Rose Owens affixed her Cleaning, Please Wait sign to the door and pushed her cart into the top floor women’s bathroom.

The door swung closed behind her. Keyboard clacking, telephone ringing, shouts across the open cubicles, and the hubbub of an intergalactic corporation sealed off like the closing of an airlock on a spaceship, leaving only whisper silence.

Bathrooms were the same across the entire universe. That’s what she’d gathered from working for the dragon shifters.

Except for one thing.

A too-big glug sounded deep within the bowels of the bathroom.

Ugh. Women’s today.

Rose set the brake and checked her supplies. She tucked her week-old dreadlocks under her denim bandana and pulled waterproof gloves over every inch of exposed copper-brown skin.

There were three connected parts to this top-floor restroom: a richly carpeted lounge with plush couches and low tables, a trio of marble handwashing stations on jewel-tone mosaic tile, and the line of stalls. The walls were dark blue, and the lighting throughout was a moody gold.

A questionable stink curdled in her nose.

She shook the bottle of odor-control spray. Almost empty. It would have to be enough.

Rose crept to the line of stalls and nudged the doors in. Smudged white porcelain, flakes of toilet paper, and women’s products. All normal. She poked the last stall.

The door eased open. She suppressed her groan.

A ball of green-black moss bobbed in the center of the clogged bowl. Long swaths of expensive ply and sewage bubbled in a nasty slurry. Brackish water drooled down the stained bowl and pooled on the tile. A bubble erupted with a huge glug, and more water-filth mixture spilled out.

She plugged her nose.

This floor had a hell toilet.

And it had to be stopped.

Rose tiptoed back to her cart, donned her eye-protection goggles, and extended the toilet-cleaning wand to max length. She clicked the power button. A sanitizing laser played across the ceiling. Excellent. She turned the laser off, narrowed the beam to a lethal ray, and cranked the power to maximum.

The bathroom door banged open.

Rose’s heart jumped into her throat. She swung the wand at the intruder. “We’re closed! Use the fifth floor…”

Cheryl, the shy intern-turned-CEO’s-wife, clutched her belly with pure fear.

It was an emergency.

Rose’s heartbeat slowed. She lowered the toilet wand and waved Cheryl in. “Go ahead.”

“I-It’s an emergency,” Cheryl stuttered as she raced past.

“Yep.”

Cheryl raced for the last stall, probably trying to get as far away as possible from Rose.

“Not that one!”

Cheryl pushed in, squeaked, and backed out of the stall. She dove into the next one.

Rose busied herself with her usual tasks. She emptied the trash and linens, restocked embroidered handkerchiefs, and swiped over the counters and polished faucets. The curved gold metal spoke of luxury a thousand times her salary. She erased water droplets from the octagonal crystal mirrors.

Cheryl slunk out and washed her hands. Color returned to her now-red embarrassed cheeks. “Thanks. I’m sorry. This pregnancy…”

“I get it,” Rose said, even though she didn’t.

Why a nice, quiet girl like Cheryl would volunteer to marry and then get impregnated by the grouchiest, growliest, most intimidating alien male in a building full of grouchy, growly, intimidating alien males was none of her business. Cleaning up after them was her business.

Of course, not all the dragons were terrible. Her direct boss, Jasper, was almost reasonable.

Cheryl dried her hands on the thick towel, left it on the marble counter, and then glanced back at the last stall and shuddered. “Boy, you guys have a hard job.”

Rose walked her to the door, let her out, and turned the lock with a click. She murmured into the silence, “You have no idea.”

Then Rose grabbed the toilet bowl wand again, strode to the final toilet, and threw open the door.

The mass was gone.

The swirling paper and unflushed sewage had disappeared. Pristine water remained. Streaks and puddles mocked her.

Rose cursed under her breath and checked the other stalls.

The alien moss monster had haunted the sixth-floor toilets for months. That kind of thing happened when you built an office out of old spaceship parts. The sewage treatment plant beneath the building was filled with methane and moss, and they had to constantly scrub the pipes to control the infestation. The moss burst into flame when it contacted oxygen. If it overran the pipes, it could turn the office into a smoking crater.

Rose had discovered a missed link during the normal cleaning routine, and they’d been chasing lumps of moss through the waste system ever since. A large chunk had drifted up the water lines and become stranded in this section of pipes, unable to go any higher without contacting oxygen and bursting into flame, but also unwilling—if moss had a will—to go back down.

Rose adjusted the toilet wand laser to a wide spectrum, much less harmful bleach/sanitize setting, and played its blue light over the white porcelain.

Stains disappeared, puddles vaporized, and any germs were decontaminated to oblivion.

Rose finished sterilizing the toilets, released the vacuuming robot to catch any particles, and ran sudsy water into her wheeled yellow bucket. She dunked in her self-wringing mop and washed the floor on the trail of the smart vacuum, then put away her supplies, dumped the water, and put out her wet floor warning cone.

The moss monster did not return.

It would become tomorrow’s problem. Or the day after that. Or another six months, when she surprised it or it surprised someone else.

This wasn’t the first time she’d had the moss in her sights and lost it. Rose had even brought in an experimental concoction from home to draw it out again, but Jasper had told her no. Using it now would incite his temper.

And when dragon shifters lost their temper, well, their humanity was next to go. Soon they were all covered in scales, roaring and slashing. Tables got broken, rooms got smashed, and she had job security.

Rose turned to the couches and fine tables in the lounge. By the time she finished the lounge, the tile was dry. She packed up her cart and—

Glug.

Oh, son of a—!

Rose lifted her foot off the brake release and listened.

Glug. Splish. Glug.

She stormed to the last stall.

The door hung open as though offended by the belches coming up from inside.

The moss monster had not returned to the surface. It was angry and sending up offenses. Turds floated in the bowl, strangled by the tough toilet paper, and other unmentionable things turning the toilet a hellish red. The monster lurked inside beyond her reach, ruining her good work, and would continue to do so until she did something about it.

“Forget this.” Rose returned to the cart and grabbed her bottle of toilet fragrance spray. The mixture of rubbing alcohol, essential oils, and blue dye coated the water and trapped any biological matter that fell into it. A person used three or four sprays.

Rose dumped in the whole bottle.

The blue dye spread out over the contents of the bowl in a thick coating. She stepped back and waited.

Nothing happened.

Could the moss sense her movement? Vibrations?

Rose waited, waited, waited, and waited.

Nothing.

She checked her watch. A quarter past. Time was ticking. She didn’t have all day, and this was a bust.

Rose returned the empty spray bottle to her cart. Something caught the corner of her eye—a big water droplet right in the middle of the mirrors she’d cleaned. How? Well, that didn’t matter. She grabbed a drying cloth to polish it and any missed fixtures, before…

She stopped halfway to the fixtures.

A blue streak led out of the far bathroom stall, past her, and around behind her toward—

She turned and came face-to-face with…well, with a bizarre, string-thin green moss man.

Rose stumbled back.

The moss creature collapsed into ooze and slithered for her ankles.

She shrieked.

The moss swiped at her.

She crab-walked backward.

It slither-slither-slithered, leaving a weird slug trail of blue.

If it touched her when the blue wore off, it would erupt into fire and light her up too.

The door banged. “Rose! Rose? Rose!”

“Help!” she squeaked.

“The door’s locked. Unlock the door!”

She backed up against the wall and then raced around the creature.

It slithered after her.

She almost reached her cart and the toilet laser.

Moss string wrapped around her rubber boot.

She dropped like a sack of rocks and flipped over. The moss burned her rubber boot, but the stench was tinted with lavender and cardamom.

She kicked the moss.

It recoiled, made a popping noise, and gathered itself to spring.

The door smashed open.

A fierce brown dragon dove between her and the moss creature.

“Jasper!” she shouted.

He slashed the creature with his claws.

The mass separated into five pieces. Each reformed into a smaller creature. All five turned on her.

She scrambled for the laser. “I’ll get them!”

Jasper sheltered her with his huge wings. His voice rumbled low within his scale-covered chest. “They are already exposed.”

The diminished creatures slithered forward, but the places where Jasper’s claws had shredded them smoldered and turned black. They continued coming as though they felt nothing. A fire ignited, and they went up like a five-part torch. A loud pop erased the evidence. If they’d been any larger, it would have caused an explosion instead of a pop, but because his claws had separated them, they didn’t even trigger the fire alarm.

Whew.

Jasper straightened and retracted his wings, uncovering her. He examined the mess with his claws.

She sagged with relief and hugged the cart to keep herself upright.

“Are you okay?” Jasper asked quietly.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll give you a moment to recover yourself.”

“That’d be great.” Rose reached for a clean towel.

Her coworkers did not give her a moment. The trio poured in—big marshmallow Shawn, petite goth girl Elle, supportive elder Patty—and crowded around in celebration.

“You did it!” Patty squeezed her forearms. Her youthful vigor belied her gray-streaked brown hair. “You’ve rid us of the hell toilet. Shawn was taking bets.”

“You took bets over whether I would survive?”

“No, on whether you’d call us for backup.”

“Oh.” Fear echoed in Rose’s shaking limbs. She mopped her sweaty face and scrubbed the black-blue marks on her rubber boots. Jasper had sheltered her from anything worse.

Shawn patted his large belly. “I bet on backup.”

“I knew you’d do it alone.” Elle’s purple lipstick gleamed as she smiled wide. “You don’t need anyone’s help to kick alien moss monster butt.”

“I also bet on no backup but was ready to jump in and help.” Patty hugged her coworkers. “We went into Jasper’s office to watch.”

“Oh, yeah?” Rose took a deep breath, straightened, and tossed the dirty towel. “You were all watching me on the monitors, huh?”

Her coworkers nodded.

“Since the bathrooms are a camera-restricted zone, we needed Jasper’s approval. We’ve been waiting for you to clean sixth all day, and we still almost missed you.” Patty lifted celebratory fists. “Months of work, done in one! Good job, fearless Rose.”

Elle rested her hand on her heart. “I won.”

“Even Jasper put in a bet,” Shawn said.

Rose eyed the brown dragon with foreboding.

Jasper shifted to human form. His scales sank beneath his skin, and his body retracted into gorgeous, hard planes of tanned muscle, rippled and corded.

Her heart began beating harder and harder. Sweet relief flushed into carnal hunger. “What, uh…what did he bet?”

Jasper rose, nude, and brushed his brown hair out of his chiseled face. “That you would join me in my office for a mandatory safety-training meeting.”

Rose yanked her gaze away. “I can explain.”

“Do so in my office.”

Even though she was untouched, nasty blue water spattered the bathroom. All her work was undone. And she was about to get in trouble.

Again.

Rose edged around her cart. “I’ll just finish up here…”

“Your ebullient coworkers will finish up for you.”

Nerves twinged in her belly. “I can’t pawn off my messes on them. And besides, you’re still naked.”

Jasper reached out a hand. “Shawn?”

Shawn draped Jasper with a clean towel.

He cinched it around his honed waist and gave the implacable order that made her melt and worry all at once. “Come with me. Now.”

Rose followed her boss into his top-floor VIP office, stood outside while he changed from a towel into a new suit, and then followed him down the hall and into the elevator.

Guilt weighed on her. “I know you told me to tell someone before I tried the spray, and I should have.”

“It sounds as if you did tell someone.” He pressed the button for the lower floor. The doors closed, trapping them in the elevator together. His gorgeous profile in the fitted brown suit with chocolate stitching stole the oxygen.

“You’re not mad?”

“My orders should have been more specific. That is not a poor reflection on you.”

“Well…I guess I could have been in real trouble…”

“Yes, if the full mass had attached to your body when it erupted, it could have blown you into a fine mist, and we would not be having this conversation.” His jaw tightened, and he glanced at her sideways.

Her heart throbbed and her thighs squeezed.

She tugged at her coveralls. “I’ll be smarter next time.”

“You are very smart. Intelligence is not your problem.” The doors opened, and he stepped out onto the operations floor.

She followed his tight buttocks right through the operations quarter and supplies warehouse to his workspace. Unlike the sharp glass and somber mahogany offices on the top floor of the Onyx Corporation, his work office was made of sturdy, practical plastics.

He took a seat. “Your area of improvement, Rose, is your unwillingness to embrace your position as a leader within a team.”

She remained standing.

Jasper thought she’d make a good leader, and he wasn’t shy about saying so. The first time he’d said it, fear had petrified her. Someone thought she, Rose Owens, could be a leader? Even if she was only the lead janitor, his words had awakened a sharp desire deep in her bones. A desire so strong and hungry, she’d hidden it away, stuffed it deep in her heart, and pretended that she didn’t hear it.

Then she couldn’t disappoint herself when he was wrong.

Jasper gestured her into the guest seat, and she hesitated a moment before complying. He folded his graceful hands on his desk. “You have worked for me for over four years and trained every new coworker to build a skilled team. This would have been an ideal time to involve them.”

“I didn’t know if my spray would work.”

“And what? You didn’t want to waste their time?”

“Yeah.”

“You think their time is better spent betting on your abilities in my office?”

She hunched in. “Well, I didn’t know they would do that.”

He lifted his index finger to make his point. “And you should, Rose. A leader should know her team and predict their actions.”

“Well, I didn’t predict their actions, so I guess I’m not really their leader.”

Jasper leaned back and studied her. “Rose, are you well?”

“You already asked me that this morning, Mr. Onyx.”

“You called me Jasper on the sixth floor.”

Her body heated. Oops. “I don’t remember.”

“Try. And I am not asking about your health. Are you happy here at the Onyx Corporation, or can I help you into another position where you would be more fulfilled?”

Her heart throbbed again. This was why she had a love-hate relationship with her boss.

Jasper Onyx—part dragon, part human, all sexy male—made her feel like she could be someone important in life.

She put tart into her tone to discourage a long conversation and gazed anywhere but into his mesmerizing, ruby-flecked brown eyes. “I’d be happier if I was done with my daily tasks.”

“The purpose of this meeting is not just a safety briefing, but also because I’ve received a new catalog.”

She suppressed a groan.

“You are the professional.” He turned the catalog to face her. “Which trash bag is the superior product?”

Rose gave the trash bags a token glance. “It doesn’t matter.”

“But which is superior?”

“They’re fine. What you have already is also fine.”

“Notice the differences.”

“They’re small, white, and fit in our trash cans. What do you want?”

“Rose, every employee action affects the Onyx Corporation, and so every employee must optimize their environment. Your choice is critical to our company’s domination of the intergalactic human-clothing market.”

“If the fate of the company depends on your trash bags, you’re in real trouble.”

“Rose.”

“There’s a two-cent difference between the bags on this page. Is one cheaper than what we’re already using?”

He rotated to the computer and tapped the keys. “We can study the spreadsheet…”

His total focus reminded her of Liam stringing colored macaroni onto her old, frayed shoelace. Rose covered her mouth so Jasper wouldn’t see her smile.

“Here.” He waved her around the desk and insisted she lean over his shoulder to read the screen. “Our current bags are priced here.”

He smelled like fresh soap. Something fancy like those big candles that burned clean, in sage and vanilla and sandalwood. She wanted to rub her body against him or nuzzle his taut neck and lick.

Rose leaned back, trying to get out of his addictive scent orbit, and crossed her arms. “You want the Rolls-Royce of garbage bags?”

“I have no opinion about car manufacturers.” He glanced back at her and frowned. “Come, read this. I need your expert evaluation.”

Rose held her breath and leaned over his shoulder. If she lost her balance, she could fall into his arms. He’d cradle her, stroke her brow, and gaze into her eyes. Then his lips would descend, and she could taste…

She jabbed her index finger at the screen. “The ones we’re using are cheaper. Let’s try the expensive ones.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.” She scuttled back to the employee side of the desk, hesitated at the chair, and then hurried to the door. “Well, I have to get back to work, so—”

“Rose.”

She shut her mouth with a snap.

He softened into a melty smile. “Thank you.”

Her belly dipped like a roller coaster.

She nodded and escaped.

The first time he’d called her into his office, she’d been terrified she was losing her job. She’d sat stiffly, terrified she’d—

“Oh, Rose…”

She paused in the hall.

He leaned against the doorway, his slim form filling the door with masculine heat. “I would like to meet with you. Coffee, drinks, dinner and a movie, a walk in the park, skydiving, board games with friends, and a comedy show… How about tonight?”

“Tonight? You want to do all those things tonight?”

He nodded.

“You asked another human for date ideas again, didn’t you?”

He smiled helplessly, and her heart swelled so tight, she almost couldn’t breathe. “How did you know?”

“Because only a dragon would try to cram ten dates into one night.” She shook her head. “You know how I feel about mixing work in my personal life.”

His face fell. “You separate the two for work-life balance.”

She wanted to give him a hug. Obviously, she couldn’t do that. Rose snapped her fingers instead. “There you go.”

“I could fire you,” he offered.

“I could hate you,” she returned.

“But I don’t want you to hate me.”

“Mmhm, so you better not fire me.”

“Why can’t we date? I’m serious, Rose. When Mal was serious about Cheryl, he abducted her.”

She could only imagine what that must have been like. “If you try to abduct me, I will mace you into next week.”

“Cheryl never maced Mal.”

“Missed opportunity,” she sympathized.

He frowned. “How can we compromise to overcome this impasse?”

“We can’t. Don’t feel bad, Mr. Onyx.”

“Jasper.”

“Dragons are from Mars, humans are from Venus.”

“No, dragons are from Draconis, and humans are a genetically recessive subspecies localized on a backward fringe planet you call Earth.”

And five years ago, Rose and the rest of her genetically recessive subspecies on Earth had wrongly thought they were alone in the universe.

Ha-ha, cosmic joke!

When the spaceships had landed, disgorging colorful dragons in plain beige jumpsuits, she’d watched the news program in her high school classroom just like the rest of the students—and then she’d raced outside to stare up at the visible ships wheeling overhead.

But the dragons hadn’t meant to invade. They’d just wanted to buy clothes.

That wasn’t the only weird thing about them, and Rose didn’t mind the low-key invasion. She preferred a paycheck over being enslaved, body-snatched, probed, or whatever real aliens did to helpless populations. She knew she had it good, and she didn’t ask too many questions.

“Right, so, we’re from two different worlds,” she pointed out.

“And I have already crossed a galaxy to arrive at yours.” Jasper’s gemstone-flecked eyes glowed with promise. “I’ll go as far as I need to reach you, Rose. Just tell me how.”

He had her there.

She would love to tell him. Love, love, love. Love.

But…

Rose held up her hands. “There’s a lot more separating us than distance. I mean, there are places in Vancouver where you cross the street and you’re no longer in the same city. You know what I mean?”

He shook his head, frustrated.

“I like you, Jasper, but I can’t be responsible for you. You wouldn’t last five minutes in my neighborhood, and I wouldn’t last five minutes in yours.”

“You’re already in my neighborhood. We work for the same company. The same division. We’re on the same team.”

“You think we’re the same?”

“Of course we’re the same. We’re…”

Security sirens blared, and yellow emergency lights bathed the hall.

The intercom overhead beeped, and Jasper’s oldest brother, Mal, roared, “Jasper! Intruders are attacking the roof! Now!”

Jasper raced into the largest section mid-hallway and hunched.

Brown scales showered over his body as if a bucket had been emptied over him. They coated his human skin in impenetrable scales as his arms and legs elongated, claws burst through his shoes and from his fingernails, and wings shot from his back. The transformation shredded his nice suit. He just fit in the hallway and flew out the massive shop doors.

The doors closed behind him.

Rose just shook her head, grabbed the electric Swiffer from the closet, and vacuumed up the fine cotton and silk.

Sure, they were the same. She transformed twice a day, right? Fended off intruders. Sure. All the time.

A larger square of fabric clogged the vacuum. She pulled it out and held the smooth fabric.

His soapy scent wafted from the square.

Her femininity clenched.

She pocketed the fabric, returned his abandoned keys and important things to his office, plugged in the electric Swiffer, and headed to the elevators.

Elle exited the break room, and they waited together. Although she had her earbuds in as always, she commented, “People in love can do some crazy things.”

“In love?” Rose’s heart thudded out of rhythm. The fabric square burned a hole in her pocket. She hadn’t realized anyone had been watching. “I’m not in love. Jasper’s my boss! Geez.”

“I meant him.” Elle tipped her head to the hall, seeming to see deeper than Rose wanted her to. “Why don’t you just say, ‘I don’t like you, please stop asking to meet me’ and be done?”

“Because I do like him—as a boss—and I don’t mind telling him the truth. He asked me to always be honest, and I am.”

“Okay, well, don’t turn into a statistic.” Elle entered the elevator going down.

Rose caught the next elevator up to the fifth floor and finished out the day. The dragons had driven away the invaders with little damage, and so she ran into half-nude dragons dressing everywhere she went. She tried to keep her head down and avoid notice.

It partially worked.

Mal shouted her into his office and demanded her “human” opinion on which Chinese character made her happiest—as if she suddenly knew Chinese?

Then Amber, the only female dragon in the company, complimented her on growing her hair six inches in the last week.

“My hair takes much longer to grow.” Amber patted the shoulder-length auburn hair she kept tucked into a bun. Despite running a clothing company that exported exotic fabric and fashions across the universe, she dressed like an accountant. “Congratulations on your follicular abundance.”

Rose considered explaining about extensions for half a second.

When she’d first started, she’d spent half her cleaning shifts explaining ordinary things to the dragons. Lately, she only bothered to take the time to correct Jasper when he was wrong.

“Right.” Rose backed away. “Okay. Day’s almost over.”

“Yes, of course. Thanks for your hard work.”

“You, uh, too.”

Amber headed to her office, silencing a wide swath of dragons she passed as though she emitted an invisible force field. She was mysterious. Even though she rarely raised her voice, the male dragons walked around her with a wide perimeter. Female dragons breathed fire, grew to huge proportions, and were super dangerous.

But so long as she wasn’t the target, Rose didn’t care. Dragons were dragons. They lived in a different world.

Elle wasn’t wrong. Rose did make excuses instead of telling Jasper to stop. She had no problem telling him everything else, so she was in the wrong.

Most people didn’t have her job security. If their boss made a pass, they’d be screwed. It happened all the time.

She was one of the lucky ones.

And yes, she would be desperate if she lost this job, but Jasper would never fire her.

She shouldn’t drag out rejecting him. It wasn’t fair. He deserved better.

The problem was her.

It was always her.

She enjoyed being the first person he greeted in the morning. She liked the warmth of his smile. She liked verbally sparring with him, even though he came at her straightforward, and she batted him away like it was a game. For a few hours, she could take a mental break from real life. She could be the kind of woman who had a rich, successful, devoted boyfriend chasing after her, and it was nice.

All she had to do to stop him was give in and invite him over. Let him meet her outside work. See how she really lived.

He would discover the dirt and the filth she cleaned up every day didn’t end after she went home. A hot shower would never scrub it off. She worked so hard to stay on top of the mess, and she precariously balanced on an ocean of nastiness.

If that didn’t kill his interest, then it would be worse. She’d have to pick him up too and worry about keeping one more person afloat.

Nope.

She was out of energy, out of ability, out of time. She couldn’t take on Jasper too and protect him from bad life choices or terrible people.

The only way to protect him was to keep Jasper from ever getting involved.

She would reject him. The next time she saw him, she would end it.

And her pathetic life would become downright tragic.

Jasper returned to his office, sat at his desk, and finished the order for the new trash bags.

Then he closed his eyes and rested his hands in his lap.

He could just make out Rose’s intoxicating feminine scent, even after all these hours. Woodsy and earthy, lush and untamed. It emanated from the swan curve of her neck where her fine braids pooled, the gentle swell of her perfect breasts, the round curve of her buttocks. He craved a taste.

And sometimes, when she studied him with her fiery dark eyes when she thought he wasn’t looking, he swore that she was thinking delicious thoughts about him too.

Jasper opened his eyes and let out his breath in a long sigh. His hard cock pushed against his human trousers. He rested his palms flat on the desk.

Almost wasn’t good enough.

Two months ago, the Onyx Corporation had become the number-one ranked company outside Draconis. Immediately after, their mother had announced she was dissolving the company and marrying them off. Why? To give her grand dragonlets! She, a high-caste aristocrat, had been forced to give up her dragonlets and their poor, low-caste, brimstone-miner father. Because the marriage had never been validated, Jasper and his siblings had also grown up low caste. And now that the old matriarch was dead and their mother was the new Onyx matriarch, she’d set about arranging for what she’d never had.

Jasper could understand her desire. She just went about it in a way that upset her heirs.

The elderly, senile, vicious Empress Horribus had offered her claw to Mal. Mother had declared Mal would take it, shocking dragon society, from the highest aristocrat to the lowest low caste. The rest of the siblings would marry Palace advisers.

Jasper had objected because he was pursuing Rose.

“You are?” His mother’s excitement had turned to skepticism. “Where is this female? Produce her, or better yet, show me she’s already pregnant with your dragonlets!”

“I need more time,” he’d hedged.

“Very well. You have two weeks to produce this female, or else you will marry Adviser Wrathmoda!”

The rest of his siblings had fabricated females that they were pursuing too. His mother had accepted their delaying tactics on the condition that they actually produce females.

After Mal had married Cheryl, the Empress’s marriage offer had passed to the next oldest brother, Pyro. Whichever adviser Mother had arranged a marriage with had stepped back to give precedence to the Empress.

But then Pyro had found a mate and married. So had Kyan.

His older brothers had miraculously married Earth females, one by one, until the Empress’s offer had stopped at Amber.

Amber, being female, was exempt from any forced marriages.

Kyan’s marriage had been a week ago. That meant the threat would soon pass to Jasper. He just didn’t know when.

Jasper lifted his palms off the desk and opened another computer browser tab on human dating advice. He had to make a breakthrough with Rose. He had to.

His video screen flashed with a call. He clicked to answer, and his youngest sibling, Flint, appeared in human form with glasses shielding his large gray eyes.

“Jasper, I assume you’re alone.”

“I am,” Jasper confirmed. “It’s been a long time, Flint. How are you?”

“No time for socializing.” Flint glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “How’s your female?”

“Fine.” Nerves uncoiled in his belly. “I thought you didn’t have time for socializing.”

“I’m not socializing. Focus, Jasper. Your female. No forward progress?”

Jasper’s hands trembled. He folded them in his lap. “Define ‘forward.’”

“I don’t know how to define human romances. Are you any closer to giving Mother her much-anticipated dragonlets?”

“Decidedly no.”

“What are you waiting for?” Flint leaned closer, his large gray eyes mimicking the appearance of an owl. “Once Empress Horribus threatened to marry Mal, he courted, married, and impregnated his female in two weeks. Pyro also. And, incredibly, Kyan. They’re nowhere near your level of care nor organization, Jasper. Do you desire to marry an ancient monarch?”

“Also no.” His scales shivered over his skin. This day had loomed over him ever since Kyan had married. He’d been waiting for the official threat with dread. “Has her marriage demand passed to me?”

“No, and it won’t.”

“No?” He sucked in a breath and released a huge sigh. His shoulders tingled with relief. “Thank everything.”

“Don’t relax,” Flint warned. “For you, the danger is worse.”

“Worse than marrying the violent, easily angered, possibly senile Empress? And all the time wondering why, when the Empress could marry any aristocrat in the Empire, she settled on an Outer Rim low-caste male in our family?”

“I have a few theories.”

Jasper straightened. “You do!”

“I and everyone else who’s followed this marriage theater. Her offer defied prediction, and I don’t believe in surprises.”

“No one can predict everything.”

“Hmm.” Flint rested his chin on his fist. “Tell me, Jasper. Why did our brothers take two weeks each to capture their mates, and you’ve taken five years?”

“My brothers’ situations were different.”

“Different how? Explain it to me. Quick. The fate of the Empire depends on it.”

“The fate of the Empire?”

Flint urged him forward with a wave and again glanced over his shoulder.

Even though Flint had been a respected scholar at the Citadel of Knowledge, Jasper doubted the fate of the Empire depended on his plodding pace with Rose. But Flint did hate a mystery, and four years was an eternity for a dragon to court his mate.

Jasper gathered his thoughts.

Five long years had passed since he and his siblings had landed on Earth, a little speck of a planet at the far end of the Dragon Empire not worth any attention. Jasper had held a similar arrogant attitude when he’d stepped off the spaceship and onto their strange brown dirt, breathed in their odd Earth air, and, of course, met with their cautious, curious Earth humans.

