Page 8 of Fire’s Resonance (Hearts on Fire #1)

THREE

SPARK

The night air feels electric against my heated skin. Scents I’ve never noticed assault my senses—the metallic tang of the approaching hunters, the rich earth of the park three blocks away, car exhaust from the main road, a hot dog vendor two streets over.

The sensory onslaught is almost too much. My head spins, my heightened senses making everything too bright, too loud, too strong.

And most overwhelming of all, his scent beside me—smoke and cedar and something wild that makes me want to bury my face against his neck and inhale for days. Mark myself with his scent. Mark him with mine.

Claim. Keep.

Shit. What am I thinking?

“Don’t let go,” he orders as we cut through an alley, his hand burning where it connects with mine.

“And whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand.

” The heat between our palms increases, almost uncomfortable now.

Like our skin might melt together at any moment.

“If they separate us, they’ll kill you before I can stop them. ”

His dragon half is closer to the surface now. I can see it in the way he moves—more fluid, more predatory. Less human. His silver eyes glow in the darkness, reflecting light that isn’t there.

“What are they?” I gasp, somehow not even winded despite running faster than I ever have in my life.

“Hunters,” he replies grimly. “And you, little flame, are their most valuable prey—a female dragon just coming into her power.”

The word reverberates through me. Dragon.

It should sound insane. Should make me laugh in his face or tear my hand from his grip and run screaming in the opposite direction.

Instead, it slots into place like the final piece of a puzzle I’ve been working on my entire life.

Dragon.

My breath catches, lungs suddenly forgetting how to function at the simple word. My body knows the truth.

We turn sharply into another alley, darker than the first. His grip on my hand tightens as he pulls me into the shadows, pressing me against the brick wall with his body. The solid wall of his chest against mine sends another wave of heat crashing through me.

Every inch where we touch burns with awareness. His thighs bracket mine, hard muscle against softer flesh. His chest presses against my breasts, making my nipples tighten to painful points. Again. The hard ridge of his erection presses against my stomach, impressive even through layers of clothing.

Despite the danger, my body responds with a rush of liquid heat between my thighs. My hips shift instinctively, seeking more contact.

Take. Now. Need.

“They’re circling back,” he whispers, his breath hot against my ear. “Stay quiet.”

I freeze, barely breathing as footsteps approach the alley entrance. His body shields mine completely, massive and protective. His muscles coil with tension, ready to launch into action at the slightest provocation.

The heat radiating from him is intense, almost painful. Not a normal human temperature. Dragon heat. His scent intensifies with his protective instincts, becoming richer, wilder. More intoxicating.

Part of me wants to be offended at his assumption that I need protection. I’ve taken care of myself since I was twelve. Orphaned. Alone. Independent by necessity, not choice.

But another part—a deeper, more primal part—revels in his protective stance. Glories in it. Recognizes it as right.

Protected. Claimed. Safe.

Two black-clad figures pause at the alley entrance, scanning the darkness. They’re humanoid but move wrong—too fluid, too predatory. One tilts its head, nostrils flaring as it scents the air.

“She’s close,” a voice hisses, barely audible even with my newly enhanced hearing. “The female’s scent is strong. Copper and fire.”

I shiver at the description. Copper and fire. Is that how I smell to them? To him?

“Find her,” another voice responds. “The bounty doubles if we take her alive. Triple if she’s still untouched by the Guardian.”

Guardian? What the fuck is happening?

The silver-eyed man—Raak, I remember from the gallery—tenses against me. One large hand covers my mouth, silencing my panicked breathing. His palm is rough with calluses, hot against my lips. The contact sends another jolt of electricity straight to my core.

My skin prickles with awareness wherever we touch, every nerve ending suddenly alert to his presence. The world tilts slightly, gravity shifting toward him rather than the ground.

His eyes lock with mine, communicating a silent message: Don’t. Move.

Scales ripple across his jawline, silver-gray in the dim light. More pronounced now. More solid. His skin shifting to something harder, more armored. His dragon half fighting for dominance, pushing against his human control.

The hunters move past the alley entrance, continuing down the street. Even after their footsteps fade, Raak doesn’t release me.

“They’ll double back,” he murmurs against my ear, his lips brushing the sensitive skin there.

