“Hey!” I said, indignation filling me. “I’m immortal! Doesn’t that mean I won’t get saggy boobs and gray hair? Because if it doesn’t mean that, I want a refund—”

The rich, deep sound of his laughter filled my heart. He bent down to nuzzle my waiting breast before cupping his hands under my behind, lifting me slightly off the seat. “You give me joy, Aisling. No other woman has ever done that.”

He pushed into my body, a hundred little nerve endings suddenly sitting up and paying attention, the burn of his body in mine echoed in the sensation of his fire shared between us. I wrapped my legs around him, welcoming the heat, feeling myself unfurling in the glow of his love, every moment in my life coming to culmination of that moment in time. I clutched the slick skin of his back as my orgasm burst upon me with shattering brilliance, wave after wave of ecstasy causing my muscles to tighten around him even as he cried out hoarsely against my neck. I watched for the exact moment when his body shifted, when the smooth skin of his chest and arms morphed into iridescent green and yellow scales. The back I was clutching changed in form as well, sharp spines bursting to life beneath my fingers. I had a glimpse of familiar emerald eyes smoky with rapture tilting slightly and elongating, long, powerful neck muscles straining upward as Drake flung back his head and roared.

It was the last thing I saw, the last thing I was aware of for a long, long time, until slowly, consciousness returned to me. My heartbeat pounded so loudly in my ears, I could scarcely hear over it. I melted in Drake’s arms, allowing him to pull me onto his lap where he had collapsed next to me.

He was back to normal, to all appearances a man, but I knew better. Beneath that gorgeous manflesh lay the heart of a dragon.

And it was all mine.

“I thought this was supposed to be all about you,” I murmured into his ear, giving his earlobe a little nibble just to show it I loved it.

“It is. I am well satisfied,” he answered, his eyes closed, his head resting against the edge of the tub.

I slid my hand along the wet planes of his chest, smiling to myself at the feeling of his heart beating fast beneath my hand. I was so relaxed, so sated, I felt utterly boneless, drifting along in a world that was made up solely of the wet man beneath me. “We need to have more Drake nights.”

“Amen.”

The pounding in my heart didn’t disappear. In fact, I noted with a frown as I lifted my head from where I’d been resting it against him, it seemed to get louder.

Drake gave a little start as he evidently heard the noise as well. “What?” he said in a loud voice, frowning into the shadows.

A crack of light appeared in the midst of the blackness, growing until it revealed the outline of a door. A hand shoved itself through the opening, the owner thankfully not following. The hand waggled a cell phone at us.

“It is Pál. He wishes to speak with you.”

I squinted at the door. “That sounds like István. What’s he doing in our dream?”

“What does he want?”

“He is following Kostya, as you asked. He says your brother has taken the phylactery…and Pál believes he is on his way to Gabriel.”

“No, no, no, no,” I said, frowning at the hand with the cell phone. “I am a tolerant woman, but I refuse to have István enter into our lovely erotic dreams. And I especially do not want any of this dragon politics stuff in my dreams. Make it go away, sweetie.”

The sight of Drake’s naked backside as he jerked open the door wide enough to take the phone made several things clear.

The light from beyond the door lit up the interior of the mysterious dream room. My face, shadowed and startled, stared back at me from a mirror. Familiar counters came into view…along with Jim’s dog bed (thankfully empty), a heated towel rack, and the negligee I’d worn when I went to bed earlier that night.

“This isn’t a dream,” I said, realization dawning with full horror in my mind.

“No. We came back early. I did not wish to spend an other night without you,” Drake said before speaking a Hungarian word into the phone.

“Oh, god. Then Kostya…”

Drake snarled a couple of words that I recognized as being not nice at all, slamming shut the phone. He hit the light switch in the bathroom, grabbing the pants he’d laid across a brass bench. “Kostya has gone to confront Gabriel.”

“Fires of Abaddon,” I said, appropriating Jim’s favorite oath as I scrambled out of the now-familiar black marble tub after him.

Drake paused at the door long enough to toss me my bathrobe. I gasped at the look of fury on his face. “He’s going to wish he was in Abaddon by the time I get through with him. Brother be damned, he has gone too far this time. This is tantamount to war.”

25

“Don’t even think you’re going off without me.” I rushed into our bedroom just as István went out the door to the hall. Drake had shifted into high gear, his movements as smooth and graceful as ever as he pulled on shoes, shirt, and jacket, but he was moving so quickly, he was almost a blur.

He did pause at the door to look back at me as I snarled under my breath when I tried to zip up my jeans. “This is dragon business, Aisling.”

“And I’m your mate! Dammit, I’ll wear a skirt.” I yanked open the closet and grabbed the nearest skirt and sweater I could find, grimacing when I wrestled my breasts into a bra that had suddenly become too small.

“The situation is too volatile for you. I would be happier knowing you were home safe.”

I yanked the sweater over my head, glaring at Drake as my head popped through the tight neckhole. “Sweetie, you might as well get used to the fact that I’m not going to be left behind. I’ve got powers, remember. I can be helpful, just like I was at Fiat’s—”

He made an exasperated noise, marching over to take my hands, pinning me with a look that was intended to show just how serious he was about the matter. “You are immensely helpful, but this is not a situation where a Guardian will be called for.”

“Maybe not,” I said grimly, grabbing my jacket. “But Gabriel is my friend—I think—and I’m not going to let Kostya destroy him or the silver dragons.”

Pál shouted from the hallway. Drake’s face was a study in frustration, irritation, and grudging acknowledgement of what I said. “You will not endanger yourself in any manner,” he ordered as he grabbed up his cell phone. “You will do exactly as I say.”