by Jory Strong
He closed that infinitesimal distance, smiled against her lips. “You’re right. This is a place frequented by sorcerers.”
There was a slight purr in his voice and it seemed to vibrate its way right down to her chest and into her breasts before making her nipples ache.
Damnit. He was a walking, talking sex god and she had the orgasmic memories to prove it.
She retreated. The gleam in Taine’s eyes and dip of his gaze to the front of her shirt was accompanied by a flashed smile.
“Check your ego,” she grumbled.
His smile reappeared, slow and sensuous and inviting.
A lesser woman would have pitched forward. She glanced away—with effort—and noticed the sea shells on the shelves holding liquor bottles, realized that the cushions lining the booth’s bench seats had the swirling brown and cream pattern of a nautilus. Even the name of the place was symbolic. The Deep.
“I’m sensing a theme,” she said, and charms would explain the imagined trident, the glimmer that made her think scales when it came to the waitress and the men who’d walked past the booth.
She looked at the bartender and squinted.
Taine carried her hand to his mouth and nibbled on her knuckles, drawing her attention back to him.
“Good thing we stopped for food,” she said, turning her head far enough for the bartender to edge into sight.
She squinted again, trying to conjure a glimmer at least. Taine said, “You’ve got a limiting immunity or you’d see them clearly.”
That snapped her eyes to his. “What about you?”
“I can see what they’re meant to be.”
“Like the people here are at a costume party?”
He laughed. “That works.”
It kind of bummed her out. It’d be cool to see the magic show. But on the other hand, immunity to sorcerers’ illusions seemed like a good thing. Right?
“So what’s the waitress supposed to be?”
“A siren. Also known as a water nymph.”
“And the bartender?”
“A merman.”
Taine’s cellphone rang, as did several others from the line of booths. He answered, listened, put his phone back in his pocket and said, “We’ll have to eat in the car. There’s a fire.”
“Where?”
“Cleveland National Forest.”
They grabbed their food and left.
Taine hit a switch, activating lights in the front grill and a siren. He peeled away from The Deep, and at first, dodging traffic took all his concentration.
When that was no longer the case, he had to fight against exhaling flame.
Love makes a man stupid. That was his sole defense.
In The Deep he’d had the perfect opportunity to slip I’m a dragon into the conversation, but what had he done? He’d let her believe spells made the bartender and waitress appear as something other than human, when in fact, the beings there had loosened the containment of their magic.
It was a tricky sleight of words that now created a hard place in his chest. What he’d told Saffron wasn’t quite a lie. But it wasn’t the full truth either.
She wasn’t immune to sorcerers’ transformation spells. But she was limited in her ability to see the essence of the beings who’d crammed themselves into a human form.
Instead of, I can see what they’re meant to be, he should have told her that they shimmered in human sight but were clearly visible in both human form and native form in the eyes of other supernaturals. That the bartender was a merman and the waitress was a siren. Which would have led, conveniently, to and I’m a dragon.
Instinct had probably been responsible for his taking her to The Deep. The sooner she knew what he was, the sooner she could reciprocate a bond.
He glanced at his mate, felt the swell of a multitude of emotions. Her accepting that supernatural beings might be present in this realm wasn’t a huge leap after watching Kristof and the astrologist at work, and after accepting that a phoenix egg could be pulled into this world through a portal.
But…
Love makes a man stupid.
On the precipice of the perfect time for revealing what he was, her earlier warning had reared up like a sea serpent prepared to deliver a deadly strike.
I’m not into serious relationships, no matter how good the sex is. It’s casual or it’s not happening.
He didn’t doubt she had feelings for him already. She was his perfect match, the human woman meant to be his mate—if he elected to take a mate in this century. But…
He wanted her to fall in love with the man, not the supernatural being. He’d always be dragon, but once they were bound, it was the man she’d grow old with.
His mate finished her meal. Put the utensils aside and opened his takeout container.
“Not exactly the easiest thing to eat while driving,” she said, using a clean knife and fork to cut his swordfish steak into bite sizes.
She speared a piece, offered it to him. He smiled, the tight knot in his chest eased by a purr. Maybe love didn’t make a man stupid after all.
His mate was worth the effort. And besides, they had a sorcerer to catch and a city to save.
Plumes of smoke soon became visible. A helicopter flew away to get more water as another moved toward the fire.
The closer they got, the more cars streamed past them as those who’d been camping and hiking evacuated.
At the national forest entrance, Taine showed his badge and was allowed to pass. He followed a fire engine to a field that’d become a command center.
Adrenaline permeated Saffron’s scent and his pulse sped. The fire called to his mate. It raged in the distance and she wanted to join the fight.
The flames themselves weren’t visible but he could feel the fire’s strength, its hungry spread. There was a chance the egg was still here. Or if not, some evidence that would lead them to the sorcerer. But even if neither were true, the IRE agents would do what they could to limit the fire’s damage given its magical origins.
“We’ll be here for a while,” he said as somewhere in front of them the fire hit a strand of dry trees and surged in power.
