Julie
This banter is getting me fucking wet. Am I seriously doing this? Playfully flirting with a guy that’s actually a shape shifting monster? Okay, get it together, Julie. It’s been awhile, but has it really been so long that you’re going after a guy that’s…okay, well, he’s built like he was carved out of fucking stone. So, yeah. I really am. I really am flirting my damn heart out because right now, laughter is the only thing keeping me going.
I know that if I stop to think about what’s really happening, I’m going to completely freak out. If I take too long to consider that I was this close to dying, I’m going to lose my damn mind. Nicole could have turned her weapon on me and shot me. She could have gotten me with one of those darts. She could have gotten me with a fucking bullet.
The fact that I’m alive right now is kind of a joke.
I should be grateful, but right now, I am so fucking tired.
I sit with the dragon guy, laughing with him, telling jokes and stories. Minute-by-minute, his feeling begins to return. I ask him if he wants me to put more of the ointment on him. Maybe it would speed the process. He tells me no, though. He thinks it would be best to try to save some of it. If there’s a chance we’ll need more of it in the future, he wants it to be available.
Who knows how long it will be before the dragons can collect more?
“Lucky is a terrible organization,” he says.
“I figured.”
“No,” he whispers, and I get the feeling he doesn’t want Nicole to hear what he’s going to say. That’s fine. She’s basically asleep, anyway. How someone can pass out while they’re completely tied up and gagged, I don’t know. She is, though, and while there’s a part of me that knows she could be faking it, there’s another part of me that’s deeply satisfied with this knowledge.
I don’t want her listening, either.
“They’re really bad,” he repeats.
“They hurt you,” I whisper, realizing what he’s trying to say. “No,” I clarify. “They hurt your clan.”
He just nods.
I reach for his cheek and I stroke it softly. The dragon looks at me, his eyes softening at the touch, and I realize we’re both enjoying this. Perhaps it’s wrong to be offering physical comfort to this stranger in the woods, but I think we both need it.
I’m sorry,” I whisper.
A single tear slips from his eye, and I wonder what it is that these monsters did to his fellow dragons. More importantly, I wonder how long the dragons have been fighting Lucky. This man seems tired. He seems done. He seems like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I don’t like that he has to feel that way.
“Tell me your name,” I whisper. It’s not a request.
“Lawrence,” he says. He doesn’t hesitate. It’s the truth.
“I’m Julie.”
“I know,” he smiles softly. “I heard you.”
“You were watching?” I ask, cocking my head. I suppose I didn’t realize he might have been following us before the altercation back at camp. Maybe that’s how he got to me so quickly when Nicole found me. He was following us. Of course. That makes a lot more sense now. I’m not mad that he was watching me. I’m more curious than anything.
“I was watching the stone tower,” he corrects me.
“Why?”
“Dragon secret,” he whispers.
“Well, Lawrence,” I use his name for the first time, testing it on my tongue. It sounds nice, smooth. I like it. I like him. “I’m going to protect you. While you’re healing,” I clarify. “So if you want to fall asleep…”
“You’ll watch over me?”
“Yes.”
“Like my guardian angel.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not going to sleep, little human.”
“I’m not little, dragon dude.”
“You are to me.”
“I’m actually a little bit tall for a woman,” I point out. At 5’9”, I’ve never been accused of being “little” before. The fact that Nicole and Bernie were both taller than me speaks volumes.
“I don’t care about your silly human traditions,” he says. “If I say you’re little, then you are.”
“Ah, that logic, though.”
“Hush now.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“I’m not going to sleep,” he says. “I’m feeling better every moment. When I have enough strength, we’ll return to Fablestone.”
“You mean you will,” I point out. “Me? I think I’m cutting my camping trip short. I can go home and do something terribly monotonous and boring, like grade papers. Who needs a vacation, anyway? Apparently, they’re overrated.”
I might be mistaken, but Lawrence looks almost sad when I say I’m not going to return to his clan with him.
“You don’t want to come back with me?”
“I didn’t realize I was invited.”
“Consider this an invitation.”
“Why?” I whisper. “You don’t know anything about me. Why would you invite me to come visit the dragons?”
There’s a part of me that thinks I should jump at this opportunity. What other girl has been invited to come hang out with a group of people who can literally shift into different creatures? It would be incredible. I’d get to learn firsthand exactly what shifters are like. I’d get to see up close what their world is like.
But there’s another part of me that thinks I should hold back.
I’ve already had enough excitement today to last me for a damn year. Do I really want to go to a dragon clan? Do I really want to risk something else bad happening? What if I get there and they never let me leave? What if I become some sort of dragon slave?
“Because you’re sweet,” Lawrence says. “And because you saved me.”
“I bet you say that to all the pretty girls,” I whisper.
“No pretty girl has ever saved me before, but I think it’s fair to say you’re the prettiest.”
It’s a line if I’ve ever heard one, but my heart moves faster than my brain, and I find myself leaning down and pressing my lips to Lawrence’s.
“Okay,” I whisper against his mouth. “I’ll come with you.”
Then I kiss him again, and to my delight, Lawrence kisses me back.