A cool thanks now? After she’d been panting beneath him, kissing him like?—
His dragon’s rumbling chuckle hauled him back from dangerous ground.This is fun.
Shut up.
Being so close to her was messing with his mind, but remembering the Rust dragging her away, Race wanted to kill him again.
“You need to learn how to work your abilities,” he said. “Be able to call on them when needed, so you can kill fuckers like the Rust.”
She sighed. “Yeah, perhaps.”
Race slipped his arm around her, but she put a palm on his chest, keeping a bit of space between, setting his teeth on edge.
He dematerialized them.
The moment they reformed back at the cave, she stepped away and froze, her gaze fixed on the trail of flattened trees and churned earth where he and the Rust had torn down the slope.
“He’s dead,” he murmured, his irritation falling away. “It’s safe now.”
Her gaze rushed back to his. “How do you know? He said he was hunting you becauseyoukilled his brother. Said I’m hisblood claim. He caught your scent in the alley, leading him here. But then he saw me, and of course, he thought, why not? Being a sought-after human, I would fetch a lovely price, filling his coffers with gold.”
Anger reignited, and dragonfire blazed through him.The bastard!It took everything in him to pull that rage deep into his gut, and not torch down the forest.
“I can’t believe you actually killed someone in the few minutes I was gone shopping.” She shook her head.
“And you ended up in a dangerous argument with a she-dragon, so?”
She let out an annoyed sigh, rubbing her side absently, her gaze fixed on the ruined slope.
Race frowned as she continued stroking her ribs, then it hit. He’d healed the bruise on her face, but apparently she had more. “Why the hell didn’t you say your side hurt when I asked?”
“My face hurt more. And you took care of it, most thoroughly, didn’t you?” He narrowed his eyes at her snark. Then her shoulders sagged, and she deflated on an exhale. She lowered her hand from her waist. “I’ll be fine.”
Ash had a way of pissing him off. He caught the hem of her tunic and lifted?—
“Hey!” She smacked his hand away, glaring, that fighting spirit back. “Stop that. I can see to myself. Besides, where was the time to check for wounds when you scooped me off to the lake? Then the regrettable kiss happened.”
Don’t react. Don’t?—
“Regrettable?” the word rumbled free before he could stop it. “Funny. You didn’t seemregretfulwhen you kissed me back.”
She scowled, then shrugged. “Yeah, well. It’s not every day I get to kiss dragons. Actually, never. Say, do all dragons kiss like you? Makes a girl want to rip her clothes off and get right on with it.”
She was baiting him now.
“I wouldn’t know,” he ground out.
“No matter.” She waved it away and strolled to the edge of the demolished trees. “That absurd little madness with you has passed…”
His dragon chuffed in amusement and settled in.
“Don’t,” he bit out, fighting the urge to show her just how fuckingnotabsurd their kiss was. “I will tend to your wounds.”
She turned, her eyebrow arching, then she threw her arms wide. “Oh, very well. Have a go—paw at me.”
“I’m not pawing you,” he growled, lifting up the hem of her torn tunic and the tank top she wore beneath it. A sharp hiss escaped him, faced with the fist-sized reddening bruise over her ribs. “And you let me lie on you?”
“I’m quite all right—” She glanced down. Her face paled. “Oh.”