She opened her door. “I’m going to do what I can to help out.”
He pulled her against him, didn’t give her a chance to utter the word professional before his lips took hers and his tongue thrust and twined with hers. If they’d been in the dragon realm, he’d have unfurled his wings, clutched his mate to his chest and carried her to a remote ledge where the only danger she’d face would be collapsing as a result of lovemaking.
Every instinct demanded he keep her safe. Every instinct demanded he keep her with him—duty be damned. But in this love made him smarter, not stupid.
His arms tightened around her. He savored the press of her body to his. He inhaled her scent and the want he found there gave him added strength.
Touching his forehead to hers, he stared into her eyes and said, “The interest on that borrowed shirt keeps accumulating.”
If they’d been alone, her sultry laugh would have resulted in the loss of clothing. “When we’re done here, I’ll pay up.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
He gave her a hard kiss. Released her and watched her walk away.
Only when she disappeared behind a newly arrived fire engine did he go in search of Crew.
He found Crew with Maksim and Gaige.
Crew’s eyebrows raised. “Everything still under control? I’m not seeing the little mate.”
Taine snorted. His mate would lay Crew out with a punch if she heard herself referred to that way. “Saffron is aiding the human firefighters. Any leads?”
Crew grinned. “So you don’t want to discuss the issue of control?”
“There’s nothing to discuss.”
“Unless his mate knows we’re all visitors to her realm, it’s just as well she isn’t with us,” Maksim said, putting enough edge into his voice to remind them that they had more serious matters t
o concentrate on.
“She doesn’t know,” Taine said, heart beating a little faster. It hadn’t occurred to him that unless he was willing to allow other males to use their glamour on her, keeping the truth of what he was hidden from Saffron would be impossible if he used his fire to fight fire.
His earlier conclusion might have been right after all. Love makes a man stupid.
And dangerous to others. Gaige was a friend. Maksim was his boss and someone he greatly admired. But if either of them attempted to use their magic on Saffron…
Taine held his breath, smothering the fire in his throat rather than exhaling smoke or flame. Gaige said, “I paid a visit to the astrologist. Given what’s at stake, client confidentiality isn’t an issue for him. In the last two or three years he hasn’t done a prediction as to where any of the djinn realms would intersect this one. But he agreed to go back through his records and ask others in his trade.”
A chopper flew over their heads. Taine felt another hungry surge as the fire gained ground. “The astrologist said we might have forty-eight hours before San Diego burned.”
“I think it’s safe to assume we’ve got considerably less,” Maksim said. “Kellen and Kristof are working their way to the point of origin. They’ll get a dirt sample and get it to the astrologist for a new reading. I’ve got tech-savvy people looking at social media in the hopes of spotting something, ideally the sorcerer leaving with the egg. The rest of us will do what we can to minimize this destruction.”
Few beings trumped fey glamour when it came to moving among humans unhindered. Flanked by Gaige and Maksim, Taine and Crew joined a unit of firefighters driving toward the blaze.
With a look back, Taine caught a glimpse of Saffron. At least this time, the fire that would build inside him as a result of their separation would be put to good use instead of leading to destroyed sports cars or his being banished from this realm.
Chapter 9
Hours later Saffron glanced up at the sound of another crew rolling in. In eighteen minutes it’d be three a.m.
The firefighters coming through the food tent were exhausted but jubilant. They had one hundred percent containment. It was a miracle in dry conditions and after years of drought—or it was magic.
That word still had the power to speed her heart. Given Sabra’s fascination with tarot cards and belief in charms, there’d been plenty of exposure to the idea that magic existed, but it’d never featured prominently in Saffron’s thoughts until Taine.
And there was another word that had the power to speed her heart, and wet her panties, and cause her chest to tighten with worry, then a hint of panic.
He was out there somewhere, close to the fire. In danger, a danger she understood.
The way he said sorcerer, always with a hint of aggravation, made her fairly certain he wasn’t one. But he must be able to wield some type of magic. It seemed like that’d be a requirement for joining Supernatural Ops and being an IRE agent.
But possession of some type of magical ability didn’t mean Taine couldn’t be hurt or killed. It absolutely didn’t mean he knew his way around a fire—despite the T-shirt.
And damn it, thinking about him in that Got Fire? shirt made her ache and want and worry even more.
She served up a meal to a soot-faced firefighter, felt a twinge at being support, slopping food instead of being on the fire line.
The food hit his plate a little harder than necessary. She flashed the tired firefighter a smile of apology.
This—these feelings, the ones that didn’t have anything to do with her not being on the fire line—were exactly what she’d tried to avoid.
She didn’t want to worry about a man with a job that took him into danger. She didn’t want to one day be destroyed by a knock on the door and bad news.
Sure, her mother had survived that destruction and found the courage—eleven years later—to date again, to risk her heart with a man who worked as a San Diego County sheriff. But that was totally irrelevant.
Saffron served up more meals.
A little while later another vehicle drove in from the fire. She looked toward the tent entrance, chest tightening, tightening, finally relaxing when Taine entered.
