Page 37 of Having the Dragon's Baby

Even at this distance, he was majestic and sexy, screaming alpha in every way. She would never tire of looking at him.

With a happy sigh, she continued around the detached garage where the crickets cried for their mates. The stars above shimmered and twinkled. The faintest of breezes caressed her wrists and ankles and anything that wasn’t clothed.

Mother Nature soothed her and praised her for what a fine mother she was going to be. She slung the bags into the large canister and secured the lid.

Then, the crickets suddenly went dead quiet. The abrupt silence set off alarms in her head.

A silhouette materialized out of the darkness in front of her.

Rachel remembered her training with Marcus. If you are ever accosted, and there is no way to run, pick the biggest of the assailants and hit first. Smash their face and scream as loud as you can. Make lots of noise. Hit again, kick, bite, and gouge eyes. Make no part of assaulting you an easy task. Be a honey badger … more trouble than you are worth.

Three assailants surrounded her. They lunged forward fast. Too fast for her to run. Much too fast for her to pick which one was the biggest.

The one in the lead was gifted with the heel of her hand shoved into his nose. She screamed with all her might, kicked, hit, and hit again. When aiming her foot, she didn’t bother with shins. She aimed for the most sensitive place on a male and kicked the undercarriage. Once the three assailants had wrestled her to the ground, she bit and clawed.

“Watch her midsection,” said the attacker who had the smashed nose. “She’s carrying.”They had her pinned to the ground. One of the assholes had his hand over her mouth.

This was a serious mental note for Rachel. The lead assailant was strong, clearly a shifter, and privy to private information that she’d just learned that day. An insider or connected to an insider. She smelled the cheap cologne, sweat, and the faint hint of wet dog from the attackers. They would be wolf shifters if her initial assessment of his strength and scent was correct.

“You have a choice, sweetness,” the male whispered to her. He had leaned down to place his lips close to her ear. “We need to gag you. This will protect you and us. Mr. Black here needs to remove his hand for this to happen. He wants to use ether to quiet you. I don’t, as I know you have a brat growing in your gut.

“Ether is a nasty, solvent-type chemical. Think starter fluid for engines. That’s what ether is. Choice A is you stay quiet until we get the gag in. Choice B is you try to scream, and we use the ether. Close your left eye for choice A, or close your right eye for choice B. Now let me see what you say.”

Rachel closed her left eye and held it closed for a few seconds.

“Good girl,” the lead punk replied.

The group of captors gagged her. Then they shuffled her into the shadows near the garbage containers. There, they held her arms behind her back.

Mr Black hunkered down and glared at her. “We’re going to exit through a side trail to get off this property. Any shit from you, I will tie you up and use the ether. I have no problem carrying you while you are unconscious. Understand? Close your left eye for yes or close your right eye for no.”

Rachel closed her left eye.

“One more thing,” the asshole hissed. “I’ll be carrying you over my shoulder for the first leg of our journey. We have to go fast. The same ether offer still applies. Give me any shit about that, and I’ll use it.”

Rachel closed her left eye again and held it closed for a couple seconds.

Mr Black reached forward, grabbed her around the waist, and hoisted her over his shoulder. The ease with which he conducted such a maneuver was terrifying. He was beyond strong. Her earlier suspicion that he was a shifter, although he smelled like a canine, was surely accurate. Maybe he shifted into some kind of junkyard dog instead of a wolf.

Her heart sank deeper into a bottomless chasm as the house shrank in the distance. Her head hung toward the ground while her stomach bent over the scoundrel’s shoulder.

Her mind spun in panicked chaos. She had failed Marcus and the den. Her captor’s momentum added to the feeling of dread. The further away they moved, the faster they went.

Rachel rode slung over the male’s shoulder through winding trails and backroads for what seemed the longest time. The smell of dust and sweat, coupled with the nasty gag in her mouth, meant vomiting would be inevitable.

They stopped abruptly. Not only did the sudden stop surprise Rachel, but the stiffness in her captor’s body also startled her. He literally froze in his tracks.

If he drops you, you run, she told herself. The baby is depending on you. Just like in the old Thomas Hardy poem, she would not go gentle into the good night.

Draped over her captor’s shoulder, Rachel twisted to peek around the side of the ass holding her to see what caused them to come to a screeching halt. They stood in the middle of a clearing bathed in moonlight.

With a jerk of her captor’s shoulder, she dropped to the ground onto her ass. Her crash landing dazed her for a moment. Then she saw the men running away.

What the hell?

Why kidnap her and then leave her in the middle of the forest?

Movement in the sky caught her eye, and she quickly realized that she’d gone from the frying pan straight into the fire of an unknown dragon.

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