Dragon's Prisoner: A Curvy Girl Military Romance (Dragon Blaze Ops Book 4) Read online

  Adam was good with being on his own. Most times he preferred it.

  “We have set up precautions to make sure that nobody will figure out that you’re stationed here,” Fiona continued matter-of-factly. “It’s off the grid and only the Blaze Ops and Maura know about it.”

  Maura nodded her agreement.

  “You’re stocked with plenty of food, water, and fuel. I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but I have complete confidence in your abilities.”

  Adam sighed as he stared out the window, where fat snowflakes were starting to drift from the sky. Fiona was right. There was plenty of fuel for the generator. No internet for entertainment, but he had already brought in his entire book collection, along with dozens of DVDs and CDs. And the lean-to was set up so that he could work on his woodworking. He had painting supplies and could mend his own clothes if need be.

  “I just don’t know about being isolated for the entire winter,” he said. “There is entertainment and then there is going crazy from being touch-starved.”

  “It’s not going to be all winter,” Maura laughed. “And you won’t be entirely alone, remember. You are going to be trying to get information from Karey as well.”

  That was the part of the plan that sat the worst with him. Even though he had come up with the plan, it didn’t mean he liked it. It was like they were trying to deliberately get Karey into Stockholm Syndrome so she would turn away from the Pack. They all knew that she was abused by her father. This could change her life for the better.

  Adam just wasn’t so certain this wasn’t abuse of a different kind.

  He let out another heavy sigh. One person wasn’t more important than many. They had to bring the Pack down. They were behind more and more terrorist attacks. People were dying, and if the Pack had their way, humans and shifters would be forced to take their serum, to make them ‘better’ while the ‘weak’ were made into little more than slaves.

  Even if it meant hurting one person to stop it, he had to. Karey wasn’t entirely innocent, after all. She might not have much choice in her life, but she had gotten away from the Pack. And she went back.

  It was hard not to judge her harshly for that.

  “Even if it’s not the full winter. Even if I have her to talk to.” Adam grinned wryly and spread his hands. “I might end up going stir-crazy. It’s not like I can have any sort of deep conversations with her. She’s a prisoner and I have to make sure that she stays secure and can’t go running back to the Pack like she did before.”

  He couldn’t stop the sour note in his tone, and Fiona frowned at him. “Don’t be so hasty to judge her, Adam. We don’t know the extent of the abuse she’s suffered. When you’re in that sort of situation, it’s difficult to see that you have other options. Especially when it’s the only life you’ve ever known. Not to mention that it’s a sure bet the Alpha would kill her if she did turn against him.”

  Great, so now not only was he going all Stockholm on her, but he was also putting her life in jeopardy.

  Adam sucked in a deep breath, pushing aside his moral compass for the moment. Innocent lives were at stake. Perhaps hundreds, perhaps thousands. The last they heard, the Pack was trying to weaponize the serum.

  They had to get their information. They had to bring down the pack. Karey was the Alpha’s daughter. Close enough that she would know his inner workings but small enough that the Alpha didn’t understand just how important she was. If he did, he’d never treat her the way he treated her.

  “You’ll be fine.” Maura slugged his arm. “Just don’t start up a sexual relationship with the enemy and nothing can go wrong.”

  Adam scowled. It wasn’t him that she needed to tell that to. It was Liam, who slept with Utopia when they still thought she was a willing participant in the research the Alpha had her doing. It was Eugene, who slept with Clementine when they still thought she was a traitor. Just because they were mates with children now didn’t mean that they hadn’t been real idiots to sleep with them at the time.

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” Adam said, straightening his shoulders arrogantly. “I know my place, and I know her place. If she even tries to seduce me, she’ll find out just what sort of dragon she’s dealing with.”

  Maura smirked. “And that’s why you’re the one we chose to hold her here.”

  Adam flexed his muscles, his tattoos rippling over his skin, as he nodded. Fiona rolled her eyes—why, he wasn’t sure—and Maura laughed again.

  Soon enough, the flakes were heavier than ever outside, and the rest of the team had arrived to go over the final details of how they were going to catch Karey Fisher. Once they were done, Colonel Patrick Sheen clapped Adam on the back and told him to make sure everything was ready here.

  As he went into the basement to double-check that the heating vents worked so their prisoner wouldn’t freeze, Stephen followed him down. The Lieutenant grinned widely, a mischievous sparkle to his eye. Adam frowned at him. He really wished that they would all stick more closely to the military chain of command, rather than this informal relationship between them all, but Stephen really was the worst of them.

  “How are you feeling about your assignment? Got your plan for surviving the winter?”

  “It’s not going to be the whole winter, and yeah, I’ve got my plan.”

  Stephen nodded, following him around and double-checking what Adam checked. Just to get a rise out of him, he was sure. “I saw you got a lot of books and movies and stuff. Guessing you’re hiding your porn stash, eh?”

  Adam ground his teeth together tight enough that his jaw creaked. Stephen was always making sexual jokes like that just because Adam had accidentally walked into the wrong room to see Fiona and Patrick making love. And another time he had walked in on Utopia and Liam naked in bed together. And Clementine and Eugene—although in their case they were almost full redressed before Adam walked in on them.

