2. ‘This Is Not Kidnap,’ He Says

2

Quinlan screamed in terror.

Annie began to cry.

The ground flew at them like the world was going to end.

Scaly arms yanked around Quinlan's stomach, jerking him away from that freefall of certain death.

For a second, he stared at the treetops that were almost within reach, shocked that they hadn't become a pile of smashed bodies on the forest floor.

"What the hell?" Quinlan shrieked.

"What's wrong?" Griff asked, sounding concerned.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? You were going to crash me and Annie into the ground!"

Griff scowled. "I was not! I have perfect control of my flying. I was going to impress you with it!"

"Impress? You just let us fall!"

"And now you're no longer falling!" Griff's wings beat slowly. He craned his neck toward Quinlan, fixing him with a stare. "See? I kept you safe! No one will die from my flying."

Quinlan gestured pointedly at Annie, who was still wailing. "She's terrified!"

"You were screaming! And loud! Of course she's terrified!"

"Well, maybe don't make me scream, then," Quinlan seethed. "Take us back to Blade and let us go, for fuck's sake."

"You shouldn't be cussing in front of a wee child."

"She's too young to understand right now," Quinlan growled. "And it's not every day that we fucking get kidnapped by a lizard-brained reptile!"

Griff blinked. And his mouth pulled into a wider smile. "I like you. You will be my perfect mate."

Quinlan buried his face in his hands, and groaned. "This is kidnap."

"It is not. I have been preparing for your arrival," Griff said like this was the most normal thing. "I have gifts for you!"

He shook Quinlan a little, like he was... excited?

"Look, I get that you want a mate, but that's not going to be me," Quinlan said, trying to calm down. "There are plenty of other people out there who are more than willing to have your babies."

"Babies," Griff purred, pleased. "I want you to have my babies. You already have one dragonet."

Quinlan hushed Annie with back rubs and kisses, scrubbing his face with his other hand. There was no point correcting Griff. He didn't seem to listen to anything. "You're literally one of those baby kidnappers. The very thing I've been trying to avoid."

Griff sniffed huffily. "I am not."

Stunned, Quinlan gestured wordlessly at himself and Annie, trying to find his voice. "Excuse me? Do you see what you're doing? You've captured me and my baby! You're not letting us go home!"

"That's because your new home is with me," Griff said proudly. "I will convince you to stay. You will want to kiss me and offer your... your... What was that word? Dammit!"

"I'm not offering you anything!"

"Of course, I have to show you your gifts first," Griff said, more solemn now. "That is how a proper courtship is done. You will come with me and bask in the glory of my gifts."

Quinlan sighed in exasperation. "You're out of your damn mind."

"My damn mind is still inside me!"

"Don't curse in front of a child," Quinlan growled.

The dragon broke into a thunderous guffaw and kept on flying. Quinlan kicked him in the belly, but the dragon only lifted him and Annie away from his own body.

Now that he was no longer safely cradled against Griff's chest, the sight of the ground so far below his feet made Quinlan's stomach drop.

Except hot breath raked over his ear, distracting him from his fear.

That shouldn't have felt... nice.

"You smell good," the dragon rumbled.

"Why're you smelling me?"

"So I can track you down if you get lost." Griff beamed.

"Oh, dear gods." Quinlan buried his face in his hands. At least Annie had stopped crying.

Griff buried his snout in Quinlan's hair and huffed several times. Quinlan planted his hands against Griff's face and shoved him away.

"You're not allowed," Quinlan growled.

"I understand," the dragon purred. "You want to be courted first before I touch you. I will court you so good."

"I don't want to be courted!"

"You will change your mind," Griff said with complete confidence. "After that, I will breed you. Fill you completely with my cock and cum until it takes."

Quinlan ignored the tingle in his lower body from those words, and gave up trying to convince Griff. It was impossible.

A prickle passed over his skin, like barrier magic. Soon after, they landed in a clearing in the forest, right in front of a tall, rocky cliff. A gigantic boulder was wedged against the cliff wall.

Griff grabbed the boulder with one paw, rolling it aside easily to reveal a gaping cave entrance. A row of torches lit the length of the deep tunnel.

