Every muscle in Dai's shoulders tensed. "Yes."
"So you've got dragon blood."
Dai looked like a man staring down a firing squad. "Yes."
"Which you're bleeding all over my carpet."
Dai blinked. "What?"
"You're bleeding, Dai!" Virginia launched herself out of her chair as yet more crimson drops joined the spreading stain on the beige carpet. All other thoughts fled her mind at a sudden urgent, instinctive need to make sure he was all right. "Did you get hurt in the fire?"
"Oh, that. It's just a scratch." Dai rubbed at his shoulder again, then looked at the palm of his hand, which was now covered in blood. "Ah. Hm."
"Let me see," Virginia demanded, pulling at his arm.
Dai was so tall, he had to go down on one knee to let her get a good look at his shoulder. His T-shirt was wet with blood, clinging to the curves of his back like a second skin.
Virginia gingerly peeled the shredded fabric away, and sucked in her breath at the sight of the puncture wound in the thick muscle of his left shoulder. "Dai, I think you need to go to the hospital."
Dai rolled his shoulder experimentally. His jaw clenched, but he shook his head. "It's all right. I can still use it."
"Yes, because my only concern about the giant bloody hole in your shoulder was that it might affect your dragon-fighting ability." Virginia cast around for something to staunch the bleeding, but everything she was wearing was covered in dirt and ash. For lack of any better option, she grabbed a cushion and pressed it to the wound. "I left my phone in the bedroom. Hold this in place while I go call an ambulance."
"No!" Dai caught her wrist. Despite the speed and suddenness of the movement, his fingers closed gently, just a feather-light touch on her skin. His green eyes blazed with intensity. "I am not leaving you unprotected."
With him on his knees, their faces were only inches apart. This close, she could see all the shades of color in his irises, from dark emerald to leaf-green, with a thin band of burning gold right around the pupil.
Dragon eyes.
She remembered other eyes—orange instead of green, but with that same hidden fire—and couldn't help flinching.
Dai must have felt her movement, because those brilliant eyes darkened. He looked away abruptly.
"I'll be fine, truly," he said, a rough catch in his voice. "I heal quickly."
"Dragon blood?" Virginia guessed, and sighed at Dai's nod. "Fine, have it your way. But at least let me clean that and put a bandage on it."
She twisted out of his grasp, catching his wrist instead. Feeling rather like a tug boat guiding a battle cruiser, she pulled him to his feet, towing him in the direction of the bathroom. "Before any more dragon blood completely ruins my chance of getting my deposit back on this apartment."
Chapter Four
Dai had charged into collapsing apartment blocks to rescue children trapped on the top floor, climbing metal staircases even as the treads melted and twisted under his feet. He'd hauled workers out of a blazing chemical factory, holding his breath for agonizing minutes as he ran through clouds of acidic gases. He'd shielded his crew from dragonfire with his own scaled hide, and had the scars to prove it.
The hardest thing he'd ever done was to sit absolutely motionless under Virginia's gentle touch.
The bathroom was so small, he had to kneel practically between her thighs while she dressed his wound. Every accidental brush of her leg or hip against him burned like dragonfire. His inner dragon writhed in ecstatic agony, demanding that he turn and seize her, to carry her away to his hoard and complete the mating ritual. Dai's fingers dug into his knees as he fought for control. He had long practice at containing the dragon's fiery nature, but all his tricks of focus and distraction were useless in the presence of his mate.
The problem was, he didn't want to control the dragon. He too wanted nothing more than to explore Virginia's perfect curves, to taste the softness of her lips. The dragon's desire and his own matched and amplified, until every brush of her fingertips against his back was exquisite torture. Only one thing kept him from turning and claiming his mate.
She hates dragons.
Considering all that she'd been through, it was a perfectly understandable reaction. Dai wouldn't h
ave blamed her for being a sobbing wreck. But Virginia seemed to take all the trauma and convert it into an unbreakable inner strength, like a diamond formed under intense pressure. There had been no fear in her face when she'd spoken of the dragon—just revulsion.
If she knew what I was...
Dai hadn't missed Virginia's tiny flinch when she'd looked into his eyes. Subconsciously, the mate-bond attraction blazing between them had given her a glimpse of his inner dragon. And it had revolted her.