Ambushing Ariel (25 page)

“Learn to obey, my ass!” Ariel growled as she angrily stomped into their living quarters.

She was so pissed at Mandra’s chauvinistic attitude she didn’t notice all the little fur balls at first. They were moving in and out through the vent under the dining table, dashing back and forth around the couch in the living area, and hopping out of their sleeping quarters. She stopped putting her boots on to look around with a frown.

Where did all the little fur balls come from?
She wondered vaguely shaking her head before shrugging.
Maybe someone else had some on board and they knew she would take care of them.

Ariel petted a dozen or more of the little creatures as they hopped up, curious to see what she was doing. She laughed as a couple of them played with the strings on her boots. She loved watching them as they rolled around on the floor.

“You guys sure are having a lot of fun. Where did your little friends come from? You do know Mandra is not going to be happy if he sees all of you in here, don’t you?” Ariel chuckled affectionately before setting two of the furry creatures down. “I have to go. Be good and don’t get into anything.”

She would have to remember to ask Mandra if he knew where the others came from. Maybe he wanted to surprise her. Ariel didn’t see the dozens of little creatures scurrying through the vents or escaping out into the corridor as she turned to get her jacket at the last minute.

The journey down to the unnamed moon was uneventful. Ariel was still mad at Mandra for his ‘do as you are told’ comment so she ignored his huge ass. She focused on the banter between Zebulon and Adalard. Adalard was cute in a dark and dangerous kind of way. She tried to think which one of her friends back home would be a good match for him. She was about to give up when it hit her.

“Samara!” Ariel blurted out.

Mandra, Zebulon, and Adalard stopped talking and looked at Ariel funny. “What?” Mandra asked.

Ariel laughed and shook her head. “Not what… who. Samara Stephens,” she responded bemused looking at Adalard with a twinkle in her eye. “I was trying to think which of my friends would be the most suited for you, Adalard. I was about to give up when I thought of Samara,” Ariel studied Adalard for a moment before shaking her head again. “Maybe not, she would eat you up and spit you out.”

Adalard’s eyes flashed at the insult that a female could do such a thing. He was about to snap out a cutting remark when Zebulon glanced over his shoulder with a grin. Adalard shot Zebulon a nasty look at his amused chuckle.

“Which one do you think would be good for me?” Zebulon asked jokingly.

Ariel studied Zebulon for a moment before her lips curled into a knowing smile. “Annalisa Hollins. That is if you could catch her before she killed you. She wasn’t feeling too friendly toward men when I left. I can’t really blame her. If some guys were trying to kill me, I wouldn’t like them too much either.”

Zebulon stiffened in anger. “What do you mean ‘tried to kill her’? Why would a male want to kill your friend?”

“She is, or rather was, a detective from Miami. That is similar to being head of security in a way. She had a really tough case that she had been working on for about a year. Anyway, she was finally able to crack it. The problem was the bad guy was the son of a really rich man. The dad put out a hit on her while the son thought he could use a more personal approach to silence her. She ended up killing the son when he tried to kidnap her. The dad was finally sent to prison but Annalisa had to go into a witness protection type program for a while because daddy was still pissed at her for killing his worthless son,” Ariel explained. “I can tell you guys this since the likelihood of you ever meeting her or going to Earth is probably nil. She’s working as a deputy in my hometown of Casper Mountain, Wyoming.”

Zebulon didn’t turn around or ask any more questions. Ariel figured the guys would ignore her again. She was surprised when Adalard suddenly turned to her with a curious expression on his face.

“Why do you think this Samara would eat me up and spit me out?” Adalard asked.

Ariel shook her head. “She has five older brothers almost as big as you. She is a small thing but meaner than a hungry dog with a bone. All the guys are scared of her. She works for Trisha’s dad. She handles all the horses for him. I just thought if anyone could handle her, it might be you. She couldn’t intimidate you, at least not easily.”

“Well, maybe I will go find this Samara and show her I am not a male she can scare!” Adalard said with a grin.

“Maybe,” Ariel replied with an unsure look on her face. “I’m telling you, she has taken bigger men than you and put their butt in the dirt.”

