“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
“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
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