“I was supposed to meet Gabriel here to discuss a cease-fire,” Drake said calmly, putting his arm around me and pulling me even closer. “He did not show up.”

“OK. That explains why you are here. Now would you like to tell me why you were kissing him?” I asked Chuan Ren.

She turned her back on me, shaking her long black hair so it hung in a perfectly straight line down her back.

“She was attempting to seduce me again, that’s all.” Drake’s voice might be placid, but I could feel the angry fire within him.

“Thome guyth get all the breakth,” Jim said, walking over to drool on the top of Shing’s head.

“Again?” I asked, twisting around to look at Drake. “As in, she’s seduced you other times?”

His jaw worked for a second, his eyes wary. “We have a somewhat complicated history,” was all he said.

“Complicated in that she’s another ex-girlfriend?” He said nothing but didn’t dispute it. I sighed. “I seem to be running into them with increasing frequency. Can you warn me when the next one pops up, so I’ll know that she’s likely to try to kill me or get me sent to prison?”

One side of Drake’s mouth twitched. “I will try,” he said gravely.

“Thanks.” I turned back to Chuan Ren, who was now poking around a desk. “So, I take it peace is out of the question.”

She looked down her nose at me. “We will not rest until the green dragons are destroyed.”

I forbore to comment on her sleeping-with-the-enemy tactic and simply said, “OK. It’s on now. Just so you know—you’re going down. Drake did it before, and I have every confidence he can do it again.”

We left her sputtering and slamming things around the room. Sying raced in when she hurled a vase through the window.

“We’re going thraight to a dentitht, right?” Jim asked as we walked through the lobby.

“I’ll get you an emergency appointment with a vet who specializes in dentistry,” I promised. “I’m sure Nora must know of a good vet.”

“Can I get a gold thooth to replathe thith one?”

“No.”

“How abouth an enamel thathoo? I heard they’re all the rage.”

“No.”

“Meanie,” Jim muttered, sucking on its loose tooth.

“What you said to Chuan Ren was not, perhaps, the wisest way to end a conversation,” Drake told me as he beckoned the hotel doorman. “Her temper was difficult enough without you reminding her of her past failures.”

I raised my eyebrow at him. “Do you honestly think you’re getting off this easily?”

“No.” He grinned as I followed Jim into a waiting cab. “I have every confidence you’re going to have much to say on the subject. But I anticipate the making-up process will be most enjoyable to both of us. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.”

The little smile I tried to hide curled my lips. I knew that Drake wouldn’t betray me, but it wouldn’t hurt him to wish to placate me.

Drake wasn’t the only one looking forward to our discussion.

16

I woke up the following morning to find my breasts on fire.

Literally.

“Oooh,” I purred, shivering a little with excitement despite the flames that licked up my body ... right next to Drake’s tongue, which was licking a suddenly aching breast. “We haven’t spent enough time together for me to be certain if you are the type of man who wakes up in the mood to frolic, but I see you are.”

“Kincsem, where you are concerned, I’m always in the mood to .. .frolic. Did you get enough sleep?”

“Oh, yes,” I said, although whether I was answering his question or responding to his touch was unclear. Pleasure, sweet and pure, started at the touch of his mouth to my flesh, rippling out to all points on my body, turning me into one gigantic quivering erogenous zone. My hands slid up his chest, around his ribs, then down his back. I flexed my fingers and dragged my nails gently up his spine, something I knew he liked. His head rose from the sweet torment he was laving up my breast, the fire in his eyes so bright it made his eyes glow.

I traced the line of muscles around his hips to the front, my fingers wrapping around the heavy, hot part of him, marveling yet again that such a simple bit of flesh and muscle could bring so much pleasure.

“You were right, yesterday.”

“I am always right,” he growled, his entire body stiffening for a moment as I caressed him.

“Not even close. But you were right about the making-up part being enjoyable.”

His mouth was busy with a sensitive patch of my flesh, but I heard him mumble something about my ire being worth tolerating just for the resolution of our differences.

“You promised me you’d teach me to breathe fire,” I reminded him, licking his lips as he groaned when my fingers found sensitive skin. I bit his shoulder, releasing one hand to push him over onto his back. “I think it would be an extremely handy skill to have, and what better time than the present to learn it?”

“What better time, indeed?” he agreed, watching with interest as I flicked my tongue over two little pert nipples peeking through the dark hair of his chest.

“Let me have it, Drake.”

“It is all yours, kincsem.”

I bit gently on his nipple, enjoying the little shiver of pleasure that shook his chest. “Not that. I want your fire. Let me have it.”

Dragon fire roared up within him, spilling over into me. I allowed it to fill me, embracing and welcoming it.

“Focus it,” Drake said in a tight voice as I moved over to nibble on the other nipple before using my tongue to trace the glossy trail of hair that led down his belly to points south. “Make it take the form you want, then release it.”

A thick, abrupt burp of fire escaped me.

“Focus more. You’re allowing yourself to be distracted.”

I looked down at his penis, standing so patiently yet proudly, waiting for me to make my way to it. “There’s a lot to be distracted by. I had a thought about this shape-shifting issue—you shift when you have an orgasm, did you know that? I figured maybe if we make love a whole lot, it’ll ease up your shifting muscles, or whatever it is that’s holding you back. Um. I don’t seem to be able to breathe the fire, do I?”