Accidental Mates: Ryuu

Chapter One

The world was an alien one, not Earth. I knew because as dawn edged over the horizon, ten pale moons gave way to the sun. He bathed in a lake of violet waters. They set off the long white hair hanging about his shoulders as it glimmered in the fading moonlight. I caught my breath seeing him run his hands over a chest and abs so defined, my body came alive as I watched.

He must have felt me staring from the shore, for he looked up with silver eyes that teased me to join him. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. I could only watch. Not that I was complaining. I could watch him lather his body all day.

After I found a rock to perch on for my own private show, I sat. When his flesh was covered with the suds, he disappeared beneath the rippling water, and I held my breath. I leaned forward, willing him to come back. My eyes fairly burned with yearning to see him again.

The surface of the water fell away as he stood, this time closer to me. My eyes widened at the sight of his cock, long, stiff, and oh so enticing. I licked my lips when he took hold of it and ran his hand along its length. His eyebrows drifted higher in an invitation. I nodded but said nothing.

Each step deliberate and carefully placed, he sauntered to the shore. As the remaining night light gave way to day, silver scales replaced human skin. Sharp teeth formed in his mouth and fire exploded from his nostrils.

I vaulted to my feet, a scream on my lips, as pain rent me from my dream.

* * * *

“Stop, stop. Please, I can’t take it,” I screamed in anguish.

The man who stood at my side paused in whatever he was doing to my back. “I’m sorry. I had to put this ointment on. I promise the pain will ease in about an hour, and there will be no scars.”

I brushed a hand across my top lip to wipe away snot and tears. The involuntary sigh took hold, but all I could do was tremble and lay there helpless on the examining table. “Why did he do that? Why did he burn me and try snatching me in front of the children?”

This man, whoever he was, seemed gentler than the men who had come to grab me out of my classroom. He patted my arm during a pause in his treatment. “Trust me, he’s being sent away to work the mines. I don’t agree with this new plan of the elders, but I have no say in the matter, not with Arnetta threatened.”

“What do you mean?”

He turned away to prepare another cloth with the strong-smelling ointment. “That’s not important. What is, is that your officials are on the way. Hopefully, this mess will be sorted out before the elders start a war.”

I swallowed. A war?

Several men crowded into the room. I recognized a couple of the men who had come with my attacker, the ones who had stood back and watched that bastard hurt me and almost hurt Jake.

I gasped. “Are the children okay? How is Jake?”

A man with a look of having too much authority for his own good approached me. “The children are fine. All of your people are fine. Now.”

I didn’t like the fact that I was at a disadvantage lying down, so I clutched the sheet placed across the lower half of my body and wrapped it over my breasts. I struggled to a sitting position to face off against my enemy. “No thanks to you and your men. What do you mean by now?”

The man, whom I assumed was one of the elders the doctor referred to, held up a blue gem in the palm of his hand. When he did, a few of the others, including the doctor, pinched their noses. I made a mental note to ask the doctor later why that was. The elder explained the gem. “This is the precious fuel we provide your people, in its raw form. With it, you power . . . well . . . everything.”

I could have smacked the smug look off his face, but I remained silent, clutching at the sheet.

“It would be a shame if this simply ran out.” His hard gaze flicked from the gem to me. I got his drift. “You need fuel to power the machines that purify your water, to transport your food, to make your lives tolerable. If we hold back our gift, your people would suffer a long, painful existence before eventually dying out.”

With effort, I kept the horror I felt from my expression, although my voice came out unnaturally high. “So, what do you want from me?”

“Shannon.” He paused. “Can I call you Shannon?”

I didn’t answer.

“Shannon, I want you to be my guinea pig. You see, I . . . we . . . my fellow Drelconians and I, have a serious problem on our hands, and we elders will do whatever it takes to resolve the problem. Your government does not see it like we do.” He turned that heinous grin on his comrades, and they returned it, just as self-serving. “I want you to go out there and meet with your representatives. I want you to tell them that you have volunteered for this experiment and that the whole classroom thing was a misunderstanding.”

“Never!” Hysteria rose in me thinking about what he intended. Visions of horror movies where mad scientists toyed with people’s DNA ran through my mind. “I will never agree to something like that. You’re evil for what you did, the way you terrified those children and burned me.”

He grabbed hold of my neck and squeezed. I fought for a breath. The doctor touched his shoulder, and he eased his grip. “You will do what I say. You see, Shannon, we didn’t pick you randomly. We do our homework. You have a family history of psychics—”

“That’s nonsense. I’m just a teacher, nothing else.”

“I think not.” He shifted to within an inch of my face and tapped the side of my head with his other hand. “Inside there is the means to solve my problem. We will awaken your dormant abilities. We will get you to bond with one or more, if possible, of our lords. He will impregnate you, and you will give birth to the first of a new generation of Drelconians.”