Whisper Kiss

  He dared to hope for success.

  When he'd finished reassuring everyone on his travel team, Rafferty was already breathing dragonsmoke slowly and steadily, weaving a protective shield around the apartment. Thorolf sat on the couch and tried to do the same, although his line of smoke kept breaking.

  Niall put his laptop away and shifted shape, stretching his dragon form across the hardwood floor. It was easier to steady himself and close his mind to other influences in this form. He felt more primal in his dragon form, more in tune with his body and the elements, more instinctive.

  More powerful. That counted when he intended to defend his mate.

  Niall entered the meditative state required for breathing dragonsmoke with somewhat more difficulty than usual, knowing that the persistent hum of the firestorm was responsible for that. Then Niall exhaled slowly, creating long tendrils of dragonsmoke that would surround his temporary lair, create a boundary mark, and keep Rox safe from some potential attackers. It wasn't a perfect defense, but it was better than none.

  And it gave him something to do besides think about Rox.

  Chapter 9

  Rox didn't think she'd sleep, not with Niall so close by, but she did. She fell asleep immediately, then slept deeply and dreamlessly. When she awakened, her alarm clock revealed that it was after noon.

  She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised, given the activity of the day and night before. And it was Sunday, so there was no rush to be anywhere. The light was silvery gray, the rain slanting against the windows with steady persistence. That it was still pouring rain was yet another reason to sleep in.

  She could hear Niall in the living room, the rhythm of his breathing telling her he was still asleep. His presence and his protectiveness worked for Rox in a big way.

  Could there be a more potent guardian and defender than a dragon? Niall could have shredded her without any trouble at all, but instead he had defended her. Repeatedly. And he listened to her--the proof was in his determination to give his brother a second chance. He could have been one of her fanciful drawings come to life.

  But so much better.

  Rox stared at the ceiling, acknowledging that she had lied to him about the whole baby issue. It wasn't about long-term commitments. It wasn't about there being too many babies on the planet already.

  Rox's reservation was about fear. It was about that broken heart tattoo on her cheek, about loving someone so much that when that person goes away, the whole world ends.

  Or loses its meaning.

  Would Niall leave her? Rox suspected he would. They looked so different, they lived differently, and he'd already shown that he had a number of assumptions about her and what she must think. Plus dragons, Rox was sure, needed to be free. The Pyr had their mission, after all, and Niall had his quest. She was sure that mates were left behind once the deed was done.

  Rox had a feeling that after they had sex, after the firestorm was satisfied, Niall would be gone.

  She really hoped she was wrong. But she was already falling in love, and she knew that physical intimacy--never mind bearing Niall's son--would only make it worse.

  She needed to know for sure that he wanted to be a permanent fixture in her life.

  She needed to know that he was planning to stay.

  She couldn't survive another broken heart, not if it could be avoided with a little foresight and temperance.

  Events could intervene in anyone's life, Rox knew that, but she needed to be more sure of Niall before she risked her heart again. It wasn't deceptive. It was self-defense. She had a feeling that if she explained it to him, he'd understand.

  Niall had some pretty high protective walls of his own.

  And really, if he could be scared off by appearances, if his desire for her was only skin-deep, she'd prefer he left sooner rather than later.

  She knew exactly what she was going to wear on this day. Armor. Studded leather armor and lots of black makeup. Her attitude would be defensive, too, and if she saw the chance to point out a difference between them, she'd do it. She wanted Niall, but she wanted him with his eyes wide-open or not at all.

  It sounded like such a good plan, and her resolve was complete.

  So long as she was alone in her room.

  Rox slipped out of bed. She approached the bedroom door, feeling that the room became warmer with every step. She heard the sound of Niall's slow, steady breathing get louder and realized he must be sleeping right across the threshold to her room.

  Guarding her. The very idea made her tingle, and the firestorm kicked that tingle up to a hum. She pressed her palms flat to the door and savored the sparks of the firestorm.

  Niall was there.

  His decision caught at Rox's heart. She opened the door silently, only to find the living room filled with soft silvery light. Rafferty slept on one of her couches and Thorolf on the other, both of them in human form.

  But there was a majestic amethyst and platinum dragon coiled across the threshold to her bedroom. The bottom fell out of Rox's world at the sight.

  Niall was larger than she'd realized, or maybe he looked bigger and more dangerous in her apartment than he had in the night sky. He was so utterly motionless that she could barely discern his breathing. His scales could have been made of gems, but they didn't disguise the musculature that gave him his power.

  She started when she realized she could see the glitter of blue beneath his lids. He was awake. He was watchful. He was dangerous.

  Fearless.

  Right then, Rox knew for sure that one night was never going to cure her of her desire for Niall and his fiery touch. She was going to want him for the duration.

  All the more reason for both of them to be absolutely sure.

  Filled with purpose, Rox made to step around him. She knew the instant Niall's eyes opened wide, the second his gaze fell on her. She swallowed and faced him, raising her chin. "Did you sleep?"

  "No." He seemed impatient, though whether it was with primal urges or his brother's interference, Rox couldn't tell. "Close your eyes," he said then, his voice making her shiver, but not with cold. "I'll shift."

