Destiny Kills

I nodded. “The sea always heals. It is her gift to us.”

His hands slid down my arms, lightly rubbing, sending little shocks of electricity through the leather and across my skin. “I think we’d better get you inside.”

His voice was edged with a huskiness that had my hormones dancing. “Or we could stay here, and talk about whatever pops up.”

“Sweetheart, you may not feel the cold, but I’m fucking freezing. Trust me, nothing worthwhile is going to pop up on a night like this.”

“Really?” I skimmed my gaze downward. “That seems pretty worthwhile to me.”

He grinned. “Trust me, it’s only a halfhearted effort.”

If it was, it had to be pretty damn impressive when he was serious. I stepped closer, pressing myself against the warm, enticing hardness of his entire body. His hands slid around my waist, holding me closer still. It felt good, felt right. And that made the fear swirl again, because I really didn’t want to find someone else for the scientists to threaten and maybe even kill.

And yet the part of me that burned made me say, “Are you sure you want to go inside?”

“Yes,” he said, then lowered his head and kissed me.

Not sweetly, not tenderly, but forcefully, desperately, like a man in the desert who’d been deprived of water for too long. I returned it in kind, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding on tight as I tasted and explored and enjoyed. It was a kiss that seemed to go on forever, a kiss that I wanted to go on forever, until a dizziness that I wasn’t sure was due to his closeness or lack of air crept over me. It was only then that he pulled away and stared down at me. I was breathless, burning—and not just from the force of our kiss, but also the intentness of his gaze, from the resolve and determination so evident in the rich depths.

Whatever it was I was feeling, he was feeling it, too. And that made me even more frightened.

There was too much at stake already. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—put someone else in danger. Especially someone who might just be important to my future.

If I had a future.

I forced myself to step back, away from his warm body and marvelous kisses. “Maybe we’d better get inside.”

He ran one hand down my arm and clasped his fingers around mine. “Let’s go.”

I resisted the urge to wrap my fingers tightly around his, and just let my grip remain loose. “Don’t forget my T-shirt.”

He leaned down and scooped it up, then tugged me lightly toward the cliff and the old, worn steps.

The wind was stronger on the top of the cliff, tugging at my hair and freezing my exposed butt and nether regions. Which only served as a pointed reminder that next time I went for a night swim, I’d damn well better make sure to bring some decent clothes to wear afterward.

I huddled a little closer to Trae, and his scent spun around me, warming me almost as much as the heat emanating from his body. He released my hand, then wrapped his arm around my shoulder, drawing me closer still.

“The fish is suddenly feeling the cold, huh?” Amusement ran through the huskiness of his voice.

“It’s the wind.” I crossed my arms against a shiver. “There’s a storm blowing in, I think.”

He glanced upward. “Not a cloud in the sky.”

“Not yet. It’ll be here by mid-morning, though.”

“And how would you know that?”

“I can taste it in the air.”

“Of course you can.”

I shot him a sideways glance. “That wouldn’t be sarcasm I can hear in your voice, would it?”

“Why would I be sarcastic when the woman making the statement predicted—to the second—the time the sun would rise?” He slid his hand down my shoulder and lightly rubbed my arm. Warmth trembled across my limbs, and my fingers and toes began to tingle. As if this man was forcing life into extremities long used to being cold at night. “Another gift of your heritage, I gather?”

“Much like your fire,” I said, voice a little breathless.

He glanced at me, blue eyes gleaming with hunger. He might have said no on the beach, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want me.

“An air dragon’s fire is linked with daylight. Or rather, sunlight.”

“So Dad told me. He never did explain why, though.”

He shrugged. “It’s not a phenomenon that’s really been studied. It just is.”

“But why just sunlight? I mean, sea dragons can control water night or day, though the greatest power comes during the twilight times between day and night. It always struck me as odd that air dragons had much greater restrictions on their skills.”

“We’re creatures of air and the sun. We can shift shape at night, but when the darkness sweeps in, it puts out the flames. Literally.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So no one in your family has ever been curious enough to question why there seems to be a link between the sun and this flame-throwing skill? I mean, you can’t all be thieves. Surely there’s one bad apple who turned out to be something worthwhile—like a scientist?”

He grinned. “Thievery is something of a family business. We have a long history of collecting shiny things belonging to other people.”

“And why is that?”

“Because we like shiny things?” His eyes twinkled at me. “Why did sea dragons attack boats?”

“Because most were too lazy to work, and boats were easy pickings back in those days.” It was a guess on my part, but from the dim memories I had of my uncles, I was betting I was right. None of them seemed to have too much responsibility on their plates. Of course, I was viewing them through the memories of a child, so maybe I was doing them a grave injustice. I added, “So your skills come courtesy of family training?”

“Nope. Unwanted bastards don’t get much of a run in the family business.” Despite the sarcastic edge to his words, I could almost taste the anger in him. I could certainly feel the tension running through his body and arm. “Hell, draman weren’t supposed to get the family skills in any way, shape, or form, but something has gone wrong with my generation.”

I slid my arm around his waist, and though I was sure this man wasn’t after any kind of support or sympathy, said, “Or something went right.”

He flicked the end of my nose with his free hand. “Right for us. Wrong for them.”

“Why? I mean, if your father is going to fling it around with all and sundry, he has to expect that some of his so-called unwanted are going to get the full family genes—and all the skills that might go with them.”

“That’s just it. It doesn’t happen. It’s never happened, not in hundreds of years of history.”

That raised my eyebrows again. “How would they even know that if they have a history of killing draman at birth?”

“They didn’t kill every draman. They kept enough alive to work the farm and the fields.”

“So maybe they were killing the ones that showed dragon signs, which is why they’ve never picked up until now that draman were inheriting dragon skills.”

“Maybe.” He hugged me closer, so that my body was pressed hard against the warmth of his and I could feel the ripple of muscle as he took each step, each breath. Goose bumps ran across my skin, and I wasn’t entirely sure whether it was desire or that sliver of fear again. Or perhaps even both.

Because while my mind was urging caution, my body still wanted to fling it to the wind and just give in to the moment and this man and what was growing between us.

And yet if I did, I had a horrible feeling things would go to hell in a handbasket.

I mean, when had anything ever gone right for me in the years since my childhood?

Of course, that was mostly due to the fact I tended to rush headlong into situations I’d been warned against. Like when I’d hit eighteen and become determined to find my mom, despite my dad’s warnings. I frowned as memories surged. He’d been so angry with me that day. Truly angry. Yet, reflecting back, I could see that the anger had been based in fear. He hadn’t wanted to lose me like he’d lost my mother. And however much he might have wanted to come with me, he couldn’t, because by then his arm was gone. He couldn’t fly, and while I’m sure he