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  “Good night,” she called over her shoulder as she headed for her bedroom.

  Eric watched her walk away, his eyes unconsciously sliding down to her swaying hips. Sabrina had always had a way of walking that turned him on. Though she talked all business, her walk was more sashaying and feminine. And it always drew his eyes to her butt.

  Sabrina had an ass that he couldn’t get enough of. Once, when things had gotten hot and heavy between them, he had removed her pants and turned her over onto her belly. She’d been wearing a pair of those lacy little thongs she liked so much. He loved the fact that she wore them. They were incredibly sexy. He had spent an exorbitant amount of time just massaging her bottom. It was perfectly heart-shaped, round, soft and luscious. Just the thought of how it had felt in his hands made him hard.

  Eric stayed up for another hour or so writing out a security plan, then finally went to bed. But he had a hard time sleeping that night. His thoughts ran rampant between protecting Sabrina and making hard and hot love to her. He knew he would keep her safe. He wasn’t lying when he told her that this was his world. He was used to protecting people from dragons. Compared to that, this would be a piece of cake.

  That made him wonder yet again why Vlad had given him this assignment. His specialty was dragons, not anthropology professors. And it wasn’t like Vlad to give him an assignment based on personal reasons. He wouldn’t have given him the case just because of his and Sabrina’s past relationship. The vamp would have found the specialist best suited for the case and assigned it to him. Although Vlad could be unyielding to the point of being anal, he knew the business, Eric would give him that. That’s why it didn’t make sense that he was handling Sabrina’s case. He’d have to ask his boss about it again tomorrow.

  That thought led to the other guys at Sundown he needed to contact for his case. He knew some of them were in between cases and would be able to help out. Jason was available and although Malcolm was in the middle of something, it was touch and go, not a full-time gig. He would recruit the gargoyle and fairy for those nights they were needed.

  If Vlad was around to pitch in, all the better. But he knew that his boss was having a challenging time with a current case he was handling. Some of the guys at Sundown had mentioned that Vlad and a certain young lady he was protecting were clashing. One of his buddies had hinted at the possibility that this female was getting to Vlad in a way no other had.

  He could sympathize with that. Sabrina got under his skin in a way no other woman ever had. She was there, in him, pulling at him in ways that distracted him. Ways that consisted of heavy breathing, hot sex and incredible passion. Combine that with the ever-present image of rainbows and summer days that Sabrina brought to mind, and it was a lethal combination.

  Groaning, Eric rolled over unto his stomach in an effort to relieve the hard pressure in his cock. Rubbing himself slightly on the bed, he hissed in frustration. He couldn’t take it. Even the feel of the satiny sheets rubbing against his body was erotic. The image of Sabrina writhing and panting beneath him wouldn’t go away. Rolling back over onto his back, he wrapped one hand around his hardness.

  Sliding his fingers up and down along his hard length, he let his mind wander to Sabrina. Groaning softly, he let go of his self-control and gave his imagination and lust full rein. He imagined her touch, so soft yet so demanding. He pictured kissing her lush, full, pouty lips. He visualized her mouth on him, all over him, kissing, licking and sucking. He growled low in his throat and his hands worked quicker. His breath turned to short pants as he got closer and closer to the edge.

  Eric visualized her berry-red nipples, erect and waiting for his mouth. He would worship them endlessly, savoring their ripeness. He imagined grabbing her soft, lush ass with both hands, lifting her hips and plunging deep inside her. He imagined her warm, wet and ready, panting his name over and over again. He’d plunge inside her again and again, rotating his hips in a way that brought little gasps and moans of pleasure from Sabrina. Her cries would grow louder and louder until he knew she was almost at the edge, almost ready to tumble over. And he would be right there with her.

  Grabbing some tissue off the nightstand by his bed, he imagined Sabrina crying out as her body clenched around him and her hips bucking from the strength of her orgasm. Eric let go then, hissing Sabrina’s name as he splintered into a thousand pieces.

