I would like to acknowledge three writers.

First of all, of course, Richelle Mead. I don't own Romitri, but I can fantasize all I want.

Secondly, Ga Aiken, who wrote the Dragon kin series. I don't own any of her stories or characters, but I was definitely inspired by her series to write this. Although I take to many liberties with her world for it to be a crossover if you have read her stories you will recognize a lot of things. If you haven't read any of her work, please do, she is an amazing writer and all her stories are hot and hilarious.

and lastly, I would like to thank Swimming the same deep waters. She checked the story and helped me with a few things. Thanks so much and I appreciate every single then you turned into than. ( my god there were a lot;)).

I tried to push myself a little with this story, in thems of length. Adding a bit more backstory and trying to delay gratification a bit, instead of jumping from key scene to key scene. Enjoy.

DPOV

"Bitch!"

Leave it to humans to wreck a beautiful day.

The sun was high in the sky, warming my brown scales with its rays. The soft breeze provided the perfect conditions just to glide, and I could let my wings rest. Cattle were grazing down in the green grass of spring and had provided the perfect breakfast. I had a full stomach and was enjoying the simple, quiet time between me and the air.

But now my good mood was ruined because some irritating human found it necessary to hiss, bitch and scream on this lovely day and ruin the outdoor space for the rest of us.

But I must say the imaginative curses that were coming from his mouth and the slight undertone of pain in his voice had me intrigued.

So I landed a bit away from the town I heard the bellows coming from. Humans tend to get a little iffy when they see a dragon that towers over most of their buildings. Not that I cared about the sensitive nature of humans, but it is annoying when they start to chase you with torches, pitchforks and spears.

I let the magical flames engulf me. I felt my scales transform to skin and my talons to fingers. My snout retreated into my face and became a mouth, and my height was reduced to a mere six foot seven inches. Still a lot bigger than most human males, but still. I always felt a little small in my human form. It was strange containing so much strength and power in such a small package.

I was about to walk towards the direction the profanities were coming from when I looked down and saw my naked form. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed some clothes from the pack I always carried with me. Humans were such prudes. They take one look at a naked body and would blush, scream or come after you with the aforementioned pitchfork.

That seemed to be their answer for everything. Don't like it? Attack it with pitchforks.

Once dressed, I walked the small distance to the edge of town and climbed a tree so I could see the spectacle.

I was momentarily mesmerized when I saw a woman run toward the tree. Her long, dark hair flying behind her due to the wind and her own momentum. She ran with such grace - her lean body seemed to be made for moving in this way. The long skirt she was wearing didn't seem to hinder her speed, and I could see the material flapping around her legs. I could hear her ragged breathing and see her breasts move up and down in her bodice from the exertion of her current activity.

She kept looking behind her, but I also saw determination in those big dark-brown orbs of hers.

"There is nowhere to run, you dumb cow. You will pay for this."

Ah. The human who ruined my mood was chasing this girl. There were a few people running in front of him, and by the look of armor on their chest, they were either soldiers or guards. The bellowing boy was behind them, running at a much slower speed. His gait was strange, and he was cupping his groin. I put two and two together and imagined the girl had hit him in the nuts. He didn't seem to be particularly pleased with that.

"Nobody refuses me, Rose. Nobody!"

So this little prick tried to force himself on her, and she decided she could find better uses for his balls. I kind of loved this girl already.

However, the soldiers were gaining ground. At this rate, they would catch her. She seemed to realize this too, and turned around and bent down in a defensive position. She was going to take on the guards.

"Well apparently somebody said no this time, Jesse. And I doubt you will be able to get that appendage of yours functioning anytime soon," she said with a tone that suggested bravery where I had suspected fear.

I saw the boy practically fume with rage at her words.

"That is Lord Zeklos to you, and I will make sure you regret it."

Ah, a Royal. Humans were so strange. Their society was so layered and hierarchal. They believed that to whom they were born determined their value. This Royal thought that simply because of to whom he was born he was more important and deserved more than this girl, who based on her clothes was from a lower class.

We Dragons had Royals too. It was necessary to ensure a continuation of a ruling family, but every King or Queen had to prove their worth. And although 'low borns' could never take the throne, they could become Generals and high-ranking members of our society. We valued people for their skills. Although truth be told, there was more room for error in Royal families due to the wealth they had accumulated. And political power was counted as power as well. But otherwise, everyone was born equal. You could only move up and gain respect for your actions.

The guards started to attack the girl. But surprisingly she held her own. She evaded one but took a hit from another. But that hardly fazed her. She started to go on the offense and was able to land a few hits. Her technique was sloppy, but it proved she had some sort of combat training. She was able to deck one guy by using her speed and agility to take his legs out. She kicked another in the balls. I saw the Royal boy flinch and grab his own balls in response. No doubt it was the same technique that rendered him useless.

