by Jane Godman
“I don’t know.” Hollie was having trouble following that train of thought. “I have a few friends, people I socialize with. McLain and I occasionally went out for a drink together, but our working relationship was clearly defined. She was in charge and we never became good friends because we didn’t cross those boundaries. If the Incinerator wanted to send me a message, why would he pick her? Why not Dalton, the guy I called earlier? Of my work colleagues, I’m closer to him than to anyone, I guess.”
“Who knows how it happened? I’m speculating now, but maybe he saw an opportunity and grabbed it?” Torque said. “I’m assuming she didn’t die in the fire?”
“I don’t know.” Hollie cast a look of distaste in the direction of her cell. “I need to call Dalton back to find out the details. I grayed out right after he told me McLain was dead.”
“Do you want me to stay with you?”
She nodded gratefully, wondering how she had ever gotten by without his strength. But she had never dealt with anything like this. Although her grandmother’s death had been a sad time in her life, it had come at the end of a long illness. Sorrow had been combined with relief, and Hollie had dealt with the trauma in her usual, practical way. Nothing had ever derailed her like this. The sensation that someone else was in control and that person’s venom was directed at her was terrifying.
Torque’s presence sustained her as she called Dalton back.
“Who was that guy?” Dalton’s voice was harsh, giving her no time to speak. “What’s going on, Hollie?”
“I’m safe and I’m with friends. That’s all you need to know.”
“Are you kidding me?” He shouted the words so loudly she shifted the phone away from her ear. The action brought a frown to Torque’s face and Hollie shook her head slightly to indicate everything was fine. She guessed she’d react the same way if she was in Dalton’s place and he was the one who’d gone missing.
“Dalton, listen to me. I promise I will keep in touch so you know I’m not in any danger. Right now you can help me by telling me how McLain died.”
“She was too badly burned.”
Hollie could hear him battling to get his emotions under control.
“There was no way of knowing...” He took an audible breath. “The medical examiner identified her from dental records.”
Hollie closed her eyes, letting the horror of that information sink in. “Have you any more information about the fire in which she was found?”
“Apart from McLain’s body, it had all the signs of being a classic Incinerator attack.” Thankfully, Dalton had calmed down and slipped into professional mode. “We need you here, Hollie. No one can analyze this the way you can.”
“There are three other fires you may want to look at, if you aren’t already considering them as part of the Incinerator investigation. Do you have a pen and paper?” She knew Dalton. He wouldn’t have a pen and paper.
“Um...hold on.”
Hollie rested her head on Torque’s shoulder as she listened to the sound of long-distance rummaging.
“Go ahead.”
“The first fire was at the Pleasant Bay Bar in Addison, Maine. A week later there was a small blaze in the lobby of the Tribeca Trinity apartment building. It only made the local news, but it was almost certainly set by the Incinerator. Then tonight, the head office of the Go Faster Cargo Company in Nashville was the target.”
“You want to tell me how you know this? Or if there’s a link between these three fires that I should be aware of?”
Hollie paused. The question instantly pulled her in two. She had told McLain about the Incinerator’s link to Torque. Instead of sharing that suspicion with the rest of the team, her boss had come up with the plan to send Hollie undercover. It had been McLain’s way of keeping the possibility that one of the most well-known men on the planet could be their suspect. Her decision on how to proceed would have depended on what Hollie discovered.
Right now it appeared that the only people who knew about the potential connection were Hollie and the members of Beast. Dalton was asking her to make a choice between her two worlds. If she told him the truth and admitted what she knew, she would be choosing her professional world. Keeping quiet would be about her own private motives, reasons that were entirely to do with the man at her side.
There was that feeling again. That deep-seated unease. It was the same additional sense that told her she could trust Torque. She had no idea where it was from. All she knew was she couldn’t ignore it. She consoled herself that she wouldn’t be lying to Dalton if she ignored his question. After all, nothing had been proved.
“I have to go now. Just one final thing...don’t ignore the possibility that the Incinerator may be a woman.”
Aware that she had left out the key piece of information, she ended the call. The woman you are looking for may have magical powers. She could predict Dalton’s reaction. It would be exactly the same as her own would have been before she’d met Torque. To be fair, Dalton was likely to be more measured in his response. She’d have advised the person offering that information to seek medical help.
Sighing, she nestled closer in the circle of Torque’s arms. “This is hard.”
“Why don’t we get out of here?” He gripped her chin lightly with his fingers, tilting her face up to his. “Your choice. What do you want to do, right here, right now?”
“Anything?” Would he go with it? She wouldn’t know if she didn’t ask him.
The iridescent lights in his eyes shone brighter. “Tell me your wildest fantasy.”
“I want to see you as a dragon.”
Chapter 10
Shifting in a built-up area was risky, but Torque had checked a map of the local area. There were a few islands on Percy Priest Lake, which was just outside the city. He made some calls, organizing a cab to take them there and a fishing boat so they could get out to one of the islands.
Hollie watched him with an expression that was somewhere between laughter and astonishment. “I wondered if you might be reluctant to do this.”
