Cruel Daddy Dragon (Candara Dragon Ops #3)

Chapter 11 - Rufus

“Sorry, Pal,” The man behind the office tells me, “Sheriff’s not coming back with the equipment until five. You’re free to wait here for her if you have that kind of time, or you can come back later.”

“All right,” I say, “Thanks.”

“But you know,” he adds with a chuckle, “she isn’t the only cop in town. If you have a complaint, you could always go direct to the station.”

“Thanks a lot,” I murmur dismissively.

I turn and walk out of the office. I breathe deeply. Her scent hangs heavy on the air around here, her sweet, herbal smell. I start walking at first when I follow it—it’s like a beacon to me.

I only walk as far as the human’s line of sight, then duck away and shift in one huge push. As soon as my scales are released, I beat my wings and take off into the sky. The further into the forest I go, the more frigid the air becomes. By the time I reach the place where Sarah’s scent pools the most, it’s painful to breathe her smell in through my nose—like it’s crystalizing into ice inside my nostrils. It’s like the town exudes heat, and as soon as we’re in the forest, the temperature has dropped like a rock.

Brr! She’s really out there? I hope she’s dressed for it…

I keep flying until the point her scent puddles again. I soar forward just a little further, and her smell disappears; yes, she’s down there.

I turn to a nosedive and find myself in a very random patch of woodland—at first. But as I break down through the canopy, I’m greeted by a gigantic crevice in the land. It looks like a huge crack has been gouged out of the earth.

As I land—freezing my toes on contact—I pad over to the edge of the hole. When I lean over, I can see the bottom, about ten, maybe twelve feet below me. It’s filling with snow as I watch.

I can’t see Sarah… but her scent is all over this place.

“Sarah?!” I shout, “Are you around here?!”

There’s the smallest mewling sound—a very weak noise. I feel sick to my stomach hearing it.

“Sarah!” I bellow.

The sound happens again; this time, it’s recognizable words.

“Rufus…” Her voice cracks halfway through, speaking my name.

I follow the sound of her voice, and my stomach drops when I see her. She’s curled up next to a boulder in the pit—as if that would shelter her from the snow at all. She is white, and her lips are blue. Her eyes are glassy, barely focusing as she looks at me. She’s covered in a light coating of snow.

Oh, my god!

I drop down into the hole, spreading my wings to parachute myself. Once I land on the ground, I sprint to her side. When I touch her, I flinch.

“Oh, god—you’re so cold!” I exclaim, “Sarah, hang on. You’re gonna be all right!”

She burbles something, but she’s too cold to function. It’s like I can see her shutting down in front of me.

“Come here,” I murmur to her.

I grab her around the waist and pull her into me. Dragons feel the cold, but we still have more resistance against it than a human does because of the fire in our belly. God, I hope it’s enough. When her cold body first touches mine, I have to fight the flinch, but I hold her to me anyway. At first, her skin is as wet and icy as the snow itself. I shuffle her onto my lap, cradling her head in my arms and her torso among my stomach and legs. She’s unresponsive for the most part, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.

“You’re going to be okay,” I murmur to her.

I don’t know how long we sit there, but she starts to reanimate slowly. Her skin starts warming gradually, and she starts shivering again. I wrap my arms tighter around her, and this time, she shuffles into me, clinging to me like she’s drowning and I’m a life preserver.

“It’s okay,” I say quietly to her, “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Sarah curls up into me. After a short while, she leans away to look at me. Her lips are no longer blue, and there’s more color to her face than before.

Thank god.

But as she looks at me, I see her eyes widen.

That’s right—she’s never seen me as a dragon before! Dread drips down my spine for a moment; what if my dragon form scares her?! She doesn’t see them often, and the last time she saw a dragon was when she was being drugged and kidnapped.

Her eyes fill with tears, and she suddenly crumples up, sobbing.

Oh, god—I’m scaring her!

“Sarah—” I start, but she cuts across me.

“Rufus! Thank god! I didn’t think you were coming—I didn’t think anyone was coming!” she weeps, “I thought I was going to die down here, and no one would help!”

