Page 14 of The Dragon King’s Pet

“I believe your attitude will be improved if you listen to what I say without the benefit of clothing. You are in need of humbling.”

“I’d like to keep it on,” she said, pulling the robe closer around her shoulders.

“What you want is no longer relevant. Better you learn that now.”

He spoke bluntly, borderline coldly. She shook her head vehemently in response.

“I can take it from you, if you prefer,” he said casually. “Is that what you want, Mika? Do you want to be forced to obey?”

“I just want to stay covered,” she said. “You’re kind of… scary.”

“Not so scary that you feel compelled to obey me,” he pointed out.

There was something about him that made her quiver on the inside. She got the distinct impression that he was capable of being extremely patient in order to get what he wanted, though clearly force was not out of the question either.

“Remove the robe,” he ordered in a soft but insistent murmur. “I want to see your body.”

Mika felt a hot blush rush over her again for the second time. He was sitting right next to her, and she knew that he did not have any qualms about handling her physically—her bottom could attest to that. So why was he making her bare herself? It must be a power play. It was working.

She let the robe slide off one shoulder, and then the other. Slowly, gravity took the gauzy fabric down her body a few inches before her breasts stopped its progress. Mika looked into the eyes of the dragon king and tried an apologetic little half smile. He reached out, hooked his finger in her cleavage and tugged, making the robe fall the rest of the way. The tight little patch of ginger at the top of her thighs came into view, contrasting with the platinum of her hair. She felt almost embarrassed at the blonde now; compared to Casimer’s shining locks, hers seemed almost cheap.

“Good,” he said. “You are a very pleasing creature to look upon. When the master of portals showed me glimpses of you, I thought perhaps the portal had the effect of making you look more beautiful than you really were. I see now that it was the opposite. You are exquisite.”

Mika lowered her eyes and said nothing. She wanted to know what was going on, but more than that, she wanted to be clothed. Her nipples were hardening beneath the king’s gaze, further giving away her embarrassing arousal. This beautiful stranger was making her body respond in an entirely unfamiliar way. Was this how she should have felt with the prince? Was this what Traci had been talking about all this time?

“My name is King Casimer,” he introduced himself. “You may address me as your majesty or my liege. These are words you humans are familiar with and will be easier for you to speak than attempting our dragon tongue.”

She suddenly became aware that she had not noticed how strange it was that everyone spoke English. Accented, but nevertheless, very recognizable.

“How do you speak my language?”

“Human tongue is not foreign to us,” Casimer said. “You make the same basic sounds, with less sophistication in their formulation. What you call English, we would call simple babble. It is not hard to emulate. None of your languages are.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling as if she had just been called simple. “Well. That’s convenient, isn’t it.”

“Very,” the king smirked. “Now listen. There is much you need to know. The world in which you find yourself now is the world in which you were conceived, and where you lived for several years in your very early youth.”

“No, you’re crazy,” Mika said, shaking her head vehemently. “I’ve never been to the dragon realm. You must be confusing me with someone else.”

“There is no confusing you for anyone else. You don’t remember because you were too young,” Casimer said. “But you lived here. In the outskirts of this very city, in fact. Your father was a great hero, and well respected. Had you continued to live here, you would have come up among the aristocracy. You would likely be a member of my court.”

“I…” Mika did not know what to say. “I don’t… that can’t be true.”

“Why? Because you were not told as much?” The king’s tone denoted irritation and annoyance. “There is a great deal you have not been told, Mika. You are a young woman with a certain amount of enforced amnesia, I think. You were taken from this world and raised in the human realm, no doubt never thinking for a second that there might be anything unique about you other than your obvious beauty.”

Mika blushed at his compliment, though he was in fact insinuating that she was utterly ignorant, which was less of a pleasant comment on her character. She squirmed around to half-sit, half-lie sideways on the bed. She risked pulling the gown up a little, though when the king shook his head, she let it fall open, exposing her breasts and stomach. She curled her legs up, protecting her still sore bottom and looked up at the king who sat so tall and so stern, imparting the strangest story she had ever heard. There was something in the way his eyes were still locked on her, those arctic orbs making her feel small and more than a little squirmy.

“I don’t know,” she murmured.

“Yes, that is what I am telling you,” Casimer replied. “You do not know.”

“I just… it’s hard to believe,” she stammered, blushing as she avoided his gaze.

“It may be a shock, but the evidence is all around you. You see me before you, and you have already seen much of this world for yourself outside the window. You see our people flying the skies. And you must know, even with your limited education, that there was a war between our realms.”

“Yes, sure, I mean, yeah, they make movies about it and stuff. It was before I was born though, so… it’s kind of ancient history.”

“Ancient history!” He barked with laughter. “It was barely a moment ago in the terms of your world, but I suppose your limited existence skews your perception of time.” His expression warmed, and a rakish smile passed over his lips. “You are in dire need of education, aren’t you—a history lesson to go with the discipline you must crave.”