Marjorie Liu - Within the Flames

She hesitated. “Eddie.”

But she didn’t stop him when he dipped his head, brushing his lips over hers. She tasted his blood.

The power that flowed from him was different than any other. Before, when taking her own blood or Lethe’s, it had felt as though a wall were slamming into her. Disruptive. Painful. Overwhelming.

The energy that flowed from Eddie’s blood was just the opposite. It moved into her, through her, wrapping her in a cocoon of fire that was strong and gentle and filled with love. It was power, but a deeper power than any other she had felt, and instead of ripping her apart. . it filled her up.

Memories flashed through her mind: his pleasure, making love to her, his comfort at holding her in his arms. . his fear of not being able to protect her.

And deeper than that, she saw a little girl’s face: pale and beautiful, with long dark hair and shadowy eyes filled with mystery.

Daphne.

Lyssa sighed into that memory and began to pull away. Except, something nagged at her. Something about Eddie’s blood.

The dragon stirred, stretching its wings with a satisfied purr.

Ah, it whispered . Now his fire makes sense.

What? Lyssa asked.

She heard a low, raspy chuckle.

Somewhere, not so long ago, one of his ancestors was a dragon.

“Whoa,” she said, opening her eyes.

Eddie blinked. “What?”

She told him.

“Oh,” he said, staring. “Whoa.”

Eddie had never really questioned where his ability with fire came from, though some years back, he had finally asked his mother and grandmother if there were any truly unusual family stories. . like, anything that verged on the supernatural.

“No,” both of them had said, which was either true, or meant that someone had been very good at hiding what they were.

Of course, he’d had to accept that this gift could have come from his father’s side. But given that his father had no living relatives, except a distant cousin who lived in Spain, there really wasn’t much way to find out.

Except now he knew he had shape-shifter blood inside him. And that was odd. . but also comforting. The fire was not random. The fire was in him for a reason.

That, and Lyssa, occupied all his thoughts.

They lay tangled, talking, half-sleeping, touching each other and making out, and making love, and just. . being. It was the most miraculous few hours of his life. More healing than anything he could have imagined. Waking up with Lyssa warm and naked in his arms. .

If he lived forever, he would never forget, never take for granted, never never never let go of how deep a blessing it was that he had found her and that she was with him.

His stomach started rumbling, though. And then, so did hers.

“Rwar,” she said, scraping her teeth against his shoulder. “ Fooood. ”

He laughed, smoothing back her hair. “What do you want?”

“No one’s asked me that in ten years,” she said, blinking at him. And then she grinned. “What do you have?”

“I don’t even know. I usually eat out.”

Lyssa looked away from the bed, at the floor where she’d left her clothes. “All my money is in New York. I never used a debit card, but I could call and try to wire—”

“No,” said Eddie, and when she arched her brow at him, he added, “What I mean is, don’t worry about that yet.” Then, feeling even more awkward, he started to say, “That is, it’s not. . I’ve got. .”

“Money,” she said, dryly. “We really are going to have to figure out how this works.”

“Let me take care of you,” he replied. “At least for now.”

“Mmm.” Lyssa tapped her finger against his shoulder. “Just as long as you don’t ask me to call you Big Daddy.”

Eddie laughed and squeezed her backside. “Deal.”

She squirmed, giggling breathlessly, and rolled off the bed. “This is unreal.”

He pushed himself up on his elbows, admiring the view. “Tell me about it.”

Shyness entered her eyes, and she hugged her right arm against her body, backing away from him. Eddie pushed aside the sheets, and slid from the bed — following her. An appreciative smile touched her mouth as her gaze roved down his body, and desire filled him, again. He couldn’t imagine ever not wanting her.

“Never wear clothes,” she murmured. “I’ll call you Big Daddy all you want. And it will be well deserved .”

He bit back a smile. “Do you know how beautiful you are? Do you have any idea how crazy I am for you?”

“Crazy, yes,” she said, and gave him a self-conscious shrug. “I don’t know about beautiful. I’ve got this quirky appendage, don’t forget.”

“Beautiful,” he said again. “You’re the bestest-looking government experiment ever.”

She laughed, slapping a hand over her mouth. “Oh, that poor kid.”

“He has a bright future,” Eddie told her, and meant it. “Let’s eat and get you some new clothes.”

“Yo,” she said, holding up her clawed right hand. “I know this is San Francisco, but people here have to have some limits for strange, right? Maybe we should shop online.”

“Please. If you show off all that dragon, the tourists will love you, and the locals will give you an award for cool.”

“They’ll think it’s some makeup job?”

Eddie smiled, feeling lighter and more unburdened than he had in had years. “Let’s go find out.”

Lyssa growled at him and went to explore his closet. He followed, and found her digging through his long-sleeved shirts.

“Take anything,” he said.

“I will,” she replied, pulling a soft, battered, long-sleeved shirt off the hanger. It was black, like a lot of his clothes.

Before she slipped on his shirt, he couldn’t help but reach out and stroke his finger down her smooth back. Lyssa shivered, giving him a half smile that was warm and knowing. His erection was instant, and throbbing.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I want you again. Right now.”

She laughed. “Do you have any jeans I can borrow?”

“They’ll be huge on you.”

“I like wearing your things.” Lyssa bent over to dig through his folded pants.

He either needed to touch himself or find his way inside her body. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

“I’m wet for you,” she said bluntly. “Of course I am.”

His breath exhaled in a rush, and he reached for her hips. Lyssa leaned forward, bracing her hands on the wall and looking over her shoulder with glowing golden eyes.

“I’ve always wondered,” she said, “what it would feel like to be taken from behind.”

“God,” he said, and showed her.

His cell phone rang several times, but he was too busy exhausting himself — and Lyssa — to even think about answering. It wasn’t until after a fairly vigorous shower that he finally checked his messages.

All of them were from Roland.

“What is it?” asked Lyssa, rubbing a towel through her hair.

“My boss,” said Eddie, reluctantly. “He wants us to come over. Are you comfortable with that?”

“More than you are, I think.”

Eddie smiled, grim. “Yeah.”

Lyssa dressed in his jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She had to wear a belt and roll up the legs, but she still managed to look cute, even with a winter scarf wrapped around her neck and gloves on her hands.

His apartment was within walking distance to the office. Lyssa ventured outside with hesitation, touching the scarf, checking her gloves.

“I feel like I’m in a different world,” she told him. “I know that sounds stupid, but I’m a creature of certain habits. I’ve had to be. I familiarized myself with every city I lived in. I studied the people, how to behave. .”