Page 36 of Dragon Detective

“Oh.” Her shoulders loosened.

“I will never drop you.”

“What if you crash?”

“A dragon, crash? It’s never happened.”

“It must’ve happened,” she said. “What about bad weather? Maybe the dragon couldn’t see, and they flew into a building. Or the snow was so thick, ice coated their wings, and they spiraled to the ground.”

“We’ll check the weather before we fly.”

“Hmm.”

I could tell she wasn’t convinced, but flying with me would reassure her. And I would make sure the weather would be clear tomorrow night, though there was no chance of snow in late summer.

“I’ll try to open my eyes,” she finally said.

“I appreciate your confidence in my flying abilities.”

Her frown only deepened. “No reckless moves.”

“Never,” I vowed.

“No dive bombing toward the ground only to pull up at the last moment for the thrill of it.”

“Not while I’m carrying you.”

“And no pretending to drop me only to call out that you were teasing.”

“That will be a challenge, but for your first flight, I will hold myself back.” I pressed my palm against my heart. “No dropping.”

“Ever.”

I sighed dramatically. “Never ever?”

“I’ll let you know if I change my mind,” she said primly, though this woman was anything but. I sensed a banked fire inside her that made my dragon roar. I couldn’t wait to coax that Hannah out into my world.

“But I’m not going to your nest tomorrow night,” she said, clearly scandalized. “We just met.”

“We can wait until the next night, then.” I was joking. I’d grant this woman all the time she needed to decide she wanted to be with me.

I’d already made up my mind. The mark nudged me closer, but from the moment I met her, I knew somewhere deep inside that she was special, that she’d soon come to mean everything to me.

“I can’t shift,” she said, backing away from me. “And I’m not having sex with a dragon. You’re big. Huge. Feisty.”

“Feisty?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I’ll be happy to have sex with you in this form instead.”

“Reylor,” she warned. “Stop. I’ve agreed to one date but nothing else.”

“Alright.”

She huffed. “Just like that? You don’t want to lift me off my feet, set me on the counter, then step between my legs where you use your considerable charm to persuade me to do more?”

I swung Max off my shoulder, onto the floor. He sat and looked up at me, disgruntled that I wasn’t still holding him. But my mate had just issued a challenge, and I was going to meet her more than halfway.

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