Page 39 of Rapunzel's Gambit (All That Glitters)

I frowned. “He’s very good at chess and he’s kind to me.”

“You think he could handle the sort of trouble you get yourself into? Not everyone can keep up with that.”

“I’m sure he would do just fine. He made it up to the balcony, didn’t he?”

“And screamed most of the way back to the castle,” Pollox sulked.

“You’re being ridiculous,” I told him. “Even if I wanted to be with Griffin, I’m a princess and he’s a squire. Nothing can ever happen between us. It’s just as likely that I’d marry you as Griffin.”

Pollox let out a snort of sparks and took a very long time putting away the sack of treasure he’d received as a ransom for Ivan and Griffin. I warmed my hands over the fire that licked the coals laid in the stone ledge that ran the perimeter of the cave.

“Do you wish to be held?” Pollox had emerged from the corridor leading to his hoard.

“What?” I distractedly pulled my thoughts away from the orphanage. “What are you talking about?”

The wing-like extensions at the end of his tail fanned out slightly. “Humans often want to be comforted physically.” It wasn’t a question. “Is that what you were seeking today with the squire?”

I shrugged indifferently. “Every girl likes to feel some muscle every now and again. I’m pretending to be a captive, but I’m not dead. I know all humans are ugly to you, but Griffin is very handsome to human girls.”

Pollox flicked his tail back and forth, as he always did when he was irritated. I grinned. “Are you feeling jealous? Do you wish that you had a lovely dragoness to snuggle with?”

“Certainly not.”

I walked my fingers up the leathery hide on his front leg and sighed dramatically, “Yes, you are. Just think—you could glide across the skies with her at your side, holding tails, romantically setting fire to all villages you see, but no amount of heat from the flames you belched forth would ever come close to matching the passion that you have for each other.” I batted my eyelashes and feigned swooning.

With lightning-like reflexes, Pollox lifted his leg and trapped me beneath his claws faster than he had shattered Prince Ivan’s sword that day, still taking care not to injure me. I squealed as I was flipped onto my back, then chuckled as I gripped the two talons beside my neck, the underside of his paw holding me to the ground.

“Do you really find it wise to tease a dragon?” His pupils flamed.

“Maybe not wise, but it’s fun. Would your lady friend glow ruby red to match your heart that aches for her? Do you pine in her absence?”

Pollox’s neck snaked around until his large head was right next to mine, and he blew a scorching heat wave into my face. I laughed and covered my eyes. “Just like I thought, you’re nothing but a big bag of hot air!” I coughed and waved a hand in front of my face. “And you have sulfur breath.”

“I think if you hadn’t run away, you would’ve been banished,” Pollox said as he withdrew his claws from where they were caging me in and turned around three times, preparing to go to sleep. “You’re a nuisance.”

“A beautiful nuisance.” I rose and brushed my dress clean.

Pollox exhaled sharply, several sparks showering from his snout. “Humans aren’t beautiful to dragons.”

“I bet you would consider a lady dragon beaut?—”

“I would not.” After Pollox was finished settling down, I climbed into my usual spot on his side and pulled his wing over me for a blanket, reveling in the warmth he provided.

Pollox rested his head on the stone floor, close enough to my hand that I reached out and stroked his head, tracing my fingers along the ridges over his eyes and along his snout. He lazily closed his eyes at my touch. I scratched the spot beneath his horns that he liked so much, then inclined my head to the hole that served in place of his ear.

In a whisper, I said, “If you go to sleep now, you can dream about wooing your drag?—"

“You’d best stop talking before I decide to eat you in your sleep.” He didn’t even open his eyes as he snapped back, but I could hear the amusement in his voice.

I laughed quietly and snuggled into the comfort of the heavy wing draped over me. “Whatever you need to tell yourself. But it would be disappointing if you lost half of our chaotic duo. We make a good team.”

The flames burning in the recessed ledge grew dimmer as we stopped talking. Just before I dozed off, Pollox spoke up again, in a much softer voice than normal. “If you wanted to go back with one of those men one day, I would understand.”

Relief that Pollox didn’t consider me a possession seeped in. “And leave my friend to keep all this glorious gold for himself? No way. I earned that treasure fair and square, and I am keeping my half to do with what I want.”

“You think we’re friends?” His gravelly voice barely registered with how drowsy I had become. Odd, how much he focused on that part.

I yawned. “Yes. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Now shut up and go to sleep.”

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