Dragon Fire (37 page)

Anna trembled, but whether in cold or fear, Rakan didn’t know. “I went to see Dawa,” she said, trying to remember what had happened. “I needed to show her… a letter. And then… I don’t know. I couldn’t move. Dawa was there. And then we were here. With Kariaksuq.” Anna tried to look around. “Where are they? They were fighting.”

“I don’t know. But Dawa’s still alive,” Rakan said. “I feel her.”

“What letter?” asked Red, interrupting Rakan.

“The one that Ulf gave me,” Anna said. “It’s still in my bag.”

“Ulf?” growled Rakan. He looked behind Anna. “I’ll make him pay.”

“At the Tibetan House?” asked Red, ignoring Rakan’s outburst. “Upstairs? Or downstairs?”

“Downstairs, I think.”

Red nodded. “I’ll get it.” He stood to leave. “Don’t you dare run off,” he said to Rakan. “She can’t be left alone yet. I’ll deal with you when I get back.”

“I wouldn’t leave her now anyway.”

“Good,” said Red and disappeared.

Rakan leaned over Anna and wrapped his mind around her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “This is all my fault.”

“You didn’t do anything,” she said, her gentle mind-touch awakening to his.

“Yes, I did.” He stroked her hands with his fingers. “Kariaksuq would never have bothered you if I hadn’t wanted to get close to you.”

“Your eyes are beautiful.”

“Anna, listen to me. Please.”

Anna smiled and touched his cheek. “Thank you.”

“For what? Nearly getting you killed?”

“For coming. I thought you didn’t care.”

“I shouldn’t have cared.” Rakan stood up and walked over to the broken dresser. “We’re trained to kill, Anna. To track and kill.” He turned to look at her. “I was supposed to get close to you because you were close to June.”

Anna didn’t say anything, but the pain that filled the room stabbed through him more than anything she could have said. “No,” he said, trembling as he tried to keep his rök in control. Her eyes reminded him of a rabbit backed into a corner. His rök lurched and the words came tumbling out. “That’s why I never kissed you. I couldn’t do it. You deserve someone better than me.” His voice caught in his throat. “I love you too much to treat you that way. You don’t even know how badly I’ve wanted to. But I never did.” He clutched the pillow on either side of her head. He wouldn’t smash through the apartment and fly off in a suicidal frenzy.

Anna touched his face, her fingers soothing his feral rage.

“No,” he groaned. Her touch recalled Angalaan’s. “Don’t, Anna. Please. I’m not good for you.” He sat back up and turned his head away from her.

Anna curled around him, her head on his thigh. She explored the gentle undulations of his chest. His skin was smooth and soft. And warm. He turned and looked at her, his orange eyes flecked with copper. “No,” he said. He wrapped a hand around hers and held it to his pounding chest.

Anna moved enough to touch his lower back with her other hand, exploring the ridges on either side of his spine. Her hand brushed his braid. It was soft and supple, just as she had always imagined. The tip was undone. “You never wear it down,” she said, gently undoing more of it and letting it run through her fingers. “You should.” His hair was so long that it lay across her thigh.

Rakan leaned into her, his hand relaxing its hold on hers. She resumed her exploration of his chest and this time he didn’t stop her. She rubbed her face against his leg, breathing in his smell of incense and wishing she could wrap herself in it. She was consumed by a sudden urge to bite him. She hesitated and then sank her teeth into his thigh. Rakan groaned and wrapped his fingers in her hair. “Anna, no,” he said. His breath caressed her face.

Anna closed her eyes. Her mind-touch slipped forward and embraced him. His body was alive with desire and it made hers tremble in response. She gripped his arms. They were bigger than she had remembered. “You’ve been working out,” she mumbled into his hair.

He pulled back. “No.” He groaned without looking at her.

Anna outlined his face with her eyes, lingering on his full lips that beckoned her closer. She had waited too long for him to kiss her. She wasn’t waiting anymore. She hoisted herself onto her elbow and then pushed up into a sitting position, her chest rubbing against his as she did so. He breathed in sharply and Anna closed her eyes. The only thing separating them was the flimsy bit of pink silk that she was wearing and the contact made her body tingle then rush with fire. She edged her way higher, pushing him back onto the bed, one arm on either side of his head as she lay half on top of him, her legs curled to the side.

