CHAPTER NINETEEN

My brain stutters to a halt, locked onto one thought, which whirls around and around.

Sturrm’s naked again .

And the view’s just as good this time. No, I lie. It’s even better, because he’s not just some hot green man I like the look of as eye candy.

He’s Sturrm, the big-hearted orc who makes me jackets and cooks for me and sings away my nightmares until my heart melts. He’s Sturrm, who fights like a beast to protect me.

He’s Sturrm, the man I’m falling for.

The look in his eyes burns into me, setting me on fire. My nipples tighten as he takes a step forward, his whole body moving with wicked promise.

I offer him my sultriest smile, more than ready to—

“You can thank me now,” a girl’s voice says. A whomp thumps through the air as a gust of wind hits my back.

I spin around.

A dragon stands behind me, only about six-feet tall, far smaller than Sheevora. She lifts her wings and bobs her head, a feeling of triumph rolling off her. Her scales gleam in the sunlight, a purple that tints to pink on her wings and crest.

“Thank you.” Sturrm sheaths his sword and offers her a short bow.

“You’re not wearing any pants.” The dragon falls still.

“He tends to do that,” I say, suppressing a laugh. “Thanks for your help. I’m Selena.”

“I am Bellavesaria, Second of Her Line and Daughter of Sheevora the Magnificent.”

“You’re Drake’s little sister?” Sturrm asks.

“Little? Little?” She lifts her wings. “Do I look little to you?”

He doesn’t say yes, but the tiny twitch of his lips says he’s thinking it. The dragon probably doesn’t pick up on it, but I’ve been studying his subtle tells.

“I am not his little anything. I’m his older sister.” She snorts, and a tiny puff of smoke emerges. “He simply matured faster. Mother says girls always take a bit more time because we’re more powerful.” Her neck moves sinuously as her head makes circles in the air, her tone clearly amused.

“You can’t rush perfection.” I grin at her .

“Exactly! You get it,” Bellavesaria says. “I like you.”

“I like you, too.” Anyone who saves my life gets upgraded immediately to friend. It’s a new rule I haven’t needed until arriving in Alarria, but it’s a good one.

Sturrm walks over to Dash and removes the packs and guitar from his back. It’s not as important in light of everything we just went through, but I’m glad the instrument didn’t get crushed. It would be a shame to deny anyone his beautiful music, and by anyone, I mean me. He pulls out a spare pair of pants, and I grin, recognizing them as the ones he made my first day here when I stripped him naked.

I get one more good glimpse of his cock—what is that silver ball mounted right above it?—before he pulls the leather up over his hips and seals the front closed.

Time to focus on my last patient. I crouch beside the unicorn and place my hands on him. Wounds left by the sluagh dot his exposed hide, blotches of red against the black. My magic works on them first, since they’re easier to heal, and they close before my eyes.

But I’m far from done. Dash inhaled a lot of deathsleep. The poison is concentrated throughout his body. I frown and bear down. Even more of my magic ripples through me and courses into him. When I healed Sturrm of the deathsleep, things were too tense for me to pay much attention to what happened, but that’s not the case now. This time, I feel the power travel up from where my legs touch the ground and move through my chest to pour out my hands.

Dash stirs .

“That’s fascinating,” Bellavesaria says. She moves up to stand right beside me, her head cocked as she watches me work. “You can heal. I’ve never felt anything quite like it.”

“The standing stone she takes her power from is far off any orc map,” Sturrm says.

“Thank the goddess for delivering her to it,” Dash says, his voice trying for playful but falling a bit short.

He tries to rise, but I lean forward, pushing down on him with all my weight. The unicorn’s so massive my strength isn’t nearly enough to keep him down, so I use my firm doctor’s voice on him, the one I’ve practiced for handling recalcitrant patients. “I’m not done yet. The deathsleep takes a while to burn out of you big guys.”

While I continue to channel energy into Dash, Sturrm asks, “Did Sheevora the Magnificent send you to aid us in our quest?”

“Not exactly.” The dragon’s head dips as she drops her eyes, then raises it with a touch of teen defiance. “But if Drakonisrevener gets to have adventures with humans, orcs, and unicorns for his wander years, then I can have them, too.”

“Wander years?” I ask.

“It’s a longstanding tradition. When a dragon receives their fire magic, they’re old enough to go out and experience something of the world by themselves for the first time.” Bellavesaria’s wings flutter on her back. “I got my fire, so these are my wander years, and you’re the people I choose to adventure with.”

“Don’t we have a say in this?” Sturrm asks .

“Of course not,” Bellavesaria says. “Dragons are superior fae. You should be honored that I chose you.”

“Oh, I assure you, I’m feeling lots of things right now, but ‘honored’ isn’t one of them,” Dash says, putting sarcastic emphasis on the word.

“Hey.” I press one of my fingertips more firmly into him in a poke. “She saved us. She saved you .”

“I amend my statement. I now feel grateful, dragon. Still waiting for the ‘honored’ to come. Wait a second—what’s this?” He rolls a golden eye to look at her. “Could it be? Nope. It’s not. I just realized I’m hungry.”

“Oh, you.” I laugh. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I forgive you,” the dragon says, her tone a bit haughty. “Since you had a near-death experience, your wits are clearly addled.”

I bite my lip, but can’t help the chuckle that escapes.

Sturrm’s lips twitch, too.

“And my name is Bellavesaria, not ‘dragon.’”

“Goddess, what a mouthful,” the unicorn says.

“How about Bella? Can we call you that?” I sweeten the pot. “Where I come from, it means beautiful.”

“Beautiful.” She spreads her wings, the dark-pink scales sparkling in the sun. “I like that. I am certainly beautiful, as are all dragons.”

I grin down at Dash, who gives me an amused wink. Then I push a last surge of healing magic into him, chasing away the final bits of deathsleep lingering in his legs. Sitting back on my heels, I shake out my hands. “Ay! That was a lot. ”

“Are you all right?” Sturrm’s hands clasp my shoulders, pulling me upright as he runs his gaze over me. “Did using so much magic drain you?”

“I’m fine.” But I make no move to get away from his grip.

He frowns, but he’s not upset with me—I now know what that frown means. It means he’s worried.

It means he cares.

A shiver runs through me as I remember him standing over me, his sword a blur in the air as he kept the hideous birds from attacking me. He was magnificent, a primal warrior protecting what’s his.

And I want to be that.

I want to be his.

Maybe he’ll never love anyone like he loved Bruna, but I’ll worry about that tomorrow. For tonight, I want everything he’ll give me.