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  Just as the thought that he might be planning to rape her killed the burgeoning lust she was beginning to feel, loud pops filled the air. Staccato in rhythm, it took a few seconds for her to realize it was weapons' fire. "Someone's shooting at us!"

  "No shit, Sherlock," came the muttered reply from the man crouched beside the window.

  Ass, she thought with some heat. "I've never been shot at before, you putz."

  "I have." His voice was still as low as before.

  "Can you see them, Rainer?" Nikolai lifted his head. He rose up onto his elbows and stared toward the man by the window.

  "No. Dammit."

  DeeDee twisted her neck to get a better look at what was going on. She could barely make out Rainer as he crouched by the window, peering out through the curtain.

  "I told you it was too dangerous to entrust information like this with humans." Rainer's deep voice had a decided bite to it.

  She blinked. What did he mean, give it to humans? As opposed to...what? Monkeys?

  More gunfire erupted and Nikolai dropped back down onto her. She heard the breaking of glass, the shattering of ceramic, and shards of the table lamp rained down over her. Well, mostly over Nikolai, since he was still smashing her into the floor. His warm breath wafted against her cheek, sending tiny shivers up and down her spine.

  Contrary to the strangeness of the situation, the man on top of her felt...familiar.

  Like...home.

  "Fuck this." Rainer's voice was harsh. "I'll be right back."

  "Be careful." Nikolai tipped his head up. Though he looked at his friend, DeeDee was enormously aware of just how very close that luscious mouth of his was to hers.

  Rainer headed toward the kitchen in a crouching run. Then Nikolai looked down at her. In the darkness of the room she couldn't make out very many details, even as close as his face was, but she could see the light amber of his eyes.

  Wait. Amber? Hadn't his eyes been...brown? Or maybe hazel?

  "Stay down." He pushed away from her, pausing with his knees bent and his palms planted on the floor on either side of her shoulders. "I mean it, Ms. Adair. Stay put until we get back."

  From outside came the sounds of men's shouts and a roar like a fierce wind, but different somehow, a sound she couldn't quite figure out. Seeing that Nikolai was waiting for her response, she gave a nod. If people were outside firing guns toward the house, she wasn't a fool. She was much less likely to be hit by a bullet if she was flat on the floor.

  He leaned down and for the briefest of moments his lips touched the corner of her mouth. Then he was gone.

  Chapter 2

  * * *

  Rainer did a partial shift, just enough so that his hands became tipped with razor sharp dragon claws and he could use fire as a weapon. That hunters had found them here brought him to only one conclusion.

  Adair had planned to give--or sell--his research data to these bastards.

  That the hunters had opened fire with an innocent in harm's way made it even worse as far as Rainer was concerned. Especially since that innocent appeared to be his mate. Whether he liked it or not.

  Whether he was ready for it or not.

  He came silently up behind the first hunter--dressed in military camouflage he'd probably bought at a surplus store--and drew one clawed finger across the man's throat. The man grabbed his throat and dropped to the ground with a low gurgle. Even while his eyes were glazing over as life bled from him, Rainer was moving on to the next man.

  This one must have heard him coming, for he turned, bringing up his automatic rifle, just as Rainer reached him. Rainer opened his mouth and spat a plume of fire toward the man.

  The hunter yelled and threw his hands up to protect his face. Rainer knocked the rifle out of his grip and chopped the side of his hand against the man's throat, effectively crushing his larynx. Putting his hands on each side of the man's head, he gave his wrists a quick twist and broke the man's neck. As the body fell to the ground, Rainer felt a stripe of fire across his left bicep and then heard the sharp retort of a gun.

  He whirled to face the threat and narrowly escaped the bullet that would have struck him in the back of the skull. With a snarl he threw himself at the hunter, clawed hands grasping the man's rifle and ripping it from his grasp. The hunter didn't pause but reached for his waist and drew a curved dagger.

  "You're joking, right?" Rainer grinned, knowing his teeth had also partially transformed and were now two rows of serrated death.