Her heart raced against his as she leaned forward, her hair flowing around her face. His eyes were the same color as his Maii-a. She dropped her eyes to the perfect curves of his lips. Her lips parted in anticipation and she brushed them gently against his. His hands buried themselves in her hair. “Why did you do that?” he asked, his voice husky.

“Because you told me the truth.” Her lips rubbed against his as she spoke.

“But didn’t you understand what I was telling you?”

“Yes.” She pushed up enough to look him in the eyes. “You said you love me.”

Rakan spread her hair out with his hands and watched it slide through his fingers. “What have I gotten you into?”

“Nothing.” Anna smiled. “I kissed you, remember?”

“Maybe,” he said. “But I let you.”

She pressed her lips against his, but more firmly this time. His lips parted and he responded, sending a jolt of energy through her center as his tongue wrapped around hers in smooth, gentle strokes. An inarticulate groan escaped from her. She arched her neck as his mouth followed the length of her jawbone. His teeth rubbed against the soft skin of her neck. “Bite me, please,” she groaned.

“Anna,” he said, swallowing hard. “We can’t. I’m a dragon. I—”

“I don’t care what you are,” she mumbled, her lips finding his.

* * *

Red cleared his throat. “I see I haven’t been missed.”

Anna and Rakan pulled apart. Anna wrapped herself in the comforter, avoiding Red’s eyes.

“I had a hard time getting your clothes,” continued Red. He ignored their embarrassment and handed Anna her neatly folded things. “If you want to get changed.”

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Anna stifled a scream when she turned and saw Ulf half buried in the walk-in closet that was hidden by a wall behind the bed. “What happened to him?”

“He’s frozen,” Rakan said, flicking his re-braided hair back over his shoulder. “And that might be a problem.” If T’eng Sten didn’t come back.

“I can release him,” said Red casually.

Rakan’s attention snapped to Anna’s cousin.
How?
Only the one who had frozen someone could undo it.

“Not until I get changed.” Anna scrambled to her feet and then paused. “Can he hear us?”

Red approached Ulf and touched him. “Yes. And see. It’s just a simple freeze, the least invasive physically. Although it can be traumatic mentally and emotionally.” He turned back to Anna. “I’ll decide what he can remember later.”

Anna tugged the comforter closer around her and waddled out of the room, her cheeks nearly the same color as the pink negligee she was wearing. Rakan’s eyes followed her out, his lips still feeling hers. He inhaled deeply, savoring the lingering smell of chrysanthemums that had begun to have the sweet smell of ripeness to them. He closed his eyes, losing himself again in the full firmness of her lips, the flowing magic of her hair. He hadn’t gone wild. He hadn’t lost control. He stood to follow her, to wrap his arms around her, to run his hands through her hair, to feel her lithe muscular body…

“You have a strange way of showing your interest in her,” said Red, waving an envelope in front of Rakan’s face.

Rakan growled and grabbed it. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He had forgotten about Red.

“Look for yourself.”

Rakan saw the orange seal and froze. It was impossible. But there it was. The seal was made out of his poison, solidified and turned into a miniature version of himself. But it smelled like Kariaksuq. “How did she get it?”

“You tell me.”

Rakan touched the poison. It had been neutralized, probably by Red when he found it. “It’s been mixed with Yttresken’s.” He sank to the bed. “That’s why my shield didn’t react. Anna was too sick to know what was going on.”

Red’s face softened. “When did you bite Kariaksuq?”

Rakan looked at Red in surprise. “Before I left. But I thought no one knew how to extract dragon poison.” And yet everyone seemed to know. Except for him.

Red burst into laughter. “That’s only so that puppies don’t bite each other and try to extract it themselves before reaching a certain level of expertise. Otherwise it can cause permanent damage.”

Rakan restrained the urge to crush the envelope. What had happened to Anna was his fault then. He should never have let Kariaksuq get away.

