Whisper Kiss

by Deborah Cooke

  He might have just jumped from a porch or fire escape, and the whole dragon bit might have been her imagination, but Rox knew better. The alley, lined with Dumpsters, was otherwise abandoned, and she guessed he had chosen it for that very reason.

  She felt the power of his shoulders beneath her hands. He kept his gaze averted from her, but she eyed the firm line of his lips and remembered that kiss. There was a tingling inside her, a yearning impossible to ignore.

  She had a feeling that looks were deceiving, that his conservative appearance and manner were intended to keep curious gazes averted. But Rox had seen his dragon side, what she thought was the truth of him, and she wanted to see more of that.

  That kiss hadn't been with an uninterested party.

  And he had been angry with Thorolf for not appreciating the risks. Rox understood that Niall had defended her again.

  Even better, she liked it.

  Rox would have kissed Niall again, just to confirm her suspicions about the passionate nature he was trying to hide. Besides, he'd just saved her life and she ought to thank him. It had worked out well before. She slid one hand over his shoulder and up the back of his neck, felt him shiver, and knew she wasn't the only one thinking earthy thoughts.

  She had it right. He was just as fired up as she was.

  Rox intended to do something about it.

  But Niall set Rox on her feet and stepped away from her, putting a distance between them so determinedly that she couldn't fail to understand his meaning.

  He didn't want to touch her.

  Even though he was as tempted as she was.

  "You can't pretend that kiss didn't happen," she said, and he glared at her.

  "Watch me." He paced the width of the alley, clearly impatient with Thorolf's delay.

  Rox put her hands on her hips, disliking his tone. It was so familiar to her, filled with a disapproval based purely on her appearance. "What changed?"

  "Nothing," Niall said tightly. "I haven't got time for this right now." He gave her a hot glance, then turned to watch Thorolf land. His expression turned stony.

  Rox's heart clenched. She knew that look. She worked hard on her appearance to ensure that she got that look. The last thing she usually wanted was a man who was truly interested in her, in unwrapping her secrets and discovering her hidden truths. Rox could do without the emotional engagement of a relationship.

  Most of the time.

  Except that this time, it made her angry. Rox would have thought a man who was more than he appeared to be would be accustomed to looking deeper.

  Never mind that she wanted Niall's attention.

  Thorolf landed then, sending a couple of trash cans toppling as he shifted shape. His arrival certainly lacked Niall's grace, and Niall looked momentarily pained. Thorolf flushed and straightened the trash bins while Niall averted his gaze and sighed.

  "I'm trying," Thorolf protested.

  "How would I be able to tell?" Niall muttered.

  He glanced back at the rubble that was all that remained of the building where he had lived and worked. She followed his glance and thought it strange how Niall's building seemed to be affected the worst. It was crumpled, while the adjacent buildings were damaged much less. Across the street, there were windows broken, but there was less apparent structural damage.

  Godzilla might have stepped on Niall's building but left no other footprints in the city. The biggest crack she could see in the pavement came right across the street to the pile of rubble from the building.

  As if the earth had tried to eat the building whole, and had pretty much succeeded.

  That was rotten luck. Maybe that was contributing to his bad mood. The way Niall frowned made her wonder if he knew more about it all, or had other suspicions.

  Thorolf, in contrast to Niall, looked shaken. He eyed the growing crowd and the working emergency crews. "Should we beguile them?" he asked, showing an uncharacteristic anxiety in the way he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

  Beguile?

  Niall shook his head. "I think there are too many of them, and they'll rationalize that they didn't really see dragons, anyway." Thorolf was visibly relieved, at least until Niall gave him that killer look. "Besides, what do you know about beguiling?"

  Thorolf turned as red as a beet.

  Whatever beguiling was, it was important.

  "Are you seriously telling me that you let Rox witness your shift and didn't beguile her afterward?" Niall demanded.

  Rox looked between them in confusion. When had Thorolf told Niall about that? Niall could only be angry because the confession had just been made, but Rox hadn't heard it.

