Page 213 of Nine-Tenths

"Well, you are. Secondly," I take one of his paws and press it into my lap. "I wouldn't havethatfor you if I was scared."

Dav sticks his nose in my crotch to get a good sniff.

Weirdo.

"Afterallof this, do you still not get that this is mechoosingyou, Dav?" I ask. "Your teeth are the size of a butcher knife and I am letting you near my junk. If this isn't trust, then—"

He grunts, swings his head away, smoke curling from one corner of his mouth.

"Fuck off," I say. "Don't pull that. Look at me." He does. "Listen, you big red idiot. I amchoosingto be here. I love you."

"Even still?"

"Even still." I huff out a laugh. "I never stopped, even when you scared the shit out of me with stuff that I didn't understand, even when your cryptic bullshit frustrates me. Big old bleeding heart, pinned to my sleeve, staining my shirt; that's me. And Iloveyou."

He licks my face once, gentle and sweet.

"Turn back," I say, giving his head a little shake. "Come on, I wanna kiss you."

He snorts.

"Fine." I roll my eyes and kiss his snout. Within seconds it's a human mouth, wet and opening under mine.

"Hi," I say, pulling away.

"Colin," he crackles out, engulfing me in a protective hug.

"Hey," I whisper. "How about we get this blood off, eh?"

"Yes, please," Dav says.

I hoist him to his feet shakily, and get him folded into the shower cubicle. Dav is exhausted, in too much pain to even raise his hands to wash his hair, so I strip down and squish in to give him a slow, gentle scrub. I don’t mean for it to be sensual, not when he’s so wrecked. But there is something undeniably sexy about taking care of your conquering hero.

Dragons heal quickly, so by the time I’m patting him dry, his ear looks whole, if crossed with an angry red line. The punctures in his hip and torso are scabbing over, but are ringed with dark black bruising. The gash under his arm is still nasty, but no longer oozing. While he towels his hair dry, I press myself to his back to kiss the worst of it.

"Oof, hello," he laughs. "Careful back there, it feels like you're about to stab me."

The image knocks the breath out of me.

"Can I?" I pant, clutching at his hips. "We've never… can we?"

He meets my eyes in the foggy reflection of the mirror above the sink. I knead the excellent flesh of his ass, and give him my best puppy-dog look.

He groans appreciatively. He folds the towel, rests it on the edge of the sink, and then sinks forward to prop himself up on his elbows.

"Fuck,yes." I grab the lube I'd optimistically brought into the bathroom. "Thank you."

"I didn't think you'd want to do it this way," Dav pants as I press in, slowly, with one slick finger.

"I didn't thinkyou'dwant to." I add a few bite-marks of my own to his back. "Control freak."

Dav reaches over his shoulder, sinks his hand into my hair, and pulls, forcing me up onto my tiptoes for a kiss. "Who saysI'm not in control?" he smears against my mouth, and I can feel him smirking, the jerk.

"Oh, yeah?" I ask, lining myself up. "Let's see if you can stay in controlnow."

"Colin, don't be ridiculous, I—" His protest cuts off as I slide in, and he arches back, groaning.

Nice.