Rowan must have heard the intake of my breath preparatory to screaming, because his hand was over my mouth before I realized what had happened.

“Quiet,” he breathed into my ear, his breath warm against my head in a way that had little shivers spreading across my back. “Someone is at the window.”

“I know,” I whispered back as he pulled the door flush against us. Unfortunately, the lampshade was too big to let it fit behind the door with us, which left my hand sticking out with the lamp gripped firmly in it. “It’s okay, though. I have a lamp.”

The light behind the opened wardrobe door wasn’t very bright, but it was enough to see the odd look he gave me.

A rustle of the drapes had me tensing, but before I could do anything, Rowan suddenly twisted around, pinning me against the wall with his body. For a few seconds, we were pressed together from knees to chest, and I was extremely aware that I was a woman and he was a man, and it had been way too many years since I’d entertained the carnal activities that had been uppermost in my mind right before I’d been awakened.

“Oh,” I breathed softly, unable to keep from taking a deep breath so that my breasts smooshed happily against his chest.

I swear his eyes got darker at that, and he hesitated for about two seconds before he murmured, “To hell with the job.” His breath burned on mine, and then his mouth was moving over my lips.

With one hand, I clutched him, pulling him even closer so that he caught my moan in his mouth. His tongue twined against mine, stroking fires inside me that I hadn’t known existed. I was about to let the lamp fall so I could slide my other hand into his hair when suddenly he was gone. He moved out past me, out from the cover of the wardrobe door. I stood there for another handful of seconds just reliving the kiss before my brain pointed out that Rowan had gone out unarmed to face whomever had broken into the room.

With a bravery I hadn’t known I possessed, I flung back the door and, swinging my lamp forward, yelled, “Ha!” in the very best martial arts manner. The cord snapped out like a whip, slashing through the air and striking the man directly in its path who luckily wasn’t Rowan. No, Rowan was standing with his arms crossed, and his back against the door leading to the living room.

Mauritius Kim swore and leaped to the side, one hand to his face where the metal plug had cut his cheek.

“We meet again!” I said, suddenly full of bravado. I had no idea where it had come from, but dammit, if I was truly the wife of a not-so-mythical creature, and thus someone who could control fire, then by god, I wasn’t going to be afraid of some loser like Mr. Kim! “And this time, I have the advantage!”

Mr. Kim stared in disbelief at the lamp in my hand, as did his buddy Elton, who emerged from the drapes. “Are you insane?” he asked, giving me a scathing look. “Or just stupid? That’s not a weapon, it’s a lamp.”

“Tell your cheek that,” I said, swaggering forward a couple of steps. To my annoyance, he didn’t back up. Perhaps a little more threatening was in order. I shook the lamp at him and said, “In case you don’t know, you’re not just dealing with a normal person.”

“Oh, lord,” Rowan said under his breath, before adding a bit louder, “Sophea, I don’t think you want—”

“No sir, you’re dealing with a dragon’s mate. That’s right, I’m a bona fide dragon. Of sorts. Kind of. So Rowan says, and I have no reason to doubt him because he did the test. I can control fire, and likely do all sorts of other dragony things, so you had just better take your scummy little friend there and get the hell out of Dodge while the getting is good.” I grasped the cord with my hand, snapping it toward Mr. Kim.

He actually took a step back.

“Sophea, you really do not know—”

“It’s okay, Rowan,” I interrupted, giving him a decisive nod. “I got this.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”

“That’s right,” I said, pointing the plug at Mr. Kim. His friend was now next to him, the pair of them watching me with absolutely no expression on their respective faces. Perhaps they were as stunned as I’d been to find out just how awesome I was. “You heard me. I’m dragon. A crimson dragon!”

“Red,” Rowan corrected.

“Red dragon. Rawr!” I said, making a little claw gesture with my hand. “You may now leave before I unleash my unholy dragon stuff upon you!”

Rowan sighed and rubbed his face like he couldn’t face watching the ass-whooping that was about to be unleashed on Mr. Kim and Company.

“Well?” Mr. Kim said.

“Well what?” I asked, suspicious. I gestured with the lamp. “Well, as in, Rowan is blocking the door and you can’t leave?”

“Well as in let’s see you unleash your mighty mate’s powers on us.”

I blinked and glanced over at Rowan. He was now standing with one hand covering his mouth, as if he was trying to keep from speaking. “You’re better at this than I am. Will you tell these guys just how badass dragons are?”

He lowered his hand and gave me a wry smile. “They know.”

“Then why aren’t they running away?” I shook my lamp at them. “I’m a fire wielder. Or whatever they call it. Maybe I can turn into a giant scaly beast!”

“Go on, then,” Mr. Kim’s friend said. “Let’s see you.”

“I don’t want to,” I said, tilting my head so I was looking down my nose at him. “I have to be in the mood to be a giant scaly dragon, and I’m not right now. But I can do the fire thing just as I am, so you’d better vamoose before I call down a rain of fire that will singe the hair right off the tops of your heads And you know how bad burnt hair smells!”

“Sophea,” Rowan said tiredly, and stopped.

“What?” I asked him, keeping my eyes on the two men in front of me.

He gestured vaguely, then shook his head. “Never mind. Proceed.”

“Show us your rain of fire,” Mr. Kim said in a snotty tone.

“Don’t think I can do it, do you?” I said, wondering wildly what my stupid bravado had gotten me into. I didn’t dare ask Rowan how to make it rain fire, which meant I either had to do something to distract the men or put my money where my mouth was. What was a rain of fire? It was little blobs of fire dumping onto someone. The question was, how did I get the fire going? I looked around the room, spied Mrs. P’s handbag, and said, “Fine. Give me just a sec.”