His voice had turned understandably cold, and my earlier humor evaporated as a tendril of fear wound through me. What if he believed I might be in on some plan like that? Or that I might one day be tempted by an entreaty from one of his enemies?
But I felt affronted on his behalf that this female elf had feigned feelings for him only to get close enough to kill him. I reached up to touch the back of his head, not sure if I meant it as an apology or a soothing gesture, but I was lousy with words when it came to comforting people. So I stroked his soft, short curly hair, the strands damp from the spray of the water.
He didn’t pull away. He continued his story, barely seeming to notice. “She almost succeeded. I was not as sleepy as she believed, and I knocked the device away in time. Elsewhere among the Realms, other elves had been taking part in similar schemes. It was the eve of war, one they believed they could win if they took out key warriors among the dragons. They had no chance. Even though other elves succeeded in killing a few dragons with their vile assassinations, their people were divided. Not all of them wanted war with us—the smart ones knew better than to upset the natural order of the universe—and we persevered. We defeated those who stood against us, and we backed another elven family to rule over their kind. But there were losses. Among them, one of my brothers. It was a beautiful siren who seduced him, manipulated and paid to do so by one of the elf insurgents. She succeeded at the assassination. That is why I do not trust those whose minds I cannot read.”
His eyes were intense when they turned again toward me, and he lifted his hand to capture my wrist. He moved my hand from his hair, bringing it down between us.
I’d meant to comfort him, not make him suspicious of me, but maybe that wasn’t something he would ever accept from a lesser being. And I was way lesser. Not even a full-blooded elf but some wandering elf’s by-blow.
This was about him, not me, but I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of indignation. “Fine by me, but know this, Zav. If I ever decide we’re enemies, I’ll come after you openly and with my sword, not with some wussy seduction routine and magical gizmo.”
“You would be foolish to challenge a dragon face to face.”
“I think we’ve established that I’m no genius.” I hadn’t meant that to come out quite so… self-derogatory, and I grimaced.
He chuckled and rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand. That little gesture shouldn’t have sent a jolt of pleasure through me, but it did. Only my own dignity, what remained of it, kept me from scooting closer.
Why did he stay so close and ooze animal magnetism at me when he wanted nothing to do with me?
“It would also be foolish of me to allow myself to be attracted to an elf again. Even a half-elf.” He was still holding my wrist, still tracing the tendons of my hand with his thumb.
“Then it’s good that you aren’t. Keeps things simpler that way, right?”
“Yes.”
Why didn’t I believe my honest dragon? I peered frankly into his eyes, as if I could read his mind.
It wasn’t a good idea. I wouldn’t have guessed I would be as attracted to him when he was dampening down his dragon aura and I didn’t feel the usual tingle of his power crackling over my flesh. But those eyes of his were still appealing, and it was hard to forget that he was risking his reputation and maybe his family’s standing to protect me from his peers. Why would he do that? We’d fought together, yes, and maybe bonded in a way, but I wasn’t one of his kind. Surely, I’d been more of a pest to him than a loyal ally.
That made me feel like a heel and want to apologize to him for giving him a hard time. He was putting his assignment on hold to be here in another state with me, keeping Shaygor away. His family wouldn’t approve, and if Shaygor was paying attention, he might figure out the truth.
I needed to get out of this hot tub now before I did something stupid. Something that would make him suspicious of me, since anything potentially bordering on seduction would ignite alarms in his head. That whole incident with Dob in the water plant must have brought bad memories flooding back for him.
I started to scoot back, deciding we would have to figure out another way to lure in the goblins, but his grip tightened on my wrist. For the first time that night, his eyes flared with inner light, and a hint of his aura seeped out, that familiar aching tingle raising goosebumps as it sped along my nerves.
The arm that had been on the edge came around my shoulders, drawing me back close to him.
“Stay,” he growled. I couldn’t tell if there was a magical compulsion in the command, but it sent a thrill of desire through me, and I longed to obey.
My heart pounded in my chest and my voice was on the squeaky side when I asked, “Whatcha doing?”
“Being foolish.”
He pulled me into his lap, crushing my breasts against his chest and pressing his mouth to mine. Molten fire roared through my veins, and I flung my arms around him. Sane thoughts scattered from my mind, and all I could think about was how good this felt—and that he’d been lying to me earlier. He might not want to be attracted to me, but his body clearly was. Bodies didn’t lie. And as he kissed me, his hands roaming my naked flesh, I knew he’d never believe me again if I tried to pretend that I wasn’t attracted to him. To hell with it. We could figure things out in the morning.
