Baqman and Martha stood back to allow Tristan into their home. He’d returned to humanoid state before scooping her into his arms and carrying her from the vessel, which made it easier to maneuver inside the building that was built to house humanoids and not dragons. His powerful muscles bulged as they gently laid Chloe’s limp body onto the bed in the guest room. “She saw us in dragon form and fainted. I gave her a sedative to prevent her waking while in transit with us as we passed through the land of meta-naturals while still in dragon form, but I question if I gave her too much. She should be awake by now, right?”
Martha pushed her way close to inspect Chloe. “If she fainted from shock, as I assume she did, that will add to the length of time she is out. Leave me with her so that I can inspect her more closely.”
“Come, son,” his grandfather said as he touched Tristan&rsquo
Chloe was washed, was in one of Martha’s shifts with a hair ribbon holding her long locks in a neat braid down her back, and was well into her second serving of potato-leek soup and home baked bread by the time Tristan returned to the house. Her eyes lit up at how striking he looked in his kid leather pants and Daniel Boone style shirt. When she saw Baqman standing behind him in similar attire, she smiled. “Is it a family thing to dress like that?”A look of surprise came over Tristan as he checked out his clothing. “Like what?”“We work with nature here, dear. You will find limited man-made materials,” Martha explained.“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Chloe said quickly. “I guess I forgot where I was. This house looks like it could be from the surface.”“Who do you think taught the surface humans how to build?” Baqman said as he slid past Tris
The world that Tristan lived in was amazing to explore. Chloe felt as if she was walking through a federal preservation park run by the Smithsonian Institute as she took in the array of giant foliage and creatures, long thought extinct, around her.“I feel so small and insignificant,” she said as she moved along a path lined with an array of enormous foliage including philodendron, lily, croton, and palm plants. Beyond them was a blend of evergreens, oak, birch, redwood, palm, and many more she couldn’t identify. All were blending and living peacefully together. “It’s amazing to see tropical plants right along trees you’d find in the north where I come from.”“I thought the same thing when I first arrived,” Martha mused. “After the horrors of war, it took some time to adjust to everything and everyone living in peaceful harmony.”After explaining that they were
Chloe helped Martha with a few of the chores around the farm that could be done at such an odd hour of the day before heading back to the house. The closer they got to the house, the more anxious she became. Would Baqman have the test results? Was she contaminated with vampire or werewolf venom? Or both? Would she need to have her blood cleaned? How did they plan on doing it? Were they going to give her a blood transfusion? As far as she knew, Martha was the only one in Manthella who had blood that would be compatible; providing it was the same type as hers.She had herself so worked up about the subject, that by the time she reached the house her legs could barely support her. She assumed Tristan was watching out of the window because as soon as her legs began to buckle he was racing off the porch and down the path to sweep her into his powerful arms. She felt weak and helpless, yet secure and happy, as she rested her cheek aga
“I will answer any questions you may have,” the doctor said as he focused on putting his equipment back into his bag.With the opening to release the question that raged within her during the entire examination placed before her. Chloe wasted no time in asking it. “Am I pregnant, doctor?”“Call me Vidar. Doctor sounds too formal,” he said as he closed his bag and turned to face her. He folded his arms across his chest, crossed his ankles, and casually leaned his body against the edge of a nearby table. “You are an oddity, my dear. As with the bloodwork and the urine sample, my examination was inconclusive. We will have to wait a bit longer to find out. Very odd.”“Why would that be?” she asked with panic.He shook his head in thought. “It is a mystery. You are certain that you are from surface earth?”Her brows knit together
“I understand that things are done differently on surface earth, but you are back in Manthella now. I expect you to behave accordingly,” bellowed Baqman as he stood in the doorway of Tristan’s room. His look was a mixture of disgust and disappointment as his clear eyes met Tristan’s dazed ones. “Wake up, both of you. The king is demanding we bring Chloe before him.”As the reality of the situation sank into Tristan’s cloudy mind, so did panic. He’d been caught in bed, by his grandfather, with a woman he was not mated to. If that wasn’t bad enough, the king was demanding to have her brought before him. Neither of these things was a good thing.“Your grandmother brought fresh clothes for Chloe,” Baqman grumbled. “I will wait for you outside.”“Grandfather,” Tristan said as he sat up with a look of chagrin on his face.“Not a wo
