“The smaller females are less appealing.”
“Oh,” I say quietly.
His face is suddenly concerned as he jerks it back up and lifts a hand. “T-to dragons,” he clarifies. “Idon’t mind, personally.”
Suddenly I don’t think he meansthe dragonsat all. It’s just like this morning all over again. My body burns so fervently I feel like he’ll be able to feel it emanating off of me. I shift, pulling my knees up to my chin in an attempt to hide my stupid reaction and he releases a low chuckle that travels the length of my spine. It’s as alarming as it is perplexing.
He finishes applying the balm, caps the tin before reaching forward to tug a roll of bandages off the table. “Once I’ve gained their trust," he continues. “I can approach and then, I, well—“ He breaks off with a grimace. “It’s actually kind of gross.”
My mouth falls open with the implication. “You don’t…”
He freezes unraveling the roll of bandages to throw me a startled look. “Wait, what are you asking me…”
I can’t bring myself to voice it.
“Hold on, are you asking me…ifI fuck them?”
“Do you?” I ask, voice little more than a wisp.
He barks out a laugh. “I’m kind of offended you would think that.”
“What else comes after wooing? You said it was gross!”
He leans forward and laughs again, a real one, from deep within his chest. Looking over at me, he must see something that sends him again. He breaks off with a wince, irritating the burns that dip down his side. “Fuck,” he gasps. “I have never fucked a dragon. In any form. And I don’t intend to. I was going to say I make a small puncture along their neck.”
He runs a single finger down the side of his own neck. “That’s where their scales are weakest. I take their blood, um, in my mouth and hold it there until I can find a safe place to switch forms.”
My face scrunches. “That is pretty gross.”
“In dragon form, it’s not so bad. It’s the part where I switch back to my own form with a mouthful of blood that’s especially revolting. But worth it. I will say…procuring the blood in human form takes a lot more finagling, hence.” He gestures to his burns. “I haven’t had to do it this way since the first time but this time still went a lot better than that did.”
He finishes bandaging his wounds, checks the time again before retreating back to his shelf of vials. He pulls one down, uncorks it and holds it over the cauldron. When nothing comes out he shakes it, and lifts up to peer down inside of it, uttering a swear.
My curiosity gets the better of me. “What is it?”
His eyes climb up to me and light up like I’m his salvation. His saving grace. The answer to some unspoken prayer. I do not…like that look.
“Hey,” he says carefully. He clears his throat as he steps up to the back of the couch and drums his fingers across it a couple of times. “You’re a virgin, right?” He poses the question as if it's the most casual thing to ask in the world.
“That’s—“ I gasp out, face flaming. “That’s none of your business.”
He hooks a single brow in quiet amusement. “Isn’t it? As your…” He lifts his hand to display his marked finger, displeasure evident in his bearing.
“No!”
“By your beliefs? Isn’t that the whole purpose of the…thing,” he asks motioning a hand over his face.
“No, it’s not! If those were still my beliefs, I would still be shrouded.”
“Because you’re a virgin, right?”
If I had the ability to do magic he would quite literally be on fire right now. He steps forward, and I mold myself into the back of the couch. He bends down and reaches into the cushions to take out the knife I stashed there. “I think we both know that you are,” he says, twirling the blade between his fingers.
I scramble off the couch, nearly falling over myself in my panic. “What—what are you doing?”
“Come here. I need your blood.”
“You can’t havemy blood!” I inch backward until I thump into the wall. He prowls closer, and my eyes dart around the room, in search of an escape. I launch myself in the direction of the bedroom, slamming and locking the door shut behind me with a sigh of relief. It’s rather short-lived as the lock simply clicks back open.