  Drifting back to consciousness a little later, Eric understood one thing with absolute clarity. Sabrina was still very much under his skin, so deep he didn’t know if he would ever get her out. Thoughts of her were in his head too often, distracting him from what he should be concentrating on—her protection.

  He had been in an almost constant state of erection since Sabrina came back into his life. He wanted her moaning and writhing beneath him. He craved to hear her gasp his name again and again as passion overcame her.

  Stop!

  Damn it. The woman was driving him crazy!

  Eric wanted her so much, he ached.

  Sabrina wanted him so much, she ached.

  As she lay in bed trying desperately to fall asleep, her mind wandered again and again to Eric. What was wrong with her? He had pretty much told her without words, when he pulled away from her earlier, that he didn’t want her. He didn’t want her touch and he didn’t want her caring. Why couldn’t she get that into her head?

  Just because she wanted him so much, just because she lusted after him with everything she was didn’t mean a damn thing. It had to be on both sides. She knew that. She had experienced how things went when that was not the case, on the giving and receiving side. Several of the men she had dated since Eric and she had been together had been attractive, confident, intelligent men. Yet there had been something missing. There hadn’t been that connection that she had shared with Eric. There hadn’t been the passion or the “click” that she needed. Yet most of these men had expressed having just that feeling about her.

  She hadn’t been able to reciprocate, so she moved on. And that was that.

  It seemed easy, it seemed reasonable from her point of view. But when she was on the other side of it, well, it suddenly became complicated. Why couldn’t she just accept it? Sabrina rolled over onto her stomach and punched her pillow a couple of times, more because she was frustrated then because it needed fluffing.

  Two hours later, still fully awake, she knew what she had to do. The energy was building inside her and she didn’t know how else to release it. If she didn’t do something she wasn’t sure what would happen. And if she gave in to her desires and went to Eric, she knew without a doubt she would regret it come morning. No, she would just have to take a risk, free her power and make the transformation. It was too much to stamp down this time. Her frustration, her desire, her needs were overwhelming her, and she couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  She would just have to be damn careful.

  Rolling out of bed, she silently slipped out of her room and tiptoed down the hallway, praying that Eric wouldn’t hear her. Disarming her alarm system, she went back to her room, closed the door and undressed. Opening the French doors, she stepped out onto the balcony, clothed in nothing more than the moonlight’s rays. Looking out into the night, energy coursed through her, thrilled her, and sent shivers of delight up and down her spine.

  Sabrina felt her body start to swell and expand with energy. Thunder roared in her ears. Intense pain momentarily overtook everything else and she fell to one knee. She scrunched her eyes closed as a blindingly bright light overwhelmed her. Then she felt her body splinter into a million pieces.

  In the next instant the pain was gone and all that remained was the sound of the soft night wind rustling the trees. The breeze brushed over her, tickling her skin. Slowly opening her eyes, she marveled in her surroundings. Colors were so vivid, the green leaves of the trees, the black night sky and the bright, white stars. Despite it being night, she could see everything as clearly as if it were daytime, and her enhanced vision allowed her to see an unusua
lly great distance away.

  She reveled in the world around her.

  It had been too long since she set herself free, too long since she let her true form out of its self-imposed cage. Tipping her head back, she let out a long, loud sigh. Satisfaction coursed through her.

  She so needed this.

  Stepping forward, she knew what else she needed. Where she needed to go and who she needed to see. Purpose filled her as she closed her eyes and focused on the task at hand. Her wings unfurled and she gracefully rose into the air. The sensation of flying took her breath away, as it always did. She heard it was almost better than sex. Almost, but not quite.

  As she flew forward into the night, she thought of the man she’d left behind. She would love to fly with Eric. She would love to have him by her side as they soared through the clouds. But it would never be. It could never be, not with any man. She knew that with the kind of soul-ripping sadness that only complete certainty could bring.

  Sabrina was a dragon, one in a long line of dragons.

