Breath of Fire (Rena Drake)

by Liliana Hart

  And then there was the third reason. I wanted to get him naked.

  I was pacing in the front entryway by six o’clock on the dot, stepping around the rubble of the marble floors. My stomach wasn’t quite as settled as a woman’s of my experience should have been. It had been a long time since anyone besides my family had made me uncomfortable, but there was something about Noah that was an unsettling mix of comfort and pure terror.

  I heard the rumble of an engine approaching the house. I checked my lipstick one last time in the oval mirror to the left of the door and then slipped on my floor-length leather coat lined with fur. My toes would probably be frostbitten in the slinky black heels I’d decided to wear, but at least the rest of me would be warm. I shook off all my doubts, straightened my spine and walked out the front door.

  Night had already descended, and with it, the temperature. It wasn’t the kind of cold that pierced the body with each whip of the wind, but the kind that was still and silent and crept through the marrow of your bones until it settled so deep you thought you’d never be warm again.

  A black Jeep came into view. It was a sleek and sexy machine, with bulbous headlights and dark tinted windows, and I had the feeling it represented its owner much better than the beige Taurus he’d driven earlier that morning. I pulled the passenger door open before Noah had a chance to stop the car completely, and slid in.

  “In a hurry to see me?” he said by way of greeting, his smile making me a lot warmer in certain places than it should have. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist my charm.”

  I looked him over slowly from head to toe and saw his eyes darken with lust. He wore a charcoal suit and a crisp white shirt with no tie. His hair was just a little too shaggy for conventional standards, but it looked right on him.

  “Maybe,” I said and shrugged. “Or maybe it’s the fact that my brother is looking out his window at you right now, debating whether or not he should come down and interrogate you. He’s very protective.”

  “I suppose I should thank you for running interference. I’m not quite ready to meet your family yet. I think we need at least one more date first.”

  “Or a hundred,” I said under my breath. The last thing I ever wanted was for Noah to be subjected to my family dynamics. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “Nothing. Listen, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here.” I turned to face him in the seat, and my coat came open slightly, revealing the black lace on the top of my thigh-highs. His eyes tracked the movement, but he had the decency to raise his gaze to my eyes before he turned his attention back to the road. “This isn’t a date. The only reason I’m here right now is because there’s something off about you, and I can’t put my finger on it. Whatever it is, you won’t be able to keep it from me for long.”

  “I think you’re lying. That can’t be the only reason you came,” he said, eyebrows raised in disbelief, dimples winking.

  “You’re right,” I agreed. “I’m attracted to you, I’ll admit. But I have an agenda. I might also be able to use you.”

  His satisfied smirk faded with my answer. “At least you’re honest.”

  “It’s the exact reason you asked me to come in the first place, though I’m sure you felt the chemistry between us was a nice bonus. You must think I’m an idiot to not see through your charm and dimples to what you really want from me. This evening would probably go much smoother if we just cut the bullshit from the beginning and got down to business.”

  His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “I can certainly do that. As long as you’re willing to cooperate.”

  “It depends on what you ask of me. I’m willing to hear you out. That should be enough to satisfy you for now.”

  “You know, I didn’t have to extend the courtesy of giving you a choice in the matter. I could have come in with my badge and demanded you give me the information I wanted on these murders. Because I do have proof that you have information.” He took his eyes off the road briefly to give me a hard stare, and I felt the first dregs of anger form inside the pit of my stomach. “I could take you to headquarters with me and keep you there. And there’s nothing you could do about it.”

  “You could try to take me,” I said softly, afraid if I raised my voice it would unleash the beast I was trying so hard to control. “Threatening me is not the way to gain my cooperation.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of threatening you. I was just letting you know I could’ve handled things differently. Believe it or not, I have a great deal of respect for you, and I don’t have any intention of making your life harder than it already is.”

  There was nothing else he might have said that could’ve deflated my anger as quickly as that. Respect was something I got precious little of in my life. I took a deep breath and relaxed in my seat. We rode in silence for almost an hour before I became curious enough to ask where we were going.

  “There’s a restaurant at one of the bed and breakfasts in Greenville that has excellent food,” Noah finally said.

  He shifted uncomfortably in his seat before speaking again. “Look, I want to apologize for starting things off on the wrong foot. I think if you’ll give it a chance, you and I could benefit each other greatly. And I’ll be honest with you too. The attraction between us is more than an added bonus.” He gave me a long look. Gone was the frustration he’d had earlier, and in its place was an obvious yearning that made my breath catch in the back of my throat.

  “Why me?”

  “Two reasons. First, because you’ve seen every one of the crime scenes, and I want you to help me piece things together and give closure to the families who are missing their loved ones.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off before I could get a word out.

  “No, don’t deny that you’ve seen the bodies. I thought you wanted to start off our relationship with honesty?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, but didn’t bother to deny any longer.

  “Don’t you want to know the second reason?” he asked.

  “Not if it’s anything like the first reason.” He stared at me patiently, his mouth quirked slightly at one corner. Sometimes my attitude was a little abrasive for humans. “Sorry. What’s the second reason?”

