There was an older man over there, riding a white horse. Average looking. Yes. That was what she needed. Normal.
Average.
But her gaze really wanted to travel to the mountainous beast on her left who was all masculine grace and beauty. She could feel his presence there even though she wasn’t looking at him. He was feral and unpredictable.
“Are you all right, Dragon?”
Don’t look at him.
“Fine.”
He scoffed. “That’snevertrue.”
“What?”
“Whenever a woman says she’s fine in that tone of voice... it’s never true and it never bodes well.”
She scowled at him. “Excuse me?”
“And there it is. That underlying anger that says I’m right and you’re not fine.”
He wasn’t right. “I wasn’t angry until you said that. It’s the same thing as when you ask a man what he’s thinking about, and he saysnothing. It’s never nothing.”
“Exactly.”
She stopped walking at his unexpected honesty. “What?”
“I’m admitting you’re right. Men say nothing to avoid a fight the same way a woman saysfineto avoid fighting. So, why are you so flushed?”
She’d walked right into that one. “Let’s stay with this current discussion.”
That caused one of his eyebrows to lift. “What? Why? Were you thinking of me naked?”
Aside from the fact it was true, it irritated her that he was able to guess what had caused her discomfort. “Excuse me?”
The grin he gave her only increased her heart rate. “You were, weren’t you? I know that look. Those dilated pupils. Those flushed cheeks.”
Now her face was flushing for a whole new reason. “Ugh. You aresoarrogant! Why would Ieverthink of you naked, beast?”
“Am I wrong?” He let out a deep, rumbling laugh. Why did he have to be so adorable?
Dash leaned down toward her, causing her breath to catch. His green eyes glowed with mischief and gave him a boyish appearance. “You still haven’t answered my question, Lady Dragon. Was it my arrogance or were you picturing me naked?”
Folding her arms over her chest, she continued forward. “I will not feed your gargantuan ego, beast. I’m sure you have courtiers enough for that.”
Dash grinned as he watched her head through the town’s gate. He had no idea why he was teasing her so. Never in his life had he acted like this or teased about this particular topic. Ryper and Halla would have died of shock if they’d witnessed it.
He was always a surly, brooding asshole who thought of teasing playfulness as something to be left to children and drunken fools. Something he hadn’t done even as a child. His life had been too brutal for such.
But he loved to watch the way her cheeks darkened from embarrassment. To match wits with her.
She was funny and quick.
Delightful.
What the hell was wrong with him? His entire world was on fire, and he was teasing a dragon about sex. It made no sense.
Coeur de Noir was an epitaph given to him because he was morose personified. Humorless.