  Why these people never heard of locks, he didn’t know.

  “I’m not going to waste fuel for the generator on porn,” Adam snapped at Stephen.

  “You might change your mind. It gets awful lonely up here. I put a box of magazines and movies under the bed for you.” Stephen winked at him. “And a lovely blowup doll.”

  Adam whirled on Stephen, his hands risen in fury. “I get plenty of the real thing, I don’t want some blowup doll.”

  “Yeah, but you’re going to be here all winter. You won’t have access to the real thing. Unless you’re planning on getting cozy with—"

  “Shut up already.” Adam glowered at him. “I don’t need you to start messing with me, Stephen. Get your porn and your creepy sex doll out of here. Unlike some people, I have self-control. Got it?”

  Stephen’s eyes widened. He looked so shocked that Adam almost laughed. His cheeks flared with color and he backed off, holding up his hands. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “You’re going too far. I don’t need you ribbing me about my sex life. And I don’t need your porn stash.”

  “Right. Well. Sorry. I didn’t realize it was that big of a deal for you. I’ll stop.” Stephen stuck his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry.”

  Adam glared at him for a moment longer then sighed. He didn’t like to be angry, especially with his teammates. They relied on each other too much to allow rifts to become insurmountable. “Okay. I trust that you won’t do it again.”

  Stephen nodded, looking quite ashamed, which wasn’t at all like him. “Are we good?”

  “We’re good. Just so long as you remember this conversation and not be such a dick in the future, okay?”

  “Cross my heart and hope to die.” Stephen gave him the ‘scout’s honor’ salute. “Just don’t keep it bottled up, man. That’s not healthy. If I do anything to make you uncomfortable, please let me know. I’m not always that great at knowing where people’s boundaries are unless they tell me. Don’t let it get past the threshold. Please.”

  Adam managed a small smile. That was true enough. Stephen
might not realize when he had crossed a line, but he did do his best to make amends and not do it again. “I’m stressed because of this mission. I might be a bit more sensitive than normal.”

  Patrick hollered down into the basement. “Are you two coming or not? Get your asses up here. We want to get this done before the blizzard hits in force.”

  “Coming,” Stephen shouted back up. He looked a little chagrinned as they headed for the stairs. “Guess I don’t have time to get rid of that stuff. Sorry. You can just leave it under the bed. I’ll pick it up when we come to collect you and Karey when this is over.”

  “Thanks,” Adam muttered, rolling his eyes. Well, no matter. It wasn’t like he had to look at it. Out of sight, out of mind after all. Nobody else was going to be here to find it and embarrass him after all.

  He put those thoughts from his head as he rejoined the team and headed into the thickening snow. They had a job that needed to be done.

  Chapter Three

  The sky was dark and cloudy, the sun shrouded by an ever-increasing blanket of snow. Karey breathed out a sigh of relief as she watched the fat flakes fall. Since she had woken up, her father had been pushing her to spend time with Shane Carter every day. It seemed like she couldn’t even take a walk through the woods without him glued to her side. And he, who had never before given her a second glance, was all charm and smiles and giving her little presents. The kind that women were supposed to like.

  Karey hated everything he gave her. Because with each necklace, each bracelet, each rose, it felt like she was selling a little piece of herself. They had already decided that she would increase her status in the Pack, it seemed. Shane was far too excited to get close to the Alpha by mating his daughter to remember that she was currently still an Omega.

  But then, it wasn’t just Shane. Everybody was treating her differently. People were begging her to show them how she could breathe smoke and fire. Many of them had taken to stroking her back and telling her how lovely they thought her wings must be.

  At one point, Karey might have enjoyed the attention. Now, though… Why couldn’t they realize that she was the same person that they’d shunned before? Every smile and kind word felt so false.

  It was better than the sneers and taunts and threats she was used to, she supposed. But there were times when she found herself wondering if it would be worth it to fail the trials on purpose. Keep herself an Omega so that they’d stop with all this fawning over her. Find out if any of them actually cared about her or if they just thought she was a dragon now.

  Her wolf snorted and fanned her fires with its tail before curling in the center of them, cozy and warm. Karey had to smile at that. Yes, the heat of her fires was strange, but it was also pleasant. It made her feel like maybe she could have a say in her life after all.

  She turned away from the snow coming down outside. It was nice to be away from the Pack’s compound for the moment. Technically, she was supposed to be learning a new nursing technique—she’d told her father that the conference was only happening this weekend and so she had to attend, even if they weren’t certain about her physical state after the serum.

  Shane was supposed to come for dinner. In this weather, though, he wouldn’t risk it. Which meant she had one precious night to be by herself in this hotel room and really think about her situation. Figure out if she could stop herself from being mated to Shane. He was a doctor—he’d stop her from using any sort of birth control. She’d be popping out babies left and right, exactly like she didn’t want.

  There was a knock on the door and Karey frowned toward it. Fuck. Did Shane come out here anyway?

  “Room service,” a lively voice said.

