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Warrick swatted his mate’s backside, which made her laugh. Tevryn could not contain his own amusement.
“Sure, just wait until you have Delaney in your arms, and she decides to get sarcastic and funny.”
Dani put her mug on the island, turned in Warrick’s embrace and brought her arms up around his neck. “I thought you liked it when I got sassy.”
“I do, but more so when we are alone.”
“You once told me Tevryn was your closest friend.”
“He is, which is why I wish him well in his pursuit of his eternal flame.” Warrick leaned down and kissed Dani with a restrained passion. Raising his face from hers, he looked over her head at Tevryn. “Difficult, obstinate, and intelligent makes for a disarming mixture when combined with beauty and spirit. But well worth whatever price you must pay.”
“Good to know. A little late, as I believe I have already succumbed to her intoxicating essence. I have to protect her. When I saw that dragon bearing down on her with the sun at his back, I feared I would not be fast enough to protect her.”
“I understand, brother, we will ensure your mate is kept safe. Dani’s going to reach out to some deep cover people she knows and ask about Whistler.”
Tevryn nodded. “Thank you. I just can’t shake the feeling that he knows more than he’s telling Delaney. But she wants this project he’s offering her, and I understand why. I’ll just need to ensure I’m always close to her.”
“Do you think he set her up?” asked Dani, laughing when both dragons looked at her. “Look, I’m a cop. It’s how I think. He had no idea you were going to be with her. Maybe he thinks she’s the key to whatever it is he has planned.”
“You don’t like him either,” said Tevryn.
“No, and on a variety of levels. He sets off every one of my spidey senses and I truly believe absolute power and/or money corrupts absolutely. He has way too much of both. If there’s something nefarious going on, my money’s on Whistler having something to do with it.”
Tevryn looked at Warrick. “Agreed. There’s something off about the guy, and I’ve never known Dani to be wrong.”
“I’m going to get dressed and head over to Delaney’s. Dani, I’d appreciate anything you can find, and Warrick?” The dragon looked at him. “Keep monitoring Whistler.”
“I will, and to that end, he’s on the move, and while I can’t know for sure, my guess is he, too, is headed to Issaquah. Why don’t you grab a couple of bugs and plant them in strategic locations in that house and at least get a tracker on Delaney’s phone. If she’s at her home, I can get her office bugged, as well.”
“You two do know this is all illegal as hell, right?” said Dani with a wry grin.
“Baby, if you think our biggest issue would be with illegal bugs, you haven’t been paying attention,” teased Warrick.
Tevryn shook his head and left the two of them smooching in the kitchen while he pulled on his clothes and headed out to his SUV to get to Issaquah as quickly as he could. He knew time was of the essence, so called a florist he had seen in Issaquah and ordered a dozen kaleidoscope roses that Delaney had mentioned she loved. He parked in front of the florist, paid for the flowers he’d ordered as well as another arrangement to be delivered to Lucy’s office, and headed to Delaney’s.
He pulled into Delaney’s driveway just as Whistler exited from her house. He was filled with an almost murderous rage, but managed to suppress it as he got out of his vehicle and headed to the front door, deliberately shoulder checking Whistler as he passed him. Whistler clearly wasn’t expecting a show of dominance and territory, but he recognized it for what it was. Tevryn was glad that a trained police officer agreed with him that there was something about Whistler that just rubbed the wrong way. He couldn’t point at any one thing, but the guy made his skin crawl, and that was difficult to accomplish with a dragon.
Tevryn considered if it was because he’d sent Delaney up into the isolated Winds by herself, and she was attacked by an unknown and presumably rogue dragon. Or was the dragon rogue? True, he was unknown to the Phantom Fire, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a powerful clan behind him. Something was definitely suspect about the entire incident.
When he knocked on the door, Delaney was quick to open it and throw her arms around him. “Glad to see me?” he quipped.
She released her hold and stepped back as if she’d been burnt. What had Whistler said to her? No matter, he knew his mate. Setting the flowers on the entry table, he pulled her back into his arms, capturing her mouth in a fiery kiss that ignited a passion in him like no other. He understood now why a dragon’s soulmate was called his eternal flame—he burned for her in a way he never had before.
There was a bit of resistance before she surrendered to his dominance and seductiveness and melted into him, kissing him back with a fiery response of her own.
“I missed you,” she said, almost sadly, as she stepped back. “The flowers are lovely and of course you remembered they were my favorite.”
“I ran into Whistler on the way in. I don’t like you being alone with him. What did he want?”
“Jealous?” she asked with an edge to her voice as she raised her eyebrow in warning.
“No. I trust you completely. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw this house. So possessive, territorial, and overly protective I might be, but never jealous.”
Her face relaxed in a smile. “Good answer. He was here as he had a question about the site. I had to remind him that I didn’t have a chance to find the exact spot or get a good look.”
Tevryn wondered why she was, if not outright lying to him, being evasive or playing a bit loose with the truth. He decided to trust that she would tell him if he just reminded her that she could trust him and that he would take care of her.
“Did he apologize for sending you up there alone?”
