Gobsmacked

Several months passed since Dragon Lord Torch began giving Blaze  private lessons. Twice per week he tutored her for an hour. He spent the  same amount of time preparing for lessons. It was unheard of for a  Dragon Lord to devote so much effort to furthering such a low-ranking  dragon's aspirations, but he didn't mind it. He was rather enjoying  sharing knowledge with a dragon who could remember it. What he did mind  was Blaze's growing impertinence and inattention.

Blaze  had grown much too comfortable getting distracted and speaking frankly  in his presence. She was even audacious enough to talk back at him.  Torch had been too shocked by the bold risk she took to punish her for  it at the time, but today he prepared himself to lay down the law if he  needed to.

He was watching his student closely. Blaze was  struggling with the material and began showing signs of mental fatigue  not ten minutes into the lesson. Finally, she spoke up.

"Ugh, I can't do this..." Blaze moaned, leaning back from a table littered with stone slabs.

"What's the matter? You absorb knowledge like a sponge." Torch replied, not liking her tone already.

"When  it's something I'm interested in. This is so boring!" Blaze retorted,  herself somewhat surprised by her rudeness. Even if she realized the  Dragon Lord was much kinder than he let on, she had no reason to believe  she wouldn't get into trouble if she kept this up. Yet, she seemed  unable to help herself. Not unexpectedly, it didn't sit well with Torch.

"I'm  setting my valuable time aside to tutor you because you said you wanted  an education and this is how you show me your gratitude!?" He bellowed.

"My  apologies, Dragon Lord." Blaze sighed—nonchalantly, despite her best  efforts. She knew he was right, but when he started blustering she just  couldn't take him seriously anymore. This wasn't lost on Torch.

"Other dragons are afraid of me, but you don't seem to be." He huffed.

"You  want me to be afraid?" Blaze asked, giving him a sidelong glance. There  was something strangely endearing to her about the Dragon Lord  deflating like that. As soon as she spoke the words, she got a terrible  idea.

"EEK!" Acting on the impulse she shrieked, jumping into his arms and wrapping her own around his neck.

Torch  was so taken aback by her sudden actions that he caught and held her.  Blaze, having pushed things this far already, doubled down. When their  eyes locked she made a humorously scared face, her lower lip protruding  in a pout. What followed was a short moment of silence before Torch  dropped Blaze onto her back.

"STOP BEING  INAPPROPRIATE!" He shouted, looking slightly concerned for a split  second when Blaze groaned in discomfort at hitting the cave floor.

"You  deserved that!" Torch said as emphatically as he could while he  regained his composure, then continued: "Sit up, your lesson isn't  over!"

Blaze obeyed. Looking surly and holding her back, she resumed her position at the table, but not for long.

"Where do you think you're going?" Torch demanded when Blaze got up walked away from the table before lying down on her belly.

"You dropped me onto my back. I need a moment." She replied.

"Come on, I know you're tougher than that!" Torch retorted.

Blaze  didn't respond. Instead she stayed right where she was and rubbed her  back, grimacing. Torch initially ignored it, but he eventually got up to  check on her. Blaze didn't speak to him when he approached, or when he  looked her over. She simply continued rubbing her back. After some time,  Torch carefully placed the ball of his thumb on her back where she was  rubbing it.

"Here?" He asked, before applying pressure and making a circular motion with his claw.

"A  little to the right..." Blaze replied, letting him take over. The spot  was only a little bit sore when she first fell on it. Before long she  was enjoying the treatment she was getting.

"Go  up..." Blaze instructed, now clearly relishing the massage. Torch  almost complied before pausing awkwardly, realizing what was happening.

"Who's in charge around here?" He demanded, giving Blaze's backside a light slap, causing her to let out a surprised yelp.

The  slap was much more good-natured than what the circumstances called for,  as far as dragon society was concerned. It was hard to tell whether it  was intended to be playful, or it was the Dragon Lord's aversion to  hurting dragonesses preventing him from hitting harder. Either way,  Blaze was emboldened.

"Dragon Lord Torch... I  had no idea you felt this way..." She uttered, hiding a toothy grin when  Torch reeled back in embarrassment at what she said.

"What are you playing at!?" He roared. Blaze immediately got up at the accusatory question.

"Me!?"  She snapped, continuing to challenge Torch while closing the distance  between them, "Did I tell you to do that? Didn't you do it because you  like what you see!?"

Blaze's face was inches from Torch's at this point.

"No,  I..." Torch stammered uncomfortably. He was completely unprepared for  what was happening. Not once during his reign had any other dragon been  able to put him on the defensive like this.

"Oh...  That's a shame..." Blaze said softly, her eyes cast toward the ground  as she withdrew and turned around. She sat down, her back now facing  Torch.

"You don't like what you see?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

Torch's  eyes traveled over her, betraying the answer. He struggled to find  words before raising his index claw. The corners of his mouth curled  into a sinister smile.

"You... You bad  dragoness... You're good! But do you think you're the first one to try?"  He asked, giving Blaze a menacing look and pointing at her like he'd  unveiled a plot to overthrow him.

"You didn't answer the question." Blaze said impassively.

Torch  forcefully turned her around to face him and firmly grabbed her by the  shoulders, looking her over once more before speaking.

"Be  careful, you may just get what you're asking for!" He rumbled. At first  glance his expression seemed stone cold, but there was a fire raging in  his eyes. If pressed for an explanation, he'd swear he had nothing but  retribution on his mind when looking at this temptress. But deny it as  he might, thoughts he had pushed out of his brain on the day he agreed  to take her on as a student began flooding it again.

Blaze  realized she bit off a bit more than she could chew today and pecked  Torch on the lips, causing him to let go in shock. She began walking  toward the exit of the cave and looked over her shoulder once again.

"Forgive  me, Dragon Lord. I had to stop you from being inappropriate. I'll come  back when you know how to behave," She said jestingly to a still  bewildered Torch, before giving him a coy wave, "Bye-bye..."

Torch  absent-mindedly waved back as she left, in utter disbelief at what  transpired. By the time he snapped out of his trance, Blaze was long  gone.