Page 7 of The Heart of the Dragon

She didn't understand what lived in the darkness.

"You don't have to be rude. I was just trying to be nice. I could tell by your aura that you were going to be difficult, but I'm over here trying anyways. If you didn't want to talk to me, a simple thank you for the stew would have sufficed."

For the first time in months, I almost smiled. Her sauciness entertained me. "My aura? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I pushed back from the table and stood, concern rippling over me.

"Your aura. Your metaphysical energy. Your mental state. Whatever you'd prefer to call it. It's red and pulsing like it's on the verge of exploding."

She had no idea. Or maybe she did, and that was going to open an entirely new set of problems. "Whatever, lady. I just came for the stew, not your analysis. I won't bother you again."

"Don't do that." She frowned.

I wanted to ignore her words and leave. But they dripped in pure sadness and I wondered why. But I couldn't afford to get caught up in this human world. I had to stay one hundred percent focused on my mission. Whatever problems she had were absolutely none of my concern.

"Please." The break in her voice over that one little word stopped me cold, creating a tiny fissure in my resolve, and forcing a dragon's growl of frustration.

"You don't know what you're stepping into just by coming over here and trust me, you don't want to. If you need a thank you to go away, then fine. Thank you for the stew."

"Then don't threaten not to come back here for more. I'm a shitty excuse to miss out on hot food on a cold night."

I took a breath, biting back whatever caustic thing would have come out next. In a few months’ time, I'd lost almost all signs of my civility. But even being raised by a maniac didn’t exempt me from learning how to deal with all walks of fae—or humans. I just needed to focus on that instead of my dragon.

I opened my mouth to respond and she interrupted.

"Don't bother. I can see that you have a surly attitude to go with that angry aura. But if you do come back, I will leave you alone. But before then, you might want to do something abouthim."

"Him?" I asked, slowly tracking her arm as she lifted it to point over my shoulder.

"The dragon," she whispered. "Someone else might notice, and that could cause problems."

My blood ran cold. Humans couldn't get past fae magic. There was no way she saw anything…

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I doubt that. You hesitated too long. So, how do I know you don't present some kind of danger to everyone in here, including me?"

"I do," I answered honestly, pitching her off guard and once again enjoying the shocked look on her face. To emphasize my point, I yanked the bowl out of her hands and slammed it down on the table. I then returned to my seat, grabbed my spoon, and devoured the contents.

There was no need for this woman to think me civilized. What would she do? What could she do?

"Well, that's one way to deflect," she hissed almost under her breath. She had fire in her eyes too. Not dragonfire, but it felt no less potent as she stood with her hands on the swell of her lush hips, glaring down at me.

Another kind of hunger rose swift and uninvited as I imagined my hands on those hips, caressing?—

This was neither the time nor the place to entertain thoughts like those. When I failed to outwardly respond to her anger, she turned and stomped away. And unable to resist, I lifted my gaze and watched her go.

Her backside swayed when she walked, and my arousal sharpened. I narrowed my eyes. She might be human, but the fire I'd seen in her eyes drew me in as much as the curve of her figure. I thought I had a type when it came to women, but watching that fiery hair and sexy ass disappear into the kitchen had me rethinking everything I'd ever known.

And if there was more to humans than I'd originally thought. Or at least that one.

I continued to eat her stew, while thinking about sampling the woman herself. By the time I'd consumed the contents of my bowl, I'd decided that I would have to find out what she'd actually meant about the dragon. I couldn't just let that go.

Surely, it had been a metaphor for something else. What else could explain it? I slid the empty bowl to the middle of the table and scrubbed my hands over my face. I'd pushed the dragon as hard as I could today, and I was feeling the fatigue from it.

We would need to sleep soon. My eyes closed, and I pictured Rose outside in the dark, her cloak whipping around her as I chased her through the woods. That fiery spirit of hers could be fun. Catching her and pushing her against a tree or onto her knees...

Goddess, I couldn't stop the image of her naked beneath me. All that pale skin writhing against me as I pushed inside her. I suddenly needed to hear Rose scream my name. I wanted her to beg for my cock.

A crashing noise sounded somewhere in the distance. Something breaking maybe? I couldn't tell. It was too far away.

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