  He saw Nikolai run across the lawn toward another hunter. His friend ducked and rolled to avoid being shot, and then was on the man in the span of a heartbeat.

  Rainer focused on his quarry. "Why are you here?" he asked, keeping his hands held loosely at his sides. His gaze remained fixed on the hunter as he waited for him to make his move.

  The man spat at Rainer.

  Slimy spittle landed on Rainer's cheek. He reached up and wiped it off, flinging it off his fingers. "That's two."

  The hunter's eyes narrowed. "Two what?"

  "Two strikes."

  "What was the first one?" The man lifted his chin, defiance written in every line of his stance.

  "When you fired blindly into the house and put my mate in danger." Rainer settled onto the balls of his feet, ready to take this guy out if he gave him any more bull. "Now, why are you here?"

  "Fuck you."

  "That's three," Rainer answered quietly. He lashed out with his foot, catching the man in the gut. The hunter groaned and doubled over. A hard jab from Rainer's fist on his cheek knocked the man to the ground.

  Rainer straddled him and punched him on the side of the chin, knocking the man out cold. Looking up to check on Nikolai's progress, Rainer saw him stalking the last hunter who was trying to get away. Nikolai kept blocking his path by sending a stream of fire across his way wherever he turned.

  "Stop fucking around," Rainer called out. "You know someone's called the cops by now. We need to get out of here."

  Nikolai let loose with a roundhouse kick, knocking the man unconscious. He walked toward Rainer with that loose-hipped gait he adopted whenever he was feeling particularly pleased with himself. Their Rastabana called it a swagger, and she wasn't usually in a complimentary mood when she used the word.

  Rainer let go of his dragon and shifted back to his full human form, and saw Nikolai do the same.

  "We'll have to take Adair's sister with us."

  Rainer didn't want to examine too closely how much satisfaction Nikolai's pronouncement filled him with. Rainer recognized her as his mate, but he wasn't happy about it.

  At least that's what he kept telling himself.

  "What the hell was that?" The woman in question came out of the house, one hand still wrapped around her can of pepper spray.

  "Did I not tell you to stay down until Rainer or I returned for you?" Irritation rasped Nikolai's voice.

  She sent him a scowl. "I'm not stupid. I waited until there hadn't been any gunfire for a while and then I heard sounds of fighting. I got up and peeked out the window." She put one hand on her hip. "Which brings me back to my original question. What. The. Hell. Was. That?"

  Rainer could tell from her expression that she must have seen one--or both--of them using their fire. He pressed his lips together and glanced at Nikolai, who appeared just as baffled as to how to proceed.

  "You know what? Never mind." She turned away and started back into the house. "I'll just get my purse and you two...whatever you are...can go to hell."

  Nikolai sprinted after her. "Wait, Ms. Adair. Please..."

  Rainer ran after them both. "Stop begging, Nik," he muttered. "It's embarrassing."

  "Fuck off." Nikolai scowled at him, then looked back at Adair's sister, who had once again slung her huge purse over her shoulder and was pointing the can of pepper spray their way. "Listen, Ms. Adair, we didn't lie to you. Your brother has been working on something very important to us--to our people." He spread his hands. "Please--do you know where he is?"<
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  Her teeth came down on her bottom lip and Rainer's gut seized with lust. He wanted to be the one biting that plump piece of flesh. Sucking on it. Licking across it before plunging his tongue into the honeyed recesses of her mouth. If she gave him half a chance, he would.

  She shook her head. "He called me an hour ago and said he had to leave town. He wouldn't say why or where he was going. I drove over hoping I'd catch him before he left." She stared at them, her gaze flicking between them like someone watching a ping-pong game. "Who are you?"

  Rainer heard her unspoken What are you?

  When neither of them responded, she said slowly, "I saw you out there, you know. Belching fire like some kind of...well, some kind of something you can't possibly be."

  He looked at Nikolai.

