Page 25 of Red Dragon’s Heart

Hope swept over him, galvanizing him. He had to grab her before she got away. Knowing he couldn’t trust his magic yet, he opened the emergency hidden compartment near the bottom of the stairs and pulled out his Glock.

Then he ran up the stairs into the main room. Madeleine was in front of his desk, looking at the computer screens.

He slid to a stop and cocked the gun, the sound loud and ominous in the quiet room.

She whirled around, startled.

Familiar rage bubbled up inside him. It felt good—clean and simple.

“You should have left while you had the chance,” he said. “Because now you’re mine. So first we’re going to have a talk, and then you’re going to do exactly what I tell you to do.”

Chapter 13

Madeleine let her computer bag slide to the floor and raised her hands slowly. “Don’t hurt me,” she said. “Please.”

Her gaze met his, eyes wide and appealing.

Her beauty hit him like a punch in the stomach. Like the beauty of a praying mantis, he reminded himself. Lure you in, then bite your head off and spit it out.

His stomach was knotted, emotions slashing through him like lightning bolts, some that he didn’t even recognize. Fear. Regret. Anger. Satisfaction. And some kind of yearning clawing feeling that he hated and wanted more of, at the same time. Another wave of memories swept over him, fragmented and making no sense, like a delirium dream.

Lips and tongues and warm, soft skin. A feeling of rightness and belonging that he’d always longed for and knew he would never find. The scent of her all around him.

That scent… he could smell it rising up from his skin. And the memories—her naked underneath him, uttering soft cries as he drove into her…

No. It was a dream. It couldn’t be real. Because he totally could not deal with that shit.

Trying to block the dream memories, he said, “If you do what I want, I won’t have to hurt you.”

He was pretty sure he sounded convincing, even though the idea of hurting her shot pain through his stomach.

He hardened his heart. She’s a murderer, and she wrecked my life.

Fuck. He didn’t know what to think or how to feel.

Madeleine bit her lip. “What do you want?” she asked. She was watching him with those amazing eyes, and he couldn’t read her expression.

“I told you.” He had, hadn’t he? “You did it to me. Made me a monster. Now you’re going to fix me.”

Her eyes widened again, and then she frowned. “I can’t do that.”

“Not the right answer.”

“I mean, I’d need a fully equipped lab—”

“Got one.”

“And access to our research—”

“I’m sure you have the real data drives somewhere, because I know you’re weren’t stupid enough to put them in your little box in the warehouse for Chisholm to take.”

She snapped, “Will you stop interrupting me?”

He narrowed his eyes, his hand squeezing the gun’s grip. She had to do this for him. “Fine. What?”

“I don’t even know what happened to you! How can I fix it if I don’t know?”