

“The Healing Master sedated you so they could heal your injuries,” he murmured, keeping his volume low. “They said you would be sore?” She nodded and he mentally cursed, wishing he could bring those two back from the stars and kill them himself. “Once you were firmly in their care, I went to confront the two males who had attacked.”

He shook his head and dropped it forward, resting his forehead on his mate’s chest. Her ample chest. Soft and sweet and… He could not imagine his mate nude while he finished the story. A small part of him assured Taulan he could.

His mind replayed those few anxiety and rage-fueled moments. His handful of steps away from Lana, the pain that lined her features, and finally the soft sigh that’d left her when she slept. “I left instructions for the males to be taken to holding while I cared for you.” He released a low chuckle. It was funny and yet not. “At least they made it to holding.”

Delicate fingers stroked his hair, sliding through the strands in a soft caress. “What happened then?”

He closed his eyes, vision filling with swaths of red. “They were dead.”

Lana gasped. “I… You…”

He quickly lifted his gaze and met her stare. He shook his head. “No,
shaa kouva
. It was not you nor me.” He remembered the heavy stench of fresh blood that’d crowded the small area, the burgundy coating the walls and flooring. Great swaths of liquid peppered the metal. Someone had dipped their hands in the fluid and left macabre handprints all over the surface. “Between when I left them in the aerie and when I returned, another gained access to them and ended their lives.”

“What…?” she swallowed hard and licked her lips.

Taulan cursed his body’s response to her, cursed his hard cock and throbbing need. It pulsed, riding his veins and spreading that desperate desire to consume every inch of his body. His kouva was injured. He should not lust after her like a dragonlet. Yet… yet he wished for nothing more than another taste of her lips, another caress, the feel of her unclothed body against his.

“What happened? I mean, who was it?”

Taulan chuckled. “The obvious suspect is me.” He shook his head, remembering his vow to the Healing Master. “But it was not me.” He sighed and stroked his mate, fingers toying with her long strands. “And the data feeds were destroyed.”

“Destroyed?” She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. It was an emotion he shared with her. Preor systems were designed with various failsafes and backups. For the data to be completely
gone
… It was beyond Taulan’s comprehension.

“Destroyed. Gone as if it had never existed.”

“Taulan, did you…?”

“No,
shaa kouva
.” He turned his hand and captured her fingers. He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed a soft kiss over the delicate skin. “No. I swear it. I would have had I found them there, but they did not die at my hand. Nor at those I call friends.”

Though he also knew Jarek would have been in line to end the males’ lives if Taulan did not.

“But the two men on the screens said—“

Those two males he would gladly end as well.
Gladly
.

“They are Droze and Luuvak’s fathers. They are looking to lay blame. I regret their deaths—“ Or rather, the fact that they did not happen at his claw. “—But I am not at fault. An investigation has commenced.” He stroked her cheek, ghosting his fingertips over the hollows beneath her eyes. “And now you are tired,
shaa kouva
. You are meant to be in bed. Resting. Recovering.”

“I feel,” she yawned and stretched, wincing when she pushed herself too far. “Fine.”

“You are telling a falsehood.” He trusted himself enough to give her a kiss on the cheek. Except, once he pressed his lips to her flesh, he realized he should not have. Not when her mouth was so deliciously close to her cheek. His mouth watered and a craving for her punched him in the stomach. He wanted to taste her, caress her, give and take everything he possibly could.

Her small nails dug into his flesh, carving small lines into him where she gripped. And that hint of pain was the last nudge he required.

Taulan tossed aside all misgivings and captured her lips with his own. He’d mauled her on the command deck and he’d resolved not to do it again. Resolutions were made to be broken. He slipped his tongue past her lips, caressing her with a delicate touch. A teasing wave that tormented her and then he followed it with a determined stroke. Delicate flutters followed by a deep tasting. Over and over, he repeated those motions, drawing moans from his mate and groans from him.

He was rock hard once more, body demanding relief, and his back itched and twitched. Had he retained his wings, they would flutter with his arousal, signaling his desire better than words ever could. But he didn’t have wings. He was a wingless—

Lana sucked on his tongue, taking control of the kiss and stealing all rational thought from his mind. He craved his mate like a drug, his body burning for her, and it only got worse the longer they touched. He should move away from her, put space between them. She was still suffering from her injuries and did not—

Her small nails scraped his flesh and squeezed his shoulder. Then that touch traveled over his chest, scoring his pecs and further south. As they kissed, his mate moved even more. She, she, she…

She sat up and wrapped her legs around him, cradling him close. He tilted his head back, allowing her to take control and set the pace of their connection. He could easily rise above her, take her, claim her, make her—

No, he would not do that. Not yet. He must first—

She cupped his hardness, fingers dancing over his length and she squeezed him gently. He must first what?

Taulan wasn’t sure. He couldn’t think. Not when Lana caressed him in such a way. Not when she stroked him, tugged on his clothing and made love to him with her mouth.

“
Shaa kouva
,” he mumbled and eased the kiss only to be dragged back in. “Lana,” he tried again, but not very hard. He enjoyed her touch too much to protest her actions. She flicked the closure of his pants and he realized he had to put a stop to their loving now. “
Lana.”

She pulled away, separating their mouths. “Taulan,” she whined.

“What are you doing?” He would not—could not—give in to her. She was injured. If she would not care for herself, he would do the job. Besides, the challenges would soon commence. He could not claim her in good conscience when…

Still holding his cock and clinging to his shoulder, she eased back until their stares clashed. “I’m making you mine.”