Lead thought the human game of Truth or Dare was even stupider than he’d imagined when Cadmium had described it.

He was sitting on a chair in the far corner of the room, headphones over his ears with rock music blaring, as he watched the room erupt into raucous laughter.

Dinner had been casual, as everyone in the mansion was getting more comfortable with one another.

Everyone, that was, except for him and Brittany. There was a tension between them whenever he looked at her, but he didn’t have the first clue what to do about it.

The packets Mercury had given him were burning a hole in his pocket, and the dragon in him kept wondering why he didn’t just pick Brittany up and carry her back to his room to ravish her.

Because I’m not a jerk.

He turned up his music, trying to drown out the sound of Brittany laughing at one of Cadmium’s jokes, but when he looked over and saw her flushing, he turned down the volume so he could tune in to what was going on.

She was so beautiful in that soft gray tunic that curled over her generous hips, and her warm smile was enough to make his stomach melt into a pile of goo. Her hair was falling more and more out of her braid as she laughed, falling back on the couch as Cadmium took yet another dare. He wasn’t sure how this game worked, but for some reason, he didn’t think they were playing it properly.

Arsenic and Chromium had been engaged in a pushup contest for quite a while now, and Lead took off his headphones and nodded over at them. “Shouldn’t someone stop that?”

“As if,” Arsenic said. “I could beat this guy with one hand.” He pulled one hand up and rested it on his back and continued to do pushups on one hand.

Chromium let out a growl and did the same, using only one finger on his hand.

Cobalt frowned. “Is there some point where this gets hard for humans? Because I suspect they can go all day.”

Arsenic and Chromium had both stood up to remove their shirts and, glaring at each other, gotten back on the ground to do more pushups.

Lead watched Brittany for any reaction, but aside from some smiles and nervous giggles, she seemed totally relaxed.

See? Maybe he’d been right and she was safer hanging out with the other dragons instead. They were at least showing her the respect she deserved.

So why did he still want to lock her in his room where no one else could see her? Why did he want her all to himself? And did the other dragons feel the same?

“It’s your turn, Zinc,” Cadmium said, turning to his friend. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” he said.

“What did you think when you first met Brittany?” Cadmium asked.

Zinc colored slightly, clearing his throat. He was wearing a black button-up shirt that was tailored to his muscled strength but looked a little more formal than the rest of them. He rolled the cuffs up nervously. “Seriously, Cadmium. What a question.”

Cadmium’s eyes were rakish. “Tell us. Was she the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen?”

“Well, she’s the only human woman I’ve ever seen,” Zinc said.

“Hmph,” Cadmium said. “If you aren’t going to tell the truth, then you should at least do a dare.”

“Fine,” Zinc said, straightening his shoulders and giving Cadmium a haughty glare. The royal snob in him was coming out now, Lead thought with a grin.

“I dare you to kiss Brittany,” Cadmium said.

Lead’s grin disappeared, and Chromium stopped doing pushups, while Arsenic slipped and hit the carpet with his face before looking up in shock.

Everyone looked awkward, no one more than Brittany and Zinc. Cadmium looked at Lead for approval, as if he expected Lead to give him props for connecting Zinc and Brittany.

Of course, Cadmium always watched out for Zinc, and he was the most in need of a mate, so if anyone deserved her, it was probably him. Plus, Zinc was everything Lead wasn’t. Patient. Moderate. Honorable always.

Zinc sat with his knees facing Brittany, a straightforward expression on his face. “Shall we?”

Lead fought the urge to stand, to go over and knock Zinc’s face into the next century. But he had no explanation for why he should do so. None of the other dragons knew about his feelings, and he’d put a lead block around his mind so no one could read his thoughts.

Still, he knew one thing. There was no way his dragon was just going to sit back and watch Zinc kiss Brittany. She looked around the room, cheeks going a color not unlike the candy fluff Cobalt liked to eat sometimes, and her eyes met Lead’s.

His stomach clenched. More than ever, he wanted to speak up. But if he did, he would just be the dragon he was last night. The dishonorable one who’d taken what he wanted, damn the consequences.

Hearing about her life before him had only made him care that much more. It made sense. She had the sort of strength that came from adversity.

He hadn’t known his parents either, had been raised by his aunt and uncle on a farm on the outskirts of the kingdom. Lead dragons rarely made it to the palace, and he’d been the first in many generations. He’d never felt at home with his uncle or cousins, and he supposed all his training was just to find a way to escape. A way to be useful and wanted. He’d found that as a member and then the captain of the dragon guard.

