Page 17 of Monsters In Her Head

Cadben nodded eagerly. “Yes, of course. I look forward to it.”

Baron snorted. “He’s just being polite. He doesn’t want to hear about a stupid fight. His highness has more pressing matters that don’t involve our pathetic squabbles.”

Frowning, Cadben avoided Desmond’s face and stepped aside. “Sorry, your highness. Didn’t mean to keep you from your work.”

Sighing, Desmond relinquished. “Baron is right. I can’t focus on the fight right now, but I wasn’t lying about wanting to hear about it. Perhaps later?”

Cadben’s head jerked up and his eyes beamed. “Yes, your highness. Of course.”

Happy that he had saved the drake’s feelings, Desmond pushed into the female’s quarters with a lopsided fang toothed grin. “My lovely creatures of grace and beauty, it has been too long.”

The females paused what they were doing at his appearance. A few of them turned back to their tasks while the younger females, the ones ripe for mating, swarmed him with eager glee.

“Your highness, have you seen my new necklace? I made it myself.”

“Look at this dagger. Isn’t the inlay gorgeous.”

“Why haven’t you called on me? I thought we had fun.”

Desmond held his palms up and shook his head with a laugh. “My lovelies, I would love to say this is a social visit but I do have a reason for coming here that doesn’t involve pleasure.” He said the word, so it ended in a growl, sending the arousal spiking in the room.

“What do you need? Anything, my prince.” One of the closer drake females, Ordya, he thought her name was, purred, her pale yellow scales gleaming in the light. “Anything at all.”

Pushing down his own mating urges, Desmond scanned the room for the one he had come for. Not seeing the small woman, he turned back to the females at his feet. “Where is the human female? The shorter, plumper one, Aryn? I have need of her.”

A round of disappointed sounds filled his ears, leaving him wishing he could calm their fears, but he was on a mission.

“Ugh,” Daylea snarled from his left side. “What is so special about these human females? Do they have ale flavored nipples? Do their cunts dance upon your cocks?”

A few of the females giggled at Daylea’s words. Others shot Daylea glares and disapproving looks. The females were still split in their opinion of Georgia and Aryn. Desmond had hoped they would have come along further than that by now.

Pursing his lips, Desmond turned to Daylea. He grasped her chin between his clawed fingers, causing her eyes to widen and her pulse to race in his ears. “I could never find a human more appealing than one of my kind...” He let his claws tighten, biting into her scaled flesh. “If you disrespect our visitors in my presence again, I will make sure that they are the last words you will ever speak, am I clear?”

Daylea swallowed and tried to nod but couldn’t against Desmond’s grip.

Desmond released her with enough force to send her stumbling back. Sensing his anger, the females back away from him, a mixture of fear coating the arousal in the air. “Now,” he turned to the other females. “Who can assist me in finding the human, Aryn?”

“I can,” a smaller female of a bright sapphire blue stepped forward. She shrank back against the glares given by some of the other females but kept coming.

“Wonderful, thank you for your help...” Desmond wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her an encouraging squeeze. “I don’t believe I know your name.”

“Mai, prince... highness... I mean your highness.” She stuttered over her words, tugging on the long dark blue strands of her hair braided down the side of her face and over her shoulder. “My name is Mai.”

“Well, then Mai. Where can I find my prey?” I let the teasing tone in my voice smooth over the tension in the room.

Swallowing first, Mai wrung her hands together, her claws bitten to the quicks. “Aryn likes to work in the kitchens. You’ll probably find her there.”

“Getting in the cooks way, no doubt.” another female he couldn’t identify snorted causing a good-natured laugh. Desmond let that one go, or he’d be here all day.

“Very well. It seems as if my search continues.” Desmond released Mai and headed for the door. “As always my lovelies, it has been a pleasure.”

Desmond ducked out of the room before any of them could attach themselves to his person. He didn’t interact with the guards this time not wanting to be distracted from his mission.

The kitchens were in a different part of the mountain, near the north entrance so they could access the river that ran nearby. The closer Desmond came to the kitchens the more the air filled with the savory scent of meat and sweetness of the rolls being made for the evening meal. Desmond’s stomach growled its approval as he stepped into the warm room.

Unlike the female’s quarters, the kitchens held a half dozen maybe more drakes. Many of them rushing back and forth to this task or that. The cook biting the heads off them for messing something up or distracting them.

Personally, Desmond tried to stay away from the kitchens. Bry, the head cook, didn’t particularly like him.

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