Dragon's Flame

by Jory Strong

  He hardened further, pressed against her, the sheathed spur in his shaft so close to emerging that it made his cock head throb. He bit again, sucked, wanted to leave a mark but headed the warning in her slight stiffening.

  He had plenty of time to convince her that an eternity of being mated to him was what she wanted—no, needed. Now that they were no longer strangers, there was no rush. Now that they were together like this, he didn’t have to worry about setting pesky fires or getting booted into the dragon realm and having to drag an unprepared, possibly unwilling mate with him.

  He kissed Saffron’s neck. Wanted her again. Needed her again.

  Pride purred through him. He was absolutely in control of the situation. He’d proven to himself that he could make love to her without bonding himself to her. When they did bond, it’d be by choice.

  His mouth reached her ear and he sucked the lobe into his mouth, nearly panted at the press and rub of smooth buttocks against his shaft.

  He thrust his tongue into her ear and her moan brought a flare of fierce, possessive desire.

  Her nipple stabbed against his palm. He hadn’t spent nearly enough time admiring her breasts. But then centuries would not be enough time to adequately worship any given part of his mate.

  He fucked his tongue into her ear, closed his eyes as the press and rub of her buttocks created another surge of pleasure. The only thing better would be getting inside her.

  He rolled them and she went onto her elbows and knees. “Condom.”

  His need was too great to waste time trying to convince her to relent.

  He put on one of the cursed things, lips pulling back in a snarl since she wasn’t looking. A snarl that disappeared when he touched his cock head to her opening, slid inside her and shuddered at the exquisite pleasure.

  “Perfect.” It came out a rumbled, purring sound.

  He remained upright on his knees despite the white heat coalescing in his head. His hands cupped Saffron’s hips and his gaze went to the place their bodies were joined.

  Glorious tribute to the ancestor who’d first managed the human form. If not for that dragon, this wouldn’t be possible.

  Saffron rocked backward, forward, backward, forward, and more white heat gathered in Taine’s head as she fucked herself on his cock, tormented him with the hot, snugness of her channel.

  His nostrils flared. He inhaled, taking in the scent of sex. Exhaled, sending a stream of controlled fire that was more magic than reality to lick along her spine.

  She shivered, clamped on his cock, sending an answering fire straight up his spine.

  The spurs at his wrist threatened to emerge.

  Not wanting to tempt fate, he released her hips in favor of covering her upper body with his, only barely managed to keep himself from biting the place where her shoulder met her neck.

  Each thrust was accompanied by a word.

  I.

  Am.

  In.

  Control.

  It was his mantra.

  I.

  Am.

  In.

  Control.

  It would remain his mantra though his mate challenged that control.

  He closed his eyes, pleasure shuddering through him as beneath him her breathing quickened.

  She met him thrust for thrust, drove him deeper as if she was aware of the sheathed spur in his shaft and the ecstasy that would be hers when it emerged. As if despite her demand that he wear a condom, she wanted to be filled by his semen.

  His breathing matched hers, was interspersed by growls that were clearly recognizable to other dragons. Each one of them the equivalent of a roared Mine!

  He plunged into his mate faster, harder. Kissed her neck, her shoulder, couldn’t stop himself from taking her delicate skin between his teeth when she cried out and clamped down on his cock in a merciless demand to join her in release.

  Resistance wasn’t an option. And there was no reason to attempt it, not when surrender was ecstasy.

  He came in a rush of searing heat. It pulsed through his shaft and raced up his spine to explode in his head.

  And even then, he didn’t want to pull out of Saffron’s channel. Might not have left her body at all except for his cellphone going off, sending Who Let the Dogs Out blaring through the townhouse.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Saffron said, sounding very much the disgruntled mate.

  Taine smiled against her shoulder, hoped he would still be able to smile when she discovered the passion mark that was also a No Trespassing warning left on her skin.

  “Duty calls,” he said, blood rushing to restore his erection even as he was forced to pull out of his mate’s body.

  Crew’s ring tone he could ignore. Gaige’s ring tone he could ignore. Kellen’s ring tone he could ignore. Maksim’s ring tone could not be ignored.

  Chapter 5

  Who Let the Dogs Out grew louder as Taine padded to where he’d rid himself and his mate of clothing.

  Reaching the front door, he fished the phone from his jeans. With sirens screaming in the background, Maksim said, “Fire. Check your damn messages for where to go. Crew said he’d texted more than once.”

  Oops. But a dragon claiming his mate was entitled to leeway.

  The call ended. Like all his kind, once he got close to the fire, he’d easily sense its exact location.

  That the fire was related to the supernatural was a given. He huffed, sending smoke toward the ceiling like a signal. Then huffed again, taking care that the expelled fire didn’t actually touch anything flammable.

  He did not want to leave his mate. But if he had to—which he did—at least he had the satisfaction of having her here, wallowing in his bed, surrounded by his scent and the scent of their lovemaking.

  He returned to the bedroom and was mesmerized by the sight of Saffron standing, stretching, her curves and beautiful body on display. When he returned to the dragon realm, he’d toss a handful of diamonds into the sea’s deep waters as a tribute to the ancestor who’d first managed to acquire a human form.

