Observing Clan Stonefire as an anthropologist was going to be her coping technique. Yes, she would have to get naked with some dragonman and possibly bear his half-dragon child, but she was going to make the most of her six months here, or longer. If she played her cards right, she might be able to write her doctoral thesis on something to do with the Stonefire dragons.
She’d been struggling to come up with a good thesis idea, but a close study on how the dragon-shifters lived would be groundbreaking since very few true facts were known about them. In Mel’s opinion, giving humans a glimpse into their daily lives might help ease the fear surrounding the dragon clans. Far too many parents still told legends of how dragons would swoop down and pluck children from their parents to eat them as part of the nighttime story routines.
A sound that was a mixture of an eagle’s cry and a lion’s roar echoed through the air. Mel stopped in her tracks as she clapped her hands over her ears against the noise. Before she could look up to see what had caused it, she had to close her eyes against the wind as it whooshed over her. Two seconds later, she opened her eyes to see the receding shapes of a gold and red dragon fade into the distance. She could only make out their wings and large bodies before they disappeared from her line of sight, and disappointment rushed over her. One of the perks of living with the dragon-shifters was that she could finally see a dragon up close, but it looked like it wasn’t going to happen quite yet.
She looked over and saw Tristan standing with her bag. Before she could stop herself, she asked, “Do you ever take humans up with you when you’re in dragon form?”
His neutral expression became dark. “We’re not pack animals at the mercy of human masters.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“You obviously haven’t had to deal with dragon hunters or pro-containment activists. Some say that being pack animals or blood donors is all we’re good for.” He turned and started walking. “Come on. Stonefire’s clan leader is waiting for you.”
Asshole. Even if he was having a bad day, he didn’t have to be so rude.
Mel half-jogged to catch up with him. He was still a foot or two ahead of her, but if he thought it would deter her from continuing their conversation, he was sadly mistaken. Anger had always made her brave—and a little bit careless. “You’re right; I don’t know much about the poachers or the anti-dragon people. But unless you tell me, I never will.”
Tristan stopped and she nearly ran into his back. He looked over his shoulder. “Look, I’m going to lay out the facts for you. While you might’ve volunteered for this, I didn’t and I don’t plan to waste my time on getting to know you or some such bullshit. I will do what I’m contracted to do, nothing more. I suggest you gear yourself up for some sex and enjoy it, because that’s all you’re going to get from me.”
Mel blinked. “You’re the male assigned to me?”
Tristan turned and gave a mocking bow. “The cream of the crop, my lady.”
“Somehow, I doubt it.”
There was a flash of hatred in his eyes. “I don’t want this any more than you do, but you signed the contract, which means you’re going to try to give me a child. And if all goes well, I hope you’ll leave me and my child alone and go back to your human life.”
He started walking again, and all Mel could do was stare. How in the hell was she supposed to sleep with him? She’d tried not to build up any fantasies about her life with the dragon-shifters, but never in a million years had she expected such a bastard to be assigned to her.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have a choice; her hands were tied with the contract she’d signed.
Mel clenched her fists at her side and picked up her pace to catch up with Tristan. At least by the terms of her contract, she had two sex-free days to get to know the clan and have her basic questions answered. Somehow, in those two days, she needed to either find out why Tristan hated her so much or try to find a way to transfer the contract to a different dragonman.
Chapter Three
Thankfully, for the rest of the walk to Bram’s house, Melanie remained silent.
Tristan had laid out the facts and been as blunt as he could be, but if the stubborn glint in her eye was anything to go on, his brusque manner wasn’t going to be enough.
He still couldn’t believe her first question about his clan was whether dragons ever took humans up for a ride in the air or not. Even putting aside the fact she didn’t know much, if anything, about dragon-shifter ways, would she ask a human male she just met if she could have a piggyback ride?
No. She wouldn’t.
Humans felt entitled and had always viewed themselves superior to the “dragon beasts”. The restrictive laws in Britain about where they could go or who could visit their land only reinforced that fact.
As a boy, he’d dismissed the tales of human cruelty as nothing more than stories. But then they had tortured and killed his mother and he’d finally understood what monsters they could be.