"You're curious," he said carefully, cocking his head, "but you aren't afraid of me."
She wasn't, but she should be. He could do anything to her, and while the idea of being hurt by someone like Kellen Brotella scared her, the idea of being touched by this man...
Well, it delighted her, really.
"I'm a dragon," he finally said.
"Dragons aren't real," she whispered.
>
"Oh, we're real," he said.
His eyes were so sharp and piercing as he looked at her, and there were so many things she wanted to say to him.
"Thank you."
"I appreciate being rescued."
"I can't believe you saved me."
"Where have you been my whole life?"
These were all things she wanted to say, but somehow, she couldn't quite get the words out. That was going to be a problem for her. Then she realized that she didn't have to use words to communicate, and things became a lot simpler.
Zoa walked over to the man. She dropped her hands as she moved, and she could see the way he struggled to keep his eyes on hers. He wanted to look at her body, she knew, and she loved that. She loved everything about the way he was looking at her, and she wanted more.
When she reached him, she placed her hands on his chest, and she looked up at him. As soon as he returned her gaze, she leaned up and pressed her mouth to his. It was the softest, sweetest kiss she'd ever felt in her life, and she loved it. She liked the way he was gentle as he kissed her back, and the realization that he was, in fact, kissing her back, made her heart sing.
He pulled away then, and he looked down at her. He reached for her cheek and stroked it softly. The gesture was tender and wonderful. Zoa thought she could stay like this for the rest of her life and never grow tired of being looked at like that.
"What was that for?"
"Thank you for saving me," she whispered. He’d given her a chance to live again. He’d freed her. She owed him everything.
To her slight disappointment, the dragon didn’t say anything for a minute. He just kept looking at her, watching her with those big, deep eyes. She wasn’t really sure what she wanted him to say, but his next words were surprising to her.
"I need to take you home," he told her. He pressed his lips together tightly, as though he was steeling himself. "You're safe now."
"But..."
She didn't have a home to go to. She had nowhere. Nothing. There was nothing left in the world that was hers. She was certain that Brotella had destroyed or ditched her car, and anything she owned was in there. She had nothing left anymore: not her journals or her books or her photo albums.
Nothing.
He seemed to realize something was wrong, because he gently reached for her chin and tilted it up.
"What is it, little kitten?"
"I don't have a home," she said.
It was embarrassing to admit. She didn't want this big dragon person to think that she was lame, or a loser, or that she didn't have anything going for her. It was kind of true, but she didn't want him to think that.
He was confused for just a second, but then he shook his head.
"No, kitten, I wouldn't leave you at your home. Even if you had one, I wouldn't do that."
"What? Then where are you taking me?"