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“Ember…” I can’t stop myself from using the nickname she’s already told me to drop, nor can I stop myself from pulling the tablet closer and studying the image more carefully. “When did you draw this?”

Kenna doesn’t answer right away, and when I tear my eyes from the screen and look at her, that flush has climbed all the way to her hairline.

“A while ago…” she says, then lets out a short laugh. “I actually started it the day the story about me came out in the Whisper. Before I got ambushed an became a Twitter celebrity.”

The day the story came out… so, the morning after I came home with her. When she first trusted me with the privilege of seeing her, touching her, bringing her to her pleasure.

“Why?”

Kenna’s wry smile widens, and she rolls her eyes before she answers.

“Why do you think?”

Gods above, if I could take her into my arms right now and taste that smile, hold her close and carry her out of here, shift and take her some place far away where I could…

“They’re remarkable, Kenna,” I tell her, handing the tablet over. “All of them.”

She shrugs, a little self-conscious. “Thanks. It’s what I’m planning to do now that I’m not working at the Bureau. The contract I got will tide me over for a little while, and I’ve already gotten some additional business out of it on referral.”

I fight back a flinch at the reminder of how much I’ve already cost her, but tuck the problem away for later. There must be something I can do when we get back to Seattle, some way to make things right and get her job back if she wants it.

Well,ifwe both return to Seattle. I’m still not sure what Kenna’s doing here or what her plans are, but if there’s a chance I can fix this for her, I will.

“Are you getting breakfast?” I ask, looking for a change in subject.

“Just coffee.” She gestures to the empty cup next to her. “I was actually about to head out.”

I nod, throat tightening at the thought of being parted from her again. Serves me right for imposing on her in the first place, but I’d do just about anything to have a little more time with her.

But it turns out my ember isn’t quite finished with me.

“Would you…” she says. “I could show you around town a little, if you wanted.”

“I’d like that.”

Kenna gives me another smile that warms me from the soul outward, and I wait for her near the front door while she pays for her coffee at the counter. When we walk outside into the already balmy day, I rest a hand on the small of her back. Though she shoots me a pointed look, she doesn’t move away or tell me to stop touching her, and the dragon in me roars his triumph at the small victory.

As we walk down the town’s main street, she keeps up a running commentary. She points out places she used to come with her parents and sister when she was a kid, where she got in trouble as a teenager, little pieces of her life she trusts me enough to share.

The rest of the awkward tension between us melts away as we walk. When we reach a small park just off the end of downtown, we wander through until we find a bench to sit and enjoy a few minutes of sunshine and peace.

“Do you plan on staying here?” I can’t help but ask, breaking the comfortable silence. “Or are you coming back to Seattle?”

Kenna glances sidelong at me. “And if I said I was staying here?”

“Then I’d ask if it was alright for me to stay, too.”

Her eyes widen a little at the response, darting back and forth across my face as she processes.

“You’re… really serious about all of this, aren’t you?”

“I am. I know I have a long way to go in convincing you, but yes, Kenna. I am absolutely serious.”

“Maybe not such a long way,” she murmurs, and that ache in my chest grows even more pointed. “It’s all just… so confusing. You know? Trying to square what we had with what you’re telling me now.”

Regret and shame course through me. “I know.”

“Especially because…” she starts, and then pauses, like she doesn’t want to finish the thought.