Tears impaired her vision. Chloe’s lungs ached as she sucked in air and her heart beat wildly as she ran as fast as her legs would go. She had no specific destination in mind. It didn’t matter since she didn’t know much about where she was anyway. The only thing she did know was that the dangers of being captured by Antoh Sudnik seemed more appealing than remaining in a land filled with giants who could turn into a dragon at any time. She wanted to go home.When she found herself in familiar surroundings, she stopped to catch her breath. With her hands braced against her thighs, she struggled to normalize both her breathing and her heartbeat. A thick coating of sweat on the back of her neck made her hair feel heavy and cumbersome as it clung to her flesh. She pulled it up and away from her head as best she could to help with the cooling down process.The braying of a sheep in one of the wooden buildings caught
Tristan paced in front of the white marble steps of the great hall that was made of equally white marble while he waited for his grandmother to produce Chloe. She’d called him on his connector - which he learned functioned in a way similar to surface earth’s cellular telephone- to tell him that, although still not comfortable with the fact that she was in the land of giant hybrids, Chloe agreed to go before the king for Tristan’s sake. He clung to that spark of kindness, telling himself that great fires could come from the tiniest of sparks. There was still hope that she would move past the fact that he was part dragon and return his love.His heart skipped a beat when he finally spotted her walking down the tree lined lane that led to his home. Since the clothing and toiletries Martha intended for Chloe were at his house, the women went there first so that Chloe could look her best.Chloe approached the building without
Myriana stood at the entrance of the vessel while she watched Tristan and Chloe board. Her heart beat double-time while she struggled to remain calm and civil. She wasn’t sure what hurt more. The fact that Tristan admitted to being in love with a puny surface human even though she clearly wanted nothing to do with him or the fact that he’d declared that he would fight in her stead if Myriana insisted upon challenging her.She leaned casually against the door frame while she watched with smug amusement as Chloe struggled to climb into the vessel which didn’t provide steps for tiny people. A ‘humph’ escaped her when Tristan came up behind Chloe and lifted her by the waist into the vessel. Chloe thanked Tristan without looking at him before scurrying past Myriana -without a glance in her direction- toward the bowels of the vessel where she hoped to be left alone.Myriana didn’t move until the last of the soldiers boarded the
Their return to Manthella was bittersweet. Their hearts were heavy over the loss of four good soldiers while they were light with the joy in the fact that Chloe and Lizzy were returning with them.After extensive conversation where Lizzy informed the remaining Manthellans about the true origin of herself and Chloe and a good deal of deliberation as to whether they should remain on the surface of earth or go to Manthella, Myriana went through the proper channels and received permission to bring them, should they wish to go.It took little convincing to get Chloe to agree and even less for Lizzy, who wanted to stay close to Chloe to monitor her pregnancy and also who had no desire to part company with Jepson.With a good deal of the vampires and hybrids having perished along with their maker, the trip back to their vessel was far less perilous than when they arrived. Eager to get home, they wasted no time setting the course.Baqman and Mar
Lizzy had to search down several corridors before she found the room with the remaining soldiers locked up in a glass cage similar to the one Tristan and the other soldiers were in. She rushed up to the intercom and explained who she was and what was happening. Unlike the soldiers who were locked up with Tristan, they were grateful for her help and eager to cooperate.One of the soldiers was Jepson. Like Tristan, he possessed the ability to pull the code to unlock the cell from the energy thought cloud hovering over the keypad. He did it quickly and precisely. When he stepped out of the cell, the chemistry between him and Lizzy hit both of them like a thunderbolt to the point where they both stepped back in surprise.After taking a moment to regain her composure, she said, “Tristan is doing his best to battle the vampires. I had enough antidote for the serum in you for one. He’s in dragon form.”“
They made it through the back door with no mishap, but their luck wasn’t to hold up. In their search for the rest of the team, the soldiers who were locked in with Tristan were discovered and an alarm was sounded. They had their size on their side, but their opponents had fangs and venom.Whether a victim of a vampire bite survived was totally in the hands of the vampire. A little bit of venom would turn the victim, while a lot would take him to the point of no return. Chloe watched in horror as vampires sank their fangs into the Manthellan soldiers. The soldiers tried to shake them off but they clung with all of their mite while they deposited their venom into the muscular flesh. She wasn’t sure how much was needed to take down the Manthellan soldiers. They were clearly slowing down and weakening.The thought that the goal was to turn them instead of killing them came to mind and she gasped with horror. What a leth
