Dex was gliding through the air above London, assessing the city from high among the evening clouds when instinct drew him downward. Something had happened; he could feel it.

Flick was in some sort of trouble.

Never before had he felt so close to a human, so attuned to her needs and emotions. He hadn’t spoken to her in a week, but he’d felt her presence every single day. He’d watched her from the sky as she made her way to work and back each day, his protective eyes shielding her from potential danger.

But it seemed now that danger had slipped by right under his nose. He could only hope that he wouldn’t get to her too late.

When he’d landed in the small park across the street from her building he shifted, staring up at her living room window. A light was on in her flat, but he saw no signs of movement, no evidence that she was home. Only her scent, lingering on the air, told him that he might still find her there.

When he’d crossed the street to her front door, he scanned the list of names next to the buzzers. C. Fitzgerald. E. Morgan. F. Jones.

Jones. That must be it, he thought. The only F in the place.

He pressed his finger into the buzzer and awaited the reply.

After a few seconds, a voice croaked out the word Yes?

“Flicka?” he said. “It’s Dex.”

He was sure he heard a sigh on the other end. Hardly the sound that a woman makes when she’s excited to hear from someone. “What do you want?” she asked.

Ouch.

“To see you. To make sure you’re all right.”

“Come up, then.”

The buzzer droned an ugly sound and the door clicked open. Once inside, Dex jogged up the stairs to the second level, where he saw that the door to unit 201 had been pulled ajar. He ventured forward and knocked gently before pushing it inwards.

Flick was sitting at the far end of the room on an armchair, her face in her hands.

“What is it?” Dex asked, closing the door behind him before slipping over to crouch in front of her. When she didn’t respond, he pulled her hands away from her face, taking them in his only to see that her cheeks were streaked with tears, her eyes pink from weeping. Even so, he thought greedily, she still managed to look as beautiful as ever. “What’s happened here? What’s upset you so much?”

“I had a visit,” she said. “From your friend Eldrich.”

Shite. He’d allowed himself to take his eyes off her building for only a few minutes, and this was the result. If only he’d been closer, he could have stopped the bastard. “He’s hardly my friend, as you know,” he said. “What did he do? He didn’t hurt you, did he? If he did…” Fire burned inside him to think what hell he’d unleash if that wanker laid a finger on this amazing woman.

“No, not physically,” she said.

“In other ways, though. Tell me.”

“He wants me to…” she stopped mid-sentence and stared into the Dragon shifter’s eyes.

His gaze was locked on her own, his pulse throbbing, jaw clenched. The thought of Flick hurting was more than he wanted to bear. He already felt so close to her, so protective. Even if they’d never bonded, she meant more to him than anyone he’d ever met.

“He wants you to what?” he asked.

She shook her head. “It’s nothing,” she replied. “It doesn’t matter. Why are you here?” The words came at him in an icy stream, as though she were accusing him of something.

“To see you. I had a bad feeling. I’ve told you—I feel protective of you.”

“Well, there’s no need to protect me, not anymore,” she growled. “I’m fine.” She pulled herself away and stood up, walking towards the window, her back towards him. “You should go.”

“Flicka,” he said, rising to his full height. “I know what you’re doing. But don’t. Don’t push me away like I’m Eldrich. He’s your enemy. You know perfectly well that I’m the opposite.”

She turned to face him, her cheeks wet with new tears. “How can you be the opposite?” she asked. “What are you to me, if not my enemy? You’re a Dragon shifter. I’m a human.”

“I’m also a man who cares about you a great deal,” he replied. “I’m a man who wants you to be happy. If you understood how much…”

Flick choked back a sob. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning away, her hands gripping the windowsill. “You’re right. You’ve only ever been kind to me. Unlike that selfish prick who walked into my home and…” She paused for a moment, exhaling hard before continuing. “Do you ever wish life were different?” she asked.

“Sometimes,” he replied.

“I wish mine was,” she said. “I wish I had more control over my destiny.”

“You have all the control,” he said, gliding silently towards her. Slowly, gently, he laid his hands on her shoulders. “You do have power over your life. You have power, even, over me.”

When he felt her shudder, he pulled her hair away from one side of her neck. Tentatively he kissed her skin, as she breathed out the most delicious moan he’d ever heard.

