“May I walk you back to your office?” Russ asked, doing his best to ignore the teasing, raised eyebrows on the faces of Jake, Leif, and Clint. He needed to make amends to Mandy. Now was not the time or place to worry about whether the guys were going to tease him.

The guys, he thought. Did I really just refer to them as ‘the guys?’ I better be careful, or I’m going to start thinking of them as my crew. The last thing Russ needed right now was ‘a crew’ in Torch Lake. He was happy to be on good terms with his fellow dragons again, but that didn’t change the fact that he was planning to head back to Chicago as soon as his job here was done. Getting too close to anyone here would make that move much more difficult. Better to keep all his new friends at arm’s length.

“Um, sure,” Mandy said.

She sounded confused, but Russ shouldn’t have been surprised by that. After all, the last time he’d seen her he’d been yelling about how awful she was, and saying that he’d never help her. Now, he was helping her out at her Council hearing, buying her beers, and offering to walk her back to her office. He supposed no one could blame her if she thought he was sending mixed signals.

Russ told himself to choose his words carefully with her, but when he found himself walking beside her on the sidewalk a few minutes later, he had trouble choosing any words at all. Faced with the prospect of actually opening his mouth and apologizing, he realized that words were a woefully insufficient method of explaining his feelings. As a result, they walked in near silence all the way back to her office. He was swirling around a thousand different ways to apologize, and god only knows what she was thinking. They made it all the way to her office door before he finally spoke, and when he did, all he could get out was her name.

“Mandy.” He stared at her, wishing he could somehow make her understand the depths of emotion that filled him when he spoke her name. But she couldn’t read his mind, and he couldn’t seem to organize the thoughts swirling in his mind into any kind of coherent sentences. He stared at her awkwardly for a few moments until she coughed nervously and looked down at her feet.

“Do you, uh, want to come in for a minute?”

God, did he. He wanted to come in and spend the rest of the day with her. Talking, explaining, begging forgiveness. But again, words failed him, and so he merely nodded, and followed her into the small office. She shut the door behind him and gestured for him to take a seat, but he didn’t take the invitation.

Russ knew deep in his bones that this was a pivotal moment in his life. He didn’t know how all of the details could possibly be worked out between Mandy and him, but he knew that he wanted her in his life. They had so much to talk about—he needed to explain to her why he had decided to help her, and how his heart had changed toward her when he dug deep into the truth of how Commander Hawkins had acted. And he wanted to hear again, from Mandy’s own lips, that the kiss they had shared in Chicago had meant something to her. He hoped with all his heart that she’d been sincere when she claimed it did. But beyond that, Russ needed to figure out if there was any way to make a long-term relationship with Mandy work. He knew she loved Torch Lake. Her friends were here, her home was here, her work was here. He respected that. But he was going back to Chicago when his job was done. Could he somehow convince her to come with him? Was it fair to even ask her?

“Mandy,” he said again, not sure where to start. She took off her wizard hat and set it down on top of a small bookshelf that stood near her office door, then looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue talking. But still, the words didn’t come. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth, and his heart was full of emotions that could not be explained by talking.

And so, he made a crazy decision.

He stepped forward, slowly, and put his hands on Mandy’s upper arms. And then, still moving slowly, he bent his head down toward her face. He felt her tremble as he leaned in toward her. Her arms were shaking beneath the grip of his hands, and he had no idea whether that was a good sign or bad, but he kept moving forward, anyway. He leaned in until his lips were right in front of her lips. He locked eyes with her, and could see the heat in his own eyes reflected back at him.

“Russ…”

He decided to take a chance. He had gone this far, so he might as well jump over the edge. He put his lips on her lips, silencing her before she could say anything else. Fire surged through his whole body as his inner dragon roared, and he closed his eyes to give himself over fully to this moment.

She affected him more deeply than he remembered. Memories of their one night in Chicago came rushing back to him, and he felt an immense sense of relief as he gave in to the desires he’d been fighting ever since their first kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and slid his tongue past her lips, wanting to taste her, and to feel every part of her mouth. She moaned, and he felt her body tremble.

She felt small in his arms, and yet she fit perfectly. His heart pounded in his chest, faster and faster, as he felt a stiffening begin between his legs. He knew he was losing control. He couldn’t think clearly anymore, and if she had decided in that moment to start stripping him down, he would have gladly let her. He would have made love to her right there in that office—let the consequences of such a reckless move be damned.

But before things could go any further, she stopped them. Gently, she reached her hands up to place her palms on his chest and push him away. His heart dropped, but he did his best not to let it show in his face.

“Mandy?”