But then he’d noticed the colors. Colors of everything—plant, person, landscape, sky. And the human culture! Beautiful cloths, piquant flavors, inspiring architecture.

The Dragon Empire had efficiency, but Earth had creativity, and Mal had capitalized on it. Jasper and his siblings had helped found a company. Their clothing export business had been profitable in a quarter, lucrative in a year. Now? Well, lucrative wasn’t enough to describe the coin rolling into their company coffers.

Jasper had known he wanted Rose from almost their first meeting. She’d looked him in the eye without fear. When he and the other dragons had asked about her work experience on spaceships, she’d calmly stood to leave, and then they’d spent the rest of the interview assuring her she was qualified for the role.

All her tasks had astonished her for the first weeks, but she’d learned everything, asked questions, worked hard. Before he knew it, his admiration had turned into deeper feelings. Rose’s good qualities had wrapped around his heart like strong vines until his chest squeezed when she walked past.

And then, so did his lower regions.

But the change had taken longer than two weeks.

“I didn’t pursue her right away,” Jasper told Flint, in case that mattered. “Not like I do now.”

“Mal worked with Cheryl for months. He only noticed her after Mother’s threat.”

“Cheryl met with Mal outside work. Rose won’t meet with me.”

“Why not?”

“She compartmentalizes. I am her work boss, and therefore, not a potential home mate.”

“You could fire her.”

“I offered.”

“And?”

“She would hate me, and she will never mate someone she hates.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Jasper considered his palms. He could do so much with them, but he could not move Rose’s mind once she’d made it up. “I would not risk losing her friendship.”

“What is friendship compared to mating? Continuing your bloodline, filling your lair? When the physical flame burns you, who cares about being friends?”

Jasper smiled. “Rose and I have had many disagreements over the years. The first time I tried to court her, she rolled her eyes and told me to get a hobby. The next time, to stop working so hard and get a life. I thought she found me unqualified to be her mate, and so I took her advice. But while pursuing these hobbies, I discovered something.”

Flint’s fingers twitched with eagerness. “And what was it?”

“She was right. I needed hobbies; I needed to learn that I could enjoy things for my edification, and not only for work or for others. I have more to discover, I know. There are interests yet to uncover, talents yet to tap. The universe is a vast place, Flint, and so is the human spirit. If not for Rose, I would never have explored this playful human trait.”

“You are a dragon.”

“I am both.” He smiled at his youngest brother. “And so I cannot sacrifice Rose’s friendship. Someday, she will see that I can fulfill her needs, but I will not force this upon her. There is time.”

His brother didn’t return his smile. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Jasper’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”

“The Empress hasn’t announced her desire to marry you, Jasper, and the delay can only mean one thing.”

“Amber is still single,” Jasper said weakly. “And the Empress could have come to her senses.”

“No, the truth is far more sinister. And it revolves around you.”

“Me!”

“Only one choice will save the Earth, and our company, from total annihilation. If I’m right, your time to court your female is at an end. You have days. Perhaps hours. Before—” Flint cut off and covered his screen, then raised his voice. “Yes, of course, I am paying attention—”

The video screen cut off.

Jasper’s hands shook.

He stood and stretched. Sweat stuck to his body even though the humming HVAC—converted from the original spaceship’s engine—accurately controlled the temperature.

Running out of time? He was running out of time?

How could he woo Rose more urgently? She was a human, not a dragon, and she would not be pushed around.

Jasper finished his work and headed back to his lair, turning the problem over and over in his mind.

He continued thinking about it in the following days of tumult.

First, Amber got into trouble. Next, the company got investigated by the Gentleman’s Society. And then, in the middle of the investigation, Amber announced her engagement to their friendly, charming, long-standing human consultant, Darcy.

A human marriage would be followed by a honeymoon, and so Mal assigned Jasper to cross-train on Amber’s budgeting systems.

He sat in the cross-training consumed by wild thoughts. Unusually for him, he could barely pay attention. Flint’s warning wrapped up all his mind power. His time with Rose was running out.

Rose would not let him become friends with her outside work. And thus she would not let him court her. And so they could never get married.

How could he make a breakthrough?

“Are you listening?” Amber tapped her spreadsheet. “You must make reports during my honeymoon, Jasper.”

He couldn’t clear his thoughts on his own.

Jasper leaned forward. “I have a question about you and Darcy.”

Her cheeks glowed a darker orange. “What now?”

“How did you get him to invite you to his house?”

“Oh.” Her cheeks returned to normal color. “He just invited me.”

That was the key. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” She looked troubled, as if even she couldn’t understand the mind of a human. “He wanted to marry me and misrepresented his desires. That’s why he was always teasing me. He didn’t realize that treating me like a human female was so ridiculous.”

Jasper already treated Rose like a human female, but then again, she was a human female. “How did you figure it out?”

Amber shrugged as if the realization was too complicated to explain. “This is about the mysterious female you’re courting, correct? Have you presented your interest?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” Amber rested her chin on her hand. “It’s easy for dragons and humans to misunderstand each other. We think we’re clear, but we’re not.”

“How can I be any clearer? We talk every day at work.”

“Be bold,” Amber urged. “Go to her lair.”

“She asked me not to.”

“Asked? You can’t be sure until she’s driven you off with fire, teeth, and claws.”

“My female is human.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Amber frowned. “She could drive off a male dragon with hand grenades or machine guns. You’re giving up too soon.”

Was he?

Was he really?

Until now, Jasper had thought Rose had been more than clear—except in one regard.

Her hungry look.

When she thought he wasn’t looking, her eyes drank in his nude body with desperate thirst. When he invited her out, she licked her tan lips and looked like she wanted to say yes. Like denying him hurt her just as much or even more than it hurt him.

“You’re stuck in this limbo, Jasper, because your female doesn’t believe in your desire. She’s expecting a dragon! Go to her home, woo her in the dragon way, and demand she become your mate.”

He wanted Amber’s vision to be true so badly, his heart hurt.

But he’d researched the properties of Mace. “If you’re wrong…”

“If I’m wrong, then she’ll drive you off. You are free to pursue another female.” Amber smiled. “But if I’m right, then by this time tomorrow, you’ll have a new mate.”

After five long years…

Your time is running out.

Amber must be right. She’d gotten Darcy to propose.

Jasper allowed hope to lift his shoulders for the first time since their mother had ordered him to marry Adviser Wrathmoda. “I’ll follow her home as soon as I can. Maybe even tonight.”

“Great.” Amber’s smile clouded. “Oh, Jasper, don’t go defenseless. Take a weapon.”

His unease returned. “A weapon?”

“I’d feel terrible if I gave you this advice and then your female chopped your arms off.”

His relief returned. Amber didn’t know Rose as he did. “That won’t happen.”

Her sisterly concern intensified. “Please, Jasper. Something small, like a rifle or a cleaver.”

“Those are not small.”

“Well, they might look threatening to a human, but they can’t do much damage. You don’t actually want to hurt anyone.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

“Don’t try. Insist she let you in so you can propose.”

“Yes, I won’t go away until she attacks me or accepts my proposal.”

“Good.” Amber smiled with pure kindness, pleased that their strategy session had been so helpful. “It’s funny you’ve pursued this mystery female for so long and yet you haven’t thought of the straightforward approach. You’re the clearheaded brother.”

“I know.” Jasper stood and stretched. “My dragon instincts have been failing.”

“Human instincts too. In those movies you used to show us, human ‘rom coms,’ the hero always follows the angry heroine and demands a kiss.”

He stopped and searched his memory. He’d watched human movies to understand their behavior better, and he liked rom coms because the couples always worked through their problems and united. Had he missed a lesson applicable to his situation with Rose?

“I don’t recall a hero insisting on a kiss while holding a rifle.”

“Well, actors aren’t real life,” Amber said.

He thanked her and headed back to his office, too busy with work to ponder his plans. By the time he surfaced, Rose had already left for the day. He stood in the shadowed staff room, instinct fighting against reason.

Rose was his. He wanted, craved, hungered to claim her.

But she was a human with her own wants, needs, and desires. And she’d told him what those were.

Your time is running out.

He couldn’t hold this limbo for much longer. He had to marry Rose, or others would snatch away his choice.

Tonight marked his final chance for happiness.

He grabbed a common utensil from the staff break room—a small defensive weapon that couldn’t do much damage, as Amber had asked—and headed out.

Rose finished her shift and exited the cool, temperature-controlled office building shining with alien technology and shadowed by giant spaceships.

She started sweating before she crossed the parking lot. July heat dripped off her nose and forehead as she traversed empty dirt fields to the nearest bus stop. The bus was late. It wended into downtown Vancouver, and she got off a few blocks down the main road. Half the road signs were in English, and the rest were in other languages.

Turning down a narrow street, the sidewalk ended, along with polite society. She entered her world.

Potholes cratered the old concrete. A rusty car sat dead on a burned lawn, and blackberries overgrew fields chirping with rats.

Sure, Jasper was the alien, but she lived in squalor her coworkers couldn’t imagine.

She trudged across the pocked parking lot of Grandma’s apartment housing.

Massive potholes had eaten the lot. Liam played in the largest with the neighbor kids, splashing and shrieking. His wiry black hair was frizzing, and his dark-brown body darted between older kids like a shadow. From the open windows of the duplex apartments facing the lot, TVs shouted about taxes. Flies and hornets buzzed around stinking trash piled at the corners.

Grandma sat on the ramshackle porch bench and chatted with her elderly neighbors. She’d seen a lot in her life and endured even more. With her long gray hair pulled back into barrettes, she looked like a tired Helen Hunt.

But what worried Rose the most was the empty parking space in front of the duplex. “Grandma, where’s my car?”

Grandma nodded to the neighbor and gave Rose a big sigh. “Come on in. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“I’ve got cream of broccoli noodles on the stove.”

That meant she hadn’t picked up her benefits check, and she was living off emergency food bank supplies, but it didn’t explain the missing car. “What happened? Did it break down on the way to your appointment?”

Grandma dropped the loose screen door. It shut behind her.

Rose hurried up the spongy steps, skipping the sagging middle, and into the grungy two-bedroom.

Back in the stuffy kitchen, Grandma ladled green slime into a chipped bowl.

Rose touched the chip. “What happened here?”

“Your nephew. He broke the other dish.”

“Give him plastic.”

“He wanted this one.” And Grandma could never tell anyone no. She gestured at the rippled linoleum beneath the dishwasher. “It’s still leaking.”

Rose forked a mouthful of the casserole. It looked like a Halloween project, but tasted like comfort. Salty noodles, savory sauce, rich cream. “The landlord hasn’t fixed it?”

“I haven’t seen him to ask.”

Rose set aside her bowl and pulled the dishwasher away from the wall. Black mold crept up the stained wallpaper. Her heart sank. “Where’s the bleach?”

Grandma shook the empty bottle, put it in the trash, and searched the cabinets for an alternative.

Rose finished her meal and dumped her bowl in the sink. “My complex gets vacancies. I could put you on the waitlist.”

“Don’t burden yourself with me.”

“Come on, Grandma. You need to move out of this place.”

“Why?” Grandma gave up on the bleach, balanced in her wobbly chair, and sighed heavily. “I’ve only got a few years left.”

“Is that what the doctor said at your appointment?”

“Hmm? No, he has to check the results.” Grandma lifted her glass of water in cheers and drank. “But if it’s not the breast cancer, it’ll be something else. You have too much to bear already, Rose. Don’t worry yourself for me.”

“I have to worry for you. You’re my free babysitting.” Rose searched through her empty cabinets. She poured the last drops of white vinegar on a threadbare scrubber and scraped at the mold. Sweat dripped into her crevices.

She spent all day cleaning up after others’ messes, and sometimes it felt like that never ended. She didn’t need to drag in Jasper. Things were so far gone. This place reeked of hopelessness, and it infested the people who lived here.

The mold stubbornly clung on. She declared defeat and sat back on her heel. Vinegar was a great cleaner, but not in mold heaven.

Rose poured the cloudy acid down the drain, collected Liam’s preschool backpack, and leaned out the front door. “Liam! It’s time to go.”

Her wily four-year-old squealed with the other children. One of the babies waddled with a saggy diaper.

The nearest neighbor, Clara, nodded at Rose. She monitored the children out front.

“Liam! Don’t make me come over there.”

He peeled loose and raced to her, throwing his arms around her legs and knocking her sideways. “Rose!”

She grabbed the door for balance. His small soaking-wet body pressed her against the wall. “No! We need a dry outfit.”

Grandma, behind her, called, “He already went through his dry outfit.”

“Okay.” Rose patted his gritty, mud-puddle-wet back. “It’s fine. We’re not taking the bus…Grandma? Hey, Grandma, where did you park my car?”

Grandma tapped a bowl. “Liam? More noodles?”

He released Rose and shook his whole body. “No!”

“Are you sure?” Grandma asked. “It’s a long night.”

“No!”

Rose plastered her hands on her hips. She was hot, sticky, dirty, wet, and all she wanted to do was drive her car home and relax. “Grandma…”

Grandma’s thin shoulders sagged. She looked beyond Rose into the distance. Her face wrinkled with sorrow. “Briar took it.”

Rose’s heart dropped. “What?”

“Briar—”

“But I left the car for you. So you could go to your appointment. The one you’ve been putting off for months, even though you’re feeling sick all the time, to tell you whether your cancer came back.”

“She needed the car.”

“For what?”

Grandma stared off into the distance again. She didn’t know.

“Did you even go to the appointment?”

Grandma gestured at the neighbor who’d faded into her front room to avoid the argument. “Clara took me.”

Rose fought her feelings. “That was my car, Grandma.”

“Briar promised she’d be right back. You weren’t supposed to know. She was going to be back before you got home.”

Rose hugged herself.

Her crappy four-door sedan had only three working doors. It smelled like green tree air fresheners and cigarettes, even though nobody smoked. The peeling gray paint job was spotted with rust, the bald tires squeaked in the rain, no AC huffed from its broken grills, and she’d covered the torn seat cushions with an old bedsheet.

She loved her grandma because Grandma would give a stranger the shirt off her own back, but she hated that her grandma would also give the shirt off Rose’s back.

Liam bounced off the steps and started back to the mud puddle.

“No, Liam!” Rose corralled him onto the steps. His clothes were sopping. She couldn’t put him on the bus. “Where are your shoes? We’ll have to walk.”

Grandma brought out his soaking sneakers, and Rose tied them on. She’d already had to walk over a mile to the other bus stop. She didn’t want to walk home.

“Does Briar even have a driver’s license?” she muttered, mostly to herself, because Grandma wouldn’t know. “Does she have insurance?”

Grandma handed over Liam’s preschool backpack that she’d left inside the doorway. “Liam went to the principal’s office today.”

“Why?”

“Attention deficit.”

“He’s only four!”

“They want to test him. You have to talk to the principal.”

Rose shouldered the backpack—which felt heavier now that she knew Liam’s soggy clothes filled it—and shepherded him the hot, wet mile home. He only cried twice because she wouldn’t let him run into traffic. Good thing, because her temper was shorter than a half-burned matchstick.

At the gas station on the corner, Liam whined about being hungry, so she stopped in and refused to buy him a soda, but relented on an overpriced, black-spotted banana. She’d need bus change for tomorrow, but when she handed over her only twenty, the cashier tapped the sign—no change unless buying fuel—and Liam had already peeled the banana, so she had to dig in every pocket until she’d produced change to the penny. The cashier scooped it up with a self-satisfied smile as if he’d foiled her from trying to steal his change.

It took every ounce of willpower not to break down and explain herself. She gritted her teeth and left. He wouldn’t believe her or care.

At least her new apartment was worth coming home to.

She’d lived in Grandma’s spare room with Liam for years, and had just afforded the down payments for a one-bedroom in a nice complex with smooth concrete parking spaces, mowed lawns, and neighbors who hung seasonal decor. Porches were strung with summer suns, pool signs, and martini glasses.

Best of all, the after-hours were quiet. No shouting matches, no ridiculously loud TVs, no police sirens.

So she had to be on her best behavior. Nobody could know where she came from, or else, like mold spreading from her grandma’s kitchen, her past would rot out her new life before she noticed it taking hold.

“Hi, Rose!” Her kind neighbor, a grandmother named Taylor who wore a conservative sundress and pearls, watered sweet tomato vines on her white porch trellis. “I’ll be right over with the movie.”

“Take your time.” Rose climbed her own firm, painted, well-maintained front steps.

Liam raced into the front room, leaving muddy, wet tracks across their cleanish floor. She yelled at him to come back and peel off his shoes, argued him into the bath, and was just blotting the spots with a wet rag when her doorbell rang.

Taylor offered a plate of cookies and a gory slasher DVD. “My grandson left Stabber 4.”

Rose tugged at her damp shirt. “I’m running behind.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

“That would be great, actually.”

Rose finished putting Liam to bed, trying not to let her exasperation rise when she was still trying to pretend she was a good person to her neighbor, although since she didn’t have air-conditioning and their windows were open all the time, that was a dream. She snugged him into his race-car bed, whispered her usual good nights, pretended she would sleep beside him, and, as soon as his breathing evened out, stealth army-slid backward out of the room and closed it up tight.

Taylor had set up her laptop and slid in the disk. Rose’s tea steeped on the table beside an oatmeal cookie. “Your tea’s cold.”

“Cold is fine on a night like tonight.” She collapsed onto the couch next to Taylor, then got up with a groan and shut the blinds.

It wasn’t necessary here—they didn’t have to fear home intruders—but securing the apartment soothed her. Rose locked the dead bolt, sealed up the front windows, and wedged dowels into the tracks. Nobody could get in from the porch, and anybody trying to get in the open windows on the sides—the kitchen or the living room—would need a ladder or the ability to fly.

“Thanks for watching with me.” Taylor skipped through the previews. “My grandson is too cool to watch horror movies with an old grannie. You’re the only one I know who doesn’t mind.”

“Your grandson doesn’t want you to know he shrieks at the scary parts.”

Taylor laughed. “You’re probably right. How can he get scared in front of the ‘cool grandma’ who watches the same movies as his friends?” She sighed. “I hope that’s not true. It would mean that we’re missing each other for no reason. I assumed he preferred to watch movies with a girl.”

Rose settled into the couch and lectured herself not to snore. The day was long, the night was warm, and horror movies were oddly relaxing. Probably because her real life was so surreal. She didn’t get attacked by plant monsters from space every time she cleaned a bathroom, but the most recent one wasn’t her first attack either.

Honestly, The Day of the Triffids for her was just another Tuesday.

She tried to prop her lids open as a demonic knife-wielding maniac chased screaming college students down long hallways and around beach barbecue pits.

Liam’s cartoon fairy tales gave her jagged stress. A prince rescued his princess from an evil queen, and they got married, but come on! Things always looked up right before someone died.

In a horror movie, the protagonist’s survivability depended on their cardio routine. How smart they were. How they did lateral thinking. In a fairy tale movie? Yeah, they defeated one bad guy and thought the sun should set forever. They weren’t prepared to survive real life’s knocks at all.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

She bolted upright on the couch, sleep thrown from her mind as she was jarred awake.

Taylor sat frozen beside her. She whispered in terror, “There’s a man at your door.”

“A man?” Rose whispered too. “No man should come here.”

He was a big man. The porch light illuminated him from behind, and he was wearing a big bulky leather jacket, which made no sense on a blisteringly hot summer night.

Unless he was a demonic serial maniac coming at her with a knife.

“Rose?” His muffled voice sounded strangely familiar, like something her brain should recognize if she hadn’t just been woken from a dreamy slumber in the middle of a horror movie and put on high adrenaline. “I know you’re in there.”

Taylor’s eyes widened. She looked at Rose for confirmation that she knew the strange man.

Rose shook her head.

Taylor leaned forward and tapped the space bar to stop the movie. The lights were off. She closed the screen so nothing reflected on their faces.

The man peered through the windows. Rose had lowered the blinds but not closed them, so there were thin gaps. He lifted his hand to shield the porch light.

A massive knife was silhouetted against the blinds.

Rose’s heart banged in her throat.

Taylor gasped.

Rose ducked out of view and dragged Taylor off the couch with her, trying to be silent as she pulled the blanket over them. This was not secure. They had to run. Get out. Hope they were faster. And she needed to protect Liam.

Taylor stabbed the emergency number on her phone. She decreased the volume as it dialed.

The operator answered. “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

Her voice quavered as she whispered, “There’s a demon outside my neighbor’s apartment with a knife.”

“What’s your address?”

Rose left her there and peeked out of the blanket. The silhouette was gone. She whipped her head around. There! His shadow had moved around the corner, seeking a way to the open windows at the side of the house. He couldn’t get to those windows unless he was a demon who floated.

The bulky man levitated off her porch and curled unnaturally, knife-first, toward the window screens.

Her breath froze in her throat.

No.

She army-crawled to Liam’s bedroom, opened it so she could see his sleeping form, and coiled in the shadows like a snake.

He was a demon with a knife. She had nothing.

Her heart rat-a-tat-tatted in her chest. Her hands flexed for something, anything, to use as a weapon. A weapon that could incapacitate a demon.

Police sirens had never filled her with relief before, but they did now.

Her anxiety ratcheted higher as the red-and-blue strobes infiltrated the parking lot and swung around to her apartment. Headlights blasted the levitating man in the face, lighting him from underneath and creating bizarre shadows across his unfamiliar face. He blocked them out by lifting the leather-jacketed arm across his eyes.

A police megaphone announced, “Drop your weapons and come out with both hands up where we can see them.”

The man dropped the kitchen blade and floated away from the window with his arms out.

“Come out with both hands up,” the police repeated.

“I am out,” the man said, in a more ordinary tone that Rose suddenly dreaded she recognized.

There were only a few hundred dragons on Earth total, and even though Jasper worked in the same city, these police officers had probably never seen him before. They might never have seen a dragon in person.

“Oh sweet jeez—he’s floating! He is a demon!”

Chaos erupted.

Jasper dropped to the ground, officers swarmed him, and lights in the other apartments turned on. The police officers shouted over each other and didn’t seem to hear Jasper’s calm responses.

“Don’t resist!”

“I’m not resisting.”

“Put your hands out!”

“He’s grabbing me, so—”

“Do it!”

“Okay.”

“Hey, don’t resist!”

Rose stayed down because that was the smart thing, but she signaled to Taylor peeking out from the end of the couch that it would be okay. A few minutes later, the calm returned, and heavy boots clomped up the stairs. An officer banged on the door.

“Ms. Taylor? Rose? It’s Officer Dave. We have a few questions.”

Rose beat Taylor to the door and opened it. The officer was broad as a wall. “What is it?”

“The prowler says he’s your boss, Jasper Onyx, and he came to ‘ask’ you to marry him with this.” Officer Dave held out a silver knife.

Her heart kicked her in her throat again. “Excuse me?”

“Do you have a boss, and did he proposition you?”

“Never with a knife.”

The officer’s brows rose, waiting for her to deny the rest of it, and when she didn’t, he snorted. “You’ll want to get a new job.”

“But it’s my only job.” Rose peered around his shoulder. The silhouette in the patrol car might be Jasper. “He’s never done anything like this.”

Taylor oohed. “Can she keep the knife?”

Officer Dave frowned. “Is it hers?”

“No,” Rose said.

“That’s a Shin Rey chef’s knife,” Taylor said. “I used to work at the Ceramic Bungalow. That’s a six-hundred-dollar blade.”

“So he can afford bail.” Officer Dave turned away.

Rose’s heart kicked. She took a few steps onto the porch. “You’re arresting him?”

“For resisting arrest, domestic violence, prowling, and whatever else I think of.”

“But he… This is all a misunderstanding.”

“Your boss comes at you in your home with a knife because you won’t marry him? Yeah, lady, that’s a heck of a misunderstanding.”

“No, I mean…” She followed him down the steps. “What was he thinking?”

“Ask him.”

“Can I?”

Officer Dave looked at his partner, who shrugged. They both thought she was delusional. Officer Dave opened the door.

Jasper still looked cool, even in the back of a police cruiser. “Hey, Rose.”

“Jasper, what were you doing?”

“I needed to see you.”

“Okay, but you can see me at work tomorrow. Coming to my home like this is crazy. You’re respectful to your employees. This isn’t like you.”

“He snapped,” Officer Dave’s partner opined.

Jasper pursed his lips and then studied his cuffs. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

Her heart broke. “You did?”

“I thought… Rose, I’ve told you in every way that you are the greatest female in the entire universe, and things in the Empire are changing now. I can feel it. My chance to be with you is slipping away.”

“That’s nuts. We see each other at work every day. I’m not getting a new job. And your family owns the company. You’re not going anywhere.”

“I hope that’s true.”

She felt terrible this had happened. If she hadn’t been half-asleep…if Taylor hadn’t brought over the knife-wielding demonic slasher movie…if Jasper hadn’t brought a knife late at night…

Wait a minute.

“Hey.” She got his attention again. “What was that about the knife?”

“Oh.” He looked embarrassed. “It was to protect myself if you tried to drive me off with machine guns or hand grenades.”

She sighed. “Now, if you’d asked me, I could have told you I’m fresh out of machine guns and hand grenades.”

“You could know someone.”

“Yeah, I don’t know anyone in a cult or in a cartel.”

He looked down at his hands again, rueful about his mistake and calm as always.

His words echoed in her head.

I crossed a galaxy to reach your planet. I’ll go as far as I need to reach you.

She needed to end this.

Officer Dave cleared his throat and rested his hand on the door. She was about to lose Jasper. For how long? All because she hadn’t listened to Elle and flat-out stopped Jasper from thinking about her. Her worst fears had come true. He hadn’t lasted five minutes in her world, because the police station was only three minutes away.

If he’d come at a normal hour, unarmed like a normal person, and asked to see her in the normal way, would she have let him in? She couldn’t even offer him a soda or crackers. Her cupboards were bare, her house was bare, and her emotions were bare.

And why was she still carrying around the scrap of his suit in her back pocket?

She couldn’t love him. He needed to be free.

“Jasper.” Rose captured his gorgeous warm gaze. “You’re my boss. I will never date you. We will never marry.”

He looked like she’d hit him. His hope crumpled.

So did her heart.

She pushed through it. “You need to stop chasing me and move on to another woman. Do you understand?”

He nodded sadly.

“Then don’t come here again.” She stepped back from the car, nodded at the officers who approved her hardline message, and watched the car drive away.

Elle was right. Rose should never have let Jasper’s kindness toward her grow. She’d been selfish and had to become a better person.

Even though it cut her heart like she’d been stabbed with that fancy six-hundred-dollar chef’s knife.

Three weeks later, Jasper moped into the conference room.

He ground the beans for an espresso and keyed it into the machine. Outside, the predawn darkness pricked with stars. It was peaceful like Earth.

And miserable.

Mal strode into the conference room and dropped his files at the CEO seat with a decisive smack. “You’re early.”

Jasper slid a black coffee with a single shot to Mal’s spot. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Perhaps you should drink less coffee. Cheryl says it keeps humans awake.”

“But I’m a dragon.”

Mal checked his watch, studied his files, and drained the beverage. “Mm, perfect.”

The second-oldest brother, Pyro, ambled into the conference room and smirked at Mal. “Hope you’re ready to be defeated.”

Mal dropped the empty cup with a clatter. “You won’t beat us with one product launch.”

“I’m not your VP anymore. I’m a CEO with my own full staff of fallen aristocrats jumping for me like that.” He snapped his fingers. “We’ve got something to prove, and your fall will prove it.”

Mal shot to his feet. His green scales shimmered over his skin. “No aristocrat will ever beat me!”

Pyro rolled up his shirtsleeves to reveal battle-scarred forearms. “You want to see?”

“No, I want to fight!”

Pyro’s eyes gleamed with radioactive red threads that matched the pulses running up his scales. His denim squeaked as his body bulked, starting to shift. “You got it, big bro. Bring it on.”

“You bring it!”

Pyro threw a punch.

It connected with the massive palm of their third brother, towering Security Officer Kyan. His scarred fingers closed around Pyro’s fist.

Mal eased back, distracted by the interruption, and returned to his seat.

Pyro grinned harder at Kyan. “You want in?”

Kyan’s voice was dangerously quiet. “It’s too early for a fight.”

“It’s never too early.” Pyro’s radioactive gaze intensified on Kyan. “Gets the blood moving, makes you feel alive. Or don’t you need it? After black ops, watching after your brothers must be like herding dragonlets.”