  "I didn't know anything about it . . . ," Thorolf began, and Niall snorted with impatience.

  "What's beguiling?" Rox asked, taking advantage of the gap.

  "Pathetic." Niall hunkered down, pulling his laptop from his bag and cradling it on his lap. He booted it up, his attention focused on the screen. Rox again had the sense that he was angrier than he sounded, angry about more than Thorolf, but keeping his response under control.

  She really would like to see him let loose.

  "It's a kind of hypnosis," Thorolf explained when Niall didn't. "We can convince humans they didn't see things, or us."

  Rox was outraged by the very idea. "It had better be true that you never did that to me!"

  Thorolf was clearly embarrassed. "I can't do it very well, actually." His gaze flicked to Niall, whose lips had tightened into a thin line. "That's the problem."

  "The problem is that you don't practice," Niall muttered. "The problem is that you never take anything seriously."

  He had pretty much nailed it in one.

  "Well, what was I supposed to do?" Thorolf demanded. "Rox saw. I was in a club and it was late, and this guy took a swing at me. Before I knew it, we were right into it and he was fighting dirty. He slammed my head into the side of the bar and it pissed me off. I shifted shape before I knew what I was doing. . . ."

  "Because you had never tried to learn to control the shift," Niall said with disgust. He never looked up from his laptop.

  "It's not like I knew anything about it, like I even knew it was possible."

  "It's not like you bothered to find out."

  "Who was I supposed to ask?"

  "I found you," Niall said, his tone challenging. "I just followed my nose. You could have found me."

  Thorolf halted, jabbing his finger through the air at Niall. "That's it. That's it. I'm sick of you judging me and deciding that I've fallen short of some measure. You're not my father and you're not my judge and jury."

  Niall looked up and Rox knew he was furious. His eyes glittered and he had become very still, a strange blue shimmer illuminating the edges of his body. Thorolf took a step back, so she knew her instincts were right. "We nearly got killed last night because of you," Niall said softly.

  Rox respected his restraint and appreciated that he was furious. Thorolf could be annoying like that. On the other hand, she thought Niall was getting through to Thorolf in a way she'd never managed. Niall might not realize that he was so close to making a difference. The air was thick and Rox thought the two of them might bail on each other, just a bit too soon.

  So she made a teasing comment to diffuse the tension.

  "Good plan," she said to Thorolf, who looked startled. "Throw back the one person who's actually trying to teach you something. That'll get you places."

  Thorolf nearly snarled at her and Niall glanced at her with surprise.

  Before Thorolf could argue, Rox lifted one hand. "You've finally found the mentor you need," she argued, sensing Niall's astonishment. "You've finally hooked up with someone who gets your attention, who maybe could teach you something. You could at least listen to him."

  Thorolf pointed at Niall. "He could ease up. He could cut me some slack. He could be encouraging."

  "Like I was?" Rox laughed at the idea. "That didn't work. I think chewing you out is working a whole lot better.
"

  Thorolf had the grace to blush and avert his gaze.

  Rox felt Niall studying her, and she decided not to miss this chance to find out more about dragons. "Either one of you could answer some questions for me." She smiled at Niall. "You know, make it a review for Thorolf."

  Niall dropped his gaze to his laptop display.

  Rox wasn't daunted--she'd ask questions whether he wanted to hear them or not. "How can you hear a beam in the basement? Or smell a gas leak from so far away?"

  "We just can," Niall said flatly.

  "Because the Pyr have keener senses than humans," Thorolf supplied.

  Rox understood then how Thorolf could come back to the apartment in the middle of the night and never trip over anything.

  Pyr. Dragon shape shifters called themselves Pyr.

  "What else can you do? What's the firestorm? What are shadow dragons? How many of you are there?"

  Niall shoved his hand through his hair and glared at Thorolf, ignoring Rox's questions. "This isn't a game. We're supposed to back each other up," he said, his tone more temperate. At least she had diffused the tension a bit. "You risked Rox's sanity, and you have consistently failed to be alert to help me. Humans could die. We could die. I can't watch out for both of us all the time. We need to work as a team, and that means you need to lift your game. Now."