Sarah presses her head against my chest, her cold breath fanning over my scales.

“I’m always the one helping everyone,” she whispers, “I didn’t know who would be left to help me…”

“Sarah…”

She looks up at me, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” She speaks like a dam has been broken, “I should have let you come to begin with. It was a stupid idea not to let you come. B—but it’s more than that. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that this morning. I know it probably made you feel like shit, I know, but I… I didn’t want to be with anyone, Rufus. I was scared to be involved with anyone, but then you showed up, and we had that amazing night, and—and it scared me. I thought I was starting to fall for you, and that was never part of the plan and—and…”

Her head drops back down into my chest again.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs into my body.

For a second, I can’t find any words. It’s all just a flood of information, clicking into place piece by piece.

She wanted me to be here for her… she’s sorry for what she said… the sex was amazing in her mind… she’s falling for me.

She’s falling for me!

Sarah keeps snuffling into my chest, still crying lightly. I run my hands over her back.

“Sarah… it’s okay,” I murmur. It’s still hard to find the words. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about this morning—all in the past now. I’m just glad you’re all right.”

She just stays in my chest. I give her a squeeze and lean my head into her shoulder. I run my hands around in circles over her back.

“Look,” I say, “we don’t know what we are right now—and we don’t have to know. We don’t have to be anything if you don’t want to. But whatever we are, I will always be here to help you, okay? If you need me, I’ll be here.”

She’s quiet for a moment.

“Really?” she says after that second.

“Yes,” I reply firmly, “Because… I noticed, Sarah. I noticed how you were always the one rescuing everyone else, and no one was here to help you. So I promise you, right here, right now, that if you need help, I’ll be here. Even if we’re not… anything. Even if we’ve irritated the hell out of each other that day, you can count on me.”

Sarah pauses for a moment. Then, she starts sobbing again, her fists clenching into my skin. For a second, I worry about what I’ve said: did I just make it worse?

“Thank you!” she sobs, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear someone say that!”

I keep rubbing her back soothingly until she quietens. Eventually, she sucks in a deep breath and wipes her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. She looks up at me with her puffy eyes.

“Thank you,” she says, calmer, “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve your help after this morning.”

“Forget about this morning—it’s done,” I reply, “You’re okay. That’s all that matters now.”

She starts shaking her head lightly, smiling softly.

“Why do you care so much?” she murmurs.

I catch my breath for a moment. The words come to my head: because I love you.

The words make it all the way to the tip of my tongue before my stomach turns, and I can’t say it. Instead, I say:

“I don’t know. Why do you care so much as a police officer?”

Sarah looks away. Then, she smiles gently and nods.

“Fair enough,” she replies.

After her non-answer, she leans her head onto me again.

“God, I’m so tired…” Sarah sighs.

“Try to stay awake,” I say, “You probably got hypothermia or at least came very close. We ought to get you somewhere warm.”

“Yes. Please,” she answers.

I start to shuffle around to pick her up, but then she pauses.

“Oh! Wait…”

“What?”

Sarah leans down and shuffles her hand through the snow at her feet.

“What are you looking for?” I ask.

“The ring…” She murmurs, “I found the ring I was looking for.”

I laugh lightly.

“Oh, so you found it after all?” I tease, “Well, that makes it almost worth freezing to death.”

“Shut up,” she replies, grinning, “I might as well have something for this horrible day.”

“Well, it’s good to see you’re more like yourself again,” I say.

Sarah looks up at me and smiles gently. Then, she looks back down and keeps rootling through the snow.

“Come on, don’t freeze yourself again. We can always come back.”

“Give me a second,” she says, still scraping through the frozen water, and then gasps, “Ah! Found it.”

She pockets her prize, and I laugh.

“Are you done now?” I tease, “Are you ready to come back to somewhere you won’t get hypothermia, or should I come back later when you’ve passed out again?”

“Shut up!” she laughs again, “But yes, I’d like to leave the icy pit, please.”

I laugh and then lean down, scooping her knees up in one arm and around her shoulders with the other. She lays her head on me, and I take flight, getting us both the hell out of there.