Kiss of Fire (13 page)

First things first.

Quinn held his position, letting Erik come to him, even if Erik was looking for trouble. He was impressed that the other
Pyr
flew quickly and wasn't out of breath when he reached them. His gaze flicked over Sara, then darted over the wound on Quinn's brow.

Quinn expected a challenge to a blood duel and had already decided to let the coin fall if it was tossed, but Erik was terse.

He also spoke aloud, presumably for Sara's benefit. “It's past time we talked,” he said succinctly. “I'll send the others out to beguile; then we'll convene in my hotel suite in an hour.”

“I don't need to talk to you,” Quinn said.

Erik spared Quinn a cold look. “I've lost a good man on your account. We can duel or we can talk.”

“Maybe a blood duel would be better.”

“Maybe there aren't enough of us that we can afford to fight each other over every little thing.” Erik's gaze sharpened, but Quinn wasn't easily intimidated. He glared right back. “It would be smarter not to make me regret choosing for the greater good.”

Erik didn't wait for an answer, just dove toward the earth once more. He landed gracefully, shifting to human form right before he touched down. Four men emerged from the shadows to quickly join him. He seemed to give instructions and they departed in different directions. With a parting glance skyward, as if he would remind Quinn not to defy him, Erik strode away.

“I think you've been told,” Sara said and Quinn snorted. “Are you going to go?”

Quinn was tempted to defy Erik, but he was aware of Sara's disapproval. “You'll be happier if I listen to what he has to say, won't you?”

“It never hurts to learn more.”

“Then I'll go.”

Sara fanned her hands across his chest, smoothing her fingertips across his scales. “I'd like to hear it, too, Quinn.”

He gazed down at her, hiding nothing. He felt her catch her breath at the full blaze of protectiveness that he knew had to be in his eyes, but she needed to know that he would do his best. “I'm not letting you out of my sight again. You'll be there.”

She smiled a little. “Am I a possession or a partner?”

He was riled up, not interested in nuance. “Does it matter? Both need protecting.”

“But one has more of a say in her fate than the other.”

He knew he spoke with force and he didn't care. “I will not leave you alone and in danger, not until the
Slayer
s retreat.”

Sara held his gaze without trepidation. “And maybe not even then,” she said wryly. Quinn was prepared to argue with her, but she shook her head. “I'm not challenging you.” She glanced down at the ground, surveyed him, then met his gaze. He liked the humor that danced in her eyes, which had become sparkly green. “It's just been one hell of a day. I think I've used up my ten impossible things before breakfast for the next month.”

Quinn chuckled. He couldn't help it. “Fair enough,” he agreed amiably, then turned earthward again. “So, we have an hour. Any requests?”

“A shower and a change of clothes,” Sara said firmly.

“Your house,” Quinn guessed and at her nod, he descended to his truck. She was quiet and he assumed she was trying to make sense of what she had seen.

He was both right and wrong about that.

Sara was glad to stay with Quinn. There was no mistaking his protective fury, and she liked it just fine. When there were dragons to be fought, who better to do the dirty work than a dragon of her own?

Sara was still trying to accept the fact that she'd witnessed a battle between dragons, right in Ann Arbor. She was still shaking inside from her encounter with the golden dragon, but the redness rising on her arms proved that she hadn't imagined him. Within moments, she was seated in Quinn's black truck and he was driving to her apartment, just as if life was perfectly normal.

She realized as he parked at the curb in front of Magda's house that she hadn't given him directions.

“How did you know where I lived?”

Quinn, typically, didn't duck her question. Sara liked how direct he was. He spared her a glance as he turned off the engine. “I followed you home last night, to make sure that you got here.”

“I didn't see you.”

“You weren't supposed to.”

She folded her arms across her chest but before she could argue with him, Quinn sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. He looked so frustrated that it was impossible to be angry with him. “I didn't want you to think you had a stalker.”

“Another one, you mean. I saw that guy outside my window this morning. Watching.”

Quinn nodded, unsurprised. “I figured as much.”

Sara had to ask. “Did you hang around last night?”

“No. I didn't want to frighten you.”

Sara sensed that there was something he wasn't telling her. “You just left me alone and undefended, even knowing what you knew?”

Quinn watched her as he smiled the slow smile that melted her resistance to him. “Who said you were undefended?” He got out of the truck then, and came around to open the door for her. His expression was grim as he looked up and down the street, wary for any sign that they had been pursued.

“Do you think they'll come after us again so soon?”

“No. But that might just mean that it's what they will do.”

“So, how was I defended last night? Or is that a secret?”

“It's no secret. The question is whether or not you'll believe me when I tell you.”

“Why wouldn't I?”

“You can't see what I do.” Quinn dropped to one knee at the base of the steps to Sara's apartment and moved his hand as if he could feel something. “Maybe you can feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“My smoke. It's a territory mark.”

Quinn guided Sara's hand and she felt a definite chill as he pushed her fingers through the air just above her ankles. She shivered and met his gaze, only to find him smiling at her again. “You
can
feel it.”

“It's cold and almost slippery. You did that?”

Quinn nodded. “We protect our lairs by encircling them with our own smoke. It's something that takes time, because it's best to exhale the entire circle in one stream. It's almost meditative, but another
Pyr
cannot cross the line of smoke without the permission of the
Pyr
who created the mark.”

