Page 97 of Ensnared

I shrugged. “I wanted to see what it felt like.”

My best friend smashed that chessboard on the floor, and we left it broken in pieces. We never talked about my first kiss again, but Jacob Wong never met my eye again after that.

Even for humans, kissing someone is hard. It’s complicated. It’s confusing.

And it can be a real mess.

So when Axel shifts back into his Big Bad Red form and he’s waiting for me to climb onto his back, the question he asks takes me by surprise. Why do humans kiss?

I freeze.

How am I supposed to answer that?

“Um. Well.”

I know it’s something they do when they’re happy.

I can’t help my laugh. “I’m not sure I’d say happy is how they’re feeling when they kiss.” Though that’s not exactly wrong. “It’s more complicated than that.”

He’s waiting for me, both physically to climb into place, but also I can tell he’s really curious about what a kiss means. His question makes me feel strange about climbing onto his back too, for some reason. Do you kiss Gideon?

Oh, man. He’s asking all the questions today. Heat rises in my cheeks. “I never have, no,” I say.

Good. I don’t want you to.

Oh, heavens. “Why not?” I wish I could clap my hand over my mouth.

When he’s around, I want to incinerate him. Then I want to bury his pile of ash so I never have to see it again.

“He’s just a human,” I say. “You don’t hate all of them.”

Only him.

That makes me laugh.

What’s funny? His eyes are narrowed. It makes me angry that you trusted him with your siblings. I promised to keep them safe. That’s not his job.

Was he always this cute? As I think the words, I wonder when I stopped being afraid of the massive red dragon who was melting the entire world not too long ago. That helps me think of an analogy. “Stoves are hot,” I say. “We cook on them. Without them, we couldn’t cook our food, but if a human touches the stovetop with their fingers, it’ll burn.”

Azar frowns.

“You’re like the stove. You may not intend harm to my siblings, but being who you are puts them in danger.”

But humans are all safe? One eyebrow arches.

“You may not like him, but Gideon’s a pretty scary human. He’d have done anything he could to make sure none of the less-scary humans would hurt them, if they escaped.”

Azar lowers his head until it’s on eye level with me. I don’t like this, but if you want them to leave here, I will fly them all out.

My heart explodes. My big red dragon just offered to free my siblings—even though he hates the idea.

I think it’s a mistake. He snorts. I could keep them safe better than that tiny, feeble human. He spins around again, shifting so his left shoulder’s lower.

I try not to think about the human version of Azar when I scramble over his scaly red back to reach his shoulder. “Is our bond the reason why I wasn’t terrified of flying with you before?”

Probably.

I should’ve known. I’m remarkably obtuse sometimes.