Page 15 of Chosen By the Dragon Alien

Cyprian’s expression shut down. His hand curled around her arm. “We’re not having this conversation here.” He propelled her toward the exit gently enough that no one would suspect anything was amiss. Firmly enough for her not to resist.

“Here’s to new beginnings,” Pimmi declared, raising his glass as they passed.

Cyprian’s grip tightened. “Excuse our new arrival. It is time for Fivra to retire,” he said to the protests of the males. “Too much wine, I’m afraid.”

Fivra gritted her teeth, not even pretending to agree with him. Her fists clenched, but thankfully she kept quiet. Cyprian drew her down the hallway. His large frame cast a shadow that seemed to envelop her as they retreated from the party. “Fivra,” he said. “Do not speak until we are alone.”

She stumbled along on her high heels, trying to match his longer stride and failing. She tripped and lost her balance. If not for his hold on her arm, she’d be sprawled on the floor. “Must you walk sofekkingfast?”

In response, he scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder, one arm locked around the back of her thighs.

She squirmed, wriggling and causing her breasts to rub against his back. “I can walk, Cyprian.”

“Not fast enough,” he growled in reply, taking her through corridors he could navigate in his sleep, and finally ending up in his office, where he shifted her off his shoulder and onto the floor.

Cyprian studied her for a moment. She looked vastly different from the terrified bundle that had huddled on the floor the first time they met. Fists on hips, and a rolling fury that turned her eyes nearly luminous, she was a powerful, beautiful, and dangerous female.

Her gaze narrowed on the flare of his nostrils. Twin ribbons of smoke curled from them. “Is smoke coming out of your nose?” she asked.

He turned and pinned her with his own gaze, which must have looked furious, but actually was not. “Yes. I am a dragon underneath this civilized creature you see,” he explained. “And when I am upset, the dragon comes to the surface. If I am pushed too far, I become it.”

Fivra bit her lip. He could see that she had more questions about this, but now was not the time. She took a steadying breath and sat in the closest chair. “Why did that male say I was a former member of a penal colony?”

Cyprian’s wings flexed at her words. “Because youarefrom a penal colony.”

“And you knew this?”

“Yes.”

Her voice rose in pitch. “How did Pimmi know this?”

“The symbols on your neck.” He gestured to the 591-A that glowed blue on the skin below her ear. “They are commonly used by the Axis to mark their inmates.”

She blinked rapidly, one hand curling into the delicate fabric of her dress. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He hesitated, weighing his words carefully. “I didn’t see how that would help with your transition here. It would give you one more thing to worry over.” He flicked a hand in her direction. “As it clearly has done.”

“So you thought it wiser that I hear it from a client at a party?”

He rubbed his face. What a mess. “I did not foresee anyone bringing it up, no. And if Pimmi hadn’t overindulged in his drink, he would not have.”

“My entire settlement…” Her gaze drifted vacantly toward the window, as if searching the stars for the one that held her planet in orbit. “We areallprisoners?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Were we going to be released at some point?”

“It doesn’t appear so,” he replied. “I am no expert on the Axis’ colony policies, but it seems yours is generational incarceration.” Just saying those words made his gut twist. He couldn’t think of anything more cruel, more sick, than punishing generations of people until they didn’t even know they were prisoners anymore. Suffering had become their life, but they never knew why.

“What did we do?” Her voice was mostly air. “What crime did we commit to deserve—” She cut off with a choking sound and shook her head. Her shoulders rounded and her face crumpled. Tears turned her eyes to sapphires and fell down her cheeks.

And that was all he could take. His control cracked into a thousand shards. He came forward, pulled her up from the chair and dragged her into his arms. She clung to him, letting the tears fall. Her hands fisted in the front of his shirt. “Nothing,” he said just as quietly, as his wings moved forward and wrapped around her. “Nothing at all.”

“Then,why?”

He didn’t have that answer. It was somewhere deep in the Axis’ database, with thousands of other secrets. All he could do was hold her, and a twisted part of him wasfekkinggrateful for an excuse to do so. Her warm body curled against his, waking that hunger that always scratched just beneath the surface when she was around. He breathed in the scent of her pink hair, unable to recognize himself in the male he was when he was with her.

Long ago, he’d learned that there was no use for softer emotions. No point in trying to help people. If they were damaged, they were damaged, and the kindest thing to do was leave them alone. That was why Erovik was a place forcourtiaswho knew what they were doing. Perhaps they were damaged, too, but they knew how to thrive in a place that played by their rules. They could earn enough credits to choose their own path.

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