Page 31 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

Oh, my god!

I drop down into the hole, spreading my wings to parachute myself. Once I land on the ground, I sprint to her side. When I touch her, I flinch.

“Oh, god—you’re so cold!” I exclaim, “Sarah, hang on. You’re gonna be all right!”

She burbles something, but she’s too cold to function. It’s like I can see her shutting down in front of me.

“Come here,” I murmur to her.

I grab her around the waist and pull her into me. Dragons feel the cold, but we still have more resistance against it than a human does because of the fire in our belly. God, I hope it’s enough. When her cold body first touches mine, I have to fight the flinch, but I hold her to me anyway. At first, her skin is as wet and icy as the snow itself. I shuffle her onto my lap, cradling her head in my arms and her torso among my stomach and legs. She’s unresponsive for the most part, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.

“You’re going to be okay,” I murmur to her.

I don’t know how long we sit there, but she starts to reanimate slowly. Her skin starts warming gradually, and she starts shivering again. I wrap my arms tighter around her, and this time, she shuffles into me, clinging to me like she’s drowning and I’m a life preserver.

“It’s okay,” I say quietly to her, “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Sarah curls up into me. After a short while, she leans away to look at me. Her lips are no longer blue, and there’s more color to her face than before.

Thank god.

But as she looks at me, I see her eyes widen.

That’s right—she’s never seen me as a dragon before!Dread drips down my spine for a moment; what if my dragon form scares her?! She doesn’t see them often, and the last time she saw a dragon was when she was being drugged and kidnapped.

Her eyes fill with tears, and she suddenly crumples up, sobbing.

Oh, god—I’m scaring her!

“Sarah—” I start, but she cuts across me.

“Rufus! Thank god! I didn’t think you were coming—I didn’t thinkanyonewas coming!” she weeps, “I thought I was going to die down here, and no one would help!”

Sarah presses her head against my chest, her cold breath fanning over my scales.

“I’m always the one helping everyone,” she whispers, “I didn’t know who would be left to help me…”

“Sarah…”

She looks up at me, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” She speaks like a dam has been broken, “I should have let you come to begin with. It was astupididea not to let you come. B—but it’s more than that. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that this morning. I know it probably made you feel like shit,I know,but I… I didn’t want to be with anyone, Rufus. I was scared to be involved with anyone, but then you showed up, and we had that amazing night, and—and itscaredme. I thought I was starting to fall for you, and that was never part of the plan and—and…”

Her head drops back down into my chest again.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs into my body.

For a second, I can’t find any words. It’s all just a flood of information, clicking into place piece by piece.

She wanted me to be here for her… she’s sorry for what she said… the sex was amazing in her mind… she’s falling for me.

She’s falling for me!

Sarah keeps snuffling into my chest, still crying lightly. I run my hands over her back.

“Sarah… it’s okay,” I murmur. It’s still hard to find the words. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about this morning—all in the past now. I’m just glad you’re all right.”

She just stays in my chest. I give her a squeeze and lean my head into her shoulder. I run my hands around in circles over her back.

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