His dark blue eyes gleamed. “Sit.”

“You first.”

Kyan showed his teeth. Amid the wreckage of his scarred face, he was a terror to behold.

Pyro laughed recklessly. “That’s right. Let’s do this.”

Jasper set Pyro’s morning peppermint mocha with extra espresso on the table. “Pyro, coffee.”

Pyro hesitated, then stepped back and one-handed smoothed his coat. “After coffee.”

Kyan released his other fist and stalked to his seat. Jasper provided him with a vanilla-flavored espresso. He took it without removing his gaze from Pyro.

Jasper inventoried the stock as he created the last drinks at the conference room coffee cart. “It would be exceptional to break our record with your first launch. Don’t be too nervous.”

Pyro drummed his fingers on the table. “I’m not nervous.”

“You will undoubtedly learn much you can apply to subsequent launches.”

He sipped his coffee and searched the room for a distraction, then landed on Jasper with new interest. “How did you enjoy jail? Nice and relaxing, right?”

“I had many hours to think.” Jasper avoided Kyan’s sharp gaze. “But I can think every night at my lair. I don’t know why you used to go so often.”

“My lair used to be full of women.” Pyro rested his hands behind his head and leaned back. “Now, it’s full of Amy.”

“And you no longer go to jail to relax.”

“No need,” he agreed. “She’s always lesson planning for next year. She just got hired on full-time at the private school, right? Women used to hang off me and cry if I left them alone. Now, I have to do the crying.”

But he grinned, taking any sting away from the words. His wife, elementary school teacher Amy, could entertain herself when she wasn’t lesson planning. Besides, his days and nights had to be full running the company they’d acquired from their former rivals, Carnelian Clothiers.

Kyan sat silent and watchful, his scars an ever-present reminder of his deadly past as a black ops dragon. He’d just returned from honeymooning with his wife, nurse Laura, which was why he had missed the night Jasper had spent in jail.

Kyan murmured, “Never brandish a weapon you don’t intend to use.”

Jasper’s heart squeezed. “I regret my mistake.”

Not because he’d spent the night in jail. The quiet had given him plenty of time to soak in his regrets. No, because he’d seen the anger and helplessness, the horror and shame in her eyes.

He hadn’t misunderstood. She hadn’t misspoken.

Rose was the most direct person he knew, dragon or human. He’d behaved shamefully. He’d caused a problem with his team.

In the weeks since that night, they’d held a silent truce. Worry lines darkened her face, and she looked more and more exhausted, but she still talked to him as if nothing had happened.

He couldn’t do the same.

She preserved the friendship he’d wanted, and yet that friendship now tasted bitter. How could he endure? Standing so close to Rose and knowing she would never be his tore still-beating pieces from his heart.

Jasper didn’t blame Amber. She had meant well. Rose was as fierce as a dragon, but he had hurt her by dishonoring her humanity.

He had many regrets.

Amber’s seat was empty, and so was her husband’s. They honeymooned on Draconis with Mother.

Jasper carried two coffees to his seat.

Their sixth brother, Alex, flew in moments later. He folded himself into the last seat facing the wall. Despite his rush, the exotic turquoise-and-lavender dragon kept his poise. His freshly pressed suit made sharp folds at the creases. Every blond hair sat in place.

Jasper passed him a black espresso.

He sipped the bitter drink with appreciation. “You track our favorite drinks so accurately.”

“Thank you.”

“You should offer your services to our enemies.”

“Inventory? Or—”

“Barista.” Alex’s cool eyes played over their brothers, and he lowered his voice. “Observation is the first step to finding weaknesses. Then blackmail, and last, domination.”

Jasper smiled at the Head of Sales, who also handled diplomacy. “I don’t have the personality.”

“Anyone can train themselves to exploit weaknesses.” Alex’s thin lips tightened. “Anyone.”

Before they could talk anymore, the meeting started.

“Now that we’re all here, listen up.” Mal pressed the button for the wall screen to display the clearest broadcast from Draconis. “Time for the updated list of businesses outside Draconis. Last week, we were number one and Carnelian Clothiers was number twenty-two.”

Pyro fidgeted. “We will be number one. Anyone who doubts it will see me on the roof.”

“You won’t know final numbers until Amber gets back from her honeymoon, but it’s time to see early sales reflected in…”

The rankings list was replaced by an intergalactic message.

Empress Horribus has entered her death sleep. Business is suspended until her successor defeats all rivals in claw-to-teeth combat.

Mal clicked his teeth.

Pyro swore. “Of all the weeks to up and die!”

“She’s not dead yet,” Alex pointed out.

“Well, she’s too old to pull out of it. It’s only a matter of time.”

“On the plus side, she can’t try to marry one of us and take over the company. The next Empress will never consider us for marriage.”

Jasper fumbled for a smile. “Flint’s not so sure.”

Everyone turned to him.

“You talked to Flint?” Mal’s green scales shimmered beneath the surface of his skin with agitation. “What does he think?”

“He didn’t tell me.”

“Quit speaking in riddles, Jasper! Is the new Empress going to take over my company or not?”

“I don’t—”

“Answer my question!” Mal slammed his fist on the conference table. “Get Flint on the screen. Now!”

Kyan spoke into his earpiece. He was the only one who could locate their wily youngest sibling.

The wall screen beeped with an incoming call. Their mother stood, a flamboyant red dragon silhouetted against severe rock cliffs and a lava-red sky. She was at their Outer Rim estate in full dragon regalia.

“Malachite, my darling dragonlet, how convenient you are with your siblings. I, of course, am here with your sister, Amber, and her delightful husband, Darcy, and his mother. We are having a fabulous time. But perhaps you have heard that they’ve stopped all ships in a holding pattern until they crown the new empress.”

“Yes, and Flint said that some dragon’s trying to take over my company!”

“Oh? I haven’t heard that.”

“Ever since Empress Horribus tried to marry me and take it over, it’s been one dragon after another!”

“Do you think so?”

Mal turned red atop his green scales. His eyes bugged. “Yes, Mother, I think so!”

“Do you mean because Empress Horribus tried to marry Pyro and then Kyan, and then because Chrysoberyl Carnelian tried to marry Amber? But that danger has ended. Jasper is courting a human female, and so there is no risk of any crusty old dragon bullying her way into marrying him.”

Mother laughed. Her aristocratic silver piercings tinkled on her red scales.

Jasper’s chest ached.

Mother stopped laughing and focused. “Jasper, I have waited weeks for you to introduce me to your female. I’ve liked all my wonderful human in-laws, many of whom carry my future grand dragonlets. Where is your female? I demand you introduce her to me at once.”

He sucked in a deep breath. It hurt. “You will not meet her, Mother. She has rejected me.”

The conference room dropped into silence.

Their mother erupted first. “Rejected you? My dragonlet? My steady, smart, strong, beautiful Jasper?” Her throat glowed red, and smoke poured from her mouth. “Where is this female? I will rend her limb from limb, chew her bones into kibble, and burn the—”

“Thank you, Mother, but that is unnecessary.”

“It is very necessary! I will destroy cities—”

“I would not like that. We work near a city, and you would injure many innocent people.”

“There are no innocents when my dragonlet is attacked!”

He folded his hands, his heart calm and his body resigned. He had never doubted his mother’s love, no matter how she showed it, and hearing her anger on his behalf filled him with warmth. “Thank you.”

The glow went out of her throat and the smoke dissipated. She focused on him, a little lost. “Well, Jasper, what would you like to do? You must give me grand dragonlets. Ferocia Carnelian has twenty-seven, and don’t think one wretched female who can’t see with the eyes in her head will get you out of it!

“That said, you will, of course, experience losing a great love. You are capable of wordless devotion, Jasper, just as your father was. Therefore, you will require time to mourn, so—”

“No, I have already mourned. I’m ready to perform my duty and help the family.”

Her dragon shoulders dropped. “You are?”

“I alone have the correct personality to enter an arranged marriage.”

Her long claw tapped the clear glass table beneath the view screen. She puffed smoke out of her nostrils and then confessed, “So, as you may remember, the original marriage plans included Empress Horribus marrying Mal and her advisers marrying the rest of you. Most dropped interest, but Advisor Wrathmoda still wishes to marry you, Jasper, as originally discussed. She was impressed that you worked for Space Voyage Inc. and that you have grown the Onyx Corporation to a high level. She is coming to Earth to invest in her own company, and you will manage it.”

“Yes, Mother.”

His mother dropped her gaze to peer into his human eyes. “Jasper, you do not show your emotion as readily as my other sons, but that does not mean I do not see you.”

“Yes, I know.”

“And you may think marriage is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the ties between the Outer Rim and Draconis. During this dangerous time, it would be better for Palace advisers to listen to us local dragons rather than to listen to voices who want to take over Earth and strip its resources as they tried in the colonies. The last thing I would want for you is another Colony Wars on our claws.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“But I will not sacrifice you, my darling, for Earth or anything else. You are my beloved son. And so, regardless of the cost, I will contact Adviser Wrathmoda and delay.”

“No, Mother. I—”

“And let’s not forget the most important part of marriage: giving me grand dragonlets! Adviser Wrathmoda has several, and she told me to my face she would not produce any with you.” His mother crossed her arms and snorted fire. “Why, I almost challenged her to a duel right there myself. Getting married and not having dragonlets! Perish the thought.”

Jasper felt relief. Adviser Wrathmoda would not require him to perform sex more than once during the marriage ceremony. As the matriarch of her family, she could validate the marriage without producing a dragonlet.

“Anyway, my darling, I will tell her you must reconsider her offer, especially with no dragonlets, and—”

“I accept the marriage offer,” Jasper said.

She cut off in midsentence. “You…don’t wish me to delay?”

“No. I will do what I must for everyone.”

“Well, if you… Are you sure?”

He nodded.

“I see. But we must resolve the dragonlet issue.”

“I am young, and she is old. Perhaps even before her death sleep, she will release me with new connections to sire dragonlets.”

“Eh…perhaps…” His mother looked over the rest of the dragons, then seemed to shrug. “Goodbye, then.” She closed the view screen.

The spell that had held his brothers quiet broke.

Mal bolted to his feet and roared. “No! We will not give up Jasper!”

Pyro leaned on his denim-clad elbows. “How ironic, Jasper, that you got us out of these forced political marriages, and you’re the first one to get roped in.”

Alex paled, but his tone sharpened like a knife. “The only one. Flint will never marry. And I would choose death first.”

His cold proclamation chilled everyone at the conference table, stilling the argument with sober reality.

“You won’t have to die,” Jasper promised. “My final contribution will be to save you.”

His perfect brows wrinkled. “I don’t ask for this sacrifice.”

“I know.”

Kyan reached across the empty chairs and rested a hand on Jasper’s shoulder. “I cannot protect you in Adviser Wrathmoda’s lair.”

“I wouldn’t need protection inside her lair, would I?”

He frowned.

Alex crossed his legs. “Jasper, Adviser Wrathmoda is at least as old as the Empress. She hasn’t had a consort in decades, and she’s easily infuriated. She ran off several potential sons-in-law who were older and more aristocratic than you.”

“But I will be her husband.”

“She’s said to enjoy fighting even more than Pyro. In her younger years, she mated any male who bested her in strength and cunning. Despite her age, her tastes have not reversed. You are too agreeable. She will get bored and shred you.”

His other siblings nodded, fear and concern stamped on their features.

But Jasper was not afraid. This was not the most frightening future he’d faced by a long margin. In fact, he felt invigorated again. Pleasing Adviser Wrathmoda would be a challenge, but winning her approval could protect Earth, his siblings and their mates, and the company they had built. It was the best sacrifice.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Jasper’s engaged!” Patty skidded into the environmental technician closet, Elle on her heels. “Rose, did you know?”

Rose positioned her toilet fragrance spray bottle under the big dispenser. Her hand shook. She disguised it by fighting the last couple of drops out of the empty dispenser. “No.”

“Shawn?”

“Yeah, I heard. Some dragon back on Draconis.” Shawn hefted the big rocket pack onto his wide shoulders and strapped the vacuum hoses around his generous middle. His long hair got in the way. He tucked it into a bandana. “You didn’t hear anything?”

“She’s a high-level political figure. Super rich. Rose, you don’t care?”

They all looked at Rose.

“Why should I care?” She stood, capped her empty bottle, and stowed it in her cart.

“I always thought you were great ‘friends.’” Patty squeezed Rose’s forearm. “He never let slip that he was engaged?”

“Nope, never. Because he wasn’t.” She checked her name on the rota for the third time, realized she was stocking the cart when she should prep to dust and destatic the shipping floor, and unhooked the keys for the floor sweeper. “And we’re not that great of friends.”

“Aren’t you glad he’s moved on?” Patty nudged her belly. “He went after you all that time, and then a week later, he proposed to another woman.”

“Exactly. Why should I be bitter?” She slammed her feet into her rubber boots, zipped her rubber-lined coverall, and stormed past her coworkers. “It’s good. Good for everybody. I’m glad.”

Patty exchanged glances with the rest of the custodial team.

Shawn raised a brow like it was none of his business.

Elle bopped her head to the music coming in from her earbuds.

“Rose…” Patty said in warning.

“Don’t harass me. Ask Shawn about his mom.”

Patty shrugged and moved over to their coworker. “So, Shawn, how’s your mom’s throat cancer?”

“Yeah, it’s good. She’s responding. Did you get your business license approved?”

“I haven’t turned it in yet.”

“You want me to look it over, let me know. I’m having a study session with Elle.”

Her coworkers chatted, Rose having deflected them yet again. She stormed past the elevators just about the time she realized she’d left the keys on the shelf next to her locker.

She muffled her curse, stopped in her tracks, and whirled.

Midwhirl, the elevator door opened, and Jasper walked out. “Rose. Good morning.”

“Jasper.” She bit out his name and kept right on whirling away. “Congratulations.”

He turned to follow her. “Where are you going?”

“I dropped something.” She stomped through her coworkers into the environmental tech closet and snatched the keys.

Everyone scattered.

Jasper filled the doorway. His eyes were dark, serious, and not apologetic. “Can I see you in my office?”

Her heart somersaulted.

She returned the keys to their labeled hook and followed him into his office.

These last three weeks had been so weird. She’d been noble. Kind without overstepping. Treating him like an ordinary coworker, like she was always supposed to. And now, he was over her. He was stern. Like nothing had ever happened.

It made her ache.

But it was for the best.

So now why did he call her into his office? Her heart pounded in her ears. It was almost like—

Jasper rested a box on his desk. “Your trash bags came in.”

That was it? That was all?

He looked at her impersonally. Like he was wondering how long until she took them and exited his office.

She was an idiot.

Rose grabbed the box and backed away. “Great. The oh-so-crucial trash bags.”

He moved away. Dismissing her with disinterest.

Her cue.

She stuffed them under her arm and grabbed the handle to leave.

“Rose, I want to talk to you.”

Her heart stopped.

She didn’t dare turn. Rose licked her numb lips and swallowed. Still facing the door, she strove for a normal tone. “About?”

“You sound upset.”

“I’m just tired.”

“You should get more sleep.”

“No, I mean from walking. The bus station is far, and it’s been a problem, but nothing I can’t handle, so…”

“Is something wrong with your car?”

“No, it’s missing. That’s all.”

He picked up the phone. “Rose needs help in locating her car.”

“No, no!” She jumped back to the desk and clicked the button to end the call. “I know where it is. I mean, I know who has it. It’s just a matter of getting her to bring it back.” She laughed awkwardly. “Nothing you can do. Sorry.”

He studied her with gorgeous brown eyes. Often in the past, he’d tried to solve her problems. This time, he just listened. It was nice, actually. For a moment, old warmth glowed with camaraderie in her heart.

Then she remembered, and the bitterness seeped in. She hefted the bags higher. “Don’t worry about me. Worry about your new fiancée.”

His gaze flickered. “She does not need my worry.”

Her pain spiked. Sure, he was marrying someone who had her life together. “Oh, great, she’s totally fine, I’m so happy for you.”

She reached behind her for the door handle to get out of the office before she did something unforgivable, like sob.

Jasper sucked in a huge breath and sank into his seat, then whooshed the breath out and sagged. He looked depressed. Ready to cry.

She should go. Don’t ask. Her hand closed around the handle.

His chin trembled.

She stopped. “You okay?”

“No.” His voice sounded stuffy, and his eyes rimmed with red. He fixed his hands in front of his forehead. “I’m sorry, Rose. You can go to do your work. No one can fault your dedication to our company.”

Aw, geez. Rose let go of the door handle. “Someone faulted your dedication to your company?”

“No.” He cleared his throat. “I’m very dedicated, so that would never happen.”

Oh. She eased her weight from one foot to the other. On one hand, she wanted to run up to him and put her arm around his shoulder. On the other, she knew she wouldn’t, and it depressed her she was in this state because of her own actions.

But she had to keep things separate. Neat and tidy. It was the only way.

“But…” He sucked in another deep breath and let it out. His voice shook. “Today is my last day working here at the Onyx Corporation.”

“What?”

“At five, another dragon will transition into this role.” He cleared his throat. “It’s a dragon from Carnelian Clothiers. He, like many of the fallen aristocrats, has a human girlfriend. I’m sure he’ll treat you with understanding.”

“Another dragon! Tell the others.”

“I will. I had intended to tell everyone together, but…” He scrubbed his face. “Your new bags came in, and I’m so used to talking to you… I will miss that quite a lot. Having a team.” He stared up at the ceiling, the offices above him, where his siblings and the rest of the employees were working. “I will miss everyone.”

“Why not stay?”

He snorted and dropped his hands to his desk, began closing up files. “Staying endangers the Onyx Corporation. Adviser Wrathmoda will commandeer anything I touch, and if I tried to compartmentalize as you do… Her anger is legendary. Even a small disfigurement is supposed to be very painful, like being held down and having your teeth pulled out or your claws torn off.”

She dropped the box on the floor and swooped into the seat. “Jasper, what are you saying? You’re getting engaged to a psychopath?”

“No, her behavior is ordinary for a female dragon who’s lived almost a century. Most don’t give out punishments unless their males deserve it.”

“Punishments? Deserve it? No, this is crazy. I thought you were marrying her because she’s rich.”

“She is rich.” He stared into the distance between them. “She owns an asteroid belt in the colonies. Earth is resource poor. If I can start a successful human business like ours, she’ll be less likely to try to harvest a resource necessary for life, like the magnetosphere.”

“The what?”

“The magnetosphere is the magnetic layer that shields Earth from cosmic radiation and prevents erosion by the solar wind that would rip the atmosphere into space. Earth would be much harder to live on without an atmosphere.”

“Sure…” She rested her palms on his desk. “Jasper, if you don’t want to marry her, refuse.”

“Refusal isn’t an option.” He paper-clipped the invoice for the trash bags into its manila folder. “Besides, someone has to convince Adviser Wrathmoda to leave our company—and your freedom—alone. If I take this task, I save Alex from my fate.”

Wow, dragons lived a screwed-up life. Rose wasn’t where she wanted to be, but nobody was marrying her off.

Arranged marriages were rich people’s problems, so the glass slipper—or loafer, maybe in Jasper’s case—did fit.

Still. Money ought to save him from a sucky fate. He was rich rich. Billionaire rich.

“You shouldn’t marry someone you don’t like,” she said.

“I haven’t met Adviser Wrathmoda. I might like her. Especially if she doesn’t rip my arms off.”

“I haven’t met her, and I already dislike her.”

“Consider the facts.” He flexed so his nails extended into dark brown dragon claws, and then he ticked the claws with a little click. “Mother demands I marry and provide dragonlets. I too wish to become a father. Adviser Wrathmoda, while beyond dragonlet-bearing age, may provide an attractive stipend after her death. This assumes I don’t anger her by asking.”

“You want to have dragonlets? You could find any woman to have your dragonlet. Flash your cash, roll up in your Porsche, and women will line up to have your dragonlet.”

“But if I have a dragonlet with ‘any woman,’ it might as well be a female who improves the prospects for my family and Earth.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But?”

She shook her head. “But if there’s no love…”

“Then what?” He continued counting off the factors. “Most dragons do not marry for love, and most do not retain connections to their families after marriage. The situations with Mal, Pyro, and Kyan are rare. Given these factors, marrying Adviser Wrathmoda is not only the wisest choice for me, it is also the most prudent. No other marriage could provide my siblings and Earth so much for such little sacrifice.”

“You call marrying a psychopath who might get angry and pull out your claws a ‘little’ sacrifice.”

“Yes.” He shrank his fingers back to normal size and rested one atop the other. “It’s very little. Even my life, in the balance, isn’t that much.”

“It’s a lot, Jasper.”

He smiled sadly. “You have said my name several times now. On my last day, Rose, thank you for remembering to address me as a work friend.”

“It’s not that I forgot before…”

His clear-eyed determination made her heart ache.

She started talking without knowing what she was saying. “Maybe I could help.”

“With what?”

“I could marry… I mean, I could pretend I’m going to marry you.”

He looked nonplussed. “Why?”

“Because. It, uh… I thought you’d want that.”

He tilted his head.

“You tried to propose to me before.” Embarrassed heat crashed over her in violent waves. “You’re the one who started this.”

“You told me you would never accept and that I needed to give you up, so I have.”

Her heart squeezed. He’d given her up. He’d really done it.

“Y-yeah, but our marriage would j-just be for pretend until the adviser dragon goes away. Your mom would be satisfied, the adviser would marry someone else, and then we break up.”

He stared at her for a long, hot minute.

Sweat trickled down her neck and pricked her body. His gaze conveyed utter contempt. Disdain, confusion. She’d been terrified of him looking at her like this from the beginning and here he was, looking at her like her worst fears. Like something was wrong with her. Like, who would think of something so stupid as him marrying her even for pretend?

She squeezed her hands, feeling like a worm in front of the beautiful, rich, classy man.

He finally spoke, and it was just as bad as she feared. “That would be horrible.”

The pained lump stuck in her throat. She couldn’t speak.

“You know that I’ve wanted to marry you for years.” Dark scales ruffled across his skin in his agitation. “And you want me to pretend? To live in my dream for however long it takes, every hour knowing that the illusion was about to fall and you would leave me alone again, is the harshest, cruelest future I could imagine. I don’t understand why you would suggest something so painful.”

She choked on her shock. “Pretending we’re engaged is worse than marrying a psychopath dragon who might kill you?”

“Yes, because if she kills me, the pain will be over in an instant. The torture of pretending to have you while knowing any moment it might end—and desperately trying to convince you to make our love real while later agonizing over the ways I might have hastened its end—that agony will last a lifetime.”

She crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. He had fine words, but she had the practicalities. “You don’t know. You might not enjoy dating me that much.”

“How could I not?”

“Because you don’t know me.”

“You work harder than anyone.”

“My coworkers will be sorry to hear that.”

“Your coworkers have never stared at a broken instrument panel and figured out how to bypass the system to stop a fusion reactor from blowing up the AC.”

“You said if we didn’t get it shut down, the office building would turn into a crater, and I had plans for the weekend.”

He smiled that melty grin. “You’re strong in your convictions. You don’t let anybody push you around.”

“You should tell that to my four-year-old.”

“You deflect praise, but you’re also honest about yourself.”

“Well—”

“You don’t put on a false smile, and you don’t tell me what I want to hear. From the very first interview, you’ve always told the truth. You are dedicated to this company, your family, and your child. And you see things, you act. Every day, you go above and beyond. You’re a one-person team.”

The lump in her throat took on a different character.

She hugged herself and cleared her throat. “You could find other people like that.”

“I don’t fantasize about pressing ‘other people’ up against a wall and filling them to the brim with my hard cock while they moan in ecstasy.”

His hot, sensual words filled her veins with molten brown sugar. She squeezed her thighs together.

So he hadn’t gotten over her. Huh.

Rose sucked in a breath and straightened. “We shouldn’t talk about this at work. It’s covered in the sexual harassment training.”

He averted his gaze. “Yes, you are right. After today, I will—”

“We should talk about it after work.”

His chin dropped. “You’ll meet me after work?”

“Just this once. Don’t get used to it.”

“No, it’s my last day, so I won’t.”

She stopped. “Is it your last day even if you don’t marry that adviser?”

“Yes.” He neatened his files into one tower and rested his hands on top. “The transfer is certain. Your new boss will be a dragon named Peridot Ovaline. I’ll introduce him this afternoon.”

“Well, don’t settle in to retirement.” She hefted the box of trash bags, backed to the door, and held up a warning hand. “And don’t marry the adviser. Okay? Just let me work things out. We’ll solve it after work.”

He lifted a brow. “Together?”

“Yeah.” She opened the door, squeezed through it, and promised, “Together.”

Then she shut the door before he could ask any follow-up questions.

Because Jasper Onyx needed rescuing.

And Rose had no idea how to help him without risking her life, her family, and her delicate balance. Or, worst of all, her heart.

Jasper stared at the closed door as Rose’s shadow disappeared from the frosted glass.

Shortly after, her feminine scent dissipated.

And a little after that, the hard swell of his cock deflated so his trousers fit again.

He straightened in his seat and tried to arrange his desk for the transfer, but his mind circled Rose’s bright, hopeful, desperate offer.

Jasper was an idiot for refusing her. Even a pretend relationship was better than nothing, wasn’t it? Wouldn’t he look back on this moment with regret? The torture he’d described would be a hundred times better than fading into Adviser Wrathmoda’s ranks without ever once standing at Rose’s side.

No. He was an honest dragon. Rose was an honest human. Pretending, lying, and forcing Rose to lie would be worse.

He would face his fate with honor.

And he was already committed. Jasper looked around the office without seeing.

This had been his life for five years. These were the files he’d compiled, the processes he’d vetted, the policies he’d made. The furnishings in the building, from his desk and chairs to the view screens, had materialized because of his purchase orders. He’d done it. With his team, of course. He wasn’t a boss on his own. Nobody was.

He’d thought to stay here until he died. Now it was all going away.

Kyan’s voice on the intercom broke his reverie. “Peridot Ovaline is here.”

Jasper cleared his throat. “Send him in.”

A few minutes later, Kyan’s hulking form escorted a familiar male into Jasper’s office. Jasper sized him up silently while Kyan took his leave.

Peridot Ovaline stood taller, broader, and in a better-tailored suit. His fine loafers were shinier, and the Rolex on his wrist had a larger face.

His pale green eyes centered on Jasper, and he switched his briefcase to clasp Jasper’s outstretched hand. He shook for the correct time and strength and then stood in the precise heart of the office with his gaze on Jasper’s chair. “Your office is in the environmental center?”

“I also have an office on the top floor with the rest of my siblings, but this office is centrally located to supervise my team.”

“Team?” Peridot blinked. He stood still, immaculately groomed and efficient in his movements. “You oversee a team in acquisitions?”

“I am the chief of acquisitions, but I also oversee the building environment.”

“Both?”

“Is it different at Carnelian Clothiers?”

“You export more than we do at present, so I did not assume these jobs would overlap.”

“My team is self-sufficient. I have compiled this policy manual to help manage the humans, while the—”

“You manage humans?”

“Yes. I hire the human staff, from interns to the environment team.”

Peridot blinked.

“It is part of acquisitions.”

“How?”

“When we need brain or brawn, I acquire it.”

Peridot’s brows wrinkled.

“That is also different at Carnelian Clothiers?” Jasper guessed, unease seeping into his belly.

“The Onyx Corporation has exceeded Carnelian Clothiers on the intergalactic business list for some time. I did not realize a single dragon covered so many areas.”

“We started out as a single family and divided up the work. Whereas Sard Carnelian, being an aristocrat, had more experience setting up a company.”

Peridot deposited his briefcase on Jasper’s desk. “I will memorize the policy manual. Show me the building areas you manage. The supplies areas and so forth.”

Jasper led him out of the office. “Because I am in charge of the environment, my duties are not restricted to a single area, but the entire building, the grounds, and our ports on Earth as well as on Draconis.”

Peridot stared at him for several unblinking seconds. Then, he jutted his jaw. “On my honor as a fallen aristocrat of the Ovaline family, I will not disappoint you.”

“Good.” Jasper tried to stretch his smile. Aristocrats were raised differently from low caste. Even though the duties were a surprise to Peridot now, he would exceed Jasper’s small efforts and do well for his family. “I know you will.”

There wasn’t much he could do himself except sacrifice.

What could Rose say after work?

The only small bright spot was that they could talk together.

