I Married A Dragon (Prime Mating Agency)(68)

We weren’t dependent on or beholden to them in any way. After all, unless they mastered a method of creating portals of their own, they had no way of coming to Dramnac without our help. However, since my finding Kaida, my other Shadow Lord brothers who had not yet found their Ejayas were seeking closer interactions with off-worlders, and especially with humans. Kayog had hinted at a potential special collaboration between the Prime Mating Agency and the Shadow Lords. But that would only be possible if Dramnac was in good political standing with the UPO. Needless to say that my brothers and I were adding our own considerable pressure onto the Council.

Unfortunately, all of that drama hadn’t gotten my Kaida any closer to figuring out who the mercenaries were. She compared it to looking for a grain of salt in a bowl of sugar—an absurd undertaking. Her superiors appeared to agree. When they semi-shelved that mission, my female took it as a personal failure. Despite both her employer and me telling her it wasn’t the case, she kept thinking she could have done more.

But she had…

Aside from new incidents coming to an almost complete halt and the number of cases of roaming aqrats diminishing by half, Kaida’s investigation had provided new trails. She had sent the Enforcers the remaining fragments of the faulty stones the apprentices had used in the rift. The analysis performed by their scientists not only indicated that they still contained residual power, but that it could also be artificially reproduced… to a certain extent.

They theorized that mercenaries had recovered some fragments in an accidental portal and had tried to recreate them. Additional conversations with the Veladeem Research Lab people further supported that theory as the stones artificially created by the Enforcers significantly resembled those the mercenary had sold them.

A specialized team had been assigned to identify every company and organization with the capacity and interest in trying to reproduce such stones. It was too big an undertaking for my Kaida alone. As much as she chafed at having that investigation passed on to someone else, she took solace in the fact that they still kept her in the loop on any progress they made.

In the meantime, my Ejaya had resumed her regular work as an Enforcer. At first, her going back to her world had terrified me. What if it reminded her of just how different life and customs were off-world? What if it made her homesick enough to draw her away from here? What if she met another male?

I had provided her with two stashes of shadow obsidian stones. One opened a portal directly at the Enforcers HQ, light years away from here, and the other took her right back here on the terrace of our lair. While this aimed at giving her a sense of freedom of movement, I made it a point of summoning her portals to and from work. I often entered the portal with her and made a display of kissing her goodbye, so there would be no doubt for any of her male coworkers that she was mine. It was petty and mostly unfounded, as her passion and affection for me seemed to deepen daily. However, until she committed to us and bonded with me as my mate, I would continue to feel insecure.

I’d been reading some more about humans, especially courtship. To my dismay, I’d discovered that the first book I’d been focusing on, The Care and Feeding of Humans, had actually been an ancient Delvenian ‘pet care’ guide. The advanced species had believed humans to be primitive creatures that made good, clean, easy to train, and low maintenance house pets. Why, by the Gods, would they still have that book in circulation and translated in various languages? Apparently, because they used it as an educational manual and cautionary tale for xeno-politics students, and anyone whose profession involved first contact with primitive species.

This new book, The Romantic Gentlemen: A Human Dating Guide, was deemed a bestseller on Earth and in many human colonies. Some of their rituals sounded unnecessarily messy and pointless, like the trails of flower petals. Others sounded rather impractical, like the candlelight dinners. Only three days prior, I’d devoured a full shajen in my battle form. The herbivorous creature was somewhat comparable to a buffalo. I wouldn’t be hungry for a few weeks. As much as Kaida loved that I could take her shopping anywhere in the galaxy in a blink, she wasn’t that materialistic. And that I didn’t want her wearing clothes defeated the main purpose of shopping.

We regularly cuddled when watching romantic ‘movies’ together, or admiring the stunning Dramnac sunsets. We didn’t go on romantic walks but did plenty of flights together, mostly with me carrying her. Although I appreciated the high-tech jetpack Kayog had given my mate, I much preferred holding her in my arms. I’d already gotten her a ‘pet’ and regularly brought her off-worlder treats, including strawberries dipped in chocolate. In fact, anything chocolate earned me major points with my mate. That had been one of the best suggestions from the book.

The bubble bath sounded good, but we didn’t have baths. I was more than willing to build one in our lair, but intended to try an alternative tonight to see how my Kaida responded to it. The massage also felt like a good plan. Aside from its relaxing effect, it would make my female feel good, on top of giving me an excuse to touch her. However, for that too, I wanted to give it a special spin that would make it a unique experience.

I checked the massage hammers one last time. To think I’d come this close from majorly messing up when I went to acquire them. I’d almost bought a pair of clubs used by the humans’ rhythmic gymnasts instead. These ones were heated and cushier to provide the ultimate foot and leg massages. When Kaida and I had watched the remake of an extremely old—and somewhat sad—human classic movie called Raise the Red Lantern, she had repeatedly wondered about how the foot massage the favorite concubine received would feel. She would find out tonight!