Serpent's Kiss: A Dragonfire Novel (5 page)

She knew enough about this
Pyr
’s nature to understand that so long as Thorolf was within a talon’s length of urban temptations, she’d never get his attention, let alone convince him to tell her what he knew. She’d have to touch him to move him, then the firestorm would spark, desire would overwhelm her and they might end up somewhere completely different due to her inability to focus. She needed to deal with the existing complications before inviting more.

The easiest and fastest way of moving Thorolf was to have him shift shape and fly them both to her sanctuary.

Which meant she had to wake him up.

In that moment, the apartment resident reappeared with a towel wrapped around his waist. Worse, he was reaching for his cell phone. She’d already missed the chance to ensure they didn’t attract more notice, thanks to the distraction of Thorolf.

Quick and quiet, that’s how Chandra preferred to work. Humans didn’t really need to know what was going on beneath their noses.

That was another good reason to work alone.

What would a mortal woman do?

Beg for mercy. Try to persuade the guy to help her.

“Please don’t call the police!” Chandra stood up and put out her hand in appeal. The firestorm’s glow diminished to a faint radiance.

The guy still looked at it, his lips thinning in suspicion. Chandra wished she had the
Pyr
ability to beguile humans, even though she didn’t approve of it. In this moment, though, she could appreciate its usefulness.

“He’s crazy! I don’t have a choice,” the man protested, but his hand stilled before the number was completely entered. “You saw what he did to me!”

Chandra tried to sound persuasive. “But he didn’t know what he was doing…”

“It sure felt like he did.” His hand rose to this throat. “It already hurts to swallow.”

“He’s just confused. He didn’t take his medication.” Chandra patted her empty pocket as she lied. She wished she was better at this. “I have it. I’ve been looking for him all morning.”

The guy’s eyes narrowed. “You know him?”

“I work at the hospital,” Chandra continued with her fabricated story, trying to invoke the man’s sympathy. “He’s a good guy. He just gets confused and angry. He doesn’t have anybody, really, and I feel so sorry for him.” She smiled down at Thorolf with apparent affection, hoping he wouldn’t wake up and reveal her lie for what it was. “The doctors say he has trust issues.”

“He’s sharing that joy around.”

“Well, I can’t blame him. Especially after what she did to him,” she continued. “Some people are so unkind.” Chandra shivered but didn’t have to fake it. It was easy to be appalled by the choices made by the viper who called herself Viv Jason.

“She?”

“He lived here before with some woman. A redhead. That’s why he came back here. He doesn’t remember that he doesn’t live here anymore, that
she
doesn’t live here anymore. She wanted to ditch him but he wanted to stay together.” She sighed. “He thought love could conquer all.”

“So, that’s who he was talking about.” The guy lowered his phone. “You mean that bitch with the pet snake?”

Chandra nodded.

“He doesn’t know she moved,” he guessed.

“He does, but he forgets. The doctors say the mind is a delicate instrument. It’s like he’s trying to remember what happened that night, because the betrayal makes him so angry, but his mind is trying to save him the pain of the precise memory.”

The guy winced in sympathy. “You said he loved her.” His words were quietly uttered, as if that explained everything.

She should have given that detail more emphasis earlier. Humans had a strange respect for love.

Just as the
Pyr
did for their firestorms. It was irrational, but endearing in a way. She glanced down at Thorolf, not having to pretend to find him attractive, and the guy misinterpreted her expression. “You like him a lot,” he said softly. “That’s why you’re looking for him.”

It was as good an excuse as any. Chandra nodded as if it were true. “But he keeps thinking about
her
.”

“Okay,” the man said abruptly. “Okay, you take him back to the hospital and make sure he gets his meds and I won’t call the cops. It sounds like he’s got enough trouble as it is.” He gave her a smile. “I’d like to think that if I needed a second chance one day, someone would give it to me.”

“I’m sure they will.” Chandra didn’t have to pretend to be relieved. “Thank you!”

The guy fingered his throat. “Not much harm done, anyway. Just make sure he doesn’t come back here. Ever.”

“I promise.”

Thorolf stirred just then, his eyes opening slowly. His gaze darted over the apartment in confusion, then he spotted Chandra and smiled. That smile was like a dart to her heart. To have his attention focused solely on her, to see such admiration and desire in his eyes, was strangely affecting. She could almost understand the appeal of the firestorm. Chandra found herself smiling back at him, as if inviting his attention. It wasn’t like she could reveal the truth, not with the apartment guy watching so closely.

The weird thing was that she found herself standing taller, feeling beautiful, wanting his caress again. She felt the firestorm’s heat grow with dizzying speed and crouched beside Thorolf, putting her hand in his before she even thought twice. The jolt of raw lust made her catch her breath. She heard Thorolf do the same, then his thumb slid across the back of her hand. He was warm and strong and powerful. The firestorm glowed brilliantly between them, making her narrow her eyes against its brightness.

Thorolf grinned, a gleam of sexual intent lighting his eyes and making her mouth go dry. He had a dimple below one corner of his mouth, a dimple that made him look like a whole lot of trouble. Which he was, but that didn’t seem to diminish his appeal. Chandra had never felt anything like this before, and she didn’t want the feeling to stop.

She thought of his kiss and her heart fluttered in an uncharacteristic way. It was easy to believe Thorolf was a dragon shifter when his eyes glinted as they were doing now, never mind that he had passion and appetites. The firestorm made her wonder why her vow of chastity had ever seemed like a good idea.

It made her hunger for another kiss, no matter what the price.

Thorolf planted a kiss against her palm, his warm lips smooth against her skin. His expression turned sultry and a little bit wicked as a very definite surge of desire took Chandra’s breath away.