  Thorolf grimaced. "All right already. I get it."

  "I don't think so." Niall frowned. "Erik assigned us to work together, to force you to learn more, but I'm not seeing much improvement."

  There was mention of that Erik guy again. Who was he and why did they do what he instructed?

  "Not fair," Thorolf insisted. "I'm better at breathing dragonsmoke."

  "That's not much of an accomplishment in two and a half years." Niall fixed Thorolf with a look. "Now or never."

  Then he dropped his gaze and the silence stretched between them. Niall's eyes narrowed as he considered the display and Rox wondered what kind of messages he'd received. She'd bet there was one that surprised him.

  Then she was surprised.

  "Okay, you're right," Thorolf admitted. "We nearly got nailed by shadow dragons last night and I missed it. I'm sorry."

  Rox was shocked. In her experience, Thorolf never admitted to a failure on his own part. He just brushed off criticism and went out for a beer.

  Niall said nothing.

  "Are you going to keep mentoring him?" Rox asked Niall.

  Niall spoke dispassionately. "You can only mentor someone who tries to learn. Someone who does his homework, maybe a little independent research. Thorolf's research consists of which bar pours the most generous shooters of tequila. I need more than an apology. I need a commitment."

  Thorolf shuffled his feet and said nothing.

  Niall shut down his computer, then shook his head. "So you've wasted years of Rox's trying to help you," he said to Thorolf. "That's a pretty lousy thing to do. And now you want to waste more of my time. I'm thinking you need to show some appreciation of those who invest their time in you."

  "Hey, I do!"

  Niall threw out one hand. "You can't land with accuracy, you can't beguile, you don't use old-speak effectively, and you don't pay attention. I'll bet you never paid Rox any rent money, either."

  Thorolf blushed more deeply.

  Niall showed the same frustration Rox had lived with for three years, and she felt a sense of common purpose with him. She hadn't even been trying to get Thorolf to do anything so difficult as Niall's list. She'd just wanted him to get a steady job.

  "He's right," Rox said, and Niall glanced at her with obvious surprise. She gave Thorolf a nudge. "This is your chance to learn what you can do. I don't think you're going to find a better teacher."

  "Yeah, but it's hard."

  "Everything worth doing is hard," Rox said, earning another surprised look from Niall.

  "You have all this inherent ability," Niall said, "yet you refuse to learn to use it."

  "We sound like parents," Rox said, thinking it might make Niall smile. Instead, his expression turned more grim, his gaze focused on Thorolf.

  "I just need a second chance," Thorolf said. "I'll try."

  "Right." Niall was clearly unimpressed by this pledge.

  Rox didn't blame him. Thorolf was quick with empty promises.

  Niall heaved a sigh, indicative maybe of how annoyed he was. "All right. Maybe you can help with the calls, at least. Let's try that cafe on Canal."

  Thorolf challenged Niall. "Are you taking Rox with you?"

  "I've got other obligations," Niall said so impassively that Rox wanted to shake him.

  Maybe shake his inner dragon loose.

  "It's the firestorm, though," Thorolf protested. "You can't just ignore it. You can't just pretend it isn't happening."

  "Watch me," Niall said, and headed for the street.

  "But you have to protect Rox!" Thorolf cried.

  Rox had never seen him so upset. What was the firestorm? No one had answered her question.

  But it was clear that Niall was moving on and leaving her behind. Rox didn't need a map--he was a misguided dragon shape shifter, unwilling to take advantage of opportunity. She could understand that he was frustrated with Thorolf, but she also knew that sparks didn't fly like this every day.

  She'd give Niall something to think about.

  "Nobody needs to protect me," she informed the pair of Pyr. "I do just fine on my own, thanks just the same." Niall had turned away, but Rox wasn't done. "You know, Niall, you criticize Thorolf for ignoring the input from his senses." He paused and glanced back at her, curiosity in his expression. "But any guy who can ignore a kiss like that one is either dead or not paying attention."