But there were simply too many guards for her to take down.

After a few more moments, the girl was on her knees with her hands behind her back. Her face was turned towards me, and I could see the fire in her eyes. She wasn't going to go easilly even if her body was subdued for the time being.

The boy was limping over to her and grabbed her chin, tilting it upwards. His thumb stroked her luscious, full lips and I nearly left my vantage point in the tree to come to her rescue. But I doubt I would be doing her any favors.

The boy smirked at the rage emanating from the girl.

"My precious, beautiful Rose, such a shame."

He bent down a little and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened at his words, and although I doubt anyone else could have heard them, with my enhanced Dragon hearing I heard it just fine.

"I will make you scream, one way or the other."

I was about to come down from the tree and burn the boy to a crisp when I felt the heat in the tree. Flames didn't harm me. I was fire itself. But I hadn't noticed a fire burning nearby that could have transferred to the tree. The group holding the girl were too far away to notice. It had been a hot day; perhaps the tree had caught fire because it was dry. I merely stepped down from the tree, the flames only burning my clothes. Great. Now I was naked again. And I had been distracted long enough for them to walk back to the town. I could catch up to them. I could transform back to my Dragon form and make sure that boy was nothing but ash. But I could hear my mother's voice in my head, scolding me after the last time I decided to take justice into my own hands.

The last human I fried, because he was abusing some woman, was apparently the sole heir to a kingdom not far from ours. They traded supplies with Dragons in human form, and because I had killed the sole heir, the kingdom destabilized, and civil war erupted. Now, Dragons rarely care about human politics, but apparently, it was an inconvenience because it had affected our trade routes. So I would first have to see how important this boy was before I burned him to a crisp. I couldn't care less about trade routes, but I didn't enjoy upsetting my mother. She was much more concerned with these things.

With no more clothes to put on, I summoned the magical flames that transformed me back into my true form and took to the skies. I flew high enough into the sun so they would have a hard time spotting me. That way I could follow them and keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't hurt her.

Why I cared so much about the well-being of this girl I didn't know. She was a human of no importance. I told myself I wasn't here to rescue her, but to rid this world of this vile creature that had the nerve to disrupt this beautiful morning.

It wasn't long before they reached the center of town and were dragging the girl on some stage. They bound her to two posts, her hands in chains and bound above her head. The guard behind her ripped her clothes open at the back. The structured bodice still held up enough of her dress that her modesty was protected, but only barely. Her sleeves were hanging off her shoulders, and her hair was placed to one side, so her back was completely exposed.

Although I scolded myself for even thinking of that sort of thing when she was obviously going to be tortured, I couldn't help my eyes darting to the large portion of exposed breast now on display. The bodice before it was ripped already had given me a good view of the swell of her breasts, but now that her shirt had also been ripped open, and was no longer able to cover her shoulders and neckline, I could appreciate the exposed and tanned skin peeking out of her bodice. One inch lower, and I would have been able to see her nipples. Her breasts were heaving up and down in rapid succession both from the chase as well as anticipation of what was coming next.

A crowd was gathering, wanting to see the spectacle. They egged the guards and the boy on, gathering behind their Royal and sheepishly approving of his actions. I couldn't be sure, perhaps this was a violent town that enjoyed torture more than the average human, but I think they were personally offended by Rose. The town had united behind the boy a little too fast for my liking.

"No please, Rose."

I heard a hysterical woman scream from some balcony. By the look of her clothes and the intricate details of the stonemason's work on the balcony, I figured she was either Royal or had a lot of money, probably both. She had light blonde hair and was slim and tall. Her piercing green eyes were filled with fear - obviously for her friend chained to the posts, whom I assumed was named Rose.

She turned her head to the infuriating boy and pleaded him to let Rose go.

"Please, Lord Zeklos, whatever Rose has done I am sure I can accommodate an arrangement to reimburse you for the trouble. Rose is my handmaiden and ultimately my responsibility."

The cruel smile on the boy's face did nothing to soothe my nerves. I saw a similar reaction in the blonde woman, and she knew he wasn't going to let her go that easy.

"I am sorry, Lady Dragomir. But Rosie over here attacked me and my guards. We have witnesses who can confirm this, and for such a heinous act she needs to be punished."

No doubt, those witnesses were his own guards. They would testify to anything. But I do think she attacked him. It seemed to me he attacked her first. Money and power ruled humans, not justice.

Lady Dragomir hung her shoulders in defeat and needed the railing of the balcony to support herself. I wondered if the name reflected a kinship to Dragons, but most likely it was a coincidence in the language. The people here have been known to have roots in more eastern regions, and I knew the language there had a word Drag for precious.

