A Dragonlings' Haunted Halloween: Dragonlings of Valdier (8 page)

“Roam is playing with B
á
lint in the Bubble Room,” Riley commented in a quiet
voice as her other hand began rubbing his chest. “Bio is
babysitting them with strict instructions not to let them out until
one of us come for them.”

A sly smile lit Vox’s face as he popped the
front clasp on her bra as he slid his own hand between them. A
louder rumble escaped him as the double hand-size mounds spilled
out. He brushed the tip of her right breast with the calloused pad
of his thumb.

“Playtime,” he murmured as he claimed her
lips.

Ha’ven and Mandra looked around as they
crossed a narrow bridge back over the river to the other side. They
were coming up near the cemetery for the second time. Mandra had
enlisted Ha’ven’s help in finding Precious and Jabir.

“I could have sworn I saw them go this way,”
Mandra muttered in frustration. “I know it was them.”

“We will find them,” Ha’ven assured Mandra.
“Call to your Symbiot again and see where they are.”

Mandra touched the gold band around his
wrist. It didn’t make sense. His symbiot was now showing Precious
and Jabir on the steps.

“Maybe Precious is trying to take him back
to our living quarters,” Mandra replied in a heavy voice as he
turned back around to cross the bridge again. “He is younger than
the others and must be tired.”

“Has he shifted yet?” Ha’ven asked as he
turned as well.

“No,” Mandra replied in a reluctant voice.
“I’m a little worried. The others had by this age.”

“I’m sure…,” Ha’ven was saying before his
voice faded.

“You’re sure of what?” Mandra asked with a
frown before he turned his gaze to where Ha’ven was staring. “Oh,
Goddess!” He groaned as he stared in horror at the steps. “Please
tell me they don’t come that big!”

Mandra swallowed as he stared at the biggest
Grombot he had ever seen in his life! He didn’t think they could
even grow that large. He tried to pull back on his dragon when it
saw the creature.

Eat!
His dragon roared out in
excitement.
Eat, eat, eat.

The fact that Grombots were a rare delicacy
was bad enough. The fact that they were all pets of his mate, who
happened to also be something called a vegetarian, made it worse.
He had discovered that Grombots to him were like chocolate to his
mate… when she was pregnant and going through a major craving. He
wasn’t ashamed to admit he had begged Cara into replicating the
damn stuff for Ariel. Now, now he had the biggest chocolate bar his
dragon could have ever dreamed about, crawling around with his
son.

“Oh, Dragon’s Balls,” Mandra groaned as his
dragon swept pass his defenses as he was lost in thought.

The huge sapphire and silver dragon crept
forward in slow, steady steps. He paused when the huge rodent
lowered its head and rubbed against Jabir. His son’s laughter
echoed as he wound his arms around the creature’s head.

We can’t eat it,
Mandra ordered his
dragon.
Ariel will kill us. This has to be one of her pets. Only
she could find something so incredible.

Eat,
his dragon insisted.
She not
miss one.

Mandra groaned as he tried to pull in his
dragon.
Look at it! Of course, she’ll miss that one!

Mine,
his dragon insisted as he came
within pouncing distance.

Mandra groaned even louder when the damn
overgrown rodent turned its back to them and stuck its tail up in
the air. It wiggled it, making Jabir roll with laughter. What was
worse was it was like waving a succulent meal under his dragon’s
nose.

I’m blaming you,
Mandra warned as he
felt his dragon tense before it jumped and latched onto the waving
tail.

Mine!
His dragon replied with
delight.

Both he and his dragon knew something was
wrong the moment it bit down. Instead of moist, tender meat, they
tasted coarse cloth, metal, and spongy filling. They both winced
when they heard Ariel’s outraged shriek of surprise. What surprised
them both was when they were suddenly attacked… by a tiny sapphire
and silver replica of them.

“Mandra!” Ariel choked out as she hung
upside down by her ass from his dragon’s mouth. “What are you
doing?”

Mandra stood frozen in confusion as he tried
to process two things; Ariel had turned into a Grombot and second,
his son was chewing on his ear. The first sent waves of horror
through him, while the second made him so damn proud, he dropped
his mate when his dragon grinned.