"You're bringing us to your secret lair and trapping us inside," Quinlan realized, alarm bells sounding in his head. "I didn't agree to this! We won't get any fresh air in a dank cave!"

"There'll be fresh air." Griff sounded confused.

"There's fire in there!" Quinlan waved at the burning torches. "It's going to burn up all the oxygen."

"Those are charmed. They don't consume oxygen." Griff puffed out his chest. "See? I thought of everything for my mate!"

I'm dealing with a lunatic, Quinlan thought desperately.

Griff kept his arm around Quinlan, walking straight into the tunnel. Another prickle of magic brushed Quinlan's skin.

It was when Griff rolled the boulder back over the entrance, that Quinlan really panicked.

He didn't have the strength to push that boulder free. How was he going to get Annie out of here?

He still needed to pay his rent, or at least rescue Annie's bath salts from his landlord.

And holding him aloft was a dragon who... could fly.

A light bulb went off in Quinlan's head.

"Hey, Griff," he said, pretending to be calm. "I need your help."

Griff perked up. "What can I do?"

"I need to get back to my apartment or my landlord will throw out all my things. I'm behind on rent."

Griff tilted his head to the side. "You don't need your things. I will provide for you."

Quinlan breathed through his frustration. "No! There are things in my apartment that I need! That you can't buy!"

"Like what?"

Quinlan made himself think. Griff seemed hung up on Annie being a dragon baby. If he found out the truth, would he refuse to help? Would he throw Quinlan out in the woods with no money, and let him struggle back to civilization himself?

Quinlan couldn't risk it. He needed to get home sooner rather than later, and right now, this dragon seemed to be his only option.

So, Annie was going to be a fake baby dragon.

"I have some things that belonged to my parents," Quinlan blurted. This was the truth. "Sentimental things. Like the very first ornament we all made for our Yule tree, and the photo albums from when they just got married and had me."

"Awwww. I want to see your baby pictures!" Griff did a small dance. His tail knocked a flaming torch off the wall.

The torch sputtered and kept on burning, and the dirt floor did not catch fire.

"Does this mean you'll help?" Quinlan asked hopefully. "My apartment is three states away. I have until the end of this week to retrieve my things."

"All right. Anything for my mate," Griff purred. "I will demonstrate why I fit you perfectly."

Quinlan released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "Good. Great. Speaking of, do you have a lighter?"

The dragon tilted his head, as though confused. "A lighter?"

"You know, those little things a human uses to make fire?"

Griff lit up, then seemed dismayed. "I only have one."

"One is fine," Quinlan said, mystified. What was wrong with having just one lighter?

Griff hugged Quinlan and Annie to his chest and hurried down the tunnel with loud, thumping footsteps. As they rounded the bend, the ceiling stretched up, the space opening into a yawning cavern.

The first thing Quinlan noticed were the huge piles of stuff everywhere.

There was a small mountain of pillows.

A small mountain of quilts.

Both taller than him.

He saw a mountain of gold, a separate mountain of jewels, and...

"Are those phones?" he blurted, staring at a pile of boxes with pictures of phones and tablets all over them.

"Yes! I also have a stash of computers," Griff said, turning Quinlan slightly to show him the larger mountain of computer parts. Some of them seemed to be several years outdated. "And clothes. Baby clothes. Underwear. Soaps. Shampoos. And anything you can possibly want!"

Now that he mentioned it, Quinlan realized that the cavern was a storage area of sorts. It was a massive, organized chaos of several heaps arranged in no particular order: books, fridge magnets, key rings, art supplies, and so on. In fact, there were three piles of baby clothes.

"There's the cribs," Griff said excitedly. "All ten of them!"

They looked ancient. With bedding that seemed just as old.

"Their mattresses have to be crumbling by now," Quinlan said doubtfully.

Griff gasped. "I will search for new mattresses immediately."

"Maybe fly me and Annie home first?"

"No! You need to see how dedicated I am to you." Griff turned Quinlan again, to face a pile of—

"Did you collect a pile of dildos?" Quinlan squawked. He covered Annie's ears hastily.

Griff grinned down at him, all sharp teeth. "I am considerate. I know I might be too big and I might need to stretch you before I can fit. I will make sure to worship your pretty hole like a treasure."

Why the hell was he talking about Quinlan's ass like it was already a given? Embarrassment flushed hot through his face. "I didn't say you could!"

