Dragon's Flame by Jory Strong Page A

a mirrored wall so that even with his back turned he could keep an eye on the customers.
    Whoever owned this place, they obviously meant for the warning on the door to be taken seriously. She was betting they didn’t get a lot of bar fights.
    Then again, it wasn’t set up like most places. Seating was limited to two choices—on stools in front of the bartender-bouncer-enforcer or in booths along the right wall.
    Taine put his hand at the base of her spine and guided her past patrons whose focus on their dining companions gave the impression of deals going down.
    Out of the corner of her eye, shadows behind the bar made it appear as if there was a trident resting against the mirrored wall an arm’s length away from the blond. She turned her head and the trident was gone.
    Saffron huffed out a laugh. Of course the trident was gone. It hadn’t actually been there. But given everything she’d seen since obeying orders and going to IRE HQ, was it any surprise that her imagination was amped up?
    They stopped next to an empty booth. She slid in.
    Taine’s eyes hooded and she did not want to imagine what would happen if they weren’t separated by the table. “Other side,” she told him.
    His slow smile said he knew he was getting to her. He sat and captured her hands. “We’re back to acting professional?”
    Her gaze dropped to their hands. “I’m becoming more and more convinced that your definition of professional conduct has almost no resemblance to my definition.”
    A shimmer at the corner of her eye, like sun off scales, preceded their waitress’s arrival though there was nothing fish-like about the svelte redhead with the dark green eyes.
    Saffron had to wonder what their waitress was doing here when she should be in Hollywood or modeling glamorous, impractical dresses in Rome.
     The redhead said, “The house special today is swordfish steak.”
    The lyrical tone of her voice made swordfish sound like the perfect lunch choice. Saffron said, “That works for me.”
    “I’ll have the same.” Taine said.
    Their waitress moved away.
    Two men passed the booth, shimmering at the corner of Saffron’s eye. This time there was an impression of large red scales, like Medieval battle shields.
    Her heart thumped faster, harder. Either her imagination was going wild or there was some seriously strange lighting effects in this place. Or…
    She leaned forward.
    Taine mimicked the action, pressed his lips to hers and entered her mouth with the thrust of his tongue.
    Heat speared straight to her sex. Her nipples went instantly tight.
    Her tongue twined with his for more than a few heartbeats before she remembered where they were and jerked back. Damnit! How did he keep doing that? Making her forget her rules?
    “That’s not what you were after?” he asked, radiating satisfaction.
    She was torn between shaking her head or punching him. “The warning on the door should read: Check your grievances, prejudices—and ego before entering.”
    He grinned, totally unrepentant. His gaze drifted to their still-joined hands. “It’s not ego to think you were interested in a kiss. It’s confidence. You want me. I want you. Can you deny it?”
    “No,” she huffed then risked leaning forward to ask the question she’d intended to ask. She stopped close enough to nearly be whispering against his lips, and damned if she didn’t want to close that infinitesimal distance. “Is this a sorcerers’ hangout?”
    “What makes you ask?”
    Tell him she was seeing things? Maybe imagining them?
    But, then, if this was a sorcerers’ hangout it’d make sense that she was experiencing something magical. He’d told her that spells and charms could alter someone’s perceptions.
    “I’m seeing shimmering out of the corner of my eye when people pass, an impression of scales, and there was a trident near the bartender until I looked directly at it.”
    He closed that infinitesimal distance, smiled against her lips. “You’re right.