Page 20 of The Dragon 1
Faltered.
It didn’t feel like a hunt.
It felt like a prayer.
I couldn’t tell if the dragon wanted to possess her or protect her. To fly toward her or fall to his knees.
All I knew was. . .he didn’t burn her.
He burnedforher.
A lusty shiver ran through me.
But why did he tell me that? And am I over analyzing this?
My pulse still hadn’t settled.
Kenji hadn’t moved since his last word, hadn’t broken eye contact, hadn’t even blinked. It was like he was waiting to see if the story landed the way he meant it to.
It did.
And I hated it did.
Because somewhere deep in my gut—somewhere far below all my rational thoughts and feminist independence and journalistic boundaries—I understood what he was saying and what he wasn’t saying too.
This wasn’t just a tale.
This was an illogicalconfession.
Dressed in metaphor and draped in legend.
This man is smooth. Let me get out of here before I end up doing something crazy with him.
I swallowed and shifted slightly, needing space but not quite ready to step away.
“So. . .in that story,” I began carefully. “The woman… Did she want the dragon? Or was she afraid of him?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes. Actually, it does.”
He tilted his head. “It doesn’t. The dragon was going to get her regardless.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to seem casual. “I’m just trying to understand the meaning behind your story. The deeper theme. It’s clearly not just about power or fate. It’s about disruption. About vulnerability. About. . .the cost of obsession.”
“You’re sharp. I like that.”
“I’m not trying to impress you,” I said, maybe too defensively. “I’m just saying—it sounds like the dragon lost everything. Oralmost did. That doesn’t feel like a love story. That feels like a warning.”
He didn’t smile but his eyes sparked like struck flint. “A warning? Perhaps it is.”
“Are you warningme?”
“I’m not sure, just yet.”
I blinked.
That response had been unexpected. Upon meeting him, he damn sure appeared to know all the answers.
