Swiveling my head around, my eyes land on older healer. He seems stern and slightly familiar. “Go away. I wish to spend time alone with my mate.”
“As you wish. You are as recovered as you are going to get in my unit.”
Catching sight of Carissa tugging gently at the collar around her neck, I cringe inside. “Stop, healer.” When he turns to look at me, I ask, “Can you remove the collar from around my brooder’s neck?”
“Of course, we have a unit loaded with the unlocking sequences to all the models currently being used in this region of space.” Shooting me a severe look, he states flatly, “It’s for emergencies only.”
“You will remove the collar from her neck and heal the wounds the unit left on her skin.”
“Are you the legal owner?”
Swallowing thickly, I lie. “Of course I am the legal owner. Why else would I ask you to remove the collar if not to see the value of my property preserved?”
“As you wish, Tarion of the Hielsrane. I have no wish to run afoul of your family.”
Trying not to look smug, I wipe all expression from my face. My brooder rolls her eyes at me. Seeing her apprehension when he approaches, I pull her into my lap and try to distract her as best I can. “You look like crap, love.”
She deadpans back, “Thanks for that, master.”
I can tell by her tone that Carissa is as amused as she is annoyed by my antics. “I meant to ask why it is that no one here offered you an opportunity to cleanse and obtain clean clothing.”
Instead of replying, she points to the collar. The reality of her situation annoys me. “Tarion of the Hielsrane’s personal brooder should be treated with respect. It falls in the category of not taking due care with my property while I am incapacitated.” Glaring at the healer, I continue speaking to Carissa, “I will have words with the head healer before I leave this facility.”
The older man begins working on her collar, muttering under his breath. “You just did. I’ll pass your concerns along to the council of healers.”
“You do that.” Though I’m trying to sound menacing, I realize it’s probably not a good idea to intimidate my own healer, especially while he’s handling my mate’s collar. “I plan to leave the Drakon home world today.”
“I will transition your plan of care to your ship’s healer. The gods only know how Jarnok manages on a ship full of raiders.”
Though I’d like nothing better than to squeeze the head from his shoulders, I’m fully aware that if he makes a wrong move while working on Carissa’s collar, she may well be the one who gets her head squeezed off, so I hold my peace for the moment.
Elation surges through my chest when the collar unwinds from her neck and falls blamelessly to the healing platform. Seeing her broken skin brings out every protective instinct I possess. Snatching the medicated gauze and dermal healing unit from the older healer, I bark, “Get out. Call my ship. I want a shuttle here within ten microns.”
As the healer scrambles away, I begin cleaning the filth from her neck. It irritates me to see the abused, irritated skin. Spying the door to a cleansing room, I stand with her in my arms. Though my feet are unsteady for a brief moment, I find my footing and head for the cleanser. “How long have I been here?”
“Eight days. They kept you sedated for the first six days because you were belligerent and combative.”
Fear crawls up my spine, bringing me to a halt. “Tell me that I didn’t harm you.”
Shaking her head, Carissa grins. “Not on your life, handsome. You threatened every male that looked in my direction and clobbered a few healers when their poking and prodding got annoying. However, you were always nice to me, even when burning with fever and doubled over in pain.”
Continuing to the cleanser, something in my chest loosens. I won’t be satisfied until we are naked and clean. In the cleansing unit, my brooder soothes me with her touch. Closing my eyes, I take a moment to enjoy her soft lathered hands moving over my chest, neck and shoulders. She cleanses my long hair and turns me around to clean my wings.
The moment her hands wander over my wing base, I snap. “If you wish to mate, touch me there again.” I’m disappointed when she does not. Instead her hands glide over my hips and she soaps my now hardened cock. My dragon roars to life in an instant, urging me to turn her around and watch her pert ass jiggle as I take my pleasure with her. I do no such thing, much to his disappointment. My little love creeps around my massive body to face me as she continues using both hands to stroke me off.
It feels good but I’m a greedy warrior and my dragon is insistent that I fill her with my seed. Looking down into her eyes, I’m shocked at the words that come out of her mouth.
“I know this sounds weird, but a little voice in the back of my head is telling me to spread my legs and make myself available for mating.”
Pulling her close as the mister pops on, neutralizing the cleansing foam, my chest constricts. “It is my dragon. The filthy beast is encouraging me to fuck you until you can’t walk properly.”
“That’s real cute. You call your alter ego your dragon.”
“Every Drakon has an inner dragon. It’s the last tangible link to our dragon heritage. The sad bastard is continually frustrated, for dragons do not mate in their fighting form and I rule in my humanoid form.”
Her face scrunches up into a delightfully pensive expression. “That sounds a bit like I’m getting a two for one deal.”
“Be glad I am a raider and not a nobleman, lest you would be required to follow a strict gifting protocol,
