Page 19 of Accidentally a Dragon Daddy

Turning in the light, I eyed him up and down. He was tall. Not just taller than me, but tall. A full head above me, which he used to stare imperiously down his ruler-straight nose. The eyes currently narrowing in my direction were, as I’d suspected, a green-blue combo. They could have been very pretty, indeed, if it weren’t for the disdain practically dripping from his expression.

“What are you looking at?” he said sharply.

“You,” I told him bluntly. “This is the first good look at you I’ve had. Not all of us can see in the dark, you know.”

“Do you like what you see?” He didn’t actually seem like he much cared about the answer.

“You’d be a lot more attractive without the obvious hatred for me,” I pointed out.

He just snorted and rolled his eyes.

I wondered what would happen if I said no to the arrangement and refused to try anything with him. Would he just kill me out of spite? Would I be sent back? I doubted the latter. Even if the dragons tried, the humans wouldn’t take me.

A cold spike ran down my spine, tightening my muscles. If I said no, would he force it anyway? I knew I was no match for a dragon. If he wanted to take advantage of me, there would be nothing I could do about it. They were insanely strong.

Feeling brutally practical, I eyed the edge of the cliff. Surely, the drop was long enough.

“What happens next?” I asked, not giving up hope just yet. I had to know more about my situation first.

The dragon-man shrugged. “We go back to my residence. See if we’re mates.”

As he said that, he moved the center of the flat ledge outside the cave opening. Away from me.

“You certainly don’t seem overly interested in this idea,” I observed, wondering what was going on in his head. If he hated me so much, why was he even here?

The full-on sexual leer he gave me, from my head, down my body, and back up again, was thoroughly unexpected and left me feeling gross and icky. Like I was an object to him, not a person.

“You’re fine to look at,” he said. “But you’re a human.”

“If you’re so against that, then why pick me in the first place?” I asked, crossing my arms.

He shrugged casually, no emotion in the movement. “You were the best of what was left. That doesn’t mean you’re good. Just not worse than the rest.”

I shook my head. “Well, you really know how to make a girl feel special. I can see this is going to be a ton of fun. Why not just let me go then, if you don’t actually want to do this?”

“No,” he said sternly, without elaborating.

“Fine. What about telling me your name, then? Is that something you can do?” I challenged, my anger starting to outweigh common sense, at least when it came to pissing off a dragon.

“Dayvin,” he said.

I blinked, needing a moment to refocus. I’d expected further resistance.

“Thank you,” I said. “But I still don’t get why you’d bother taking part in this choosing if you didn’t actually want to try. You could just let me go and forget all about it.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Enough talking. It’s time to go.”

In the blink of an eye, Dayvin transformed to the huge beast I’d seen down below. Cobalt scales glittered brightly in the sunlight as he shuffled around, pointing out over the cliff edge.

“Um, you do recall I can’t fly, right?” I said.

“Obviously. I’m no idiot, human. You will climb up my wing and be seated at the base of my neck. From there, I will fly you to our destination. Can you understand that?”

I glared at him. “So, now you’re assuming I’m the moron here, are you? If I do that, then all you have to do is turn to the side, and I’ll fall off. No, thanks, I’d rather you just kill me now.”

The dragon’s jaws darted forward with unbelievable speed. I was barely starting to move backward when the razor-sharp teeth clacked shut mere inches from my face.

“If I wanted you dead,” Dayvin said, his snout moving oddly as he spoke, “then you would be dead. I have no need to put on such a show for you. Climb up my wing. Now.”

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