  "No." Rox held her ground and let defiance fill her tone. "I'd like to see you better."

  His eyes glittered and he surveyed her with care, as if he'd noticed the change in her tone immediately. Rox wondered how transparent she really was to him, and she feared she knew the truth.

  Dragons were supposed to have really sharp eyesight. Could Niall see her thoughts? Her secrets? Her every motivation?

  His tail slid across the floor as he considered her, its weight lazily sweeping back and forth. Rox wasn't fooled. He could move quickly if he so chose. His eyes shone like gems. His wings were folded across his back, his scales gleaming in the pearlescent light. That wound in his shoulder had a red scab, one that looked like a line of rubies. "Are you sure?"

  "Who wouldn't want to check out a real dragon?" Rox had another good long look. The light was perfect for highlighting his physique and the details of his body. She watched how the light touched each scale, how the scales were each distinct from one another. She noted how his muscles were evident beneath his armor, how potent and powerful he was.

  Her mouth went dry. He was more beautiful than she'd ever imagined dragons could be.

  And that was saying something.

  "There is a story among our kind that humans can be driven insane by the sight of our shift," Niall said. "You need to look away."

  "We're not that fragile," Rox scoffed.

  "Some are. My mother took to her rooms after seeing my father shift for the first time. She refused to be in his company for almost thirteen years."

  Rox was intrigued by the notion of Niall having a family, of Pyr families having complications and dynamics like a human family. She'd met his brother, but she hadn't thought about his parents. If the tendency passed through the male line, then his mother must have been human.

  A mate.

  And Niall must have be
en conceived in a firestorm.

  "But was she crazy?"

  Niall averted his gaze, his thoughtfulness clear even in his dragon form. "She was troubled by his truth. He hadn't been honest with her."

  Rox immediately saw the connection. "Is that why you've tried to answer everything I ask you?"

  "Yes." Niall looked back at her, and Rox suspected he would have changed back to human form by now if he hadn't been afraid of her witnessing the change.

  She kept her eyes wide-open, determined to not miss a thing. "It didn't make me crazy to see you change before. Maybe some of us chicks are made of tougher stuff."

  "It's possible," Niall ceded, but he still didn't shift.

  Rox decided to find out. She reached toward him, watching his eyes brighten. She was in the mood to be daring, to push him, maybe to provoke him.

  It was her nature to challenge the status quo. If Niall didn't like that inclination, he knew where to find the door.

  With closer proximity, the heat of the firestorm turned her thoughts in a predictable direction. It filled the room with that brilliance that grew brighter with every inch she bent, heating her skin until she was sure she'd flush crimson. She heard his breathing accelerate and knew he wasn't turned off by her curiosity.

  Otherwise, Niall remained motionless.

  Rox told herself that she was doing research for her art and knew it was a lie. She put her hand on his tail, anyway. A flash of orange lit the apartment, making Rox close her eyes against its brilliance and catch her breath at its heat. It seared her palm.

  And made her yearn. She thought of Niall's kisses and she remembered his touch. The firestorm's welcoming heat made her spread her hand across his flesh and slide her palm up the length of him. She felt his muscles and his strength, and she spread her hand wider. Niall caught his breath and shivered. Rox liked that she could have such an effect upon him.

  "That's enough," he said tersely.

  Rox smiled and put her other hand on him, sliding them both higher. Niall's eyes opened wide. They shone brilliant sapphire, daring her to challenge him further.

  He was irresistible.

  She eased one hand over his hip, guessing what she'd find and wanting to know for sure. Niall started and pulled back. His tail swirled across the floor, sweeping past Rox with vigor.

  "Close your eyes," he commanded.

  "Never!"

  Niall swore. Then he twisted away from her. He shifted shape as he turned his back on her, making the transition so quickly that it seemed like a blur to Rox. Then he closed the distance between them and caught her chin in his hand. He backed her into her bedroom door and bent, his lips just the breadth of a finger from hers. The firestorm's sparks snapped and crackled between them, and Rox couldn't break her gaze away from his intensity.

  "You've made it clear you don't want a child," he whispered in a low voice. "But if you do that again, I won't stop." He inhaled sharply, his hot glance sweeping over her. "I won't be able to," he added quietly, then brushed his lips across hers.

  His touch burned Rox's lips and weakened her knees.

  It felt so good.

  But Rox believed Niall. She put her hands on his chest and pushed until he stepped back, knowing that if he kissed her when she was this riled up, she would be the one who couldn't stop. It didn't help her resolve that Niall was responding to her challenge with such gusto, as if he liked to be provoked.

  As if they maybe were meant to be together.

  Better not to think about that.

  Yet.

  She felt him watching her as she practically fled into the bathroom, but he didn't make a move to stop her. That was the only reason she made it, and she knew it.

  The door locked behind her, Rox stopped to survey her reflection. Her eyes were shining. She looked awake and alive, more invigorated than she ever had. Her lips were swollen and soft and reddened; her cheeks were flushed and her nipples were pert.

  No doubt about it--the firestorm wasn't taking no for an answer.

