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flight to Latvia. I started after him, returning quickly to the room to snatch up the caramel and brush
before hurrying downstairs.
Pavel stood at the front door, an expression of surprise fading to one of amusement as I paused to
consider where Baltic might have gone.
Basement, was all Pavel said.
Thanks. He s in one of his moods, I said.
Pavel glanced at the bowl, dipping in a finger and licking it. Homemade caramel sauce?
Of course. I used fresh cream, and I think it made all the difference.
He smiled. Have I mentioned lately how glad I am that you are not dead? Not just because you ve
kept Baltic from going insane with grief, but because it s nice to have someone who appreciates good
food.
I laughed and pressed a kiss to his cheek before heading to the basement door.
So if the black dragon s element is energy, what s our element? I asked, closing the door and
making my way down the narrow steps to Brom s work area. Fluorescent lights from the ceiling
fixture cast a sickly hue over his worktable. Beyond it were a couple of storage rooms, one door of
which was open, the pale yellow light from it pooling at the entrance.
Arcane power, came a muffled answer.
I touched a spot over my heart, where a light tan brand of a stylized sun resided. Baltic had placed the
mark there, telling me it was the symbol of our new sept and that when I had mastered my dragon fire,
I would do the same for Brom. Does Pavel have abilities to use arcane power?
No. But his children will. As will ours.
I wasn t prepared to talk about the possibility of other children yet. I knew Baltic wanted a child of
his own blood, and I did think that we would have one together, but I didn t intend for that to happen
until our lives had settled down. You had arcane abilities before, though, didn t you? Isn t that why
Antonia von Endres gave you her mage sword?
My grandmother was a mage, he said in an even more muffled tone, accompanied by some soft
swearing in another language. I gained some control over arcane magic from her.
On your mother or father s side?
My mother s mother.
So your grandmother was human? Huh. I sat on the tall stool before Brom s worktable. Did I ever
meet your parents? Before we were killed, I mean?
You do not remember?
No. That s part of the past that s still blank to me.
You met my father, yes. My mother was long dead by the time you were born. She would have liked
you. She would have been pleased I chose you above all others.
Wyverns, I remembered from a talk with May, all had one thing in common one dragon parent and
one human parent. Because I was raised with mortals, you mean?
Because you thought like them, even after you knew what you truly were.
I digested that for a minute, about to ask another question when Baltic emerged from the spare room.
He wore a pair of dusky brown leather leggings and boots that went up to midthigh, and he bore a
long, stained leather sheath. In one hand he carried a black tunic and something that looked like a
small curved chest piece, one that had seen better days. He tossed the chest piece onto a chair, and as
I stared in astonishment, pulled a long sword out of the sheath, balancing it in his hand for a moment
before nodding. I am glad Pavel was able to retrieve my cuirass and sword before Constantine
destroyed Dauva. Now, chérie, you will cease thinking of the past and focus on the present.
I continued to stare for a moment, tears pricking painfully to life behind my eyes. If I wasn t head
over heels in love with you already, I would fall madly in love with you right at this moment.
He looked down at himself for a moment before cocking an eyebrow. It is good, then, that I kept the
clothing I wore when Thala resurrected me. I had no idea it would arouse you in such a manner.
It s not the clothes, I said, setting down the caramel and taking his face in my hands, pulling him
down so I could press kisses all over it.
Then what? he asked, placing the sword on Brom s worktable, wrapping both arms around me, and
hoisting me upward. Why do you weep?
It s the fact that you would go to all this trouble just to please me. Oh, Baltic, I don t need you in
leggings, although they are even more sexy on you now than in the past. I don t want you to be the man
you used to be I desire you as you are, not as you were. My heart has always been yours, and
always will be.
That is as it should be, he said with a smug look that just made me smile. But I do not mind
indulging the less strange of your fantasies. Do you have a chemise?
I blinked at him. I beg your pardon?
I cannot make love to you in the tunnel under Dauva while we are in England. This basement will
have to suffice as the location for your current fantasy of the time I took you in the tunnel. He paused
and thought for a moment. The first time I took you in the tunnel. It was a favorite trysting place of
yours.
Was it? I don t . . . Baltic, I don t expect you to reenact this. I wasn t turned on by the idea of our
past selves going at it in a secret tunnel.
He raised one eyebrow.
All right, I was just a little, but not so much that I needed for you to dig out all your old things and the
sword. Which I should point out is now a museum piece, so you should probably treat it a little better
than you are. The scabbard looks like it s about to fall apart.
Do you wish for me to make love to you here or not? he asked impatiently.
I was about to say yes when something occurred to me. You re always talking about my fantasies,
not that I have any, or at least not like you seem to think I do. But what about you?
His brows pulled together in a puzzled frown. What about me?
What fantasies do you have?
I am a wyvern. I don t need fantasies, he said with a matter-of-fact finality.
I touched the tips of my fingers to his bare chest, lightly stroking them down the swells of his muscles.
Oh, surely there must be one or two little ones wyverns are allowed?
His eyes widened just a little. I enjoyed the caramel.
Yes, but that wasn t your fantasy. What would make you crazy with lust, Baltic? I breathed on a
nipple, flicking it with my tongue.
He sucked in his breath.
What would push you over the edge? I let my fingers trailer lower, to his belly, swirling them in an
intricate pattern, enjoying the way the muscles contracted there.
He stopped breathing.
I smiled, and leaned close, speaking against his lips. What would drive you to distraction?
I am a dragon. His eyes glittered brightly despite the dimness of the room. His stance changed
subtly, from relaxed to tense, as if his entire body was gathering itself.
My fingers brushed the front of his leather pants, caressing the growing length of him. And what do
dragons like?
The hunt, he said, his voice low and rough, and so filled with erotic promise, it made me shiver
with anticipation. Mates run. Dragons hunt.
I nipped his bottom lip. Do you want me to
RUN! he snarled, smoke curling out of his nose.
I didn t wait around to tease him any more. I simply bolted up the stairs, smiling to myself that I had
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