Committing honorable acts, fighting alongside his friends, had given him purpose.

Now he felt stranded and lost. And he was stuck here on Earth, falling for a human he probably couldn’t have and contemplating punching a friend that he usually would have killed for.

Brittany was quiet as she looked at Zinc nervously. “I mean. It’s a dare…”

Zinc gave Cadmium a glare and then moved closer. “Okay, I’ll make this friendly.” He leaned in and, before Lead could shoot out of his chair, gave Brittany a pleasant kiss on the cheek.

Lead sat back in relief, hoping no one had noticed his reaction. Luckily, everyone was busy watching Brittany and Zinc, so Lead could recover from his near heart attack on his own.

Needless to say, he would be keeping a close eye on things from here.

* * *

That was close, Brittany thought, heart still pounding. She’d felt a sense of impending doom as Zinc leaned in to kiss her, and when he’d kissed her, even on the cheek, she’d sort of expected Lead to go flying out of his chair in a rage fit.

She was grateful he hadn’t moved but also a little offended that he didn’t seem to care. He was just sitting there watching, cool as a cucumber, and she sort of wanted to ruffle him up.

Then again, with the way this game was going, it would probably happen naturally.

The dragons were much more playful and competitive than she ever would have guessed, and after too many days cooped up in this house, they had a good deal of excess energy.

Chromium and Arsenic took their places on the couches, still shirtless, and Brittany tried to avert her eyes. All of the dragons were beautiful, but there was only one man she really wanted to see more of. Not that she wanted to think about that right now.

“It should be Lead’s turn, I guess,” Zinc said. “He hasn’t had one, and he’s watching us now.”

Lead shook his head and put his headphones back on, nodding his head as if listening to music. He looked like a barbarian with an iPod.

“Well, uh, my turn, I suppose,” Cobalt said. He got embarrassed easily, and a pink tinge would often overtake his high cheekbones.

“Truth or dare?” Arsenic asked darkly, still shirtless. Damn, the man was ripped. She could have played xylophone on that six-pack.

“Truth,” Cobalt said.

“What’s your favorite kind of woman?”

Cobalt’s face paled even further. “Dare.”

Cadmium laughed. “Come up with a good one, Arsenic.”

“One that doesn’t involve me,” Brittany said, only half joking.

“That’s no fun,” Cobalt said. “Zinc got to kiss you. Not fair.” There were murmurs of assent all around, and a zing of tension went up her spine as she realized the increasingly intense energy of the dragons.

They’d told her before that on some level, they all wanted her, but she was acutely aware of it right now. There was a certain amount of heat in every single pair of eyes.

She glanced over at Lead, hoping he would still back her up if she needed him, but he was still bobbing his head to music, not paying any attention at the moment.

She sighed. “Oh, come on. Let’s mix it up.”

“Okay, Cobalt,” Arsenic said, green eyes lighting with wicked mischief. “Your dare is to kiss Cadmium.”

Cadmium shot backward in the chair, putting up both hands. “No. No way. Not fair. I don’t agree.”

“You didn’t get Brittany’s agreement before daring Zinc. Now you see how it feels.”

Cadmium looked at Cobalt, and his lip curled in disgust. “I will not kiss him.”

Arsenic let out a low whistle. “That sounds like a challenge, Cobalt. Show him who’s boss.”

“I don’t particularly like this either,” Cobalt said, standing up and walking over to Cadmium. “But the rules of Truth or Dare are immutable, and it would be dishonorable not to follow through.”

Cadmium tried to make an escape, but Cobalt grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back, planting a hand on either side of his head, trapping him as he squirmed.

Brittany had to fight back a laugh as Cobalt moved forward, dead serious, pushing out his lips as Cadmium fought for his life, flailing his arms to no avail.

Cobalt was strong.

Arsenic was laughing his ass off, and Chromium, with his head cocked, wore a confused look on his face.

She heard Cadmium’s muffled yelp as Cobalt’s lips closed on his, and the next second, Zinc was there, pulling Cobalt back.

Cadmium was spitting and wiping his mouth, and Cobalt had taken a glass of water off the table and was swishing his mouth.

“That wasn’t terrible,” Cobalt said. “You have oddly soft lips.”

“Are you crazy?” Cadmium said, his skin a deep red and a furious look in his brown eyes. “Creep.”

