The Dragon Wakes with Thunder

I know you're strong," said Lei, his eyes ruminative in the fire light, "but being strong doesn't mean you don't deserve to be protected and taken care of.

What is love—if not care for one another? Pride in all that you’ve done. Belief in what you will continue to do. And hope—hope that we will grow together

Lei's eyes crinkled. "I can't give up all my secrets," he said. "Where's the fun in that?

Lei said nothing, a tendon in his neck rising as he swallowed. "I'll remember," he said at last, his voice low yet thrumming with power. "For as long as I live.

That young girl from a year ago, the one who’d dreamed of adventure, of seeing the world beyond the women’s quarters. She had sought wonder, wildness. She had believed in the world’s capacity for beauty. Only a year had passed, and yet I could no longer recall what that felt like. To believe in the goodness of people. To seek justice but live with compassion. To hope for better days. There was no hope for someone like me.

I told you what I am," he said, his voice a low rasp. " But what I didn't tell you is this - if they had taken your life today, I would have hunted down every last one of them. I would have scoured the Three Kingdoms for every soul responsible - and I would have given each of them a slow, slow death. And then, once I was finished, I would have followed you to the afterlife. I would have found you, and dragged you back from the hands of Death itself.

I was a mess of contradictions. I craved intimacy, and yet, when offered it, I found myself unworthy. I wanted affection, and yet, when someone showed me how much they cared, I shrank from that trust, as if it were a collar around my throat. I did not know what I desired anymore. I had been the one to come here late at night, to wake him from his rest, to demand his attention, and now I was the one pulling away, trying to hurt him, trying to hide from him. And still there was a part of me that long to be known, that begged him to forgive me, to understand me, to not let me push him away.

I take it back," he said grumpily. "I don't like feisty women. More trouble than they're worth.

I peered at him. "How do I know I can trust you?" "You don't," he said easily. "But isn't it so much more interesting this way?