She rubbed her forehead for a few moments before looking up at him. She looked exhausted. Beautiful, as always, but exhausted. Russ suddenly felt foolish. He shouldn’t have sprung a kiss on her like that. She’d had enough to deal with emotionally today, without adding a confusing potential romance to the mix. But he couldn’t undo what he’d done, and, besides, if he was really honest with himself, he wouldn’t have wanted to take that kiss back. It had felt too amazing. Mandy kissed better than any girl he’d ever kissed before her.

“Russ, I hope you’ll forgive me for being a bit confused right now. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m wildly attracted to you. But you’ve gone from yelling in my face and calling me a liar to defending me at a Council hearing and now making out with me in my office. I can’t help but wonder what changed. And, honestly, I’m a little scared to let myself fall for you any more than I already have. How do I know you’re not going to flip back to angry Russ all of a sudden?”

Russ sighed and took a step backward. “I have made a mess of things, haven’t I?”

Mandy looked at him and gave a small shrug. “Maybe a little bit. But I certainly haven’t been perfect, either.”

Russ chuckled. “Can we have a do-over? Start over from the moment we met?”

Mandy laughed, too, and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Mandy, nice to meet you.”

He took her hand and shook it firmly. “I’m Russ. The pleasure is all mine.” He continued to hold her hand when their handshake was done, and they both stared at each other until Mandy looked away shyly and pulled back her hand.

“Seriously, though,” she said, staring down at the floor for a few moments before looking back up at him. “What changed?”

Russ ran his fingers through his hair and then gestured toward Mandy’s office chair. “This might be a long conversation. Care to sit down?”

Without a word, she moved to sit in her chair, and Russ took a seat in the visitor chair.

Russ took a few moments to gather his thoughts, and then began speaking. “Jake hounded me pretty hard about helping you with the hearing. I didn’t want to at first, but he reminded me of how badly things could go when someone gets too much power. I decided that, as angry as I was at you, I had to help bring down Commander Hawkins. I didn’t know the man well, but from the one time I met him, I could tell that he was an asshole, at best.”

“I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description.”

“Yeah, I know that all too well now. When you saw me storming out of the locker room, I’d just been cornered by Jake, and was angry that he was trying to defend you. I owe you a big apology for the things I said. I understand much better now why you did the things you did.”

“You do?”

Russ took a deep breath, and looked Mandy straight in the eye. “I do. After I left the locker room, I couldn’t get Jake’s words out of my head. No matter how mad I was at you, I knew that I had to do something to help bring down Commander Hawkins. Jake was convinced that letting the man defy the High Council with no consequences was going to cause big trouble. The last thing I want is another war. I mean, I think the last thing anyone wants is another war, and so I agreed to help. Jake brought over my whole file. I read through all of the transcripts of the meetings leading up to your being chosen as the recovery agent for bringing me to Torch Lake. I also read through the rest of my file, including documents that no one had reviewed yet, like the equipment specialist’s report.”

“That’s how you knew to call him as a witness,” Mandy said, shaking her head in wonder. “That was brilliant.”

Russ smiled proudly. “Thanks. I was pretty happy when I realized that we potentially had another witness, even if it was just the guy who did your equipment rations. Every little bit helps.”

“I agree. And the character witnesses? That was your idea, too?”

Russ nodded, still smiling. “I read through the Torch Lake hearing procedures code before the hearing, because I wanted to know what to expect. I haven’t been part of a shifter clan since I was very young, so I wasn’t sure how High Councils usually run things. Besides, I’ve heard that every clan does things a little bit differently.”

“That’s very true. It took a while to hash out the official rules and procedures here in Torch Lake. We had so many people coming from so many different clans, that there was a lot of disagreement. Not to mention, this town joins shifters and wizards together, and shifters and wizards often have very different ideas about the best ways to do things.”

“Right. Well, I read the code, and found the bit about character witnesses hidden away in a long, boring passage. But I think bringing in a bunch of dragon shifters as character witnesses made a big impression. Even a lot of Commander Hawkins’ supporters looked impressed.”

Mandy grinned. “I don’t think there’s ever been a hearing here in Torch Lake where four dragons stood as witnesses for someone. It made quite an impression on the High Council. And I can’t thank you enough for that. I went from having no witnesses on my side to having a whole crew of dragons sticking up for me. And the equipment specialist. Let’s not forget him. He’s a wizard, not a dragon, but he was brave to come in there and testify against Commander Hawkins.”

“Agreed. But back to what I was saying about reading through my file. I read every last page of that file, and every last line on every transcript.” Russ paused here, and took a shuddering breath. The things he’d read had made him realize just how awful Commander Hawkins was. Russ wasn’t even sure where to start in telling Mandy how sorry he was for questioning her decision to take the job, despite the “seduction” orders. He understood now how horribly she’d been pressured.

“And?” Mandy prompted, when Russ didn’t continue talking for several long moments.

“And, when I was done with that, I was curious about how a man could get away with the kind of things Commander Hawkins got away with. So I went digging in other files.”