  Nikolai sighed. "We are of the mountain clan of dragons, Ms. Adair, and are in the midst of a fertility crisis that could lead to our eventual extinction." He took a step closer to her.

  When she didn't automatically lift the pepper spray canister higher, Rainer raised his eyebrow. Was she beginning to believe them, then? Maybe they should have belched fire earlier.

  "Your brother was doing genetic research to first determine the cause and, second, discover if there's a way to solve it." Nikolai drew in a deep breath. "It's imperative that we find him, that we make sure whatever information he has doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

  Rainer saw something flicker across her face, an emotion that seemed like...guilt? He frowned and took a couple of steps forward.

  Immediately the pepper spray was pointed in his direction.

  His frown deepened. "You let Nik get to within two feet of you, yet you point that damned canister at me?"

  "I don't like the look on your face," she responded tartly. With her free hand she raked her hair away from her face. The long layers fluffed for a moment and then settled sleekly against her skull.

  He wanted to run his fingers through that hair, wanted to find out if it was as silky as it looked.

  "And I don't think I like that look, either," she muttered. The arousal darkening her eyes belied her words. She liked that he wanted her--she liked it a lot from what he could tell.

  Sirens sounded in the distance. Rainer shifted restlessly. "We need to go, Nik." He looked at her. "All of us."

  She frowned. "I don't think so, Tim," she muttered, borrowing a line from a sitcom that had been popular a few years ago. "I need to tell the cops something's happened to Graham."

  "And just what will you tell them?" Nikolai folded his arms over his chest and rocked back on his heels. "That your brother called and told you he was leaving town and that you drove over here anyway and found us inside? Without any sign of breaking and entering, I might add." He cocked one eyebrow in a way that usually made Rainer want to smack him but now seemed entirely appropriate. "And just how will you explain the dead men in the front yard?"

  * * * *

  DeeDee pressed her lips together. He had a point, damn him. "Fine. But I'm not going anywhere with either of you." She grabbed her overnight case which held a change of clothes and makeup--essentials she refused to leave behind--and walked out of the house. As she went to her mid-size SUV, she was acutely aware of the two tall men trailing her.

  "That's fine," Nikolai said easily. "We'll just go with you."

  "B-but..." She watched as they reached the car. Nikolai got in the front passenger seat and Rainer climbed in the back. The sirens came closer and she realized she had run out of time. She opened the driver's side door and climbed behind the wheel.

  By the time the first police cruiser turned onto her brother's street, she was sitting at the stop sign with her turn signal on. She watched in her rearview mirror as the patrol car sped down the street and pulled into Graham's driveway.

  With a sigh, DeeDee made her turn and started down the long road that would take her south. She was on auto-pilot right now--she had no intention of taking these guys to her house, but she didn't know what else to do so she drove.

  The story Nikolai had told her was too outlandish to believe. They were dragons. Really. Yet she had seen fire billow from their mouths. She'd seen the men it was directed at blanch away from it. So either it was real fire or it looked so real that someone close to it couldn't tell the difference.

  She didn't know any humans who could do that. Of course, relatively speaking, her circle of friends and acquaintances didn't exactly include the entire globe. There could be people who could manipulate fire like that for all she knew.

  "Pull in here. Please." Nikolai pointed to a drug store on the corner. "We need to talk."

  She glanced at him and instead kept going until she went through the intersection and could pull into the well-lit--and open--gas station.

  "Smart girl," she heard Rainer mutter from the back seat.

  DeeDee pulled up in front of the building and put the car in park. She left the engine running. Just in case. She twisted in her seat, looking first at Rainer and then at Nikolai. "Okay. So...talk."

  Nikolai turned in his seat to face her. "Ms. Adair--"

  She decided to at least trust them with her name--at this point there didn't seem to be much point in not giving it to them. "My name's Deirdre," she interrupted. "You can call me DeeDee." She leaned back against the driver's side door and crossed her arms. Shaking her head, she said, "You weren't kidding earlier, were you? You really are dragon people."