  Eric was a human.

  He would never understand. He would never accept her for all that she was. He would only be horrified and repulsed by her true form, just as so many humans throughout history had reacted to dragons.

  Sabrina needed comfort, she needed understanding. Not fear, contempt and criticism. So she went to the one place she felt safe. The one place she could be whole. The only place she was loved for everything that she was.

  She went home.

  Eyes forward, concentrating on her destination with everything that she was, Sabrina never saw the curtains flutter behind her or the figure run out onto her balcony and watch her fly away.

  Chapter Nine

  Eric shot out of bed the minute the feeling slammed into him.

  Dragon!

  The sensation raised the hair on his arms and hummed through his body. Danger crackled in the air. There was a dragon close by. Somehow, someway along his immortal journey as a dragon slayer, Eric had developed this sixth sense. If any of the creatures were in his vicinity, he could feel them.

  Without dressing, he grabbed his sword and ran down the hallway to Sabrina’s room. Charging in, he stopped short and sucked in his breath at the sight that greeted him. A dragon stood outside on the balcony. As he stared, it slowly rose into the air and flew into the night. But that wasn’t what struck him so deeply. He had seen many dragons during his long lifetime. No it wasn’t so much the fact that it was a dragon. It was the fact that it was a stunningly beautiful golden dragon. He couldn’t seem to tear his gaze from it.

  His mind quickly catalogued it. The creature was a European dragon, Draco occidentalis magnus. It or its ancestors hailed from mountainous areas in Europe. They typically had four legs, full wings and were a dark color, usually red, green or black. Stories had also been told of rare golden European dragons, but Eric had never seen one.

  Until tonight.

  The dragon that rose in front of him was just such a color. It was an iridescent gold that reflected the moonlight into a million different rainbow colors, blinding in its intensity. And Eric could tell it was a female. Its smaller horns and narrower tail were instant clues. The males usually had larger horns protruding from their heads and their tails were longer with wider, arrowhead-like tips. No, this dragon was definitely female.

  What was he doing? Instead of studying it, he should be figuring out what the hell it was up to. What was it in doing in Sabrina’s room? A quick glance back at her bed told him what he somehow already knew. The bed was empty. Sabrina was gone.

  Striding out to the balcony, he watched the creature gracefully fly away. Its wings curved slightly with each upswing, carrying her higher into the sky. Though her movements appeared slow, the power behind each wing stroke was enormous. She disappeared from his sight in less than a minute as the darkness embraced her.

  Though he was a slayer, Eric still held a certain wary fascination for the prey he hunted. And despite what had happened to his friends and family, he didn’t hate all dragons. He knew some could be good and some could be evil, just like any other creature. Unfortunately, the damage dragons could inflict if they were evil was sometimes catastrophic. A pissed-off dragon determined to cause pain and chaos could get a lot done in a relatively short period of time. For him, that meant nine times out of ten he had to act quickly and ask questions later. In a case like this, he would normally try to quickly determine what the situation was then act on that determination.

  Looking around the room, Eric saw no sign of a struggle. The French doors had been unlocked, so no forced entry. Walking down the hallway, he studied the alarm panel. The system had been manually disabled. Why? By whom? Going back into Sabrina’s bedroom, he turned the light on and studied the room. He noticed her clothing right away. On the floor, by the window—a pink tank top and matching women’s boxers with ruffled edges. Eric tried not to imagine Sabrina wearing this, but his mind refused to obey, completely. Although he didn’t imagine her in them, he did imagine her out of them.

  His shook his head and got back to business. He needed to figure this out. Then he needed to call Vlad and some of the others to help him track Sabrina down.

  She could have tossed her nightclothes on the floor yesterday or even this morning. He picked them up. They still felt somewhat warm and Sabrina’s subtle scent drifted to him as he breathed deeply. How many times had he inhaled her seductive scent as they held each other close?

