Koshi by Annie Nicholas Page B

ambled back toward the work area where he had set him up to work on wind chimes.
    Ishi eyed Sandra. “Did any land on you?” He couldn’t touch her like he wanted while still covered in the molten stone. “A drop splash on you?”
    “I–I’m fine. Just shaken.” She reached for his snout.
    “Don’t. I’m still too hot.”
    She jerked away, but a secret smile pulled at her lips.
    He narrowed his eyes. “What?”
    “You were worried about me.”
    His grin matched hers. “I know. Who would have guessed?”
    * * * *
    Not her.
    With her soul leaping and whooping at Ishi’s statement, Sandra struggled to keep from grinning like a grade school girl. He cared about her. She had traveled halfway around the world, ready to battle a dragon if need be, and instead, he’d swept her off her feet.
    Her heart throbbed with a dull ache. She’d almost forgotten what happy felt like.
    “Urgle.” He called down the hallway after the goblin who had just saved her life. “Before you go, I need a hand with this.” He plunked his tail onto the ground next to where she stood. A dead, half-charred person was impaled on the tip.
    Her tender heart took a nosedive into her stomach, sending a back splash up her throat. She pivoted, falling to her knees, and gagged on her last meal. Oh God, when did she cross over to the Twilight Zone? Dragon lover? Goblin savior? Roasted dwarf? Finally, nothing was left in her stomach and only dry heaves remained.
    She listened to Urgle’s grunt as if he struggled with something heavy, but she refused to glance over her shoulder. Could someone theoretically vomit their stomach out? It sure seemed like she was close.
    Something wet plopped on the ground and she squeezed her eyes shut.
    “Pull the axe out of my shoulder now,” Ishi instructed his pet. More grunting, followed by the ping of metal hitting stone. He sighed. “That’s better. Take away the body. I don’t care what you do with it, but keep it out of her sight.” She sensed Ishi kneeling next to her before he brushed her hair away from her face. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m as bad as the goblins. Isolation tends to make manners unnecessary.” He gathered her into his human arms, the skin of his bare chest still heated from the lava.
    “I’m okay. I’m just not used to–to…” She glanced around the gateroom with the cooling lava on the floor already turning into stone. “This.” Plopping her head on his shoulder, she sighed. “Don’t you ever get tired of fighting?”
    “No.” He stared at her as if she’d grown an extra eye in her forehead.
    “Afraid?”
    He grunted. “Of what?” He scooped her in his arms and carried her toward his bedroom.
    “Nothing frightens you?”
    His step faltered. “It scared me when you almost fell.” The intensity of his stare weighed heavy upon her. “You need to stay away from this room. The need to protect you makes me sloppy.” He gestured with his chin at his shoulder.
    With her hand, she explored the spot and found it slick with something wet. She glared at the blood on her fingertips. “You’re hurt.” She wiggled in his arms. “Put me down.”
    “I’m trying. Stop squirming.”
    She half fell, half landed on her feet, but none of that mattered. Skirting around him, she saw the wound on his back, close to his shoulder blade. “Oh dear, you need stitches.”
    He twisted his back so he could get a better view. “It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll be fine. Little bugger almost clipped my wing, though. That would have pissed me off.” Rubbing his stomach, he turned to face her. “Nothing like a good fight to make a dragon hungry.”
    She made a face. “There’s charred dwarf.”
    “Too chewy.” He took her hands in his. “I promised you sushi.”
    She made a worse face. Raw fish was for cats. “That’s a promise I could bear to be broken.”
    His grin grew wider and his eyelids heavier as he drew closer. “What if I promise to feed you by hand?”
    “As long as