by Mina Carter
He ignored her, snarling as the tops of high-rise buildings raced past them. Adra sighed and closed her eyes. This was it. Her dragon was unresponsive and in a few seconds it would be too late even if it did wake up. She’d never be able to shift and pull up quickly enough.
Claws wrapped around her body, holding her tightly, and she was jerked upward with enough g-force to break bones had she been human.
She opened her eyes to find Nik above her. His wings snapped out wide to the side to stop them in mid-air. She heard the honks and shouts of alarm from the street just below.
Shift energy washed over them both and the next instant she was cradled in Nik’s arms as he stood on the sidewalk. His expression was concerned as he looked down at her and her heart turned over in her chest. He’d saved her. He’d put his life in danger to come after her and save her.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a low voice, his features drawn tightly and his eyes dark with worry. He slid her down the front of his body until she stood on her own two feet. “Scales, Adra, when I saw you fall...” he swallowed. “I was so worried.”
His gaze flickered down to her lips and his eyes darkened. He moved, sliding his hand into her hair, and the next instant, his lips covered hers in the sweetest, most desperate kiss she’d ever been given.
Heat blossomed through her and her dragon sleepily growled, pleasure rolling through the link with the beast as the scent of his dragon wrapped around her. She made a small sound in the back of her throat, lifting up on her toes to kiss him back. Lost in the moment. Needing more.
A screech of rage and the trumpet of dragons brought her back to herself, and she snatched her lips from his. What the fuck was she doing? Kissing Nik of all people in the middle of the damn street... when they had trainees facing down a vicious wyvern.
“Get over yourself, Waldek!” she hissed, pushing him away and leaping into the air.
This time her dragon responded and exploded from her human form. With powerful, if a little shaky wing beats, she rose into the air to rejoin the fight.
Chapter 2
“What the fuck was that all about, Waldek?”
No sooner had Adra touched down on the long, wide terrace that wrapped around the blacks’ level of the palace buildings than she turned on Nik. Fury ran through her veins as she backed him up, the trainees making themselves scarce to let the two blacks duke it out.
The wyvern had gotten away, managing to slither into one of the unused sewer systems in the city where they couldn’t follow it. They’d had to leave Blake on guard to make sure it didn’t escape.
Which meant she now had to coordinate with ground-crawler species to flush the damn thing out, and if there was anything she hated, it was dealing with the other paranormals in the city or, scales forbid, the human authorities.
“What?” He didn’t back up in the face of her ire, standing still as she poked him in the chest hard enough to bruise. It was like poking a mountain. His gaze caught hers. “You were hurt, Adra. You could have been killed. What was I supposed to do?”
She snarled, curling her lip back as her dragon added its voice to her displeasure.
“You should have let me do my job! I’m a black, just the same as you are. I took the same damn oaths. We fly. We protect. If we fall, so be it!” she threw the words of their sacred oath back at him.
All black dragons on the council made the same oath—to protect and serve even at the cost of their own lives if it should be necessary.
“The trainees had the situation with the wyvern in order,” he argued back, his eyes flashing dangerously. She ignored the warning signs, still all up in his face. The fact that she had to do it on tiptoe just pissed her off all the more.
“The damn thing got away,” she hissed back. “It’s under the city, remember? Scale knows what kind of damage it’ll cause. If it hurts someone, that’s on you!”
He growled in warning, his own lip curling back. “So I was supposed to just let you fall?”
He moved like lightning. Before she could react, his hand was in her hair and he’d hauled her up hard against his bigger body.
“The trainees were more than capable of dealing with one, small wyvern,” he told her, his gaze firm and his lips almost grazing hers. “But none of them would have been fast enough to reach you. I made the call.”
She curled her lip back, a hiss in the back of her throat warning him not to try kissing her again. So what that all her traitorous body wanted to do was soften against him, and her dragon was purring like a bitch in heat... she was in charge and that was that. There would be no more kissing.
“I do not need you coddling me just because I’m female!”
He blinked, surprise flowing over his features, and relaxed his hold to look down at her.
“That’s what you think? That I saved you because you’re female?” He barked a laugh. “Give me a little credit. I saved you because you’re a fucking good fighter and we need you. We need all of us.”
“Really?” It was her turn to blink in surprise. “You think I’m a good fighter?”
His expression was still tense and she had to fight down the instinctive need to soothe him. They weren’t mates. She didn’t have that right.
“Of course I do. You beat down Prince Henrick’s makdorian blue without batting an eyelash. How the hell do you think I could have walked back in here with your body in my arms and admitted I let you fall when I could have saved you?”
His eyes blazed and his hand tightened in her hair again. “How the hell do you think I could have lived with myself if I’d let you die?”
She bit back the gasp at his sudden display of dominance, fighting both him and her own instincts.
“Because I’m a good fighter... that’s it?” Her mouth was running away with her but she couldn’t stop it.
His lips quirked up at the corner. “No. It’s not and you know it, Adra.”
He leaned down and her heartrate kicked up a notch. This time she didn’t hiss at him in warning. Instead, all she could think about was the feel of his lips on hers back down on the street, the feel of his hard body pressing against hers as he held her close.
