Page 37 of A Thieving Curse

“Women.” The dragon prince snorted. “Nearly eaten, and you’re worried about a dress.”

Meredith blinked. “What do you mean, nearly eaten?”

“Well,” he replied drily, which somehow didn’t make his voice any less pleasant, “when I found the screaming princess, she was about a minute away from being minotaur food.”

Raelyn winced and tried to block out the terror the reminder brought. “It wouldn’t have happened, and the dress wouldn’t have been dirtied if I hadn’t run away.” She ducked her head. “I’m sorry.”

Meredith raised her brows. “For what, exactly?”

“Everything.” She rubbed the ball of her foot against the ground. “The things I said. Running away. Ruining your dress. My…cruel words.”

“Hm.” Meredith gave her a thin smile. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet. And the dress isn’t important. It might even be salvageable. I’m glad Alex found you in time.”

“Yes,” Raelyn whispered. “Me too.” She looked up at the dragon prince, realizing she hadn’t thanked him for saving her life. “Thank you.”

The prince squinted. “I’m going to ask you something strange, and you can say no.”

Raelyn folded her arms over her stomach. She wasn’t certain she could handle any more strange or stressful situations tonight. “All right…”

“Can you say that again, but with my hand against your neck?”

She gulped. “What?”

“Alex—”

“Please,” he said, ignoring Meredith. “I get tired of saying this, but I won’t hurt you.”

“Why do you want to do that?” Raelyn suspected she knew what he was doing, even if she didn’t understand how, but she wanted to confirm it.

“Humor me.” He stepped toward her and she fought the urge to draw back. “Then I’ll explain.”

Meredith placed a hand on the dragon prince’s arm. “Alex—”

He shrugged her off. “Yes or no, Princess.”

She hesitated. To agree would be to trust him. But then again, she had come back with him. She’d already trusted him with her life once. “All right.”

He stepped closer, and she forced herself to look away from the rise and fall of his bare chest. His hand cupped the side of her neck. Warmth from his palm radiated pleasantly into her skin, but she could also feel the tips of his claws against the back of her neck. She looked into his eyes. The red was less noticeable in the dark, but his gaze was intense.

Raelyn took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

He grinned. “You’re welcome.” His hand fell from her neck, and he headed toward the cave.

“Wait!” She hurried after him. “You said you would explain. Why do you keep doing that?”

“Dragons are wise creatures, Princess. Volatile, but intelligent. They can sense when someone is lying. In dragon form, I can just tell whether someone is being honest.” He gave her a sly grin. “By the way, you werehonestlyenjoying flying.” He looked back in front of him. “When in human—well, mostly human form, I have to be touching them to tell if they’re lying. The neck seems to work best, for whatever reason. I just wanted to know if your gratitude was real before I accepted it.”

She had thought as much. But knowing he could tell if she lied made her uncomfortable.

“Which,honestly,” Meredith interjected as she came up on Raelyn’s other side, “it’s impolite to make acceptance of gratitude conditional on its authenticity. And rude to force people into telling the truth.” She frowned at the prince. “That’s why he doesn’t do it to us. If something serious comes up, just the offer to let him test us lets him know we’re being honest.”

Raelyn agreed. But concerns over the dragon prince’s invasive knowledge were pushed aside as a pang of hunger contorted her stomach. “Is there any way I could get some food?” She hoped Meredith didn’t have the same rule as Jasper about referring to the prince as a monster and not getting supper.

“I’m starving, too.” The dragon prince peered down at Raelyn, a mischievous look on his face. “I really want to make a joke about eating you right now.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” She looked at the ground, the thought of being eaten putting her nerves back on edge.

“I’ll ask Peter to pull something together,” Meredith said. “But first, let’s get you into clean clothes, dear. And Alexander, ask Lucas to help you put on a shirt, or no supper.”

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