I spent some time railing against Drake, Istvan, dragons in general, and pretty much everyone who had ever given me grief, but once I was finished running down the list, I was left to contemplate the situation with a less heated mind.

A pigeon fluttered to the edge of the arch, strutting toward me with a jerky little head bob. Damn that Paolo and his predictions!

"So. I'm to befriend you. I don't suppose you'd care to summon the king of eagles to rescue an old friend like me?" I asked the pigeon. It pecked aimlessly at the cold stone. "No, I didn't think so. All right, Pidge. Time to get serious. Let's use our brain. I'm Drake's mate. If I die, he dies. Which means he wouldn't tolerate his people putting me in a situation where I was going to die. Thus, there has to be a solution to this problem."

I sucked my lower lip, watching the pigeon as it wandered around the top of the arch, looking for tiny insects.

"If only I could fly like you. But I can't. I don't remember hearing anything about Guardians being able to fly. There must be some beings who can fly, though. Let's see ... ghosts float. I bet they could fly. But they're insubstantial, so even if I could summon a ghost to me, and it agreed to float me off of here, there's no way it could. What I need is someone who can float like a ghost, but turn solid enough to hold me ... holy cats!"

The pigeon's wings flapped madly as I yelled. I yanked up the chain and showed it the amulet.

"Incubi, Pidge, incubi! That's the answer. They've shown up every night, why not tonight? All I have to do is summon one. Um. The question is how."

I racked my brain to think of anything helpful that Jim had said about the incubi, but the only thing I remembered was women being carried away on a cloud of smoke. "They're dream lovers. And they appeared to me when I was in bed, asleep or very sleepy. This is a less than ideal bed, but it'll have to do."

Have you ever tried to fall asleep on the top of an arched bridge a hundred and fifty feet above dense traffic and a river after your lover has abandoned you? It's not easy. T finally figured out that sleep wasn't necessary (or likely), but a calm, quiet mind was. Fifteen minutes after I told my plan to my pigeon friend (now huddled into a fluffy pigeon ball at my feet), I carefully hiked up the chiffon skirt of my gown and assumed the lotus position.

Ten minutes after that, I discovered I had to go to the bathroom.

Luckily, two minutes after that revelation, my mind was cleared and quiet enough, focused on nothing, as my old yoga instructor used to demand, that an incubus showed up.

One moment I was sitting with my eyes closed, humming softly to myself, holding the mental image of a door made of alabaster in a snowstorm, and the next a warm, woodsy breath was touching my ear.

Slowly, so as not to scare away the incubus, I turned my head. A familiar dark-haired man was kissing my bare shoulder.

"Hi, Jacob," I said softly.

His head snapped up, his eyes opening wide as he jerked backward. I grabbed hold of his arm to keep him from going over the edge of the arch. "You! It is you! The one with the dragon—"

"Yes, but he's not here. I'm all alone," I said, keeping my voice low and what I hoped was seductive. He tried to pull away from me, but I used both hands to hold on to him as t batted my lashes. "All alone. Just little old me. By myself. And I'm terribly lonely."

He stopped trying to pull away, looking around the top of the arch suspiciously. "The dragon is not here?"

"No." I gave an insouciant little shrug. "He's abandoned me for the night. I'm so glad to see you, Jacob. I had hoped you would come."

"You did?" he asked, watching in surprise as I traced a finger down his bare arm. He was naked, but all I cared about was that his arms were strong enough to hold me while he got me the hell off the bridge.

"Yes. I'm in a bit of a bind, though. I'm stuck up here—the dragons put me here as punishment—but I'd much rather be in bed, where it's comfortable."

He frowned. "A bed is more comfortable," he agreed after looking around. "This is not comfortable."

"No. And not conducive at all to romance."

His eyes swiveled from the pigeon to me. I could see him weighing the possibilities in his mind. I leaned forward and blew a little breath on his lips. "I would be ever so grateful to the man—incubus—who got me down off here. Very grateful."

The frown cleared as his eyes lit with the same lusty look that had been present in the eyes of all the other incubi. He nodded. "I will give you pleasure, lady."

"I know you would. If we were on the ground, I know that you could give me great pleasure."

"For many hours," he added, his shoulders thrown back as he puffed out his chest. "I am a virile lover."

"I can see that," I said, sliding my hand down his chest, avoiding looking at any parts that might be rampant. Well, all right, I peeked, but only for a second, and just for curiosity's sake. "Why don't you get me off of here, and then we can discuss just how virile a lover you are?"

He frowned again as he looked down at the traffic on the bridge. "It will be necessary for me to carry you."

"Yes," I answered, sucking in my cheeks and trying to look weightless.

He nodded and held out his arms. "I can do that."

I sent up a fervent prayer of thanks as I scooted over to him, leaning into his chest.

"I must change form now, but fear not, beauteous one. I will clasp you most firmly."

"All right..." I clamped my lips shut tight as the man holding me in his arms suddenly dissolved into a thick gray smoke, seemingly bodiless, but then I was lifted from the cold stone of the arch, the smoke surrounding me, wrapping me in warm, dry tendrils. I bit my lip until I tasted blood to keep from shrieking as the cars and water and buildings drifted by beneath me, my brain finally taking the preventive measure of ordering my eyes tightly shut until it was over.

I can't honestly say how long it took for Jacob to get me off that bridge. All I know is that time seemed to hold its breath, seconds slowed until it seemed they had stopped altogether. Then the smoke embracing me slithered away, and I found myself standing in the garden outside the hotel, staring with blinking, disbelieving eyes at the bright lights and soft music streaming out of the restaurant that overlooked the garden.

"Now we will go to your room, and I will pleasure you a thousand times before the sun rises," a thick voice said behind me. I spun around, so grateful that I actually hugged Jacob, pressing a kiss to his cheek before releasing him.