At least Melanie had reminded him of that fact. A small, very small, part of him had wondered if his assigned female would be different. It was good to know she wasn’t.
Since his behavior didn’t seem to scare her off, he’d just have to think of other ways to persuade the female to leave either when her time was up or after she gave him a child.
To be honest, he wanted a child. A little male or female to help start a new family. His sister Arabella had been with his mother when the humans had captured her, and to this day, she hadn’t forgiven herself for leaving as their mother had begged her to do. But maybe a niece or nephew would finally help her to heal and move on.
Of course, that brought his problem full circle, to the female trailing behind him. Children required sex, and since he wasn’t a rapist, he’d have to get creative to get her naked.
The sound of Melanie’s half-jogging steps stopped. Wondering what she was doing now, he turned around to see her gaping at the collection of houses and workshops in the clan’s central living area. All of the houses were two stories and simple stone or brick, but even if her accent wasn’t quite English, she would’ve seen similar buildings in the little villages she’d passed on her way here.
On closer inspection, he realized that she wasn’t staring at the buildings but rather at the commotion going on behind them. The young dragons were practicing their take-offs and landings in the designated safe area.
The sight was an everyday occurrence to him, but not to the human.
But he didn’t care. All that mattered was getting her to Bram as fast as possible. He itched to go for a quick flight before the welcoming ceremony and every minute the female wasted watching the young dragons was a minute less of freedom spent in the skies.
Tristan walked over to Melanie and barked, “Stop gawking. We have a meeting with the clan leader.”
Her mouth had been hanging open, but she promptly shut it and scowled up at him. “There is nothing in my contract about having to follow your every order.” She crossed her arms across her chest and he forced himself not to look at her plumped up breasts. “Just ask me nicely to pick up my pace and see what happens.”
Yes, that determined glint was still in her eyes. As much as he wanted to get to Bram’s house, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why aren’t you afraid of me? For most humans, a dragon-shifter barking at them would send them into a fit.”
“I’m guessing by your comment that you didn’t read my file, so here it is: I’m earning my PhD in Social Anthropology. You do know what anthropology is, don’t you?”
He glared, careful not to let his confusion at her change of topic show. “I might be a big beast, but I have a brain. Anthropology is the study of culture.”
“Close enough.”
“And that has to do with your behavior how, exactly?”
She gestured to their surroundings. “All of this is new to me, and all I want to do is look at every detail and store it away into my memory. New cultures don’t scare me, they fascinate me.”
Bloody fantastic. His assigned female was going to take a lot of persuading to make her leave at the end of her time. “You can look your fill tomorrow. Right now, you either need to start walking, or I’ll use other ways to get you to the meeting.”
She pointed a finger at him. “You act all scary and badass, but unless you want to risk your clan’s participation in the sacrifice system, you won’t hurt me.”
She was right; he would never deny the future of his clan that way. Nevertheless, he could do many things without hurting her.
He tossed her bag on the ground, bent over a little, pushed his shoulder against her body, and lifted her.
She squeaked and said, “What are you doing?”
He tightened his grip on her legs and tried to ignore the soft, feminine curves pressed against his body or the way her feminine scent made his inner dragon rumble in appreciation. His dragon said inside his head, Her softness will be nice. When can we fuck her?
Shit. He didn’t need pressure from his inner beast. Not now.
Forcing his dragon-half to the back of his mind, he said, “I’m not going to argue with you or try to be all nice and polite. That’s not who I am, and I’m sure as hell not going to change for you. So in the interest of time, I’ll just carry you. Your contract allows that.”
He started walking. He expected her to struggle, but leave it to the woman to start talking instead. “I have always believed the dragon-shifters weren’t the caveman alphas you’re all rumored to be, but your behavior has changed that. What are you going to do next? Chain me to a bed?”
“Thanks for giving me the idea, human. Keeping you tied to my bed might speed up the conception process, and then you can go live with the other unmated humans and give us both some peace.”
Melanie huffed, but fell quiet. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or be worried that she was coming up with a way to get back at him. If she kept standing up to him and challenging him at every turn, he might just have to tie her to the bed to keep her out of trouble.