He gestured toward the table. “Sit down with me and I’ll explain as much as I can.”
She nodded and somehow made her legs carry her to the seat next to Bram. The table faced out, and she could still see all of the Stonefire dragons looking at her. Now that she’d seen the dragon-shifter females, who were all tall, toned, and beautiful, she wondered if the whispers were about Tristan’s misfortune to be assigned her, a mere human.
No. As humiliating as Tristan pushing her away after their kiss and fleeing was, she wasn’t going to give everyone the satisfaction of dismissing her because she was curvy, short, and a “mere human”.
She took a deep breath and exhaled. She did it one more time and decided she had her emotions under control enough to talk without breaking down. She looked over at Bram. “Tell me why they’re all whispering and staring at me. Since Tristan isn’t here to protect me, it’s your job now to do it.”
He gave a half smile. “Never give up that backbone or core of steel, lass. It’s sure to win you the respect of the clan.”
She wasn’t sure how to interpret the pseudo-compliment, so she decided to press her question again. “Just tell me. Please. Is that how it always goes with the human sacrifices?”
Bram shook his head. “No, we haven’t seen anything like it since Samira.”
She frowned. “Samira? What does she have to do with this?”
“I wish I could tell you it’s nothing and that everything will be fine. But in reality, things could go very, very wrong if we’re not careful.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “You aren’t making any sense. Please just tell me what’s going on.”
Bram gave her a serious look. “Tristan’s dragon-half wants you as its mate.”
She blinked. “What? Dragon mates are like spouses, right?” Bram nodded. “Then how in the world could his dragon want me for that kind of future? I’ve barely known Tristan a day.”
“That doesn’t matter. As soon as a dragon-shifter kisses a potential mate, the dragon knows what the human-half ignores. Mainly, that you are his or her best chance at not only reproducing several times, but also that you’re his or her best chance at happiness, which means a long life and the ability to raise young.”
Melanie frowned. Despite her best attempt at researching the dragon-shifters before coming here, all of this information was new to her. “From one kiss, his inner dragon knows all of this? But how?”
“Not even we understand everything about our dragons. But if nothing else, our inner beasts rely on instinct. It could be something about your scent or the build of your body that draws the dragon. All I know is that I’ve never seen a dragon act so possessively during a First Kiss without that dragon going on to try to claim the person in question. The same reaction happened when Samira’s mate, Liam, kissed her on this same stage, almost four years ago.”
She took another deep breath. This was too much to process right now; she’d have to sort it all out more carefully later. In the meantime, she was going to use this opportunity to get more information on the dragon mate business. “Okay, let’s pretend I accept all of this for the moment. Why would this put me in danger? If his dragon wants me as a mate, I would think that Tristan’s inner dragon would want to protect me, not harm me.”
Bram shook his head. “Not necessarily. We may look human, but our dragons are primal and take what they want. If Tristan loses the battle with his dragon-half, he could very well take you against your will and keep taking you until he can scent you’re carrying his child.”
Someone put a dish of food in front of her, but Melanie was no longer hungry. “Is there a way to stop him? After all, you said ‘potential mate’, which means it doesn’t always succeed.”
Bram’s mouth turned grim. “A dragon will only move on in two instances. First, if either party dies. Second, after a child is born. In the latter case, the dragon is satisfied with an offspring to care for and is willing to try again with someone else if the female doesn’t want him.”
So much for finding a way to keep the sex-crazed dragonman from chasing her or for transferring her sacrifice contract to another dragon-shifter male. She had a feeling that if Tristan’s dragon-half was determined to have her, no other male would be stupid enough to stand in the way.
She was stuck with him. “And neither of those two cases qualifies right now, right?”
“No. At this point, the best thing is for you to allow him to take you early. Otherwise, we’ll have to drug him unconscious until the third day, when the contract allows him to touch you. And even then, while human Tristan would wait for your consent if you weren’t ready by the third day, the dragon-half probably won’t.”