Cobalt sat down calmly as Zinc returned to his chair. “I was doing as I was dared. Besides, you should thank me, as now we both have some practice.”

“I definitely don’t want that kind of practice,” Arsenic said, shaking his head, tears of laughter streaming down his face before he wiped them.

Cadmium smoothed his shirt and pushed his hair behind his ears, still ruffled. “I’m sorry, Brittany. I should not have set you up like that.” He glared at Cobalt. “I feel violated.”

“As I said, you should be glad for some practice,” Cobalt retorted calmly. “It was a good experiment.”

“What do you mean practice?” Brittany asked. “Surely you all have kissed someone.”

The dragons looked around. “When would we have done that?” Zinc asked. “Kissing is a very human thing.”

“And you need lessons,” Cadmium snarled at Cobalt, still clearly angry.

Brittany moved over and put a hand on his leg. “Oh, come on. Be a good sport.”

Cadmium sighed, expression going softer at her touch. “All right. You know I can’t say no to you.” He glared at Cobalt. “But you keep your hands off me.”

“You’re not my type anyway,” Cobalt said. His eyes went to Brittany, and she felt, looking into the blue depths, that maybe she was the one he actually wanted to kiss.

How was it these men could be so interested in her so quickly?

“So tell me about your planet and why you’re all so into the idea of human women,” she asked hesitantly.

“There aren’t enough females on our planet,” Cobalt said. “We don’t have a choice.”

“So you’d rather leave home than be single?”

“It’s not that,” Arsenic said. “Dragons like us are dying on our planet. We are powerful due to our high levels of metal, but we also have to fight that metal from reaching our heart. This requires a mate, but there are none on Drakkaris. None suitable to help in that way, anyway.”

“But since dragons from our planet came to Earth long ago, and some of their descendants have successfully mated humans, we thought it might work the same for us,” Cobalt interjected.

“I see,” she said. “So you just want me because you think I can remove your poison?”

“Brittany, I’m hurt,” Cadmium said dramatically, picking up her hand and pressing it to his chest. She could feel his heart beating rapidly. Was it from the forced kiss with Cobalt or because of the way he was touching her now?

He smelled like cinnamon and radiated warmth. If she hadn’t already been head over heels for Lead, she would have been tempted to lean into him.

Certainly, he was being much nicer to her. But even the nicest person couldn’t compare to the passion she’d seen from Lead, even in the short time she’d known him.

“So, Brittany, how would a dragon go about moving in for a kiss?” Cadmium asked, still holding her hand. “You’re supposed to teach us about human women after all.”

She felt kind of overwhelmed by his presence, his closeness, as the other dragons watched them.

“Cadmium, let her go,” Lead said abruptly.

“Brittany can speak for herself, you stick in the mud,” Cadmium said.

Brittany looked at Lead, and a stubborn streak went through her. “Sure, I can show you, Cadmium.” The other dragons grumbled but scooted closer on the couch, watching.

“You have to wipe Cobalt’s kiss away, right?” Cadmium asked, and she looked up into his brown eyes and couldn’t help noticing how beautiful they were.

And how much she wished they were yellow like a hawk’s and belonged to a certain stubborn warrior who couldn’t stop holding back.

“Well, I’d lean in like this,” she said, sitting close to him. “Then I’d put my hand up like this.” She put her palm up to Cadmium’s cheek, and his handsome face went slack with shock. His eyes darted around in slight panic. “Brittany, I was kind of joking. You don’t have to…”

“It’s fine,” Brittany said. “You’re all my friends. What’s a kiss between friends?”

But just as she was about to lean in and press her lips to Cadmium’s, she felt herself jerked up into the air and tossed over a hard, rounded object. Maybe a shoulder.

Looking down, dazed, she saw buttocks. Lead’s buttocks? Because that was his voice talking to Cadmium.

“You keep your filthy hands off her.” Lead snarled. Then the sound of a hard punch rang out through the room, and Cadmium yelped.

As Lead turned on his heel to leave the room, Brittany still over his shoulder, she looked back to see Cadmium rubbing his cheek, a dark expression on his face.

“What was that for?” he called after Lead. He looked around at the others. “What did I do? Come on.”

But as the other dragons shrugged, Lead just kept walking, taking her down the stairs that led to his room.

Judging by the rough way he was holding her and the stiff way he was walking, she was about to be in trouble for almost kissing Cadmium.

For some reason, the thought didn’t bother her at all.