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He wanted to bed this female again, and this avoidance was infuriating him. It started to feel as though his desperation for her was making his scales itch.

She has me under her spell.One that she didn’t cast but had been created inside himself.

It made him unhappy.She feels regret, and I do not like it.Especially because his desire for her continued to grow by the minute.

He also still didn’t know why.

He didn’t know how to rectify the problem when she refused to speak about it. The only words she uttered to him about it was the one time she deigned to answer him, as if to reconfirm what she felt without explanation.

“I am not a whore,” she’d muttered as she pushed him away when he had attempted to kiss her the only time he’d managed to get close to her.

He’d been hoping if he showed her that he felt desire for her, it would once again birth it in her. It didn’t. Actually, it appeared to make how she felt worsen.

But I do not think this of her.It made him scratch the scales on the top of his head in puzzlement often. Just because he felt this way didn’t mean he thought this lowly of her.I want to touch her because she enthrals me, not because she is an easy target.

“Your thoughts are not focused today,” Glov said when it was obvious that he wasn’t listening.

Rurik blinked, bringing his focus back to the green Dragon in front of him.

They lay about in the main room of his lair, the one he had carved so that he could have guests the size of his kind laze about comfortably when they visited.

Glov visited him today to inform him of what he’d learned, which was not much, as well as to rest from flying. He’d barely landed since the day he told Rurik of Strolguil the Vast.

“Yes, my mind is elsewhere this morning.” It was on the Witch, and her moodiness and unwillingness to let him touch her again.

“Well, bring your ill-tempered tail back to the conversation.” Rurik gave a soft growl in irritation before the green Dragon continued. “What are your plans for Strolguil if he comes this way?”

“If they are close by and we have not discovered where they are hiding or what their plans are, then the others will have to come here so that we can prepare.”

“Are you sure that is wise with the Witch you have in your lair?”

Rurik gave him a scowl, curling his upper lip back over his fangs.

“If any dare to harm her in my lair, then they will feel the consequences of my wrath. I do not care what the others think, and I will not change the way I handle my hunts because she is here.”

This wasn’t the first time Rurik had others assist him in hunting the Witches that scoured the lands. He’d never needed to call on so many before, but he often had his kind prepare to fight an entire coven in his lair and rest here while they waited. It could take time to call upon them if they were not here, and he didn’t wish to be forced to fight on his own.

“You are awfully protective of her.”

“She has further proved to me that she bears no ill will. She has also shown me that she does not plan to escape if given the opportunity.”

Glov raised a brow in questioning.

“How can you be certain?”

“She is afraid to be burned on the stake.” Rurik let his eyes fall on the cave wall as he thought on how to word his lie. “She has, uh, witnessed its brutally herself and now fears the humans will do it to her if she is to walk among them.”

Glov nodded his head in understanding.

“Yes, they are often worried of being discovered.” He could see Glov’s shoulders relaxing. “It truly does seem as though she is not an issue.”

“Exactly. So cease questioning me on it!” he snapped, feeling his scales raise in agitation.

Glov constantly pestered him about it, and it was beginning to get under his scales.

If I am trusting enough of her that I was inside her, then I know she is no danger to me.But he couldn’t tell him that.

He rolled his eyes at Rurik’s shout before getting to his paws to stand.