  Niall blinked. Thorolf snickered.

  Niall straightened and gave Thorolf a quelling glance. Thorolf shut up. Rox held her ground.

  "Is that right?" Niall murmured, his words low and soft.

  Rox felt an electrical charge in the air when he turned his attention on her once more, one that crackled enough to make her hair frizz. She had goose pimples and her heart was pounding. She felt alive, as alive as a dancing flame, and she wanted to do something about it. There was that weird golden light between them again, the one that made her mouth go dry and her body tingle.

  It gave her ideas.

  She could give Niall some ideas, too. She walked toward him, feeling the heat grow with every step. His eyes brightened as he watched her, although he didn't move. If nothing else, she knew her kiss had gotten his attention.

  And she was ready for another one.

  After a bit of straight talk.

  "It is," she retorted. "The funny thing is you don't look dead to me." She put her hand on his chest, and there was a flash of light beneath her palm.

  An arousing heat shot through her body. She heard Niall catch his breath, saw his body tense, and knew he wasn't indifferent to her.

  Not at all.

  She liked the way sparks leapt between them, and how aroused they made her feel. She liked the sense that she was pushing him, maybe nudging him out of some comfort zone. Rox didn't have a lot of use for comfort zones.

  Niall's eyes were glittering like blue ice, and he took a step back. As soon as there was distance between them, the light faded in intensity, but the simmer of desire in Rox didn't fade.

  Was this the firestorm? Thorolf watched them with awe and Rox wanted to know more.

  "Anyone who was paying attention could see we're completely wrong for each other," Niall said quietly.

  Rox knew exactly what he meant. "Because real women wear twin sets and pearls?" she scoffed. "I think real dragons should wear studded leather and ride motorcycles, maybe play in rock and roll bands; yet I'm still willing to give you a chance."

  His eyes flashed. "This is a distraction, at an inappropriate time." His words fell quickly, as if even he didn't believe them, and his tone was officious. He could have been reading a piece of corporate correspondence. "It's better if we go
our separate ways. It's clear that we're not right for each other, that there's no future in this attraction."

  Rox didn't believe it.

  "Funny," she whispered, "I would have thought a Pyr with his keen senses would have looked beyond the surface."

  Niall caught his breath and Rox knew she'd provoked him. His nostrils flared and his eyes flashed. He was powerful and a bit dangerous and utterly determined to defend her.

  She was unafraid.

  Niall leaned toward her and the light brightened. His voice dropped low. "It's more than that and you know it. Your choice of clothing isn't just about self- expression. Punkers endorse anarchy; they want to change the world and overthrow authority."

  "I think the world order could use a good shake," Rox retorted. "Don't tell me you're happy with the status quo."

  "I don't think rebellion will solve anything."

  "I don't think complacency solves much, either," Rox replied, and Niall glared at her.

  "Maybe you don't have all the facts," he said quietly. "Maybe you're jumping to conclusions."

  Niall looked more like a predator in the golden light that kept getting brighter, but Rox knew he wouldn't hurt her. Niall had already protected her, and even though he was hard on Thorolf, she knew his intentions were good. He might be angry; he might be determined to walk away from her for a whole bunch of reasons, but Rox would give him something to think about.

  She had a feeling, after all, that they really had a lot in common.

  "I think you've got it the wrong way around," she replied. "I think you're the one making assumptions." Rox ran the flat of her hand across his chest, unafraid.

  Niall was utterly still as he watched her. He didn't even seem to breathe and his words were very soft. There was that blue light around him, a light that was both unreal and made his eyes seem more vivid. "Maybe I know all I need to know about risk." There was a shimmer of sparks beneath Rox's hand, a warm glow that made her knees weaken.

  And she couldn't look away from his gaze. Niall had the bluest eyes Rox had ever seen. She stared right back at him and seriously wanted to jump his bones. A muscle ticked in his throat and she knew she was getting to him.