“Hollie, I told you I need you to see the real me.” He took her face between his hands. “If you’re sure that’s what you want?”
“I want all of you. The human you. The dragon you.” She grinned mischievously as she led him to the door. “Let’s go. I can’t wait for you to breathe a little fire on me.”
He groaned. “That’s the sort of talk that would have had a white knight on a charger seeking me out and trying to slay me back in medieval times.”
They traveled down in the elevator to the hotel lobby. Torque donned his hat and shades, tucking his trademark fiery hair inside his denim jacket.
“Nobody would dare slay you these days. Dragons are cool,” Hollie said. “They feature in books, movies, games, comics...” She ticked them off on her fingertips.
“There are worse things than being slain.” Torque’s face was serious. “Imagine what it would be like if my identity became known. You think I’d be left in peace? I’d end up in a research facility. Or a zoo.”
The corners of Hollie’s mouth turned down. “I never thought of that. No wonder you work so hard to protect your anonymity.”
The traffic was light and the cab journey took less than half an hour. When they reached the lake, Torque told the driver he would call him when they wanted to be collected. He led Hollie to the water’s edge, where a motorboat was waiting for them.
“There are advantages to the celebrity lifestyle,” he said as he helped Hollie into the little craft. “One of them is that you can call up a local fishing charter company and hire a boat at short notice. Of course, I paid twice what the damn boat would cost to buy, just for a few hours’ use.”
He started the engine and the boat was soon skimming over the moonlit waters. Behind them the edge of the lake, with its rocky shoreline, began to fade. They passed a few small islands be
fore they reached a larger one. It was roughly horseshoe in shape, covered in spiky pine trees, and with a jagged cove into which Torque steered the vessel.
When they stepped onto the land, it was fully dark and a breeze was blowing off the lake. Torque pulled the boat up onto the pebbly shore. Before they set off, he had made sure that this was one of the islands that wasn’t used by campers. He really didn’t want to spark a major news story about a dragon sighting over the local tourist area.
There was a clearing in the center of the small land mass that was surrounded by trees, and Torque paused there. Casting a measuring eye over the ground, he nodded. There would be just about enough distance for him to spread his wings and take flight.
“Do you need to do anything?” Hollie asked. “Any rituals? Incantations to help you get in the zone?”
“I’m a human and a dragon,” Torque explained. “Both beings are inside me all the time. I don’t need to make an effort to find either of them. The word shifting perfectly describes what happens. It’s a simple change from one to the other.”
“And you don’t mind that I’m here...watching you?” She gripped her lower lip between her teeth.
He took her hand and placed it on his chest, letting her feel his heart. The organ that powered his human and dragon selves. “I want you to see me. All of me.” He grinned. “And now I have to remove my clothes.”
The air chilled his skin as he stripped the layers of garments away. What he’d told Hollie was true. Shifting was in his DNA. Although it was magical, there was no skill or mystery to it. As he closed his eyes, Torque tried to remember the first time he had shifted. It was lost in the mists of dragon time, one of those memories of his Highland home he had put aside because it pained him to think of it.
You close your human eyes, now look inside your dragon. Shrug off your human instincts. Feel the forest around you. Mold your body. You no longer have a foot, instead you have dragon claws. Flesh becomes scales. Breath turns to fire.
His mind ran through the swift, subtle changes as his muscles relaxed into the familiar shape of his dragon self. He was ready. With a swish of his giant tail, he crouched low on all fours and opened his eyes.
With her back pressed tight against the trunk of a tree, Hollie was gazing up at him with an expression he couldn’t define. It could have been fear. He believed it was wonder.
* * *
It was probably a good time to remind herself that she had asked Torque to do this. And Hollie wanted to see him shift, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous as hell about it. Once it started, it all happened so fast.
One minute Torque was standing naked in the moonlight. Then he shimmered before her briefly. Next thing he was gone. In his place was the dragon from the Beast concert in Marseilles. He was the most magnificent creature she had ever seen, with wings that spanned the clearing. When he lifted them, they billowed and created an updraft that blew Hollie’s hair back from her face. His claws were like giant scimitars, driving into the ground as he moved. Sleek, iridescent scales covered his muscular body, each one catching the glinting light and pulsing in time with his dragon breath. Wisps of smoke issued from his elegantly carved nostrils.
Moving slowly away from the tree trunk, Hollie approached him. Even though the dragon towered over her, as she looked up at his proud features, she could see a trace of Torque still remained. A slight smile softened her face and she relaxed. This was her dragon. The thought made her shiver.
Reaching out a hand, she placed it on his leg. Instead of the roughness she had expected, his flesh was soft, smooth and very warm. Torque lowered his head and Hollie leaned closer, resting her cheek against his face. She stayed that way for several minutes, listening to the sound of his slow, rhythmic breathing.
“My dragon.” She ran her hand along his neck and felt a tremor run through his giant body in response. “I want to see you fly.”
She stepped back as, rising upon all fours, he spread his wings. Breaking into a run, Torque lifted his head toward the sky and, with a flick of his tail, was airborne. Hollie watched in wonder as he gracefully soared above her, into the darkened clouds. Circling the bay several times, he swooped low as if checking on her before climbing higher, then disappearing from view.
