Page 27 of Feathers and Scales

Daxton.

He stood at the top of the stairs like a statue—chiseled muscle in a dark pullover and snug jeans. Dominance was displayed in the square set of his jaw. The dusting of sandy-colored stubble and deep shadows under his eyes hinted that he’d gotten as little sleep as she had. Hovering in midair, she eyed his chest, not meeting his gaze.

With proximity, the emotions from her mortal body bled over. She quivered, her nervous system exploding into chaos.

Dorsal interosseus. Biceps brachii. Supraspinatus.Reciting the defined muscles of his arm, she distanced herself from the excitement, until her gaze rested on his unshaven face, tense with harsh angles. For one frightening heartbeat, her brain blanked like a scrubbed chalkboard.

Her spirit form tightened, ready to run, but a solid bronze attraction plated her mind. Weighed down and losing concentration to stay in the air, she drifted to the ground.

“Where is Simon?” she said, feet touching the concrete floor.

The masseter muscles ticked in Daxton’s jaw. His liquid-bronze gaze roamed over her, licking like tiny flames across her skin. “We need to talk.”

She scoffed and struggled to regain control over her shaking limbs. Surely, he wouldn’t have harmed Simon. After all, Daxtonhadrescued her. “I wouldn’t talk to you if you were the last…”Am Ireallygoing to go there?The man truly made her feel childish, but as she couldn’t think of anything else to say—“…thing on earth.”

“Who said you had a choice?”

Her heart thundered. She stepped back. He strode down the metal stairs to the floor of the tower. She tracked every fluid movement as each determined step brought him closer to her mortal body on the lounge.

“Are you going to kidnap me now?” she stammered, struggling to make herself move to intercept him as, for some obtuse reason, she wanted him to.

“The thought had crossed my mind,” he whispered.

Each ripple of his taut muscles under that skintight pullover enthralled her. The strength and power he exuded should have caused her trepidation, but he didn’t scare her. Rather, the prospect of his kidnapping her created that same shaky excitement she had when he chased her. She had no idea why she would want that, but she did.

“And now?” she asked.

He stopped beside her human body, studying her unconscious form like a puzzle to solve. His dragon prowled along the edges of her mind as if he was searching for an opening to the link. The heat of his presence caused her body to flush with warmth. He stroked the back of his fingers against her body’s left cheek.

The touch reached her spirit, light and airy, like a feather. She stumbled closer to him, intending to stop him from repeating the caress. “Wh-what are you doing?” she said, palm pressed to her face.

Silently, he brushed his thumb over her cheek. Desire ricocheted through her, tugging her to her vessel. She quivered, trying to resist, but the tingling impression of his finger against her skin was too much to deny. She craved to experience it physically, not muted through her link to her flesh. Of its own accord, her spirit streaked to her body. She snapped open her human eyes to his all-consuming form looming over her.

“There you are.” His gaze bore into hers, savage in its intensity.

He’s dangerous. He controlled her with only his touch. The hair on her arm prickled with unease even as her blood sizzled, and her body tightened, wanting. Pheromones poured from his being, and she responded as if they were an exact chemical pairing. This kind of reaction was the reason she’d wanted distance.

“What are you doing here?” She scrambled off the couch and away from him. Her hands shook while straightening her glasses. A tug on the link drew at her like a hand at her nape. Thankfully, her transition to human hadn’t broken her concentration on the shield against it.

“Isn’t it obvious? I thought we were going to help each other?”

“It’s too much right now. I can’t think straight when you’re so close.” She walked past him to climb the stairs with slow steps, her still-waking muscles twinging in protest.

“Believe me, Izzy, I feel it too. But why did you run?” His whisper echoed like a shout.

She pictured the malicious grin on her human mother’s face and what could have happened because her feelings distracted her. Nausea forced her to stop moving. With her eyes closed, she rubbed her stomach. “For my safety.”

Daxton’s footsteps banged up the stairs as he followed. “Do you think I’d hurt you?”

“No.” She continued climbing. “I…I’d like you to leave.”

“You’re not going to find the answers you seek inyour labs.”

She kept herself from turning around to rebuttal, and instead, yelled, “Simon.”

Loud stomps thudded into the tower before Simon appeared at the top of the stairs. “Yes?”

“I gave explicit instructions for younottolet him inside if he showed up.”