Kenna wasn’t going to let that happen to her. And if the guy outside with the oh-so-clever tongue and cheeky grin and wicked dimples thought otherwise, he was in for a damn surprise.
She stopped pacing, snatched her Glock from where she’d dumped it in the basin, pulled it from its holster and cocked the hammer. “Right.” She swung to the door and yanked it open with her free hand, not even bothering to dress. “That’s it.”
Rick Hayes’ mouth fell open as she stormed toward him across the waiting room. Possibly because she still wore nothing on her bottom half. Possibly because she was leveling her police-issue weapon at his chest. Possibly both.
Kenna didn’t care. Or stop.
Not until she was inches from where he stood, gaping at her.
She rammed the muzzle of her gun under his chin, snaring a fistful of his collar to stop him from fleeing. “Tell me who the fuck you really are, Dr. Hayes, before I blow your goddamn head off.”
“Err…”
Kenna let out a choked roar. “Don’t ‘err’ me!” She drove the gun harder into his chin, balling her fist tighter on his collar. Disgust surged through her, but for Rick Hayes or herself, she didn’t know. “I want answers and I want them now. You have until three. One…”
His mouth worked. Sound, however, didn’t.
“Two…”
“I really don’t—”
She narrowed her eyes, ignoring the exquisite fire licking through her veins, the eager throbbing in her sex and the hungry cry of her dragon at his close proximity. Damn, was that an erection she felt bumping against her stomach? “Three.”
“Okay okay okay!” He frantically waved his raised hands. “I think I was a Druid in a former life who somehow or another joined with a dragon in some kind of funky ancient ritual.”
The statement burst from him in a frantic flood of shouted words, his stare locked on her face.
And yes, she’d been correct—it was an erection. A big one.
Her dragon screeched her approval. Scalding fire razed her body.
She shoved his chin higher with the Glock. “You’re a what?”
Rick swallowed, his Adam’s apple jumping up and down in his throat. “I think I was a Druid in a former life. All these memories just slammed into me that sure as shit weren’t mine, but…the second I experienced them, I knew they were mine. And it explains the whole ‘commune with animals, connect with cosmic energy’ shit I’ve been able to do for fucking ever.”
Kenna stared at him. She didn’t know what else to do.
“And the second I saw your eyes this afternoon, I was overwhelmed with the urge—no, the compulsion—to fuck your brains out over and over again until neither of us could move.”
The confession punched out her breath. “Okay,” she muttered. “That wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.”
But it’s what you want. The fucking over and over again part, yes?
A choked chuckle bubbled up Rick’s throat. “No shit, Sherlock.”
She frowned, refusing to acknowledge the molten need claiming her. Not until she had answers.
And then? Will you impale yourself on his very impressive erection then? Because the mating fire never lies, Kenna. You know that. And Druid, dragon or whatever, if you don’t consummate the mating soon, things will get a little wild.
She narrowed her eyes. “So…a Druid?”
He nodded. Or at least tried to. Her gun pressed to his chin made it difficult.
Kenna’s belly twisted. Dragons and Druids of ancient times had long existed in a harmonious relationship…to a point. Truth be known, it was all very vague to Kenna. The night her sister’s Fire Mate betrayed her to the Extraho Venator was the night Kenna lost any interest in her kind. She’d been young when that happened, barely one hundred and thirty-seven, but all dragon shifters knew of the ancient Druids.
What Kenna didn’t know was how one could be a dragon shifter’s Fire Mate.
Damn, she was woefully unprepared for this.
Get away. Now. You’ve got twelve hours before you need to deal with this. By then you’ll have regained control of your body and your mind. Until you do that…
No, not twelve. She’d first connected with Rick three hours ago, when she’d pulled him over for speeding. Which meant she only had nine.
As if to prove a point, her sex constricted, still acutely aware of the man standing so close she could feel his breath on her face, still feel his erection against her belly.
Her pussy gave a hungry throb, bringing with it a wave of heat that turned her blood to liquid fire and threatened to turn her mind to feverish mush. The mating fire. Damn it.
