Page 15 of Consorting with Dragons

“No. Don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. It’s on Horvath, and we’re on the way there now,” he said, his voice firm.

“Oh, good.” I fell back on the pillow in abject relief and frankly unable to sit up another second with my side hurting the way it was.

The man turned to the doctor and told him something in a soft voice, and another man came in holding something in his hand.

“What’s that?”

“Something for pain.”

I didn’t let go of his hand. I felt a pinch in my arm and a feeling of drowsiness slowly overcame me. I closed my eyes, butjust before I sank down into sleep, I popped my eyes back open again and glared at him accusingly.

“But why won’t you tell me where I am?”

He smiled down at me, and I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep.

****

Quinn Fortina

“What’s wrong with him? Why does he keep asking me the same thing over and over? Is it part of his injury?”

The boy had finally fallen asleep as the sedatives took hold, but he’d refused to let go of my hand. Not that I’d tried very hard to remove it. I’d sit there all day if it helped him. I felt deeply protective over him. Unusually so, and it bothered me more than I wanted to let on

“The scans show he has a slight concussion and that’s probably causing his confusion and the short-term memory loss,” the doctor told me. “He had blunt trauma to his head, but luckily, there were no skull fractures, and I really expect the confusion to clear up soon. It’s not uncommon in these types of injuries and usually doesn’t cause any lasting problems.”

“I think the plan was to kidnap him, but that idiot nearly killed him when we closed in on him.”

“He’ll be fine. We’ll just need to watch him carefully and be patient with him. He’s pretty young, so he should bounce back.”

“How young?”

“Early twenties, I’d say. Hard to tell with his species. He’s small.”

“I think he’s part human. Maybe with some Tygerian in the mix.”

“That would explain it. He resembles the Tygerians in some ways. It’s the hair, I think, but he doesn’t have the skinmarkings. And he’s definitely got a little human blood in him—obviously he’s a hybrid species, possibly from one of the Tygerians’ so-called love slaves.”

“Maybe he’s one of the Moravian king’s bastards. He said he was a prince, but probably not legitimate. I hope not, anyway. It would make my negotiations harder.”

“Good thing you got to him when you did.”

I sighed. Of course, it was, but I was still furious about the casualties we’d suffered. The Thalian mercenaries had been insane to attack our ship when it was so much larger than theirs. What had they been so desperate to take from us? They’d tried to steal the egg as soon as they boarded us, so that was definitely part of it. And maybe they’d come for Rylan too. A king might pay a high ransom for his son, bastard or not.

“How are his ribs?”

“All I can do for them is provide pain relief and try to reduce the swelling. Once he’s up and around, I can put a rib supporter on him. It’s a treatment he can wear several times a day to help his ribs heal faster, but it will still take a little time. Perhaps the doctors at his home would have more they can do.”

“He’ll be at his home when we get to Horvath.” The doctor raised his eyebrows, but wisely didn’t reply.

I looked down at the boy again and felt the same strong pull as when I’d first seen him. He looked so small in the bed that was made for the Horvathian men onboard this ship. Horvathians averaged just under six five or so in height, and this boy would only come up to mid-chest on most of us. We kept our hair cut short, too, and certainly not worn in a riot of long curls in gold and red, falling down their backs, like a female’s. He wasn’t feminine—except for the hair, and that was a matter of style. He was far too good looking, though, and despite myself, I was affected by those long eyelashes sweeping over his cheeks. Not to mention the face with that almost perfect bone structure. Iforgot just how attractive he was until I was with him again—every time.

His body was toned and muscular, but still boyish. He was probably too young for me. I was nearing the age of thirty, and he was only in his early twenties, according to the doctor. I had developed the mating bond quickly, but I didn’t think he had it fully yet, though holding my hand seemed to comfort him.

I had absolutely no need of a mate—especially one like this boy. I didn’t want a male who was far too young, far too beautiful and who had possibly tried to steal one of our dragon eggs. No, it wouldn’t do, but if I had to deal with this—and it seemed I did—I’d just keep my distance as much as I could and not allow any greater attachment to form. So far, this was mostly just lust. I’d still mate him—and that was non-negotiable. I didn’t think I could do without him for long. But love? No. That was out of the question. I simply wouldn’t allow it to happen. It wouldn’t be good for either of us. I had to try harder to keep him at an emotional distance. Thate would be the best possible outcome.

“Let him sleep as long as he can and try to keep him as pain free as possible. Contact me when he shows signs of waking up again.”

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