Sara liked the idea of Quinn having put a protective barrier around her. Especially as it had worked. She looked around the house, peering at the foundation in an effort to see the smoke. She couldn't. “So, you marked my house as your territory last night?”

“It seemed the best choice, to protect you without spooking you.”

Sara climbed the stairs, thinking. “And when you left my shop today?” She glanced over her shoulder in time to catch Quinn's smile. “You marked my shop as your territory, too?”

“What else could I do? And didn't it work?”

“Why don't you breathe smoke around me? It would take less…” Sara got no further before Quinn shook his head, dismissing the idea.

“I can't mark people, only physical territories.” He met her gaze when she paused to fit her key into the lock, and his eyes were vibrantly blue. “Maybe that's the difference between partners and possessions.”

Sara smiled, then thought of something else. “At the bell tower. You did it again.”

Quinn was immediately disgusted with himself. “I didn't finish. There wasn't time. I hadn't explained to you about the smoke so I had to make the circle bigger, so that you couldn't inadvertently step through it.”

“Humans can cross the boundary?”

“They're oblivious to it.”

“And
Pyr
in human form?”

“
Pyr
is
Pyr
.” Quinn spoke with resolve. “A
Pyr
who crossed a territory line would suffer physical injury.”

Sara thought of the golden dragon easing along the parapet. “Was there a gap?”

Quinn nodded, obviously annoyed with himself.

“It's not your fault.”

“Then whose fault is it?” he demanded, leaving himself no excuse. “It's my job to defend you and I failed. I don't have to be cheerful about it.”

“That golden
Slayer
was stepping through the break,” she said, understanding his behavior now. “He was looking for it.”

“He probably sensed that the circle was incomplete,” Quinn admitted. “The closed ring has a kind of resonance.”

“You can hear it as well as see it?”

“
Pyr
have very keen senses.”

“Because you're in tune with the four physical elements,” Sara guessed. “What does it sound like?”

Quinn folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against her apartment door. They were in the foyer, the door locked behind them, and she watched him search for a description. She liked that he took her questions seriously, and never acted as if they were crazy.

“When I approach someone else's mark, I can hear it as well as see it and feel it. It has a silvery sound, like a crystal bell. A warning sound. When I examine my own mark, I can tell whether it's undisturbed by the temperature and the sound. And I can see it, of course, and check whether it's worn thin in any places.”

“It fades?”

“It degenerates in time, like most material things. It has to be breathed again at regular intervals to maintain the defense of a specific area.”

“There must come a time when it's easier to breach.”

Quinn nodded. “That depends upon how powerful the
Pyr
intruder is. A really old and strong
Pyr
could break a single mark like this after a couple of days of inattention.”

“Maybe you should reinforce it,” Sara suggested and Quinn's smile flashed. He caught her hand in his and she watched the spark light at the point of contact.

He lifted her hand to his lips and Sara caught her breath at the heat surging through her veins. The admiration in his gaze made her feel both fascinating and beautiful.

In a tattered sundress, with a bruise on her neck and a burn coming up on her forearms. The man had some kind of power.

“Don't worry, princess,” Quinn said with quiet force, his low voice making her think about chocolate, nakedness, and messy sheets. “I'll protect you with everything I've got.”

Sara's mouth went dry as Quinn brushed his lips across her fingertips. It was hot in her apartment, hot and still. A bead of sweat meandered down her back and she could see a line of dampness on the front of Quinn's T-shirt. She thought of his muscled power in dragon form, eyed the breadth of his shoulders, and was tempted to peel off his shirt. She wanted to feel his skin beneath her hands and see the color of his tan.

His smile broadened as he watched her, as if he could guess her thoughts, and she wondered then whether he could. “How good is your hearing?” she whispered. “Can you hear what I'm thinking?”

“I can see what you're thinking,” he said with confidence. “Your eyes have turned gold.” Sara didn't have to ask what that meant: his satisfaction in that fact told her all she needed to know.

He turned her hand within his, cradling it within the strength of his fingers, and pressed a kiss to her palm. It sizzled, sending a pang of desire through Sara that nearly took her to her knees.

“I need to shower,” she said, hardly recognizing her voice.

“I'll wait right here,” Quinn said and Sara believed him. He released her hand with obvious reluctance, their fingers holding until she was several steps away.

She felt the loss of contact immediately, as if an electrical current had been broken. She retreated to the bathroom, aroused by the idea of his being in her apartment while she showered. She paused on the threshold of the bedroom to look back and saw from the line of his jeans that Quinn was aroused by the idea, too.

“I don't pounce, princess,” he growled and she smiled, knowing that she could trust him. “But you can issue an invitation whenever you want.”

“You have territory to mark,” she reminded him and he smiled.

Then Quinn inhaled slowly and seemed to shine. Sara thought he was going to change shape but he didn't. She sensed that he was turning inward and knew he was concentrating. He became brighter, as he stood with his arms folded across his chest in her foyer, and he seemed bigger.

More formidable.

More masculine.

He seemed to glitter, just as he had when he started the fire in Erik's car, just as he did right before he changed shape. Sara saw the vivid blue of his eyes before they narrowed to slits. He was almost motionless but she could feel the power of his will. He seemed to almost be in a trance state, his breathing so slow that Sara couldn't match its pace.