Page 18 of Valor’s Flight (The New Protectorate #5)

Hunching her shoulders a little, she focused on finishing her dinner.

“Sorry if I’m bothering you. I should probably be letting you rest in quiet, not talking your ear off and asking questions you can’t even answer right now.

” She flicked the dial on the stove, turning off the gas, and then began to spoon her dinner into an earthenware bowl.

“I don’t get visitors and I don’t have any pets, so it’s nice to be able to talk to someone. ”

Lifting her bowl off the counter, she sucked in a quick breath and turned to give the dragon a nervous smile. “You really should get some sleep, so I’ll eat in my room.”

She’d only taken a step or two when that coiled tail snaked across the floor to drape across the doorway, barring her exit.

Alashiya shot the dragon a confused look over her shoulder and found him peering at her intently, his lips peeled back from his teeth and a low rumble emanating from his throat.

“What?” She looked back and forth between the dragon and his tail. “Do you not want me to eat in my room?”

He shook his head. The small action seemed to cost him, as he almost immediately laid his head back down on his forelegs. His gaze went in and out of focus for a moment before he blinked and let out a chuff.

A rush of weightlessness made her head spin a little when she whispered, “Do you want me to stay with you for a while?”

The dragon gave her a tiny nod and dipped his chin toward the floor in front of him.

Alashiya hesitated a moment. He seemed to be telling her that he wanted her to sit with him, but she’d been wrong about reading him before.

The urge to ask for clarification prompted her to open her mouth, but it closed just as quickly when another set of tremors shook his powerful frame.

Empathy squeezed her heart in a vice.

“Okay, I’ll just…” Alashiya shuffled toward the dragon and slowly lowered herself to the floor. She didn’t dare sit too close, but she didn’t sit as far away as she could’ve, either.

The floor was cool under her bare legs as she folded them beneath her. Settling the warm bowl in her lap, she got into a more comfortable position and peeked at the dragon through her lashes.

He watched her from beneath lowered lids, his pupils huge and quivering against the backdrop of his violet irises.

His nostrils flared with every breath, and as she arranged her skirt over her thighs, his tail dragged sluggishly across the floor to loop loosely behind her.

She could just feel it against the base of her spine.

Goosebumps broke out along her arms whenever she felt that glancing contact, but she didn’t move away. Flustered, Alashiya tried to ignore it as she picked up her fork and began to eat.

It was more than a little awkward, sitting there in silence and being watched while she ate, but the dragon looked more relaxed than before, so she hoped that meant he was happy. A warm glow suffused her at the thought that she’d brought a little comfort to him.

Pushing her food around her bowl, she said, “You know, you really scared me when you first got here, and you were definitely a little rude, but I’m sorry you’re in pain right now. I wish I could do more to help you.”

The dragon made a soft rumble deep in his throat. It was a comforting sort of sound, though she couldn’t exactly put her finger on why that was. His tail pressed more firmly against her back. Alashiya looked away quickly, embarrassed by the way her eyes went misty. It felt a lot like a hug.

It’d been a very long time since anyone hugged her.

Clearing her throat, she set aside the remains of her dinner. Her stomach did somersaults as she scooted just a bit closer to him. The dragon’s gaze sharpened with interest. Lifting his head as much as he was able, he gestured toward the spot on the floor right beside his foreleg.

“Um…” She hesitated, already embarrassed that she wanted to be near him at all.

He was a stranger who couldn’t even communicate with her properly.

It wasn’t appropriate to get up close and personal, let alone safe.

Who knew what he was really capable of? Sure, the evening had been pleasant enough, but anyone could pretend to be friendly.

It didn’t mean she should ask for a cuddle.

The dragon’s tail nudged her. When she still didn’t move, he let out a huff and made what looked like a great effort to roll slightly to one side and stretch his neck toward her. Before she’d properly grasped his intentions, he’d laid his head in her lap.

It was damn heavy. Alashiya grunted and adjusted the position of her legs under his bulk. Her heart lurched just as it had that morning, when he did the same thing as she changed his bandages.