Lizzy smiled as she watched the emotional reunion between her beautiful niece and the handsome giant. Even though there was a definite size difference, she didn’t think it was so substantial as to make a big deal of it. She’d seen many surface humans with the same height encumberments who managed to have long and lasting relationships. It was only size, after all.When Tristan finally pulled his attention from Chloe, he looked at Lizzy with both curiosity and mistrust.Seeing this, Chloe reassured him that she was on their side and convinced him to let Lizzy inject him with the much-needed antidote. Even though it wasn’t tried and true, Chloe believed it would work and that was good enough for Tristan. Unfortunately, there was only enough antidote for two of them. A brief conference was held amongst the others to determine who was willing to risk being injected with a serum that wasn’t tried and true that was brough
It was official. She was pregnant. Once the infectious joy that Lizzy emanated calmed down, the worry over Tristan’s well-being took over. Even Lizzy was concerned about him surviving the attack on the laboratory without their ability to shift.They labored with the anguish for the better part of an hour before deciding to do something to help them. Lizzy spent the remainder of the day teaching Chloe how to use skills that were inherent within her. She helped her to unleash her telepathic abilities to their fullest and then worked on showing her how to teleport by shimmering from one location to another by simply thinking about it.When she was satisfied with Chloe’s progress, Lizzy brought up a sensitive subject. “I have something I’d like to do, but I want to warn you that it would be painful for you and, possibly, risky for the baby.”Chloe’s eyes opened wide. “Risky? You mean, it could k
The anti-venom barely entered her bloodstream before she felt its cleansing effect. A surge of energy rushed through her and a sense of well-being swept over her. “I feel wonderful.”Lizzy busied herself repacking the satchel with her medical supplies. “I imagine you do.” She picked up her satchel and held her hand out for Chloe to take. “Now, it’s time to leave.”For the first time since her aunt appeared before her, Chloe questioned how she’d gotten past her captors. “I thought you were a captive like me.”“I sensed them coming to my farm and hid. They don’t know I’m here,” she said.“How did you get past them?”’ Chloe asked.Lizzy placed her arms around Chloe and pulled her close. “Hold tight and you’ll see.”Chloe felt Lizzy’s body start to vibrate. Soon, her own was vibrating in unison. Within s
She was back in her apartment at the lab. How odd to be placed there instead of with the other breeders. Chloe could only think that the risk of her turning was too high to chance having her in close quarters with the other women; many of them being pregnant.She couldn’t help being nervous about what it would be like to be transformed into a vampire or a werewolf or, perhaps, even both. If she hadn’t been so surprised and upset with Jim, she would have asked him about it.She was so wrapped up in worry that her body began to react like it had in Manthella, except, this time, Tristan wasn’t there to catch her. The loud thud of her hitting the tiled floor echoed through her head before darkness took over.The soft touch of a woman’s hands on her forehead was the first thing she was able to decipher from the fog in her mind as her surroundings slowly came into view. She was lying on the floor with a wet c
Chloe was surprised to see them turn into her aunt’s driveway. “How did you know where she lived?”Jim chuckled. “You’re only just asking?”She shrugged. “I guess I was so engrossed in talking that I didn’t realize you drove here without my directing you.”“I was here looking for you,” he explained as he pulled the car to a stop at the end of the driveway.Something felt wrong to Chloe, but she couldn’t put her finger on just what it might be. It was years since she’d been to her aunt’s farm, so she wasn’t sure how it should look or what type of activity she should expect, but instincts told her that things were too quiet.“Hmm,” she mused. “I would think Aunt Lizzy would come out to see who was in her driveway.” She craned her head to look around the farm for signs of her aunt coming from one of the outbui
After giving him the bare bones of her harrowing experiences, Chloe used her GPS to tell Jim her location and then settled down a few yards off the road beneath an oversized bush to wait for him. She felt cold and alone in the darkness.With nothing to occupy her mind, it was practically impossible to keep thoughts of Tristan out of her head. Her body tingled all over as she lost herself in the reminiscence of their lovemaking. She touched her cheek as she recalled the feel of his solid chest against it. She could almost hear the beat of his heart in her ear. She laughed when a few of the stories he’d told her to amuse her came to mind and cried at the memory of his saddened look as he walked away from her in the tunnel. All the while, she anguished over whether or not she’d done the right thing in leaving him. She’d never felt for someone the way she felt for him. Even when in a long-term relationship while in