And he knew it. Thorolf’s eyes gleamed, his gaze fell to her lips, he braced his weight on his elbow and reached for her again—yet even knowing what he meant to do, Chandra was powerless to move away. She found herself leaning closer, meeting him halfway. She was fascinated by him, by his intent, by her own desire to taste his kiss again. She could have been someone else, someone passionate and impulsive, someone with no ability to think rationally at all.

Someone a lot more like Thorolf.

The scary thing was that Chandra didn’t care. The firestorm burned, capturing them in a golden haze of desire that drove everything sane from her mind. Her heart raced in anticipation of what would happen after that kiss. Right here, right now, they could satisfy its demand. Chandra licked her lips and Thorolf chuckled, just as the warmth of his fingers brushed her cheek. A flurry of orange sparks exploded from the point of contact, a delicious heat racing through Chandra, and she closed her eyes in surrender just as the apartment resident swore.

“What the hell is that light anyway?” the guy demanded, sounding fearful.

His exclamation recalled Chandra to her senses. She pulled her hand from Thorolf’s grip and the firestorm’s heat faded enough that she could think straight. She leapt to her feet, turning her back on Thorolf, but still felt strangely unsettled. “What light?” she demanded, as if she had no idea what he meant.

“
That
light. It, like, sparks between you. It’s weird.”

“There’s no light,” she insisted, sensing a losing battle. She heard her voice rise. “It must be your imagination.”

“No, there’s
light
. What’s really going on here? Who are you both?” He backed away as he punched numbers into his cell phone.

No matter what the emergency code was here, it would be short. Chandra couldn’t risk him making that call.

So much for negotiation and subtlety. She leapt across the room and seized his phone, flinging it so it shattered the window and fell to the street below.

Problem solved.

If not in her usual discrete manner.

“Great shot,” Thorolf said with admiration as he got to his feet. He shoved his hand through his hair and grinned at her, the sight of his stupid dimple making her pulse go crazy again. “We’re going to get along just fine,” he declared as he seized her hand.

And she was looking at his mouth, like a besotted idiot.

What was the firestorm doing to her?

“Hey!” the guy protested. “That’s a new phone! Do you know what it cost me…”

Chandra responded quickly and instinctively once again. She pulled her hand from Thorolf’s, backed the man into a corner and grabbed his chin, compelling him to meet her gaze. She felt him swallow as he fell silent, saw his shock that her grip was so strong.

“You saw
nothing
,” she whispered with force. “There was no light.”

“I know what I saw…”

“Sparks flying between people would be illogical.” Chandra dropped her voice to a hiss. “Only crazy people see lights where there aren’t any. That’s what they’ll say if you tell anyone.” She smiled as fear lit his eyes. “Maybe we’ll meet again at the hospital. I could make sure you two share a room.”

His terror was tangible, then he nodded quick agreement. “No light,” he said, holding up his hands. “I saw no light. Just get out of here!”

“Done.” When Chandra released him, the guy fled into the bathroom again and locked the door.

Thorolf was rubbing the back of his head. He smiled at Chandra with obvious admiration, any concussion evidently not interfering with his plans for satisfying the firestorm. If he laid another sizzling kiss on her, there was no telling what she’d do. She already felt that she was out of control. “You could teach me about beguiling,” he said easily then reached for her hand again.

Chandra panicked as desire melted her knees.
Nothing
was going right.

When Thorolf looked at her like that and the firestorm’s radiance glowed between them, Chandra could easily forget her quest.

But there was too much at stake for that.

“We have to go,” she said. “Right now.”

“Anywhere specific?”

She spoke firmly and loudly, ensuring that the guy in the bathroom could overhear. “I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

“I’m all yours.” Thorolf squeezed her hand and smiled down at her, his expression so proprietary that Chandra felt a rare thrill. “How about we get something to eat first? Build up our stamina?” He lifted a brow, looking like trouble in spades, and Chandra couldn’t take a breath. She was keenly aware of her gender, as she seldom was, and her mind was filled with the prospect of pleasures she’d never explored before.

One thing was for sure: this would be the last time she
didn’t
work alone.

Chapter Two

Chandra and Thorolf left the apartment quickly, darting down the stairs to the street. A group of people were gathered around the cell phone, several pointing up at the broken window as they compared what they’d seen.

Chandra bit back the urge to swear. She shouldn’t have revealed her strength by chucking the phone hard enough to break window glass.

She indicated the direction away from the crowd, then released Thorolf’s hand. She couldn’t think clearly with the warmth of his fingers closed around hers, with the firestorm feeding her awareness of him. She liked tall men and strong ones, she liked muscle and she liked blue eyes. A lot. Never mind dimples. The thing was that her choices had been historically about eye candy, not about satisfying any desires. Hunks made for better views, that was it. Her vow of chastity was resolute. With the firestorm on Thorolf’s side, raw lust was making it impossible to strategize.

And that could ruin everything.

Already a voice in her mind was whispering about new experiences and stones left unturned. Chandra refused to listen. She felt a rising edge of panic. Everything was spinning out of control, the carefully constructed plan shredding before her eyes, and she had to
think
.

“Where are we going?” Thorolf asked, amiable and amorous. He was completely at ease, his mood so at odds with her own that Chandra was incredulous. “There used to be a great chicken place a couple of blocks away…”

“No. We’re going somewhere private,” she said flatly. As an afterthought, she offered him a smile that she hoped was enticing. She didn’t have a lot of practice with seduction. She didn’t want any, but she needed to get Thorolf to move. She couldn’t just convince him to shift shape in the middle of a busy street so they could disappear.

She’d manage some subtlety on this day, if it was the last thing she did. Questions would attract attention, and the firestorm was enough of a liability in that way. She’d need the element of surprise on her side to triumph. She had to get him to her sanctuary and find out what he knew.