Chapter 7

SEVEN

S till wrapped in Talon’s arms from their earlier confrontation, she struggled to maintain some semblance of scientific objectivity. A task made significantly harder by how his muscles felt under her fingers. She’d spent six months trying not to notice how well he filled out those designer suits.

For science , she told herself firmly. Purely scientific observation of muscle density. Which was definitely not human-standard, by the way.

“Easy there,” Talon murmured, his deep voice sending shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with the transformation. That voice had starred in several decidedly unprofessional daydreams during budget meetings, not that she’d ever admit it.

“You know,” she managed through gritted teeth, “when I decided to experiment on myself, growing extra appendages wasn’t exactly part of the plan.” Her attempt at sarcasm died as scales shimmered across her skin. “Though I have to say, being held by you is a much better side effect than I expected. Not that I spent time thinking about being held by you. Because that would be inappropriate. And I’m going to stop talking now.”

Through the haze of transformation, she caught the flash of gold in his eyes, felt his grip tighten. The room suddenly filled with a scent like lightning and rain—him, her enhanced senses supplied helpfully. Great. As if she needed more reasons to find him irresistible.

“Stay calm,” Talon advised, his thumb tracing absent circles on her arm that were extremely not helping with the staying calm part. “You’re undergoing a cellular conversion.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed. Here I thought spontaneous scale growth was a normal Tuesday night activity.” She clutched his shirt as her senses suddenly exploded into overdrive.

The hum of electricity through the walls became deafening. Every molecule of air carried distinct scents. And Talon... “Why can I hear your heartbeat? And why is it doing that jumpy thing whenever I—” She shifted slightly, and his pulse definitely jumped. “Ha! There it is again.”

His eyes darkened. “Asher.”

“No fair using that voice on me. I already spent half a year trying not to react every time you said my name in meetings. Which, by the way, you did unnecessarily often for someone supposedly avoiding me.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you.”

“Please. You literally vaulted over Johnson from Accounting to escape our lab budget discussion. It was very impressive, actually. I gave it a solid 9.5 for technical execution.”

“It wasn’t that impressive,” Talon muttered, though his lips twitched.

“Are you kidding? You cleared that desk in a single bound. Very athletic.” Asher tried to focus on anything except how his hands felt on her waist. “Though I have to admit, I was a little offended. Was my quarterly analysis really so terrible you had to literally run away?”

His low chuckle rumbled through his chest, and oh, that was a new problem. She’d spent months pretending not to notice his laugh during meetings, rare as it was. Now she could feel it vibrating through every point of contact between them.

“Your analysis was perfect,” he admitted. “That was the problem.”

“My competence scared you away? That’s... actually kind of flattering.” Another wave of transformation hit, making her gasp. Her newly enhanced senses caught his immediate response—pupils dilating, heart rate spiking, that thunderstorm scent intensifying. “Also, whatever you’re doing with your scent right now is extremely distracting.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Lies. You smell like a storm about to break. It’s very...” She caught herself leaning closer and jerked back. “Nope. Not going there. Need to focus on science. Variables. Control groups. Not how unfairly attractive you are when you’re being all protective and— Did I say that out loud?”

“The mate bond enhances everything,” Talon explained, his voice dropping lower. “Including attraction that was already there.”

Asher’s brain caught on one particular word. “Already there?” She managed a weak smirk despite the waves of power coursing through her. “That sounds suspiciously like an admission, Mr. Draker.”

Her scientific mind tried desperately to catalog this new information while the rest of her focused on not melting at his touch. “That’s... that’s very interesting data. Which I should probably analyze. You know, once I stop sprouting scales and trying not to climb you like a particularly attractive tree.”

“The scale situation is temporary,” Talon said, his voice rough. “The climbing urge might not be.”

“Did you just make a joke? While I’m literally changing into a dragon?” Asher tried to sound scandalized, but was interrupted by accidentally shooting fire at a workstation.

“Holy shit.” She stared at the smoldering equipment. “That’s new. And expensive. Also, slightly concerning given how many flammable chemicals we keep in here. Though not as concerning as how attractive you look when you’re worried about property damage.”

“We need to move.” His hands tightened on her waist. “Now.”

“Yes, excellent plan. Moving is good. Moving means not burning down the building. Though you’ll have to let go of me first, which is... surprisingly unappealing.” She tried to step back and stumbled as another wave hit. “Also potentially impossible since my legs appear to be staging a revolt.”