Releasing the Dragon Read online

  “Annie…teeska,” he murmured, taking her hands in his. “Have you come to tell me you forgive me?”

  “No.” Annie lifted her chin. “Because I don’t. But…” She bit her lip. “But I wanted to tell you goodbye. In case…in case something happens.”

  “Nothing will happen.” His voice was low and hoarse. “I will come back to you.”

  “But you still won’t Claim me,” Annie said. It wasn’t a question—she could see the regret in his burning black eyes.

  For a moment Dru just looked at her, then he crushed her to him and took her mouth in a kiss so sweet and hot it took her breath away. Annie knew she ought to push him away indignantly—he was still going off on a spy mission with a sex robot instead of her—but somehow she found she was doing the opposite. Standing on her tip-toes to reach him, she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, kissing him back for all she was worth.

  His big hands rubbing over her back felt so good and the warm wood smoke-at-twilight scent of him seemed to intensify all around her. Annie found that her pussy was wet and hot and her nipples were achingly tight as she pressed herself against the hard planes of his chest. Once again she had the sensation of huge, invisible wings wrapping around her, securing and protecting her, drawing her even closer to Dru’s big body.

  But then the big Kindred drew away, breaking the kiss abruptly.

  “Forgive me.” His voice was a low, hoarse growl and it had that same, strange double echo she’d heard in it last night when he roared at Christian. His black eyes had split again to show the fiery furnace within. “Forgive me, I…I must go, teeska.”

  “But—” Annie began. She wanted to beg him to stay with her—or to take her with him. She didn’t care which but she had a very strong feeling they needed to stay together. But it was clear Dru wouldn’t go for that. For some reason kissing her had agitated him and now he felt like he had to go.

  He was already striding around to the driver’s side of the shiny silver ship when a new voice called his name.

  “Commander Drugair—before you go I must speak to you.”

  Looking up, Annie saw the blond-haired doctor—Commander Sylvan—striding towards them. There was another Kindred too—one with wild black hair and golden eyes—talking to Liv.

  “Hey Annie—come meet my hubby, Baird,” she called motioning for Annie to come over.

  Annie came but her eyes were on Dru as he and Commander Sylvan walked further up the line of ships, speaking in low tones. From the serious looks on their faces, something bad was happening. Did Commander Sylvan have new information about the man Dru was supposed to be tracking? Was there even more danger than he’d first thought?

  The thought tied her stomach in knots and she could barely muster a smile as she walked up and offered her hand to her new friend’s husband.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” he rumbled. “Olivia told me how the two of you met. Glad to see you’re all right.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you.” Annie sighed and suddenly a deep sadness filled her. Dru was leaving and there was nothing she could do to stop him. She turned to Liv. “Say, do you mind if I go back to the med center now? I really don’t want to stay and watch him, uh, take off. It would be too sad.”

  “I understand.” Liv gave her a look of concern. “I’ll come with you.”

  “No, no—you’re talking to your hubby,” Annie protested. “I know my way back—it’s a straight shot from here.”

  “Are you sure?” Liv asked.

  Annie nodded. “I kind of, uh, want some alone time,” she confessed. “If you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not. I completely understand.” Liv gave her a hug and smiled. “Go on back, hon. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Thanks.” Annie tried to smile but suddenly all she wanted to do was cry. She turned quickly away and walked around Dru’s ship, meaning to go down the row that ran behind it, so she didn’t have to see the big Drake Kindred again.

  But as she passed the back of his ship, she saw that the storage hatch was still open and something inside it caught her eye…something silky and bright red.

  Eleven

  Taking a step closer, Annie saw that what had captured her attention was hair—long, red hair and it was attached to a girl who was lying in the storage compartment of the ship. She was surrounded by what must be the Kindred version of luggage—cases of varying sizes and colors—and there was a blank expression on her pretty face.

  For a minute Annie just stared at her, uncertain of what she was seeing. Then she realized this must be the Pairing Puppet thing Dru was taking with him to be his “x’aan-chow” or “sex-pet” as he had explained it.

  “Just look at this thing he’s trying to replace me with,” she muttered indignantly to herself. “It even looks like me!” Well, except that the puppet had curly hair while hers was straightened. Also, it had hardly any freckles while she herself had a metric ton of them. But still, did Dru have to choose a puppet that looked like it could have been her sister? Annie wasn’t sure if she ought to be insulted or gratified.

  “You look just like me—well, almost,” she said, speaking directly to the puppet.

  It had been staring upwards with a creepy, blank gaze but now that she was speaking directly to it, the puppet turned to look at her.

  “Hello, Warrior,” it said in a deep, throaty voice. “How may I service you?”

  “Ugh!” Annie took an involuntary little skip backwards. She hadn’t expected the thing to actually talk to her. Still, its mechanical responsiveness gave her an idea.

  “Sit up,” she told it. “Let me get a better look at you.”

  Obligingly, the red-haired puppet sat up. Most of her body had been covered with a black drop-cloth-type thing but now it fell away, revealing an outfit that was positively indecent.

  “Look at you!” Annie exclaimed, motioning to the puppet. “That top is obscene!” She gestured at the shimmery silver blouse the robot was wearing. “I mean, I can see your nipples right through it!”

  “If my clothing does not please you, I can always slip into something more sexy, Warrior,” the puppet said in that same, throaty Mae West voice that Annie found extremely irritating. Was this really what Dru wanted in a woman? Then again, at least the puppet was plus-sized so she knew he really did like larger women. Still, though…

  “Get up,” she told the puppet. “Come out here so I can really see you—all of you.”

  Obligingly, the red-haired pairing puppet climbed out of the storage compartment and stood in front of Annie.

  “Wow, you really could be my sister,” Annie murmured, walking around the thing and examining it. “Our hair is the same color and we’re almost the exact same size and shape. Of course your hair is curly but then…” She plucked ruefully at a long strand of her own hair that was beginning to wave. “Mine almost is too. It’s been a while since I had it straightened.”

  As she looked at the puppet, an idea began to grow in her mind. A bad idea, probably—a dangerous idea, Annie tried to tell herself. But somehow she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  The only real difference between herself and the puppet was the freckles, she thought. While the pairing puppet only had a sprinkle of them across her pert nose, Annie had them pretty much all over. But of course, that could be hidden by the black drop-cloth thing she’d found covering the puppet originally and then…

  “And then Dru wouldn’t know the difference…until it was too late,” she whispered to herself.

  Quickly, before she could change her mind, she turned to the puppet.

  “Okay, strip off those clothes—right now.”

  Obligingly, the puppet did as she was told, stripping out of the shimmery silver outfit which hid almost nothing until she was down to her bare skin.

  Looking around to make sure no one was coming, Annie quickly pulled off the green hospital gown she’d been wearing and shoved it at the puppet.

  “Here—put this