3. Chapter 3 #3
Or was he trying to make her feel as off-balance as she was trying to make him?
It had to be the latter because an honest man like him wouldn’t want anything to do with her.
Still, this wasn’t what she expected from a special agent.
If anything, it made her more attracted to him and curious about him.
Especially when he radiated this heated energy that she could feel through her socks.
She said, “If someone really did spike the vending machine, why is it you seemed to get away unscathed? Have something extra in your blood?”
“Miss Bandit. We’re here to talk about you.”
“Call me Kate.”
“This isn’t looking good for you. We’ve already matched your fingerprints to the ones at other crime scenes.”
So, he wanted to go in that direction? Lying to her about supposed evidence they had?
Even if it was evidence they’d easily collect, she knew it’d take longer than a few hours.
She withdrew her roaming limb. “You know what? I’m tired.
Tired of this place. Tired of you. Can I sleep here?
” She pressed her cheek to the cold table, closing her eyes. “Yeah, this works.”
She had fun, but now it was time for the next part of the plan she’d been working on for a year.
She had to find out if Raz was a part of the Dragon SEALs or if she’d be on her own with her next heist. But first, she needed to find out more about Raz as a person to know if he was trustworthy.
She’d been burned before by someone she thought she could trust, and she wouldn’t allow that to happen again.
“Kate,” he called.
He repeated her name, but she was concentrating on the Fallen part of herself.
She pulled energy from her body, leaving it to go comatose.
In spirit form, as a small orb of light, she drifted down to the floor.
Concealing her energy from the cameras, she flew to Raz.
Moving up his leg like she’d done with her foot, her spirit tingled all the way into his body.
Normally, a Spirit Cavity only housed the aura of someone’s spirit within, but his blue aura shifted, revealing a hunched creature a distance away from her.
Its claw-tipped wings and back legs rested against the ground.
The being shimmered metallic copper, from scaled nose to pointed tail, and over the feathered display of its wings.
Sharper, horn-like scales covered its back and tail.
Its snout bristled, showing a range of sharp teeth as long as her spirit fingers.
She stopped moving, her light dimmed to near darkness, but still the beast watched her.
What the flying hell?
“Okay, dragon, baby, honey, stay calm.” Her murmured thoughts rang out through the Spirit Cavity.
The dragon’s reptilian, elliptical eyes pointed in her direction, and its lips lowered back over dagger-like teeth.
“We can both exist in here happily…“ she continued. Its beauty and authenticity mesmerized her. Her spirit drifted toward the beast before she could stop it. The dragon didn’t move, and its warm breath caressed her, sending a shiver down her spine.
She should have been wary, scared even to find such a beast inside someone, but wonder won her over.
“All right. Listen here,“ she said, her voice ringing with confidence. If it wanted to attack her, it surely would have done so already. Right? “You are the most adorable thing I have ever seen.” Daringly, she moved forward and ran her spirit against its snout.
It leaned into her, startling her heart into overdrive.
Loyalty. Justice. Care. Fissures of Raz’s spirit energy scored across her mind, swaying her. He’s a very good man indeed. Someone she could trust.
Her spirit prickled, indigo energy reaching for his blue aura, skimming against it as if she were petting him.
The man seemed to feel the caress. In his Spirit Cavity, she felt the pool of blood scorching fire down to his loins, the expectation of something more.
Oh, I like that. Her lips curled with delight.
Something loud hit against metal. An unknown force catapulted her spirit from his body back into her own. She raised her human head.
How the hell did he do that?
His open palm pressed against the table where he had slammed it down.
“You woke me from my beauty sleep,” she said, lips tilting into a taunting grin.
He glowered at her. The copper depths of his narrowed eyes burned fire, that iridescent molten rising to the surface. The color shifted like molasses, as if something were staring back from within him.
His beast was there.
A man with a dragon spirit hidden within. She never could have imagined that there was more to their name than the Dragon SEALs suggested. Fallen angels existed. Why couldn’t there be another mythical creature? It just seemed impossible that she’d never met one before now.
Kate bit her lip and dragged in a breath.
He was dangerous. A quality that always attracted her, but she’d never met a dangerous man with a heart of gold.
Not that it mattered, she might want to have more fun with him, but in the end she wouldn’t let a man get between her and Naomi again.
Especially since he’d never truly want her, anyway.