He watched in a daze as the huge Grombot
rolled over. For a moment, he closed his eyes and just thought of
the pain radiating from his ear where Jabir continued to chew. He
slowly opened them again, hoping that it had all been a figment of
his imagination. Panic swept through him when he saw his mate’s
beautiful face with the body of a Grombot.

“Ariel,” he choked out after he shifted to
his two-legged form. “You are a… What happened?... Who did this to
you?” He asked, blindly reaching up to pull Jabir into his arms
when his son tried to land on his shoulder to grab his ear
again.

*.*.*

Ariel stared up into Mandra’s deathly pale
face. Her eyes shone with amusement as she watched him gently
cradle their son in his arms. Jabir had finally shifted.

“He’s as handsome as his father,” she
whispered with love shining brightly in her eyes.

Ariel watched as Mandra’s head turned to
look at the small Dragonling in his arms. Jabir snapped at him and
whimpered as he looked back and forth between his father and her.
Her heart melted when Mandra’s eyes softened and he pulled Jabir
against his chest as he whispered reassuringly to him.

“I won’t hurt her,” he promised. “I love
your mother, no matter what she is.”

“Mandra,” Ariel whispered as she clumsily
rose to her feet.

She shook her head and smiled at him as she
carefully pulled the head of the costume off and let it fall to the
ground. His eyes widened as he got his first good look at what she
was wearing.

“It’s not real?” He asked in a hopeful
voice. “I mean, I’d love you if somehow you had…” he waved his hand
awkwardly at her, while maintaining his hold on Jabir.

“Emma did a wonderful job making it look
real,” Ariel admitted as she took a step closer so she could
tenderly caress Jabir who had quietened down and was now yawning.
“He looks just like you.”

A firm hand wound in her hair and pulled her
forward so that his forehead could rest against hers. Ariel glanced
up at her mate. A small smile tugged at her lips when he pulled
back and pressed a heated kiss to it.

“Let’s go,” he ordered in a gruff voice. “I
want to peel this thing off you and see what is underneath.”

Ariel’s lips quirk again. “Not much,” she
admitted. “That’s why I haven’t taken it off. Emma forgot to leave
my clothes on underneath when she created the costume.”

Mandra’s low groan echoed in her ear as he
brushed a kiss just below it. “That makes me extremely horny, you
know.”

Ariel turned back toward the stairs and
started to climb them. She grinned up at where Emma was standing on
the upper stairs to the control room, watching them with a shy
smile as Alice played on the stairs at her feet. She mouthed a
‘thank you’ before she felt Mandra’s strong arm wrap around her
foam-filled waist.

“I can’t wait to eat you up,” he whispered
in her ear as they swept through the upper level door.

*.*.*

Ha’ven, who had been watching the whole
scene with Mandra and Ariel in amusement, decided he’d had enough
for the night. As far as he was concerned, the others were on their
own. Striding back across the bridge, he took the lower steps two
at a time up to the entrance to the cavern.

He stumbled to a startled stop when a loud
cry from his left caught his attention. Turning, he saw Emma
standing on a set of steps leading up to another level. Alice sat
playing on the step below her.

“Emma,” Ha’ven whispered in surprise.

“Da! Da!” Alice cried out again, stretching
her arms out to him and opening and closing her fingers. “Da!”

“She missed you,” Emma grinned.

A chuckle escaped him when he opened his
arms and within the blink of an eye, Alice was in them. He hugged
her tiny body against his chest in a fierce, but gentle hold. Their
little girl was getting stronger.

Yes, she is,
Emma quietly whispered
back to him.

“How did you know I had left?” He murmured
as she came to stand next to him.

“I always know where you are,” Emma replied
in a quiet voice. “I have to know.”

Ha’ven shifted Alice so he could pull Emma
closer when he heard the slight tremor in her voice. Even after
almost two years, the fear of losing each other still struck at
unexpected times.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, holding her
against his warm body. “I should have told you.”

Emma relaxed against him. “You did,” she
reminded him as she remembered his soft, whispered words of love
and reassurance that he would return soon as she slept. “You just
forgot to tell me where you were going.”

