Offered to the Drake (Stand Alone tales Book 3) Read online

  She paused. “So, that reaction...”

  “It is trying to drive you closer to me.”

  Billa pressed a hand to her head. “Are you saying I am what you are?”

  “As I said. Not yet. You are a seed, a kit. You have the potential to grow, but it isn’t a certainty. The odds that I found you are astronomical.”

  “Wait. There are others like me?” She scowled at him. “Is this how you started?”

  He shook his head. “I was born to the ancients. They are notoriously stingy with information. It wasn’t until I asked that they told me about those like you.”

  She looked at him with surprise, and her knees buckled. The sense at the back of her mind rushed forward to soothe her. The feeling of an emotional structure that wasn’t her own in her own mind was awkward, and she fell.

  Dronix caught her and lifted her in his arms. He sighed. “You need to eat. You can’t consume light yet.”

  “Yet? Is that going to be a thing?”

  “Eventually. We seek out worlds with several suns. The different frequencies act as a full meal.” He settled her at the table and then went to the hatch where an extra-large meal was waiting.

  He brought the tray over and set it at the table, pulling up another chair to eat with her. “I thought that you might be missing the community of consumption, so I will be eating at least one meal with you. Do you have any other requests or needs?”

  She frowned. “More hot water? It starts warm but cools so much, but I do enjoy a nice long, hot soak.”

  Dronix nodded. “That is easily achievable, but I will have to be there.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She reached out with shaking hands and took one of her favourite dishes and pulled it toward her. She began eating, and she felt better after she had gotten through the third plate. It was also nice to have someone eating with her.

  “So, is this it? I just stay in here and wander around until you feel like a snack?” Billa got herself a glass of water, and she swallowed slowly.

  “Well, in light of your current situation, I believe that some alterations can be made to the standard protocol.” He smiled and licked his thumb.

  She watched his tongue with fascination, and then, she blinked herself out of her focus.

  He frowned. “Do you have more questions?”

  “How... what exactly happens when you bite me?”

  “Ah. My teeth hold and control the release of the venom while my tongue secretes the necessary solution and then drinks from you.”

  “So, your tongue does all the work.”

  He shrugged. “Most of it. It is prehensile, so it is very capable.”

  “So, that means that it can move as a limb?”

  He understood her confusion, put a small tart on his palm, and then, his tongue snaked out several inches longer than should have been possible. The tip grabbed a berry out of the tart, and it retreated into his mouth. He chewed slowly.

  She blushed. “Sorry for all the questions.”

  “It is not like you have any reference material for my kind. We appear only in myth and legend. I will answer any of your questions.”

  She wrinkled her nose, and then, she asked, “If you don’t have sex, why are you so pretty?”

  “Pretty?”

  “Attractive. Handsome” She flapped her hand.

  He leaned back in his chair. “Prey rarely runs from beauty.”

  “Holy... So, it is a hunting mechanism.”

  “Indeed. Making agreements for offerings assists us with the hunger and makes sure that those offered are compatible and will not suffer from the taking.”

  “So, if your prey isn’t compatible?”

  “It dies.” He shrugged. “This is a better mechanism now.”

  She exhaled and pursed her lips, changing the subject. “What about sex?”

  “I have not required that until now. It is part of your transformation, but there is no rush.”

  She snorted and then muttered, “Wait, what? It is part of the transformation?”

  “Well, it will accelerate it. That is what the ancient said.” There was an expression on his face that she couldn’t figure out.

  “What else?”

  He looked at her directly, his purple eyes vivid. “It will key you to me.”

  “What does that entail?”

  “Just that you will be with me for the foreseeable future.” He was being vague.

  Billa blinked. “How long is that?”

  He coughed out the word. “Eons.”

  Her mouth opened in shock. He took up the tray and set it back in the cubby.

  “Why don’t we go for a walk in the village? You can get an idea of the society of the people and stretch your legs.”

  Billa grinned. “That sounds great.” She stood up.

  “Um, you may want to get dressed. I understand that it is more socially acceptable, and as you will be here for a while, I would recommend it.”

  She blushed and headed to the wardrobe, pulling on one of the purple dresses. “Is there ever a chance of getting another colour?”

  He shrugged. “When your transformation has progressed enough for you to travel five kilometers on your own and return to the city.”

  “So, there is a goal?” She flipped her hair out of the dress before she wrapped the belt around her midriff for containment and support.

  “There is a goal. Today you are still a little unsteady, so a walk through the city below will have to suffice.”

  Billa found the strappy sandals that were at the bottom of the wardrobe and put them on. She stomped her feet and nodded. “Ready.”

  He smiled and walked to one of the walls next to the window overlooking the city. A hard shove and the window swung out, casement and all.

  Windswept through the room, and she looked at him in surprise. “We are going out the window?”

  He smiled and held out his hand. “There is no direct path above ground to the city.”

  She grimaced. “Then, how do the cooks and cleaners get here?”

