Page 27 of Scaled Hearts

“What?”

“You’re amazing,” she says.

A strange kind of warmth floods my chest at her words. Amazing? Me? I don’t know how to respond. The compliment is making my head spin.

Instead of saying anything, I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead.

13

Angurus

Ipull in deep breaths, sweat beading down my cheek as I stare down at the creature underneath me.

She is a remarkable thing for a human. Despite her appearance being anything but similar to the female dragons I’m accustomed to, she still stirs something in me that is hard to ignore.

I shift my body above her and curl my arm under the small of her back to lift her up off the furs and settle her down properly. She winces a little at the awkward angle I’d contorted her in, but smiles quickly afterwards when I lay down next to her.

“Thank you.”

I can’t help but raise a brow. “I don’t believe a female has ever thanked me afterwards.”

Kelly laughs, rolling over to face me. She tucks her arm under her head. “You know, you’re really comfortable to lay against.”

“Comfortable?” I echo.

“Yeah,” With her free hand, she reaches out and places it on my bare chest. “You’re warm.”

I want to laugh at that. Warm? That’s a word that no one has ever used to describe me. I’m known to be cold as ice and have a heart as black as the dark depths of the waters that surround this island. Down in the valley, the other dragons call me Angurus the Terrible.

Rumors have spread numerous times over the past few centuries of my heart being made of stone and cursed by a witch. Its pitch black darkness is foul and unkempt just like the cave in which I reside.

A chuckle bursts out of me suddenly.

“What?” Kelly blinks at me.

“It’s amusing that you think that I’m warm-hearted, when I am everything but.”

“Oh, is that what you think I meant?” She brushes her finger tips over my pecs and up to where my collarbone sits. “I meant that you’re warm physically. My last, uh… boyfriend, I guess was cold as ice. I think he had poor circulation or something.”

I squint my eyes at the term. “Boyfriend?”

“Yeah. Like a lover? A relationship?”

Heat stirs in my belly, a fire that rages into an inferno. A lover? She’s had previous ones beforehand? How many?

“Then I shall burn his ice covered hands with my flames.”

There is amusement that tickles in her eyes. I don’t like the fact that she isn’t taking me seriously. Since I have now claimed her as my mate, she belongs to me. There will be no others that walk this planet that have had her before me. I will torch them all into dust.

“You’re a little late for that, I’m afraid.”

I grab the hand that touches me, squeezing her wrist. “What does that mean?”

“He’s dead. He died in the mines a few years ago. Worked to death by the orcs who run them.”

Sadness colors her face.

It makes my chest tighten up. Though I’ve never been around humans before, I can recognize despair when I see it. This kind of reaction must mean that she had deep feelings for this other human. Even if it’s before me, I still don’t like that she thinks of him so fondly.

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