Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Ruh-chul?” Jurik asks, coming to my side. His eyes whirl with a hint more black than I like.
“The cow is great,” I say enthusiastically. “Thank you so much. Here I was just thinking I hadn’t eaten an entire steer lately and wham.”
His eyes whirl with a bit more gold, and his full mouth turns up with pleasure.
It’s not a simple thing to figure out what to do with an entire cow. I know how to skin and gut a squirrel and other small critters because sometimes you can’t be picky about your next meal. But an entire cow is a different matter entirely. Jurik looks so very pleased that he provided for me, though, that I need to do something with it. With my knife, I manage to cut out a large hunk of one thigh. I wish it was easier to do, but since I only have one hand, I end up making a huge mess all over my clothing by the time I’m done. Of course, now that I have a hunk of meat, I have to figure out how to cook it, and it takes time to get Jurik to realize what I want. He looks skeptical, but when I insist, he takes the chunk in his hands and breathes fire on it for several minutes, watching me until I give approval.
The end result is rare and unseasoned, but it’s also fresh and juicy and better than anything I get served in the barracks, and I eat so much that my stomach hurts. I tear off strips of the meat as Jurik holds it, and his eyes gleam with pleasure as if I’m eating from his hand.
I have the vague feeling that eating his present means a lot to him, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have a lot of choice. I’m still all too aware that I need him to be my friend. The way it felt when he turned and left…? I felt as if I’d suddenly fucked up everything and the panic that set in was an awful feeling. I don’t want to feel like that again.
So I smile brightly at him and take another bite.
The afternoon slips away from me as I try to teach Jurik how to talk. I figure if we can communicate using a few simple words like “yes” and “no” and things along those lines, it can work as a patch until I get ready to jump into this with both hands and feet.
As in, seduce a dragon.
Jurik, however, has other ideas. He ignores all my attempts to teach him words. It’s like now that he has my name, he doesn’t care to learn anything else. Instead, he gets…cuddly. When he sits next to me, he starts out a short distance away and then carefully inches closer and closer, like he thinks I’m not going to notice. I discreetly get up and move away, or find a reason to retreat while trying to make it look as if I’m not. He takes my hand often. He touches my hair. He sniffs my skin. He tries to make out with my ear again, but I slip out of his grasp when he does and try to go back to teaching him words.
And then, somehow, it’s dusk.
I look up at the darkening skies with distress.
There’s no way I can get back to Fort Dallas before it gets dark, and I’m a little terrified of being outside the fort’s gates at night. It’s not like night in the Before—there are no street lights to brighten things so I’d be plunging through the dark. There’s wild animals in the ruins, too. I’ve seen packs of wild dogs, coyotes, bobcats, and god knows what’s escaped from zoos at this point.
Oh, and let’s not forget about dragons.
I eye the dragon standing next to me. He’s moved too close again, invading my personal space, and rubs a lock of my hair between his fingers. “Time for me to go home,” I announce cheerfully, prying my hair from his grip. I gesture at the direction of the fort. “Rachel needs to go back to her friends for tonight, but I’ll return tomorrow.”
“Ruh-chul,” he rumbles, and runs a knuckle down my cheek, his eyes intense as he watches me.
I shiver, because I’ve never seen anyone look at me with that kind of expression, the utterly pleased look that’s on his face, as if I’m the completion of his every dream. It’s flattering, but unnerving, too. “Rachel has to go,” I try again, and move toward my bike. I unchain it and pull it free from the bike rack and move to get on it, gesturing at the direction of the fort again. “Home.”
The realization dawns on him, and his eyes narrow and flare pitch black. Despite that alarming reaction, he caresses my cheek again, repeating my name.