Firestorm Forever: A Dragonfire Novel Read Free Page B

standing fifteen feet apart in the parking lot and that it was only a matter of time before one of her neighbors came home.
    She should invite him in for dinner.
    Yes. She should.
    Ronnie took a deep breath and strode toward Drake with purpose. “Look, you never let me really thank you for what you did…”
    He raised his fingertips to touch his cheek, and Ronnie could have sworn that was the exact place she’d kissed him. “Your expression of gratitude was more than sufficient.” He swallowed and his voice dropped low. “Indeed, I owe you my thanks.”
    “Really?”
    “You gave me new purpose, Veronica,” he said solemnly, his gaze clinging to hers with such intensity that she couldn’t look away. “That has no price and leaves me forever in your debt.”
    It was impossible to believe that she had given this man any more resolve than he already possessed, but Ronnie wanted to believe it was true. “How can that be? What do you mean?”
    “I had lost faith in the battle,” Drake confessed quietly. “I was no longer certain that there was a reason to fight.”
    Ronnie had a lump in her throat. “Finding Mark can’t have helped with that.”
    “Giving you the answer you needed did help.” His eyes glittered. “I understood then that the battle was about the people who don’t fight, about defending them, that you, and others like you, were the reason to fight for good.”
    His focus upon her made Ronnie shiver. It was remarkably warm for this time in the early evening, and there seemed to be a golden radiance in the parking lot, one that hovered between her and Drake. She hugged her groceries, forgetting the carton of eggs. “But you’re here. After all this time. Why?”
    “To give you a choice,” Drake said with soft heat. “I can stay or I can leave.”
    She knew exactly what he meant, and the prospect made her mouth go dry. “But…”
    Drake lifted a hand either to silence her or reach for her. Ronnie wasn’t sure which because a brilliant orange spark leapt from his fingertip. She stared at it, not believing her eyes, but the spark flew directly toward her. She flinched when it exploded against her shoulder and gasped at the wave of heat that rolled through her body from that point. She rubbed her shoulder reflexively but there wasn’t a burn mark on the fabric.
    Just a simmering heat beneath her skin.
    No, the heat was simmering lower than that, making Ronnie keenly aware of how long she’d been alone.
    And wanting to do something about it.
    Had she imagined the spark? There was no question that she felt she’d been touched by fire. She was hot, and she was shivery.
    She was also more aroused than she’d been in years.
    She stared at Drake, recalling all those fantasies and adding another few. She caught her breath and took a step closer, knowing with complete clarity what she wanted from him. His gaze sharpened and it seemed that there was a halo of flame around his body. She reached for him and he caught her hand in his, his touch sending a jolt of heat surging through her veins. There was brilliant orange light around their joined hands, so bright that she couldn’t see their fingers but she could feel the strength of his hand holding hers.
    Ronnie sensed that Drake was tempering his strength, that he was being gentle with her by choice.
    She looked up at him, mystified by the light, and was awed to see him smile again.
    “You decide,” he whispered, and she heard the tremor in his voice.
    He wanted her.
    He’d returned to her.
    Which meant there was no choice to be made. Ronnie didn’t understand the sparks and she didn’t care. The man she’d been waiting for, the man she’d been dreaming about, the man she’d yearned to see again was standing right in front of her.
    Ronnie had learned that you could never count on having a second chance.
    “Come and have dinner with me,” she invited, feeling both bold and shy. “I’d like to cook for you.”
    “Are you sure?”
    She