Her back arched, lips parting in anticipation. Then he stopped, a hairsbreadth from actually kissing her. Her entire body howled in frustration.
“The next time I kiss you, you’ll beg me to,” he murmured against her lips. It took her a moment to process the words, and then she hissed and shoved him again in anger.
“Yeah, right... in your dreams, Waldek,” she spat, mortification at how close she’d already come to begging him running through her system. Her damn dragon was still no help. All it wanted to do was wrap itself around the bigger male, scale to scale.
He smiled as she pushed off, stalking away. She shot him a glance over her shoulder, snorting as she saw him still standing there, that damned irritating little smile on his lips.
“Men,” she hissed to herself as she stalked toward the debriefing room. “Can’t trust them. Can’t throw them off a damn building.”
“Finally! So you planted one on her?”
Damian leaned over to grab more chips, the other dragon’s expression full of eagerness. Nik knew he wanted all the details. Forget women, male dragons were the worst for gossip.
“Yeah,” he admitted, knowing that whatever he said wouldn’t go any further. He reached forward and grabbed a handful of chips himself, before Damian cleared the snacks.
He and Damian had been friends for years. Ever since the other black had saved him from a bad beating once. Back when he’d been young and stupid enough to wander into an alley in the wrong part of town.
Full of arrogance and a confirmed black, he’d assumed he was invincible. What he hadn’t counted on was the fact that the lady whose purse had been snatched wasn’t the intended target and his fledging control over his shift failing him. He’d been up shit creek without a paddle or access to his dragon.
In other words, he’d been fucked.
Luckily, though, Damian had been in the area. His timely arrival had saved Nik from a nasty beating and loss of face. And they’d been firm friends ever since, to the point that Nik had insisted Damian move into the second penthouse apartment in the main Waldek building.
It meant he had a drinking buddy just across the hall. But it also meant that when he’d arrived back home earlier, roaring his anger and frustration about the situation with Adra to the sky, it had been swiftly followed by Damian on his doorstep. He’d been carrying an armful of snacks, his expression clearly stating they were going to talk about whatever was bothering Nik.
Damian, more so than most blacks, was as subtle as a thrown brick.
Which meant they were now sitting in front of the large picture windows to the terrace in Nik’s apartment and he knew he was about to get grilled if he didn’t start talking.
“Don’t think she was that happy about it, though,” he added.
Letting out a sigh, he flopped back into his seat and shoved a hand through his hair. Just remembering that kiss, and the softness of her lips under his, was enough to send the fire racing through his blood again. Heat and desire hotter than even his dragon’s fire.
It had been the closest thing to heaven he’d ever experienced and he wanted it again. He was like a drug addict with his favorite fix. One taste wasn’t enough. Would never be enough...
“I think she liked it more than you think,” Damian announced, eyeing up the chocolate cake on Nik’s side of the table.
Hiding his smile, Nik pushed the cake over toward his friend. Damian’s love of cake was well known amongst the blacks. Good job their metabolisms ran too high for them to gain weight, or the heavily tattooed dragon would be the size of the court itself.
“What makes you say that?”
Knife in his hand, Damian paused for a second to look at Nik. Then he shrugged and continued slicing the cake. Carefully, he folded a large slice into a napkin and put it to one side. Nik knew without asking it was for his mate, Sula. The phoenix shifter was just as addicted to chocolate as her mate was.
The little gesture and the look into their lives and at the love they had for each other, as brief as it was, made him happy but also filled him with longing. Not for Sula—he in no way, shape or form lusted after his friend’s mate—but he wanted what they had. The bond between them, the soul-deep love anyone with eyes in their face could see...
He wanted that with Adra.
“Go on...” he pressed. “What makes you say that?”
Damian shifted the plate to his other hand. “Simple. If she didn’t like it, she’d have roasted your ass there and then.”
Nik barked a laugh, an automatic reaction. Then he frowned. Damian had a good point. Adra was an excellent fighter and he didn’t know a dragon alive who could catch her in the air, not even him although he was one of the fastest among the male blacks. The trouble was, she also had a hair-trigger temper and a guy laying hands on her when she didn’t want him to? The poor fucker’s bones would be so hot they’d be practically nuclear.
She’d been mad at him, but not killing mad.
Damian was right. If she hadn’t wanted him to touch her, kiss her, she’d have blasted him on the spot.
Longing blossomed in the middle of his chest. Perhaps there was hope for them... hope that maybe he could crack through her ice-dragon reserve. Then he groaned, closing his eyes.
“What?” Damian demanded. “What did you do?”
Nik opened his eyes and looked over. “Why do you assume I’ve done something?”
Damian looked at him levelly. “Nikolai Waldek, when have you not fucked up with a woman? Remember Ana?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. “When you took her to the Harrington-Smythe foundation dinner?”
“Yeah... yeah,” Nik huffed defensively. “How was I to know she’d just gotten divorced from that asshat, Harrington?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” the other dragon drawled, obviously amused. “Perhaps the surname Harrington-Smythe might have given it away?”
