Page 62 of The Dragon 1
I lay on the futon, stretched out with a thick white blanket pulled over my body and the fantasy book pressed against my stomach.
When the Dragon Swallowed the Moon.
I looked at it.
Why did you give me this Kenji, especially after I kneed you?
I picked up the book and shifted to my side. The cover caught the moonlight again—deep obsidian and glimmers of molten gold flickering. The silver lettering shimmered too.
I must say this is quite a cover. So enchanting. . .Almost as enchanting as him.
I shouldn’t have been thinking about Kenji.
But there he was.
In my head.
Again.
Every detail—the smooth, controlled voice, the heat of his skin against mine, the way his eyes narrowed like they were memorizing my every breath—kept playing on repeat.
Over and over.
God, what is wrong with me?
The man groped my face and pinned me against a wall like he owned me. And yet here I was, thinking about the gifts, the scent of that flower, the way his note in the book made my chest ache a little.
To the one who made me lose my breath.
—K
I should’ve tossed the book across the room. Or buried it in Zo’s overstuffed closet. Or, hell, left it outside with the clitoria to soak in some shame.
But I didn’t do any of that.
I held it tighter.
There was something magnetic about this whole thing. About him. About how the line between danger and desire kept shifting underneath me like cracked glass.
And now. . .this story.
Kenji had called it rare and special.
Again, the same question hit me.
Why would he risk sending me something personal—something treasured—when he could’ve just sent flowers?
Because this was. . .a message.
And if I wanted to have any hope of walking into that date tomorrow with my head on straight and my emotions untangled, I needed to know what that message really meant.
Alright. Time to put my detective hat on.
I adjusted the blanket, curled onto my other side, and took a deep breath. My fingers slipped between the first few pages, the scent of incense and parchment rising into the air.
Then, I opened the book.
And began to read.