And he would have one more precious memory to carry away with him into his new life serving the ancient, ill-tempered, loveless Adviser Wrathmoda.

Live wires vibrated under Rose’s skin every time she saw Jasper for the rest of the day. He led around the new boss and got in her way a lot. Every time she glimpsed him, the wires vibrated, and her heart jolted.

Jasper couldn’t marry someone he didn’t love. He was too noble for his own good.

But the only solution put her heart in a precarious place.

What was she doing? What was she thinking?

If Jasper’s family’s company depended on someone marrying this adviser, why was he the one who got punished with it?

And whenever she thought of how unfair it was, the crazy vibrations started. She wanted to run or sing or jump out of her skin. Do something, anything, other than have the conversation that was coming.

Of course, once she finished work and stowed her gear to clock out, everything went wrong.

Elle blocked her in with her cart. “Hey, the toilet wand is broken.”

“Give it here.” Rose gripped the long handle and banged the top against the wall. She clicked the power. Broad-spectrum light sterilized her coverall. “The battery gets loose. Tap it into place.”

“Thanks.” Elle peered down the hall toward Jasper’s office. “You’ve been here a long time, right? What do you think of the new boss?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure he’s fine. They wouldn’t promote just anybody.”

“Yeah, all right.” Elle bobbed to the elevators. A couple of times a week, she came in late and worked into the night.

Patty slid into the closet beside Rose. “It’s five minutes to leave, and the floor cleaner isn’t charging again.”

“Oh, I just used that this morning.”

“Jasper asked me to show Peridot. But now I can’t get it to charge.”

“Did you fiddle with the power cable?”

“Yes.”

“Turn it off and on again?”

“Did that.”

“At the station base?”

“Is that what you have to do? I was turning the cleaner itself on and off.”

“There’s a second power switch on the base. Sometimes that sticks in power-off mode.”

“Right.” Patty patted Rose’s forearm. “Thank you, my dear.”

“No problem.”

Patty slipped out the door, and Shawn stuck his head in. “Oh, Rose. I did the windows, but the security screen isn’t coming on again.”

“I’ll be right there.”

She hung up her bulky utility belt, unzipped and stepped out of her hazard suit, and hung it in the decontamination closet. Working the bigger jobs, anything that required operating heavy machinery, touching the sewage filtration system, or the HVAC, meant she got to suit up, which was fun.

Rose followed Shawn to the building security panel that extended from floor to ceiling with unlabeled blinking lights.

Shawn tapped the darkened light where the window security screen was supposed to be on. “I put in the code. It’s not code-change Wednesday, and it worked to power off the security screen so I could wash the windows, so I don’t know why it’s not powering back up again.”

“Mm. What’s last week’s code?”

He gave it to her.

She mentally calculated the algorithm for the next code and input it. The lights flashed, and the building’s laser defenses reactivated.

Shawn shook his head. “How’d you do that?”

“I saw the security guy today. He’s been out of town for a while, so I thought maybe he changed days and forgot to tell us.”

“Right in the middle of my window washing.” Shawn shook the dripping squeegee over the drain and moseyed back to the supply closet.

Rose checked the time on her cell phone, pocketed the worn device, and finished up with washing her hands.

Jasper knew what time she got off, but he must have a lot to go over with the new guy. She tried to wait outside his office. The urge to take off running hit her again. She battled it, then gave in and dashed outside.

Heavy August heat socked the pep right out of her.

She sat on the steps closest to the shipment doors in the shade. Heat radiated from the concrete. After a few minutes, she jumped to her feet and paced the side of the parking lot.

Rose couldn’t let Jasper marry an abusive stranger.

She just couldn’t.

Without risking herself, she had to…

A dinged-up black car pulled into the private lot and rolled to a stop in front of her. The passenger door opened.

Rose halted and crossed her arms.

A mirror image of herself in baggier clothes exited. “Hey, ‘good’ me.”

Rose glanced back at the emptying office building. “Briar, what are you doing here?”

“Just came to see my hardworking twin.” Briar smiled. The motion pulled at the four-inch scar above her left brow where she’d argued with the shallow end of a swimming pool and lost. “And here you are! Working hard, earning a paycheck.”

“You should try it.”

“Ha-ha. You’re a comedian now.”

“Not really.” Rose needed to cut this short. The last thing she needed was to have to explain to her coworkers about Briar, and vice versa. Separation, compartmentalization, and keeping things tidy. “There’s only one funny thing about you being here. Where’s my car?”

“Around.” As if Briar knew Rose was trying to get rid of her, she swaggered a bit. She’d gained weight again and had gone up a size in jeans; a chain connected two belt loops because it didn’t go to a wallet. “I needed it.”

“Did you get your license back?”

“So, my friends and me are going to start a business. It’s in a hot new market.” Briar ignored her question and instead framed her chipped acrylics around a fake product idea. “Oily Legs.”

Rose’s heart sank. “Oily Legs? You’re getting into lotions now?”

“Essential oils are hot. And so are those leggings. Combine the two, and you’ve got…”

“Essential Leggings?”

“Oily Legs.” She waited for a beat.

The fact that Briar still came to Rose with this hopeful look on her face, seeking approval for what was either a scam or a terrible idea—or a fine idea, but which Briar would abandon the first day she realized it required consistent work—gave Rose the first twinge of a stress headache.

She’d been trying to help Briar their entire lives, and it broke her heart to break Briar’s heart, but she also still needed her car back.

Rose tried to tread a middle ground. “Is that what you call the business? Oily Legs?”

Briar’s face fell. She waved her hand, trying to act casual, while clearly upset that Rose wasn’t plunged into raptures by the mere idea. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s registered with my friend’s friend. It doesn’t have a name yet. But we need to buy leggings and oils and business cards, and that’s where you come in.”

“I’d be happier about ‘coming in’ after you return my car.”

Briar didn’t even glance at the stranger’s car behind her. “Don’t be so narrow-minded. We just need a thousand dollars to buy in.”

“A thousand!”

“Rose, it’s for our future. Liam’s future. You don’t want to be working for The Man your whole life, do you? This is how you break free, become your own boss, get that independence. And get appreciated for what you do.”

Jasper emerged from the main exit and oriented on her and Briar.

Briar shaded her eyes. “Who’s that?”

“The Man.”

She pursed her lips. “He’s pretty hot.”

Rose’s defensive hackles went up. Uncouple, separate, defend. “He’s engaged.”

Briar grinned. “Maybe he wants to invest.”

“No, Briar.” Rose shooed her to the black sedan. “Get out of here.”

Her tone went to teasing. “What? Are you too embarrassed to have a twin who’s not successful like you? Do I embarrass you?”

“Shut up.” Rose avoided looking at the others in the car. The less she knew, the better she had plausible deniability. “Just go.”

Briar hung in the door. “What about my money?”

“What about my car?”

The people inside tittered. They were all, to a one, wearing sunglasses. The driver looked bored.

Briar stiffened and lowered her voice. “Be careful. You don’t want to get on my bad side. I’ll take Liam.”

Rose’s chest tightened.

She forced herself to wave her hands in mock exasperation. “Take him, then. Don’t tell me about it. My life will be easier, to be honest. It’s easier to date without a kid. And I’d save so much money. Grandma too.”

“You’ll make so much money, you’ll never have to work a day again.”

“I like work, and I hate leggings.”

“Yeah? You’ll regret not getting in on this. When I’m in a mansion driving a pink Ferrari, you’ll regret it.” Briar settled into her seat and slammed the door. “You’ll regret it, Rose!”

The car peeled away.

“I regret not having my car!” Rose shouted after her.

Briar’s arm shot out the window, and she flipped her the bird.

The sedan sped away.

Jasper arrived, looking gorgeous like a tall glass of water, and she was way too thirsty. “Who was that?”

“Nobody.”

“She upset you.”

“Yeah, it’s a long story.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she’s like an old friend, but I don’t know her anymore.” She had to stop her nervous jabbering response. “Forget it. I want to help you with your problem. The engagement.”

He rested on his heels. “Thank you, truly. What you said in the office was kind.” His tone held the but…

She hazarded a guess at his problem. “But you can’t pretend to be engaged.”

“No.”

“So, well then, what about actually getting engaged?”

He squinted at her.

She waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He just squinted.

Maybe he hadn’t heard.

The sun beat down, boiling her whole body hotter than the pavement. Her stomach bounced in her abdomen. She swallowed and pushed through. “You don’t want to live dishonestly, and I respect that, but you also can’t sacrifice yourself just to make your family happy, because that would be wrong.”

“I’m fully reconciled to performing my duty—”

“So that’s why we should make it real.”

He fell silent. The confused squint returned.

She spelled it out. “You propose, I accept, you tell the other dragons we’re getting married so they leave you alone, and then we…”

His brows lifted. “We?”

She waved her hand. “We just see. See how it works out. If you even like me after you know what—because you’ll probably take one look at my life, my family, how I’m living, and nope right out. You’ll go running, so I can’t get too excited, and you shouldn’t either. But if it’s saving you, if dating or anything actually saves you, then I’ll try.”

“Dating or ‘anything’? What’s ‘anything’?”

“I don’t know.” She felt blistering hot. “We’ll be engaged, so whatever we feel like.”

“Engaged,” he repeated. “Pretend engaged?”

“For-real engaged.”

He blinked. “Rose, are you proposing marriage? Actual marriage? Me and you? Not pretend, as you described in my office?”

“Um…”

This was a bad idea. Such a bad idea.

And here she was anyway, making bad choices. It wasn’t her first bad choice. When she’d received the call from the social worker to take Liam from the hospital for a few days while they located his absent mother, she’d agreed to take him even knowing that he wasn’t hers, even knowing a few days might turn into a few years. Now she had the same premonition with Jasper.

If she made this offer, she’d never go back on it, no matter what.

He might get taken away, he might leave her, but she’d never stop trying to help him. She’d open herself to him, bare everything, and he could leave at any second, or trash the gifts she offered. He could do anything. Because once she committed, she never turned back.

“…Yeah. I kind of am,” she finished.

There. It was said. Done. She couldn’t unsay it. Jasper knew the truth.

He shook his head. “Why? You told me the night of my arrest that you would never marry me. What changed?”

She shrugged. “It’s not right. Being forced into this. You’re a good person, and we’re already friends, and—”

“Work friends.”

“Well, maybe a little more.”

His mouth twisted, and he glanced back at the office where he’d given up his position. A frown closed his face. Pain radiated from his brown eyes, and he shook his head. “It’s too late. I pledged myself to Adviser Wrathmoda. I’ve never gone back on my word. I can’t start now.”

Her heart snapped. He was the same as her. When he committed, his promise was unbreakable. She should have realized that in his office instead of making herself look like an idiot in the summer heat.

Rose backed away, a thousand degrees in her cheeks. “Okay. I just thought it was an option. You don’t want me, suit yourself—”

“Wait.” He grabbed her hand. New desperation tightened his expression. “I want you.”

“Uh, okay.” She tried to tug her hand out of his, and her voice cracked. “So, what are you saying?”

He slid into her space, his dark eyes melting her inside, the wicked fresh scent of his perfect suit intoxicating her. “Yes.”

Her mouth went dry.

He leaned over her, invading her senses with his presence. She didn’t think of him as being that much taller than her, but when her hip pressed against his, he gained inches. His steady coolness tugged her in. His eyes gleamed with interest. Arousal pinged in her belly, and she squeezed her thighs on the hungry awakening of her feminine center.

She licked her lips.

He tilted his head to kiss her.

“Woooh!” Briar’s friend’s car drove by on the empty road, loud bass booming from the windows.

Nerves twanged in Rose’s chest like a snapped guitar string. She rested a palm on his chest and backed away. “Whoa, you have to meet my family before any of that.”

The car swerved to the main road and disappeared.

“But we’re dating now, and this is what dating people do.”

“Yes, but—”

He swooped and captured her lips.

She lived in his kiss.

His lips were flatter and wider than she’d imagined, and his soapy scent even more addictive. Hot arousal poured into her feminine center. Little fireworks sparkled in her chest, and she clung to his forearms for balance.

The silky soft black suit caught on her rough fingers.

Her nipples brushed his hard chest and tightened, shooting sparklers of need through her body. She wanted to peel off her shirt and bare her bra, wrap her legs around him, savor the wet of his tongue on her nipples and the bite of his fingers gripping her hips, and, for the first time in her life, go wild.

He parted his lips and nibbled, teasing her to open to him, inviting her to take a taste. Soak in his bitter coffee and sharp masculine flavors.

It was delicious, wonderful, mind-bending, sexy.

She was always the smart, hard, decisive one. She should stop him, but she just wanted to nestle into his arms and rub against him, drive him wild.

He leaned back, giving her air, with a shimmering glow and hunger thrumming in his chest. “Yes, but?”

She licked her lips and released his expensive suit. “Not every couple follows the same playbook. Don’t lump me in with your ex-girlfriends.”

“I don’t have ex-girlfriends.”

“Because I… You don’t? Why not?”

“Because before I came to Earth, I worked in a factory that had no opportunity to meet with female dragons.” He linked their hands. “And after I came to Earth, I met you.”

Her heart throbbed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I have studied the documents on human relationships with my mind focused only on you.”

“Documents?”

“Relationship websites, bodice-ripper books, daytime television—”

“What?”

“—rom-com movies, the archives of Pornhub—”

“No! Oh, no. Get those thoughts right out of your head.” She huffed a sigh, torn between tender feelings and outrage. “Whatever you saw and read, it doesn’t apply. I’m different, okay?”

He nodded. “Of course. I ignored many things that didn’t seem relevant, such as historical documents on relationships with pirates and dinosaurs.”

“Dinosaurs?”

“Yes, females love gigantic dinosaur cock in the—”

“Agh! No.”

“Yes, there is an entire genre of—”

“No, no, no.”

“Rose, I studied very hard so I could learn the intricacies to please—”

“No, I mean, really. That’s, uh, someone else’s fantasy. We have to start over from scratch. Wipe your mind clean.”

He frowned.

“And I, uh, I have to consent to everything.” She lifted their linked hands. “Look, you can’t just take my hand. You have to ask.”

He released her hand, took a deep breath, and turned his big melty gorgeous eyes on her. “Can I hold your hand?”

Her heart squeezed in her chest. She would cry, faint, or melt into a puddle at his feet.

Rose pressed her hand to her chest and strode away before she did something stupid. “No, we’re not, like, twelve.”

He kept up with her. “But I want to hold your hand.”

“Let’s just get in the car.”

He stopped beside his black Jaguar. He’d gotten it because one day she’d wondered aloud what it was like to drive fancy cars; not two days later, he’d test-driven a bunch of different ones and offered to take her home in this one.

She’d declined. Always declined.

Until now.

“I can drive you home?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He clicked the button. The doors slid up, and even though it was a million degrees outside and even hotter in her cheeks, the car radiated cool as if it were too expensive to get hot. She slid into the bucket seat, suddenly feeling the grunge of the day on her tattered jeans and threadbare T-shirt, as if just sitting in the car might make it dirty. It smelled like money and plastic.

He slid into the driver’s seat. The doors closed, and the seat belt slid up the door, locking into place. He turned to her. “Now can I hold your hand?”

She wasn’t against it, even though it made her squirm, but she couldn’t ignore the practicalities. “Then how can you drive?”

“I will use my knees.”

“You will not. I’ll get out of the car.”

“But—”

“It’s not safe. And also, I’m not getting picked up by the cops and arrested when you have an accident.”

He sighed and put the car in gear. “In one rom com, the hero and heroine had sex while driving on the freeway. I think I can operate a human motor vehicle while holding your hand.”

“Just drive.”

“And if you still have concerns, we could always leave the car, and I could fly you.”

“What’s the big deal about holding hands?”

He stopped at the exit to the parking lot and looked her full in the face with his earnest, gorgeous, sexy eyes. “I’ve been in love with you for years. The difference between all that time and right now is that we can touch. Kiss. Snuggle. I have dreamed about it, and yet now you won’t touch. We’ve only had one kiss. What if you won’t want to snuggle?”

She rubbed her thighs. “I’ll want to snuggle.”

“It’s hard to believe anything has changed when nothing has changed.”

“I have to get used to the change too.”

“Are you sure that you really want to?”

The ragged edge of his question squeezed her heart.

No, he was right. Embarrassment wasn’t a good enough answer. She was still scared to offer, scared to reach out because she was so sure something bad would happen. She would reach out for him and close on empty air.

She reached over and caressed his jaw.

Smooth brown scales shivered beneath his skin. He sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, while his brown eyes gleamed with iridescent flecks of yellow, green, and gray-blue.

“Yes,” she said, uneven. “I am.”

His gaze centered on her lips. He leaned across the seat, and she lifted her chin to meet him.

A car behind them honked.

She jumped. “Oh! Sorry.”

Jasper lingered like he still wanted to kiss.

She pushed him into his seat. “What are you doing? Drive.”

“We’re supposed to kiss.”

The car honked again, longer.

“What? No, we’re in the way. Get out of the way.”

He pursed his lips. “Rose…”

“Move your car. Jasper, we’re blocking whoever’s behind us from leaving. The last thing you want after a full shift is to get stuck in the parking lot.”

Third honk, definitely annoyed.

“Jasper!”

He sighed and pulled out onto the street.

The car behind them peeled out, zoomed around them, screamed up to the stop sign, and sped onto the main road. They were lucky that the driver hadn’t flipped them off.

She didn’t blame them. Normally, she was more aware of her surroundings.

Jasper made her forget her surroundings. He created a little bubble just for them where they could meet in the middle.

“It’s like you’re making excuses not to take the next step,” he said.

“Blocking traffic isn’t making an excuse,” she said flatly.

“In a rom com movie, couples block traffic all the time. No one minds. Most people even cheer.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“I’ve seen it in your human documents many times.”

Rose shut her mouth before the next retort snapped out. She loved this adorable dragon living in his own fantasy world. She really did.

But on the other hand, good lord, this would be a long day.

Jasper struggled with his new feelings while he followed Rose’s street directions to pick up her son from his daytime care. “Which date is this? Golf? Dinner and a movie?”

“Dinner and no movie.”

“But that—”

“Some of us have small children.” She held up her hand to forestall any arguments. “And some of us have work tomorrow. This is a work night. Dinner, no movie, take it or leave it.”

He’d thought the moment she agreed to date him, everything would change. He would change, and so would she.

But other than agreeing to spend more time with him, nothing had changed.

“This is hardly a date.”

“Don’t whine.” She tensed in his bucket seat like a loaded spring under increasing pressure, her hands twisting into fists until she burst out, “Stop here.”

He stopped at the mouth to the complex. “Your grandmother lives inside this complex.”

“Right, but there are a lot of potholes, so I’ll run and grab Liam.”

“Potholes aren’t a problem.”

“There’s a ton. Really. People bottom out all the time. I don’t want you to wreck your car five minutes after knowing me.”

“It’s fine.”

She pulled on the door handle. Nothing happened. “Let me out.”

He shut off the engine. The locks disengaged. The doors slid open, and their seat belts released.

Jasper got out of the driver’s seat.

She paused on the opposite side of the car, poised to run. “What are you doing?”

He thought it should be obvious. “Introducing myself to your friends and family.”

Her face pinched. “Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s the next step in dating.”

“Not…necessarily…”

He stood by her side. “Am I wrong?”

“Well…”

He waited, his own worry pinging. Instead of becoming agreeable, Rose challenged him even more. He had no choice but to challenge her back. “Rose?”

“You don’t fit in here.” She avoided his eyes and twisted her hands. “My neighbors don’t like people they don’t know.”

“Introduce me.”

“And this isn’t a neighborhood where you can walk around dressed like that.”

“Like a businessman?”

“Yeah.”

He studied the human apartment complex. Ten squat double units ringed the parking lot. The grounds had a barren, hard-baked look, and the structures peeled like human skin after sunburn. Plastic detritus crinkled and crunched underfoot.

It didn’t look that different from anywhere else.

A few hours of paint, resurfacing, and landscaping could transform this complex. Humans preferred individuality over the boxy gray efficiency of dragon living spaces, and their designs went awry of environmental factors, requiring continuous maintenance and updates. Such was the state of this complex. And what were a few hours to a dragon like Jasper?

But he was trying to train himself to understand human nuances so he could live a successful life as her partner.

He took off his suit jacket, tossed it in the trunk, and pulled his shirt out of his pants, unbuttoning the top two buttons. “Better?”

She jerked her gaze away from his pectorals and blinked, then frowned. “Uh…”

“Rose!” A short, tanned, middle-aged man in ragged jeans, a torn gray T-shirt, and work boots swaggered off a porch. “Eh, Rose. Is this pende—jerk bothering you?”

Jasper’s implant switched words midsentence as the human dropped in a second language. His implant stuttered to catch up.

“No, Luis, he’s fine.” She rested a hand on her hip.

Luis lowered his voice. “Police?”

“No.”

“Child Protective Services?”

“Also no.”

Jasper held out his hand to shake. “I’m her fiancé.”

Luis smiled, revealing dark yellow gaps from missing teeth, and gripped Jasper’s hand with aggressive strength. “Oh, you think you are, male goat?”

Rose hugged her elbows. “Luis…”

Jasper accepted the grip without using a fraction of his strength. “Yes, but I’m not a male goat. I’m a dragon.”

Luis’s smile vanished. “A what?”

Jasper let his scales emerge on his cheeks and jaw, the scales piercing his human hair follicles and interlocking into brown diamonds for a second before sucking back into his more vulnerable human skin. He heard his implant translate the words as it struggled to manage the mix of languages being used. “Soy dragon.”

“Aiy!” Luis let go of his hand and jumped back. “What in the—how is there a dragon at my house, Rose?”

“He was my boss.” She turned to Jasper. “Stay here.”

“Rose…”

“And this is your car?” Luis recovered from his shock and rubbed his hand on his thigh. “You have a Jaguar? Can I take it for a ride?”

“No, Luis, I need it for…” She frowned. “Jasper, do you have a car seat?”

“I have two seats in my car.”

Her eyes widened a fraction, and she stared at the car without seeing it. “You have…you don’t even have a back seat.”

He shook his head.

Luis walked over to it and swooped his hand over the curves. “This is nice, male goat—my friend.” Jasper’s implant pinged as it inserted the proper translation. “Really nice.”

Rose closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “Then we can’t take Liam home in it.”

“I’ll fly you home.”

“What about your car?”

“I’ll leave it here.”

She choked. “No.”

“No?”

“Okay, look. Anything left in this neighborhood won’t look so nice when you come back, if it’s even still here.”

“Hey, my friend!” Luis opened the driver’s door. “Yeah? A ride?”

“I’ll drive it back to the office and meet you here.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay. See in you, what, an hour?”

“An hour? The office is ten minutes away by car.”

“Right, but coming back, the bus—”

“Rose.” He kissed her wrinkled forehead. “How slowly do you want me to fly?”

Her lips parted. She blinked and touched her forehead, softening, and then a quiet smile replaced her worry. “Right. Okay. See you soon.”

He watched her walk to a house, where a group of women clustered. He waved, but they did not wave back.

Luis climbed into the driver’s seat. Jasper got into the passenger’s seat and handed him the key.

“My friend, this is an amazing machine.”

“Please drive it to my work.”

“Yeah, sure.” He revved the engine, bringing out everyone in the neighborhood, and tested the sound system. Then, he popped the convertible top. The roof rose and folded into the rear compartment. A crowd of males formed around the Jaguar. Luis waved at the crowd. “Hey, we’re driving to this guy’s work. Who wants a ride?”

Males piled on the back, butts on the rear while their legs jammed down the folding cover slot, and Luis peeled down the road, squealing rubber.

Jasper directed him. At this pace, missing lights and stop signs, they would be even faster than his estimate. “Luis, do you ever feel frustrated when dating a human woman?”

“Frustrated, man?” He merged onto the freeway, which wasn’t necessary to the route but wasn’t far off either. “Yeah, all the time!”

“I want to be close to Rose, but she won’t kiss me or touch me. She won’t even introduce me to family.”

“Yeah, she’s a classy lady, always got her eyes on the stars. Don’t worry about it, man. How long you been dating?”

He checked the time on the dash. “Forty minutes.”

Luis laughed. “Forty minutes! No, man, you gotta be patient. Give it a day, you know. A night. You can’t give a girl like her one ride in the car, you know, even if it’s a car like this one. Eh? She’s classy, man. Classy.”

They exited the freeway and zoomed up to the office building. Luis squealed the tires, drifting into the slot, and everybody piled out. They admired the car more, and then Jasper folded up the top and secured it.

“So, how we going to get back?” Luis asked. “You have a limousine or a stretch Hummer or what?”

“We’ll fly.”

He blinked. “Fly?”

Jasper waved them into a rugby huddle. “Get close. Hold on tight.”

The guys did it and quieted, sober, while Jasper tested the logistics.

Luis cleared his throat. “All right, now what?”

Jasper held his eye. “Don’t look down.”

“Huh?”

Jasper launched in the air. The nice thing about the stellarium in his body was that he didn’t need to shift to access his powers. Even in human form, he could reverse gravity.

The males tensed as the ground fell away from them. They shouted and scrambled at Jasper.

“Don’t let go,” he warned them over the shrieks. “And I told you, don’t look down.”

While he completed the very short, low-altitude, very boring flight, he thought about his situation.

Luis was a human male, and if he said Jasper needed patience, then, okay, Jasper would recalibrate his expectations. He wouldn’t think of it as finally moving forward after four years, but that they were taking the first steps for the rest of their lives. He needed to stop panicking about the time gone by and instead savor the first moments of a long, happy future.

Yes. That was it.

He landed in the middle of the apartment complex with a thump. “We’re here.”

Luis let go and stumbled back. He laughed so hard, he started coughing and rested a hand against the nearest porch wall. “Man, I saw my life flash before my eyes! Man…”

The others staggered away.

Jasper would stop fantasizing about pressing Rose against his body and sliding his cock into her wet channel while she called his name, and instead, he would—

Rose descended the porch steps with a small backpack in one hand and a young boy on the other. “What did you do to them?”

Images flashed through his body with heat, hunger, need.

He forced them down. No, he would treasure this moment. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Why are those guys crying? Why is that other guy throwing up?”

“Hm? I don’t know. Maybe he feels sick.”

Luis laughed again and pointed at Jasper. “That man has the balls of a steel bull! He kills me, he kills me.”

Rose’s eyes narrowed.

Jasper peered behind her to the house. Her grandma watched out the front window. “I’ll introduce myself.”

“Next time.” Rose rested her hand on the young boy’s shoulders. “We’re hungry.”

“I’m hungry,” the boy repeated, at twice Rose’s volume. He came up to her chest, with a dark mass of crinkly hair and big eyes.

Jasper lowered to his eye level. “Hi, Hungry. I’m Jasper.”

The kid blinked. His default volume was a shout. “I’m not Hungry. I’m Liam!”

“Oh, hello, Liam. We’re having a date that’s dinner, no movie. What do you want for dinner?”

“Play Castle Pizza Feast!”

Rose snapped, “We can’t afford that. Don’t be greedy.”

Liam groaned.

“I’ll buy,” Jasper offered.

“No, Play Castle Pizza is this boutique pizza parlor, and you need a reservation. The feast is for twelve people. It’s for sports. Anyway, I don’t want to owe you.”

“But…” He double-checked his phone for the local menu and nearest location. “You don’t owe me. We’re a team now.”

She hesitated.

“This is what being a team means,” he said. “When one person can’t do something, the other can, and we get the job done.”

“Okay, but we’re not going to Play Castle Pizza. Liam, what about McDonald’s?”

“Aw!”

“Happy Meal, buddy. Take it or leave it.”

Liam jumped in a circle chanting about Happy Meals. Rose looked calmer. This counted as acceptance.

Very well. “Okay, huddle in, and I’ll fly you there in no time.”

The nearest males leaped away like they feared getting picked up again, but that was silly because it was impossible to pick someone up without touching.

Rose stepped out from under his guiding arm. “We’ll walk.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hungry!” Liam shouted.

“It will take longer.”

“It’s fine. McDonald’s is close. Come on.” She led the way out of the apartment complex toward the main street.

Jasper waved goodbye to Luis and his new friends, then followed, ambling in the pleasant evening.

They reached the corner with the traffic light. Rose reached out for Liam. “Hold my hand.”

Liam clasped her hand.

Jasper followed behind as they crossed the road. “You don’t mind holding hands with your family.”

