Persuading the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 9)

However, she'd dedicated a number of years to eradicate his kind. She couldn't have it both ways.

His dragon spoke up. If you put her past with the Dragon Knights aside and simply look at her as a female, she's pretty.

What the fuck are you talking about?

His beast grunted. I'm merely being honest. I wouldn't notice her ginger hair or blue eyes if you'd take a partner and have sex more often.

I've been busy, as you well know, watching over the human.

Well, if you want someone we can fuck and discard, she's perfect. After all, once we get the information from her, she'll be handed over to the DDA, and we'll never see her again.

I'm not going to use and discard her, dragon. She's one of our enemies, for fuck's sake. We could be cock-deep inside her and she'd stab us in the back.

His beast snorted. She can't even sit up by herself, so when would she go find a knife and bring it back here? Not to mention the cameras would alert everyone if she tried it.

Right, you're spending far too much time thinking about this.

That's not my fault. You're the one who came up with all the stupid rules about which females we could fuck and which we couldn't. Loosen your bloody rules, find a willing partner, and then we wouldn't have this problem.

Yes, Zain had rules. But those rules allowed him to do his job, keep his distance, and prevent a repeat of the disaster he'd had during his time with the British Army almost ten years ago when his superior had tried to coerce him to have sex or be booted out. Once we finish this assignment, I'll find a willing female. Just don't wax on about this one. She has blood on her hands. Remember that.

Maybe not literally, but some of the children the Knights had pumped full of drugs—drugs she probably had a hand in—might never get their inner dragons back.

And for a dragon-shifter, that was the equivalent of losing half your soul.

His beast huffed. We don't know the full extent of her involvement yet, just that she was a researcher. Find out the truth and then pass judgment, not before.

Don't wish for rainbows and happy endings, dragon. She's our enemy. A useful one, but still an enemy.

Zain finished massaging Ivy's legs and moved up to her right arm.

Staring down at it for a second, he truly noticed how thin and pale she was for the first time.

If he squeezed too hard, she'd probably snap.

No. He wasn't going to feel pity for the human. His clan had already saved her life from the poison in her body, a mixture of chemicals the Knights had been secretly giving her the whole time. Only once she hadn't received the daily antidote had her systems started breaking down, or so the doctors had told him.

How the bloody hell had she missed what they'd been doing to her?

His dragon grunted. I'd suggest something, but you want to hate her unequivocally, so finish your job. Wake me if we need to shift.

His beast curled into a ball in the back of his mind and went to sleep.

Aware that he was standing and merely staring at her thin bicep, Zain took her hand in his to begin working his way up the limb.

His hands dwarfed hers. And yet, her tiny hands had probably hurt members of his clan.

The human asked, "What are you staring at? If my cuticles offend you, then don't look."

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to piss me off? Because it wouldn't take much for me to break a finger."

As soon as the words left his lips, he regretted them. He shouldn't encourage her untrue beliefs about his kind.

Ivy raised her brows. "I know how much it must be killing you to hold back and play nice. I'm sure you'll get a new victim to torture or kill soon enough."

Zain should let it go. She was merely trying to rile him up, maybe to figure out some of his weaknesses.

Or, she was just bloody delusional, and nothing he'd say would change her mind anyway.