“We are almost to the mountains,” Zebulon called out suddenly. “There is a sand storm brewing and the winds have picked up. Make sure you are strapped in tight.”

Mandra moved over to sit in the seat next to Ariel while Precious moved to lay at her feet. Thin gold threads wound up on either side of her almost like a type of netting. Ariel giggle as some of the threads moved over her bare belly tickling her.

“I don’t think it is going to get that bad!” She whispered affectionately.

Warmth filled her as the threads tightened slightly when the shuttle jerked. “Why didn’t we just beam down,” Ariel called out to Mandra above the roar of the shuttle and outside wind.

“The moon has a natural ore in it that interferes with the beam making it unstable,” Mandra replied as he gritted his teeth and protectively pulled Ariel closer to his body. “Storms also pop up unexpectedly. If we were to beam into this, we would be dead within seconds from the sands cutting into us.”

Ariel didn’t say anything else. She was grateful for the warm support of Mandra’s body and Precious as the shuttle jerked against the fierce weather battering it. She might be mad at him but she wasn’t an idiot, she knew when to pick a battle. Right now, she was more than happy to rely on their strength and protection.

.
.*

They had to wait for the storm to pass before they could disembark from the shuttle. They landed at the foot of a narrow line of mountains. Ariel got up to use the restroom leaving the men to finish discussing their plans for attacking Raffvin’s base. Her dragon was getting impatient to get out.

What is wrong with you?
Ariel asked impatiently as she brushed out her long hair and braided it.

Want to fly. Want to touch my mate,
her dragon grumbled.

I want to touch him too. I’ll let you have your way as soon as it is safe. I love how it feels to fly with you,
Ariel whispered gently.

She finished up her braid and returned to where the men were sitting near the front of the shuttle. Ariel stopped as she neared the front looking out the front of the shuttle at the diminishing storm and shook her head. Her life had changed so much in such a short time. She barely thought of her old life anymore. If she stopped to think, the only thing she could honestly say she missed was Trisha’s dad. Paul Grove was like a second father to her. He had been her there for her and Carmen all their life, especially after their own parents were killed. Maybe she could talk to Mandra about returning to Earth to get him. She knew Trisha would never be happy without her dad close by.

Ariel jerked in surprise when she felt the hand on her chin. “What is it,
mi elila
?”

“I was just thinking about how much my life had changed in such a short time,” she replied looking up into Mandra’s concerned face.

“I hope it has been for the good. I love you, my little warrior,” Mandra said tenderly brushing a kiss along her lips.

“I love you too,” Ariel responded. “Even if you drive me nuts sometimes.”

Mandra raised an eyebrow in question. “You usually let me know when I do something that displeases you. I have a feeling I am going to be very good at that,” he muttered with a smile.

“Yes, you will be,” Ariel teased as she wound her arms around his neck and pressed a hard kiss to his lips in hunger. “My dragon wants her mate.”

A rumble of a purr escaped Mandra surprising both of them as his dragon responded to her softly spoken words. Both of them chuckled at it. It would appear her dragon wasn’t the only one impatient to go play.

“After we meet with Adalard’s man we will go flying,” Mandra promised.

“Are you two love dragons ready to go or should I tell your uncle you were too busy to come after him yourself?” Adalard said leaning against the doorway leading to the front of the shuttle. “I’m sure Zebulon, Bahadur, and I can handle this.”

Mandra shot a dark glare over his shoulder at the intrusion. “Remind me to kick your ass when this is finished,” he bit out.

Adalard laughed. “As if you could, dragon prince. The Curizans are not easily defeated as you found out during the Great War.”

“You are lucky my brother thinks so highly of you,
Curizan prince
,” Mandra retorted with a slight curve of his lips to take the bit out of his words, “I would hate to tell him I had to take a bite out of you to put you in your place.”

“All right, children,” Ariel said with a chuckle. “Let’s play nice. I want to stretch my wings.”

