Veronica's Dragon (Icehome, #2)

by Ruby Dixon

I can do anything I want if I am not collared.

I spread my arms wide and grin at her, letting her get a fine look at my naked form. "Shall you come claim me for yourself then, pretty one? Shall we battle?"

Or is it the incredibly handsome, naked golden guy speaking to me and asking me to fight him while showing off his body?

And it's my own fault because I might have stared a little harder at his nakedness than I should have.

But, I mean, I'm only human. Guy's got obliques for days, and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. It looks like the perfect spot for a woman to run her tongue.

"If we are claiming females, the clumsy one is mine," I say quickly. "If another male so much as looks at her, I will rip his throat out with my fangs." And I display them just so they know I am not joking.

"What if…" one of the a'ani begins, sitting up straighter. "What if one trips and falls and lands upon my cock? Can I mate her if she is on me?"

This seems like a valid question. I look at the leader.

"No," he says flatly. "No one will trip and fall upon your cock." "They might," I add. "You never know."

"We are not mating yet," Ashtar reassures him loudly. "I am wearing a loincloth."

A drakoni with his mate is the most protective of beings.

I'll shift forms and snap the head off of anyone that so much as tries to touch her.

"Simply come find me if you feel unsafe. He may be another hunter, but I will plant a spear in his tailless hide if he tries to hurt you."

"Oh no," I moan. The expression on his face can only be called “utterly delighted.” "Oh yes."

"On your belly so I can mount you properly—"

"Gifts. I can do those. Tell me who your enemies are and I will bring you their heads."

"You do know back on Earth I'm not special to anyone, right?" "Ah, my Veronica," he murmurs, voice low and just a little bit rumbly with the force of his cootie. "You do not have to be special to everyone. Just to me."

"I'll be your friend." He just pulls me closer. "You are my everything."

That claw is more of a tease than a threat.

"I can't believe it's 2012 and we're still having to worry about dudes kidnapping ladies. So much for equality." "What are you talking about?" Hannah asks. "It's 2015." "Um, no it's not. It's 2013," Bridget adds. "I know because I just turned twenty-three on the thirteenth of March. Three three three. I wouldn't forget that."

"Nice draggie," I whisper. "Please don't eat me, okay? I'm your mate, remember?"

Long John Silver isn't going to show up with a drive-thru and a menu. If we want to eat, we have to kill things.

Perhaps that is why the khui gave her to me—I can be the protective, fierce one. She can be the nurturer, the sweetness to my rage. I like this.

"You're the other half of me," I tell her, hands on my hips. "We are a mated pairing. I will die if you die, because I will not want to go on."

What about a female's cunt nectar?"

"You are perfect in my eyes, my fires," Ashtar says calmly, his cootie singing to me the moment he touches me. "But your feet are graceless blocks."

"No! I freed him, and we left. Why would I want to stay with people that treat him so badly? He was scared and they tied him up like he was an animal. I wanted to help him and he didn't want to be alone." She shakes her head. "No one stole me."

He can be an orchestra, I tell them, but everyone has to play in tune.

"You know he's got some drakoni in him? I saw it when I saw the claws, and when I was healing him, I felt it. He's got some of the blue guys, too. And some human. He's like a big mishmash of pieces. I don't see how that works."

"Because they're twins?" "Because they are the same. They do not come from the same womb. They come from the same material. They are copies of each other." "They're clones?"

Plus, who really thinks of clones when they see two similar-looking guys? Really now.