“Dex,” she murmured, leaning her head back against his chest.

He slipped his hands down to her waist, pulling her blouse upwards with one hand, dipping the other into the front of her skirt as she inhaled a sharp breath. After a moment he found the tuft of soft hair between her legs, then the sweet slickness of her sex. For a moment she let him touch her, let his finger slip over her bud, her body tensing at the sensation.

“Dex,” she repeated, wrapping her fingers around his thick wrist. “No. I can’t.”

She yanked his hand out of her clothing and spun around, her eyes confronting him. At first he thought that she must be angry, but it was a very different emotion that met his stare.

A deep, awful sadness.

“I can’t,” she repeated. “Oh, God, you don’t understand. I want to. But I can’t.”

“If you’ve decided you don’t want to be with me, I can take it,” he said. “Just tell me.”

Flick shook her head. “It’s not that at all. I want you so badly that it hurts. I just can’t be with you. Not tonight, not ever. Eldrich told me—”

She turned her back on him again, avoiding his eyes.

Rage surged up inside Dex, a force almost powerful enough to bring his Dragon to the surface. “What did he tell you, Flicka?” he growled. “Say it.”

“He told me that if I don’t agree to be his, he’ll tell the whole world about your existence; he’ll reveal the Kindred’s secrets. He’ll tell my paper, everyone. He wants you ruined. All of you.”

“I see,” said Dex, anger roiling like lava inside him. “And you believe him?”

“I believe he means it, yes. I think he means to take all shifters down with him, purely out of spite.”

A growl rolled up through Dex’s chest. “He wants you. His déor, like mine, is convinced that you and he are meant to be together.” He stepped over to the couch and threw himself down, raking a hand through his hair. “Do you know how Dragon shifters mate, Flicka?” he asked.

She turned to face him, her eyes dewy with tears that hadn’t yet fallen.

“I know a little,” she said. “I assume they mate like everyone else, at least physically. Is this meant to be some sort of lesson in sex education? Because that’s the last thing I need right now.”

A cynical smile crossed Dex’s lips. “No,” he said. “You’re right. They mate like everyone else. But there is a bond that forms when one of us finds his true mate. A bond that can never be broken. One that is sacred. I told you that if you and I choose to be together, it will be forever.”

“I’ve heard about shifters bonding. You’re saying I’d be with Eldrich forever if I gave myself to him, I assume.”

“No. I’m saying that I don’t think you’re his true mate. You’re not meant to be with him. What Eldrich doesn’t seem to realize is that the choice isn’t his—it’s yours. He can’t force you, however he might attempt to manipulate you into submission. That’s not how fate works. But if you did find a true mate in a Dragon shifter, no one could break the bond. Not even that traitor.”

Flick stared at him for a moment. She looked as though she was pondering the words carefully. Eventually she spoke, her thoughts coming slowly. “A true mate. Are you telling me if you and I were together, it would be enough to deter him?”

Dex stood up. “Do you think that you and I are meant to be together?”

“No,” she said.

Dex’s heart sank in his chest. “All right, then,” he said.

“I didn’t finish.” Flick edged towards him. “I don’t think you and I are meant to be. I know we are. Every night I dream of you, Dex. You, a little house on a cliff…and something else, too.”

“Something else?” he asked, though he already knew what it was that she spoke of.

She nodded. “I don’t want to tell you, not yet. It’s too much for me to bear, knowing that I may never have it.”

Gently, he took her face between his hands. He wanted to kiss her so badly, to prove that everything would somehow work out. “Flicka—I don’t want you to choose me just to fight off Eldrich’s threats. I’m only telling you that you should listen to your heart. Don’t succumb to pressure. Not from him, not from me.”

“My heart knows what it wants,” she said. “But I’m not so selfish as to think I should disregard the safety of an entire species for my own happiness. If I make Eldrich angry, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“When does he want your answer?”

Flick bit her quivering lip. “Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Then we have some work to do,” he replied, taking her hand. “Come with me. There’s someone I need to talk to, but I also want to show you something.”

“Show me? What could you possibly show me?” she asked.

“No more questions. Just grant me this,” he said. “Please?”

“All right,” Flick replied.