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I wanted those clothes off. I wanted him on the bed, over me, inside me. Iwanted—
What thehellwas Idoing?
I wrenched myself away from Marco. My body protested so sharply it felt as if I’d literally torn us apart. Marco let his hand drop to his side. He watched me with heavy-lidded eyes, no judgment or accusation inthem.
He was a stranger. I’d met him just a few hours ago. After he’d pretty much had me kidnapped. Obviously all this supernatural talk had addled mybrain.
AndIwas the one who’d kissedhim.
My face flushed again, with embarrassment this time. And maybe some lingering desire. It wasn’t as if I’d stopped wanting him just because common sense had kickedin.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice rough. “I didn’t mean to— I don’t know if this is normal for shifters, but it’s not normal forme.”
“You draw the lines, Princess of Flames,” he said. “I’m happy to take whatever you feel ready to give, but when you say stop, we stop.” He tilted his head toward the bed. “Why don’t you get that rest I’m sure you’ll need? We’ve still got a long way togo.”
Chapter 7
Ren
We were standingin a private cabin on a train—my mother and me. The floor hitched under my feet, and the window was rattling. We were racing far, far away. Far from the bad thing that still had my chest twisted tight, even as I tried not to think aboutit.
My mother knelt down to my eye level and cupped my cheek. Her eyes were wild as a stormysky.
“Listen to me, Serenity,” she said in a choked voice. “Somewhere deep down, where no one else can touch it, you need to remember you’re a dragon.Alwaysremember.”
I blinked at her with a childish confusion. “Of course I’ll remember, Mama. I can’tnotbe adragon.”
A sad smile curved her lips. “Oh, darling. For a little while, I need you to forget. At least on the surface. But you’re right. You’ll never notbe.”
She raised her hands and pressed her palms to my temples. Darkness swirled into my head. The scenepivoted.
I was running with my mother through a forest, her hand clasped tight around mine. So tight it hurt. My breath stung in my throat. My lungs ached. I tripped on a root, and she heaved me up in an instant. We ran and ranand—
I was crouched behind the big vase in the front hall, listening for girlish laughter. My heart thumped giddily. This time I’d be the last one found. This time I’d be the queen of hide-and-seek. They might be older than me, butI—
I was sitting in the grass, sweet clover scent filling my nose, laughter in my throat. A shape streaked by through the clear blue sky above me. Brilliant bronze scales, like her eyes. The flap of massive wings sending a comforting breeze over me. I clapped my handstogether.
“Mama!”
My eyes popped open, back in the present. I stared at the wall across from me for a second as the dream faded and the real world came back into focus. Gold flowers winding through mint-green wallpaper. A velvet bedspread tucked under my chin. A sinfully soft mattress cradling mybody.
Memories rushed in. Marco’s house. The four shifters. Nate transforming into a bear. West’s snarking. Aaron’s careful explanations. All the things they’d told me. My failed attempt atshifting.
Nate’s lips brushing my forehead. Marco’s pressed hard againstmine.
I sat up in the bed, heat washing over me. Yep, that had all been real. And I was stillhere.
My gaze shot to the window. The daylight was even paler than it had been in the morning, but it was streaming in at the same angle. As if it were morningagain.
God, had I slept through half a day and then the entire night? All those dreams spinning mearound...
I paused, my fingers curling into the bedspread. No, those hadn’t been just dreams, had they? I felt the truth of them like an ache in the base of my throat. Those had been as real as those room. Real memories, from when I was a little girl. From before Mom and I had come to thecity.
From when I’d known I was a dragon. When I’d seen her, soaring above me, like she was meantto.
The four alphas had been telling the truth. Mom had locked away my memories. She’d practically admitted to me she was going to do it before shehad.
I was a dragon. I was adragon.
