Page 26 of Dark Fire Kiss

Looking at him now, it was easy to believe. Pain glazed his eyes, as if the mere thought of losing Bram caused him to suffer.

And it didn’t square at all with what I’d been told about his race.

I swallowed. “That must have been hard for Bram, growing up without parents.”

“Aye. He was raised at court and if you ken anything about our king, you ken it’s no place for a bairn.”

I didn’t know much about their king, except… “My brother called him mad.”

Fergus grimaced. “We don’t use that moniker, but I’ll grant you it’s close to the truth. Cormac is the only full-blooded dragon left in the world. No one really knows how old he is, save for maybe his mate. But Niall spends most of his time trying to convince Cormac not to raze the earth.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Could he?”

“No’ these days, no. The humans have enough weapons to stop him. But he’d expose the supernatural world in the process.” Fergus sighed. “One of many reasons the other Firstborn Races hate us.”

He sounded so forlorn. “What of the werewolves? You’re part of them.”

“I’m afraid they don’t see it that way. Half-breeds or no, dragons are universally disliked by the Firstborns. Some have a problem with our bedroom activities, but most resent us mating with their women. I cannae even really fault them for it. When our females died out, our forefathers thought that would be the end of us. But fate adapted, giving us females from the other races. Some Firstborns believe this deprives their women of a chance to match with one of their own.”

I frowned. “But if fate chooses, isn’t that the end of it?”

“Maybe.” He offered a slightly mysterious smile. “As I said, fate adapts. Humans sometimes speak of soulmates—a person they were destined to be with. But perhaps it’s different for immortals. When you live forever, it’s possible fate gives you multiple opportunities to find your match. Maybe a potential mate comes around every few hundred years. No one knows for certain, lass, but my race has been fortunate. Fate spared us. None of us are willing to waste our second chance.”

The way he described the dragons’ quest for mates was nothing like the stories I’d grown up with. He made it sound almost…romantic.

He swept his hands through the water. “You should come in before it gets cold.”

“I thought you said the pool was heated.”

“It is. But I’m running out of ideas.”

My lips twitched against my will. “So you resort to lies?”

He held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “Just a wee one. Whatever it takes to convince a gorgeous redhead to swim among the stars with me.”

Now I had to bite my lower lip so I wouldn’t smile. He was relentless, but he was so charming it was hard to resist him. On impulse, I walked to the steps and went in. Warm water rose up my body, not stopping until it bobbed under my breasts. My clothes stuck to me, but it didn’t matter. The water pushed against my body, impeding my movement in the most gentle way possible.

It was heaven. And with the glass ceiling overhead, the stars appeared to float in the water. Keeping one hand on the pool’s tiled edge, I waved my hand through the water, watching how the stars rippled in my wake.

“Three hundred and sixty,” Fergus said softly.

It took me a minute to realize he’d answered my question about his age.

“The same as Bram,” he added.

So not all that old for immortals. But vastly more experienced than I was.

“How old are you?” he asked. He smiled as he continued stroking his arms through the water. “Since we’re on the subject.”

Embarrassment flooded me, and I looked down so he wouldn’t see it in my eyes. “I’m not sure. Twenty-three or twenty-four.”

He was quiet for so long, I thought maybe he’d left. Maybe shifted to smoke and sped from the pool. But when I lifted my gaze, he was still there in the moonlight, his blond brows drawn tightly together. “You never had a birthday? Some kind of celebration?”

I shook my head. “My mother died when I was born. And my father was…disinterested.” I forced indifference into my tone. “Dhampirs are unpredictable when it comes to genetics. I have no powers to speak of.”

He made a low sound. “That’s simply no’ true, lass. You have a terrifying amount of power over me.”

Oh gods. The flames were back in his eyes. And he must have noticed their reflection in my own, because he blinked and they disappeared.

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