  Rox had to do something, if she wasn't going to surrender to raw urge. She had to keep herself from potentially making a mistake. She turned on the shower, then peeled off her pajamas as she considered her options. If Niall was determined to seduce her, Rox knew she'd lose. Her body was already on his side.

  Her roughest, meanest, most shocking punk armor it would be.

  Niall wasn't at his best. He was tired, he was hungry, he had denied his desire too many times in a row to be a cheerful houseguest. He hadn't slept--again--out of his determination to protect Rox. That persistent sense of being stalked niggled at him, as did his conviction that Phelan intended to surprise him. He didn't trust his brother, even though he had to consider Phelan's request for help, and he didn't like how the shadow dragons seemed to have developed a plan.

  And now something had changed with Rox. She was challenging him, deliberately trying to get a response out of him.

  Trying to get rid of him.

  That realization improved Niall's mood enormously. Rox could only be trying to ditch him because he was wearing down her defenses. He recalled her comment about dragons not needing to be afraid, and he wondered again what Rox feared.

  Niall was going to find out. Rox wasn't stupid and she wasn't irrational--whatever had happened had scarred her deeply, and she was trying to learn from her mistake.

  He could relate to that.

  It was another tendency they had in common.

  Niall peeled off his grubby T-shirt and wished he had another. He could have used a razor, as well. He didn't much like that, ready to seduce his mate and needing to erode her resistance, he was destined to do it at less than his best. He liked to look crisp and well-groomed.

  There was little chance of that, with Thorolf being his best shot for a change of clothes.

  Niall headed for the kitchen and put on the kettle, remembering where Rox kept the tea. He made a pot of green tea and drank two cups in thoughtful silence.

  "What's for breakfast?" Thorolf demanded of the world in general. He had pulled a T- shirt over his head, one that didn't look any cleaner than the other Niall had discarded, and the hem hung unevenly over his khaki shorts. He looked even more rumpled than usual. "I could eat a horse."

  "That's one thing I don't have in the fridge," Rox said as she joined them in the kitchen.

  She looked like a different person than she had earlier, but Niall was determined not to stare. The lime color in her hair, the way it was teased into spikes, and the stark contrast of her makeup was probably intended to keep him at a distance. Niall didn't doubt that she was wearing the torn Ramones T-shirt, the black leather pants that fit like a second skin, and the stiletto boots with studs to tick him off.

  He disliked how well her ploy worked. He knew better than to judge by appearances--even if Rox had deliberately chosen every item to be as unfeminine and unappealing to him as possible.

  She even wore leather bracelets studded like pit bull collars. He wanted to toss her over his shoulder, carry her back to the bathroom, strip her bare, and wash her black makeup off.

  Then move on from there.

  At least she couldn't stop looking at his bare chest. Niall decided it was a good thing he hadn't yet asked for a T-shirt from Thorolf.

  Maybe he'd wait a bit longer.

  Maybe he'd be in Rox's way a bit, so the firestorm's sparks could argue his case. Rox, he guessed, might be prickly and argumentative, particularly if she was determined to keep him at a distance. She wasn't immune to the firestorm's call, after all.

  He would do his best to undermine her reservations. If she wanted to find ways in which they were different, he'd make note of what they had in common.

  It could work.

  "All I've got is organic and vegan," Rox pronounced, seemingly daring the two of them to argue with her.

  Thorolf wrinkled his nose. "Man does not live by organic vegetables alone."

  "Are you so sure of that?" Niall asked, and saw Rox's surpri
se. "I seem to be doing all right with it."

  Rox's eyes narrowed as she confronted him. "Be serious."

  "I am."

  "No. Men like you eat steak and potatoes every day of your lives. Dragon dudes need their meat, or so I've been told." She gestured to Thorolf, who grinned. "I know. I've lived with one."

  "Not this one," Niall argued, leaning in the doorway right beside her. He watched her swallow, then glance sidelong at him. He saw her inhale sharply, watched her eyes narrow, and smiled at her.

  She spun away from him. "I have organic yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit," she said, that challenge in her tone.

  "Perfect." Niall smiled. "It's what I eat every day."

  Rox blinked, glared at him, then opened the fridge. Niall could still sense her accelerated pulse and the quickness of her breathing. He could smell her perfume, its scent becoming stronger because she was warm.

  His plan was working beautifully.

  "Bacon," Thorolf insisted. "Bacon and eggs, toast and coffee. That's a real breakfast. Maybe steak and eggs, if you're feeling flush."

  "It's past lunch," Rox said, sounding cross.

  "Whatever," Thorolf insisted. "Give me meat, and lots of it."

  Rox wrinkled her nose and stared in the fridge.

  Niall decided to accent their similar choices. "Have you tried that yogurt from the organic dairy in New Jersey?" he asked. "It's really good, no additives or other garbage, and probably as local as we can get."

  Rox lifted a container of yogurt, her expression wary. "This one?"

  "Great minds think alike," he said cheerfully, reaching into the cupboard for bowls. Niall could feel her gaze on him, then heard her put the yogurt on the counter.

  Hard. He stifled a smile.

  "Don't mess with my preconceptions," she said, shaking a finger at him. "You're a dragon dude, too. You're on the red-and-dead plan, just like him."