An older lady in plain clothes came by her side to support her. We all knew what was coming, including Rose. She looked towards her charge, the Lady Dragomir, and smiled a small smile that held no humor, just bravery. She was trying to be strong, and let her friend know she was going to be okay. That she shouldn't interfere or she would only make it worse. She was asking her not to jeopardize her reputation to save a commoner.

Lord Zeke or whatever gave the command, and one of his guards took out a large whip.

He let it rip, and I saw blood spray from her back. Her entire body convulsed because of the motion of the whip, and she hung in her chains because her legs had given out under the pain. But she didn't scream. She didn't make a single sound. She didn't close her eyes. She defiantly kept looking at the boy who had commanded her pain. Her eyes were alight with fire, and I saw determination in her eyes. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting him hear her scream.

The guard waived the whip above his head again and let it come down on her skin with lightning speed. But the only sounds that could be heard were the parting of her skin on impact of the whip and the sobs coming from the balcony.

I was touched that this Lady valued her handmaiden enough to cry for her. Although it was a bit annoying that she seemed to show more pain than the person actually being punished. If she truly wanted to help her friend and honor her fight, she would have remained silent as well.

The boy was starting to become agitated.

"Again."

Even the guard seemed to be a little hesitant this time. But he released the whip once again and made contact with Rose's beautiful and flawless skin, marring the perfection with another bloody streak across her back.

Rose was barely conscious now. Maybe it would be easier for her to just pass out from the pain than it was to keep feeling it. But she seemed to want to stay awake, so she could keep defying the boy.

He was fuming by now, and he shouted "Again." He was practically spitting the words over and over again, spraying his saliva all around those closest to him.

The crowd seemed to have stopped their cheers. Humans were always in for a few laughs and giggles when looking at torture, but even they thought it was enough if their silence was any indication. The bonfire in the town square seemed to blaze with more intensity than it had a moment ago. Like even the flames were furious with this cruel boy and were condemning him.

But the boy seemed oblivious to the crowd's response, and kept spitting "again."

And at that moment, I realized he wasn't going to stop. Not until she was dead.

The thought made my breath stop in my chest, and for a moment I couldn't breathe. I had only met this girl twenty minutes ago. Well, met was stretching it. I had seen her, but she hadn't seen me. But the thought that this strong, defiant girl could come to an end by this sorry excuse for a being was more than I could bear.

I had been flying high in the sun, so nobody would be able to spot me, but now I descended to the earth - and the closer I came, the bigger my shadow on the ground. People started to scream and run. Dragons seem to have that effect on humans.

I landed on the stage, practically destroying it. I breathed in deeply and felt that tingle in my throat that I always felt right before combustion. I released the flame into the air in a display of power. I hoped it would be enough to deter brave souls from interfering with my task.

Rose slowly turned her head around to look at me. Where everyone else's eyes were filled with fear, hers was surprisingly absent of that particular emotion. I told myself it was because her consciousness was hanging on by a thread. She probably didn't even notice I was there.

I saw some fools gathering guards to fight me. Humans had developed some anti-Dragon weapons, but the spears these guards were carrying couldn't do much damage. Even if one got past my scales, it would hurt, but it would hardly be fatal.

I ripped the chains that kept her bound to the posts off with my talons. She nearly plummeted to the ground. I scooped the girl up in my claws. She was so tiny. So light. I wondered how such a fragile creature could appear to be so strong. She held my gaze for a moment.

"You're safe now."

With those words of comfort she fell unconscious in my arms, and I took to the skies, careful not to jostle the delicate package I was carrying.

I took her to my cave only a few miles from here. For humans, the ride would have taken longer, but with my wingspan, we were there in a few minutes. I had sent word to my sister to come over.

Dragons had a connection to their kin and could communicate with them across large distances. It definitely beat having to send a messenger all the time, but it also meant I would have my little sister in my head constantly asking me things. My mother was there quite frequently, too, asking me when I would visit.

I landed on a bedrock near the entrance to the cave. I was very proud of my cave. It had its own internal hot spring fueled from fire deep within the mountain. The spring was big enough to accommodate even my true form. The rest of the cave was warm in the winter and cool in the summer, with a separate space for eating, sleeping and reading.

I took Rose to an alcove that contained my bed for when I was in human form. I laid her down on the furs, covering the mattress and started to take off her shoes. Her breathing was even, and her face was relaxed. Her hair was spread on the pillow, and I ran my fingers through it trying to untangle the mess. Her hair was silky smooth and it didn't take me long to make it look somewhat presentable again. I had taken it away from the bloodied mess that was her back, but saw that the tips were coated in her blood. She would have to wash once she was awake to get all of it out.

I touched her cheek and found the skin as soft as I had imagined.

"You are safe here. Sleep now, Roza."