Knights of Desire [Flights of Fancy 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Melodee Aaron

response both was and wasn't an answer to her main question. There was heavy pressure in the right side of her chest, and her breath was short. Shane wondered if she had a partially collapsed lung. There was one other obvious question she needed answered. "Why did the dragons kidnap me? Why am I here?"
    Alicia's voice didn't hesitate this time. "I know only that the king of the dragons is worried about why you and your people are here. He thinks you plan to overthrow him."
    Somehow Shane knew this young woman had no impact on the big picture, but she still felt the need to defend herself. "We plan no such thing."
    "That doesn't matter. Only what Handley believes matters, and he is a paranoid fool."
    Shane pulled the cloth from her eyes. Alicia was not much more than a girl, maybe twenty years old, tops. A dark scar, red and puffy, stretched down her left cheek, detracting from what would have been a pretty face.
    Alicia smiled a little. "You should rest. The commander of the dragons sent me to try to care for you."
    "This Handley sent you?"
    "No. Handley is the king. The leader here, the commander of the dragon soldiers, is called Cedric." The girl shivered a bit. "Handley is coming to see you."
    Shane wasn't as worried as she might have been, though. Daedalus would find her soon, her telemetry beacon calling a rescue party down like a homing pigeon. She touched the right side of her chest, just above her breast, and felt a lump under the bandage. Despite Alicia's urgings and her trying to keep Shane's hands away, Shane pulled at the bandages until the edge lifted from her skin.
    She pulled the lump from under the cloth and found that the impact on her body had punched the telemetry transmitter from her chest. A neat one-centimeter hole from a talon went clean through the case.
     
    * * * *
     
    Clemmons looked down from the ledge where he and Landis rested from the latest steep climb. It was a long way down to the valley floor, and the slips both the men had suffered convinced him Shane and the lizards had the right idea to fly over the mountains instead of trying to scale them. But neither he nor Landis could fly, so they had to rely on their skills and training to climb the rocks. Both carried a few cuts and scrapes from the inevitable slips but nothing too bad. If either had been alone, it would likely have been much worse.
    Landis seemed to have lost some of his black mood, but the climb left little breath for talking not related to surviving the climb itself. As they rested, their conversation, of course, turned to Shane.
    Clemmons put the water skin in his pack. "I think we can rest for maybe half an hour."
    "If we need to, yes, but I would like to get moving again sooner." Landis watched a bird soar on the updraft for a moment. "Do you think she's still alive?"
    "Yes, I do." Clemmons gathered his thoughts. He wanted to word this right, because a misstatement could plunge Landis back into his despair. "The lizard that took her wasn't just grabbing a target of opportunity. They planned the attack, even if on short notice, and executed it with great expertise. The lizards knew what they were doing, and they did it for a reason. They want Shane for some reason, and they came to get her."
    "And now they have her."
    "Yes, they do, but that's not your fault or mine. It just happened."
    Landis nodded. "And now we need to get her back." He paused for a long time, watching the bird again. "I couldn't stand losing you."
    He laughed. "The lizard who can best me in combat hasn't been born yet."
    "That's not what I mean." His eyes tracked the bird as it swooped and climbed on the winds, banking and spiraling across the sky. "I wish I could undo what Shane and I did back there."
    Clemmons looked for the shock and anger again, but he still couldn't find them. When he looked for the hurt he'd felt, he found only a dull memory of its intensity a short time ago. "You won't lose me, no matter what happens. I love you too much to walk