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Getting up, she moved closer, studying the fire in his palm. “That doesn’t burn you?”
“No, but it’ll hurt others just like real fire. It doesn’t affect me because I created it. If I were to create a tornado, I could stand in the middle and not even feel a breeze from it.”
“That’s amazing. I can’t imagine being able to do something like that.”
Letting the fire die away, he shrugged as she moved to sit back down. “When it first started developing, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and I played with my abilities constantly. I guess as I got older, it became commonplace, just something I could do. Not all shifter gifts are as powerful as that, though. Some are pretty normal. Like Justin’s. His is the ability to go without sleep.”
She smiled ruefully. “That seems pretty amazing to me. Working two jobs and going to school means I don’t have as much time to study as I’d like. And that also means I have no life, because most of my spare time is spent studying.”
“You’re pretty amazing, you know that, right?”
“What? Why?”
“Because you have a dream and you’re not afraid to work for it. You even turned down a full ride because you wanted to do it yourself. You convinced me to bring you back here, where you’re in danger, just to help my cousin. And I just told you something that most would either not believe and they’d think I’m nuts, or they’d run screaming away from me as fast as they could go. And yet here you sit, calmly asking me questions about it. You’re sweet, kind, smart, talented, and you have a big heart. I can’t believe you don’t see for yourself just how amazing you are.”
Her cheeks pinkened with a blush as she glanced down at her hands. “I’m just doing what anyone else would do.”
He shook his head as she glanced back up, meeting his gaze. “No. You’re not. Trust me on that.”
“Well, whether I am or not, thank you for those words. I’m not really going after my dream, though. That’s art. I’m just going after an occupation that gives me a good chance of using my dream in some small way.”
“Either way, you’re doing everything you can to achieve your goal, so my words still stand.”
She smiled, ducking her head, and his heart felt so full as he gazed at her. He was still in awe that she was his mate, and he didn’t think the feeling would fade any time soon. He’d imagined what his mate would be like over the years, if he was lucky enough to find her, but he couldn’t have dreamed up a woman as gorgeous and amazing as Katia.
His imagination just wasn’t good enough for that.
Neither was mine, his dragon whispered inside him. She’s so much more than I expected.
He and his animal had always been in accord, but never more than in that moment, as he watched the woman he was falling for.
Did he maybe even love her already? He’d never been in love before, so he couldn’t be sure. But his gut said if he wasn’t fully there yet, he was very close. And it didn’t bother him at all.
He couldn’t imagine anything better than loving her—unless it was her loving him back.
Chapter Seven
Katia brushed her still damp hair back from her face, biting her lip as she concentrated on her newest sketch. Colton was taking his turn in the shower, and she was hoping to get this finished before he got out.
Pausing, she studied the image, wondering how close she’d gotten it. To one side was Colton, standing with his arms crossed, cowboy hat perched on his head and a grin on his face. On the other, she was drawing his dragon—or at least what he looked like in her head.
It was still a little mind blowing that he was a shifter, and his animal was a dragon, of all things. But it fascinated her. She thought if anyone else had told her that, she wouldn’t have believed them in a million years, or if she had, she would have been scared out of her mind.
But she immediately believed him, and she hadn’t been a bit scared of him after learning what he was. It was a little ironic, though. The mafia was a group that very definitely existed and was real, but she never believed her uncle when he told her stories. Yet Colton told her that he was a supernatural being who shared his body with a dragon, and she never once questioned it.
Maybe it was because she’d seen his eyes change for herself. She’d known before he told her that there was something different about him. After all, normal humans didn’t have pupils that elongated.
It probably went a long way in making her so certain he was telling the truth, but she thought even if she hadn’t seen it, she still might believe him. She knew in her bones that he was an honest man, and he wouldn’t lie to her about something like that.
If she’d had any doubts, though, seeing his gift would have wiped them clean. Man, what a gift! Controlling the elements would be amazing. Pausing in the middle of finishing off one of the dragon’s horns, she quickly sketched a tornado behind Colton, nodding when she saw it all together.
She was just finishing the horn when she heard the shower shut off. Gazing at the image one more time, satisfaction filled her and she smiled as she closed the sketchbook and put it on the bedside table.
A few moments later, he walked out of the bathroom, and she swallowed hard as she adjusted the glasses she was wearing. He was once again in just a pair of low riding pajama bottoms, and his skin was still a little damp.
How was it possible that a man could be as good looking at him? She hadn’t thought it could be, outside of the movies and magazines.
He glanced at her, eyebrows raising and a slow smile curling his lips up. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”
