Page 78 of The Dragon's Mate

“I’m tougher than I look, remember?”

“Bren, I’m a dragon.”

“Yep, I know.” He drank another sip ofbeer as she stared at him in frustration.

“I could accidentally hurt you when we’rein bed together,” she said.

“Whoa, what’s all this ‘in bed’ talk?” hesaid with a grin. “I don’t care what you’ve heard about us humans. I don’t putout on the first date, lady.”

She didn’t smile at his humour. “Bren,this isn’t a joke. I could hurt you.”

“How?” he said. “Explain to me how youcould hurt me while we’re having sex, because unless you shift to your dragon formwhile we’re banging, I don’t -”

“Sometimes I lose control of my flame whenI’m having an orgasm,” she said in a low voice. “What if that happened? Issex with me worth the risk of being burned alive?”

“I am pretty attracted to you,” he said.

“Bren, be serious,” she said.

He leaned forward. “Look, I don’t think you’llhurt me. I think you’ll have better control than you believe you will. Worse comesto worse, we make sure the bed is near an open window. If you need to letloose with a little fire, you can aim it toward the window. Problem solved.”

She sighed and rubbed at her forehead. “Itisn’t that simple, human.”

“It is,” he said.

“I want to sleep with you,” she said. “Youknow I do. Hell, every time I touch you, I lose my damn mind and start tothink we could have sex, that everything will be fine. But if I hurt you, Icouldn’t live with myself.”

“You won’t hurt me,” he said.

She closed her eyes and rubbed at herforehead again. “You don’t know that. And I can’t take that risk.”

* * *

“You should be sleeping.” Bren was sittingat the kitchen table when she snuck quietly into the room. The light over the stovewas on and it cast a dim glow over his face. He looked tired and depressed,and she sat in the chair next to him, the guilt she felt worsening.

“I can’t sleep knowing that you’re sleepingon the couch in your own damn place,” she said. “Let’s trade spots.”

“I told you before,” he said. “I’m notmaking you sleep on the couch. You’re my guest, you can have my bed.”

“It’s after midnight and you look exhausted,”she said.

He picked at a chip in the handle of themug that sat in front of him. “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you always this stubborn?” she asked.

“Yes.”

His blunt honesty made her smile. “Good toknow. We could share the bed in a strictly platonic kind of way.”

He stared at her and she blushed. “Sorry.Forget it, that was a stupid suggestion and -”

“It wasn’t.” He stood up and set the mugin the sink before holding his hand out. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded, squeezing her hand when she tookhis. “I’m positive. Honestly, I’m too tired and too thrown by the realizationthat dragons exist to be up for sex anyway. I’ll behave, I promise.”

“I’m not worried about that,” she said in alow voice as they crept past the guest room, “I promise I won’t do anything toyou either.”

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