Evidence of dragon fire. Evidence of Zane's protection.
They circled back to their suite, Zane hovering with remarkable control beside their balcony. She slid off carefully, her legs shaky as they hit solid ground. Then she watched, transfixed, as he transformed mid-air. The massive dragon form condensed, shifted, reformed into the man she knew. He landed on the balcony with casual grace, as if shape-shifting in mid-air was perfectly normal.
Wow.
His face was a mask of fury as he ushered her inside. Smoke was coming off of his body in waves, making their room smell a bit like a campfire.
"I'm alright," she told him. She placed her hand on his arm, and he froze. Beneath her palm, his skin radiated heat like a furnace, and she could feel the tremor of barely controlled rage running through him. "How did you do that? Not burn me up?" If she thought about it too hard, she might go crazy, so she was trying to remain calm. Logical. As if logic was possible at a time like this.
He huffed for a moment until his breathing evened out. "I was careful." But it felt like he wasn't saying something.
What wasn't he saying?
"What kind of shitshow is Judd running?" Zane growled. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, and she could see the effort it took not to punch something. "This place is supposed to be safe."
"They said something about a bounty. They scanned my face and confirmed my identity. It wasn't a mistake."
Fresh smoke curled from his shoulders, and his eyes flickered with actual flames. The temperature in the room jumped several degrees. "I'm going to kill them for touching you."
"I think you already did that."
"Not enough." The words came out more growl than speech. He paced the suite like a caged predator, every movement sharp with barely leashed violence. "They put their hands on you. Threatened you. I should have?—"
"You saved me." She kept her voice steady, soothing. Like talking to a spooked beast, except this particular beast could breathe fire. "That's what matters."
He stopped pacing, fixing her with those impossible eyes. The fury was still there, but underneath it, something else. Something that made her chest tight and her pulse skip.
They stood there for a moment. Then Zane seemed to pull himself together, the smoke dissipating as he regained control. He moved to the sofa, and after a beat, she joined him. Not touching, but close enough that she could feel his warmth.
"We need to tell Myles," said Mercy.
Zane grumbled when she said that name. Strange. "I'm sure he knows by now."
The adrenaline was fading, leaving her shaky and too aware of everything. Of how Zane's shirt stretched across his shoulders. Of the way his jaw tensed when he was thinking. Of how he'd roared her name across a beach and turned her attackers to ash without hesitation.
She'd never had anyone protect her like that. Never had anyone care enough to come running when she screamed. It was terrifying and wonderful and made her want things she couldn't have.
Because men like Zane didn't stay. They played hero for a while, enjoyed the thrill, then went back to their real lives. Their important lives that didn't include broke cargo pilots with more baggage than credits.
But the way he was looking at her now …
"Come home to Vemion with me," he said suddenly. "I can keep you safe there. No one will touch you."
"That's a nice offer, but from the sounds of it, no one would like it if you showed up with … me when you're supposed to be finding your own lady." She had to shut it down before she dared let herself dream.
His eyes flashed, and for a moment, she saw dragon fire in their depths. "I don't give a damn about that. Come with me. Let me protect you. Let me …" If he was going to say more, he thought better of it and trailed off.
Mercy wasn't sure how she was supposed to take that. It didn't sound like he was talking short term. It sounded like … she couldn't let herself think about what it sounded like.
Because thinking about it would mean acknowledging the way her heart hammered when he looked at her. Would mean admitting that when he'd spoken in her mind, it hadn't felt foreign or wrong or like some sort of hallucination.
It would mean accepting that she wanted to say yes. Wanted to follow this impossible dragon lord to his impossible world and let him keep her safe. Let him keep her.
This was insane. They'd known each other less than a week. Most of that time was spent running for their lives. She didn't do this. Didn't want people like this, with a desperation that clawed at her ribs and made rational thought impossible.
But when had anything about Zane been rational?
She crossed the couch and kissed him.
