Page 20 of The Mating Magic
This was not the good, noble dragon she’d fallenfor.
He was amonster.
Astranger.
But stillChase.
“Please, don’t hurt us,” Helenwailed.
“We’re sorry,” Lynnascreamed.
Evie took a deep breath for courage. “Chase!”
He whirled, and threw an energy ball her way. She ducked and it sailed outside, smashing into one of the elegant dragon statues guarding the serene, turquoisepool.
Snarling, he went to throw another. Somewhere inside that madman was her Chase, the dragon who’d once courted her with wildflowers he’d flown to New England to pick simply because they were herfavorite.
“Chase, stop it. It’s me,Evie!”
At the last minute, he hesitated. Squinted, as she stood silhouetted by the sunlight. “Evie? MyEvie?”
“Yes, your Evie.” She took another step towardhim.
“It’s a trick. You’re Helen, disguised as Evie.” Chase growled and threw another fireball. It sailed past her through the open sliding glass doors and landed with a splash in thepool.
The water instantlyfroze.
Terror iced her veins. If one of those things hit her, she lacked the immune system to fight off the effects. Other dragons might survive a direct hit from coldfire. Nother.
“No trick.” She spread out her palms, searching for a way to reason with him, make him see she was his Evie. “I’ll prove it. Remember the picnic we had on the beach last October? And how we went swimmingafter?”
“Not good enough,” he growled, summoning another fireball and bouncing it on hispalm.
Evie glanced at the terrified twins hiding behind the half-disintegrated sofa. They already had labeled her a slut.Here goes. I love you,Chase.
“Remember how we made love in the ocean after we swam? You lifted the edge of my bikini and you slid right into my body. It felt so erotic, so wonderful. I never wanted to leave your arms,” she said softly, walking towardhim.
He stopped bouncing theball.
“Every time we made love, it was like flying into the sun. No one can ever take your place, preppy. No one everwill.”
Perhaps it was her favorite nickname for Chase, or the memory of the exquisite sex they’d had, but the energy ball faded in his palm, along with the horrid red glow from his eyes. The pulsing light of power faded and dimmed, then winked out as if someone turned off a light insidehim.
“Evie?” His voice broke. “Oh dear goddess, Evie. I could have killedyou.”
“Never,” she said fiercely, and ran to him, throwing her arms aroundhim.
Chase rested his cheek against the top of her head. For a few moments, he held her tight, his strong arms sheltering as she listened to the frantic beat of his heart gradually calm. Evie buried her head against his chest, her own heart racing. How much of the potion had entered hisbloodstream?
Did they have enough time to counter theeffects?
Footsteps sounded on the tile. She glanced up to see Helen and Lynna scurry toward the door. Chase lifted his head and growled as he saw them. He untangled himself from Evie’s embrace and started after hiscousins.
“No! I’ll handlethis.”
She had to do this because until Chase thought she needed a champion, he would pursuethem.
“Wait!” she called out to thetwins.
