Slade chuckled. “It is appreciated, Your Majesty.”
“You will both go. Consult with Kaden De-Kerr when you reach the Human Realm. I will give you one lunar cycle to bring back all the information you can.”
Javir pushed forward. “But, Your Majesty! You can’t just —”
“Enough!” The king bellowed at the Elder, who shrank back. “These two have brought the only helpful argument to this debate. It is done. I will hear no more of your long-winded arguments, Javir. We will reconvene at the end of the lunar cycle.”
The King turned back to Brim and Slade while the crowd slowly filed out of the King’s throne room. Brim glanced down at the smug smile on Slade’s handsome face. Brim’s fists clenched; rearranging Slade’s features suddenly sounded like a really good idea.
“Your Majesty, I don’t think I should…” Brim let his protest falter as the King glared at him.
“You don’t wish to serve your king?”
“Yes, of course. I always do my duty.”
“Good. Don’t let me down, you two, there is a lot at stake here. Before you leave, come to the archive room with the list of what we need to know, especially concerning human females.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Slade dipped his head in a respectful bow. “We won’t let you down.”
Fucking, demon balls! There was no getting out of it now.
* * * *
Four Days Later…
The blue dragon, Kaden De-Kerr, and his little pregnant mate, Terrie, gave both Brimstone and Slade a crash course in living in the Human Realm, along with all the funds they needed to stay at places of lodging and to explore. Now, they sat at a human bar, not far from the oceanfront of Darwin City. The place was situated in the country of Australia, a dry, arid and comfortable climate for a dragon. Slade was in his element, but Brimstone felt out of place. While his height was nothing out of the ordinary in his own realm, here among humans, he stood out. Along with his hardened face, it made the humans stare at him in fear.
He didn’t really give a fuck what anyone thought anyway.
“How can you not be interested in this?”
Brimstone’s cold, amber liquid with its frothy top sloshed all over the bar when Slade elbowed Brim’s arm.
He growled at his friend, but as usual, Slade took no notice. He was used to Brim’s temper. Brim lifted his gaze to follow where Slade stared. No – he grinned at them like a damn fool. His perfect, white teeth flashing at the human females sitting at the other end of the bar.
All—from the sleek, slim redhead with hazel eyes to her friend, an attractive blonde in a short red dress, showing her long, slender legs—held seductive, 'come hither' smiles aimed at Slade. Brim grunted. They were short, too skinny and looked like they couldn’t take a hard round of fucking without being broken in half.
Humans are frail and weak. He wondered how they were ever considered a threat to his kind. Mentally, he shook his head, because he knew in great numbers, they were capable of doing great harm, even to a warrior dragon such as himself.
Brimstone did a scan of the rest of the humans in the room. More than just the females at the bar glanced in their direction, fluttering their eyes at Slade.
Poor fools. They had no idea of the allure a dragon male had on the unsuspecting human females.
Brim went back to his beer, lifting and draining the glass. Humans made good drinks, if nothing else. As attractive as all these human women were, his mission in the Human Realm was not to indulge his cock.
“We’re here to learn about the humans, not spend time fucking their females.”
“I see no better way to talk to them than when they are writhing in pleasure under you.” Slade smile widened, lust gleaming in his amber gold eyes. “Besides, it’s me they want. You, my friend, how many have run from you screaming in fear?”
Brim scowled at his friend. “They were not screaming.”
Rather they scampered away from him like frightened rodents whenever he towered above someone and glared at them. The scars he earned in battle and his short-cropped hair didn’t add to his allure, but it was beside the point.
“Maybe not," Slade shrugged, "but you’ve got to stop acting like you want to break their necks every time you meet a human. And, stop the damn growling. Fear is not an impression we need to be leaving in our wake, nor do we want them catching on to what we really are.”
Brim waved his glass at the little human behind the bar and the thin man scurried over, his eyes wide as while he stared at Brim. The dragon smelled the fear wafting off the elfish appearing barkeep.
“I wouldn’t be here if you kept your mouth shut.”