January: 1 Month Later

Clever arrangements on registration day had produced a two-hour break in Yasmin’s schedule. Eager to stuff her face, she hitched her bag over her shoulder and hurried through the sprawling UTSA campus to John Peace Library.

The campus library provided a decent selection of chain restaurants, the hot food choices preferred over ready-to-go meals in the P.O.D. Market’s refrigerated shelves. She meandered past a Pizza Hut and a Subway, stopping in line at Steak ’n Shake since her stomach was rumbling for a juicy burger, greasy fries, and an enormous peanut butter cup shake.

After swiping her meal plan card, Yasmin collected her order and crossed the room to an empty table. A tingle danced down her spine and flutters went off in her stomach, a feeling she hadn’t experienced since she left the island. Not since she’d seen…

Slowly and warily, she glanced left and made eye contact with Javier.

The intensity of his gaze tightened her chest. Her breath caught in her throat and her mouth became sandy dry. How long had it been? Almost a month? It seemed like more time had passed since she left the island, angry and hurt that he’d blown her off and reneged on his promise to say goodbye.

Of course, since then she’d learned a little more about what had happened—that Javier had been involved in recovering a lost child. That didn’t change how much she resented the month of silence that followed.

He could have called. Her number wasn’t difficult to get.

The memory snapped her out of the shock, and she crossed the distance between them in five quick steps. What the hell was he doing here? He looked the same, but different at the same time. He wore his hair as long as ever, combed out to a glossy sheen instead of beach wavy and wind tossed. In place of his usual board shorts and an open shirt, he wore jeans and a blue polo.

Too bad she already knew about the fantastic body beneath his clothes, the chiseled muscles and the perfect chest, kissable shoulders and those lean indents carved across his hips.

The beautiful midnight scales that shone like an oil slick beneath the silver moonlight. Black wings and silky flight feathers speckled with cobalt, green, gold, and amber down.

No one realized a dragon was sitting among them, though a few girls admired him from random places around the food court.

“A little far from Mexico, aren’t you?” she asked, fingers white-knuckled around the edge of her tray. It wouldn’t be appropriate to throw herself onto Javier’s lap, no matter how much her jaguar half urged her to mark him as hers. Again. Been there and done that, girl.

“Technically, we’re only three hours away from Mexico,” he replied, smiling.

Smartass. Yasmin grunted and helped herself to the seat across from him. While she sorted out her tray, she eyed his pitiful deli sandwich that looked as though it had been sitting in the chillbox a few days too long. Sometimes she wondered if the staff peeled off a sticker and slapped a new one on instead of rotating out the old snacks.

“Never get the sandwiches from the coolers. They’re crap. Subway is the way to go, you can get extra meat and choose your toppings. I never buy from the on-demand chiller if I’m not running late to a class.”

“It’s not… awful,” he said carefully, raising the sandwich to his mouth. Either he had an amazing poker face or an iron stomach, because he managed to swallow a bite without turning green. It had to be his draconic constitution. “Once you’ve eaten my dad’s French toast, you can eat anything.”

“Uh-huh. So, what are you doing here, Javier? Is your dad giving a lecture or something?”

“Nope. Dad’s on the island right now doing whatever he does in his office. Raising hell or something. As for me, I’m enjoying lunch with a friend.”

“Really? Who?”

His smile faded. “Aw, c’mon, don’t be like that. I really did mean to see you off, but I was stuck at work. You heard about the missing kid, right?”

“Not until afterward. They wouldn’t tell us why the ferry was delayed, so we assumed it was water conditions or maintenance or something.”

“Yeah. Dad was off the island, so I was kinda in charge of the whole thing.”

“You were in charge?”

When Yasmin jerked her attention from her fries to his face, Javier gave her a small smile and took another bite of his soggy sandwich, clearly too stubborn to toss it in the trash. Men. “All me.”

“Ugh, well, since you’re even more of a hero than I thought, take this,” she said, passing over half her burger. “I can’t stomach watching you hork that thing down.”

His brows raised. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” The meal had been oversized anyway, and she could endure half a lunch if it prevented the starvation of a poor dragon and eased his suffering.

“Thanks. So, what are you up to?”

She dipped a fry in ketchup and studied him across the table, still wondering how he’d even found her. “I’d planned to eat and read before my last two classes. I have this set up as my long day so the rest of the week isn’t so hectic.”

“That’s cool.”

A silent lull fell over them as Javier dug into his meal. Yasmin couldn’t help but chuckle at the enormity of his appetite and wonder if her few bites of cheesy beef would tide him over until dinner. Probably not.

Despite their agreement to let the mark fade, her attention drifted to his shoulder. It had been instinctive and completely impulsive.

So why did she want to see it there again? She sighed and grabbed another fry, munching thoughtfully. No, she reminded herself. They’d adapted to different lifestyles, and it was never going to work.

“So,” she said to break the silence, “you’re lookin’ good. I don’t think I've seen you in anything but beachwear. Even when we visited Astrid’s place as kids.”

“Not much of a reason to dress in anything else on an island in a state of perpetual summer if I’m not at the administrative office.” He shrugged and stole a glance at her. “You’re not with your friends. Don’t they go here, too?”

“Amaya gets out in twenty more minutes, and Gillian goes to the gym during her lunch break. Now that brings us back to my original question. What are you doing here—besides having a crappy lunch?”

He cocked a brow. “Getting ready to go to class.”

“Huh?”

“Class. You know, where you go to learn things. I have a full schedule.” He leaned back and drew a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. He snapped it open then slid it across the table to her.

