Page 46 of Rapunzel's Gambit (All That Glitters)

On a narrow part of the trail, he lost his footing and slipped down an embankment into the dry riverbed below. Frantically looking around to see if the soldiers were close enough to see the dust that flew up, I scrambled down the hill after him.

“Are you here to tell me that I fall weird too?” Pollox puffed, gritting his teeth and putting pressure on his wound.

“No, but I think we need a place to hide. I—” I broke off, looking around. “I know this place!” The memory of being thrown from Drake’s horse and seeing the small dugout burst back into my mind’s eye. “Follow me.”

I dragged Pollox along to the spot, shoving him into the tiny underground burrow and ignoring his splutters of “I’m adragon, I won’t hide in a hole like some rabbit!”

“Unless you want to be adeaddragon, you better become a rabbit, Sulfur Breath!” I snapped, shoving on his back so he was forced in. The sounds of the search party grew louder. I threw a last panicked glance at the riverbed we’d left behind. At least the dust had settled where Pollox had fallen.

My heart pounded frantically in my chest as we crawled to the very back of our hiding spot and I tried to quiet my breathing, still ragged from running. We both pressed against the earthen wall at the back of the hollow, so close I was practically sitting in his lap.

Pollox tucked all the torn fabric trailing from my dress under his legs, trying to keep every inch of us concealed from the sunshine streaming dangerously close to our temporary sanctuary. Once all the cloth was hidden away, he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me away from the daylight and against the back wall of the knoll’s hidden cavity.

Noises from our pursuers rang out, loud and angry, as they continued to search the area for us. My lungs threatened to explode as I tried to quiet my breathing, ears strained to catch the sound of every broken twig, every muffled order.

I tightened my hold around Pollox’s shoulders and held my breath as the sounds stopped directly overhead. The shadows of several men lengthened over the dry riverbed, just visible from where Pollox and I were closeted, motionless and silent. The shadows of the soldiers paused, looking left and right. I glanced at the roof of the hollow. Clods of dirt sprinkled down on us as the soldiers overhead paced back and forth.

“They couldn’t have gone far,” one voice growled. “Where can a dragon that size hide?”

“Maybe it flew away and we couldn’t see it through the trees?”

“Nah, remember it was hurt? It shouldn’t be able to fly for at least a few hours,” a throaty chuckle rasped. “Turns out that dragon hunter was right; wecaninjure dragons after all. They aren’t as all-powerful as we were led to believe.”

I felt Pollox tense and clung tighter to him, my vision spotted from the strain of holding my breath so long. I wanted to check on his injury, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the shadows of our pursuers standing on the grassy knoll. One wrong move from them, and they would drop down into the riverbed, where we would be fully exposed if they so much as turned around.

“Shame about the princess being taken, though,” a nasally voice piped up. “She’s been held prisoner for months now.”

“At least we know that the dragon hasn’t eaten her yet. That’s something. The king said the reward has doubled for her return, and anyone can marry her if they get her back, regardless of station.”

I couldn’t keep my breath contained any longer. As quietly as I could, I exhaled in a silent stream. Pollox copied me, and I felt his scorching hot breath swirl around my neck. Both of us never wavered in staring at the shadows rippling across the rocks and sand. Dead grass hanging down from the hideout’s opening cut off the top part of the shadows, but the men were obviously growing tired of the little game of hide-and-seek and were debating where to search next.

Still trying to remain undetected, I inhaled in shallow, short breaths that left me lightheaded and not at all able to think clearly.

After a few more tense minutes, they wandered off. It took several more minutes for the tension to drain out of my body, and my heart still hammered from the chase. When I finally relaxed, I gained awareness of Pollox’s hands wrapped around me and realized I was still clutching him so tightly that our torsos were close to being fused.

Finally, I pulled my gaze away from the riverbed and looked at Pollox. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the dimness of the underground hollow, but when they did, I saw Pollox returning my gaze with a softness to his expression that had never appeared on his dragon face. My heart began to pump even faster than before.

Once again, I was struck by how handsome Pollox was, in a dashing, roguish kind of way. His strong jaw jutted out confidently on his tanned face, and the dancing orange flames deep in his eyes were so vivid that they nearly glowed in the half-darkness. Hesitantly, I lifted my hand to brush some of his dark auburn curls away from his sweaty forehead.

Pollox didn’t move as I touched him, but his fingers tensed at my sides, and the softness in his gaze became tinged with desire. Even though the wind whipping into our hiding spot was chilly, the combination of being so close to Pollox, the way he was looking at me, and the sudden thoughts parading through my mind caused my body to heat up almost as fast as Pollox’s had when he transformed.

“Maybe there are benefits to having a human form after all,” Pollox murmured, his gaze roving all over my face.

“I told you so.”

What would it be like to kiss Pollox? Could a dragon in human form experience emotions anything like the ones causing every fiber of my being to tingle with some secret, unknown magic?

Kissing Pollox would be disastrous. Not only would it introduce a complicated dynamic to the successful thieving scheme we had going on, but secretly, I feared that if I kissed him, I would want to do so again and again, and perhaps never stop.

The thought was intimidating enough that I began to pull away, but Pollox’s hold on me redoubled. “Stay,” he said, his voice low enough that it was barely audible. “This is…I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Like you want to be held?” I offered, gently brushing my fingers against the stubble on his jaw again.

“Yes, just like that. I can see why you craved it before.”

Words failed me as one of Pollox’s hands roamed up and down my back while the other moved along my leg, leaving a trail of intense heat in its wake. My own fingers acted of their own accord, tracing Pollox’s neck and around his ears.

Every touch heightened my senses, and the desire to kiss him was becoming unbearable. I could try to play it off as a harmless experiment, but I held myself at bay. I couldn’t do that to my only real friend. Risking our friendship and the success of our scheme for a few stolen kisses was a terrible plan. Pollox wouldn’t want his virtue sullied by a girl who had kissed more men than she could remember. He should find a dragon lady who had saved her lips exclusively for him. He was new to having a human form, and if I wanted to be a good friend, I wouldn’t take advantage of him so readily.

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