A Dragonlings' Haunted Halloween: Dragonlings of Valdier (10 page)

Trelon’s eyes brightened at the challenge.
“Oh, I really hope you fight and the only plank you’ll be walking
is my cock.”

“Trelon,” Cara hissed as her eyes darted to
the girls who were wrestling on the netting. “They’ll hear
you.”

“Then, perhaps we should take this fight
further away if you don’t want them to see more,” Trelon replied.
“Symba, you are in charge of the girls.”

The golden symbiot which had been perched up
on the Crow’s Nest, glided down to land next to where the girls
were now crawling up the netted climbing ropes. Trelon ignored
everything, but the small, delicate, intensely amazing woman in
front of him. Every time he thought he knew her, she continued to
surprise him.

“I want you, Cara,” Trelon declared in a
thick voice “I mean to have you.”

Cara’s eyes widened in surprise and
nervousness at Trelon’s suddenly rough, possessive tone.
Swallowing, she moved backwards as he advanced. Squaring her
shoulders, she raised her sword and attacked. The soft thump as the
foam swords hit was deceptive. Each opponent wore a look of fierce
determination on each of their faces as they circled each
other.

Trelon blocked her attacks, paring and
returning with an ease that told Cara she was vastly outclassed
when it came to sword fighting. She squeaked when he took control
of the battle. Turning, she ran down the stairs and opened the door
leading down to the lower sections of the ship.

She turned in the narrow corridor heading
for the Captain’s cabin. She slammed the door as he followed her.
Rushing forward, she turned as the door slammed back against the
wall. Gulping at the dangerous glow in his eyes, she put the long
table in the center of the room between them.

“Trelon,” she whispered as he came forward
with slow, determined steps. “Trelon…”

“Give up, Captain Cara,” Trelon ordered in a
low, dangerous tone filled with thick desire. “Give yourself to
me.”

“Nev… never,” Cara whispered back as he kept
coming toward her.

Jerking to one side, she tried to keep the
table between them. It looked like it was going to work until he
jumped onto it. Panic set in, and Cara decided retreat was a highly
under used plan in most battles.

She dropped her sword and ran for the door.
A startled cry escaped her when he reached it before she did.
Turning, she trembled when he caught her around the neck and turned
her toward him.

“Surrender to me,” he ordered again in a
husky voice burning with desire.

“I… I surrender,” Cara said as she stared
into his eyes.

Her arms wound around his neck as he dropped
his sword and wound his other hand around her waist. The heat of
his body seared her as he kissed her with a passion, with a hunger
that left her gasping for breath. She ran her lips desperately over
his jaw, as her fingers worked the fastenings on his shirt.

“I need you, Trelon,” Cara whispered between
kisses.

Trelon broke long enough to glance at the
bed. “Is that real?” He demanded, turning to look back at her. “It
is that or the table.”

“It’s real,” she said with a laugh. “I tried
to keep things authentic.”

Trelon gripped the front of her shirt and
ripped it open. “Then, so will I,” he muttered, capturing her lips
again as his hands cupped her breasts.

I need to role play more often,
Cara
thought as pleasure exploded inside her and she felt her body being
lifted.

*.*.*

Arosa sat petting Symba as they watched
Amber and Jade playing. She sighed as she thought of all the fun
they were having. The innocence of the young always made her glow
with warmth.

“Sister,” Arilla murmured as she appeared
next to Arosa.

“Arilla,” Arosa smiled. “Uh oh, they see us
now.”

Jade saw them first and squealed in delight
as she half crawled, half rolled down the net. Amber sat up,
blinking when Jade suddenly disappeared, before she realized why
and followed her.

Arosa opened her arms to Jade while Arilla
opened hers for Amber. They hugged and cradled the girls who
babbled for several minutes before snuggling closer. In less than
five minutes, both girls were sound asleep.

“Once they stop, they sleep,” Arosa
chuckled.