Yasmin skimmed it over. He had more than a full class load, the sort of thing overachievers did if they didn’t plan to have much of a life. Almost every hour, Monday through Friday, was filled with a class.

“The American Criminal Justice System,” she read from the schedule, noticing the class in his schedule for the next afternoon. You picked CJ for your major?”

Javier nodded and twisted the top off his drink. “Something wrong with that?”

“No, I just wish I’d known is all.”

His dark brows drew close. “If I said I was coming, you would have met me?"

“Well, yeah. We’re still friends, right? I mean, all that stuff…” She waved her hand, at a loss for words, then sighed and handed back his schedule.

“I hope so.”

“We are, and this is all great. Not what I expected, but great. Just don’t crack under the pressure, yeah? I mean, this is a lot of classes—shit, twenty-seven credit hours. Are you a masochist or something? I didn’t even know this was permitted.”

“I had to receive written permission. I told them I’m a dragon, and I don’t need to sleep.”

“Even dragons need to sleep.”

“Eventually. I’ll hibernate during the summer. Part of the summer, anyway.”

“Oh. Well… In that case, I’m happy for you, Javier. Are you sure you’ll be okay, though?”

Visible tension lifted from the dragon across from her and his broad shoulders loosened. He folded the schedule again and returned it to his pocket. “I’ll make it. Besides, I didn't come for free time, and I’ve had enough partying. Finding that kid made me realize what I’m missing out on, so I’m playing catch up.” His smile thawed the remaining ice around her heart until Yasmin battled shifter instincts to stay in her seat. With every breath, the smell of him filled her nostrils, like rain in a misty rainforest.

Then she reminded herself Javier wasn’t at UTSA for her. Though his parents had the money to send him anywhere in the world and to the best schools, he’d probably picked San Antonio because it was closest to home. Definitely not for her.

Or maybe it was for her.

Yasmin dismissed that arrogant thought. A man with his pick of all the beauties on the islands wouldn’t cross hundreds of miles from his own country for her.

Javier’s green eyes smoldered, one glance holding her transfixed. Then his smile broadened. “I did hope to cross paths with you though. I’m sorry I missed saying goodbye, Yasmin. I really am.”

Her throat tightened. He didn’t really owe her an apology—saving a kid was absolutely a justifiable reason for missing her departure, even if it didn’t explain the month of silence that followed. “It’s in the past. Like I said, I’m happy for you—proud even. You got a kid back to his mom and you figured out what to do with your life.”

His handsome grin made her ladyparts tingle. “It feels good too.”

“I bet it does.” And because Yasmin was a glutton for self-punishment, she remembered what else felt good—his tongue between her legs. “Need directions to your next class?” she squeaked out.

“Nah. I got it.  They gave me a map and an initial tour around with the rest of the new students. Besides, I’ll learn faster if I fumble my way there a few times on my own. Speaking of which, I should get going so I’m not late.”

He rose from the chair with the kind of grace expected from a dragon, sin personified in one delicious package. Yasmin didn’t move at first, and it took her a moment to come to her senses and realize nothing remained of her meal but a smear of ketchup.

“Good idea. Better to arrive on time and have your pick of where you want to sit all semester long, too.”

Javier lingered by the table after shouldering his bag. “Guess I’ll see you around then?”

“Um. Yeah.”

“I have a local number now, if you ever want to call me,” he said, producing a slip of paper and sliding it to her across the table. “Feel free.”

She picked up the slip, both amused and bewildered by his forethought. At least it wasn’t a business card. “What if I don’t want to talk and only want to text you and communicate in gifs?”

“Then I’ll answer you in poop emojis and random dick pics I find on the Internet.”

Yasmin cracked an involuntary grin. “Touché. All right. Git. You have a whole campus to cross to your next class.”

Try as she might, she couldn’t help but watch him leave. Jeans did amazing things to his backside, and she caught herself sighing. She wasn’t the only one either. A cluster of girls followed Javier out with their gazes, and an inexplicable urge came over Yasmin to gouge out all their eyeballs.

“What’s up? You look ready to murder someone.”

Amaya’s voice snapped Yasmin from her dark thoughts. She twisted in her seat and looked up at her friend. “Javier was here.”

Amaya gaped and took the empty seat. “No kidding? What for? His dad or mom doing something here?”

“Nope. He’s enrolled.”

“Seriously?”

Yasmin took a small measure of comfort in her friend’s disbelief. “Uh-huh.”

“That’s a good thing then, right? You can get yourself some booty. Or are we still pissed at him for ditching us at the ferry? Should we still be pissed at him? Just let me know.” Amaya put on her game face and pressed her lips into an exaggerated thin line.

She had the best friends.

“Nah, we’re not pissed at him anymore. He had a good reason for not seeing us off. As far as booty calls go, however, I don’t know… It’s probably best that he and I keep it platonic. You know?”

“Girl, he is way too hot to keep platonic with. But hey, I’ll support you no matter what. You know that. Did he follow you here?”

“No idea.”

Yasmin launched into the story, or what she knew of it, while they both stood and headed outside. She tossed her trash along the way. Amaya listened without comment until she finished.

“Wow. Well, I guess if anyone can handle a course load like that, it’s a dragon, right? They don’t have to sleep much, or so I read in that Paranormal Studies elective I took last semester.”

“Yup. He’s a big boy dragon.” Yasmin shrugged and took a sip of her leftover milkshake. “Anyway, it’s not like I care.”

“Uh-huh.” Amaya didn't sound convinced. “C’mon, let's go grab an ice cream before next class. It’ll cheer you up.”

“But I have a milkshake.”

“Then you need a banana split. You know, fruit and all that healthy stuff.”