  “Was that a callout?” Saffron asked, arms dropping to her sides rather than crossing and shielding her gorgeous breasts with their dark nipples.

  “Unfortunately.” The answer was growled aggravation, an aggravation that increased when his mate said, “Give me a lift home?”

  “You could stay.”

  “No.” A wall wasn’t more solid than that single word.

  His chest tightened the same way it had seconds before he’d inadvertently torched each of the sports cars. He didn’t know how long it would be before he saw her again.

  “Okay if I borrow a shirt?”

  Instantly the tightness in his chest eased. He motioned toward the closet. “Help yourself.”

  She chose a short-sleeved, light blue button-down. Slipped it on and slowly did up the buttons, hiding her delectable body from sight—but not from touch.

  He pulled her against him, pushed his hands beneath the shirt and cupped sleek buttocks. “The loan isn’t interest-free.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. ”Didn’t expect it to be. When you collect the shirt, I’ll pay up.”

  His mouth covered hers. He speared his tongue through parted lips and was instantly engulfed in pleasure.

  Minutes went by as they kissed. He would have preferred hours.

  Finally he lifted his mouth from hers.

  “You need to get on the road,” she said.

  He did. But at least she was leaving his place covered by his shirt and his scent. And there was no doubt about what would happen when they saw each other again.

  Tugging at the thin gold chain at her neck, he fished the charm out from beneath his shirt and fisted it in his hand to gauge the magic.

  “My sister, Sabra, gave it to me.”

  “Is she the reason you were at the supernatural fair?” He managed, barely, to keep the growl from his voice at remembering the blond she’d hugged and kissed.

  “No. I
promised Lia I’d go with her, though I did get a deck of cards for Sabra.”

  She leaned in, brushed her lips over his and sent a wave of heat straight to his cock. “Lia saw you with the other two agents. She called the three of you a glorious trifecta. Any chance one of those guys is looking for a serious girlfriend?”

  Taine snorted. The mere possibility of it would make Crew and Gaige run in the opposite direction. “Not a chance.”

  “Too bad. So as an IRE agent, what’s your verdict? Is the charm my sister gave me fake? Or real?”

  “Real.” But not nearly strong enough to keep Saffron safe from the perils in this realm.

  He kissed her again though prolonging his departure added to his resistance to leaving her at all.

  Moments passed before he could force himself to let her go. He dressed then drove her home in a black sedan owned by IRE. Now that they were together, it’d probably be safe to replace the torched Maserati.

  When he pulled to a stop in front of her apartment building, she huffed in a very dragon-like way. “What else did you find in the Homeland files?”

  Oops. That wasn’t how he knew where she lived but he could hardly admit that after first catching her scent on the beach and following it to her, he’d followed her here. Snooped into her life only enough to know that she fought fires and that he didn’t need to fight another male for her affection.

  “I didn’t invade your privacy.” He leaned forward, brushed a kiss against her lips. “It’s far more interesting to learn about you in person.”

  “Good. What the hell does Supernatural Ops do anyway?”

  “That’s a conversation for another time.” He kissed her, longer, more thoroughly, hating the impending separation though he couldn’t prevent it. “I’ll call you. Give me your number.”

  A minute later he reluctantly drove away. The familiar tightness returned to his chest with each mile. It was worse than before.

  He likened the sensation to a bellows. But instead of feeding air into a fire as his chest compressed, it squeezed flame toward an inevitable eruption.

  He countered the tightness with deep breaths, achieving mixed results. Each inhalation captured Saffron’s scent, bringing remembered pleasure. Each exhale ratcheted up the instinctual need to claim and possess—and the fear that she’d be lost to him before they could bond.

  He countered that fear by telling himself the situation was under control. She was home and safe. For the next two days she’d be off duty.

  He’d deal with this callout and then get back to the business of becoming an essential part of Saffron’s life. There was no cause for worry.

  “I am in control of the situation.”

  He said it, but couldn’t quite shake the pesky feeling that it wasn’t completely true.

  “That’s because she’s a troublesome kind of mate,” he muttered. And it didn’t help that Crew and Gaige had cast doubt on his ability to control the course of his courtship.

  Miles away from the fire he felt its call and sped toward it. Its power drove back thoughts of his mate.

  The show of his badge allowed him beyond a San Diego Police Department roadblock. He pulled the sedan behind the one Crew leaned against, his arms crossed.

  In front of them, a house and four warehouses were already fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters were battling to save three other warehouses and keep the fire from spreading.

  Taine joined Crew, who said, “Sorcerers, why don’t they ever learn?”

  The origins of this fire had been a major magical working, that much was easily readable. “The question is, does this mean the spell was successful? Or something went hugely wrong?”

  “Either way, it’s going to keep us busy.”

  Crew was right, whether screw-up or a step toward a bigger goal, this was going to keep him away from Saffron and delay their bonding. Wispy tendrils of smoke escaped with Taine’s carefully released breath.

  “Things not go well with your mate when you happened to encounter her on the beach?” Crew asked.

  “Things went exceedingly well,” Taine said, allowing his voice to hold a purr.