Get out of here, Kenna. Before whatever the Druid is doing to you finds you parting your thighs and begging him for—
She took a step back and lowered her gun. “I can’t stay here.”
Rick’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re going? I don’t mean to sound clingy or anything, hell, I’m the first to run when things get intense—and I think what’s going on between us blows intense out of the water. But you can’t just drop words like ‘dragon’, ‘shifter’ and ‘mate’ and then fuck off.”
“Yes, I can.”
Rick took a step toward her, effectively destroying the little space she’d put between them. “No. You can’t.”
She shoved her gun back under his chin. Not very professional, to be sure, but professional went out the window with her first orgasm. “You seem to forget who you’re talking to—a cop with a gun.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “And you seem to forget who you’re talking to—the man who just made you come with his tongue.”
A million pinpricks of heat lashed over Kenna. Not just at Rick’s very true statement, but also at his faint scent streaming into her body with every ragged breath she pulled. Her pussy clenched, her womb felt heavy. Her nipples pinched into painful tips of want.
She stared up at him, her pulse pounding with such force she wondered in a distant part of her mind why the windows weren’t rattling.
“I’m curious, Officer Mackay…” His voice was barely a whisper, his gaze an inescapable hold. “If I’m the Druid in this relationship, not the dragon shifter, what does that make you?”
Kenna swallowed. Or tried to. Her throat felt so damn thick, her mouth so damn dry. “There’s no relationship.”
The corner of Rick’s mouth curled. “Bullshit.”
He kissed her. Just lowered his head and, before she could stop him, brushed his lips over hers.
Before you could stop him? Really? You could have stopped him, Kenna. You just didn’t.
Nor did she stop him after his tongue touched her bottom lip.
Step away. Now.
The thought was insistent. And smart. But she couldn’t. She knew she had to get her head around what had happened, what was happening, but she couldn’t step away. Not when he kissed her the way he did.
Oh Kenna, what are you doing? Why aren’t you stopping him? Because you can’t? Or because…
She didn’t know nearly enough about her kind. She realized that now. She’d spent so long denying what she was, this mating fire situation was too much for her to digest. She knew how long she had to consummate the mating. She knew what would happen to her if she didn’t. What she didn’t know was how a human, albeit one of Druid decent, could be her Fire Mate. And how to undo it.
Because as sexy and attractive and masterful as Rick Hayes was, Kenna wasn’t going to be anyone’s Fire Mate. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to let herself be a dragon.
One more kiss. Just one…
The tempting thought almost undid her. Or maybe it was Rick’s tongue, slipping over hers with a tenderness both surprising and deliciously intoxicating.
Oh yes, just one more. One more kiss, one more orgasm, one more…
She jerked away.
Her dragon screeched, furious at being denied contact with Rick.
Your Fire Mate. It doesn’t matter what he is or isn’t. He’s your F
ire Mate and you’re running out of time to do something about it.
She shook her head, her stare locked on the man. “This can’t happen, Dr. Hayes. You have no idea what’s going on. Forget we ever met.”
“What can’t happen? What don’t I have an idea about? What is a Fire Mate?”
His questions came fast. She shook her head again. “It doesn’t matter.”
Dark anger flickered in his blue eyes. His nostrils flared. “It does matter. I’m a player, Officer Mackay, I have no qualms admitting that, and you’re not the first woman I’ve fooled around with hours after meeting her. But you are the first woman to call me a dragon shifter, and by fuck, you’re the first woman to make me ache with such monumentally powerful lust I can’t even think of a word to describe it. It’s like I’m burning up. It’s like I’m on fire.
“I want you. I lust after you. I bloody well need you. Every fiber in my body, every cell, is screaming at me to take you in my arms and make love to you. Not just fuck you, but claim you. Possess you. And even someone as flippant as me knows that’s not natural. Not human. So tell me, before you go running out that door, what are you, what is a Fire Mate, and when the fuck am I going to sink my dick into your sex and make you mine?”
His voice became a growl, his stare fixed on her, his jaw bunching. Waves of raw lust radiated from Rick. Kenna only needed to draw a quick, shallow breath to taste it on the air, hot and sweet and masculine all at once. He was in the grips of the mating fire just like she was, and if she stood still for a second longer, he’d throw himself at her and neither would be able to resist what would happen next.