  “Underground tunnels. They travel to and from the tower every day via the tunnels.”

  She walked over to him; the wind pushing against her was harsh but not too strong for her to take his hand. Dronix swept her into his arms, and then, he jumped out the window with her held tightly to him.

  She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t make her lungs push out the air. They soared out and over the city before plummeting down to land in the center of a square on a platform that appeared designed for this purpose.

  He kissed her temple. “Here we are. What would you like to see?”

  She took a deep breath and got nostrils full of information. There was the metallic tang that she associated with technology, the scent of flowers, fruit, and raw meat. “We are near the market?”

  “We are.”

  “Can we walk through it? I haven’t been at a proper market in years.”

  Dronix nodded, and he set her on her feet. She took the arm he offered, and they walked together toward the crowd of mixed races and curious faces.

  When Dronix got close, they bowed and moved aside. Billa felt the curious looks, but it wasn’t until an older woman stood in Dronix’s way that she realized exactly how precise his timing was on obtaining offerings.

  “Master Dronix, is this the newest one?”

  Dronix inclined his head. “Offering Twiil, Billa is indeed the newest and perhaps the last offering.”

  The woman blinked. “Is my world all right?”

  Dronix nodded. “It is fine. I find that after Billa, I might never need another offering.”

  “What will my people do?”

  “They have forty-nine years to figure it out. I can continue to send them the minerals, but it will be difficult to know when as my hunger will be sated by then.”

  Billa swallowed as he looked at her and stroked the back of her hand on his.

  His eyes w
ere glowing purple.

  She shivered and cleared her throat. “We can return to the tower if necessary.”

  “No, not yet, Billa. We need to start your collection.” He raised her hand to his lips, and he pressed a kiss to her palm, his tongue drawing a rapid design before he replaced her hand on his forearm.

  The older woman bowed and moved aside as they passed, but Billa felt the glare at her back. She murmured to Dronix, “I think she is not a fan.”

  “She focused on her dedication to her world when she was the offering. It allowed her to put up with my requirements, and when the hunger was over, she came here and took a leadership role in the society.”

  Billa nodded as they walked into a more upscale set of buildings. “Where are we going?”

  “To a jeweler. As one of my kind, you will need to begin a collection, and jewels are small and easy to transport.”

  “Did you start with jewels?”

  He nodded. “And I concluded with worlds. So, you have time to work on your collection.”

  She chuckled and went with him into the shop.

  The next twenty minutes were filled with the jeweler bowing and falling over himself to follow Dronix’s directions as he chose enough jewels to buy her an apartment on her birth world. It looked like a decade worth of funds, and Dronix ordered her to put them all on.

  “What?”

  “Put them all on. Trust me on this. They will suit you, and the gems will help your adaptation.”

  She scowled. “It seems weird.”

  He nodded toward the stones in their settings. “Trust me.”

  Billa paused as it smacked into her that aside from the fact he was slowly consuming her, she trusted him.

  She put the long necklace on then the medium and then the choker. The wrist bands went on both wrists, and when her arms weighed an extra two pounds each, she hung the ear loops in place.

  Dronix was smiling. “Now, how do you feel?”

  Billa was going to say something sarcastic, but the new part of her thoughts, the new reactions and emotions, it was purring happily with its collection. It was intensely satisfied.

  She looked at him and smiled. “I feel, or she feels better.”

  He smiled and took her hand. “Let’s go home.”

  She looked back at the jeweler. “Were you paid?”

  The man chuckled. “Yes, Mistress. I have been paid.”

  She nodded and then smiled at Dronix’s vivid purple gaze. “Yes, let’s go home.”

  Chapter Five

  How he got them skyward was a mystery, but if he could fly through the stars, there was some definite physics-bending taking place in the drake that held her.

  The window that they had exited by had swung nearly shut, but as they approached, it moved open, and Dronix landed them inside.

  She blinked in surprise as he pushed the same brick, and the window shut under whatever gearing system ran it—the cessation of the roar of wind made for a sudden silence. The intimacy was suddenly overwhelming.

  Dronix pressed his lips to her temple. “I am hungry.”

  She nodded and whispered. “Right, so where did you want me?”

  He smiled slowly and carried her to the bed. To her surprise, he pushed the shoulders of the gown down her arms, exposing her breasts and trapping her. He nuzzled at her left breast, licking the nipple and drawing it into his mouth while he stroked and cupped the other.

  She squirmed slightly, waiting for the pain that preceded the pleasure. He switched to the other breast and gave her the same tormenting treatment.

  Her breasts felt hot, and the jewels that were on her were an icy contrast. She could feel his teeth grazing her with every open suction of his mouth, and she shivered.

  His hand dragged her skirt up to her waist and pressed between her thighs. She blushed at how slick he found her. Billa didn’t know what he was up to until he leaned back and his trousers disappeared.

  She had a bunch of questions about that, but his penis moved as he leaned toward her, and it had the same undulation as his tongue.

  She whispered, “Please tell me that your cock isn’t venomous.”

