Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

that wasn't so much of an issue for other dragons, with blood hot enough to burn away any dangerous toxins, it had the potential to be deadly to a dragon who couldn't really be a dragon.
    Even now, the scratches along his chest and back, while not deep, burned with enough fire to tell him he'd probably have a few months of aching right down into his bones as the toxins ran their course. Small price to pay for freedom and peace of mind.
    His right wrist throbbed where it had probably snapped when the dragon who'd given him the scratches had knocked him to the ground. He'd caught himself on one hand, all his weight bearing down onto the fragile joint. His scream of pain had alerted a nearby dragon, and only the new arrival, driving off his assailant had saved him. While the two battled it out to see who would win the prize, he'd snuck away and made it to the safety of the forest canopy.
    Now the wrist was already swollen. He hoped a few days in the heart of the forest wouldn't mean he'd have to have it re-broken to set it when he came out. All that was left was to avoid the smaller dragons who'd follow him in here, and whose needle-sharp claws presented just as much danger to him as any giant of the sky.
    The sanctuary wasn't far. Alec could feel how the woods, infused with the magic of hundreds of dragons living close to them for centuries, distorted the growth of the creatures within. He could feel in his soul, like a beacon, the clear, empty space at the heart where the wood was just a wood. Where the trees grew tall and strait, reaching the sun and leaving the ground at their roots rich and soft and clean.
    The magic around him rippled and spiraled in a lazy stream around that heart. All he had to do was breach the flow and make it through to the other side.
    A shrill call sliced through his thoughts. It wasn't the same angry, desperate call as the prince's cries, still floating over the forest from the distance. It was closer. Higher-pitched and strong with lust, it washed through him and slowed his steps. If only he could find the dragon who'd made it. She was close. Her magic sent strong eddies through the forest's own flow of power, strengthening the flow against him.
    The scrabble of her claws on the tree trunks, the flap of her wings accompanied by the sharp cracking of branches indicated she was having difficulty navigating the close confines of the twisted, encroaching trees around him. Not a tiny dragon, then. She had to clamber among the trees to get through the dense woods. That was good for him. It meant he was probably more maneuverable than she. It also meant smaller, more agile beasts would stay away.
    "Come on, pretty," he muttered, turning in a slow circle and trying to discover from which direction her cries were coming. "Show yourself."
    It shouldn't have surprised him that she appeared between him and the heart of the forest.
    "Hey there."
    The dragon hissed at him, baring her teeth and back-winging so he could see her formidable claws. Her tail whipped up the soggy leaf mess at his feet
    "Yes. I know. Intimidating." He meant it, but he couldn't show it. The moment he let her think she had the upper hand, he was done.
    She cocked her head at him, and the gesture sparked a vision in his mind's eye of a girl with pretty blue eyes, long brown hair and a dazzling smile.
    "Ruby." He didn't know how he knew it was her, but he knew. And that sent a surge of gratitude through him. Maybe he was close enough to the heart of the wood that the effect of the null space was actually curbing the mating fever and letting his skin-magic through.
    Ruby was in his physics class, the poster-child for sexy girl geeks everywhere, and it amazed him she hadn't already mated.
    "You know, babe, if you just think about this for one second, I know you'll realize it's pointless."
    Her tail whipped and she righted herself, dropping to her hind legs in the disturbed leaves.
    "That's it," Alec held out a hand towards her. "Have a whiff. You know me. We've talked about this before. You're very much not my type, Ruby, and you know it. Just…feel it. Past the magic and the instinct. Think it through. This can't go where you want it to."
    He doubted talking a dragon out of mating was even possible, but she wasn't threatening him, and he was getting closer to his goal as he spoke, edging around her to where he might be able to make a dash for the heart, if he was quick and she was caught off guard.
    Her long, thin tongue licked