Bearing the Dragon's Child Read Free Page B

off warning bells, if the swords in their hands didn’t give that much away. They didn’t look like villagers. “Can I help you two?”
    “Look at what we have here,” the one on the right said, looking me up and down. He was the lankiest of the pair.
    The right one didn’t bother with looking at anything other than my breasts. “She’s a fine one, isn’t she?”
    This didn’t look good at all. I didn’t have a weapon on me and there was no way I was going to fight off two of them at once. The only thing I had was the reputation that I had been given as a witch who lived in the mountain.
    And even then, I didn’t have any magic of my own. “These woods are mine. You shouldn’t be here.”
    The lanky one chuckled. “We were just passing through when we saw this lovely cabin and thought that maybe the person living there would be so kind as to let us stay for the night? It tends to get rather chilly out here.”
    “Sorry, but I’m not an inn.” I stepped back, keeping my eyes on the both of them. “You’ll have to find lodgings elsewhere.”
    “Shame that,” he said. “Guess my partners and I will have to settle for something else to keep us warm for the night.”
    No sooner than I caught on that there was more than these two, I was grabbed from behind and had my arms pinned to my side. A gag came over my mouth and my hands were bound in ropes tight enough that it bit into my skin. They dropped me down onto the ground once I was bound at my legs, now completely helpless and at their mercy.
    “How much do you think we’ll get for her?” asked the newest one as he stepped over me and went back to the other two.
    “At least ten gold at a glance….” The lanky one rubbed his chin. “She looks to be in good condition, but we’ll need to see how good under those clothes of hers.”
    The fat one chuckled perversely and eyed me again. “I’ll do that.”
    “Fine, but don’t you dare ruin the merchandise.” He turned around and headed towards my home. “We’ll go see if she has anything worth taking with us.”
    The two of them disappeared behind the trees again, leaving me with a man who didn’t bother to hide that he was going to violate me. He strode over to me and grasped the collar of my gown. Then he pulled, tearing it in two all the way down to expose my body to his hungry eyes.
    “You’ll make a fine whore indeed.” He licked his lips and reached down, guiding his fingers along my bare skin. The rough and calloused tips left me cowering at how they sank below my stomach.
    This was like the dream, only there was nothing arousing about it. These men weren’t like the regal barbarian who brought me pleasure in exchange for submission. They were only going to take everything they could from me and leave me broken.
    There was nothing I could do. The ropes were too tight, and he was right on top of me. Was this going to be my life from now on? Violated and then sold as damaged goods. I closed my eyes and stinging tears welled up in expectation of the worst.
    “What the—Stay back you beast!” I heard the fat man yell. “No, no, no! AHHHH—”
    The scream died as abruptly as it began, and the sound of bones being crunched and wet meat being chewed filled the air. Footsteps crunching down on the twig-laden woodland floor told me where the other men were. They shouted something else and gained a bestial shriek in response. More bones breaking and meat being chewed followed.
    It didn’t take a scholar to guess what happened. One dragon, three screams cut short. It made a meal out of them.
    I didn’t know if I would be next. Maybe that was why I didn’t want to open my eyes. Or, maybe it was because I didn’t want see what was left of those men. They got what they deserved, but I didn’t want to see the cause of the scent filling the air.
    A hot wind billowed through the trees, rustling the tattered remains of my gown and washing away the noxious scent. Then a pair of strong, rough hands