  He laughed. “I have never tried this before, but I do not believe so.”

  She saw the head of his cock narrowing before he leaned in, and she lost the line of sight. The pressure and slow slide of him inside her wasn’t something she was expecting.

  He moved over her, covering her with his wide shoulders and surprisingly cool skin. He braced himself on his elbows, and to her amusement, his hips remained still.

  It was only when the churning movement began inside her that she gasped and moved her hips against his.

  The sensation within was not what she had expected. His cock was undulating, growing thinner and thicker with every twist of her hips. She didn’t know what she would feel next, and the sensations were maddening.

  Just when she was on the edge of cumming, he whispered the words that had begun triggering intense arousal, “I am hungry.”

  She had a second’s warning before he pressed his lips to her neck and bit down. She shrieked, and the dress that was confining her tore. She clawed at his back and wrapped her legs around him. Her body bucked and rioted with him holding her down.

  He growled against her neck and sucked hard. Inside her, his cock pulsed in slow repetition, and she held onto him, quaking with throbs of enjoyment as her body took in his venom and transmuted it into a pleasure-inducing drug.

  He lifted his head, and she slowly let go of him, unwrapping her legs from his hips before she relaxed her arms enough to let him go.

  Dronix kissed her, and she tasted the drops of blood on his lips. He lifted his head, and he whispered, “How soon can you do that again?”

  Billa chuckled and said, “That normally depends on the male in these situations.”

  He chuckled and nipped at her lips. “I am fine, Billa. More than fine. If I had known that it felt like that, I would have done it centuries ago. I mean, if I had found one of my kind.”

  She shivered, and he responded by undulating inside her again, or had he ever really stopped?

  She clawed at the tie around her waist. It finally snapped. She shredded the gauze and threw it to the side. Finally able to breathe, she lifted her hips against his and properly fucked him.

  They were moving together for minutes, hours. She had no clue. Her pleasure crested and peaked, and they continued. He didn’t tire, and she didn’t tire, so they writhed together until she gave a soft scream, and he matched her with his low growl.

  This time, she flopped flat on the bed. He took the hint and withdrew. As soon as her pleasure had flared, fatigue had crept in. She was done.

  Dronix took her limp form and rolled her to her side, wrapping his arms around her. “So, now I know why bipedal populations flare so high. If doing this every time created the chance for a child, drakes would clog the universe.”

  It took her a few tries, but she said, “Isn’t this how you reproduce?”

  “Oh, no. Your form will have to grow to approximate mine, and we will breed in that form only. It is the reason that we are so scarce. Apparently, even if you are a drake, it is not sure that you will manage to grow your other form into one capable of powering life.”

  “So, you came into the world looking like...” She patted the hand over her belly.

  “No, I came into the universe in my other form. From an egg.”

  He cuddled her as he explained how the female gestated the egg after fertilization, and then, she laid it in the temple of the ancients. They monitored the egg for the centuries it took to hatch, and then, the new drake was educated and trained to take care of himself, and then, he took to the stars.

  He told her about the first time he felt the lack of society and how he went about gaining a population indebted to him. It wasn’t as hard as she would imagine. He had defended them, and that had won their cautious respect. After that,
he helped them enrich themselves, and it was after a few centuries that he developed the shape he currently wore, and it could be altered as necessary.

  He stroked her belly and breasts. “I used to have wings. You will be able to choose your form as well. I brought some different body designs that you can look at. Since you are gaining your body the other way, you can choose your larger form.”

  She blinked. “This is very surreal.”

  “Why?” He teased her hair through his fingers.

  “You are talking about me changing shape. That is very bizarre.”

  “Ask the mind in your mind. What does she think?”

  “Is that what it is called?”

  “You will have one for each shape you take on. It is needed so that you can move the body effectively. There is no way your normal mind would be able to take on being a quadruped with wings. It requires a different way of thinking.”

  She sluggishly turned in his arms. “Is that what the other mind is?”

  “She is the mind that can hold power and fly through the stars, calculating how and when to craft the doorways between worlds. She can do the math for gravity, orbiting bodies, and time of the year. She can see through space and do the math in less than a heartbeat.”

  Billa carefully touched the mind in her mind, and her senses spun outward, images of worlds, nebulas, planets, and spaces in between. She saw things that even her life on transport haulers would never have shown her, and the mind whispered that it would belong to her; she just needed to grow up first.

  Billa was back in her body with Dronix wrapped around her. “What does she mean, grow up?”

  He chuckled. “She means that you need to continue your activation—conversion—if you will. You will need to be stronger, faster, and smarter than you currently are. Your mind will expand, and both of them need to be focused and on the same thought pattern before a secondary shape can be achieved.”

  “How long did it take you to get your second form?”

  He snorted. “This is actually a fourth form. The others were not as successful.”

  “Will you show them to me one day?” She gripped his arm lightly.

  “Of course, but by the current standards, they are monstrous.” He smiled. “Any other questions?”