Adalard came up to stand next to Ariel. He took her hand in his ignoring her mate’s dark growl at his touch. Lifting her hand to his lips, he turned it at the last minute and pressed a kiss to her wrist.

“Anything for you, my lady,” Adalard said with a chuckle as he moved quickly out of Mandra’s reach.

Zebulon came up behind them, shaking his head. “Adalard, are you irritating Mandra again? One of these days, he really is going to take a bite out of you.”

“Mayhap, but not today,” Adalard said as he pressed the release on the door to the shuttle. “Today, we plan our attack on his uncle.”

Ariel watched as Adalard pulled a narrow board from his hip. With a flick of his wrist, the board expanded and he jumped on it with a cheeky grin. Her mouth dropped open as he leaned forward and took off across the sands at a rapid speed. It was some type of hover-board. It looked like a skateboard without the wheels.

“Curizans and their toys,” Zebulon muttered before jumping out of the shuttle changing into his dragon and speeding off after Adalard.

“You guys have the coolest stuff,” Ariel muttered as she moved toward the door.

“But it means nothing without you,” Mandra said pressing a kiss to her forehead with a sigh of pleasure. “Shift and wait for me. I will make sure the shuttle is secure before I join you.”

Ariel nodded in pleasure as she let her dragon have her freedom. She was still a little hesitant about shifting but she was gaining more confidence. She felt the tingle and the movement along her skin before the world tilted slightly and she could see everything in sharp detail. She lifted up off the hot sand enjoying the feel of stretching her wings out. The heat of the moon felt good against her scales and she flew upward twirling as the joy of being free swept through her. Her dragon coughed out as she called out her happiness to her mate. Within moments, her coughs were answered by a deeper one as her mate joined her. Precious watched from the sand before changing to form armor over both of its mates. Heavy armor coated Mandra while a lighter suit of armor formed over Ariel’s more delicate dragon. Ariel shook her head at the odd feeling of having something on her head but Precious would not budge. A wave of warmth flowed through her to let her know it was for her protection.

Come, little mate. The sooner we finish with our meeting the sooner I can have you to myself for a little while,
Mandra whispered in dragon-speak.

Even the dryness of the planet is beautiful in its own way,
Ariel said looking down on the desolate terrain.

It was true,
Ariel thought. Through her dragon’s eyes she could see the glitter of the different colors in the sand. It was as if tiny sparkles of light were captured in the grains. As they flew toward the rocky terrain, she saw the same glittering in the dark stone. They skimmed along the sands. At times, Mandra would let his claws dip down and make patterns in the soft grains. Ariel giggled as she watched him play. She knew he was flying slower than he normally would so she could have a little longer in her dragon form. It was the little things that he did that made her love him so much. Yes, he could be a pain in the ass sometimes but he more than made up for it with his tenderness and thoughtfulness. She let her eyes roam of the brilliant sapphire and silver body of his dragon and couldn’t help but feel the shiver course through her at the thought that he belonged to her and she to him. She didn’t have the same feeling of unease as she did when she had been with Eric; the feeling of never being good enough or fear of doing something wrong. If she got mad at him, he wanted to know why and worked with her.

Mate is good for you,
her dragon responded.
You not think of other man. He bad.

Yes, he was bad for me,
Ariel agreed.

Mate kill him for hurting you,
her dragon said gleefully.

No! No, my mate not kill him. Eric is far away and can never hurt me again,
Ariel said firmly.

No matter. Our mates have decided,
her dragon said with a sigh.
I like my mate tail. It big like the rest of him.

You are a horny little thing,
Ariel giggled as she found herself admiring the large tail swinging back and forth in front of her.
You’re right, though. He does have one good looking tail.

Mandra looked over his shoulder as he heard his mate purr. His dragon uttered a loud roar in response. He slowed enough for her to catch up with him. He loved how the light reflected off her rose and gold scales. It made both him and his dragon hard at the thought of taking her from behind. He wanted to grip her tightly under him as he pushed into her as far as he could go. His dragon emitted another loud roar as Mandra fought for enough control to wait until the meeting was finished.

Want to fuck now,
his dragon snarled.