He shrugged. “It’s not a phenomenon that’s really been studied. It just is.”
“But why just sunlight? I mean, sea dragons can control water night or day, though the greatest power comes during the twilight times between day and night. It always struck me as odd that air dragons had much greater restrictions on their skills.”
“We’re creatures of air and the sun. We can shift shape at night, but when the darkness sweeps in, it puts out the flames. Literally.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So no one in your family has ever been curious enough to question why there seems to be a link between the sun and this flame-throwing skill? I mean, you can’t all be thieves. Surely there’s one bad apple who turned out to be something worthwhile—like a scientist?”
He grinned. “Thievery is something of a family business. We have a long history of collecting shiny things belonging to other people.”
“And why is that?”
“Because we like shiny things?” His eyes twinkled at me. “Why did sea dragons attack boats?”
“Because most were too lazy to work, and boats were easy pickings back in those days.” It was a guess on my part, but from the dim memories I had of my uncles, I was betting I was right. None of them seemed to have too much responsibility on their plates. Of course, I was viewing them through the memories of a child, so maybe I was doing them a grave injustice. I added, “So your skills come courtesy of family training?”
“Nope. Unwanted bastards don’t get much of a run in the family business.” Despite the sarcastic edge to his words, I could almost taste the anger in him. I could certainly feel the tension running through his body and arm. “Hell, draman weren’t supposed to get the family skills in any way, shape, or form, but something has gone wrong with my generation.”
I slid my arm around his waist, and though I was sure this man wasn’t after any kind of support or sympathy, said, “Or something went right.”
He flicked the end of my nose with his free hand. “Right for us. Wrong for them.”
“Why? I mean, if your father is going to fling it around with all and sundry, he has to expect that some of his so-called unwanted are going to get the full family genes—and all the skills that might go with them.”
“That’s just it. It doesn’t happen. It’s never happened, not in hundreds of years of history.”
That raised my eyebrows again. “How would they even know that if they have a history of killing draman at birth?”
“They didn’t kill every draman. They kept enough alive to work the farm and the fields.”
“So maybe they were killing the ones that showed dragon signs, which is why they’ve never picked up until now that draman were inheriting dragon skills.”
“Maybe.” He hugged me closer, so that my body was pressed hard against the warmth of his and I could feel the ripple of muscle as he took each step, each breath. Goose bumps ran across my skin, and I wasn’t entirely sure whether it was desire or that sliver of fear again. Or perhaps even both.
Because while my mind was urging caution, my body still wanted to fling it to the wind and just give in to the moment and this man and what was growing between us.
And yet if I did, I had a horrible feeling things would go to hell in a handbasket.
I mean, when had anything ever gone right for me in the years since my childhood?
Of course, that was mostly due to the fact I tended to rush headlong into situations I’d been warned against. Like when I’d hit eighteen and become determined to find my mom, despite my dad’s warnings. I frowned as memories surged. He’d been so angry with me that day. Truly angry. Yet, reflecting back, I could see that the anger had been based in fear. He hadn’t wanted to lose me like he’d lost my mother. And however much he might have wanted to come with me, he couldn’t, because by then his arm was gone. He couldn’t fly, and while I’m sure he would have taken a plane if it had been practical, he couldn’t take the risk of being caught over there without someone close who knew about his condition and how to treat it.
Trae and I made our way through the overgrown gardens, the sweet aroma of the evening primrose that was running rampant through the beds almost over-powering the salty taste of the breeze and the heady scent of man. The house loomed through the darkness, windows like eyes frowning down on us.
For no particular reason, I found myself slowing. And I wasn’t the only one. Trae came to a sudden halt, forcing me to do the same.
“What?” I said, voice soft.
“The flashlight battery was starting to die, so I turned on the kitchen light when I left. We should be able to see the glow of it from here.”
I studied the darkened kitchen windows, then said, “Maybe the bulb just blew.”
“Maybe.”
But he removed his arm from my shoulder, and the night felt suddenly colder. Even though he grasped my fingers, the chill seemed to take hold. Or maybe that was simply the fear that was never very far away from the pit of my stomach.
“We can’t stand here all night, you know.” Though part of me wanted to. The night and the cold were better companions than whatever might be inside that house.
His smile flashed, sexy and dangerous. “I have no intention of just standing here.” He tugged me forward. “And if they want us, they’re going to have to catch us. Come on.”