“I need to peer into your mind.”
Wynn hesitated. “The last time someone peered into my mind they ended up trapped by the evil magic.”
“I’m not going to enter your thoughts,” he assured her. “I’m concentrating on the dragon magic. It’s possible I can determine how you managed to absorb it.”
Wynn remained tense, but she gave a slow nod of her head. “Go ahead.”
His fingers traced the line of her jaw before brushing down her throat and lingering over the racing beat of her heart. Wynn hissed as the heat from his fingers spread through her, warming places that had no business being warm. At least not when she was trying to figure out why her life had turned into a shitshow.
The gray eyes swirled with a smoky concern. “Am I hurting you?”
“No. Just...” She cleared the lump from her throat. “Just hurry.”
His nostrils flared as if he’d caught the scent of her arousal. “Some things shouldn’t be rushed,” he murmured in soft tones.
“Argh.” She glared at him. “Are you going to look for the magic or not?”
“Hold still.”
Wynn shivered as his presence scoured through her. The blazing heat of his power was gloriously addictive. Like bathing in the summer rays of the sun.
“There,” he at last announced in fiercely satisfied tones. “I found it.”
Wynn was genuinely surprised. She knew that she imagined the magic as separate strands of power, but she didn’t realize someone else could actually see them.
“Seriously?” She went from surprised to shocked as the magic began to flow out of her, the threads of shimmering color spreading through the shadowed room. “What’s happening?”
“Dazzling,” Azh rasped, turning to study the delicate filaments that swirled together, forming a complicated pattern before unraveling and forming a new pattern.
“The red strand.” Wynn pointed toward the thickest strand that pulsed with a crimson glow. “That’s the magic I can’t control. Is it dragon?”
He edged toward the magic. “I don’t recognize it.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Yes.”
Wynn flinched. There hadn’t been a second of hesitation. “Great.”
“There’s something about it...”
Azh stretched out his arm and Wynn sucked in a sharp breath. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to release it.”
“Stop,” she commanded, fear darting through her. Not for herself but for the aggravating male who seemed to think he was impervious to danger. “You don’t know what it’s going to do.”
He glanced back, his expression somber. “Do you want to get rid of it or not?”
Wynn hesitated before giving a reluctant nod of her head. “Fine. But...be careful.”
Bracing herself, Wynn watched as Azh allowed his fingers to graze against the crimson strand. She somehow expected to feel the light touch. As if he were reaching inside her to stroke the magic. Instead, the swirling spiderweb of colors seemed to be separate from her. A good thing, as the crimson strand abruptly sizzled with power.
“Azh. Watch out!” she rasped, watching in horror as the blast of glowing magic headed directly toward the male.
Azh lifted his hand, flames dancing around him in a protective barrier. Wynn could see the sudden shimmer of a bluish silver coating his skin. It looked almost like scales. Impressive. But was it enough?
The mysterious power washed over him like a tidal wave, but it didn’t look like it was attempting to penetrate the flames. In fact, it swept past him and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