  Nikolai shook his head. "Not dragon people, DeeDee. Dragons."

  She frowned and stared at him. She looked in the back seat at Rainer, who sat slouched, his hands resting in his lap, his gaze steady on her. "But..." Her frown deepened. "You're human. I mean, you look human."

  Rainer's eyebrows rose. "We might appear human at the moment, but we're not. We're dragons."

  She blinked, trying to get her brain to wrap around the fact that two gorgeous men were sitting in her car claiming to be dragons. From what she knew of dragon mythology, dragons grew to be enormous creatures with wingspans that... Well, they sure as hell wouldn't fit in her SUV.

  Unless they were really small dragons... She had heard of fairy dragons that could fit in the palm of your hand. But she didn't see how that was physically possible--their mass would be the same in whatever form they took. So two males who weighed maybe a hundred and eighty pounds or so would be dragons that weighed a hundred and eighty pounds or so. About the size of a good sized St. Bernard. She didn't see how they could get any bigger--or any smaller, for that matter--than that.

  Her brow crinkled as she tried to work it out. "So, you're like, what? Miniature dragons?"

  Nikolai snorted with laughter. "No. We're full size."

  DeeDee opened her mouth and then closed it without saying anything. What was there to say? She was only making supposition here--they seemed to know what they were talking about.

  Of course, crazy people could speak with authority, too.

  Rainer's sigh drew her attention back to him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "What we are--or aren't--doesn't change the fact that you're in danger now, too."

  "I am? Why?" DeeDee wrinkled her nose. "I don't know anything."

  "It's not what you know," Rainer responded. "It's who you know." When she just looked at him, he said, "If the hunters are looking to get something from Dr. Adair, they won't hesitate to use you to get to him." His face darkened. "And they just might not believe you when you say you have no idea where he is."

  "But I don't!" She looked from him to Nikolai.

  "We know that," Nikolai said, his voice holding that same soothing quality from when they'd first met. God, that was less than an hour ago. Talk about relativity. Time did not drag when you were in fear for your life. "But," he went on, "I promise you, they won't."

  She chewed on her lip. He was probably right. And wherever Graham was, he knew her cell number. There wasn't anything she could do for now. Except... She forced herself not to glance at her purse, where the flash drive her brother had s
ent her two days ago lay in an inside pocket. She had a feeling that small piece of technology was the reason Graham had left so suddenly.

  And it just might be what the dragon hunters were after as well.

  "We need to get to the mountains." Rainer reached up and touched her gently on the cheek.

  DeeDee looked at him. Instead of drawing his hand away, which she expected him to do, he stroked his fingers down her cheek, appearing lost in the moment.

  "Just as soft as it looks." His gaze heated and the interior of the roomy SUV seemed suddenly much less spacious. The only thing that kept her climbing into the back seat with him was that she didn't want to leave Nikolai alone in the front. Ay-ay-ay.

  Apparently becoming aware of what he was doing, Rainer cleared his throat and sat back. "We'll gain more strength in the mountains," he said. "Plus we'll be safer from the hunters. They won't be as anxious to face us on our own turf."

  She swallowed. As much as she'd like to believe she'd be safe enough on her own, she couldn't talk herself into it. Those men with the guns hadn't known who was in the house when they'd opened fire. They'd obviously had no concern about who they might hurt. Or worse. And for what it was worth, neither Nikolai nor Rainer had made any move to hurt her and they'd had plenty of opportunity.

  If anything, they acted like they wanted to protect her. They looked like they wanted to devour her.

  In a good way. She was becoming less and less averse to that idea. And, truthfully, she felt her best chance of finding Graham was with these two.

  "To the mountains it is," she muttered and put the SUV in reverse.

  Forty-five minutes later she had reached the small town of Summerhaven at the summit of Mount Lemmon. She pulled off to the side of the road and looked at both men. "Where to?"

  Nikolai twisted in his seat to look at Rainer. "Doesn't Terik's cousin have a cabin up here?"