Her bruises still ached and her knee was painfully swollen from their rough introduction, but it was hard to square that dragon with this one, who seemed to crave comfort and her nearness so openly.

It was a little strange to think that a being so fierce could need those sorts of things. She’d always thought that if she had claws or could breathe fire, she’d never fear anything again, but that didn’t appear to be the case. Apparently even dragons needed soothing every once in a while.

At least, that’s what she thought he was after. It was entirely possible he just needed a pillow.

Not really knowing what to do but drawn toward him anyway, Alashiya hesitated for only a few seconds before she tentatively traced the shape of one great, arcing horn. Her breath stalled as she followed its elegant curvature.

Seemingly pleased with her nervous exploration, the dragon pressed one side of his face into her middle like a great, attention-seeking cat.

A breathless laugh escaped her. It quickly changed into a squeak when the dragon didn’t stop with a nudge, but rather used his considerable bulk to tip her backward onto the floor.

She squeezed her eyes shut, prepared for the jolt and explosive pain of her head cracking against the tiles, but it didn’t come.

Instead, she let out an oomph when her head landed on his tail, which had swung around to cushion her fall.

She thought it was a small miracle she hadn’t hurt herself on one of its spikes, until she glanced backward to find he’d tipped it to the side.

Startled, she pressed a hand to the floor and made to lever herself up again, but was stopped by the dragon laying his head flat on her middle, his chin touching her collar bones and the weight of him pressed down on her breasts and stomach.

His breath huffed loudly beneath her chin and stirred her hair.

Very aware that she was now in an exquisitely vulnerable position not unlike when he had her pinned by the trough and seemed seconds away from roasting her alive, Alashiya gasped, “What are you doing?”

The dragon let out a deep, thrumming sound. She hadn’t the slightest clue what it meant, but he didn’t seem like he had any immediate plans to attack her.

Good gods, she thought, watching those massive eyes close, he really is using me as a mattress.

“You know,” she muttered, “if you wanted a pillow so bad, I could’ve gotten you one. And I’m only giving you five minutes like this. We’re not doing a repeat of when you got here. You’re not keeping me on the kitchen floor all night, okay? My back can’t take it.”

The dragon cracked an eye open. It looked a little glazed, but she thought she spied some acquiescence there, too.

Bit by bit, she relaxed beneath him. The dragon seemed to only be seeking some comfort, so she tried not to let worry consume her as the minutes passed.

It certainly wasn’t the most comfortable position to be in, but she didn’t mind it so much when she passed the time gently tracing the fascinating shapes of his face with the tips of her fingers.

She probably shouldn’t have, seeing as he was a person and not an animal to be petted, but he didn’t seem to have any complaints.

A content rumble filled the kitchen, and for reasons she didn’t want to examine too closely, Alashiya lingered there beneath him long after the five minute limit passed.

Eventually the discomfort won out, though, forcing her to nudge him until he reluctantly lifted his head off her chest. Feeling shy, she said nothing as she worked some blood back into her sleeping limbs by hobbling out of the kitchen.

She still couldn’t quite look at him when she returned with the things he said he didn’t need: a few plush pillows and a blanket.

Whatever he meant about not needing blankets before didn’t seem to apply anymore. Almost as soon as she laid the pillows down, he pressed his snout into them and closed his eyes.

Feeling that familiar tightening in her chest, she draped the blanket over as much of him as she could reach before tiptoeing out of the kitchen.

Considering how she’d spent the last half hour on the kitchen floor with him, Alashiya felt silly for closing the door into the hallway, but he was still a stranger. One good, oddly tender evening didn’t mean she wanted to sleep with her door open and wake up to find him watching her or something.

Alashiya could hear his breathing as she settled into her slightly depleted mound of blankets, pillows, and mattresses by the hearth.

It was too warm for a fire, so she stared past the iron grate and strained to listen to the beast in the other room.

There was the distinct sound of his tail swush-swushing across the tile before the dragon let out a long, gusty sigh.

She listened to the air whooshing in and out of those massive lungs for a while before the sound lulled her to sleep.