Arilla nodded before she sighed. “Aikaterina
is back. She asked me to find you.”

“Is she upset?” Arosa asked as she cradled
Jade protectively against her.

“No, I am not upset with you,” Aikaterina
replied as she suddenly appeared beside them. “It is hard to remain
detached from this species,” she said softly as she brushed a
tender hand over Amber’s flushed cheek. “There is something very
endearing about them.”

“Yes,” Arilla whispered.

“Even I find it difficult to remain
untouched,” Aikaterina added with a small, secretive smile.

“What do you mean?” Arosa asked, looking at
Aikaterina with a curious expression.

“Perhaps, every once in a while, we can
right a wrong that has been done, or offer guidance,” Aikaterina
said, rising.

“Or protection?” Arosa added under her
breath as she thought of the young human woman she had left on the
unfamiliar moon.

“Or offer protection,” Aikaterina agreed.
“As long as that protection is done with minimal impact to the
structure that makes up the universe,” she added.

Arosa glanced at Arilla and rolled her eyes.
She’d seen Cara, Ariel, and Carmen do that frequently and
discovered it said a lot without saying anything. Rising up, as
well, she floated over and laid Jade down in the stroller that
Symba had formed when the girls fell asleep. Arilla rose with Amber
in her arms and reluctantly laid her down beside her sister.
Smoothing a hand over the little Dragonlings’ hair, she turned to
stare out over the world their mother had created.

“I don’t remember the cavern being this
large when we were here,” Arilla commented as she studied it.

“It wasn’t,” Aikaterina replied with a
mysterious grin.

Arosa’s light laughter echoed briefly before
it faded as she, Arilla, and Aikaterina dissolved into a fine mist
of gold. The mist flowed over the side of the pirate ship and into
the water below. Following the flow, they traveled outside the
palace where dawn was beginning to break. Reforming on the cliffs
overlooking the vast ocean, they watched as the sun rose over the
planet they called home.

“What happens next?” Arosa asked as she
stood next to Aikaterina.

“We watch over them,” Aikaterina replied.
“The Dragonlings are a lot like their parents. They are very
curious.”

“Where did you go?” Arilla asked as she
stood on the other side of Aikaterina.

Aikaterina was silent for several long
moments as she watched the beauty of the world that had saved her
life explode with color as the sun rose. A sigh of resignation
escaped her. They thought of her as a Goddess, but she was more
like them than they realized. She made mistakes, learned, grew, and
craved to be love
d
just as much as they
did.

“I had a mistake to correct,” Aikaterina
whispered in a quiet voice.

“What mistake?” Arosa asked, puzzled and
surprised.

Aikaterina sadly smiled at Arosa. “Even as
old as I am, I still make them. There were two brothers that were
never given a chance at life because of a decision I made,” she
murmured.

“Will they be given a chance this time?”
Arilla asked.

“I hope so,” Aikaterina replied, beginning
to fade. “But, it still won’t be easy,” she added with a
chuckle.

Arilla and Arosa looked at each other before
they faded as well. Aikaterina wasn’t upset with them, thankfully.
Perhaps, that meant they could return to the playground again
soon.

The next day, Trelon and the other men
laughed as they stepped off the ‘ride’ for the fifth time. The
lower cavern was filled with shrieks, laughter, and the sounds of
voices from not just their families, but from those who lived in
the nearby city and beyond.

“Your mate did an incredible job,” Zoran
admitted as several people stopped to wish him a shy hello.

“Our mates,” Trelon reflected as he glanced
over at where children were screaming as they ran through the
cemetery across the way. “They all worked together.”

“I guess this means that you aren’t going to
kill
Dulce and the other engineers, after
all,” Kelan said as he glanced up at the control room high above
where Dulce was talking with another engineer.

“I guess I’ll just have to threaten him,
instead,” Trelon replied with a grin.