  He skimmed his finger down my cheek and I had to fight to keep the heat of my body from raging out of control. “I want you,” he whispered. He moved his hand back to the steering wheel and turned his attention back to the road. The loss of his touch brought a moan just to the edge of my lips.

  I couldn’t control the longing that overtook my body. It had been so long since I’d been touched—since I’d wanted a man to touch me. I turned toward the window, deliberately slowing my pulse, and tried to figure out how I’d lost the upper hand.

  The miles of nothing but road and trees finally merged into civilization, and Noah turned into a dimly lit parking lot. He parked the Jeep in front of a three-story log cabin that had a wide wraparound porch with an assortment of rocking chairs.

  Noah came around to my side of the car and opened the door for me. He held out his hand, and I stared at it like it was a foreign object, trying to decide if I wanted to risk what seemed to happen to me every time we touched. He quirked a challenging brow at me, and I made sure my shields were as strong as I was capable of before I touched my hand to his. Nothing. Thank gods.

  I let go as soon as possible, and we walked side by side up a cobbled walkway lined with brass lanterns. They glowed a soft yellow against the dark and cast odd shadows across our feet as we passed by them. The front door was painted bright red and flanked by two big urns, spilling over the edges with ivy. The boards of the porch creaked under our feet.

  “Welcome,” an older woman said as we entered the cabin. Her voice was brittle with age, and the lines on her face were etched deeply. Her eyes were a milky shade of blue and her shoulders were stooped with arthritis. I thought not for the first time that it must suck
to be completely human.

  A row of brass hooks lined the wall, and she took our coats and hung them there.

  “Table for two, please,” Noah said. “Somewhere private if there’s room.”

  “Certainly. Right this way.”

  She led us to a table in the far corner. No one was seated around us, which I was grateful for, because I had a feeling dinner might get a little intense.

  “I’ll have a beer,” Noah told our server. “Whatever you have on tap will be fine.”

  “The same for me,” I said. Noah quirked his brow at my choice, but didn’t say anything. I guess I didn’t look like a beer drinker to him.

  “So,” he said once we were alone. “I want to get back to something you said earlier. Just how do you plan to use me?” The seductive glint was back in his eyes, and I laughed before I could control it. Noah Ford was different. I liked that in a man.

  “What are you?” I’d caught him by surprise just as the server brought back our drinks.

  “I beg your pardon?” he asked stiffly.

  “Ooh, you’re really good at that lord-of-the-manor voice. But I think it’s wasted on me. I want to know what you are,” I repeated, more serious this time. “No one who can block me like you did today can be without power.” I let the edge of violence I tried to keep contained around humans seep out, and he responded to it. Just not in the way I thought he would. His pupils grew large with desire and his foot bumped mine slightly under the table. Just the touch was as intense as any foreplay I’d ever experienced.

  “I’ll answer your question if you’ll answer one of mine first.”

  “Fine. Ask it.”

  He took my hand in his and held it loosely. I gasped in reaction to the touch, but it was purely physical this time. He’d kept his shields tight, but every stroke of his thumb against the inside of my wrist shot streaks of pleasure to my womb.

  “Did you ever know your mother?”

  The feelings of pleasure died a swift death. I tried to pull my hand out of his grasp just out of reflex, but his fingers tightened around my wrist and kept me captive. I didn’t know why, but my first instinct was to run and never look back.

  My anger was swift, and I could feel my inner dragon fire building within me. I’d never been able to manifest physical fire like many other dragons, but when I became angry, intense heat suffused my skin and my eyes flamed bright red.

  I looked down at the green trim of my napkin until I was sure the red was gone from my eyes. I listened closely to his heartbeat and slowed mine to match its pace. I stopped pulling against his hand and finally looked up at him, completely under control.

  “No.” I didn’t explain further, and he let it go. “Now answer my question. What are you?”

  “Much like you, I imagine.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “I’ve been known to see things. It’s why I was asked to join the FBI.”

  “You’re psychic.” Things were falling into place. It certainly made me feel better about why I couldn’t read him. “You must be very powerful to be able to block me.”

  “I don’t want to brag,” he said.

  We paused our conversation as the server took our order. Noah ordered lobster, and I ordered a steak—rare. No vegetables. No side dishes. Just meat. It was a point in his favor that he acted like my food choice was nothing out of the ordinary.

  “I believe it’s my turn to ask a question,” Noah said. I was ready for more probes about my mother or childhood, but instead he turned my question back on me and asked, “What are you? And I don’t mean psychic. I’ve been studying you a long time. And I mean a long time.”

  The implication wasn’t lost on me. “I think this conversation is getting too personal for my tastes. Why don’t we agree on a stalemate until we get to know one another a little better? I can’t be out too late tonight. I’ve got a plane to catch tomorrow.”

  “To Belgium, isn’t it?”

  I literally felt the color drain from my face. I scooted my chair back out of reflex—whether to flee or fight yet, I didn’t know. “How do you know that? I know you can’t read me. Are you working for him?”