Mandy’s eyes widened. “How did you get access to the other files?”

“Jake. As head trainer, he has access to a lot of files. He gave them to me and wrote it off as a way to teach me more about the city of Torch Lake.”

Mandy laughed. “Clever. I guess, strictly speaking, reading files is a good way to understand the inner workings of this place.”

“Yes, and to understand the inner workings of Commander Hawkins. The man is a monster. Ironic, since he is supposed to be recruiting dragons to fight off the dark monsters.”

Mandy visibly shuddered.

“You’re not the first person he’s given false orders to,” Russ continued. “You’re just the first person to step forward and say something. Most people are too afraid to stand up to him.”

“Well I still wouldn’t call myself fearless,” Mandy said. “I was questioning my decision to file the complaint right up to the moment the hearing began.”

Russ shrugged. “You don’t have to be fearless. You just have to have enough courage to do the right thing when it matters most, and you did.”

“This time I did. I should have had the guts to stand up to him at the beginning of this whole mess, when he first ordered me to use seduction techniques. I knew in my heart that was the wrong thing to do, but I let him pressure me into thinking I was defying the High Council and would lose my job if I didn’t obey.”

Russ drummed his fingers together for a few moments before replying. “I’m not saying what you did was right, Mandy. I think that we all have a responsibility to stand up to the things we know in our hearts are wrong, even if our highest leaders are the ones telling us to do those things. Perhaps especially if our leaders are the ones telling us to do those things. In a perfect world, you would have gotten in Commander Hawkins face and told him that you weren’t going to use coercive, lying techniques. You would have told him that there was no honor in keeping a job that required you to compromise your morals.”

Mandy looked down at her hands, which were sitting on her lap. She shifted in her seat under the weight of Russ’s words, but then bravely looked up at him again, waiting to see what else he would say. Russ sighed.

“I also think that, in a perfect world, I would not have immediately written you off because of one mistake. I would have heard you out when you told me you were sorry. I would have believed you when you said that you weren’t faking our first kiss.”

“I wasn’t faking,” Mandy said, still holding his gaze. The heat between them was palpable now. The tension of their unacknowledged desire for each other made the air crackle.

“I know.” Russ’s voice, low and husky, sounded strange to his own ears. He looked deep into Mandy’s eyes, trying to make her see how far he had come from the man who’d yelled about her outside the locker room. “You made a mistake, but so did I. I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did. Even if you had been faking your attraction to me, a dragon should act nobly at all times. I shouldn’t have let my temper get the best of me like that. I was rude, and acted like an asshole myself.”

“It’s alright,” Mandy said quickly. But Russ shook his head.

“No, it’s not alright. I should have been kinder, no matter what I thought you’d done wrong. Will you forgive me?”

Mandy smiled and nodded at him, and Russ felt a fresh wave of heat go through his body. He hadn’t spent time alone with Mandy since they’d arrived in Torch Lake, and he’d forgotten how magnetic the pull between them was. Even when he’d been angry with her, that pull had been hard to resist. Now that his anger had faded away into understanding, he found it nearly impossible to focus on anything except how beautiful she was, and how much he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her.

“So, what did you find in all those files that changed your mind about me so completely?” she asked.

“Pretty horrifying stuff. Not only does it appear that he gave false orders quite frequently, but there’s some evidence that he also made threats to bring physical harm to people who didn’t listen to him. He often threatened people with the loss of their jobs, and he also on several occasions told his subordinates that he was going to bring them before the High Council to be tried for treason.”

Mandy closed her eyes, and rubbed her forehead with the back of her palm. When she opened her eyes again, she shook her head sadly. “He’s been doing this sort of thing for years. Almost since the beginning of Torch Lake itself. He got his Commander position because he’d been some sort of head commander in his old clan, before it was destroyed in the war. At first, everyone loved him. He promised that he would never allow evil to get the slightest foothold in his department on his watch, which is quite a joke considering that his department is probably the most corrupted place in Torch Lake.”

“I’ll say. I couldn’t believe some of what I read. And that’s only what has made it into official transcripts. I can’t imagine what awful things he does off the record.”

“You don’t want to know,” Mandy said with a sigh. “I should have said something sooner. We all should have, really. But I was terrified of losing my job. It wasn’t just about the job itself. It was about the higher purpose that being a recovery agent represents. I could be doing something else here in town and making more money, but I wanted to help the town attract dragons. I wanted to build a strong, noble foundation that would make our new, hodgepodge clan stronger. I got so caught up in what I wanted that I told myself the abuse I was taking at Commander Hawkins’ hands was just part of the price I had to pay. His insults and threats got worse and worse over time, until I felt that I had no choice but to follow his commands.”

“But did you really think the order to use seduction came from the High Council? Or did you know then that Commander Hawkins was tricking you?”