“Uh oh, here comes Vox. What is he eating
this time?” Creon interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

Creon and Carmen had been reluctant to come
down here again after last night, but Spring and Phoenix had cried
and cried. It had taken a while, but nothing unusual had happened
so far. Right now, Carmen had gone off with Cara to Pirate’s
Cove.

“I don’t know,” Mandra said. “He has been
shifting back and forth all morning.”

Vox grinned as he held up an odd shaped
bucket. Roam was riding on his shoulders, while Riley chatted with
Trisha and Ariel. All three women were dressed up in different
costumes than they were last night. Mandra grinned at the fake
wings on Ariel. He had ripped her costume last night to pieces in
his impatience to get it off her. Today, she was a fairy
princess.

“What are you eating this time?” Mandra
asked Vox as he stepped up to them.

“If I shift and carry the bucket, the people
running the different activities give me candy,” Vox exclaimed in
excitement.

“Tricken treat,” Roam said as he kicked his
feet.

“Yes,” Vox remembered as he patted Roam’s
foot. “You have to say Tricken treat to get it.”

“That’s Trick OR Treat,” Riley added with a
roll of her eyes. “They still get it mixed up.”

“Talk about mixed up, has anyone seen Cara
and the girls?” Trelon asked as he looked around the crowds.

“She said something about the pirate ship,”
Trisha said with a frown. “I guess the bedding in the Captain’s
Cabin got ripped somehow. She’s gone to replace it.”

Trelon’s cheeks flushed at Trisha’s pointed
look, before he excused himself. They all watched as he hurried
away before a soft voice behind them drew their attention. They
watched as Ha’ven, who was carrying a sleeping Alice, and Emma
stepped out of the crowd.

“This has been so much fun,” Emma commented.
“Alice is exhausted from playing so much.”

“Just wait until you see what Cara and I
have been talking about doing next,” Ariel replied with a grin. “We
thought it would be neat to decorate the cavern up for Christmas.
Cara thinks she can get the climate control device she was working
on while we were on Kelan’s warship to create snow.”

“The North Pole?” Abby suggested excitedly,
clapping her hands. “Who could we dress up as Santa?”

“Asim,” Ariel volunteered with a mischievous
grin. “We can use Pactors as the eight reindeer.”

“Who is Santa? Is he related to the Great
Pumpkin and the Easter Bunny?” Vox asked as he paused before eating
more candy.

Riley rolled her eyes and tucked her arm
through his. “Even better, he brings you presents,” she informed
him.

Vox’s eyes widened with excitement. “What
kind of presents? Can I ask for anything I want? When does he bring
them? How does he know what to bring?”

Laughter filled the air as all the men
started talking at once. They were discussing what they would ask
for. They were all enjoying the conversation so much, that none of
them, except for Emma, noticed the three figures that walked by
dressed in long, golden gowns. Aikaterina turned and smiled at
Emma’s soft gasp of recognition.

Yes, sometimes interference is a good
thing,
Aikaterina thought before she faded into the crowd.

If
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Additional Books by S. E. Smith

Paranormal and Science Fiction short stories
and novellas

For the Love
of Tia
(Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 4.1)

A
Dragonlings’ Easter
(Dragonlings of Valdier Book
1.1)

A Dragonlings’
Haunted Halloween
(Dragonlings of Valdier Book 1.2)

A Warrior’s Heart
(Marastin Dow
Warriors Book 1.1)

Rescuing
Mattie
(Lords of Kassis: Book
3.1)

Science Fiction/Paranormal Novels

Cosmos’ Gateway
Series

Tink’s Neverland
(Cosmo’s Gateway: Book 1)

Hannah’s Warrior
(Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 2)

Tansy’s Titan
(Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 3)

Cosmos’ Promise
(Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 4)

Curizan
Warrior

Ha’ven’s Song
(Curizan Warrior: Book 1)

Dragon Lords
of Valdier

Abducting Abby
(Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 1)