Blackwing Dragon (Harper's Mountains 5) by T. S. Joyce Page B

she was air. Her. One of the biggest and strongest dragon shifters left on earth.
    Dark Kane was hiding dark secrets.

Chapter Five
     
    The door creaked open under Rowan’s urging. The room was dark except for the single light over the sink at the back that illuminated the bed in a soft glow.
    The room looked empty.
    “Kane?”
    “Don’t come in here,” he said in a voice she didn’t recognize. He sounded like a demon.
    Rowan looked back out over the parking lot to the diner where the cops were pulling up, lights flashing. Going inside with Kane didn’t feel terribly safe, but waiting out here was definitely a bad idea.
    Rowan eased into the room and squinted her eyes, letting her night vision adjust. “Where are you?”
    A growl sounded from the other side of the bed, the guttural noise much too realistic. A damn shifter! Didn’t that beat all? She’d spent the entire day with him and not even guessed he was anything other than human.
    Rowan padded carefully around the bed and hesitated. Kane sat there, sans shirt, knees drawn up, elbows resting on them, hands dangling in front of his legs, muscles flexed, and his eyes glowing a strange green color. Eyes that he wouldn’t let her see directly. The second she sat down in front of him, he angled his face away from her. This sucked. He still wouldn’t let her see him.
    “What are you?”
    Kane adjusted the leg of his jeans to cover the hint of metal, but she swatted his hand out of the way. “I already saw it, and I don’t care.”
    Kane huffed a disgusted sound. “Bullshit.” He flipped his hair over to his other cheek, hiding his eyes completely from her.
    “I don’t! You having a bum leg doesn’t make any difference to me.”
    “Yeah?” he asked too loud. “You aren’t secretly rejoicing? Your job just got ten times easier. And it’s not a bum leg, Rowan! It’s fucking gone . It hurts all the fucking time, and it’s not even there. It’s like I can still feel it…burning. My nerves are shot—fuck! Just kill me already so I don’t have to pour my whole fucking life story out for you, Bloodrunner. This sucks enough without you knowing how weak I am.”
    “I’m not here to kill you, Kane, you bulbous dumbass.”
    “Then why are you here?” he yelled.
    “Because Harper’s pregnant!” Rowan clapped her hands over her mouth and wished she could swallow that secret back down. She’d just betrayed the Bloodrunners before she’d even joined them.
    Kane slid her a quick, glowing glance. “She can’t shift?”
    Well, Rowan was already going to hell, so she may as well do it thoroughly. With a deeply irritated sigh, she removed her hands and scooted closer until she was sitting right in between his legs. He leaned as far back into the side of the mattress as he could manage, but at least he allowed her this close. “I’m here to protect Harper’s crew until she can call on her dragon again. As soon as she has her baby, I’ll be heading back to the Gray Backs where I belong. Now let me see.”
    “See what?”
    “You know what.”
    He worked that jaw muscle good, stalling as he shook his head like she was pissing him off. Whatever. If she was sleeping in a room with a man, she at least wanted to know what kind of man he was.
    Slowly, she reached forward and cupped his cheeks. His dark whiskers rasped against her palm, and gooseflesh surged up her arms. Gently, she pulled his face to hers, but he’d closed his eyes.
    “You know,” he murmured softly. “You know what I am, right? You know, and this has all been some fucked-up game you’ve been playing. Some mind grenade you are about to pull the pin on.”
    “Riddles, riddles, but I told you I’m not a brainy girl, Kane. Open your eyes.”
    Kane slid his palms up her arms and gripped her wrists as though he was about to pull them away. But he didn’t. They stayed just like that, linked, touching, connected as quiet seconds dragged on. His heartbeat sounded so fast, like a