Speaker 1: Dragon called a slow burned, sexy paranormal romance written by
Carl Lockhart and Cassie Alexander, read for you by Victoria
may Hi. This is Cassie Alexander, and welcome to chapter
forty three. Almost and it had been so much less safe.
She knew she couldn't love him yet, both because that
was silly, and she was absofusolutely not letting herself fall
for someone so quickly. She was too smart for that,
and she was not her mom. And besides, Andy never
could just relax. She had plenty of other friends who could,
who got to daydream about stupid things without feeling foolish,
who could test their boundaries and entertain unsafe things. But
Andy was always the watchdog, the natural golden retriever of
any group, the girl who knew where all her girlfriends
were at the club and how likely they were to
puke on the way home, and if they needed to
be navigated away from any decisions they'd regret come morning.
How the hell had she let all that slide for him?
It wasn't the money, and it wasn't the dragon. He'd
just fit her. It was the only way she could
explain it. It felt like she was supposed to be
with him, and she'd been feeling like that ever since
the other night, fighting it even if she were honest
with herself. Fast forward to tonight, in that final moment,
when he'd been inside her, when she'd felt everything so
much more, and she knew he had too. She'd seen
it in his eyes and felt it in his body.
It radiated off him the same as his heat had. God,
she was falling for him. Andy bit her lips and swallowed. No, no, no, no,
absolutely not just because she wanted to let go and
lose control. It didn't mean she wanted to lose her heart.
She'd never ever felt like that with Josh. She watched
him pull his jeans on, breathless and afraid. Andy Law
did not catch feelings, not like this, and she'd already
opened herself up to him once tonight and been rebuffed.
Nothing had changed, not in their circumstances or in their surroundings.
Every magically chiseled inch of his body glowed by the
dashboard lights, as if he aimed to prove her point.
He was still a rich playboy who could become a dragon,
and she what was she? A passing fancy a fuck buddy,
just some friend. No matter what he'd said earlier, or
how good the words made her feel, he had all
the reasons in the world to leave her again, and
the gold coin his friend had given him swung in
her peripheral vision, still rocking from their final round of thrusts.
From the way Damien hadn't wanted to talk about things earlier,
she was certain his friend had been killed in action,
and she knew in the pit of her stomach, sinking
deeper all the time that after everything she'd seen tonight,
even if he didn't want to leave her, eventually he
would death was deaf right for her own good if
nothing else. Just like he'd tried to in the restaurant,
Andy swallowed. She knew herself her soul couldn't handle him
flipping another switch, and there was no way she could
live happily. Ever, after waiting for a blow to land,
there was only one way to not get hurt, get
out in front of it, acknowledge things, and then close
the book. No dog ears, no bookmarks. She arranged her
coat around herself before she began, because this was a conversation.
Better not had naked. Okay, so she said, stealing herself,
thank you so much for an interesting evening. Damien looked
over at her from where his hands were redoing his
belt buckle, and he blinked, excuse me, stay strong. You
tell people bad news all the time at work. You're
used to people being disappointed in you. I said, thank
you for an interesting evening, mister Blackwood. His whole body
tensed across from her, and he spoke next like he
wasn't sure he'd heard her. You're joking, right, Princess. The
way he said it twisted a knife into her heart.
If it hurt this much now, it was confirmation that
it was better to get out now while she could.
If you could please finish taking me home. She fastened
the button off her coat and zipped it up primly.
Damien stared at her, and she didn't dare match his gaze.
It was like there was a live wire between them
and he was charging it while she kept trying to
let go, but she couldn't, not for as long as
he kept electrifying her. I wish things were different, he said,
his voice dark. Andy swallowed again, fighting not to sway.
She really didn't owe him any other explanation except for
the look on his face that said she was breaking
some deep part inside of him. You said it yourself
at the restaurant and in here just an hour ago.
You're a jerk, and you're dangerous, and as good as
I am at dating assholes. Apparently I'm not willing to
go there again, not even for you. She found strength
in her as the words kept tumbling out, knowing that
if she was going to cut the cord between them,
she would have to be cruel. He weighed her words,
and she watched his jaw work as his teeth ground,
before saying, I'm not like the others in a growl.
Pre dawn light poured through the windows and over his face,
and he looked so stricken. Then this massive man brought
low and Andy realized she knew the exact right thing
to say to end it, even if it killed her. Really,
she snorted softly, because I have a hundred dollar bill
that says otherwise. He took a big gulp of air
as if he'd been gut punched and swallowed, but he
didn't say another word As he twisted back to the
steering wheel to turn on the car. Damien focused on
the road ahead in silence. The ache in his chest
was from