  Karey crossed to the door and peered out of the peephole. A pleasant-looking teenage girl stood on the other side. She slid the chain lock into place and opened the door to see a cart full of champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, and other such intimate foods.

  “I didn’t order any room service,” Karey said, frowning at the cart.

  The girl kept smiling. “Well, then it must have been your boyfriend trying to surprise you. He had a really deep voice.”

  Karey grimaced but unlocked the chain and opened the door all the way. It seemed that Shane was coming anyway. Shit. Maybe she could get to a different hotel and pretend that Shane had misunderstood her when she told him where she was staying? But no… if he arrived and found the room unoccupied, he’d just phone her up and ask where she was. Besides, she’d paid with a credit card, and her father would be furious at her for wasting money.

  “Thanks,” Karey muttered as the girl brought the cart in. “I’m a bit new to this whole hotel thing. Do I tip you for this?”

  “Well, since it’s more money for me, of course I’m going to say yes.” The girl winked at her. “But it is common practice, yeah. Everybody gives different amounts. This isn’t like a restaurant where they pay less than minimum wage and you have to make it up with tips, though. It's basically a courtesy thing. So, I mean, if you want to give a tip it’s appreciated, but I’m not going to suffer if you don’t.”

  Karey laughed, a little confused at the girl’s explanation. She turned to get her purse when something suddenly didn’t feel right. The hair on her arms prickled, and her wolf snarled. She dropped her purse, turning—and something sharp bit into her chest.

  She gasped in pain and shock as the girl slid a dart gun back under a silver dome on the cart. She caught Karey as her legs buckled. Two large men entered the room, both scowling and looking fierce.

  Her eyes met the gaze of the one on the right, and the air vanished from her lungs even as darkness encroached on her vision. Colonel Patrick Sheen. From the Blaze Ops. But how did they know she was here? How had they found her?

  But those thoughts slipped away as the overwhelming fear pushed her from the drug. Adrenaline combatted it as her fires burned hotter.

  “No,” she growled, slinging a fist at the girl’s face. The dragons came toward her and she let out a scream. She wasn’t going to let them kidnap her! Her father would be so furious… he’d think she betrayed him.

  The dragons pinned her down, the one slapping a hand over her mouth to stop her scream while the other snapped at the girl. Their words seemed muddied. Her limbs were so heavy. Karey kicked. She screamed again, even if it was muffled. She tried to bite her captors, but her body seemed to have stopped responding to her. Her wolf tumbled away into the darkness. Cold enveloped her, holding her so tightly in its embrace she couldn’t make herself break free.

  She fought as long as she could, but the girl gave her another injection and she knew no more.

  ***

  It was so cold. Karey buried herself deeper into the blankets around her, shivering as the chill seeped into her bones. Her tongue felt fat and heavy, her arms and legs too stiff to move. There was a musty, stale scent in the room that made her wrinkle her nose. Had Father locked her in the cellar again? What had she done to—

  The memories came flooding back and Karey sat bolt upright, a scream in her throat. Her heart slammed into her ribs. The dragons. They’d taken her captive. And she’d been drugged. What else had they done? A sick feeling rose in her stomach as she thought of what might have happened while she was unconscious. But she didn’t ache. There was no pain, and her clothes were still firmly on her body.

  No. The Academy didn’t molest their prisoners. As much as her father had told her that they did, she had worked with them enough when she was trying to save her father’s life from a botched serum to know that she didn’t have to worry about that, at least.

  And she had a lot of other things that she did have to worry about.

  Karey looked around the room she was in. It was bare except the cot she lay on, a sink and a toilet to one side of the room and a shelf with half a dozen books on it. There was a set of stairs at one side of the room and open vents going to the upstairs trailed light and noise from them. At first, she thought that there were multiple people talking b
ut then the sound of an explosion made her flinch and she realized it was a TV.

  She slowly got out of the bed, looking around again. There were several circular domes in the ceiling, and she was struck by another sick feeling. Cameras. Probably covering the whole area. She glanced at the toilet. Even there. So, she wasn’t going to have any privacy, was she?

  But wait… She stumbled over, her throat parched and needing water anyway. There was a curtain. She could give herself a little privacy at least when using the toilet.

  There was no cup to drink from, so she gulped straight from the tap. The water was cold, too cold, and that was how she realized that the fires she’d gotten used to were gone. Her wolf was gone. Despair washed over her—she’d just gotten it back! And now she was back to being nothing. Her chest was hollow and heavy, every inch of her shivering.

  Karey sank to her knees. No. No, this couldn’t be happening. Not again. Tears flooded her eyes and she hid her face in her hands. They took her wolf from her. Again. They just took it from her like she was nothing. Why? Why couldn’t anybody just let her have that part of who she was without always taking it away from her?

  A sob caught in her throat. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

  The creak of hinges made her jump to her feet. The TV had gone silent, and her breath caught in her throat as light spilled down the stairs. A dragon came down, all lit in gold and white and looking like the most terrible, most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Karey’s mouth was dry again, but she recognized the dragon.

  “Adam Hoffman,” she rasped. “And I take it this is the Academy?”