He was fine. Better than fine.
She studied every inch, mentally undressed him and found him perfect.
A little swagger became part of his walk as he came straight toward her.
Saffron rolled her eyes but couldn’t contain the smile. Not when she was heating up the closer he got, not when his gaze promised he knew exactly how to address the fire blazing between her legs.
“Find anything?” she asked, forcing her mind away from what she wanted and onto what might need to be done.
“Nothing to act on. We’re off duty until there’s information to work with. Ready to go?”
With the fire contained, and plenty of other support staff on hand, she wasn’t needed.
“I’ll let them know I’m leaving,” she said and a few minutes later they were in the sedan.
Taine pulled her to him and she didn’t resist. He smelled like smoke, like dangerous Santa Ana winds.
His mouth came down on hers, hard and hungry. And the plunge of his tongue between her lips stroked the fire between her legs.
She answered by cupping his erection through his jeans and stroking. “Your place or mine?” he asked the way he had on the beach.
“Mine,” she told him, a laugh bubbling up and out when he hit the lights and siren and raced toward her apartment.
“Some might consider this an abuse of authority,” she said.
He pressed her hand more firmly against the front of his jeans. Beneath her palm his cock throbbed. “I rate this as an emergency.”
“You’re a guy, of course you do.”
She tightened her grip on his erection. Amusement turned into channel-clenching want with the sound of his sharp inhalation.
His hand tightened on hers to keep her from stroking. The sedan hurtled forward at greater speed.
They made it to her place without either of them combusting spontaneously.
Her apartment was a closet compared to his, but it was what she could afford and still be within walking distance of the beach.
The instant the door was closed behind them, Taine’s mouth was on hers and his hands were pushing beneath her shirt.
She moaned, rubbed her mound against his hardened cock. She was wet, swollen, ready.
She’d been in lust before, but never like this. Maybe this was hours of worry turned into relief. Maybe it was reaction to the fire.
The source of the desire didn’t matter. She didn’t think the flames that’d been caused by the phoenix egg were any hotter than those burning in her pussy.
She pushed her hands between their bodies, but only so they could get to the front of his jeans. Need shuddered through him, making her feel powerful, gloriously feminine.
She opened his fly and grasped his satiny cock. Stroked.
Taine’s low moan was a rumbled growl, a hungry, desperate sound.
She slid to her knees and took him into her mouth.
“Fuck,” he panted. “Fuck.”
His hips jerked. A hand braced against her apartment door while the other grasped her hair.
She swirled her tongue around the tip of his cock and over it. Lapped, reveled in the sound of his ragged breathing and the buck of his hips.
She took him deeper. Bobbed. Sucked. And he alternated, one minute trying to pull her mouth from his shaft before he came and the next urging her to take him even deeper.
Pushing her hand between his thighs, she cupped his velvety sac, stroked the soft skin between balls and ass.
He shuddered. Made a desperate, growly sound.
His hand left her hair. He ripped off his shirt. Ripped his cock from her mouth and stripped with an urgency that had her doing the same.
Their clothes landed in a semi-circle around them. He jerked her against him, his mouth taking hers, his
hands gliding possessively over her back.
She hadn’t noticed the rough skin at his wrists before but it was there now. Instead of smooth texture, there was an erotic drag as he caressed her shoulders, swept lower.
Bumps rose along her spine and pleasure shivered into her pussy. His tongue thrust against hers aggressively.
A hand pushed between her legs and satisfaction radiated off him at finding her so wet.
He fucked his fingers into her channel. Pressed his thumb to her clit and it was her turn to moan in between gasps for breath.
Her hips rocked, driving his fingers deeper. She clenched on them. Needed more and the bed was suddenly too far away.
Her nails scraped over his muscled back. “Now damn it. Now.”
Taine kissed his way to her breast, his fingers still inside her, his thumb still pressing her clit.
He captured a nipple. Sucked hard and fast, sending wave after wave of shimmering heat into her pussy.
She canted hips. Widened her legs, still needing more.
He kissed his way to her pussy. Replaced his hand with his mouth and tongue.
Streaks of pleasure shot down her legs and curled her toes. She met each thrust of his tongue with a thrust of hips. Moaned with each stroke of his tongue over and around her clit.
Her hands gripped his hair, and this time she was the one alternating between trying to pull him away and trying to urge him to take more, to go deeper.
Every time she got close to release, he backed off, then immediately renewed his sensual assault. Her heart seemed to have divided and migrated. Or maybe it’d become a thundering fire that’d jumped containment lines and spread. It raged in her sex and her chest and in her head.
Between her legs, Taine lifted his head and that same fire burned fiercely in his eyes. Burned deeper inside her as he kissed his way back to her mouth and shared the taste of her arousal.
Her nails scraped over broad shoulders. Her tongue battled with his, demanding he finish what he’d started.
On a growl he jerked his mouth from hers, turned her to face the door. She bent forward, legs spread and breasts hanging free in a completely primitive offering.