How to Date a Dragon by Ashlyn Chase

chest as if he had moved wrong and reinjured himself.
    “Stop.” She jammed her hands on her hips. “Do I have to push you back down on the lounger and sit on you, or are you going to stay without a fight?”
    He snorted. At last their eyes met and she saw raw regret there. A corner of her chilly, suspicious edge melted. She braced his back and helped him lie down again. After he had sagged into the cushion, she sat next to him. Her thigh molded against his shoulder. Heat seeped into her leg from his, as if he were burning up.
    “Wow, you’re hot.” She placed her hand on his cool forehead. That’s weird. Maybe the blood is rushing to where he needs it more. “I don’t think you have a fever, but you’re really in no shape to go anywhere.”
    “I know, but if you want me to leave, I can call one of my buddies. The ribbing will stop eventually.”
    “I don’t mind you being here. And I think Angie would be mad at me if I asked you to leave. She seemed as upset about the incident as anyone.”
    He smiled. “Yeah, Angie’s a good kid.”
    “You think of her as a kid?”
    “Sure. What is she? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?”
    “Yeah, thereabouts. How old are you?”
    “Five hundred and fifty.”
    Bliss laughed. “I didn’t ask how old you felt. I asked how old you were.”
    “You know what they say… You’re only as old as you feel.”
    She chuckled and focused on his face. His smile. His lips. She was just starting to lean in to taste his full mouth when the door opened and Angie appeared, carrying the beautiful bouquet that had started all the trouble.
    “Hey, Drake. How’re you doing, buddy?”
    “I—I’ll be right back,” Bliss said, and hurried off to the bathroom. She’d remembered some pain pills left over from a badly sprained ankle. She checked her little medicine kit to see if they were still in it. Yup. The fact that she thought of offering him some pain relief meant she still cared about him. However, she had no intention of pretending she was okay with his desire to date her while looking elsewhere at the same time.
    While she was in there doing her business, she got the idea for a new Hall-Snark card. This one was generic enough to use in her new line, but Drake was getting the first one.
    You made a mistake, and that means you’re human, but do it again and you’ll see me fumin’.
    She hurried to her bedroom to jot the words down before returning to check on Drake.
    ***
    So many conflicting emotions whirled through Drake, he could barely handle just lying there, waiting for his regenerative powers to kick in.
    What an idiot I am! Why did I bother meeting a dragon when I was still trying to find Bliss?
    Because, Drake, ol’ boy, you’re a coward. You didn’t want to go through the trouble and uncertainty of telling a human that you’re an aberration.
    I should have called Zina as soon as I found Bliss again. No, she probably wouldn’t have taken the news well, but I should have told her. Now it looks like I was stringing both of them along.
    Fuck… Bliss will never forgive me.
    As he chastised himself, Bliss returned to the living room. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she stayed away.
    Strolling over to him, she held out a prescription bottle.
    “I have these pain pills left over from a bad sprain. If you’re not allergic to any medicines, you can have what’s left.”
    She must really want to get rid of me… probably thinking, take a pill and get out of my apartment—out of my life.
    Dragons were very hard to kill, so even an allergic reaction wouldn’t hurt him. He doubted he had any allergies anyway. If he could limit the pain, he could probably walk down the stairs and get to his apartment.
    “Sure. I’ll take a couple, but not the whole bottle. I’m not that desperate to end it.” He grinned, hoping she’d recognize his joke, but her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
    “You aren’t… you know…”
    “Of course not! I was just making a joke, or trying to.