“Try me,” Saffron countered.
I shook my head. He couldn’t possibly understand. We were too different. Besides, who ever reacted positively when faced with an attempted assassination?
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” I said listlessly.
Saffron huffed in frustration. “Don’t be sorry for having feelings, Rorik.”
He casually crossed the room and sat next to me on the bed. His arm brushed mine. His skin was warm.
“Rorik,” Saffron began.
My breath caught. He was so close to me.
Something in the air smelled good again.
Saffron stared at me. “Why are you pushing me away? I can tell you don’t want to.”
His remark slipped past my defenses and struck me like a falling icicle. How did he know that? Was I that easy to read?
Saffron’s voice took an edge, but he didn’t seem angry. More reserved. “Does it have anything to do with what Poppy said to me?”
My gaze snapped to his.
“What did Poppy say?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Nothing. He said I’d better hear it from you.”
As Saffron spoke, I heard his teeth chatter. I suddenly remembered that he was a tropical creature, unequipped for the cold. But he was too invested in our conversation to put my borrowed clothes on. Stupid reptile.
I grunted. “You’re going to freeze. Use my fur.”
Before Saffron could respond, I shifted into my polar bear form. The luxurious king-size mattress dipped beneath my weight, but to its credit, didn’t bow or groan like it was about to expire, unlike my cot back home.
Saffron’s eyes widened as he stared at me in disbelief. “Oh. Thanks, Rorik.”
As he shuffled closer, the motion stirred his scent into the air. It brushed my sensitive nose, and I swallowed hard. Since taking that volleyball to the face, my nose was hyper-perceptive. Saffron’s scent infiltrated my nose in the best way possible.
My heartbeat skipped. An alpha had never smelled so painfullygoodto me. Was it another trick? Some kind of pheromone-manipulating cologne? As much as I wanted that to be the truth, I doubted it.
Saffron sighed, leaning against my dense fur. “Wow, that’s nice. No wonder you prefer the cold.”
I noticed he was still holding his limbs close to his chest. I raised my furry arm and put it around his human shoulders, creating a wider pocket of warmth. Saffron relaxed. His sigh of relief tickled the tips of my fur.
“Thanks, Rorik,” he murmured.
My ribs tightened again.
“Now, do you wanna talk about it?” Saffron asked.
Dammit.
How could I tell himnow,while he was snuggled up against me?
My current feelings warred with the training drilled into my core. Sheba’s militant voice rang in my ears:Finish the job.
I finally had the dragon right where I wanted him—one snap of his delicate neck, and it would be over. One less dragon to terrorize the world.
But the thought suddenly revolted me. My own mission left a bad taste in my mouth. As I glanced down at Saffron curled snugly against my side, wrenching his neck was the last thing I wanted to do.