“Da, sleepy,” Alice murmured with a
yawn.

Ha’ven grinned as Alice rubbed her eyes.
“She is learning more words.”

Emma brushed a kiss to Alice’s cheek as she
pulled out of Ha’ven’s arms. Focusing, she held her hands out for
her and Alice’s brooms. She grinned up at Ha’ven when they appeared
in her palms.

“I’m getting better,” she said in
triumph.

Ha’ven’s eyes ran down over her slender form
dressed in the witch’s costume. His eyes lingered on the slight
swell of her breasts showing in the low cut top. Hunger gripped
him.

“So am I,” he muttered, sweeping his arm
back around her and focusing on their living quarters.

Emma’s muffled laughter was cut short as
Ha’ven teleported them to their living quarters. For once, he
didn’t give a damn who knew what he could do. He just wanted to be
alone with his little family.

Abby laughed as she chased Zohar through the
small village. He loved the Paint House. Abby had been in charge of
creating the activities for the village.

She had made sure each house had something
different to offer. Some were designed for the kids to play virtual
games in, others were for them to do simple arts and crafts, while
still others held the old-fashion games found at the local fairs
from back home.

“Momma,” Zohar giggled as he patted the
crystal ball in the center square that talked to the kids. “Momma
talk.”

Abby chuckled as Zohar patted the crystal
ball again to ‘wake’ her up. She was just thankful that Zohar had
stopped for a moment as she drew in a deep breath. Stopping behind
him, she waited to see if the programming worked like it was
supposed to.

“Hi sweetie,” the imitation Abby said with a
smile. “What do you want to play today?”

“Paint!” Zohar shouted in excitement,
slapping the ball. “Momma, paint!”

The imitation Abby’s head turned until she
was looking at the Paint House. “Paint, it is. Have fun,
Zohar.”

Abby sighed as Zohar called out a goodbye
and took off for the house that suddenly lit up in bright colors.
The faint sound of music could be heard coming from the inside.
Shaking her head, she started after him.

“Thank goodness the paint disappears,” Abby
muttered with a weary laugh as she watched Zohar run to the bucket
of blue, which was currently his favorite color.

The engineers, with Cara’s help, had
designed a special ‘paint’ for Abby when she tried to figure out a
way for the kids to be creative without it being a disaster for the
parent. This paint felt and appeared real, but was made up of a
non-toxic powder that disappeared after a few minutes.

Zohar loved it when she showed him how he
could rub it on the walls, floors, even his body and then watch it
fade away. Now, he was running blue streaks along the floor while
Goldie, in the shape of a large dog, had decided to dip each paw in
a different color and walk around.

Abby slid down on one of the seats and laid
her head back. A yawn escaped her and her eyes drooped as she
watched the Symbiot and Zohar play. She wished she had their energy
right now, but Zoran had done a pretty good job of tiring her out
earlier.

“Goldie, keep a good eye on Zohar,” Abby
called out in a tired voice. “I’m not thinking to clearly right
now.”

The golden symbiot turned and sneezed in
acknowledgement as Zohar, now with blue feet, clung to its tail as
it pulled him around the room. The combination of exhaustion,
relaxing back on the soft seat, and the music, soon pulled Abby
into a light sleep.

“I’ll close my eyes for just a minute,” she
murmured as she slid sideways on the bench and curled her long legs
up on it.

*.*.*

Zoran stumbled into the village and turned
with a scowl. He was on the opposite side of the cavern from where
he had planned. After he pulled himself out of the river, he had
found himself on the far side of it.

He had planned to cut through a narrow cut
between the rocks, but another one of those damn storms that Cara
seemed fond of had sent a torrential burst of rain down on him. He
swore his hair almost got scorched by some of the ‘lightning’ that
she had programmed in. Fortunately, the ‘wind’ storm he had
encountered as he came through the other side had dried his
clothing.

Now, he would need to cut back through it or
go around. He turned and glanced down the long row of ‘Houses’ on
each side of the village. In the center, there was a small, round
ball that was glowing. Something was moving inside it and curiosity
pulled at him. He glanced back toward where he knew the entrance
was, before deciding a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.