Page 13 of Charming the Dragon
“There’s no need to hurry. I’m early. And I don’t want you to hurt yourself, because then I’ll never hear the end of it from my mum.”
His pupils started flashing rapidly, and he scowled, as if irritated. Before she could stop herself, Hayley blurted, “What’s your dragon saying?”
There I go again, talking without thinking.It was strange since she could usually restrain herself around strangers or clients.
Nathan’s pupils returned to round and stayed that way. “Nothing. He’s just being a pain in my arse.”
His pupils flashed again, and she smiled. “It must be fun having a constant companion in your head.”
Nathan frowned, but then shrugged. “Most of the time. But truth be told, I can’t imagine not having him there to chat with. He’s been a constant presence since I was six.”
She was about to ask if that’s when his dragon had first talked with him—even though she knew inner dragon personalities didn’t come out until sometime in childhood—but he moved toward the front door and said, “Come on. I don’t know how long Dad can hold the best seats in the house for us.”
She managed to keep quiet the entire walk by focusing on her surroundings. The cottages ranged from old with thatch roofs to newer ones with slate roofs. In the distance, she saw some building works. Without thinking, she asked, “Are they building more houses?”
“Yes. With the influx of human mates and growing families, we’re running out of room.”
“That’s a good thing, right? Not that long ago, dragon-shifters were struggling to reproduce at levels to avoid extinction.”
Okay, maybe talking about extinction—mostly because of human government restrictions—might not have been the best idea.
However, Nathan merely nodded. “Since dragon-shifter populations skew male, it was creating quite the problem and unhealthy competition. But now, some are open to trying to find human mates.”
“Some, but not you?”
Again, Hayley, with blurting out inappropriate questions?She needed to find her usual decorum, and fast.
Nathan glanced at her and away. “I don’t hate humans. That’s all I’ll say.”
Which wasn’t much. “Well, at least I know you don’t hate me. I think.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t hate you.”
She wanted more than that, but they arrived in front of the two-story building with stained glass windows and a sign above the door that read, “Dragon’s Nest” and she couldn’t help but say, “Dragons don’t lay eggs, though.”
“No. But humans love to have us do that in stories, so it’s kind of an inside joke.”
“Ah. They do come up with all kinds of things about dragons in stories. But I have yet to see any dragon-shifter sitting atop a mountain of gold, hoarding it, and burning knights to a crisp.”
“A lot of us wished we could breathe fire when it came to the Dragon Knights, before they were destroyed.”
“That’s right—they were one of your enemies. Now you just have the dragon hunters left to deal with. Will you be able to defeat them soon too? I’ve been cheering for you all to do so.”
Nathan glanced at her. “I’m not at liberty to say. I’m a Protector, even if it’s not the flying-into-danger variety.”
“Hey, what you do is just as important in this day and age. Oh, that makes me sound about seventy, doesn’t it? But it’s true—computers and the internet can be just as dangerous as an in-person fight.”
“I won’t argue with you there.”
An unfamiliar male voice came from behind her, in the same Northern accent as most everyone else on Stonefire. “Nathan’s not going to argue? Wait, let me take a picture so I can remember this moment.”
She turned and looked up, up, up at an extremely tall dragon-shifter. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and light brown skin. “Pardon?”
The man smiled, making him far too handsome, before he replied, “Nathan loves to be contrary, at least with me.” He put out his hand. “I’m Luke Woodhouse, Nathan’s cousin.” He lowered his voice dramatically. “If you ever need help dealing with him, let me know. I can even give you my phone number for emergencies.”
Hayley blinked and readjusted her glasses with her free hand. “Er, I’m not sure how to respond to that.”
Nathan grunted. “Don’t. It’ll only encourage the bastard.”