“Because he’s four.”

“Oh. Do you dislike holding hands, or only holding hands with adults?”

“What?” She glanced back at him, dropped her jaw, and rolled her eyes. “Oh, for goodness’ sake!” She shouldered the small backpack and stuck out her other hand. “Here.”

He swooped forward and took it, interlocking their fingers. Hers were slender but strong, knuckles hard, pads worn.

“Happy?” she grumbled, looking anywhere but in his direction.

He pressed his thumb to the back of her hand. “Very.”

She swallowed, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Patience. He could do patience.

Jasper was looking at her like he could eat her up.

Rose struggled to keep calm as she walked with him and Liam to the McDonald’s. Who was watching her right now? What were they saying?

How long until it got back to Briar?

She shoved the last thought out of her mind.

Jasper squeezed her hand and then let go to hold the door for her to enter the fast-food chain. They were beyond the dinner rush, but parents got home late in this section of town, and it was still hopping. She let him order and pay—with a shiny black credit card that looked chiseled from a precious gemstone—and they ate in the boisterous kids’ section so that Liam could inhale his nuggets and then clamber up the play structure.

She sat on a wiped-down red plastic seat that was too short for her. It was nice to eat out once in a while, and even nicer to splash out on one of the real burgers on the regular menu instead of the value menu. She licked a drip of special sauce off her thumb.

Jasper’s gaze fixed on her thumb. His tongue touched the inside of his lips.

She heated with coiled arousal.

And then, even though she knew Jasper wasn’t a danger, her mouth kicked into defense mode. “Don’t think this entitles you to anything.”

His gaze lifted, and he smiled, lazy and pleased, as though his generosity was already repaid. “Entitles me?”

“To after-dinner fun time.”

He blinked. “Hm?”

“You know. Any bedroom time. In a bedroom. Because it doesn’t. Or anything outside a bedroom either.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying… I’m… You know? We can’t talk about this here.” She finished, stuffed the napkins into the empty boxes, and cleared the table. “It’s a school night. We have to go.”

She tossed the trash, called Liam—who did not want to come down, and she had to count and then bargain and then negotiate.

Jasper finished his soda. Even without his jacket, he looked like a banker or a movie star. Everyone around stared. He stood out even when he was just being ordinary, and even when he was doing nothing at all.

But his gaze wandered to her as though he was oblivious to the stares.

When she finally got Liam into his shoes and out the door, Jasper handed Liam the toy prize from his meal, and Liam calmed right down for the walk home.

The day was still ridiculously hot, and she bloomed with sweat, while Jasper ambled with an easygoing stride, cool and collected. They rounded the corner to her apartment complex.

His gaze fixed on her hand.

He was so easy to read.

She had a little argument with herself. Yes, her palm was hot and sweaty, and yes, holding his hand made everything way too real, like they were an actual couple, and her anxieties rose like ghouls of funerals past and tried to drag her screaming into despair. But Jasper was right in front of her, and she was supposed to be his girlfriend—a role she had no experience with—it would make him so happy if she did, so she should just get over it and—

“Did you mean sex?” he asked suddenly.

She jolted. “What?”

“Bedroom time. Is that a euphemism for sex?”

“No. Well, yes, but don’t talk about that outside.”

He appeared to make a mental note. “Inside is okay…”

“No, stop.” She held him up at the complex gate. This was awkward enough. “Forget I said anything.”

“This is important.” Jasper scooped both her hands and pressed them to his broad chest. “I promise that I won’t pressure you to move faster. I will treasure every moment. Being with you is my dream, Rose. I want you to be happy with me too.”

Her heart thudded out of rhythm. She coughed at the lump in her throat. “I am happy.”

“Good.”

Liam zoomed his plastic toy across the white fence separating their complex from the sidewalk.

“How do I gift my offerings and not pressure you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Tonight, you feared the purchase of a $4.99 hamburger meal placed you in my debt.”

Her hackles rose. “Okay, wait.”

“But I would like to gift you much more than $4.99.”

“I know it sounds a little weird, but—”

“Maybe Luis will know how I can get over this hurdle so that you do not associate hamburger sets with sexual acts.”

“That’s not—”

“Because I will think of sexual acts with you regardless of whether we are eating hamburgers sets or starving.”

“Jasper.”

“But I promise I will never exchange sexual acts for hamburger sets, ever.”

One of her neighbors drove through the gate with their windows wide open. They caught the end of Jasper’s sentence and whipped around to stare.

She clapped a hand over Jasper’s mouth. “I get it.”

The neighbor drove on, but their eyes reflected in the rearview mirror. And the hedge wasn’t that thick. Anyone standing on the other side of the fence could hear too.

“Unless you’re wearing, say, a hamburger-set type of costume.” He gestured at his chest, talking around her hand. “With the buns as a bra, and for the panties—”

She pressed harder and leaned close. “Stop talking.”

He blinked and focused on her. “But—”

“Never talk about this again.”

“What?”

“Any of it. Sex for burgers, burger sex, this costume nightmare, anything.”

“But at McDonald’s, you said—”

“Uh-uh. No. That’s what I mean. And if you ever bring it up again, tonight’s dinner, buying Liam a Happy Meal, this thing, we’re finished.”

“You’ll break up with me if I mention buying Liam a Happy Meal?”

“Yes.” She leaned back, put her hands on her hips, and waited.

He pressed both his hands to his chest. “I will never speak of this again. You have my oath as an Onyx.”

Okay, that was as good as it got. “Thanks for tonight.”

His face fell. “I can’t come to your apartment?”

She crossed her arms. “The last time you came, my neighbor called the police.”

“Doesn’t that mean I should apologize?”

She hesitated, not because he was wrong, but because it would be embarrassing. And even if they didn’t see Taylor, Rose would be tempted to bring Jasper into her apartment, and that would be a real problem. She’d spent all evening telling him not to make a move on her. It would be very awkward if she made a move on him instead.

“You will eventually allow me to visit your apartment,” he prodded, “won’t you?”

“Okay, fine, come on in, and don’t act like a lunatic.”

She summoned Liam, and they braved the gate, checked her mail slot—empty—and ran the gauntlet past her neighbors’ houses.

Her heart thumped hot and heavy in her chest. Maybe they would make it to the apartment and no one would stop them!

She turned the corner to her row.

Taylor was deadheading azaleas on her porch. She had her back to the street, but as they approached, she stood and stretched. Then she checked her wristwatch, stretched again, and put a hand on her door.

Rose held back.

If she waited a few moments, Taylor would go inside and Rose could avoid her worlds colliding.

Liam scuffed his foot on the pavement. “Rose, I have to pee.”

“Just a minute, Liam.”

“Not a minute! Now!”

Taylor’s shoulders shook with amusement. “When you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta…” She saw Jasper, and her face clouded.

“Right.” Rose hurried up to her front step. “Liam? Come on.”

“You…” Taylor took a few steps off her porch. “You were arrested here a few weeks ago.”

Rose shoved the key in the door, turned it, and rushed Liam inside. “Go pee.”

He tore across her clean floor in his muddy shoes.

“I’m Jasper Onyx.” Jasper offered his hand.

Taylor didn’t take it. “You scared the pants off us.”

“I apologize.”

“Well, you can say that, but you still prowled around Rose’s apartment with a knife.” She looked at Rose for an explanation.

“It’s a long story,” Rose said.

Liam thundered back to the door. “He bought me a Happy Meal!”

Rose shooed him away. “I thought you had to go pee.”

“I do!” He raced across the floor again and this time made it into the bathroom.

Taylor eyed Jasper. “Did you buy Liam a Happy Meal?”

“I must not speak of it.” Jasper held up his hand. “I vowed to Rose on my honor as an Onyx.”

Taylor stared like they were both deranged.

Great, this was only making it worse. Rose had been terrified for months her neighbors would realize she was too trashy to live in a nice apartment complex like this, and now, her worst fears were coming true. “Jasper? Inside.”

Taylor stepped forward. “Wait. Rose? Is it really okay?”

“It’s okay. There won’t be any more misunderstandings, I promise. Right, Jasper?”

“Yes, there will be no need.” Jasper nodded. “Rose has promised to marry me.”

Taylor’s mouth opened and closed in shock. “After you threatened her with a six-hundred-dollar chef’s knife?”

Jasper tilted his head. “I grabbed what was in the staff room. Why do you mention the cost of the knife?”

“It’s a lot of money to invest in a weapon of convenience to threaten your future wife.”

“Money doesn’t matter. Rose will not have sex with me for a ride in my Jaguar, a $4.99 hamburger set, or even a six-hundred-dollar chef’s knife. She already explained.”

Taylor’s mouth flopped. She gripped the railing as though faint. “What?”

Rose gritted her teeth. “Jasper!”

“Yes?”

She jerked her hand at the open door. “In. Now.”

He bid her shocked, confused, and judging neighbor farewell and strolled up the stairs. “I’m invited inside?”

“Just go in.” She waited for him to cross the threshold and slammed the door. “Don’t do that again.”

He eyed her index finger. “Do what?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

“Rose.” He curled his hand around her index finger and pressed it to his chest. “Being invited to your private lair is a dream. The last thing I want is to anger you.”

“Well, it’s too late, because I’m already angry!” She yanked her hand free and stormed to the windows. Throwing them open swept out the stuffiness of being shut up all day. The bathroom faucet gurgled suspiciously. She banged on the bathroom door. “Liam? What’s taking so long?”

He giggled. “It’s a flood!”

Great. Just great.

She popped the lock and stopped his brimming cup of water from dousing the floor. “No! Wash your hands. Don’t lose our security deposit.”

He obeyed, splashing like crazy. She tore his sticky clothes off and dumped him into an inch of bathwater to scrub off caked grime. While he squirted it like a fountain, she washed his clothes in the sink and hung them over plastic rods to dry, then stopped him from flinging the entire inch of bathwater onto the linoleum, and heaved him out. “Dry off and get your pajamas.”

He raced into the living room, leaving wet footprints. “Naked Liam on the run!”

“Pajamas!” she called. “Towel and pajamas, or you don’t get a book!”

He squealed and raced into his bedroom, slamming the door.

At least in this heat, he dried quickly.

Jasper stood in the middle of the living room right where she’d left him.

She sagged. Drained, exhausted, and sorry. They’d both been through some upheavals today. He’d survived better than her. “Can I get you a glass of water? Cup of tea?”

“Do you have a toasted s’mores espresso?”

She snorted. “Do I look like a Starbucks?”

He glanced around the small apartment as though he wasn’t sure.

She shook her head and filled her kettle with tea. If he wanted to be hot, be hot.

Then she left him in the kitchen while she got Liam ready for bed.

So to speak.

She flung open the bedroom door. “Liam, pajamas.”

He bounced on his half-mattress bed, giggling and squealing.

“Okay, I’ll choose your pajamas.” She started toward the cracked plastic hamper.

“No! I’ll do it!” He wrestled the hamper away from her, cracking the next level of plastic, and poured his clean clothes out on the floor.

“I see Superhero Squad pajamas…”

He dove for them, ripped the pants out of her hand, and quieted as he concentrated to thread his knobby legs into the holes.

They repeated the ordering, begging, negotiating cycle through the rest of the routine. She brushed his teeth, read him a book, and got him into bed.

He wiggled under his bare sheet. “Good night, Rose.”

She knelt at his shoulder and tucked in the blanket around his skinny little body. “Good night.”

“I’m going to tell you a secret.” He motioned her closer, pressed his lips right up to her ear, and said in a normal tone, “I love you, ugly.”

She snorted.

He leaned back and snuggled into the creaky single mattress. “Tell me the secret.”

She leaned close and whispered, “I love you too.”

“Keep it secret or the bogeyman will take me away.” He sighed, then looked beyond her. “Is the bogeyman Jasper?”

“No, honey, Jasper’s a dragon.”

“He could eat the bogeyman!”

“Maybe.” She stood and went to the door.

“Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you leave the door open?”

“Will you stay in bed?”

He was silent for a long moment. “Yeah.”

“Okay, then I’ll leave it open.”

“I want to see Jasper eat the bogeyman.”

“Okay, well, watch from your bed, or else I’m going to shut the door.”

She strode to the living room couch to collapse—picked Liam’s wet shoes off the couch, dropped them by the front door, and brushed off the dirt—and then returned to collapse.

Jasper studied her, his body filling the small kitchen with masculine energy. A frisson of anticipation made her tingle.

Now she was here with Jasper.

Should she be aroused? Or terrified?

Jasper set a glass mug of tea on her scuffed coffee table. “Chamomile?”

“Fine.” She rested her head on the back of the couch. Her muscles pinged as they released her stress and relaxed for the first time. “So, you wanted to get in so bad three weeks ago. What do you think?”

He clicked the button to boil the water again. “It is a pleasant human home.”

Pleasant. Human. What did that mean?

His corporate offices were so different. Dark paneled woods, tinted bulletproof glass, high-tech view screens, gold-leaf toilets with fancy patterns on the tiles.

Her apartment?

In the silence, her nerves frayed. She looked, really looked, at the apartment she’d left him in while she’d put Liam to bed.

Empty. Shabby. Unsteady.

A wobbly white kitchen table supported a chipped white vase filled with Taylor’s wilting azaleas. A fine layer of dust dulled the cabinets no matter how hard she scrubbed with Old English. Uneven coffee table, faded pillows, and Liam’s bookshelf with the veneer peeled. Everything had come free off Craigslist. Patty had snagged anything Rose mentioned seeking during her weekly estate-sale runs. Different forks, mismatched plates, Goodwill glasses.

Jasper carried in a second glass mug and her favorite glass teapot. “It is educational to see how you prefer to live.”

“Oh, you think this is what I prefer?”

“Isn’t it?”

“No. If it were up to me, we’d be living in a place like in a magazine where everything’s matched and shiny and beautiful, with a big silver fridge, and a farm kitchen with a fancy water filter, a full-sized stove, two ovens, and organic food. Bowls full of lemons and apples, baskets full of white tulips. I’d have my own chef and a robot maid to vacuum my floors. That’s how I’d live if it were up to me.”

“Why isn’t it up to you?”

“Because it takes money, Jasper.” She sipped the soothing tea.

“You can get more money.”

“Not on a high school diploma you can’t.” She patted his chest. “You can get more money. You’re a dragon. I’m just a human, so I can’t.”

“That’s backward.” He rested his half-consumed cup on the couch and angled to face her, sinking deeper into the thick downy seat. “Dragon society is fixed. Your caste determines your job options, and once you select a job, there’s no movement. No promotions, no raises. In most cases, no salary.”

“Then how to do you live?”

“Company housing.”

“But here you are.”

“Yes, Mal brought us here to do the impossible. Exceed the limits of our low caste, break the rules. And, against all odds, we accomplished it.” He looked around her apartment as the waning light dimmed the bare walls. “It is common to dream of another life, even if your current one is completely adequate.”

“This is completely adequate?”

He looked at her again, and warm, melty heat simmered in her insides. “Isn’t it?”

Her mouth went dry.

His gaze centered on her lips. His chest rose and fell evenly, steady and powerful, like the rest of him. He didn’t judge her. He accepted her. The only one who judged her harshly was herself.

And here he was in her house, smelling gorgeous like soap and woods and musk. When he left, she would snuggle up in the couch and bury her nose against the armrest and breathe. Imagine his arms were around her, telling her she was completely adequate.

Or…her heart beat in her belly and hot curls of arousal sweetened her veins…maybe she would entice him to put his arms around her and murmur that she was okay while his mouth claimed her—

“Rose?” Liam’s plaintive voice floated from his bedroom. “I need a drink of water.”

She sucked in a deep breath, let it out, and stood. “Yeah, coming.”

After he got the water, he had to get up and pee, and then he was hungry.

“You can’t be hungry,” she said, crossing her arms. “You just ate a whole Happy Meal.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Fine. You can have a piece of bread.”

“Not a piece of bread!”

“Then you’re not really hungry, are you?”

Liam looked beyond her at Jasper. He crossed one leg over the other. “Can I sleep with you in your bed?”

“No.”

“Jasper is.”

“You get back into yours, or I’ll shut the door.”

“Aw!”

“Bed. Shoo.” She watched Liam climb under the covers again. “This is your final warning, or I’m closing the door.”

“Don’t close the door!”

“Then stay in your room.” She flounced back to the couch and flung herself into it, the mood thoroughly broken. “Kids.”

Jasper shared her smile. “Liam calls you Rose instead of Mother.”

“Because I’m not his mom.” She sipped her tea.

He blinked. “You’re running an orphanage?”

She choked. “You, Jasper, come to the weirdest conclusions.”

“Liam isn’t your son, and you’re caring for him.”

“His mom isn’t around. Somebody has to.”

“Yes, an orphanage—”

“He’s my blood.” She held up her hand to stop his protests. “And Briar could come back for him at any time, so I’m just a placeholder. I’m not doing anything important.”

“How long has this Briar been gone?”

“Briar’s my sister,” Rose clarified, striving to pass the discomfort. She wanted Jasper to know about her life, and saying Briar’s name aloud wouldn’t summon her, but Rose still felt the twinges of superstition. “Twin sister. The day after Liam was born, Briar ran off, out of the hospital, with her then boyfriend. They left Liam. Just up and left.”

“Why?”

“Drugs?” Rose shrugged. “Briar never takes them, but her friends do. She’s manipulated by the people around her. I wish I was the one who was close to her. We can’t get along no matter what I do.”

“But why did Briar leave her child?” Jasper asked a second time. “Did your mother reject Liam to invalidate Briar’s marriage?”

“Our mother’s dead.”

“Did a female relative of Liam’s father challenge Briar to teeth-to-claw combat?”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“If Liam’s father’s family disapproved of the marriage, his female relatives would challenge Briar’s claim.”

“Oh. Uh, no, that didn’t happen.”

“Did—”

“Briar’s boyfriend at the time didn’t want to care for a baby, so she went off with him rather than staying with her son.”

The powerful, rich, orphanage-raised dragon shook his head in confusion. “But why?”

“It happens.”

“You’d never do that, Rose.”

“I never hit my head.” She rubbed her even, round scalp beneath the starting-to-frizz locks. “When Briar was in middle school, she dove into the shallow end of a swimming pool and got a concussion. She’s never been the same.”

“Your sister needs medical intervention.”

“She got everything we could afford.”

“But not enough.”

“Well, anyway, after she left Liam, a social worker called Grandma, but she was in the middle of fighting off breast cancer, so she begged me to go and keep the family together. I filled out the paperwork right there in the hospital saying I would be responsible. At three days old, he was this adorable little chunk with superdark hair.” She let out a sigh. “Then a couple of months later, Briar got a new boyfriend who wanted kids, so she went to court and got her rights back. Legally, she’s his mother. I’m not.”

He frowned. “Rose, you may not be his mother, but you are not an impersonal caregiver.”

“Oh? Did my yelling and screaming tip you off?”

A small smile touched his lips, but the somberness returned. “I was raised by impersonal caregivers. Some screamed; others did not.”

She was a jerk.

Rose set her cup on the coffee table and rested a hand on his knee. “I’m sorry.”

He glanced at her hand. “Mother placed me in the orphanage just after my first birthday, so I didn’t know anything else. My caregivers rotated. Only the orphanage leader was constant, and I was one of many she managed.”

Managed. Not raised. “Did you see your brothers?”

“They organized floors by ages, so I knew them, but we never socialized.” He rested his hand on hers. “Do not let anyone take Liam away.”

“I’ll never let a stranger take him.”

“This family you’ve created is a precious treasure. It hurts my heart to hear you say that Liam could be taken away.”

She nodded slowly, her own heart taut in her chest. “So now think about how I’ll feel when his real mom comes back and takes him forever.”

He looked down at her hand, which he was squeezing, and then up her arm to her face as if seeing her for the first time. “Can’t you fight?”

“No.” She leaned her shoulder against the couch. “It’s enough that I have Liam for now.”

His eyes darkened as emotion swirled inside. “Rose…”

“That’s why I don’t complain. When Briar takes Liam, he’ll be more gone than my car.”

“Kyan’s security team can search for your car.”

“Don’t bother.” She sighed. “Thanks for saying nice things about me and Liam. It feels like I hardly offer him anything, no matter how hard I try.”

“You offer him food, shelter, and a place to stay.”

“Yeah, if you count this as a shelter for raising a child.” It had taken a long time to save up the money, and then even longer to screw up the courage to apply. But she wasn’t an idiot. “CPS wouldn’t. They’d count one bedroom and yank Liam right out of my custody.”

“You gave Liam the one bedroom.”

“Well, I’m up later—and earlier—and anyway, he’s in school. His brain is developing, so he needs his sleep.”

Jasper’s gaze gleamed with melty intensity, like he saw through her sputtering and thought she was kinder and more generous than she really was.

Her heart squeezed against her rib cage. She wanted to be kinder and more generous. She wanted Liam to have a good childhood, a better one than he’d already had, more chances to succeed, get out, live a good life. She wanted to be a good mom, a loving mom, and not always a screaming-bargaining-negotiating mom. The fact that Jasper thought maybe she was…it helped. It made her tear up, it did.

“Yeah, well, anyway, CPS wouldn’t see it that way, so it doesn’t matter what I think.”

“Then I will help you offer him something better.” Jasper looked pleased, like he’d just thought of something he could do.

Her defenses rose. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, no?”

“I can’t trust it.”

“Trust what?”

“It. Whatever you’re thinking. Besides, you’re unemployed. You’re in the sights of some dragon lady. You’re going to get sick of me, absolutely, and then you’ll be gone.”

He rotated on the couch. “How can I convince you I won’t leave?”

“I don’t know.”

He tilted his head. “Rose.”

She backed up. “This was probably a crazy mistake, telling you all this, anyway.”

He leaned forward, following with a small smile. “If this is your bedroom, does that mean we’re sitting on your bed?”

Her heart kicked, and heat kindled in her belly. “Yeah, where else am I going to sleep?”

“Mm.” His gaze centered on her lips, and her breath caught. She tilted her lips up, fluttering her lashes, giving herself over to the love of a male she wanted to believe in. She wanted the fairy tale of Jasper’s sexy interest. She closed her eyes to savor the feel—

“Can I kiss you?”

His question jarred her, and she jerked back, hugging herself. “You’re not supposed to ask.”

“But you said to ask.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, I meant—when we’re in the privacy of our own home, and nobody’s driving by or honking at us, and we’re on a couch together and you’re making those big eyes and I’m leaning in, it’s obviously okay to—”

He kissed her.

She froze.

His mouth captured and entangled her tongue, unlocking sweet hunger, and transported her into fantasy.

He slid his arms around her back and lifted her onto his lap facing him. Her knees straddled a long, hard erection.

She pulled back and licked her lips. “Mm. So you are into me.”

His eyes gleamed like dark chocolate or the darkest rings of Jupiter. “I want to be into you.”

She snorted. “That’s a joke?”

“It’s a wish.”

“Yeah, and I’ve got a wish for Cristal champagne, Lady Godiva chocolate, and a full-body massage, but so far, none of that’s come true.”

His hands kneaded her back and shoulders.

Pleasure crooned a love song to her body. She moaned. “Oh…ohhh.”

He massaged her expertly, releasing stress and fondling her muscles. She lolled her head against his shoulder, yielding to his masterful control. He nuzzled her mouth and once more claimed her tingling lips.

The pleasure of her relaxation swirled into the heat of arousal.

His tongue plumbed her depths, and he tasted of salt and heat, masculine safety.

Her nipples rubbed against his shirt and pearled.

He palmed her breasts. Cupping, containing her.

His male arousal rubbed against her hot feminine folds.

Need pierced her. She wanted him.

Rose fisted his shirt. “Off.”

He lifted from the couch, one hand cupped under her butt to hold her in place while the other unbuttoned his shirt and eased it off. He switched hands and leaned back so his cock rubbed more proudly against her pleasure spot.

She pulled his undershirt far above his trousers.

His washboard abs had tempted her forever. He’d revealed himself many times after shifting, and finally, she got to put her hands on him. “Wow.”

He nuzzled her breasts. “You like it?”

Her pussy throbbed with pleasure. “Yeah, baby.”

He ground her against his hard cock. “You smell amazing.”

She tried to think of something smart to say, but the waves of pleasure lapped against a shocking, delicious, oh-so-needed release.

He growled against her neck. “I want inside.”

Her heart throbbed, and so did her sex. She wanted him too. Inside.

She—

“Rose?” Liam popped out of his bedroom, squinting and yawning. “I’m not tired, Rose.”

She shoved herself upright and backward off Jasper.

He grabbed her waist—which was somehow bare—and balanced her.

She jerked down her shirt, her heart beating a million times a second, and dropped to her sternest tone. “That’s too bad. You get right back into bed.”

“Aw, but—”

“No, now, Liam.”

“But I’m not tired!”

She zipped up her pants—when had those come undone?—and stomped around the couch. “I’m not hearing from preschool about you throwing another tantrum in class. I’m shutting the door.”

“You can’t!” he squealed, arching his back like an overtired four-year-old.

“I warned you. Go into your bed, or I’m locking your door.”

“No, Rose!”

“Last warning.”

Liam groaned and dragged into the room, complaining the whole time. She shut the bedroom door and huffed.

Jasper waited on the couch as though ready for another round.

She rubbed her shaking hands and hugged herself. “Well, guess I’ll see you to the door.”

He headed out, then leaned back in and pressed a short, sweet kiss like a promise. “Good night, Rose.”

“Night.” She shut the door and leaned against it, her whole body throbbing.

Even dating Jasper a short time changed her on a molecular level.

He thought she was a good parent. He thought she had a reason to fight for Liam, and maybe even a reason to win.

And his addictive scent lingered in the air. On the mug she washed, in the couch cushions where she rested her head, on her skin where they had touched. Her body shivered and throbbed like an addict. Only one taste, and she craved him.

Danger!

Jasper landed on the concrete outside the Onyx Corporation office in the dark, moonless early morning.

He felt tired but invigorated as he sauntered up to the loading bay.

Rose had made her breakthrough. She’d sat on his lap and kissed him. He could still feel her breasts pressing against his chest and smell her wild fragrance. His cock hardened against his neatly pressed trousers.

The loading bay doors remained closed.

He climbed the steps next to the bay and gripped the handle of the small, human-sized door.

The handle beeped, and the lock glowed red.

Security Access Denied.

His stomach dropped.

He stepped back, his heart pounding as he looked up at the dark glass building he’d helped construct.

He’d chosen these windows. He’d helped Kyan install the security systems. He’d sourced the human components, tested them, installed handles. This was his company, his family’s company, and he was locked out.

A security dragon dropped over the edge of the rooftop and landed on the concrete behind him. Kyan hired his own guards. Jasper didn’t know the male, but the guard recognized Jasper. “You’re not authorized.”

“I have a meeting.”

The security dragon sidled past. The door beeped twice, and the lock turned green. The door swung inward. “Next time, call the security access line.”

“I will.” Jasper followed the security dragon down the familiar halls. The familiar, productive scent of hot glue and plastic seeped into his pores. He paused at the end of the hall. A light glowed in his office.

Former office.

The security dragon cleared his throat. “Please stay within five feet.”

Jasper picked up his pace.

The security dragon led him to the elevator, and they rode it to the top floor just like any human guest. Jasper had sourced everything inside it—the elevator itself, the historic buttons, the Earth cable that they used only if the dragon hover machinery should fail—which it shouldn’t, not in a thousand years, but just in case.

At the top floor, Jasper glanced down the hall to see which of his siblings had arrived.

The security dragon cleared his throat.

Jasper hurried to match the pace of his escort. He arrived early even on days when he didn’t hold a peace-shattering announcement. He entered the conference room and went to the espresso machine—which he’d sourced, installed, purchased supplies for, and maintained—and flicked on the power.

The security dragon flicked it off with a long claw. “You cannot operate any technology inside the building.”

“But I always make the coffee…”

Another weight piled on his shoulders. He’d paid no attention to security protocols. That was Kyan’s role, and he had no interest or desire to learn.

But not being able to make coffee?

Really?

The guard stared at him without compromise.

“I understand.” Jasper took his usual seat and folded his hands.

The security dragon stood just inside the doorway, watching him like he was a stranger inside the building.

For all intents and purposes, he was.

His siblings joined the meeting in their usual order. Mal stormed in first, ignored the security dragon, and slammed his files on the conference table. “On top of the next launch, the instability on Draconis, and now your marriage, this is a terrible week for early meetings. My wife suffers morning sickness, and whenever I wake to come here, no matter how quiet, she always startles and feels ill.”