Let him.
She took another step backward. The cool air-conditioning of the waiting room felt like a million icy kisses on her feverish flesh, her moist sex. Her gut twisted. Her nipples puckered, her breasts grew heavy and swollen.
“Tell me, Officer Mackay.”
The command caressed her senses. Made her head swim. Made her pussy throb.
“I’m a dragon shifter,” she ground out. “You’re my Fire Mate, the man fated to be my partner in every way—emotional, physical and mental—for the rest of our lives. And you are never going to stick your dick in my—”
The clinic’s bell dinged.
Kenna spun on her heel, her face flooding with shame. Oh God, they’d forgotten to lock the door? They’d been so overcome by the mating fire they’d forgotten to look the damn door?
“It’s just me, Dr. Hayes. I wanted to bring Barney his sleeping—” Mrs. Beaumont stood in the clinic’s open doorway, one hand resting on the doorknob, the other grasping a tattered, fur-covered baby’s blanket, her eyes wide, her expression shocked. “Officer Mackay? Why aren’t you wearing your trousers?”
*
Rick watched Officer Mackay bolt to the restroom. Damn it, he really needed to find out her first name. If he was going to spend the rest of his life with her, he had to call her something other than—
Rest of your life? So you’re buying into the whole Fire Mate thing?
He blinked. It seemed he was.
Because it’s real. You know that. The bottomless, unfathomable ache for the woman tells you that. The same way the…the fire for her does. You’re her Fire Mate. Her destined, fated partner. Face it, Yorick, you have no freaking clue what the fuck is going on and the only one who can give you answers just fled into the loo.
He let out a ragged breath, turning to Mrs. Beaumont and waving his arm toward the recovery rooms. “Just through there, doll.”
She frowned, her lips pursing a little, her gaze flicking to the closed restroom door before she shuffled from the waiting room, leaving him alone. Christ, what kind of messed-up day was this turning out to be? His gut was a ball of desperate, frustrated need, his cock a rigid pole demanding attention—Officer Mackay’s attention—and she, his Fire Mate, was hiding out in the toilet.
What the hell did he do next?
Before the answer could come to him, Officer Mackay stormed out of the loo and toward the door, fully dressed, gun holstered, face set.
“Hey!” he called, moving to follow her.
She stopped, turned to glare at him, pointed a silent finger as if to say, “don’t even try” and then all but sprinted to the door—and was gone.
Well, she really has fled the scene now, hasn’t she, Yorick?
“Dr. Hayes?”
Rick started at Mrs. Beaumont’s voice. Damn it, he’d already forgotten about Barney’s owner. He faced her, offering a smile as she closed the post-op/recovery room door. “How is he, Mrs. Beaumont?”
Mrs. Beaumont’s face split into a wide smile. “He’s wonderful. He licked my hand when I gave him the blanket and he looks so spry already. You are a very talented vet, Dr. Hayes.”
Rick brushed off the compliment. “I just do what I do.”
The druid’s dragon she is beautiful join with me dragon join with me and I shall be re…
The memory slammed into him, the same memory as before, his hands performing a ritual he didn’t understand, but this time there were more details. Vivid and hyper-saturated memories. His hands were glistening, his fingers stained with crimson liquid. His voluminous sleeves, coarse white wool, dripped with the same. The air hung heavy with the scent of copper and charcoal and sulfur. The dragon’s cries echoed through his—
“Dr. Hayes?” Mrs. Beaumont’s voice scratched at Rick’s mind. “Are you okay? I know I interrupted you and Officer Mackay during…well, I know I interrupted you, but you do look—”
Rick shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut on the disquieting memory. “Sorry.” He opened his eyes and tried to refocus. “Just a bit of a headache.” His gut churned, his head swam and, beneath it all, his cock throbbed and his body craved. Burned.
Need her need my Fire Mate need her—
I shall be re—
“Do you believe in reincarnation, Mrs. Beaumont?”
