Page 66 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons
‘Like Jesse?’
He doesn’t say it, but his silence is telling. ‘Go to the kitchens,’ he mutters after a moment.
I do as I’m told, going back to the closet first and putting my basket inside. I walk quickly back to where I’m supposed to be, keeping my eyes open and feeling like there are enemies everywhere. Mostly because there are. I have no friends here.
I’m put back on dish duty, but at least it seems like the kitchen is a human area and none of the dragon people come in here.
I see Jesse enter a little while later and do a double take at me, but I ignore her, and she doesn’t say anything to me or ask how I got out of the locked bedroom.
I wash dishes for hours. I have no idea what time it is, or when I’m supposed to work until, but when I ask the overseer, he tells me in an annoyed voice that I work until the work is done. The other humans clear out long before I do though, and I’m left alone in the kitchens working by myself.
‘Maybe it’s like hazing,’ I mutter to myself, hoping that leaving me with the dinner plates is all they’ll do.
When the last dish is done, I realize that I have no idea how to get back to the Commander’s rooms. I poke my head out of the kitchen door and look both ways. They look the same.
When Dreythos’ aide dropped me off here this morning, he told me someone would come and get me, but of course no one has. I look around the kitchen, wondering if I’m supposed to sleep here, but there aren’t any blankets or anything . Plus, he told Tor and Brax that I’d be staying with him. I’m sure of it.
He promised he’d protect me.
I frown and pick a direction. Fuck it. I’m tired and this dumb dress they’ve made me put on is thin and cold. I just want to go to sleep.
I dart down the hall silently, glad that they didn’t give me any shoes when they told me to change into the ‘uniform’. I don’t hear much at first, but then there are echoes of laughter and I find a massive door that I think I recognize. I crack it open and see it’s the Great Hall I was brought to by that bitch, Raina. I can’t believe that was today. It feels like forever ago.
I close the door and back away, bumping into something large, hard, and warm.
‘What do we have here? One of the slaves spying?’
I cringe as I turn around to find two of the dragon men. They’re peering down at me. One’s grinning darkly. The other’s eyes are narrow, and he looks angry.
‘I wasn’t spying,’ I answer. ‘I’m just trying to get to the Commander’s rooms.’
The one on the left sniffs. ‘You must be new. Dreythos doesn’t fuck slaves. If you’re found in his rooms, you’ll get a nasty beating.’
His friend nods. ‘Come with us to the Hall instead. We’ll make sure you have a good night.’
I look between them as the left one takes my arm in a firm grip. He doesn’t hurt me, but there’s no getting out of it.
‘You don’t understand,’ I try. ‘I’m supposed to be staying in his rooms.’
They both chuckle. ‘Sure you are. Come on. You’ll be riding my dick and gasping your thanks in no time, slave. You’ll enjoy our company much more than the Commander’s.’
The two dragon men full-on laugh this time and the one holding my arm pulls me. I dig my heels in and he stops.
His friend on the right rolls his eyes. ‘Why are you bothering to cajole her? She has to come with us anyway. Pick her up and come on before the beer is gone.’
He goes to do just that, but his friend puts a hand up. ‘Wait. Do you smell that?’
‘Smell what?’
He leans closer to me and gives a delicate sniff before his eyes widen and he drops me like I’ve burned him. ‘She smells like Brax and Tor.’
So? They must have fucked her first is all. What’s the problem?’
The one on the left smacks his friend upside the head. ‘Don’t you ever know anything that’s happening here? The Tribute wasbrought in today. Tor and Brax have claimed her. They invoked the Nesting Law. Everyone’s talking about it.’
They both stare down at me.
‘Are you the Tribute?’ the one on the left asks.