Nik crossed his eyes. That evening had been a complete and utter disaster. He’d just thought she’d enjoy a charity auction for a good cause. He hadn’t counted on her ex-husband causing a public scene and throwing her out on her ear.
“And how about Suzy McDonald, that little human you were trying to impress. You burned down what was it... three blocks?”
“I was thirteen!” Nik laughed and threw a pillow at Damian. Thirteen or not, he had burned down three blocks and his dad had made him do community service, helping rebuild them.
“I told her the next time I kissed her, she’d have begged me.”
Damian, who was industrially working his way through the cake, paused with his fork halfway to his mouth.
“You did what?” he asked carefully, not moving.
“Told her that she’d beg me for it.”
Fuck. Put bluntly like that, it sounded even worse. The look on Damian’s face made it seem even worse than worse.
“Are you a special kind of idiot, or are you just making an effort today?”
Silence fell. Stretched out. Mocked him.
“Yeah.” He gave a heavy sigh. “I’ve completely fucked my chances. Haven’t I?”
Damian looked at him with pity and started to shovel cake again.
“With any other woman, I’d have said no. Don’t worry... You can charm her... It’ll all work out. Take your pick.” He shrugged. “With her? You’re screwed. And not in a fun, rock your socks off type of way either.”
He finished off the cake and put the plate back on the table with a small click.
“You should move,” he said sagely. “The artic should do it. Or outer space. Yeah, space would be best. How long can you hold your breath?”
Nik groaned, rubbing his hand over his eyes.
“I’ve tried everything with her,” he confided. “Charm offensive, the strong and broody act, tried to make her laugh, offered her dinner... nothing seems to work.”
“Huh.”
Damian sat back, beer in his hand. He swished the liquid in the half-empty bottle idly, the neck held between two tattooed fingers.
“Have you considered she just might not be into you, dude?”
Nik shook his head quickly. That had been his worry, but the way she’d clung to him and kissed him back...
“No,” he said firmly. “She’s into me.”
Damian chuckled.
“I recognize that look. You got it bad, bro. Real bad. You are definitely fucked.”
Nik resisted the urge to bang his head against the nearest brick wall. The reinforced concrete walls of the penthouse should do it.
“I would advise the softly-softly approach,” Damian offered. “Find out what she likes, who she is away from court...”
Nik opened one eye. “I’ve tried. She won’t talk about anything but work.”
Damian sighed and shook his head, his expression clearly indicating he thought Nik was an idiot.
“You don’t ask her. You get inventive. Talk to Zac,” he said, naming the tech genius on the council. McNeil was responsible for their text alert, early warning, and tracking systems. Without him, they’d still be back in the dark ages, forced to maintain a twenty-four/seven watch and send smoke signals.
“What he can’t find out about someone ain’t worth knowing. He’ll find a way for you to get to your lady’s heart.”
“Vane,” Adra chuckled. “If you lean back any further, you’ll fall off that damn chair.”
She looked up from her cards to find Vane teetering back on two legs. He thumped his chair back down and gave her an unrepentant grin.
“All’s fair in love and war, doll,” he shrugged, his long hair hanging around his shoulders.
She snorted. “Good thing this is cards then, not love or war.”
He shot her a direct look, biting his lower lip. She knew what he was doing. Trying to distract her, use her feminine instincts against her with the sexy, alpha male dominant lo
ok she knew the women of the court went gaga over. Trouble was, for him anyway, it did absolutely nothing for her. Her tastes ran to something more smooth and sophisticated these days...
“Put it away, Vane,” Nik growled from the other side of the table as he dealt cards with practiced movements. “Not everyone wants to see your ugly mug pouting at them.”
Vane grinned and flicked Nik the bird before picking up his cards. He slid Adra a sideways glance. “Sure you don’t want to play strip poker, beautiful?”
“No. Because you cheat.”
She didn’t even bother looking at him while checking out her own cards. A good hand, definitely better than Vane’s, but she wasn’t sure about Nik.
There were just the three of them left at the table now. The others had all folded and gone to watch the movie playing at the other end of the rec room. Most blacks loved to bet, but no one liked to play against Nik. He was as ruthless at the card table as he was in the air.
Good fighter, her dragon purred. For some reason, since he’d kissed her, the beast had taken to reminding her of things it liked about him. She shook her head, ignoring it. It got weird ideas into its head at times.
“I do not cheat!” Vane argued, but just at that moment Zac walked by. He jostled Vane’s arm and three cards fell out of his sleeve.
Adra raised an eyebrow. “Really now?”
Vane huffed, throwing his cards down and grabbing his drink. “I was done anyway. Later gators.”
He sauntered off toward the other end of the room, leaving Adra and Nik facing off against each other from opposite sides of the table.
She eyed Nik from under her lashes as he studied his cards. She didn’t need to look at hers. She knew she had a good hand. Whether it was good enough to beat Nik, she didn’t know. Carefully she studied him, looking for any tell that he was worried.
There, in the corner of his eye... the tiniest twitch that he instantly smothered. Her predatory instincts kicked into high gear and she smiled. She had him. There was no way he could beat her ha—