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“You’re welcome to say no for yourself, Julian. You are not allowed to say no for me. I am the Enforcer. It is my job to kill those who break our laws, and I will see this through.”
“Then you will die.”
“So be it. At least I’ll die with honor instead of cowering in a corner protecting my hoard.”
I knew I’d gone too far. The pale blue of his eyes turned red around the rims and black smoke curled out his nostrils.
“No, you will not die a coward. But you will die a fool. I’ve heard enough of this talk.”
Julian had moved closer without me realizing it. Before I could issue a protest, he touched the back of his hand to my neck. The gentleness of the touch was completely at odds with his obvious anger. And then the bottom dropped out of my world.
His lips found mine in a scorching kiss that left no doubt of the power that raged through him. My eyes closed, and colors swirled behind my eyelids. My power sought his and embraced it. The two magics melded together, so I couldn’t tell where mine began and his ended. I went blind with the intensity, so my other senses took over—touch and texture the only things that were important.
His mouth was open and hot on mine, as hot as any fire I’d ever created. A moan came from somewhere, and I assumed it was mine when Julian gave a triumphant laugh and changed the angle of the kiss.
When our tongues touched a blue flame erupted around us—a swirling flame of such intense heat it should have burned us to ash. But we sustained the heat and fed its hunger, both of us desperate to merge and make the fire whole—a living, breathing power that would have been ours to control. I needed to be a part of him more than I needed to breathe, more than I needed to be.
“No,” I said, and tore myself away. I thought of Noah and his vision. What was I doing?
“Not exactly what a man wants to hear when making love to a woman.”
The blue flame began to ebb as I broke our connection, but I could still see the inferno blazing in his eyes and knew that if I were to look in a mirror I would see a matching gaze. I watched in awe as the flame snuffed itself out and left me cold.
“Get away from me,” I said as I scrambled back as far as the chaise would allow. “What do you think you’re doing?” My breath was unsteady, heaving in and out rapidly from my lungs. “What was that? What just happened?”
“I kept my end of the bargain,” he said much more steadily. “We agreed on a kiss.”
I was angry because he was obviously not as affected by the results of the kiss as I was. Before I could stop myself tears came to my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I cried, and I wasn’t about to start now. I blinked rapidly to stop the tears from falling.
I looked down and noticed for the first time we were both naked, our clothes disintegrated by the flame.
“That was more than just a kiss,” I said, struggling to breathe.
“Perhaps,” he said arrogantly, his face giving away nothing.
“It will not happen again.”
“Perhaps not.”
“I came here to find out what’s happened to our people. And I will do whatever it takes to see that whoever is involved is stopped. No matter what you say, I don’t believe you are completely innocent in all this. You know too much and are sharing too little. Petyr might have been right when he said your time of power was coming to an end.”
“And who’s going to defeat me, Rena? You? A Drakánso desperate to turn her back on her dragon that she doesn’t recognize a mating fire when she sees one?”
He was right. I had no idea what had just happened between us other than the fact it scared me. “Stay away from me, or I’ll kill you.”
“Would the human in you allow you to kill a man who was your lover?” he asked smugly.
“You’ve already made it very clear that you’re a monster, not a man. I won’t forget it next time.”
I turned and walked away, my anger so great I didn’t realize I was trapped in Julian’s dream world. I ignored his taunting laughter, but against my better judgment I turned and looked at him when he called my name.
“I’ve changed my mind about the nightgown,” he said. “I’ve decided I don’t prefer my choice after all.”
The words hit me like a slap to the face. My pride was already damaged and now my self-esteem and ego were following close behind it. I held my chin up and began to turn around again, not bothering to reply.
You are splendid just as you are, he whispered in my mind.And next time, lifemate, your cowardice will not stop me from taking what’s mine. You are bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh, and you are a worthy opponent. Run while you can.
I followed his advice. I ran until I couldn’t any longer—until the walls of Julian’s dream world disappeared, and I was left running through the thick blackness of night itself, alone in a place between this world and the next.
