Don’t go. Chandra knew the words weren’t hers. And yet they were. A part of her had wanted to stay. She’d stared into his eyes, seen the flicker of want in them, seen his smug triumph when she wavered and was about to step toward him.

Instead, she’d walked away. She’d let this massive dragon grab her and fly her out of the aerie, and she shut her eyes against the tears. Shut them so that she wouldn’t look back. But it was hard because she could swear she heard a little boy asking her to stay. To not leave him alone.

I can’t stay. Staying with Tomas? That was crazy. His whole existence and hidden lair were crazy.

She needed to go while she could. The older lady with the elegant cheekbones and rapier gaze made an immense dragon. Not quite as big as Tomas, but impressive. Chandra scrunched up her courage and let the old lady grab her in her claws.

It proved scarier than with Tomas. With him, she didn’t fear dying. Even when he’d dropped her, a part of her knew he wouldn’t let her fall far.

But this woman? This woman, who obviously had baggage with her grandson? She just might for the fun of it.

Thankfully, they didn’t have too far to go. The old lady flew her only as far as the car she’d parked in some lot for those who liked to hike the trails in the Rockies. The elegantly appointed Mercedes smelled of violets and mint candy.

Tomas’s grandmother shifted, and Chandra averted her gaze as the old woman rummaged in the trunk of her car.

“Put this on.”

Chandra caught the bundle of fabric. The tracksuit, while smelling of lavender, was a welcome respite from the robe.

She dressed quickly and stared at the majestic mountains she’d left behind, and couldn’t help but track the sky for a dark speck.

“I wouldn’t bother looking for Tomas. He’s not coming. He always was a stubborn boy, even as a child. He also doesn’t deal with loss well. It’s why he cuts himself off from everything.”

“Is it because of his family?” Chandra had seen the bleakness in his eyes when he spoke of losing them.

“The boy has suffered a great deal in his life. Which is why I was so surprised to find you in his aerie. He doesn’t usually let anyone get close.”

A part of her wanted to hold on to those words, but Chandra knew the facts. “He only took me there to protect me from Parker.”

“If you say so. Still, it is odd. I guess he let his attraction to you overcome good sense. Now that you’ve been intimate, he’s obviously come to his senses.”

Chandra wanted to hide. Instead, she managed a faint, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie to me, child. His scent is all over you.”

But she’d washed.

The old lady’s gaze narrowed, and then she said, as if reading her mind, “You can’t wash away his mark that easily.”

“I’ll be doing my damnedest to scrub it as soon as I get to the nearest motel.”

“Scrub your mind while you’re at it. Forget you ever met my grandson.”

“I doubt we’ll see each other again.”

“Not doubt, won’t. My grandson is destined for better things than a human.”

“Shouldn’t that be his choice?” He’d obviously not chosen Chandra, or he wouldn’t have let her go.

“Tomas will do what’s good for the family, and his Sept. He just needs more time to come to that realization.”

“Or maybe you should realize he’s a grown man who should be allowed to make his own choices.”

“You dare much with your words, child. I’ve made humans vanish for less. As a matter of fact, given what you’ve seen, perhaps you should disappear.”

Fear stuck Chandra’s tongue in her mouth. She managed to say, “No, you won’t.”

“What makes you think that? I have no attachment to you.”

“But you are attached to Tomas, and you won’t do anything that might hurt your chances of getting him back.”

“On the contrary, child, I would do anything.” Her voice lowered. “So stay away from Tomas. I won’t see him hurt.”

The implicit threat stuck with Chandra as they reached a town and the old woman gave her enough money to get home. It took a series of three buses for Chandra to get back to San Francisco. Her job in the Midwest had been only a temporary contract. Her true roots were on the West Coast, and the closer she got—the less likely the chance Tomas would come after—the more she felt as if she were compressing inside her skin.

I don’t want to go home. Yet where else was there to go?

The taxi spilled her onto the pavement outside her building. Home sweet home. It just never felt that way.

Chandra dragged her exhausted body into the building and took the elevator up. She offered a silent prayer—Devi, give me luck—as she lifted her fist to knock on the door that someone was home. She’d lost her keys—wallet, identification, everything—a long time ago at this point. Were people looking for her, or had Parker swept her disappearance under an encrypted rug?

The door to her apartment opened with her roommate letting out a, “Holy shit, Chandra. You look like hell.”

“Feel like it, too,” she mumbled. Or so she thought. She kind of collapsed in sheer relief and exhaustion.

She spent the next few days resting. Eating. Eating lots. At times, she felt ravenous. Other times, so nauseous she feared throwing up.

