dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames by susan illene Page B

necessary?” I glowered up at Aidan. If only I could have shot daggers through my eyes and killed him where he stood.
    “This was your first lesson,” he replied, digging into a black pouch hanging from his belt.
    “My first what?”
    Aidan withdrew a vial and held it out. I ignored it.
    “Never hesitate to attack an enemy if he’s threatening you or your friends,” he said in a cold voice. “And bullets don’t work on dragons. Don’t waste your time shooting at them.”
    “You couldn’t have just told me that?” I felt my temper rising and stood up. “He is my friend!”
    “And you risked his life by hesitating.”
    I poked a finger into Aidan’s chest. “If you ever touch him again, so help me God I will rip your balls off and shove them down your throat until you choke on them. See how that works out for you.”
    He lifted his brows. “I’m a dragon. How can you be certain I have…balls?”
    I took a step back and almost stumbled into a row of shopping carts. My mouth opened and shut as I searched for a response.
    “Well, uh, you’re in a human body, so I’d assumed…”
    He laughed. The asshole almost doubled over he laughed so hard. The sound of it echoed throughout the cavernous store, mocking me. Glad I could amuse a dragon at my expense.
    “I’ll just leave you to wonder about that,” he said, after he regained his composure.
    “I was being serious.”
    “I’m certain you were,” he said, a hint of humor in his voice.
    Note to self—come up with better threats for dragons.
    “Your English has improved a lot in the last week,” I remarked.
    “I’ve known your language for some time, but rarely used it until recently.” He shrugged. “And I’m a fast learner when I choose to be.”
    “Remind me to give you a gold star the next time we meet. What is that?” I indicated the vial.
    “A cream that will help your friend heal faster. We keep it around in case one of our humans gets burned.”
    “Your humans?” I gave him accusatory look. What were they doing with humans?
    “Do you want it or not?”
    “This better not hurt him,” I said, swiping it from his hand. Poor Conrad was starting to get control of his wheezing, but he was still on all fours on the tile floor.
    Aidan snorted, letting loose a puff of steam from his nose. “If I truly wanted to make him suffer I wouldn’t have let him go.”
    Maybe, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I popped the cork and dabbed a bit of the gel-like substance onto my fingertips. It was thick and brownish with no discernible smell to it.
    “What’s in this?” I asked.
    “You don’t trust me?”
    I lifted my brows. “What was your first clue?”
    Conrad pushed off the floor while keeping one hand protectively over his throat. His legs wobbled and he grabbed a nearby checkout stand for balance. An almost unintelligible croak came from his mouth when he tried to speak, but I was fairly certain he’d meant to say “motherfucker.” He glared at Aidan as if he plotted the shape-shifter’s demise and it would involve something very painful.
    Did I take the chance and put the cream on him? So far it hadn’t hurt my skin, but neither did Aidan’s touching me. Maybe the gel substance wouldn’t, either. What if I put it on Conrad and it made him worse?
    “I do not have time for this.” Aidan jerked the vial from my grip and stepped in front of Conrad, barring pointed teeth. “Put the damn cream on your neck if you know what’s good for you.”
    “—uck you,” came Conrad’s mangled response.
    Aidan cocked his head. “Scared? I’m disappointed after your little show of bravery a few minutes ago.”
    Conrad flipped out his hand. Aidan dropped the vial into his palm and took a step back. Keeping a watchful eye on the shape-shifter, Conrad popped the cork and put a dollop on his fingers. He muttered a few more garbled cuss words as he examined the cream.
    He looked at me with a question in his eyes and I shrugged. Neither of