Page 19 of Possessed By the Dragon Alien
“No.” She glanced around the room again and thought of her small cottage at Settlement 112-1. It had been a pleasant, cozy place to be when her bondmate wasn’t in it. She’d kept it clean, but had added touches that she’d liked, like a wind chime and a hanging plant that put out sweet-smelling blossoms twice a year. She’d brought in dried fronds and woven wreaths with them. “This is where you live?”
“Where I exist,” he said in a strained voice. “I wouldn’t call it living.”
The honesty in his voice made her chest ache. Here was one of the most powerful beings in the empire, and his quarters were as sterile as a prison. No plants, no color, no warmth. Just duty and isolation.
She moved closer, drawn by some pull she couldn’t name. “Why did you bring me here?”
“You know why.” His wings shifted restlessly. “I couldn’t allow them to kill you.”
“There are other places you could have sent me.”
His gaze was impossibly intense. “I know.”
“Even though it proves what they fear?” She was pressing him and she wasn’t even sure why. Some need to extract a confession from him? He’d never denied their connection. Never tried to deflect. “That I affect you?”
And he didn’t try to now.
“Yes.” He turned to face her fully. “Even knowing it ends my position in Axis leadership and possibly my life, too.”
That took the air from her chest. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but she hadn’t expected a complete disavowal of his position. That the Axis would kill him for associating with her…
“I don’t want you to be punished because of me,” she said harshly. “Call back Rien and have her bring me somewhere else. My cell, even.” She clasped her hands tightly. “I am not worth the trouble I’m causing.”
He crossed to her in a flash, with a rustle of leathery wings, and loomed over her. It would be menacing, if Nena was still afraid of him. “Do not speak like that,” he ground out. “Do not presume your life is worth so little. You are more worthy of breathing air than I am, a thousand times over.”
Nena had no idea how to reply to that. She’d never seen herself as someone particularly valuable, except to her friends, and as a farm worker who helped make the Axis’ quota. But here was this dark, powerful male saying things that countered every view she had of herself. And he did it with such conviction that she had to believe he meant it. She swallowed through a tight throat. “What happens now?” she asked. The question felt too small for this moment, but she had nothing else. She wasn’t about toarguewith him about what her life was worth. “How long can you hide me here?”
“Until I figure out how to keep you safe.” His silver eyes caught the dim light. “Or until you choose to leave.”
“And go where?” She gestured at the expanse of Central in general. “I’m trapped in this dome just like you are.”
Something flickered across his expression at her words. “You think I’m trapped?”
“Aren’t you?” She looked around his stark quarters again, surprised he didn’t see the truth for himself. “All this power, andyou live like a prisoner. No personal belongings. No real home.” She met his gaze. “Just orders and duty and rules.”
He went still. “You see too much.”
“Maybe you’re finally seeing it too.” She took another step closer, close enough now to catch his scent. It was something clean and metallic, with an underlying warmth like sun-heated stone. “That’s what they’re afraid of, isn’t it? That I make you question things you never questioned before.”
His eyes glittered as they moved over her. “Yes.”
“And do you?” She held her breath. “Question things?”
“Every moment since I first saw you.” He reached out, fingers hovering near her face but not quite touching. “You make me see the chaos I’ve caused. The worlds I’ve helped destroy.” His hand dropped. “I don’t know who I am anymore.”
“Good.” The word slipped out before she could stop it.
His eyes narrowed. “Good?”
“Yes.” She lifted her chin. “Because the male you were before? He was part of a system that enslaves people. That takes their names, their freedom, their dignity.” Her voice shook. “That male wouldn’t have saved me tonight.”
Madrian’s breath hitched. He stared at her like she’d struck him, but there was something else in his expression too. Relief, maybe, or recognition.
“You’re right,” he said softly. “That male wouldn’t have.”
“So who are you now?”
“One who isn’t sure he can live with the destruction he’s caused.” Madrian moved closer, circling her like a predator sizing up his prey. “One who knows he can never redeem himself for the things he’s done. One who wants the female who stands in his chambers with a hunger so fierce it consumes him, but won’t taint her with the filth of his touch.”