No sooner had I made the decision than Zav turned his face away from mine. I protested, nipping at his ear and hoping to draw him back.
Goblins, he spoke into my mind.
Damn it, my trap. I shoved my libido aside and scrambled out of the water. The bench was close enough for me to see the green three-foot-tall figure pulling the artifact out of my backpack. I lunged for him, but he was faster. He leaped over the deck railing and sprinted across the dark lawn.
22
The bottoms of my feet were as wet as the rest of me, and I slipped on the deck as I tried to spring over the railing and after the goblin. I managed to catch myself before going down and muscled my way over and into the yard. But the goblin hadn’t hit any of my traps and was already fading from my sight, using whatever camouflage magic he had activated.
“No,” I snarled, then swore as I sprinted after him, furious with myself for having been distracted.
The goblin jerked to a halt as if he’d been clotheslined. He pitched backward, the artifact falling from his hands. Magical power wrapped around him, lifting him into the air.
The goblin shook his shaggy white head and called into the darkness. I didn’t have my translation charm activated and didn’t know what he said, but it sounded like a cry for help.
Zav strode into the yard, as naked as I was, his aura no longer diminished. The goblin’s pleas for help grew weaker. I doubted any of his buddies would risk a dragon’s ire to come help him, but I went back and grabbed Chopper just in case.
As I drew even with Zav, he gave me a look somewhere between exasperation and chagrin. Because we’d almost been outwitted by a goblin? No, we’d almost outwitted ourselves and the goblin had taken advantage.
“We should probably keep our clothes on in the future,” I said.
“Yes,” he said firmly, almost vehemently.
Even if I had proof now that Zav was attracted to me, it didn’t mean he wanted to be—if his story was true, he absolutely didn’t want to be—and I wasn’t going to try to change that. I didn’t want to be attracted to him either. I’d almost lost my goblin because of hormones. I definitely wasn’t a genius.
Something brushed my shoulder, and I jumped. My clothes were dangling behind me, with Fezzik and the backpack right beside them. Zav really wanted me clothed.
“I will watch your prisoner,” he said. “Dress.”
“Yes, master. Right away.” I grabbed my underwear.
He frowned. Probably because I was disrespecting his dragon ass again. I sighed and tried to put my disgruntlement aside. He’d told me a painful story—not just about him almost being assassinated but about a brother he’d lost—and I didn’t want him to regret sharing things with me.
“I’m sorry.” I tugged my shirt over my head. “But I’m going to need you to dress, too, so I’m not overcome by your masculine handsomeness.”
“Your tongue is sharp even in apologies,” he noted quietly.
“I know. It was honed to a razor’s edge a long time ago.”
The robe and boots floated over, but he let the latter clunk to the ground. “Need I put those vile things back on?”
More magic flared, healing magic this time, and the blisters on his feet disappeared, but the distasteful look he gave the boots did not.
“No. I’m not the one who told you to try them in the first place. If you want to be manly, just get some black high-tops. Or brown loafers. But nothing with tassels or we’ll be back to where we started.”
“High-tops.” He donned his robe, fastening a seam hidden neatly in the silver trim.
The goblin was floating horizontally three feet above the grass, his head dangling back as he stared at us. If he understood English, I couldn’t imagine what he thought of this conversation.
“You may question him,” Zav said when I finished dressing. He sounded relieved. “If you need me to compel him to answer truthfully, I will do so.”
“Uh, we’ll start with the old-fashioned way.”
“Torture implements?”
The goblin’s eyebrows flew up.
“Yeah, I keep a complete set in my camping backpack next to my collapsible bowl and foldable cutlery.”
Zav nodded, and I don’t think he got that I was joking. What did dragons think of humans anyway? Besides that we were vermin?
“I’m Val,” I said, walking up to the goblin. I drew Chopper, murmured the Dwarven word I’d learned to make it glow blue, and leaned the blade against a nearby landscaping boulder. The sword’s light shone on the goblin’s face, making his fear clear. “What’s your name?”
“Gondo,” he whispered, demonstrating that he understood English, but then saying a few more words in his own language.