“How troubling. Has she seen a doctor?”

“Yes, and they swear it’s normal, but it’s not right!” He sat with a huff. “Where’s my coffee?”

Pyro swaggered in next, cracking his knuckles. “You ready to lose your top spot, Mal?”

“I’m ready for anything!”

“Good morning to you too,” Jasper told Pyro.

Pyro swerved away from Mal to greet Jasper and assume his seat. He rubbed his eyes in almost the same pose as Mal from moments earlier. “Amy’s getting hot flashes. I’m waking up half the night with her sweating, freezing, and then sweating again.”

“That sounds unpleasant. Has she seen a doctor?”

“Her OB says it’s normal. After today, I can at least tell her we’ve hit number one on the charts.” He rested his radioactive-red palms on the table. “No coffee this morning?”

Mal growled over the nonfunctioning espresso machine. “The coffee machine’s broken.”

Jasper rose, caught the warning eye of the security dragon, and sat again. “Try the power button.”

“Power button?” Mal flipped the switch, and the lights flashed. “That’s weird. It’s always on. I didn’t know you could turn it off.”

“I turn it on every morning and turn it off at night.”

“So why didn’t you do it this morning?”

“I’m restricted.” Jasper swallowed the sudden roughness in his throat as Mal carried his drink away and Pyro took over. Kyan entered next and nodded at the security dragon, who left. “Security reasons.”

Pyro sat with his drink. “That’s extreme. Can we do something about that?”

Jasper turned to Kyan.

Kyan made his own drink and sat. “We do not want Adviser Wrathmoda operating even our coffee machines.”

“Can’t be too careful, huh?”

“I guess.”

Alex strolled in, made his own drink, and sat beside Jasper. “Cutting back?”

“No.” Jasper folded his fingers in front of his empty spot. “I’m restricted from operating any technology in the building, even a coffee maker.”

“Hmm. Did you want your usual?” Alex asked.

“That would be great.”

Alex made the drink and brought it to Jasper. Black coffee with a single shot. Jasper took it with a smile, even though it was Mal’s favorite, not his. “Thanks.”

“I always see you make this in Mal’s office,” Alex commented. “Powers of observation, Jasper. A well-placed barista could take over the Empire.”

Mal slurped his coffee and smacked his lips. “This isn’t the usual. Are we out of the beans I like?”

“Are we?” Jasper started to stand. “I’ll check…oh.” He sat again. “Send a note to Peridot.”

Mal scribbled a note. “It’s going to be weird without you around, Jasper.”

“You will be missed,” Alex agreed, while Pyro and Kyan nodded.

A lump formed in his throat.

He cleared it. “Yes, well, there’s been a change on…”

The view screen shimmered. Everyone turned away from him and faced the screen.

“…that front.” He cupped the mug. No matter. The announcement would come in time.

Their mother’s picture appeared on the screen. She undulated, fully dragon, with her aristocratic piercings tinkling like silver jewels. “My dragonlets! Two days in a row hearing from you. This is a mother’s fondest dream.”

They greeted her, and she glowed with happiness.

“Now, to business. Jasper, Adviser Wrathmoda has received your acceptance and is sending her daughter, Larimar, as an emissary to finalize the details of the marriage.”

“That is—”

“Larimar will arrive in a few days.”

“While—”

“You will work with her to complete the marriage agreement, display your lair, and impress her with your body so she will report to Adviser Wrathmoda. Then—”

“I have changed my mind,” Jasper said.

His siblings turned to stare at him.

“—you will work to give me grand dragonlets!” His mother clasped her claws, noticed the rest of the siblings staring at Jasper, and tilted her head. “I’m sorry, my dragonlet. What did you say?”

“I cannot marry Adviser Wrathmoda.”

She dropped her claws. “What?”

“My female, the one I have pursued all this time, has agreed to marry me.”

Pyro lowered his coffee mug to the table with a click. Alex stared hard enough to bore holes into Jasper’s head.

Kyan leaned across Amber’s empty chair. “Last night?”

He nodded.

Mal slammed his coffee mug down. It cracked on the table. “How dare she?”

Their mother rolled her eyes. “Well, of course she has. Look at you, Jasper. You are a fine male and an honorable dragonlet. There’s no reason she wouldn’t.”

“Who is this inconvenient human female?” Mal demanded.

Jasper faced his oldest brother squarely. “Rose.”

He blinked three times. “Rose? Our employee Rose? Our Rose?!”

“Yes.”

Mal dropped his jaw. Alex also looked stunned.

Kyan didn’t.

“You knew,” Jasper told him.

“She is the only human employee you have ever visited outside work.”

“True.”

“We have been monitoring her safety for some time.”

“Thank you.”

“Even before the safety issues uncovered by—”

“Impossible!” Mal appealed to the ceiling. “Why on Earth couldn’t she have agreed to marry you twenty-four hours ago?”

“Agreeing to marry you off Earth would also have been fine.” Alex pinched his cuffs.

“I don’t know.” Jasper returned to his mother. “What can we do?”

“We?” Their mother shrugged her massive dragon shoulders. “We will do nothing.”

“But Adviser Wrathmoda may be upset by the change in plans, especially if she’s already sent an emissary.”

“Yes, I would be very surprised if she doesn’t try to rip your limbs off for the deception.”

Jasper swallowed. “It wasn’t a purposeful deception.”

“Do you think that matters? Now that this ‘Rose’ has come to her senses, it is her responsibility to defend you from Adviser Wrathmoda. And Larimar, because she will arrive sooner.”

Alex appealed to the view screen. “Mother, can’t you or Amber do anything?”

“Oh, now it falls to us?” She tutted. “I wanted to delay, Jasper. You were too eager.”

“I apologize.”

“Yes, well, even if we wanted to leave—which we don’t; Amber and I are having a delightful time with lovely Darcy and his mother—it would be impossible. General Ragiosa has moved another fleet into the colonies, and Adviser Fumerous is threatening to shut down intergalactic traffic from the Outer Rim until after the succession. Empress Horribus had thirty-two dragonlets and never named an heir. Every dragon is fighting for their piece of the Empire, and the ones with the most power are expanding it while she’s in her final sleep, before her scales have even turned gray.”

The reality of facing an enraged, powerful, dangerous female alone sank into Jasper’s bones like ice. Why hadn’t he felt this yesterday? Oh, yes. He’d been so chilled by Rose’s dismissal, other emotions hadn’t touched his numb heart.

Now, he had every reason to live. Refusing Adviser Wrathmoda hurt more than just him.

“Mother, please delay,” he begged.

“I can’t, Jasper. Your female must protect you.”

“She’s a human.”

“And?”

“I do not think she can defeat a dragon in teeth-to-claw combat.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Alex intercepted once more. “What size is Adviser Wrathmoda? Is she nearing her death sleep?”

“Nearing, but you know female dragons keep growing until the very end. Empress Horribus was a full ten feet tall and seven hundred pounds shifted into a human; as a dragon, she barely fit in the Palace. Adviser Wrathmoda is much younger, but she’s still ancient. And her scales have only hardened.”

Kyan spoke quietly. “The humans don’t possess a weapon that could penetrate ancient dragon skin.”

“Then your Rose will have to insist she remain in human form to engage in combat. There’s no telling if Adviser Wrathmoda will agree. It’s been a very long time since she’s fought a rival. The last one, she flayed and made into a handbag.”

His mouth went dry.

He could never let Rose endanger herself in that way. Never.

Alex raised a finger. “If it’s been ages since she fought a rival, and we only introduced handbags three years ago, how did it happen?”

“She had preserved the skin in the family vault. When your alligator-skin accessories hit the market, more than one female made purses out of rivals. It sends a message, you see.”

They saw.

Alex lowered his hand and raised his brows at Kyan, silently asking what security measures the black ops dragon could take to make Jasper safe.

Their mother continued, “Of course, you must go through Larimar first. She’s equally strong, at least two hundred pounds of muscle as a human, and is rumored to be the real driving force behind her mother’s expansion into Earth. She will eliminate any threat.”

Pyro raised both hands. “All right, all right, all right. Hear me out. If Adviser Wrathmoda wants to take over Earth, why does she need Jasper? She can just muster her warships and take it over.”

“Chrysoberyl’s uncle still positions Empress-loyal warships over Earth.”

“Okay, so why the marriage? I get why the Empress wanted to marry Mal. She was going senile.”

“And that explains what?” Alex asked.

“Well, okay, I don’t get it, but it’s an explanation. This Adviser Wrathmoda isn’t senile yet. She could marry an aristocrat. Why marry down to Jasper?”

Their mother gasped. “Who wouldn’t want Jasper? He’s a desirable male! Just like all my dragonlets.”

“No, I mean—”

“Pyro means that Adviser Wrathmoda has no need for marriage to a dragon of any caste. Our family benefits from the relationship much more than she does.” Alex clicked his claws together. “What secret motivates this marriage?”

Their mother shrugged again, uninterested. “You must ask her.”

Alex leaned forward to address Kyan. “We need Flint.”

Kyan pulled out a transmitter and frowned.

“Flint?” Their mother warmed. “I’ll be seeing him shortly. What shall I ask?”

The rest of them stared in astonishment.

Mal took over. “You’ll see him!”

“He attended my last fire tea. Such a delight.”

“He is in the Outer Rim? We thought he was in Earth’s solar system. What is he doing?”

“Charming all my friends. He bowled over Ferocia Carnelian. If she were a half-century younger and not already married, there would be a marriage flight!”

His siblings regarded each other.

Flint as a romantic didn’t sound at all like him. After arriving on Earth, he had split off to pursue his own ideas and only consulted on occasions that interested him. Usually his predictions, no matter how strange, were correct. When had their youngest brother stopped helping them and returned to the Outer Rim?

“What is he doing now?” Mal murmured, echoing what they were all thinking.

Flint flew in his own headwinds, that was for sure.

Their mother sighed. “Yes, we’re having a delightful time. Darcy’s mother is so focused on her children, but I tell her, that is nothing compared to grand dragonlets! I think I’m winning her over. She seems to need an awful lot of rest…”

The signal beeped out and turned to snow, then popped back to her.

“Ah, farewell, my dragonlets! Our signal is worse than usual. Probably Adviser Fumerous is ending communications. Farewell for perhaps a long time, my loves!”

The signal cut off.

A sad awkward silence reigned over the conference room.

Mal slammed his fist on the table. “Retracting your offer is suicide! Larimar will be here in days. Jasper, change your mind back.”

“I can’t.”

“Without Amber, no female can stand in Larimar’s way,” Pyro pointed out.

Kyan rested his large scarred hands on the conference table. “No weapons or army can turn her aside.”

Alex took a deep breath, uncrossed his legs, and straightened. “I’m sorry, Jasper, but Mal’s right. You have to marry her. It’s the only way.”

Normally, he would compromise. And he felt awful because his refusal endangered his siblings. “I’m sorry, Alex. I can’t betray Rose.”

Alex frowned as if he couldn’t understand Jasper’s feelings. “She’s a human. She can’t punish you.”

“I don’t fear punishment. Rose is my mate.”

“You’re being irrational.”

“Yes, I know.”

Mal slammed his fists on the table. “Why did you agree? We could have avoided this a day ago! Now an enraged dragon will rain down fire on Earth, my wife’s planet, while she’s suffering from morning sickness, all because you charged ahead and changed your mind.”

“Yes, Jasper.” Alex leaned forward, and the other dragons also leaned in. “Why did you accept Adviser Wrathmoda’s marriage offer yesterday?”

His heart thudded. “Rose vowed we would never date or marry. I knew she would not change her mind.”

“Yet, she changed her mind?” Alex inserted.

“Ah… Yes.”

Mal barked, “Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“So maybe she’ll change her mind back!”

A harsh growl roughened his throat. Jasper swallowed it back. He did not mean to attack his brothers, especially when their points were so reasonable. He channeled calm. “Not if I am careful.”

“Jasper, your desire for Rose once saved us, but now it’s about to destroy you—and us with you. And Rose won’t fight.”

Pyro held up a battle-scarred hand, stopping Alex. “Who could fight a female dragon? C’mon.”

“Rose fights injustice,” Jasper agreed, grateful to Pyro. “She would stop anything she didn’t believe in.”

“So if she chose the field of battle and the weapons, then she would fight for you?”

He remembered the previous night’s conversation. Can’t you fight? No. When Briar takes Liam, he’ll be more gone than my car. And that was about the child she’d raised since his third day of life.

She wouldn’t fight a twin who was her same physical strength. What about for his freedom? No, there was no doubt. Even if she could fight for him, she would not.

The other dragons heard his answer in his silence.

Mal’s order cracked down the table. “It’s too late. You must break up with Rose or face annihilation.”

Rose cruised into work at her usual time, hung her lunch bag in her locker, and took her cleaning coveralls out of the decontamination unit. The fresh scent of lavender kissed her nose. She shouldered on the coveralls, zipped them, and put on her boots. Today she was cleaning the shipping bay to prepare for the next product launch, and so she’d be fully covered.

And so would her cleanest jeans, nicest shirt, and neatened hair. In the inspection mirror, she had an extra shine to her eyes and a bounce to her step.

The new boss, Peridot, snuck up behind her as she was fastening her utility belt. “Why aren’t you at the morning meeting?”

She jumped and shrieked. “Oh! You startled me.”

He stared at her with irritation. He struck her as a washed-out version of the toned Onyx siblings. His eyes were pale green, his skin yellow-tinged, with neatly combed blond hair. He wore a light-gray suit.

“Morning meeting?” Her heart battered her rib cage. “What morning meeting? This morning?”

“Yes. This morning. Because you didn’t come, you’re late.”

She flushed hot. “I didn’t know about it.”

“It’s your responsibility to know about meetings. I will mark this in your employment file.” He turned on his heel and strode to Jasper’s—now his—office.

She dropped onto her booted heels, then shook her head and raced after him. She couldn’t lose this job, and she’d never been a bad worker, never. Her voice cracked. “You can’t write me up! How was I supposed to know about the meeting? Where did I even find out?”

He stopped outside his open door. “I made an announcement across the building.”

She met him there, almost out of breath. “But I wasn’t here.”

“You should have been at work.”

“Why?”

“Because of the meeting.”

“But how could I know?”

“You—”

“I would have come in early if I’d known. Tell people in advance.”

He blinked like this was a foreign concept. “Where does it say that in the handbook?”

“Okay, I don’t know about that, but it’s common sense. You have to tell people to come in at a different time. This is the time I always come. It’s my scheduled time. I’m on time.”

He eyed her like she was trying to get away with something, which made her crazy and scared because she was not a bad employee. She wasn’t. He nodded and continued inside to Jasper’s—now his—desk and sat facing her. His expression, still irritated, tinted to reluctant magnanimity. “I will give you a warning.”

“A warning!” She stumbled in. “But for what?”

Her coworkers ringed Peridot’s desk. They had avoided his guest chairs and remained standing, arms crossed, frowns black. This was a mutiny.

“Have a warning,” Shawn told her grimly, no longer sweet and gentle like a large marshmallow. “You have one. I have twenty-three. Patty has seventeen. We all have warnings.”

“You have multiple warnings.” Peridot reviewed a spreadsheet. “Six days this year, you were absent. The handbook says that absences are given warnings, and after three warnings, you will be fired.”

“I wasn’t absent!”

“Dragon record keeping is flawless. Your most recent absence was on March eleven.”

She counted back, “My nephew had a dentist’s appointment. I came in three hours late, and it was excused. “

He tilted his head. “Excused?”

“Yeah!” She tapped the handbook. “It doesn’t mean an excused absence. You have to be a no-call, no-show to get a warning.”

“It’s not in the handbook.”

“But isn’t it in our contracts? Or, like, the Washington State employment laws? Or maybe it’s federal.”

He took a deep breath, held it, and then exhaled. “There are more rules to read?”

“Yeah, you can’t write us up for excused absences. Otherwise, how would we take a vacation? Or a sick day?”

“Those words don’t translate.”

“Which words? Vacation? Sick days?”

He nodded.

She looked at her coworkers for backup, but they just stared at Peridot stonily. His first day on the job and he’d alienated the entire Environmental Tech department.

He gazed at the handbook with flat lips.

She snagged her usual seat. “Look, there are lots of rules to learn, but it’s best to not write up the entire department on your first day, right? I’ve been here since the beginning, and there was a huge learning curve in the first few weeks. You can ask us questions, and we can help you instead.”

“I’m your superior, so I won’t do that.”

She stood. “Fine. But don’t treat us like dragons. We’re not.”

“Of course you’re not, or you would already be fired.” He rested his clean hands on the handbook. “Where are these additional human laws written?”

“They’re—”

“You’re not asking us questions.” Shawn’s angry gaze glanced off Rose and centered on Peridot. “She can’t help you.”

Rose closed her mouth and joined her coworkers in solidarity.

Peridot returned Shawn’s gaze evenly. “I will find these laws without help. Then, you will all be fired.”

Her coworkers murmured.

Rose stepped forward again. “Why? Why do you want us fired?”

“I can just quit,” Shawn told the ceiling, and Patty agreed. Elle stayed silent, but kept her music lodged in her ears.

“Because you are not dedicated to your work,” Peridot replied to Rose. “Look at this history of absences, schedule adjustments, partial days. You only work forty hours a week.”

“Only!” she blurted. “How dirty do you think this place is?”

“Precisely. I could hire two dragons to complete your entire department’s work, and they would not request time off. You have taken advantage of Jasper’s generosity for too long. I will end this slacking.”

Her coworkers gasped.

Elle raised her voice. “So, what, are we fired?”

“No. Jasper asked me to treat you honorably, and I will.” He turned to the computer. “I will use your own improper actions against the agreement you already operate under to end your employment.”

Everyone stared at him in shock.

“Go to your stations and complete your tasks.”

Shawn snorted. “Do you even know what our tasks are?”

Peridot frowned, and it was obvious that he didn’t.

“Have fun training our replacements,” Patty said, singsong to herself, almost vibrating with rage.

Elle followed them out of the office, grooving with an aggressive bob of her head.

Rose stopped in the doorway. “You’re making a mistake.”

Peridot lifted his hands from the keyboard. “Why do you mind being fired, Rose? You will take a high position in Jasper’s new company now that you two are engaged.”

Uh-oh.

Her coworkers pooled in the doorway jolted with surprise.

She clamped her shaking hands under her arms. “It’s not—it’s really—it’s sudden and weird and not settled or anything.”

“Yes, it’s all settled. He has announced your engagement. And now the question is how you will defeat Adviser Wrathmoda in mortal combat.”

“Defeat? What?”

“Jasper doesn’t think you will fight. Is that true? You will get engaged to a dragon male but leave him helpless to defend himself from an enraged female bent on ripping his hands off?”

“I thought if I…ah… It’s not something we’ve discussed yet.” She backed out of the office and shut the door on Peridot’s inquiring face.

Her coworkers clustered around her. Agitation mixed with shock.

She edged away. “That was nuts. Well, I’m going to head to my usual—”

“Wait just a darn minute.” Patty fisted her hands on her hips. “There’s something you’re not telling us.”

Elle blurted out what they were all thinking. “You’re sleeping with Jasper?

“Well, uh…I haven’t.”

“Then why did Peridot say you’re engaged?”

“Because, well, it’s complicated.”

“So you are engaged?”

“Not exactly.”

Everyone stared at her.

“I am, but it’s nothing like he said. Jasper’s in trouble, and I offered to help. Not to fight anyone, though. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Help? Like, in bed help?”

“Nothing has happened, in bed or otherwise.” She reddened and shooed them to move. “So we had better get to our stations before we give Peridot something to get mad about.”

“Forget that guy.” Shawn glared at the closed door, clearly unconcerned whether Peridot could hear them. “He wants a reason to fire me, he can have it.”

“I can’t believe it.” Elle meandered after Rose. “I thought you hated him.”

“Hate? I never hated Jasper.”

“But you didn’t share his feelings. Or did you?” Patty squeezed her forearm, an incredulous smile on her face. “You never said anything. He’s been in love with you for years. Years. And we had it wrong all this time.”

Elle put up her hand. “Didn’t he go to your house with, like, a knife?”

“That was a misunderstanding.”

“You made him spend a night in jail.”

“The cops did, not me.”

“Because you let them think he was a deranged prowler.”

“Look, I know it’s a little hard to believe, but I keep my work life and my home life separate, and Jasper violated that. Now he’s not my boss anymore, and so it’s different.” She heard the lameness in her own voice, but she tried to push through. “The less you know about it, the better.”

Elle stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Oh, okay. So, I get not wanting to date in the workplace, but I feel stupid for the times I tried to be supportive in the wrong direction.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t let it affect my work.”

“I know, but I feel bad now. You were so supportive of me changing therapists and medicating for my anxiety. I told you a lot of personal stuff.”

“I never asked you to do that.”

Elle jerked her chin. “You never… Oh. Uh… I mean, I know you never asked me, but I’m trying to say that I always cared. Your support meant a lot to me, and I’m sorry I got things wrong with you and Jasper.”

“Just let’s forget about it, okay? The sooner we forget, the sooner everything can go back to normal. Coworkers aren’t friends, so if you get something wrong, it doesn’t matter.”

“Coworkers aren’t friends?” Elle scratched at her belly piercing. She’d once told Rose the intimate details of her worst breakup, how she’d gotten a piercing to express her inner strength, and how she’d had to recalibrate when it had gotten infected. “Are you saying we’re not friends?”

“It’s just different.”

“How?”

“Rose is a private person,” Patty pointed out gently.

“Right. That’s why I never minded that you redirect the conversation when we ask about your life. But I still thought we were friends. And she hasn’t told me how it’s different.”

“It just is,” Rose said.

“But—”

“I can’t take on your problems.” Rose had to draw clear lines. “My plate’s full.”

That was definitely the wrong thing to say.

Elle took a step back, hurt stamped on her features. “So, what? You’re only friendly during work hours? Or when you asked me about my anxiety and depression or told me I could always talk, you meant as long as it was inside the building?”

“No. But I am busy outside of work, so…”

“So you mean yes. You only care about me during work hours, at work, and nowhere else.”

Patty and Shawn stood in silence behind Elle.

“Okay, this is getting unprofessional.” Rose clapped her hands. “Let’s get back on task.”

Elle shoved her earbuds in her ears and turned on her heel. “Excuse me for thinking we were friends.”

Patty watched her storm off sadly, then patted her own utility belt and headed to her next task without glancing at Rose.

The silence echoed.

Shawn took out his phone—which he never did on work time—and strolled to the staff room.

“Where are you going?” The wobble in Rose’s voice made her clear her throat. “I thought you were on field duty?”

“Nah, I think I have two years of contractually agreed breaks to make up.”

“Hey.” She strove for her normal tone. “There was a period of adjustment when we first started too.”

“Did Jasper tell you how he planned to fire you on his first day?”

“No.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve got Jasper’s ear, so tell him about this joke of a replacement. I’ve gotta spruce up my résumé, and I might as well steal the Wi-Fi. It’s faster.” He moseyed to the break room, angrier than she’d ever seen the big man.

Rose entered the environmental tech closet and studied the rota.

If Shawn did nothing today, then she and the other women could each pick up an area and still complete most of the building. Tomorrow, they’d have to reassign his work. Pipe-cleaning duty waited for no one.

Rose went to the delivery floor to grab the sweeper and get working. But she’d waited too long. The daily shipment hovered, and Jasper’s inventory dragons were checking off orders. Shortly, the orders would be parted out, and then she could return and sweep.

Jasper’s inventory assistants waved at her. They knew the drill. One assistant lofted three claws to estimate how many hours it would take to unload so she knew when to come back.

Perfect.

She changed out of her suit and packed her cart.

Patty and Elle lingered outside the elevator, talking behind their hands. They saw her. Elle turned away abruptly. Patty rolled her lips, sympathetic, but also turned away.

A cold weight settled in Rose’s stomach.

She parked the cart and waited.

Her coworkers strolled to the break room, clearly avoiding their tasks, just like Shawn. It complicated her idea about parting out the rota, but she also couldn’t approach them right now to ask. She waited until the break room door closed, then rolled to the elevator and hit the button.

Peridot exited the hallway and stopped her from entering the elevator. “You’re supposed to sweep the shop floor today.”

Her heart raced a hundred times a minute. She babbled, nervous. “Oh, I know, but there’s a shipment getting unloaded now, so it makes more sense for me to clean the upper floors and come back when it’s clear.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Wait for the shipment to clear, then clean those floors as assigned.”

“But unloading takes hours.”

He stared at her as though the consideration didn’t matter.

“If I’m stuck waiting for hours, I’m wasting my time, and also, the other floors aren’t getting cleaned.”

He frowned. “Jasper made the schedule. You suggested not changing the schedule.”

“Jasper always let us move around the tasks to get more work done.”

His eyes narrowed. “I can’t change the schedule to have a meeting without informing everyone, but you can change the schedule any time you wish?”

“If it makes sense. Based on the building.”

“Fine.” He flicked his finger at her cart. “Go to the top floor.”

“The top?” She checked the time. “Is there an emergency?”

“I’m changing the schedule based on what makes sense.”

“Oh, usually we go during a lunch break when—”

“Are you refusing?”

“No, but everyone’s up there now, so we can’t run the big cleaning machines. It’s where everyone’s busy.”

“I do not tolerate insubordination.”

“I’m not trying to sass, I’m trying to tell you how we clean. Dodging around people takes longer, so on a day like today, it makes sense to—”

“No excuses.”

“Okay, but I’m not going to get all my areas cleaned to the usual standard,” she warned, rolling the rest of the way onto the elevator.

“That’s your problem.” He stepped back from the elevator. “Although as stated, it doesn’t matter if you are the first who is fired.”

Her stomach sank.

Behind him, her trio of coworkers came out of the break room. They watched silently.

Nobody stuck up for her.

He turned on his heel and walked away.

The door closed on their silent gazes.

She leaned hard on the cart. Her hands shook. She struggled not to cry.

This was why she didn’t want to mix her private and work lives. At work, she wanted to work. She didn’t want to make friends who’d then judge her, and that was exactly what had happened. She cared about what they thought. Now they used it against her.

And even though Jasper wasn’t her boss anymore, and she’d come to work so excited, she now regretted feeling sorry for him and giving in. If she hadn’t agreed to date him, then Elle never would have confronted her about compartmentalizing, and they’d still be good coworkers now.

What did Peridot mean, she had to fight the adviser? With what? How?

Everyone was counting on her, and if something happened, more than just her would go down in a wreck.

Jasper met Rose in the parking lot after his long, exhausting day.

His siblings had demanded he accept Adviser Wrathmoda’s offer, and because his security had been revoked, he was required to stay in public areas. He couldn’t rest. How terrible to be a foreign dragon in the office he’d built!

But, as he walked out into the sunshine and found Rose pacing in front of his Jaguar, a light pierced his chest, and calm returned. All this was worthwhile because he had Rose.

She saw him and stopped short. “Jasper. I’ve got to talk to you.”

“Good.” He drew her into his arms. Her supple skin glowed hot in the sun, and perspiration teased her upper lip. “I love talking with you.”

Her brows smoothed. “You do?”

“But I like not talking even more.” He dropped a kiss on her lips.

She melted in his arms. Her fingers wove between the buttons of his gray silk, and her lips parted, welcoming him, first with surprise and then with hunger. She needed him as much as he needed her.

He tangled their tongues, absorbing her sweet taste, and then kissed up to her ear and nipped her sensitive lobe. Needy moans sounded in the back of her throat. He fitted her curves to his hard places like matching pieces of a jigsaw. He wanted to lean her over the Jaguar and peel off her jeans, worship her femininity, and thrust in his hard cock.

But he leashed his need. “Mm, I do.”

She sucked in a shuddery breath. Then, she stiffened and disentangled herself. “We shouldn’t do this here.”

He released her.

On the sidewalk behind him, his environmental technicians strolled to their cars.

He waved a cheerful welcome. “Good work today.”

The trio exchanged glances and then Elle waved hard. “Bye, Jasper!”

“We miss you,” Patty called.

Shawn rolled his lips.

They split off to their cars and drove away.

A wave of nostalgia hit. He would never be their boss again, and they were good, dedicated workers in their own ways.

He unlocked Rose’s door. “We should invite them to our wedding.”

