Lord of Destiny (The Dragon Demigods #6) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,42
single, young women from our weyr. They disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived. All of them were pregnant by the time they left.” I pause. I give her a chance to say something about her weyr. About what happened the night her brother and the others were sired, but she doesn’t bite. “My mom never ended up marrying a shifter. They were too prejudiced against us. She only married Jeff eight years ago. There’s one thing I find interesting in all this…”
“What’s that?” She cuts off another piece of pie and puts it in her mouth. I watch as she closes her eyes. Her face gets this look. I’m fucked if it doesn’t shoot straight to my cock.
I clear my throat and try to get comfortable all over again. I watch her throat work as she swallows. She takes a sip of her hot chocolate, and I’m able to think relatively clearly again. I think I might have a cherry pie fetish. It definitely includes Raven. Pie and Raven. Fuck! “Um…I think it’s interesting,” I work on pulling my mind from the gutter, yet again, “that there are no women like us.” It’s something the guys and I have discussed before. “No female dragon demigods.”
She looks at me like I’ve gone mad. “There is, though. We have one.”
I put my fork down and lean forward. “There’s a woman dragon demigod in your weyr?”
She nods. “Not every dragon demigod chose to leave with us.”
“Oh! I see.” Well, shit!
“Two people chose to stay behind. One of them is a woman.”
I take a sip of my hot chocolate, trying to play it cool. “You left two behind?”
She nods. “They chose to stay.” Her eyes cloud. “We had a very similar situation. Only is wasn’t just the single women who partied with the gods.”
“Are you serious?” I lean back in my seat.
“When you’re in a weyr that forces people to mate against their will – very often it is the women who are the ones being forced – you will sometimes see a rebellion. There has only been one big uprising against the weyr. It happened that night and for the days that the gods were here. My mom was mated to my father when she left with the gods. It’s not something we talked about…ever. My father has always been a jerk to Maddox.”
“That’s not great,” I say.
“Exactly! Maddox was an innocent kid. None of what happened was his fault.” She shakes her head. “I remember the snide remarks. The jokes at Maddox’s expense. He could never do anything right. Could never be good enough. My dad is a jerk. My mom was not given a choice when it came to mating him. He treats her like she’s his slave. I guess it’s how we’re raised, but it’s no excuse. I don’t blame her for giving him the middle finger. I do feel bad for the demigod children who were born. Not every female became pregnant…only about a third of them. I was too young to remember that time but apparently there was hell to pay when the women returned.” Raven stifles a yawn with her hand, her eyes widen. “Sorry,” she mumbles.
As much as I want to know more about this, I can see how tired she is. “I think we should get going.” I put a big chunk of pie in my mouth. Then another. For the first time in the history of my visits to this diner, I don’t finish my pie. I push the plate away and take a big drink of my lukewarm hot chocolate. “We can talk some more tomorrow,” I say as I put the mug down.
She smiles. “Sounds good.”
I put some cash on the table and wave at the server as we leave. She giggles, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, and waves back. I don’t remember the top buttons of her uniform being open when we arrived. Her cleavage is out there. I look away. I’m not interested.
Raven gives me a side look as we step outside. “Don’t you guys get sick of all the attention?”
“Attention?”
She stops walking and gives me a look. “Yes. It happens with the others all the time. We can’t go anywhere without women tripping all over themselves. Human women seem to have a thing for non-humans. All the annoying giggles and remarks must get old. West has had panties thrown at him once or twice.” She laughs. “Maddox once had a woman write her number on his