“I thought the order came from the High Council. That’s the only reason I followed through with flirting as much as I did. I thought it didn’t sound like something the High Council would do, but I figured they must have their reasons and I needed to trust them. At least that’s what I told myself. Maybe I was in denial about what was going on, but I can tell you if I’d thought Commander Hawkins was lying about the orders, I would never have listened to him. I wish to god now that I hadn’t.”

Russ smiled. “Do you? It looks like everything might turn out okay in the end. And who knows. Maybe if you hadn’t flirted with me at that bar in Chicago, I never would have realized how damn attracted I am to you.”

Mandy blushed, and Russ thought his heart might break from how beautiful she looked right now. Her hair wasn’t as smooth and neat as it had been this morning, but he liked the mussed-up look her wizard hat had given it. And the purple of her robe emphasized the slight tan of her face. How had he ever hated her?

He was a dragon, of course, and had his standards as far as morals went. But he had misjudged her. He’d assumed that she was the kind of person who would do anything to get what she wanted, just because she’d agreed to flirt with him to try to lure him back to Torch Lake. But he hadn’t understood how complicated the issues had been. She’d been confused about what the High Council wanted, and she’d been under the constant pressure of Commander Hawkins’ threats. No, it didn’t make what she’d done right. But then again, she’d barely started to flirt before she’d realized she couldn’t go through with tricking him. She’d been brave enough to confess and apologize, and he’d met her brave apology with ridicule.

Now, as she smiled at him with that adorable shy smile of hers, the rest of the world seemed to fade to grey. She was everything colorful and beautiful in his eyes. His mind screamed at him that he was letting his heart run away with him in a completely illogical manner. After all, he was heading back to Chicago after he was done with training, and he was pretty sure there was no way she was going to come back with him. She sang the praises of Torch Lake all day long, to anyone who would listen. But Russ refused to think right now about the logistics of a relationship with Mandy. For once, he allowed himself to be reckless. He focused only on how warm and happy he felt in her presence right now. He would worry about everything else tomorrow. Right now, he just wanted to be with her.

“So about that do-over,” he said, standing and then leaning across her desk so that his face was right in front of hers. Her honey-brown eyes looked softly back at him, melting his insides and causing a fresh stiffness between his legs. He swallowed hard and licked his lips, resisting the urge to kiss her. He would kiss her soon, long and hard. But first, he wanted to hear her say that she wanted him. That she felt the same fire in her bones that he did when they were together.

“What about the do-over?” she asked.

Russ dropped his eyes to where her breasts formed two soft mounds underneath her robe. He wanted to unwrap her and see what was underneath that robe. Focus, he told himself. If all goes well, there’ll be plenty of time to enjoy whatever she’s hiding under that purple fabric.

“I want a chance to continue our kiss. The kiss I broke off too soon in Chicago. I want to continue that kiss, and continue on beyond that.”

He put a finger up to her face and traced a line down her cheek, her chin, her neck, and on to her collarbone. Before he could go further, she stopped him.

“Russ, no. Wait.”

He felt his heart drop, but he moved his hand back. Had he gone too far in his angry treatment of her for her to truly forgive him? Was he destined to always be only her friend?

“What is it?” he asked softly, afraid to hear the answer but needing to know.

“Contrary to what you might think from the way that we met, I don’t usually pick up men in bars. I like my first dates to be a little nicer. A cozy restaurant, perhaps, and a walk on one of the lake’s beaches.”

Russ stepped back and smiled, finally understanding. She wasn’t pushing him away. She was inviting him deeper into her world. “You want me to take you out on a real date, like a proper gentleman.”

“I’d like that, yes.”

Russ’s smile widened. “Well then, your wish is granted, my lady. How about dinner tomorrow night? I’d take you tonight, but I already promised Jake I’d meet with him to go over some of the more interesting files on Commander Hawkins’ sordid history.

“Tomorrow night is fine,” Mandy said, her own face breaking into a smile. “I should probably go home and rest now, anyway, after the day I’ve had.”

“Well then, you rest up, and I’ll see you tomorrow. You still have my number right? Do you want to text me your address?”

Mandy nodded. “Will do,” she said, biting her lip as her smile tried to break even wider.

Russ reached down to squeeze her hand that was resting on the desk, and then turned to leave. But he paused and turned back to her, tilting his head to one side to watch her for a moment, memorizing how beautiful she looked right then and there.

“Can I steal just one more kiss before tomorrow night?” he asked. “You look too wonderful right now to go unkissed.”

Mandy flushed pink with embarrassment, but she kept smiling. She nodded, and Russ leaned across the desk to put his lips on hers.

He was acting reckless and he knew it, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care right now. The only thing he cared about was that Mandy had forgiven him, and was letting him back into her life. And damn, did her lips taste good.

He had a feeling he was going to be tasting them a lot more often in the coming weeks.