“Maybe.”

“Aren’t you friends?”

“Work friends. Not home friends.”

“My work friends are my home friends,” Jasper said. “They’re the same.”

“Mm. We’re different.”

That was true. Jasper drove to her grandmother’s house, and this time she didn’t stop him from braving the parking lot and even stopping in front of her grandmother’s duplex. He exited and followed Rose to the bottom of the steps. “Can I meet your grandmother this time?”

She rested a hand on his bicep. “You have to return your car.”

“Luis assured me nothing would happen to it.”

“Well…wait here, okay? I’ll check with Grandma.”

“Okay.” Jasper leaned in for a quick kiss.

Rose softened and tipped her head up to meet him.

“Well, well, well.” The female Rose had yelled at outside the office descended the bowed steps. “Look who’s here.”

“Oh! Uh…” Rose jerked back and dropped Jasper’s arm as if it burned. “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting Grandma. Like a good person.” The woman eyed Jasper. “So, you’re Rose’s new boy toy. Did she tell you about me?”

“You’re like an old friend that she doesn’t know anymore.”

The woman’s brows rose, and she looked shocked and amused, covering her darkly tinted lips. “Oh, a ‘friend,’ wow.”

Rose put her hand on his arm. “Don’t talk.”

He placed a reassuring hand over hers. She vibrated with stress. Don’t talk? That was an easy request to grant.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Rose told the friend.

“Sure I did.” Her friend rolled the rest of the way down the steps. “Nice car. Why are you whining about yours when you have this?”

“Because it’s not mine. Anyway, if you’re here, then I’ll go.”

“I’m leaving.” The friend stopped in front of Jasper and looked him up and down. “Who’s your new man?”

Jasper kept his mouth shut.

The friend laughed. “Oh, I see how it is. Rose has absolute control, huh? You must like a cold, hard, b—”

“Don’t!” Rose grabbed the passenger door handle. “Jasper, let’s go—”

“Rose.” The grandmother stood at the top of the stairs looking harassed and stressed. “Rose, I got that test paper you asked for.”

Rose wrinkled her nose and released the door handle just as Jasper clicked to unlock the car. “Of course you did.”

Her grandma waved her up the stairs.

Rose’s lips thinned. She glanced at him with foreboding.

The friend raised a brow at Jasper. “So, can he talk?”

Jasper deferred to Rose.

She rolled her eyes. “You can talk. Just don’t say anything that makes me look like a crazy person, okay?”

“When did I do that?”

She rolled her eyes, jogged up the steps, and disappeared inside with her grandmother, leaving him outside with the curious friend.

He rested his hip against the hood as he waited on the sidewalk, ignoring the friend’s obvious scrutiny. Rose protected her family. She would be a great mother to their dragonlets.

Cheers erupted from Luis’s house. He was watching a sport, maybe soccer.

Rose’s friend trailed a finger along the hood of his Jaguar. “Rose didn’t tell you who I am?”

“No.”

“She’s my twin sister. I’m Briar.”

Surprise filled him. “You’re Liam’s mother.”

“That’s right. He’s a little pain in the patootie, but I love him.”

“Rose too.”

She snorted. “Yeah, right. She can’t wait to get rid of him.”

“No, Rose loves Liam very much.”

“Except for all the times she asks me to take him away.”

“She often says she doesn’t care about what she most values,” he assured her. “That’s her way of protecting herself.”

Briar raised both brows. “Oh, really? She told you that?”

“I figured it out.”

“Huh.” Briar circled his car, admiring it from every angle, and then snapped her fingers. “Hey, Mister Smarty Pants. I’m starting a surefire clothing business: leggings infused with essential oils. It’s aromatherapy for your clothes. They’re presoaked in one hundred percent raw peppermint oil, citrus oil, and tea tree oil, which rub your skin all day. It’s a hundred times stronger than those wearable diffusers. We just need a startup investment of one…no, two thousand dollars.”

“Two thousand American dollars? Cash?”

“Yeah, well, it’s a lot at once, but I’ll take whatever you’ve got.”

“The amount is fine. Here.” He peeled twenty hundred-dollar bills from his clip and handed them to her.

She stared at the wad in shock.

“Where are you sourcing your materials?”

“Oh. Uh, my friend knows.”

“Will you provide a quarterly investor’s report?”

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever that is.” She stuffed the money into her small, tight denim pocket, but it was too big to fit. She stumbled back like he would change his mind. “I’ll be back for more. You’re an important investor. Yeah.”

Rose exited the house, slung Liam’s small orange backpack over her arm, and descended the stairs. She took one look at Briar fumbling the money and her brows drew into angry suspicion. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Briar muttered, clutching the money as she texted into her phone.

Rose whipped to Jasper. “Nothing?”

He saw no reason to be vague. “I invested in your sister’s business.”

Rose was furious. She whirled at the bottom of the stairs and glared at her grandmother, who tiredly held the door for Liam to bounce down the stairs. “He invested in Briar’s business!”

Her grandmother merely set her jaw and faded into the house.

“Don’t worry, Rose.” Briar smirked. “I’m building a good future for Liam and me to live on together.”

Her fury drained. She crossed her arms and yawned. “Yeah, fine. Good for me if you do.”

“Sure, act like you don’t care.” Briar’s smirk grew. “Jasper told me the truth. You act like you don’t care when you actually do.”

Rose froze.

Briar laughed with glee. “See? I knew it! I knew all along, I knew.”

A scratched sedan drove into the lot and honked.

“So I’ll be seeing you and picking up Liam soon.” Briar pranced to the sedan, did a little dance in front of the windshield where she fanned the money, then got in the passenger’s seat. The car reversed out of the lot, bouncing through the worst of the holes, and disappeared.

Liam peered in the windows of Jasper’s car. “It’s black.”

“We’re walking.” Rose grabbed Liam and stalked past Jasper. She shook with fury. “And our relationship, Jasper? Or whatever it was?”

His stomach dropped. “Engagement.”

“It’s over.”

No.

He turned to follow her. “Why?”

“Because you have no idea.” She tugged Liam’s hand, keeping him close and walking fast.

Liam quieted and trotted to keep up, reacting to Rose’s panicked state.

“You’re upset about Briar,” Jasper identified.

“Yes, but you don’t know why.”

“I don’t know.” He hopped, flying in the air, and landed in front of her, stopping her at the street. “Because you compartmentalize.”

“Oh, so this is my fault?” Her question lilted onto a shriek.

“I want to know about you. About your life. Your family. Everything.”

“So you can betray me!”

“How did I betray you? How?”

“You told her…” Her hands shook. She could barely swallow. “How dare you tell her those lies!”

He stood solid. “I don’t lie.”

“Yes!” She made a fist and released it. “I know, but this time you misunderstood, and you told her things that aren’t the truth. So you lied.”

“What part? That you pretend not to care when you really do? That is not a lie, Rose. You do this about many things.”

“For protection.”

“Her protection? No. You did the same to me, and now—”

“Not for her protection. For protection from her!”

He stopped. This made no sense. “You need protection from Briar?”

Her eyes almost fell out of her head. She looked like she wanted to pull her own hair out. Instead, she yelled at the sky, “Why is it not obvious? Briar only takes things that she knows I care about. See my car. Before that, see my friends, see my clothes, see my everything-I-owned-my-entire-life.”

“Then why do you not fight like siblings and take your things back?”

Rose stared at him and then shook her head and muttered, “I knew it was a bad thing to hook up with you. I knew from the very beginning. Mixing work and life was dangerous. Wrong. Liam?”

He jumped away from the street corner where he’d started playing in the dirt a little too close to passing traffic. Even while furious at Jasper, Rose had an eye on him and protected his safety.

She finished with Jasper, sharply bitter. “I didn’t realize you were going to take every possible opportunity to ruin my life.”

His vision tunneled to Rose. He heard a distant roaring like the sun in his ears. “I didn’t ruin your life.”

“You turned my coworkers against me. You made my new boss think it’s no big deal to fire me. You gave Briar money.”

He addressed her concerns in reverse order. “You wish for a closer relationship. I invested in her company so you can build a business together.”

“I wanted a closer relationship with the sister I had! We’re not going to get closer now. Briar’s just going to blow that money impressing her friends. And with the friends she has now, I’m worried she might get herself hurt.”

“She promised to spend it on her business.”

Rose rested a hand on her hip and shook her head at him in a pitying manner. “She won’t. She never does. In a few days, she’s going to come to you for another handout. And when that doesn’t work, she’s going to come to me, come to Grandma, and if none of that pays off, she’s going to punish me and take Liam.”

“Why punish?”

“Because her life is a nightmare. She’s homeless, jobless, doesn’t keep a schedule, doesn’t feed or bathe or clothe him, screams if he makes noise, keeps him in places that have lice and scabies and bedbugs, and doesn’t let him see me or Grandma, or go to school.”

He shook his head. “She loves Liam.”

“She probably does, but that doesn’t mean she’s capable of providing a safe home.”

“That makes no sense.”

“She hit her head, Jasper. There was swelling. I know it’s not who she was, I know she’s changed, and I still love her, but I’m not so dumb that I think I can treat her like a responsible adult and it will be fine, because it will never be fine again.” Rose sighed, and her shoulders sagged. “That’s it. I’m done. Briar will take Liam, and I can’t fight.”

“But why can’t you—”

“Briar will lie about me if I try. If I report her, if I do anything, she’ll make up stories about how I’m a bad parent, so if she loses any chance at custody, I do too. She’d rather send him into the system than lose her parental rights again.”

Her quiet agony hurt him more than her arguments. She was defeated, beaten down so far, he couldn’t reach her. And he’d led her to this state. It tore him up inside.

“I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know.” She rubbed the space between her brows. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll figure something out.”

“Not alone. You have a team now.” He gripped her limp shoulder. “Rely on us.”

“Us?” She lifted a brow, the spark of fight returning to her face. “Us, who?”

“Me.” Obviously. “Your grandma is on your side, right? And your friends. Elle, Patty, and—”

“No.” She shook her head, barked a laugh, and hugged her arm. “No, no.”

“Yes, Rose. Rely on us. Me, and I’m sure your grandma, believe in—”

“You and my grandma, I love you both, but both of you have this critical flaw of giving things away, expecting people will pay you back or thinking people are more honorable than they are, and then when you’re on the bottom, nobody will help you. Neither of you gets it. Some people take and take and take. And if you give it all away to people like that, what you have is gone.”

Unease filled him. His thoughts had mirrored hers earlier today during the meeting with his brothers. He’d given in and compromised, peace brokered and sacrificed for years, and today his siblings had repaid him by hammering at him to give up the most important person of his life. To sacrifice his chance with Rose. To broker a peace with Adviser Wrathmoda using his body.

But Rose couldn’t be right.

His brothers wouldn’t abandon him when he needed them. No, they would help. They always gathered back-to-back when they were surrounded. Just because it looked grim at this moment for Jasper didn’t mean it would stay grim at the end.

He focused on the one part of Rose’s speech that mattered. “You love us both?”

“You and Grandma, yeah.” She got out her phone and scrolled through her social media. “Look, here’s Briar.”

In a live video, Briar cheered and danced around a group. She fanned herself with money while her friends plucked bills out of her hands. Somebody lit a bill on fire. Briar laughed.

“Literally burning money.” Rose shook her head. “She’ll be out of money tonight at this rate, and then she’ll storm my new apartment, ranting and screaming for me. For Liam.”

“Then let’s get out of here.”

Rose looked up in confusion.

“If you’re worried about her coming to you, then don’t be there.”

“Where else would we go?”

He scooped her against his chest. “My lair.”

“Your lair?” Rose pressed against Jasper’s hard, gorgeous chest. His eyes, simmering with heady intensity, made her mouth go dry. She licked her lips. His male scent intoxicated her, and his arousal imprinted on her thigh. “I don’t know. Maybe that would work. Where’s your lair?”

“In space.”

“Space!”

Jasper glanced at Liam. “Briar will never find you there. You can reason with her at your leisure.”

There were a million reasons to tell Jasper no, forget it, that they were breaking up and staying broken up.

Going into space would only solve the problem for today. There was still the problem of Briar returning tomorrow, or the next day, or the next, until Liam was grown and gone. Also, her coworkers hated her, and third, Jasper hadn’t mentioned anything about a fight. Oh, and fourth, she was still upset about how he’d just steamrolled into her family, weaponized his adorable puppy-dog eyes, and destroyed her meticulously balanced life.

Or he could abduct her, and she could escape her problems for a few hours.

Her legs trembled. “Do you have a bed for Liam?”

“My lair has seven bedrooms; I have already assigned one to him.”

Okay. She settled against him. “And how do we get there?”

“Liam.” Jasper held out his hand.

He kept his head tilted toward the sidewalk, oblivious, and poked a potato bug.

“Liam!” she called. “Come over here. We’re going on a trip.”

“Trip?” Liam left the potato bug and took Jasper’s outstretched hand. “Where?”

“Space,” Jasper said.

The ground fell away as if they’d bounced off a trampoline and were flying into the sky.

Liam shrieked and wiggled, dancing on what was no longer the ground. His feet dangled in the air.

Rose tightened her grip on Jasper’s shoulder and manacled Liam’s other hand. She didn’t know how dragon flight worked. The basics had gone over her head when she’d first trained on the window-washing jet pack. Dragons had special minerals that reversed gravity…sort of. So long as they held on to Jasper, he secured them in his field. But they could not let go.

They rose up and up and up. Birds coasted past. Her ears popped and popped again. The city shrank, and the air chilled. They pierced misty, near-invisible clouds. Below, the distant coast outlined their state against the Pacific Ocean, scenic and peaceful and windy. Her ears popped a third time.

Wasn’t this what people saw from an airplane? She prodded Jasper. “You don’t literally mean space?”

“Upper atmosphere.”

“You know we’re not dragons. Liam and I can’t just fly into outer space.”

“Neither can dragons. Don’t worry, it’s coming to meet us.”

The air thinned, and her head lightened. Her ears popped again and nausea turned her stomach. “Jasper?”

“There.” He aimed for a cream-colored dot.

The dot grew in size. Rounded and smooth, the spaceship was shaped like a conical seashell or a dollop of whipped cream. He floated up, through a hatch, and as soon as it opened, gravity changed direction again. Jasper helped them clamber into a small vestibule like a little entry with a coat closet, shoe shelf, and table. The door to the outside sealed shut.

Her ears popped in rapid succession like quiet firecrackers. Liam clapped his hands over his ears and squeaked.

Jasper dropped his wallet and keys in the bowl on the table and exchanged his shoes for slippers.

She hung Liam’s backpack on a brass hook. Her nausea dissipated, and a new, live-wire tingling sensation made her stomach burn. “Shoes off.”

Liam whined. “But I want my shoes.”

“This is a nice house. Look at this floor!”

“Aw!”

“Shoes. Off. Now.”

“It’s okay,” Jasper told her as she wrestled for the shoes. “He can keep them on.”

“No, we’ve been to houses where we take our shoes off. Not many, but we’ve had them.” She stuffed the shoes on the shelf, undid her own, and set them beside Liam’s, and then pawed through the basket of slippers for any that would fit Liam. “It’s ironic because half the time I can’t get him into shoes, and now he won’t take them off… Do you have his size?”

Jasper blinked. “I…don’t. I have socks.”

“It’s fine.” She slipped on the set in her size. They were warm and fluffy and deep, rich lavender. She stood. “I’m ready.”

He frowned at the slippers.

“It’s fine, really,” she insisted. “We sprang this on you, and anyway, it’s not like you knew Liam would ever come here.”

“But I had hoped.” He focused on her in a way that made her shiver. “I had always hoped you would come, and so I acquired what you might need. I didn’t know as much about Liam—”

“I never talk about him. Compartmentalizing.”

“Yes, but once I knew of his importance, I thought I had acquired everything.”

She snorted. “In what? A day?”

“It was more than enough time.” He looked more disturbed than the day the old HVAC reactor core overheated and they’d had to evacuate the building while he checked whether the sensor was faulty or the reactor core was about to make the western seaboard have a very bad day.

“I’ve been making errors lately. Not thinking things through…”

Her ears popped again. “You’ve had a lot on your mind.”

A chime dinged, and the vestibule’s main door clicked. Jasper turned the handle and pushed the door open. Liam skipped after him, and she followed.

The spaceship changed from the humble entryway to a grand, crystal-lined circular stairway large enough to stage an old-fashioned Hollywood musical. The steps were yellow marble lined with gold accents.

At the left, a lounge sprawled with ornate potted plants, gold and ivory plush chairs, and tables made from solid blocks of white and smoky quartz. To the right, he’d furnished a grand dining room with an eggshell-white table and chairs. Soft light gleamed from every surface, bathing the interior in warm sunlight. The floors glowed a soft cream, with brighter lights highlighting the low runners, smooth tables, and alabaster cathedral ceiling.

Liam raced into the lounge and conquered a quartz coffee table. “It’s a rock!”

She gasped and hurried after him. “Get down from there before you chip something!”

Jasper caught her around the waist and swung her in a circle. “He can’t break anything in here.”

“You don’t know!”

“Hard furniture is nailed down in case gravity fails.”

“He could chip it,” she protested, but calmed.

“If he chips anything, I’ll send his photo to the manufacturer.” Jasper teased her braids between his fingers. “They’ll frame it. He’ll be a star.”

“Your manufacturer underestimates the destructive power of little kids.”

He smiled, and she melted. How could his grin turn her into a puddle? But it did, and for the first time in a long time, she relaxed. “So, this is your home.”

“It’s like a huge Winnebago,” he said.

She snorted. “Or like a yacht.”

“Yes, that’s also true.”

Liam leaped onto the smoky quartz table, bounced to a couch, and kicked the fluffy pillows. They slid off, he slipped, and they all landed in a soft puddle on the ground.

“I knew it,” she muttered and, as Liam readied to jump up on the hard stone table again, she shouted. “Hey! Get down before you break yourself.”

“I won’t break myself.”

“Jasper’s got dinner.”

“Dinner?” Liam raced to Rose. “A Happy Meal?”

“Even better,” she promised, having no idea.

Jasper led them through the dining room and into the spacious kitchen. Luckily, the full stock included Liam’s absolute delights: chicken fingers in the shape of dinosaurs and fruit precut into stars, circles, and hearts. Paired with a cup of instant cheesy mac and a can of mashed peas, the gourmet plate made his eyes bug as he carried it carefully into the dining room.

For the adults, Jasper prepared an elaborate cheeseboard. Rich, aged salamis, crisp crackers, and cups of toasted almonds, juicy peach slices, ripe red cherries, and sweet scoops of cantaloupe filled the gaps between the cheeses. He poured her a glass of sparkling dry wine and left the bottle, returning to the kitchen. She stuffed herself on sharp cheddar, creamy gouda, and holey swiss, as well as more exotic goat milk chèvre, sweet toscanello, and savory feta. Liam single-mindedly downed his own version of a luxury meal.

She alternated between excitement and hugging her grubby elbows to keep from soiling the spotless table. The gemstone-inlay cut glass lit from beneath like the northern lights was too heavy for her to crack, probably, but she could still make a mistake and mess it up.

Liam began making his dinosaurs talk to each other.

She stuffed in the last mouthful of summer-flavor peach, eased back in her seat, and observed the luxury.

Jasper exited the kitchen with a massive tray. On it rested huge bowls of leafy green salad, sunny yellow ravioli dusted with Parmesan, and little curls of lemon rind, grilled white fish slathered with fire-roasted salsa, and fluffy rosemary-scented dinner rolls. He pushed aside the ravaged cheese plate and centered the feast before her.

“Oh no.” She stared at the bounty. “Uh-oh.”

He froze. “Oh no? Uh-oh?”

“I didn’t realize there was more coming. I thought it was one course.”

“You didn’t think I would provide you with more than one course?”

“Don’t be mad. This looks amazing. I’ll eat it for breakfast.”

Another frown creased his normally easygoing brow. “I have alternate breakfast options.”

“That’s great, but I don’t want this to go to waste. There are people starving in…in everywhere, actually. Ha-ha.”

He didn’t smile back. “You will not starve here.”

“No! No, no. I’m so full, I could fall asleep.” She patted her round belly and yawned. The pat was mimed, but the yawn turned real.

“If you and Liam are tired, I’ll show you your bedrooms.”

Liam dropped his leftover dinosaurs and hopped out of his seat.

Rose stood and stretched. “You should eat.”

“I’m fine.”

“We’ll wait.” She released her stretch with a tired shake. “Don’t be a martyr, Jasper. I stuffed my face while you worked. I can make myself useful while you eat.”

“Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”

“Come on. I just told you not to be a martyr.” She picked up Liam’s plate.

“No, Rose.” He paused, half out of the room, Liam behind him. “I’m a little nervous right now, so thank you, but I’ll wait.”

“You’re nervous?” She lowered Liam’s plate back to the table. “Why?”

He met her eye with a raised brow. His expression asked her if she was serious.

She was serious. “You said we can’t break your stuff, so—”

“I’ve been preparing for you to visit for years.” Anxiety broke Jasper’s voice like a dam cracking under pressure. “Today, you’re here, and even though I’ve thought hard about creating a space you will love, you don’t seem comfortable. First, I forgot Liam’s slippers, and then I did not consider the hard furnishings in light of his safety. For food, I brought an appetizer, and you devoured it for fear of receiving nothing more.”

“Er, actually—”

“So that means, again, you doubt I can provide for your comfort or safety.” Jasper’s worry intensified. “Don’t be a martyr either, Rose. If you cannot accept my lair, and you doubt my ability to provide for you as your mate, tell me the truth. Right now.”

Whoa.

Jasper was nervous? He was nervous?

Rose jammed a hand on her hip. “Jasper, that appetizer was nicer than any meal I’ve ever eaten in my life, so I ate it because I’m not used to multicourse, stuffed-duck-covered-in-gold meals. Right?”

“Stuffed duck covered in gold?”

“As an example, I mean. This place is really nice and really different. I told you I’d eat the leftovers for…well, there’s too much for breakfast, so I see lunch and maybe dinner tomorrow too.”

He eased his weight onto his heels. “I acquired it because I thought you would like it.”

“Right, and I do. I think. You know what? I’ll feel even more comfortable after I wash off today’s dirt in a nice, hot shower.”

He pinched his lips.

Uh-oh. “No shower?”

“I thought you might like a bath…”

“Oh, a bath is fine! Totally fine. Sounds nice.” She followed him and Liam up the winding stairs. “I haven’t had a bath since Grandma moved to her duplex. The one in my apartment is so short, only Liam fits.”

The next floor unfolded into a large lounge-style family room with flat televisions. Jasper passed a palatial bathroom with spacious tub and shower, and opened on a bedroom with a pirate-ship bed, a ball pit, a net piled with stuffed animals, walls coated in whiteboard paint, and huge multicolor foam blocks.

Liam lost his mind.

“The race-car bed was the top seller,” Jasper confessed to her while Liam ran from one toy set to the next and flung the neat stacks into a single-level mess. “But this has more safety features and an electronic parrot.”

The parrot swung from the cloth-covered mast. Liam bopped it as he raced past. The felted machine clacked its beak and flapped its fuzzy feathers. “Awk! Polly wants an organic rosemary sea salt flatbread cracker!”

“I have those.” Jasper pressed a button on the light switch control panel. A mini fridge pushed out of the far wall. On top sat a basket of crackers. The fridge door opened on bottled waters and healthy juices—as well as sugar-filled sodas, chocolate bars, espresso beans, and bins of candy.

Liam stopped in front of it in awe. “Oh.”

She smacked the button again. “No snacks after dinner.”

“Rose!” The mini fridge reversed into its hidey-hole. “Aw.”

“And definitely no espresso.” She eyed Jasper. “We’ll discuss appropriate snacks later.”

“Liam told me his favorites yesterday.”

“Yeah, Grandma loves espresso beans, and she’s also not supposed to give a kid his age caffeine. Can you lock it?”

Jasper fiddled with the control panel. “Are these child locks? I always thought they were locked from adults so only a child could enter.”

“That’s ‘child-safe,’ and you see it on bottles of ridiculously hard-to-open medicine.”

“Really?”

“No, I’m making a joke. Please don’t give a kid anything that’s supposed to be child-safe.”

Liam threw himself on the ground. “But I’m thirsty!”

“So get yourself a glass of water.”

“I don’t want water. I want Sugar Bomb Cola!”

She crossed her arms. “Well, you know you don’t get Sugar Bomb Cola, so you have two choices right now. Thank Jasper and play nicely with these toys, or pack up and go home.”

Jasper blanched. “Rose, please don’t go home.”

Oh. Oops.

Liam watched their interaction intently.

She doubled down. “Well, it’s up to Liam.”

Jasper turned silent pleading eyes on Liam.

Liam stopped tantruming and stood. He raced to the giant blocks and threw them.

“What do you say?” Rose prompted.

“Thank you!” Liam shouted at the ceiling and threw more blocks.

“That’s as good as it gets.” She waited until she was sure he wasn’t paying attention, then rested her hand on Jasper’s forearm and lowered her voice. “I’m sorry. I usually give him two choices, but I wasn’t thinking. We wouldn’t really have left.”

He didn’t look reassured. “I’ll show you the bath.”

They left Liam in his new bedroom and crossed to the other side of the ship. A more extensive adult private lounge and walk-in closets ringed the master bedroom. A mammoth gold four-poster bed dominated the room.

She touched the warm, smooth metal. Was it real gold?

“It’s real,” Jasper assured her. “Some time ago. you said rich humans sleep in beds of solid gold. I’m not sure this is true. It took a long time to source.”

She patted the duvet—fluffy as a snowdrift—and bounced on it. Also like a snowdrift, there were so many layers she couldn’t feel the mattress.

One wall displayed a tasteful mural of a dragonfly. “And the insect?”

“You rescued a similar creature while cleaning the windows. I saw this picture and thought of you.”

How sweet.

“And your bath?” He gestured for her to continue the tour.

She rose and followed him to the master bathroom. It was like a harem bath out of a painting.

Fountains trickled into a deep marble basin large enough to fit five or six people, with transparent water and gold tile accented in ivory. Sculpted sides encouraged lounging.

She knelt on the marble and dipped in her fingers. A perfect temperature, warm and inviting. Jasmine flowers perfumed the sweet air. “Now this is a bath. What are the tricks?”

“Adjust the temperature here.” He rotated the gold taps. “And music and scenery on this master control panel.”

Fountain gurgles changed to raindrops, then ocean waves, then plucked harp, then white noise. Wall tiles shimmered and resolved to an ocean horizon at sunset, turning the bath into an infinity pool.

She rotated the dial to make it into a hidden lagoon, a firefly-dotted pool in a glen, and a steaming mud bath hung on the side of a snow-capped mountain. “Where’s normal?”

Jasper pressed the center of the dial. The walls changed back to his spaceship.

Cool. “Okay, I’ll get busy. Where’s the soap and stuff?”

He pressed a hidden button on the wall. It tilted outward to reveal a rack of spa supplies. Refreshing bath salts, relaxing oils, glitter-filled powders, bottles of massage oil—

“Massage oil?” She raised a mock skeptical brow. “You know how to use that?”

“I studied massage.”

“You? Studied massage?”

“For two years.”

“Why?”

“Because you were too stressed. Your muscles ached. I thought about how I could help. My old team back in the Outer Rim had similar complaints, and I could never help them, but Earth gave me the chance for self-exploration. I studied flower massage in Thailand.”

“Are you any good?”

His gaze trailed down her body. “You’ll have to tell me.”

Her body heated. Her breasts tingled, imagining his hands treasuring her, and desire throbbed between her legs. She licked her lips, striving for a lighthearted tone. “Oh, yeah?”

“Here.” He stepped behind her. “What do you think?”

His wide hands covered her thin shoulders, and he pressed the knots with expert firmness.

Her muscles cried with sharp pain, shocked by his touch. She gasped. Then, her muscles released into a warm, sweet ache.

She’d always squished her doubts inward, carried her fears in her lower back, and tried to compensate by shouldering any burden, even the ones that broke her. Now, Jasper reached into her world and touched deeper than anyone ever had.

Relaxation and healing washed away her past.

She collapsed onto the small stool and leaned against the tile, bracing herself with an unstoppable moan. Jasper found her sharp places, hunting them and washing away her pains, and melted her into a tingling puddle. Down the tightness of her spine, he massaged away years’ worth of tension, and up the taut cables of her neck, he released her from chronic arguments, nights kinked into the wrong position on the couch, and harsh eons of hanging her head in shame.