The question fell from Rick before he could stop it.
The sweet old thing before him nodded earnestly. “Oh, very much so. I know without doubt Barney is my long-dead husband reincarnated.”
Rick blinked at the elderly woman’s claim.
“Barney will only eat chicken with sweet potato, and that was my dear old Ivan’s favorite meal. And Barney won’t leave his balls alone, just like Ivan.” She paused, a soft frown pulling at her penciled eyebrows. “Although Ivie played with his balls with his hands, not his tongue like Barney does. Having said that, I do believe if my husband could have licked his balls, he would have.”
The laugh was out of Rick before he could stop it. Mrs. Beaumont gave him a warm smile, obviously not in the least offended. Still, he felt he should apologize. “I didn’t mean—”
She shook her head. “Don’t be concerned. Tell me though, why did you ask?”
Druid the druid’s dragon she is beautiful join with me dragon join with me and I shall be re—
His hands glisten, his heart races. Lifting the sprig of sage, he shakes it over the dragon’s bowed head and with a single stroke—
Rick sucked in a breath. There was far more to the memory that time. Not enough to know what was going on, just enough to tease him. What was he doing with the dragon? Why was it watching him, its head lying on a lush bed of grass? Was it a female dragon? It sure felt like it, and somehow that was important. Significant. And what the fuck was on his hands? And why did his heart race now just thinking about it?
“Dr. Hayes?”
He returned his attention to the elderly woman standing in front of him. “No reason. Just thinking it would be great to come back as one of your pets.”
Mrs. Beaumont’s smile grew wider. Her cheeks turned a faint pink. “Well, that’s very sweet of you, Dr. Hayes, but I do believe you’re flattering me. Especially given the state of dress in which I found Officer Mackay. Where is she? I hope she didn’t leave on my behalf?”
The pit of Rick’s stomach tightened at Officer Mackay’s name. His cock twitched. If it wer
e possible, he’d say his blood ran hot in his veins.
Need her need my Fire Mate need her—
“She didn’t,” he almost gasped. “She had a call to get to.”
Mrs. Beaumont lifted an eyebrow. A very skeptical eyebrow. “Hmm, well, please give her my best when you see her next.”
Rick found himself nodding. See her next? Yes, that’s what he had to do. See her. Hold her. Fuck her. Mate with her.
Make love to her.
Now.
“Mrs. Beaumont, what do you know about dragons?”
Now why the hell had he asked that question? Where the hell had his brain gone?
Out the door. With Officer Mackay.
The old dog owner chuckled. “Only what the movies tell me. My granddaughter loves watching one about a boy who trains a dragon. I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s quite lovely. Oh, and there’s that one with James Bond doing the voice. Now there’s a dragon I’d like to train. He could share Barney’s chicken and sweet potato any—”
Need her need my Fire Mate need her…
“Of course, Barney would be jealous but Ivan would understand. He got lucky many a night after a James Bond movie played on the…”
Need my Fire Mate need to hold her taste her oh Christ need to bury myself inside her and…
“Sure they’re just a myth, but who really knows? The myth had to come from some…”
Lifting the sprig of sage, he shakes it over the dragon’s bowed head and with a single stoke, performs the final rite of the…
“And I do believe there’s something quite romantic about dragons, don’t you, Dr. Hayes?”
Rick started, his pulse pounding in his neck like a wild drummer on speed. He swallowed. Romantic? That wasn’t exactly the word he was thinking of to describe what was happening between him and Officer Mackay.
No. But it should be. It will be. As long as you—
“Mrs. Beaumont?” He gave Barney’s owner a frown. “Do you know Officer Mackay’s first name?”
This time both of the old woman’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t?”
He shook his head.
And that was when the disgust fell over Mrs. Beaumont’s softly wrinkled face, a face—up until this point—filled only with adoration for Rick. “Kenna. Her name is Kenna. She told me while you were operating on Barney. Of course, I assumed you knew that, Dr. Hayes, given that I found her half-dressed and disheveled in your presence.” Her lips pursed into a tight ring of disapproval. “Perhaps you aren’t the person I thought you were.”
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