A shiver runs through me that has nothing to do with fear. My body arches slightly, pressing closer to his heat. I can’t help it. Can’t control it. My body responds to him on a level beyond conscious thought.

“These aren’t normal hunters. They’re Purity trackers.”

“What the fuck is a Purity tracker?” I whisper when he finally removes his hand from my mouth. I immediately miss his touch, my lips tingling where his palm had been.

“The worst kind.” His eyes glow silver in the darkness, reflecting light that isn’t there. “Rogue dragons who hunt their own kind for profit. Especially females with potential for bonding.”

“Bonding?”

The word triggers another flash of heat through my body, centered between my legs. His eyes narrow at my reaction. His nostrils flare again, inhaling my scent.

A rumble starts deep in his chest—part growl, part purr. His dragon reacting to my arousal.

“Your body knows,” he growls, voice dropping to that rumble that makes my insides liquify.

“Knows what?” I challenge, needing answers even as my body seems to have already accepted whatever is happening between us.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he shifts slightly, and the movement brings his thigh directly between my legs. The pressure against my core nearly makes me moan aloud. I bite my lip hard enough to taste blood.

His eyes track the movement, fixating on my mouth. Another rumble, deeper this time, vibrates from his chest.

“We need to get moving,” he says instead of answering, though his body presses harder against mine for one heated moment.

The hard ridge of his erection digs into my stomach, impossibly hot even through our clothes.

“Underground transport hub is three blocks south. If we reach it, we can access the sanctuary tunnels.”

“What sanctuary?” I demand even as I let him pull me away from the wall. My body protests the separation, craving his heat like a drug. My nipples still throb painfully, bereft of the pressure of his chest. “You owe me some fucking answers, Raak.”

His name on my lips makes his steps falter. He looks back at me, pupils dilating again. Something primal flashes in his expression—possession, hunger, recognition.

“How do you know my name?” he growls, the sound more animal than human. His dragon half pushing forward again, responding to his name on my lips.

“I don’t know,” I snap, frustrated by his evasion and my own lack of a logical answer. “It was just… there. In my head. The moment I saw you at the gallery.” I gesture wildly, feeling like I’m losing my mind. “Just like the patterns in my glass, it’s another thing I can’t fucking explain!”

The scales along his jawline flash in the dim streetlight, silver-gray and beautiful. I have the insane urge to touch them, to trace them with my fingertips. To see if they’re as sensitive as they look.

Touch. Taste.

We resume our pace, moving swiftly but silently through the back streets. The hunters seem to have lost our trail for the moment, but the night feels alive with threat. Every shadow could hide an enemy. Every sound could signal attack.

Yet despite the danger, my mind keeps circling back to the impossible. Dragons. Hunters. Bonding. The scales that rippled beneath my skin. The fire in his palms. The connection that sparked between us at first touch.

My body apparently doesn’t care about imminent death, too focused on the primal need to claim and be claimed.

“Answers,” I demand again, keeping my voice low. “Now.”

He glances at me, eyes glowing in the darkness. For a moment, I think he’ll refuse again. Instead, he sighs, the sound frustrated and resigned.

“Short version?” His hand tightens around mine. The heat between our palms spikes again, making the air shimmer. “You’re not fully human. Never were.”

The words should sound insane. Should make me laugh or rage at him. Instead, they resonate with something deep inside me—the part that’s always felt different, always burned hotter than others, always been drawn to fire and heat when logic said to keep away.

“That fire affinity of yours isn’t a coincidence. The dragon bloodline runs in your veins, but it’s awakening—fast. These pieces you create? They’re calling to your other half. To your mate.”

“My mate,” I repeat flatly, the word both foreign and familiar on my tongue. “And that would be...”

His silver eyes flash to mine, intense and possessive. “Me.”

The simple word hits me, resonating through my body with undeniable truth. Something primal recognizes the claim, accepts it without question.

Mine. His. Ours.

My core clenches around nothing. Again. A shiver races down my spine, settling like liquid fire at the base. My body knows the truth, has always known.

The rational part of my brain, however, rebels violently.

“Bullshit.” I try to pull my hand from his, but his grip is iron. “I don’t belong to anyone.”