The elevator whispered open, and Leah stepped into the penthouse, one heel dangling from her hand, tablet tucked under her arm, and a very tall, very bloodied half-dragon woman walking beside her in silence.
Well—less walking, more gliding. The dragon moved like smoke in the air, every movement deliberate and oddly elegant despite the occasional torn scale and dried blood flaking off her jawline. Her horns curved back sleek and smooth, obsidian with a crimson sheen that caught the moonlight just right.
Leah, unfazed after a 14-hour board meeting and one attempted mugging that had led her to finding the stranger slumped behind the company building, just sighed and opened the fridge.
“Dr. Pepper?”
The dragon blinked. Then nodded.
Leah tossed the can, watching the woman catch it easily, claws clicking against aluminum. “Blanket’s on the couch. Don’t bleed on it.”
She stripped off her blazer, kicked off her other heel, and headed toward the bedroom. “Briar won’t mind.”
6:01 A.M. Briar woke up the way she always did—grumpy, tangled in three blankets, and vaguely offended by the concept of mornings.
She rolled out of bed, still in a sports bra and pajama pants, rubbing one eye as she shuffled out toward the kitchen.
She stopped. Froze.
And screamed.
“WHAT THE HELL IS—WHO—WHY IS THERE A SIX-FOOT, HORNED… GORGEOUS DRAGON LADY ON OUR COUCH?”
The dragon turned her head slowly toward Briar, blinking once. Curiously.
Not alarmed. Not defensive. Just… mildly intrigued.
Leah emerged from the hallway mid-buttoning her blouse. “Don’t scream. You’ll make her nervous.”
Briar gawked, eyes flicking from the dragon’s curled horns to the way her long tail shifted languidly beneath the blanket, the way her scales shimmered in the early light like garnet. Then her eyes dropped, dragging slowly up and down with zero shame.
Leah narrowed her eyes. “Really?”
“I’m just—LOOK at her! She’s hot in a ‘rip my soul out but gently’ kind of way,” Briar whispered harshly, hands flailing toward the couch.
The dragon tilted her head, watching this exchange like it was mildly amusing. Her glowing amber eyes flicked between the two women as though studying their dynamic.
Leah muttered, voice dry as dust, “You don’t even look at me like that.”
Briar gasped. “Excuse me! That’s not true. I check you out all the time.”
“When?” Leah deadpanned.
“When you’re not wearing turtlenecks. And when your hair’s messy and your glasses are low on your nose. You know. Peak ‘hot librarian CEO who could ruin me’ aesthetic.”
Leah rolled her eyes and tugged her blouse into place. “It’s been a week since you complimented me.”
Briar blinked, then slowly walked over and caught Leah by the waist, turning her so they stood chest to chest. “You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. And not just because you brought a dragon home like it was a stray cat.”
Leah softened. “That wasn’t very convincing.”
Briar leaned in, grinning. “Want me to say it in German?”
Before Leah could respond, the dragon woman stood—graceful and towering. She stretched, wings twitching just slightly beneath her shoulders, and walked across the room without a word, following the stripe of early morning sun that had begun to warm the floorboards.
She lowered herself onto the wood like a feline, folding her limbs neatly, tail curling close, eyes fluttering shut in obvious bliss.
Briar stared. “She’s sunbathing. Like a cat. I’m gonna pass out.”
Leah just laughed softly and tucked a strand of hair behind Briar’s ear. “You’re insufferable.”
“And you love it.”
Leah didn’t argue.
They stood there in the kitchen, sipping coffee and watching the dragon nap in the sunlight, the warmth of morning filtering in between them like a promise.