Safe

She rests in the curve of the dragon’s body, scaled warmth folded around her like a living promise, its breath slow and steady, a quiet fire that keeps the dark away. She presses her face into the place where power becomes tenderness, where claws know how to soften and vigilance turns into care, and her shoulders finally drop as the world loosens its grip. In the hush between heartbeats and embers, she is not small but protected, not hidden but cherished, safe inside something ancient enough to know exactly how precious she is.