"You will. I will hoard your pleasure like I've hoarded everything else," Griff purred.

Quinlan couldn't help the warm shiver that went down his spine.

He kidnapped us, he tried to remind himself angrily.

But it had also been a long time since he'd had a good fuck.

Griff pressed his snout to Quinlan's neck, and breathed him in.

"You like being pleasured," Griff whispered.

"I do not," Quinlan spluttered, his cheeks growing hotter.

"That's a lie. You smell different," Griff continued, his eyes crinkling. "As though you really, really like the thought of my coc—"

"I have a baby here!" Quinlan yelped and nodded at Annie, whose ears were still covered.

Griff licked his own lips with his long, thick tongue. He brought Quinlan and Annie past several more piles of things (bags, shoes, fruit peelers), before heading through a large doorway.

The scent hit Quinlan immediately.

His sense of smell wasn't all that strong, except for when it came to water.

He caught the cool crispness of it, the hint of minerals that carried in the humidity. It didn't have the salty tang of the ocean, but it was still water.

Quinlan's bones ached even before his eyes had adjusted to the shadows.

On the far side of the cavern, a small waterfall cascaded down the smooth rock wall, splashing into a deep-looking pool that covered half the space. There was nothing in the pool—no fish, no jagged rocks. Just a place where a mermaid could swim without getting hurt.

Annie gave a small whine, sniffing at the water.

Quinlan tried not to feel torn. They weren't going to be here long. Certainly not long enough for Annie to have a dip in the water.

"Aww, baby flame," Griff cooed. "Don't like water? It's okay. We won't stay here long."

He hurried through the cavern into the next room. Annie babbled louder, leaning back toward the pool cavern.

If Griff put the clues together, he'd know in a second what she was.

So Quinlan blurted as a distraction, "You don't have a stockpile of lighters?"

Griff frowned. "I didn't think... Why would you want that many of them when our dragonets will breathe fire?"

Gods, he was presumptuous.

"I just want one right now," Quinlan grumbled, his face flushing. "I didn't even agree to give you dragonets."

"But you will." Griff's eyes darkened. "I will put dragonets into you, and you will love it."

"You're so arrogant!" Quinlan's insides heated up. "I can say no!"

"But you won't." Griff grinned. "You smell hot for me."

Quinlan squeezed his legs together and pointedly did not think about how his nerves had come alive in Griff's arms. "Get me a lighter."

Griff growled. "Fine."

He brought them through the third cavern, which consisted of a sprawling nest of blankets, a pile of stacked firewood, a Newton's cradle sculpture, and some shelves of books against the cavern wall.

Then he stepped into a whole new world.

Quinlan stared at the room—an actual, enormous room with painted walls and chandeliers—and his mouth fell open. "I thought you were a cave animal!"

Griff huffed grumpily. "I am a beast! A majestic beast with great teeth and big wings!"

"So why do you have tables and chairs?!" Quinlan gestured at the long dining table with too many chairs to count.

The dragon muttered mutinously, "Sometimes my family visits."

Yeah, no, Quinlan had no wish to be stuck with Griff and his family.

Griff brought them into the spacious kitchen, setting Quinlan down on the marble floor. The cabinets were quaint in here, carved out of cherrywood, and the cream-colored quartz counters made the place feel welcoming.

Griff opened one drawer and rifled through it, before opening another drawer. The more drawers he dug fruitlessly through, the harder he gnashed his teeth. His angrily-swishing tail knocked down a roll of paper towels that had been sitting on the counter.

A man's voice floated in. "Do you need assistance, Dragon Master?"

"No," Griff growled. "I will do this myself. I will prove to my mate that I am worthy."

Quinlan raised one eyebrow. "By finding a lighter?"

"By giving my mate whatever he asks for!" Griff stuck his scaly head into some cabinets, snorting and grumbling.

It was a strange sight, seeing a fully-grown dragon taking up most of the space in the kitchen.

Quinlan took the chance to back away slowly, glancing out the kitchen doorway. He needed escape plans. An idea where the exits were.

He'd managed to sneak through the dining room, trying to find an exit out of the mansion wing, when Griff roared.

"Where did he go?"

Quinlan ran.