The dragon immediately shakes his head solemnly.Never. My fire could never hurtyou.
I wonder at his emphasis on that final word. “Really?”
He nods solemnly.I merely worried that the shock might make you fall.You are the only one who could be safe around me when my change happens. It would incinerate anyone else.
“Why me?”
Sigurd doesn’t answer me. Instead, he watches me with those big, golden eyes.
Finally, I shrug. “I have so many more questions.”
Of that I have no doubt.
“Can we talk when you’re not like that? It’s very distracting.”
He makes that soft chuffing noise and then nudges me with his snout, moving me to the edge of the patio in the space he put me in before. “I’m not a sheep,” I say. “It’s like being herded by a stubborn old collie dog.”
He snorts, the pink and gold sparks flaring and twinkling out as they hit the patio, and then he moves back. The haze shimmers around him so bright and strong that I gasp, throwing up my hand to cover my eyes. I hear the same popping, rocket sound, and then his voice says, “You can look now, Cary.”
I lower my hand, and he’s standing there naked and a man once more. A silence drops, and he cocks his head. “Are you speechless now?”
“If it were ever going to happen, you would be the cause.”
He’s staring anxiously at me. “And so now do you run, Cary?” He gives me a kind smile, although his eyes are sad. “I would not blame you at all for that.”
“You wouldn’t?”
He looks astonished. “No, of course not. I would have you happy all the time and never sad.”
“That, unfortunately, is not possible.” I wait a few beats and then shrug. “I should be running, shouldn’t I? And yet…”
His eyes sharpen when I pause. “And yet what?”
I consider his warm eyes and feel that unexplainable sense of comfort I get around him. I don’t know him from Adam. I only met him yesterday. Yes, I slept with him, but I do that with a lot of men. It never leads me to wanting to step into their arms. It never gives me that funny feeling of happiness when I’m near them. What is it about Sigurd that makes him special?
Ah, yes. He’s a dragon.
I watch him for a few seconds more as my mind races. He makes no move to drive the conversation or plead his case. Instead, he watches me with those golden eyes of his. Dragon eyes.
And then I do what I’ve wanted since the moment I first met him. I step towards him. His arms rise as if we’re two halves of the same movement, and when I step into them, he encloses me tightly. I sigh in pleasure at the feel of his warm body. It seems to heat all the endless cold spots in me. He warms me from the top of my head to my toes. I hear an echoing sigh and feel it ruffle my hair, and if possible, he drags me closer.
It's so sweet and strange to be held like this. If this were someone other than Sigurd, I would have pulled away, but now I don’t feel that old headlong rush for space. I hardly recognise myself.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, but eventually I stir. “You’re naked and cuddling.”
I can hear the humour in his voice when he speaks. “It is the best way, yes?”
I snuggle closer. “I think you might be right.” I open my mouth to say something else, and I’m horrified when I let out a huge yawn.
He sets me back, his eyes twinkling with humour. “I am glad you did not activate the gravitational pull on that, or I might have been pulled from my feet.”
I snort out a laugh and then yawn again. “I’m so sorry. I’m just suddenly so tired. I feel weary down to my bones.”
It’s the truth. My brain is foggy as though I haven’t slept in a week and my body aches like I’ve just run a marathon. “What’s the matter with me?” I slur.
My ears feel muzzy, like they’re clogged with wool, and I hear his voice from a distance. “’Tis nothing to be afraid of, Cary. It is just that you have been exposed to powerful magic for the first time.”
I yawn again, unable to stop myself. “Is that like catching the clap?” I mumble.
