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“It’s cold as hell,” I say.
He doesn’t even look back. “Hell isn’t cold.”
“Do you speak from personal experience?”
“No.”
When I sigh, my breath clouds the air in a pale imitation of smoke. “If I freeze to death, I will be a worthless captive.”
He grunts. “You won’t freeze to death.”
“This cloak isn’t very thick.”
“I don’t have another cloak.” His boots crunch the leaves underfoot. “And you didn’t have any clothes.”
I squint at him, not sure what he meant by that brilliant comment. “I’m always naked after I shift.”
“No, in your cave.”
“Why would I need clothes?”
He glances back at me. “So, you don’t freeze to death when you’re a woman.”
“I haven’t been a woman in…” I trail off. I can’t remember, exactly, so I guess. “A year.”
“Why?”
I curl and uncurl my stiff fingers. “Why not? Hoarding gold and jewels is pretty great. Hunting, flying, terrifying the local villagers.”
“Don’t you get…lonely?”
Rage rises in me like molten iron. “You should know the answer to that.”
“Should I?”
“You’re a monster hunter. You’re one of those bastards who kills dragons for gold. There aren’t many of us left.”
He narrows his eyes. “There’s no male dragon in your territory? No mate?”
Does he know how long I’ve waited for a male dragon to fly into my territory and court me? Forever. The truth stabs me like a knife. Dragon shifters have been hunted to the brink of oblivion. I might never find a mate.
I bare my teeth at him. “Why do you care?”
He stares at me with keen intensity, as if he’s studying me, though I’m not sure what he wants to find. “Because two dragons would have been twice as dangerous. I wouldn’t have captured you with the same tactics.”
Something about his cold, calm voice irritates me. “And you? Are you lonely?”
“Yes.”
“Every night?”
“Yes.”
“So, you are celibate.”
He’s not looking at me, as if he’s too good to react to me. “Every night, recently. Like I said before, I’m trying to do my job.”
“How recently?” I sneer. “Did you stop at a brothel a few days ago?”