  Gritting his teeth, Eric forced his mind back to the present. No, Sabrina must have taken her clothes off right before going with the dragon. But why? Had she taken off her pajamas and gotten dressed? He knew that was possible, but he didn’t think it was likely. Even if she had gone with the dragon willingly, he couldn’t picture the creature waiting patiently while Sabrina got dressed. Dragons weren’t known for their patience.

  So why had she undressed before leaving? What would have made her do so? An idea entered his mind uninvited. It hit him like a truck—head-on. The thought of it shocked and angered him. It wasn’t possible, was it? He would have known, somehow would have sensed something, wouldn’t he have?

  He ran downstairs and searched Sabrina’s kitchen for a flashlight. Once he found it, he raced back to her room and out onto the balcony. Flashing the light onto the concrete floor, he looked for the telltale signs he suspected would be there.

  Confirming his suspicions, he found reflective golden scales. Picking one up, he examined it more closely. Yes, it definitely was a golden dragon scale, and there were several more lying on the floor around his feet.

  The scales were significant for one reason and one reason only. Dragons only shed scales on a few occasions. First, while mating, as it tended to be extremely physically demanding. Part of dragon foreplay was the two creatures rubbing against each other. And since the actual act was often done in the air during flight, it was doubtful there would be scales on Sabrina’s balcony if that was the reason.

  A second possibility would be shedding as part of one of the three stages of dragon development. During each stage of a dragon’s three life cycles, from youth to teenager to adult, there tended to be substantial shedding associated with the high stress of each growth process. This second instance was also not a probable explanation for the discarded scales, as dragons usually retreated to the privacy of a cave or their homes during these various phases of their lives. For that to occur on Sabrina’s balcony would be highly unlikely.

  The last possibility was the most likely. And the most dangerous. A dragon also shed its scales when it transformed from human to dragon form, which a majority but not all the creatures could do. This was dangerous because Eric could sense a dragon only when they were either in dragon form or transforming from human to dragon. He could not sense a dragon when it was in human form. A dangerous disadvantage for a slayer, but one that had not proved fatal as of yet for two simple reasons—dragons rarely transformed in front of humans, and when a dragon was in human form it could
not kill a slayer.

  Over time Eric had learned only one way to identify dragons when they were in human form. Their eyes. Although not an obvious thing, a dragon’s pupils differed in shape from a human’s. Where a human had round pupils, a dragon had slightly more oblong pupils. And as they dilated, instead of becoming more rounded and large, like a human’s, their pupils grew more elongated with the top and bottom narrowing to pointed tips and touching the outer top and bottom edge of the iris. Most wouldn’t immediately notice this distinction, yet it was one he had learned to look for through time and experience.

  There were just two problems with this. One was that he had to get close enough to the dragon while in human form to notice its pupils, and second some dragons had hid this trait, wearing contacts while in human form to disguise their difference. Eric thought about Sabrina’s eyes. He had never noticed anything unusual about them, other than that they were a beautiful moss green color. She never mentioned wearing contacts. He couldn’t bring to mind her pupils. Had they been slightly oblong?

  Eric now realized that the force he’d felt when he bolted out of bed had been from a transformation. He was almost sure of it. The energy put out during this process was stronger than that put out when a dragon was merely contained in his true form.

  The fact that this was the most likely explanation for the scales on the balcony didn’t please him. Because if this was the case, that meant only one thing. Sabrina Reyes was a dragon. That also meant that she had not only withheld that information from him during their time together in the past, but also now, in the present, when he needed to know everything so he could protect her.

  Eric had thought he knew Sabrina, but obviously he was mistaken. Not only was she pretending to be something she wasn’t, she was also a creature he had devoted his life to killing. The only problem was he couldn’t tell her that. He was sworn to protect mankind, and that was a promise he held dearly. His work as a dragon slayer wasn’t known to the mortal world, and he kept the secret at all costs. Very few people beyond Vlad and some of his friends at Sundown Security knew his immortal secret.