She wondered if it was a side effect of the medicine Tomas had given her to heal. The wound itself—my gunshot wound, eek—looked almost entirely healed, no longer red and angry, and she could poke it without it feeling tender.

More tender, however, was her heart. Three days after her escape, and she still missed Tomas.

Missed the guy who’d scared her. Kidnapped her. Stolen kisses. Made her forget her morals.

Missed him so much she couldn’t deal with it and had to tell someone.

“He drives me nuts,” Chandra exclaimed, the story of her incarceration and her meeting tumbling from her lips at the emergency session she’d booked with her therapist.

Who knew what Marisol would think when she heard it all? Chandra’s story sounded like the rantings of a mad woman.

Marisol certainly seemed a bit dubious at first. “Are you seriously claiming you got kidnapped by a dragon and brought to his secret hiding place?”

“Yes. He’s got this lair hidden in some mountain, and you can only get in with this hand scanner device. And it’s gorgeous inside. It’s got plumbing and everything. You’d freak if you saw it. It’s like some ancient temple inside that’s been converted to a modern, open loft, except there’re no windows.” No escape. She could have stayed there with him, hidden from the world, and learned about more of the pleasure he could offer. But instead, Chandra had left.

“So, he kept you prisoner and assaulted you.”

“It wasn’t assault. He asked me if I wanted to stop.”

“And you didn’t stop him?” Marisol gaped.

“I know. I should have. It was wrong.” So wrong. “But in that moment, it felt so good.” So very, very good.

“About time you let yourself loose.”

Chandra’s turn to gape. “How is that a good thing?”

“Because I’ve been telling you for a while you need to get laid. Which is why I don’t understand why you left. You obviously like the guy, or you never would have let him near you.”

“I do not like him. He’s an arrogant control freak. A certifiable lunatic.” And she missed him terribly.

Marisol arched a brow and angled her glass, filled to the brim with an amber liquid. “What makes you qualified to say that? I am the one with a degree in human behavior, after all.”

“Except, he’s not human.” And yes, a part of Chandra knew Tomas would be peeved that she’d told anyone about him. Too bad. Chandra needed to talk to someone, and she knew Marisol would never tell. “He’s not like other guys. I mean, who thinks it’s all right to kidnap a woman and expect her to be happy about it? He wanted me to show gratitude.” She waggled her brows. “If you know what I mean.”

“From the sounds of it, the only gratification went to you, so he never got anything out of it. Poor guy.”

“Poor guy? He seduced me.”

“And you liked it.”

Chandra frowned. “You’re supposed to be on my side. Why aren’t you telling me to stay away from him?”

“I’m your friend, which means it’s my job to tell you to start living life. Not avoiding it.”

A drink of wine didn’t stop Chandra’s scowl at Marisol, their meeting taking place in her friend’s living room rather than the office. “I am living my life. My way. I don’t need a man like him messing it up.”

“You mean a man with a take-charge attitude who knows how to melt your panties?”

“Stop trying to make him sound attractive.”

“Are you saying he’s not? Because I distinctly got the impression he was hot.”

So hot. “He might be good-looking, but he’s insufferable.”

“Because he reminds you of your daddy.”

Tomas, with his broad shoulders, tapered waist, hooked nose, and brooding gaze remind her of the rotund and balding specter of her father? “No. He’s nothing like my father.”

“He’s good-looking, but you can’t stand him, so he must be stupid, then.”

“No, he’s smart.” Too smart. Not just because he was a professor of archeology at a respected university in the south, but also because he knew how to handle her riposte and fling his own.

“Does he smell bad? Odor can really affect our perception of someone.”

“He smells…” Divine. Perfect. Lickable. “Fine.”

“So, other than his arrogance and the dragon thing—which we both know is pretty freaking hot—what is it about him that you object to? From the sounds of it, he was interested in you, and you were interested in him.” Marisol adjusted her wide-rimmed glasses. She was quite nearsighted.

“But I can’t be interested. You know my situation.” Chandra’s lips turned down.

“A situation you should have changed a long time ago.”

Chandra rolled her shoulders. “I’ve asked.” But had yet to get her way.

“Then perhaps, instead of asking, you should act. You don’t have to listen to your father anymore. You’re a grown woman.”

“I know.” She did know, but it was hard sometimes to ignore a lifetime of pushing. A lifetime of expectation. For all her achievements, her family never saw the diplomas but rather what she wasn’t doing for her father, for her family.

Away from them, she did her best to forget her family’s chauvinism. Away from their influence, it wasn’t hard. What she didn’t understand was why she couldn’t forget Tomas, the man/dragon who’d let her leave. Has he already forgotten me?