Red examined Rakan slowly, his eyes lingering on the increased bulk of his torso. “Were you trying to mate with her?” Red paused and asked quietly, “Were you wild?”

“No,” hissed Rakan. He jumped to face Red, his fists clenched at the insult.

* * *

“What are you guys arguing about?” asked Anna, coming back dressed in her own clothes. She looked from one to the other as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. She avoided looking at Ulf. The sight of him frozen in mid-motion was freaky.

“I was trying to find out if Pemba had chased a female with intent to mate or not,” said Red without taking his eyes from Pemba. “One I can forgive, the other not.”

“Why do you think he did?” Anna felt a rush of doubt.

“Because the only way a shapeshifter can be stimulated into developing his mature mass is by responding to a female’s challenge. And Pemba is filling out. Proof that he chased a female recently.”

“Oh.” Anna looked once again at Pemba’s increased bulk.

“I chased Kariaksuq. We were fighting,” Pemba said defensively.

Red growled and moved closer. “So who else did you chase?”

“No one.”

“Then you weren’t just fighting with Kariaksuq. And if it wasn’t because you went wild and lost control, you were intentionally cheating on Anna.”

The two men squared off, their faces only inches away from each other.

“No fighting.” Anna pushed them apart. She glared at Red. “Don’t even think about it. Is that clear?” She wouldn’t let him kill Pemba. “And you,” Anna said, turning to Pemba with a tremor in her voice. “Show me what happened.”

“Maybe you should show me instead,” said Red.

Pemba ignored him and pulled Anna into his chest. “It was a confusing fight. You may not understand it all,” he said into her ear. “Because I don’t.”

Anna nodded and opened herself to the rush of feelings and emotions that she knew would flood her mind. But she still wasn’t prepared for the intensity of Pemba’s memory. She felt his anger, his frustration as he waited at the bar feeling Kariaksuq up in the apartment, this apartment, with Ulf. She also felt his loathing of the people in the bar and wondered if he hated all non-shapeshifting humans that much. She felt the crisp air, the tension as Kariaksuq walked down the stairs. And appeared dressed… to seduce. Anna clutched Pemba as the memory picked up speed, she was chasing Kariaksuq with him, hating her and yet strangely excited at the same time. Anna felt her body throb and thicken as if her blood had turned to lead and then she was a dragon, clawing at the glacier where Kariaksuq had disappeared. Suddenly the glacier enveloped her and she was swimming through it to kill Kariaksuq. She bit Kariaksuq’s tail and felt the satisfaction of her teeth sinking into it as poison ejaculated from her canines with a bitterness that was almost sweet. And then it stopped.

Anna clung to Pemba, needing to feel him. She searched for his mouth, wanting to rekindle the closeness that he had just interrupted. Wanting to feel his power rush through her, herself both filled with hatred for Kariaksuq and a wild desire to possess Pemba. His desire echoed hers and he crushed her in his arms.

“Eh, oh,” said Red, whacking them on the shoulder. “Can we move on?”

Anna rubbed her face in Pemba’s neck. “Go away, Red.”

“We need to decide what to do with Ulf.”

Anna sized up her cousin. “And you need to promise me something.”

Red shot her a questioning look and then his face went hard. “No.”

“Yes.” Anna pushed Pemba behind her. “You won’t touch Pemba. Or erase his mind.”

Red growled. “You have no idea what you’re asking of me.”

Pemba disentangled himself from Anna and walked over to face Red. “I don’t know who or what you are, but I don’t care. You saved Anna’s life.” Pemba hit his chest and raised a palm. “Your secret is mine.”

Red stared at him, trying to judge his character. “Remember that,” he said. “Or I’ll regret letting Anna sway my resolve.” Red gripped Pemba’s arm. “I promised her father I would protect her,” he said. “You’re barely more than a puppy yourself and you have no idea what you’re doing by awakening her.” Red’s grip tightened, pressing into Pemba’s bone. “If you go wild on her, I’ll skin you alive.”

“Then why don’t you offer to help me instead?”