  “For whom?” If Noah was pretending not to know who the Destroyer was then he was a damn fine actor.

  “Answer my question.”

  “I’ve already told you I work for the FBI. And no, I can’t read you, but your brother doesn’t have the ability to keep me out.”

  I felt the lie roll off his tongue with a rush of warm breath. Something he’d just said wasn’t the whole truth, but I wasn’t sure which part. “You’ve never even met my brother. How can you possibly know his thoughts?”

  “It’s foolish, Rena, don’t you think, to believe there aren’t others out there who have a multitude of abilities just like you and your family? And it’s ignorance to think there couldn’t be other species living in hiding or trying to blend in just as you and your family do.”

  The sickly sweet scent of fear crept over my skin and clung to it like rancid honey. I knew there were other Realms out there, but as far as I knew the Drakán were the only ones inhabiting the Earth. If what he said was true then we might have a whole other battle on our hands.

  “What do you want from me?” I asked.

  Our food was delivered quickly and quietly, and our server scurried away. She’d have to be an idiot not to feel the undercurrents of violence at our table. My food sat in front of me, but I’d found I’d lost my appetite.

  He gave me a look of what could almost be pity. “Believe it or not, Rena, I’m not here to hurt you. I’d like to help you. And I think you might be able to help me. Though we’re approaching this from two different sides, we ultimately have the same goal.”

  “I don’t like working with anyone. Just ask my assistant.”

  “You might not have a choice this once. There’s always someone higher up on the food chain we have to answer to. I know that just as well as you do. If not better.”

  Boy, wasn’t that the truth. I thought of Alasdair and of what my future held for me. My prospects were pretty bleak. And where did Noah fit in?

  “Let’s assume I could use your help,” I said. “What are you going to contribute?”

  “Two hunters are always better than one. And I’m a good hunter.” He lowered his shields enough for me to see exactly what he wanted me to see. Violence lurked beneath his handsome exterior, and the thrill of the hunt and the pleasure it brought him rode on the crashing waves of death.

  He rebuilt his shields quickly, and I hunched over the table, gasping for air. The need for flesh and blood was strong, and I had to close my eyes and focus with every power I had to keep the rush of fluttering heartbeats from the innocents around us from overpowering me.

  Noah gave me a knowing look, and I realized he had hold of my hand once again, rubbing erotic circles over my tender flesh. My loins throbbed in time with each touch, and I hated myself for wanting a man who seemed to know my secrets while I still knew nothing about him. Dragon lust was a powerful emotion. Almost as strong as the power of flesh and blood.

  “I can also keep the FBI off our trails until these bastards are caught,” he said as an afterthought.

  “I don’t even know what you really are. Why should I trust you enough to let you help me?” If he noticed that I’d said he’d be helping me instead of the other way around, he chose not to mention it.

  “You’ve got good instincts. What does your gut tell you?”

  I took a moment to look at him. Really look at him. Yes, he was handsome. As handsome as any man I’d ever seen, and in our race there wasn’t a shortage of handsome men to choose from. Noah gave off pheromones that every woman in the near vicinity could pick up on. It didn’t matter what age they were. They all watched him with hunger in their eyes.

  He moved with a gracefulness that belied his size. Most large men didn’t move like big dangerous cats. He was a predator, but there was something about him that was genuine. He obviously believed
in justice, whether it came by human laws or his own sense of right and wrong, I didn’t know. But I knew that like always recognized like, and I got the sense that Noah and I were very much alike in the ways that counted. This was more comforting to me than any of his other qualities.

  “I need time to think about this,” I finally said. “I’m leaving tomorrow to get some answers. I’ll contact you if I need help.”

  “Oh, you’ll need help all right. I’m sure of it. Even you think you’re going there to die.”

  “Stay out of my brother’s head. Our lives are personal, and if I for one second believe you’re a threat to my family, I’ll kill you, no matter how much you intrigue me.”

  “You can certainly try.” He got out his wallet and laid a bunch of bills on the table.

  The tension between us was thick, and I was in tune to his every movement, just as I knew he was in tune with mine. My senses slowed and sharpened. The colors were brighter. The smell of danger, and to a lesser extent, want, was more potent. There had always been a fine line for me between danger and lust, and the dragon in me wanted so badly to conquer the male that dared to challenge me. But my damned human blood kept things more rational.

  I felt my magic rise along my skin, tingling along my scalp and down my arms. I closed my eyes and called the power that brought my visions, searching for something that could give me hope for my future. A glimpse of what might become of me with the threat of the Destroyer hanging over my head. But for the first time in five hundred years, there was absolutely nothing to see. Just blackness. All of a sudden, it was just too much. Everything was too much.

  I pushed back from the table and didn’t care that I tipped the chair over, or that others were staring. I just had to get out. To breathe. I grabbed my coat from the rack but didn’t put it on as I slammed out into the cold. It had started to sleet, and the white flecks of ice were bright against the blackness of the night. I ignored the icy wetness that pricked at my cheeks and trudged toward the car.