Free Light Dragons 01 - Love in the Time of Dragons by authors_sort Page A

fur was thrown over him, leaving only the tip of his head showing, and all the guards had varying shades of dark hair.
    Setting the candle down on the ground next to the pallet, I reached out to pull back the fur just far enough to see who lay there, but before I could touch it, a hand shot out and grabbed my wrist in a grip that came close to grinding my bones. I cried out, and the man sat up, releasing my wrist when he saw it was me.
    “What are you doing?” he snarled.
    It was Baltic, and he didn’t look any too pleased to see me.
    “I came to see if you were hurt,” I said, suddenly feeling very awkward. I gestured toward his legs. “In your . . . place.”
    He stared at me a moment just as if two carrots suddenly sprouted from my ears. “You came to see if I was hurt?”
    “Yes. I know men are sensitive there. Well, you would have to be, wouldn’t you? I mean, it’s all just hanging there, right out in the open, not tucked away nicely like women. And I knew it would disable you, but I was thinking about it, and I realize that perhaps I took you by surprise, and that even though I said we’d start right then, you weren’t ready for my attack. So I thought I would see if you were hurt. Seriously hurt, that is, because I know you were hurt, or else you wouldn’t have rolled around on the ground as you did.”
    He sat through that entire speech without saying anything, but when I was finished he shook his head, and said in a quite reasonable tone of voice, “Yes, you hurt me. You damn near kicked my stones up into my belly. But you didn’t permanently damage me, if that’s what you’re having this attack of conscience about.”
    “Are you sure?” I asked, kneeling down next to him. I wanted to check his parts, but couldn’t think how to suggest that without sounding like I just wanted to ogle him. Which, sadly, I had to admit I wouldn’t mind. “Perhaps I should make sure. My mother—Lady Alice—taught me much about tending ailments. I’m known throughout the keep for my healing skills.”
    He muttered something that sounded like a blasphemy against healers, then suddenly sat up straight. “You want to look at my cock?”
    “I think it would be best if I examined your man parts for signs of injury, yes,” I said, trying my best to look knowledgeable in the area of genitals. “After all, I caused the injury. If anyone should look at your . . . er . . . area, then I should.”
    He scooted back until he was leaning against the wall. “Go ahead,” he said, crossing his arms.
    I licked my lips nervously, biting my lower lip as I pushed the fur down his legs. He was dressed in a thin tunic and braies, and unless he had donned his armor, he would have no codpiece on under the tunic. Carefully I lifted the edge of his tunic. “Oh. My. Um. I was expecting . . . hmm.”
    “What were you expecting?” he asked, pulling up his tunic in order to stare down at himself. “What are you hmming about?”
    “Oh, it’s nothing, really,” I said, frowning just a little at his man parts.
    “Like hell it is!” he said, sounding quite incensed.
    I looked at him in confusion.
    He sighed, closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them back up, and with a tight jaw, asked, “Are you going to examine my cock or not?”
    I eyed the part in question. “I don’t want to touch it if it’s bruised.”
    “It’s not bruised,” he snapped.
    “It looks . . . angry.”
    “For god’s sake, woman, it doesn’t have emotions of its own!”
    “Of course not. All right then. I will just check to make sure everything is as it should be.” I put one hand on his shaft. He didn’t move, the expression on his face suspicious.
    “Well?” he demanded.
    There was nothing for it. I put my other hand on his parts, lifting them to look for signs of damage.
    A noise at the door had Baltic jerking up the fur, my hands trapped beneath it.
    Kostya stood at the top of the stairs, giving us a puzzled look. “I heard loud voices.