Hollie sank down onto the grass, tucking her knees up and resting her chin on them. She tried to analyze what she was feeling, but her emotions were like splinters of glass. Too tiny, too painful, too delicate. She reached a hand up to her cheek and found it wet with tears.
Torque was the last of his clan, the only remaining member of a noble breed of dragon-shifters. And he had trusted her with his incredible secret. It was like tasting honey and acid at the same time. He was everything she had ever wanted, and she would never be able to hold on to him.
Too much emotion had been poured into her heart, filling it to a point where it was ready to burst. The wonder of watching him shift, the joy of knowing he belonged to her, however briefly, the recognition that this was real...each of those was counterbalanced by a matching darkness.
Their worlds had met right here, right now, but they were dancing to the tune of the deranged fire starter who had brought them together. And when this madness ended, they would have to face reality. Just as Torque’s night flight must soon come to an end, so would the dream in which they were living. They had some serious talking to do about what the future could hold for a dragon and a mortal.
The sound of beating wings alerted her to Torque’s return and she tilted her face back toward the heavens. It was hard to see him until he was immediately overhead. His body blended with the velvety darkness. Then he was there. So much power in one body. The man and the dragon were both perfection. Torque circled one last time before landing. His claws churned up the grass and he used the momentum to come to a halt. As he stopped, he shifted back. When he turned to face Hollie, there was a trace of uncertainty in his eyes.
She got to her feet, going to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. “You are beautiful.”
She could feel the tension leave his body. “I should get dressed.”
“Not yet.” Hollie rose on the tips of her toes, fitting her body more intimately to his.
“Here?” Torque’s lips quirked into a smile.
“Maybe somewhere less open?”
* * *
He picked Hollie up and carried her, and his clothes, toward the shelter of the trees. She twined her legs around his waist and hooked her arms about his neck, clinging to him and kissing along his jaw as he walked. Although her body pressed tight against him was the most delicious distraction, Torque clung to the remnants of his sanity long enough to find a secluded place among the trees. No one knew better than he did what the view was like from above. While he didn’t anticipate any helicopters or drones would be flying over this area, he wasn’t taking any chances.
“One of us is wearing way too many clothes.” He placed Hollie on the grass.
“You should probably do something about that.”
The moon filtered through the trees, giving just enough light for him to see her. It reminded Torque of bygone days. Of gloomy forests and beautiful maidens and treasure untold.
He kept his gaze on hers as he undid the buttons on her blouse and pushed it down her shoulders. Hollie helped him remove it by wriggling her arms free of the garment. Torque laid her back against the ground and trailed kisses down her neck to the point where her breasts swelled above the lace of her bra.
Behind her back, his hands worked on the fastening on her bra until he was able to toss it aside with her blouse. Leaning over, he brushed featherlight kisses across one nipple, then licked the delicate pink flesh. Taking the tender bud between his lips, he sucked it gently. Hollie’s back arched, her breaths coming in bursts of sharp gasps. Pausing to smile down at her, Torque moved on to the other nipple.
While he pleasured her breast
s, Torque undid her jeans. Hollie lifted her hips to help him as he sat back and removed her boots, jeans and underwear. Pressing her legs apart, he knelt between them. “Your scent—” he lapped once before circling her clit with his tongue “—your taste, everything about you, is perfect.”
Moving over her, he reached between their bodies and slipped two fingers inside her, caressing her as he used his other hand to circle her nub before pausing to reach for a condom in the pocket of his jeans. Once the protection was in place, he positioned himself at her entrance. Gazing down at Hollie’s features in the moonlight, he felt the greatest peace and passion of his life surge through him. A treasure more than emeralds, rubies and gold. That was what she was to him. She was what Teine had foreseen he would one day find. Hollie was his dragon hoard.
As he entered her, he pressed a kiss onto her mouth. His tongue swirled around hers and Hollie caressed him back. His beautiful mortal was showing him how much she loved all of him.
Hollie raised her hips to meet him, and Torque groaned at the near unbearable pleasure. He was fighting not to rush this, but his feelings threatened to overwhelm him. He lifted her so she was fully opened to him, and she bucked her hips, matching each long, powerful thrust. Reaching around his back, she dragged her nails along his muscles.
Torque’s breath came faster and harder as his thrusts grew wilder. Primal instincts overtook them both. Her cries urged him on as her ankles locked around his hips. He pulled them up higher so he could drive even deeper.
“The feeling of you wrapped around me is the most perfect dream. I want it to last forever.”
Pounding faster, he felt the first spasms hit her. Hollie threw back her head, crying his name to the treetops as her body shuddered in a series of unrelenting waves.
Feeling her explode around him, Torque held her closer, thrusting once more as deep as he could. Her inner muscles clenched hard around him, triggering his own release. Torque gasped, his cock spasming wildly. Hollie’s hands locked on to his shoulders, pulling him tight to her as she jammed herself against him, every part of them in contact from groin to neck. He kissed her, and she cried out into his mouth.