  “Really? Where there’s smoke, there’s going to be fire. And fire is something you can’t afford.” Crew’s eyebrows lifted. ”Unless Maksim has rescinded his threat?”

  Purr turned to growl.

  “Didn’t think so.”

  Snatched moments of time and cellphone texts wouldn’t be enough to counter need and fear and a dragon’s possessive nature. Knowing that another incident was inevitable if he remained separated from Saffron, Taine scanned the area for Maksim.

  Another fire engine arrived, its siren blaring. Given the magical origins of this fire, it was entirely possible there would be additional fires, fires that could well put Saffron in danger.

  Taine held his breath rather than risk exhaling fire. He couldn’t allow his mate to be at risk any more than he could allow days of separation.

  He spotted Maksim, on scene because like Gaige, he had some ability to manipulate the elements and subtly assist the firefighters.

  If it were left to Taine, he’d fight fire with fire. But that was too overt in a world where the revelation that supernatural beings existed was only slowly being allowed to emerge.

  The last thing any of them wanted was for humans to take up arms against them and turn this portal world into a dangerous place to pass through or visit.

  Taine inhaled, took in a lungful of smoke that wasn’t his own and joined his boss.

  “You take care of the situation with your mate?” Maksim asked.

  “It’s under control.”

  Maksim’s unwavering stare forced Taine to add, “At the moment.”

  “At the moment isn’t good enough. Whatever happened here, it’s bad—bad beyond all the damage this fire is doing.”

  “My mate is with the San Diego Fire Department. She could be temporarily transferred to IRE.”

  “Just to IRE?”

  “No, to me.” The thought of her being paired with another male meant a fight to keep from exhaling flame. “You could suggest that this is the beginning of the trouble, that there will be more fires and having someone familiar with fighting them serving alongside us would be helpful.”

  “That’s a thin excuse.”

  “You’ve got the necessary pull in the human world.”

  One of the warehouses flared, the firefighters losing the battle to keep it from becoming fully engulfed. “I’ll make the call. What’s her name?”

  “Saffron Greene.” The purr was back in Taine’s voice.

  Maksim shook his head and sighed. “You didn’t even last a half century in this world before getting shackled.”

  * * * *

  Saffron’s morning went completely sideways with her cellphone’s ring. Thirty minutes later her pulse was still thrumming.

  The doors to the fire station were open, two gleaming red engines sat side by side in separate bays. She parked her red Corolla along the curb instead of in the lot. Gave herself a pep talk then got out and entered the station through the bay on the right.

  A couple of guys she knew waved a greeting and asked her what gave. She managed to sound normal when she answered, “Nothing big,” though she could count on one finger the times she’d been summoned to the battalion chief’s office, and that was counting today.

  The egg sandwich that’d been breakfast gave the churn in her stomach something to work with, threatening to add queasiness to an erratic heartbeat and sweaty palms.

  A burning building, no problem. She was on it, confident without being overconfident because overconfidence killed. But a summons here, leaping over Captain O’Neal…

  Nothing about this could be good. But she couldn’t think of anything she’d mishandled on the job. She was good at what she did, and damn proud to be with the SDFD.

  She reached the stairway and climbed, still casting about for a reason for the summons.

  Maybe this had something to do wit
h the rescue on the beach?

  It was always possible someone had caught it on video and posted it. But it seemed more likely that’d result in a phone call from her own captain, or if there was publicity to be gained, someone higher up than Battalion Chief Kurt Mieger.

  She’d be standing in front of City Hall if this was politically motivated. Right?

  Jesus, she hated politics. Tried to stay as far away from political situations as possible.

  This couldn’t be politics. The summons had included permission to appear wearing street clothes.

  She entered the hallway, her heart banging harder and faster. She felt like a kid on her way to the principal’s office, not that she had much experience with trouble. That’d been her brother Dashon’s role when they were kids.

  She neared the Battalion Chief’s open doorway, rubbed her palms against her jeans. Get it over with she told herself, then stepped into his office.

  Battalion Chief Mieger looked up and put the paper he was holding down. He had craggy features and piercing blue eyes, blond hair that was shading to gray though he was still a man’s man. Someone who could join the fire line and hold it.

  He waved her to a chair in front of his desk. The red padding made her think hot seat.

  She sat. He leaned back in his chair like a guy wanting to distance himself from disgrace. “What’d you do to draw the attention of Homeland Security and IRE in particular?”

  Saffron flushed hot but couldn’t exactly answer, Slept with one of their agents.

  Her thoughts pinged from the callout to the supernatural fair to the beach.

  Tell him about one of the encounters with Taine? All of them?

  Admit to all three and the personal involvement with Taine was going to come out. Not that it should matter but…

  She’d worked too damn hard to have her career and her reputation tanked because she’d gotten laid.

  “I didn’t know I had drawn the attention of IRE,” she finally answered, aware that it’d taken too long to respond and now she needed to counter that impression.

  “Last night I was on the beach when a kid started to drown. I went into the water, got to him first, but right after me was a guy who turned out to be an IRE agent. Taine something. I didn’t get a last name.”