unfurled, desire shooting hot and fast through his system. She had the neatest little ankles, so slender. He could almost feel the slide of his tongue along her instep, picture his hands cupping her ankles so he could pull her legs wide, inhale her soft scent as he licked his way…
The job required a change of tactic because he needed to get away from her. Fast.
He slipped her dainty foot from the glitzy shoe, resting it against his thigh so she didn’t need to put it on the dirty sidewalk. The gentle pressure of her foot, so near yet so far, made his eyes roll to the back of his head at the instant throb from his rising desire. Shit, he wasn’t sure he was going to survive contact with the little inferno. She was burning him up with the expanding warmth from her tantalizing foot.
Forcing himself to blow out a long, cooling breath while he ignored his inner dragon, he leaned down, gave a gentle twist of the shoe, and unimpeded, the heel slid free. Triumphant, he wrapped his fingers around her calf and whipped his head up expectantly. As he moved, his cheek grazed the inside of her knee. The harsh rasp of his unshaven face against her satin flesh sounded loud in the hush of the alleyway. Ripples from the contact pulsed out over his skin in a hot rush of awareness.
He raised his gaze to meet her glowing azure eyes.
Her leg quivered in his hand, and he swore he felt it heat up. He licked his lips and seriously considered following the path of his earlier thoughts. He could start with his tongue dabbing delicate little…
Whooff!
The ball of flame almost blinded him with its brilliance in the pitch-black of the alley. Empty-handed, he stared at the space she had occupied. She was gone in a flash. Several blinks later, he could still see the imprint of her on the back of his retinas.
He dipped his head and waited a moment to focus on the dainty crystal-encrusted high-heeled shoe in his left hand and the black soot smeared across the fingers of his right one. That answered one question. He’d known she couldn’t be all human, but he’d wondered what the hell she was.
With a furtive glance up and down the deserted alley, he looked back at his hands, lowered his head, and allowed his nostrils to flare and inhale. The distinct aroma of brimstone filled his nose, and as he popped open his lips and dabbled his tongue on the roof of his mouth, her scent flooded him. His mouth twisted into a wide grin, and without conscious thought, smoke streamed from between his lips and out of his nostrils.
Just to be sure, he took a second sniff, threw back his head, and let out a delirious laugh accompanied by a torrent of fire. He didn’t know exactly what she was, but the one thing he knew for certain—she was his mate.
He came to his feet, cradling the tiny shoe in his hand.
Now he just needed to track her down and convince her she was his.
Chapter Three
She had to stop chewing her lips; they were starting to fray at the seams. The one day she would have rather worked in the back office than on the front desk in the library, two staff members had called in sick. Saturday morning—of course they were sick. They’d probably spent all of Friday night drinking and getting sick so they didn’t have to come into work on a Saturday morning. At least it was only until lunchtime. She glanced up at the clock. They closed at lunch on a Saturday, but one o’clock seemed so far away.
She blew a breath out between her worn lips and scanned the busy library. What did they say about being careful what you wish for? She’d wished to be back in the library instead of in front of a computer, but all she wanted was peace and quiet. Why couldn’t they all go home so she could think of the gorgeous hunk she’d met and dream of what could have been—if only he hadn’t been a complete ass.
“Ma’am? Hello? Hello?” The bespectacled man in front of her gave an impatient rap of his knuckles on the wooden counter, as though he didn’t