He did it without even asking for anything for himself. That was how he made her safe. His kindness wrapped around her like a firm, cottony embrace that healed her, and she, for the first time ever, surrendered.

Jasper kneaded her gooey muscles like bread, and then, satisfied that he’d worked out the kinks, he stroked her.

Tears burned at the back of her eyes. She wasn’t used to tenderness, and she wasn’t used to reacting. She turned away so he wouldn’t see it, even though he was one of the few who would never use her weakness against her.

Jasper rose and stepped back. “Yes?”

She straightened and stretched, allowing herself to lean against him. Firm arousal strained his trousers. He made no move to hide it or to press against her, just letting his hunger exist. She dreamed of shucking her clothes, unzipping him, and caressing the hardness to return his massage in a different direction.

But she hesitated.

He stepped back, opened a small refrigerator embedded into the wall, and handed her a bottle. “Hydrate. Flush away toxins after a massage.”

She sipped the chilled liquid. It was tart and fruity, refreshing and healing. She concentrated on its coolness in her belly rather than the warmth between her tight thighs. “Thanks.”

He rummaged deeper, opened a box of chilled orchid blossoms, and released them into the bath. The delicate blossoms floated like an invitation. “Take as long as you want.”

She touched her sticky, sweaty outfit. “Soap?”

He opened a cabinet. Her home brands filled the row behind, as well as a vast selection of bars and body washes.

There was something behind it. She swung the shelf out to reveal a deeper organizational system.

Beyond, rested shampoos designed for her. Jasper’s short hair was thick and straight, but hers was tight and coiled, and this entire shelf was filled with thousands of dollars of products for her. Her usual brands, advanced curl repair, moisturizing, nurturing, and detangling shampoos, conditioners, oils, and creams. Yes, some were flecked or otherwise filled with gold. And behind that was a box of hair extensions in her colors, plus the brushes, clips, and everything she’d need for any style, whether natural or tamed.

Unlike his siblings, who commented on her hair without realizing what went into it, he knew.

Jasper knew.

She found her voice. “You can’t use any of this stuff.”

“No.” He pointed to a small corner of the bottom shelf. “I use that.”

“But I have all these other bottles.”

“Experiment until you discover what you love.”

Her eyes prickled. He’d done that for her. “So…you know how to use any of it? The extensions, I mean. Or…”

“I watched online tutorials, and I asked around.” He shrugged, a little embarrassed. “The women at the salon laughed at me. They thought I had a daughter, but after I explained, they said to send you over because it wasn’t for a man to know, so I stopped intruding.”

Sure, she could imagine a salon of women laughing at the appearance of a random guy, but Jasper was so earnest, she wanted to shelter him from that unkindness. “Why study this? It doesn’t affect you.”

“You affect me.” He smiled and settled her into a warm, comforting embrace. “We’re a team. I’ll always do my all for my team.”

“Yeah, but…”

“The smallest change can make the biggest difference. And I don’t just want you to partner with me, I want you to thrive. That means taking care of all of you so you’re your best self with me, just like I am with you.”

“You’re your best self with me?”

“Of course.” He chuckled at her surprise. “You always answer, no matter how strange you find my question. You encouraged pursuits such as ‘hobbies’ and ‘self-reflection,’ and they have improved my life far beyond my expectations. Every day, you open my mind, my heart, and my soul.”

Her chin wrinkled. The lump formed in her throat. Just as his massage had melted out the toxins of holding herself in all these years, his words melted the toxins armoring her heart.

“I never did anything like this for you.” She gestured at the ship, the luxurious bath, the supplies. “I don’t bring anything to our relationship besides stress.”

His chest rumbled with amusement. “You should take up self-reflection too.”

Good point.

She looked back at the bath. The water was so inviting. “I’ve got to get Liam into bed soon.”

He checked his watch. “The same time as yesterday?”

“Minus the fighting, yeah.”

He clicked buttons on his watch. “I’ll let you know when my alarm goes off.”

Again, her heart wobbled dangerously. “You will?”

He moved to the door, honoring her privacy. “The lock is there. Enjoy.” He closed the door.

She clicked the lock, watching the green light turn to red, and then she slipped out of her clothes and into the bath. The water enveloped her in a soothing liquid embrace. The last of her kinks dissolved as she rested her head on the smooth marble at the perfect angle to soak.

Jasper had pleasured her over her clothes. What would his bare hands feel like on her skin? With slippery massage oil scenting his heat?

Tingling heat pooled between her legs.

She picked an adventurous soap and sudsed it, then massaged the creamy gold-flecked bubbles over her skin and rinsed clean. Wash day would be heaven. Had he studied scalp massage? She’d always been interested in trying passion or goddess rows. Rose rested her head against the wall and soaked. She felt like a goddess.

They drifted miles above the Earth, and her problems and responsibilities were equal miles away.

She could escape up here every night. Jasper’s spaceship could take her and Liam away. They could fly to the stars.

But maybe she didn’t need to.

Maybe, instead of scrambling from one failure to another, she was actually doing okay. Maybe, instead of scaring or irritating others, she inspired and built up their confidence. Maybe, instead of having coworkers she kept distant and family that sucked her dry, she could trust a little more and set better boundaries.

Maybe she could stand her ground without fearing the ground would cave in.

If every day she bathed with million-dollar soap, slept on that solid-gold bed, and wore the clothes Jasper hung in his closets, people would listen to her. Briar would bring her car back. The new apartments would lease to her grandma. The new boss would know her value.

She could be like her mom. Respected by everyone, even her enemies. A fighter.

Maybe.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A knock sounded on the door, followed by Jasper’s voice. “Rose? It’s Liam’s bedtime.”

“Be right there.” She oozed out of the bath feeling delicious, like goo, and toweled off on million-thread fluffy towels, then stuck her arms in the lavender robe and studied the lotions.

A fighter, like her mom, would take whatever lotion she wanted without worrying about price.

She hooked the fanciest bottle and slathered a soothing organic honey-scented cream on her soft skin.

A fighter wouldn’t worry about what others thought about her in a robe.

She swept out of the bathroom. The downy robe and slippers cupped her pampered, relaxed body.

Jasper reclined on the bedroom lounge chair, reading. He rose, and his gaze trailed into the crevice between her robe halves and the slit up to her thigh. She turned to pose—a fighter enjoyed the admiration of her loved ones without agonizing about her imperfections—and then continued on her purposeful journey to put Liam to bed. He would be a handful, as usual, but she was ready.

Liam slumped over the pile of blocks. He was out cold.

Aw. Adorable.

She set her feet and hauled him up. He used to be so easy to tote, then he was too wiggly to be held, and now he slumped over her shoulder, heavy and trusting. “Rose… It’s bedtime.”

“That’s right. Brush your teeth.”

“Aw. I don’t want to.”

“You don’t want your teeth to fall out.” She carried him like a log into the bathroom, balanced him on the palatial marble counter, and brushed his teeth. He kept his eyes closed the whole time. He spat and dropped the toothbrush, then put his arms around her to be carried to bed. She skipped wiggling him into pajamas and tucked him in. “Good night. I love you.”

His lashes fluttered. “The bogeyman will hear you.”

Oops. She dropped to a whisper. “No way. We’re so far up right now. You’re safe.”

His lips curved, and his eyes sealed shut. “Love you, Rose.”

“Love you too.” She lowered the lights in his room to a restful night-light glow.

Rose was a fighter. If the bogeyman showed up, she would kick his butt right out into space.

Rose returned from putting Liam to bed looking fierce and somehow even more beautiful than ever before.

Maybe because she ruled his lair, wore Jasper’s clothes, and enjoyed the materials he had collected for her. A dragon’s greatest pleasure was amassing a treasure for his chosen mate.

But maybe Rose always looked this beautiful, and she was only beginning to gain the confidence to show herself.

Good.

She touched the wall control panels. “Do you have another mini fridge out here?”

He showed her that, yes, the bedroom had snacks. Cristal champagne, Lady Godiva chocolate, and much more. “The wet bar in the lounge has alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages.”

“I could kill for a glass of water.”

“No need for kills.” He led her out to the lounge, poured it for her, and handed her the thick-cut glass. “Here.”

She handled it gingerly. “And yet you hand me a glass that’s heavy enough to be a weapon…”

“It’s heavy because it’s handmade.”

“By an artist?”

“By me.”

Her brows rose to the ceiling, and she tilted it, careful of the water. “You learned how to blow glass?”

“I can, but this isn’t.” He showed her the smooth edges. “You value reusing, so I cut an old bottle and sanded the edges. It was an interesting project.”

“That’s kind of cool. Is there anything else here you handmade?”

“I used tools.”

“I mean assembled by an artist. Someone you know.”

“This ship.”

She blinked. “Really?”

“All of it.” He rested a hand on the smooth, curved, wood-faced metal wet bar. “Planned, built, and finished by my old coworkers and boss at Space Voyage Inc. I know who placed this bar, finished the trim, routed the plumbing.”

“That must be weird.”

“My proudest moment was ordering this from the factory.” He dropped beside her on the soft bench. “It’s a way to feel close to them even though we’ll never meet again.”

“Why not? You have a spaceship.”

“They wouldn’t allow me onto the grounds.”

“You couldn’t meet outside, like at a park?”

“Dragons don’t have parks.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Dragon businesses differ from human businesses. After we join, we never leave. The team is everything. And it’s for life.”

“You left.”

“It was hard. I tested into Space Voyages Inc. from the orphanage, as did most of my coworkers, and we expected to work together until death. When Mal came to me for a spaceship, I could barely source parts within his budget that would also survive a voyage. Then he wanted me to leave with him. But how could I leave my team? They didn’t have siblings. They didn’t have choices. But they encouraged me. My coworkers, my boss. In the end, I joined Mal because they couldn’t. Because they wanted this adventure, and I was the only one who could have it.”

She listened sweetly, and it was a relief to share this long-kept truth with someone who understood.

He finished. “After we succeeded here, I asked others to come and join. There’s more freedom on Earth.”

“And sick days, and vacation.”

“Yes, and your strange expectation to pursue hobbies and have a life. I didn’t like it at first, but I do now, and they would too. But they can’t imagine. I promised to treat them like my family, and they still won’t come. Even my boss, who’s close to retirement. He’d rather die.”

“That’s sad.”

“My father worked at the mines until he died. He visited us during mechanical closures. His life would have been enriched on Earth. Theirs would be too.”

“Yeah, I get why they’re scared. There, they have a support system, and here, they’d only have you. I’m the same. I’ve got nobody.”

“You’ve got me.”

Usually, she’d dismiss him, but tonight, things changed. She repeated, “I’ve got you… Hey, Jasper.” She stood and led him into the bedroom. “Before, you wanted to abduct me.”

“I reviewed Mace and don’t wish to experience it.”

“Good, because I’d rather tell you what I want.” She pushed him into a seated position on the foot of the bed, stepped back, and yanked the belt on her robe.

It parted to reveal her goddess body. Narrow shoulders, pert breasts topped by chocolate-droplet nipples he’d fantasized about tasting, a playful belly button in a waist the perfect span for his hands, rounded hips that begged for him to clench, and a delicate feminine vee fringed by dark curls between lush thighs.

She rested a foot beside his knee, challenging him. “I want something from you.”

His mouth went dry. “What?”

“You studied massage? Prove it.” She put his hands on the sides of her hips. “Make me feel amazing.”

He traced the small divots at the tops of her shapely thighs. He’d always wanted her like this. Wanting him. He dug his thumbs into her soft crease.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She buckled against him, lids half-closed, lips parted in a delicate moan. “Ohhh, how do you do that?”

He leaned back and pulled her on top of him to straddle his clothed erection. Her cocoa-and-cream views made him so hot. “Do you want the full explanation?”

“No, no. Just keep touching me.”

“I have also studied sensual massage.”

“There’s a difference?”

He changed the angle and length of his strokes, veering toward her feminine vee and away again.

She caught him with demanding claws like a tigress. Fear warred with arousal, as though she feared the dominant predator his touch awoke, but she conquered and commanded him with gorgeous power. “I want that. You. More.”

“Yes, my goddess,” he murmured.

She smiled with satisfaction, then relaxed into needy moans. He worked her body, moving from the proper massage he had studied to the sensual massage she needed, awakening her erogenous zones and opening her to him like a flower. Her intoxicating arousal made his cock harden to shipworthy resin. He wanted her so much.

He cupped her breasts and flicked his thumbs across her nipples.

She moaned and dropped the robe off her shoulders, unveiling her bare figure to his hungry gaze. Her feminine vee straddled his cock, and she stroked him through the pants.

He rolled out from beneath her and shredded his clothes until he stood nude.

She waited on the bed, licked her lips. Her action summoned him like a call.

He rested one knee beside her hip.

She lowered and grabbed his cock in both small, strong hands. “You did all that education. How about here?”

“I read about this.”

She worked her hands up and down his slippery shaft. “Only reading?”

“My sexual education wasn’t hands-on.”

“Has a woman ever put your cock in her mouth?”

His cock swelled with pleasure. “No.”

“You want it?”

He nodded, his breath ragged.

Her lips curved. “Sure?”

He nodded more aggressively. “Like in the educational videos? Yes.”

She paused. “Educational videos?”

“The vast archive of humans performing sexual techniques upon one another.”

She still looked confused.

“You call it pornography.”

Her brows lifted. “Ah.”

“And based on my extensive viewing, I think I would like it very much.”

Rose dropped her head to his turgid cock. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

She was right.

Rose sucked him in, tongued his shaft, and teased his sensitive head. The feelings of having her, of all people, put his cock in her buttery mouth differed completely from any previous sensation in his entire life. Watching had been educational, but it hadn’t affected him like this.

His mind cleared, and pleasure tightened in his balls. He heard the growl in his belly, and she reacted by pulling back with satisfaction.

He hovered over her, his claws out and his incisors pressing on his lips.

Holding his shift in an aggressive pose was unusual for him. He never pushed, he always compromised, he squished himself into whatever mold was necessary for the success of the team. First in the orphanage, then at the spaceship factory, and now in his family company.

Rose made him want more for himself.

She pushed him to be more than a cog in a mold. Pursue his own interests, honor his desires, build a life that satisfied him and his team. Grow and become the dragon he envisioned in his dreams.

That vision included her.

Her eyes widened.

He kissed down her body, and she arched to his touch, his kiss.

His tongue teased her fragrant sex lips. Wet, sweet, and ticklish. He lifted onto an elbow. “Has a woman ever put her mouth on you here?”

“No,” she laughed, giving him the crazy eye. “Are you serious?”

“You asked the same question of me.”

She laughed harder and brushed her fingers through his dark hair. “All right, okay. You got me.” She lifted and raised a challenging eyebrow. “So what are you going to do with me?”

He ducked his head and showed her.

With pleasure.

While she writhed beneath his ministrations, a deep core of happiness glowed within his soul.

So long as she was with him, he would be his strongest, best self, and nobody would ever tear them apart. Rose was the only person who valued Jasper for his own merits. They were an unbreakable team.

* * *

Rose lost her mind.

Jasper tore sounds from her throat that she didn’t know were possible and lifted feelings from her body she didn’t know anyone could make her feel. Pounding, throbbing, aching heat. Need. This was sex, and no wonder everyone wanted it all the time.

It was exhilarating and terrifying.

She forced her legs wide so she wouldn’t clamp her thighs around Jasper’s head until she erupted. A tigress gripped her core, and Jasper matched her, fierce as she was, a force to be reckoned with, both beautiful and terrible and awesome and strong.

He slid one finger between her lips in a sweet plunging motion that liquefied her insides, and she wanted more, so much more.

She did the clamp. “Jasper. I want you inside.”

He rose up her body. Serious dark brown glowed in his half-dragon eyes, and shadowy brown scales shimmered beneath his skin. “If we join like this, nude, we perform the act of dragon marriage. Do you accept me?”

Fear tightened again.

He was her friend, her closest companion, her champion. She’d fought against it forever, using both real and imagined problems to keep them apart, and this was the moment of truth.

She swallowed. “I do.”

A smile twitched his lips. Lengthened incisors gave the normally steady male a dangerous edge. “You can say yes. You don’t have to use human marriage vows.”

“Yes. Yep, yep, yep. You?”

He lowered himself between her legs and positioned his thick, sexy cock that she’d tasted and enjoyed. “I do.”

She nuzzled him. “Tease.”

He kissed her, hard and thorough. His cock pressed against her throbbing, hot, wet entrance.

It was too much.

Too much tenderness, too much sweetness, too much anticipation.

She rolled him over on the bed, surprising him, and ended up on top. He settled back, and she shimmied forward.

His cock entered her in one thrust.

Quick pain flashed. As when he’d massaged her, her muscles clenched, and he mirrored the shock she felt. After all this time, their joining was a little wild and not what either expected.

He pulled back.

No.

She tugged forward, and he tried to soften the experience for her, and she reversed when he didn’t expect it. Pleasure rushed through her, and the rhythm of their dance again took them both by surprise. She was so full of him, so filled with him, so intimately and pleasurably joined. Hungry need simmered in the myriad feelings.

Because she did need him. Jasper was her rock, her lucky pebble, her secret desire. The one she wasn’t supposed to have, and the only one she wanted. He’d been here all along, and she’d almost lost him to her own fears. Life’s hurricanes had ripped so many things from her hands, she’d been too afraid to reach out and try for one more desire.

Until now.

Jasper thrust into her. His cock pressed against a pleasure spot.

She moaned and thrust against him.

He chased her pleasure, hunting and gaining it, bobbing at her pace, slipping against her wildness. His finger sought her nub, and he slid sweet pressure against her in two places. His other hand cupped her breast and tortured the taut brown morsels.

She imploded from his finger, and then his other finger, and then his cock, and the pleasure snowballed into an avalanche of release that cascaded through her body in a multicolor, multiflavor, champagne-and-chocolates orgasm that lingered long after the explosive burst. The gush of pleasure shuddered through her whole body. She rode it and him hard.

He bucked and held, groaning with his release, and collapsed flat on the bed.

She collapsed on top of him.

The room cooled to a perfect temperature, and she considered unpeeling herself from him and going for a second bath. He was warm, radiant, and comforting. She stayed a little longer.

But all things ended. She knew that more than anyone.

Usually, they ended when she least expected it. So she got into a habit of challenging it. “What happens tomorrow?”

“Have you found your car?”

“Not yet.”

“We’ll carpool.” He rolled her braids between his fingers.

“Liam has preschool after you start.”

“I’ll go in late.”

“And I have to talk to the administrators.”

“Then I’ll pick you up on a morning break.”

She sat up, amused. “You take breaks now?”

He shoved a hand under his dark head. “Why not? We’re on Earth, and I’m no longer employed. I can leave. We could take a vacation.”

“Fly away into the stars…” But she’d still have to worry about her family, especially Grandma. Nobody would scrub the mold. How would she get to her appointments? And Liam had school. “I don’t think the new guy’s approving vacations right now. He tried to fire us for the ones in the past.”

“He didn’t read your employment contracts.”

“Bingo.”

Jasper frowned. “I told him about the handbook, but I expected his prior experience with humans to fill any gaps. Perhaps that was an error.”

“It was an error. The others almost started a riot.”

“I’m no longer in any chain of command, but I’ll chat with him when I go in tomorrow.”

“That would be great.” Rose stood and stretched, feeling the workout in tiny, unused muscles between her thighs. Huh. She dropped onto her heels. “Now you just have to fix Briar, and we can go on vacation.”

“Really?” He sat up. “Tell me about her injuries.”

“Why? Are you a doctor now?”

“My boss got treatment for his head injury. Maybe there are similarities.”

“Briar’s not a dragon.”

“I am aware.”

Rose shrugged. “Actually, there were two big injuries, then a bunch of smaller ones. The first one…Briar was in the car accident that killed our dad.”

“I’m very sorry.”

“Yeah. Life is weird.” She stretched one leg, then the other. “It was Take Your Daughter to Work Day, and I got sick the night before, so Dad left me with Grandma. I was so jealous. Then, on the bridge to his work, a semitruck lost its cargo of big metal tubes. Dad had nowhere to swerve. He didn’t even make it to the hospital, while Briar was banged up and bruised.” She shook her head. “After that, I tried not to get jealous of anything, because you never know. You just never know.”

“When was that?”

“Seventh grade.” Rose shrugged off the ancient history. “Briar didn’t seem that hurt, so we let her quit counseling. Then, she stopped reading because it gave her headaches, and she made friends with some real jerks. They encouraged her to break into houses. In high school, she dove in the pool. That time, we knew something was wrong, but the settlement was gone.”

“What’s ‘the settlement’?”

“The accident was a big deal,” she said. “The load wasn’t properly secured, and the truck company had to pay for everything plus punitive damages because they were so reckless. We should have lived in a nice house, done after-school activities, and attended four years of any in-state college, each, according to our lawyer, but Grandma was the administrator of the trust, and my uncle conned her into giving it all to him.”

“Why?”

“She trusted him too much. He was like Briar, always coming up with a sure-fire business idea or investment, but then once he got the money, he’d ghost people and leave behind unpaid bills. A lot of investors sued him over that.”

“But not you.”

“There was no point. The money was gone.”

“Family is supposed to be a team. He contributed nothing.”

“I used to be angry, but…” She shrugged again. “He died bitter and alone in a motel in Reno. That’s enough punishment, I guess.”

Jasper stroked her cheek. “You are a good person, Rose.”

She snorted. “Yeah, well, remember that the next time I piss you off.”

Jasper followed her into the bath, increasing power to the water filtration system as he did so. “So Briar has never tried any dragon treatment for traumatic brain injury?”

“No, but it happened a long time ago.”

“Time is no issue. Dragons fly at high velocities. We injure our brains. My boss hit a steel support beam at high speeds, and his personality changed. He grew louder, swore frequently, and attacked a supervisor. That’s when they finally cleared the schedule for his treatment.”

She didn’t want to get up her hopes. “He went back to normal?”

“Not the old normal, no. He remained angry, but his volume decreased and he stopped swearing in front of supervisors.”

Even a small change would be amazing. “What’s the cost?”

“Free.”

“Okay, what’s the catch?”

“We could not afford a medical bay when we set out from Draconis. The Carnelians have the only medical ship, so I must ask Pyro for its use.”

Ooh. Hmm.

“Briar hates hospitals.” After watching their mom shrink into a skeleton, Rose wasn’t a fan either. And then Briar had to get herself injured extra times. She’d spent way too long in hospital beds. “She’d never agree.”

“You must convince her, Rose.”

“It’ll be a huge fight.”

“But it’s important. Isn’t it?”

She closed her eyes and leaned into the marble. Yes, it was important. Rose was so used to losing. Against Grandma, against a shallow pool and a misloaded semitruck, against cancer.

But Jasper was right.

If she could get her sister back, even a little, then she wouldn’t have to worry about Liam, or even about Briar herself.

“I’ll try,” she said, and he smiled.

She didn’t return the smile.

Because if she didn’t get Briar treatment, then someday, Rose would definitely lose the fight.

Jasper awoke beside Rose.

They cuddled from head to toes. Her soft buttocks pressed against his firm cock. Her head rested on his forearm, cushioned by a pillow. Her chest rose and fell, and her belly gurgled in her sleep.

Today was a wonderful day.

He didn’t want to rise. Jasper snuggled against her, pressing his nose to the back of her head. She smelled like honey soap. He sighed.

On his bedside table, his phone lit with a silent notification. This was perhaps the twentieth notification since midnight and the fifth since he’d skipped the morning conference call to Draconis, even though he’d responsibly texted Mal.

He ignored it.

The alarm clock chimed.

Rose groaned and stretched. “Not ready.”

He rolled over and snoozed the alarm. In the factory, everyone had trained to sleep and rise on command. Jasper kept the ability, even after a life-changing night of sex. He’d set the alarm for Rose, at her request.

“Did you sleep well?”

She cracked her lids, smiled, and wrinkled her nose as she stretched again. “Like the dead.”

“So, not much, then?”

“If I slept any harder, I’d be dead.” She lay flat and quirked her lips. “What’s in this bed? A flock of geese or a magic spell?”

“Advanced fiber technology.”

“I suppose that’s better than the alternative.”

“What’s the alternative?”

She smiled. “I have no idea.”

He leaned in. Their lips touched, and his cock tightened with readiness. He knew how she felt straddling his waist, enrobing his manhood, losing herself in pleasure. And he wanted it.

The alarm chimed.

She groaned and tightened her arms around him, deepening the kiss.

He eased his lips free. “You requested the alarm—”

“Ignore it.”

He’d never been late for an appointment in his life, and she’d stated that if he didn’t set the alarm, she and Liam would be late, and he would, therefore, be late. He considered the dilemma for a fraction of a second before obeying her command and melting against her sweet, sexy body.

Small feet pounded down the hall. The door banged against the wall. Liam shouted. “Rose!”

She jumped and scrambled free of Jasper. “Ah! What?”

Liam grinned. “Can I have candy?”

“What? No, of course you can’t. It’s breakfast.”

“Aw!”

“And we, uh, have to get going.” She shot Jasper a regretful glance and scooted out of bed, her silk pajamas fitting her form just as Jasper had known they would when he acquired them for her long ago. “Change your clothes.”

“But I want candy!”

“If you get ready, you can have breakfast.”

“I don’t want breakfast.”

“Okay, well, I do.” She hustled into the bathroom, then stuck her head out. “If I have to get you dressed, I won’t have time to make cinnamon toast, and you’ll be stuck with boring old cereal.”

“But I like cinnamon toast!” He stomped on the floor.

“So go get dressed.”

“Cinnamon toast!”

She stepped out again. “I’m going to count to three.”

“Don’t count to three!” Liam raced out of the bedroom, shrieking.

Jasper felt like he’d watched them talk past each other and miscommunicate, and yet, they had accomplished something. “Will he dress?”

“I give it fifty-fifty odds.” She didn’t seem bothered, though, and shook her head. “Kid alarm. Much more effective than anything else.”

Indeed.

Rose disappeared into the bathroom and emerged a short time later looking refreshed. Her skin glowed, and the tired circles under her eyes lightened. An easier smile tilted her lips, and she hummed as she sorted through his closets of clothing until she settled on a simple red-white-and-yellow-striped formfitting blouse and blue jeans.

His phone lit with messages again and again.

Jasper stowed the phone in his pocket, messages unread.

The stress of managing multiple conflicting expectations was familiar. In the spaceship factory, dragons had called for him constantly, and he’d had to fly from station to station, assessing and assisting as quickly as he could. Some tasks could be combined, but other tasks had required his full attention. No matter how desperately another dragon called, he could not pause his current task. The functional integrity of the spaceship required his total commitment.

That commitment he now gave to Rose and Liam.

Liam was half-dressed when Rose reached his bedroom. His clothes lay rumpled on the floor and intermixed with the toys. How could a small child disperse so much in such a short time?

Rose didn’t ask. She sorted and piled while directing Liam to do the same.

“Tidying after a child is a second full-time job,” Jasper commented, helping her.

“Yeah, that’s the one advantage to fewer toys.” Rose buttoned Liam’s denim shorts, stuffed him into green crocs with fake white teeth and crocodile eyes, and they descended to the kitchen for breakfast.

There, Rose taught Jasper how to make cinnamon toast—a circular bread known as an English muffin tanned to a light crisp and dusted with cinnamon. Butter was an extra-rich treat. For Liam, she also got out his leftovers and encouraged him to eat, saying, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” while she herself drank only instant coffee and packed leftovers for her lunch.

“I have more food.” He opened a shelf to show the square footage of comestibles. “Six months’ worth for a cabin crew of twenty.”

“I know, I’m not used to eating much, though.”

“Rose, don’t you be the martyr.”

“I’m not.” She closed the drawer with her hip and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a good provider. I promise.”

His heart glowed, reassured. He satisfied her with his provisions. He fulfilled his primary duty.

From here forward, their relationship was unbreakable.

She collected empty breakfast plates and shooed Liam out to the airlock. Jasper reviewed his mental checklist as the airlock changed pressure and he flew them into the dawn.

As they completed each step, their lives would intertwine. The first and hardest step had been to get Rose to see him as a marriage candidate. Accepting his lair, approving his provisions, and then joining as his mate had been easy. After this, she would move sentimental items into his lair, end her lease at her apartment, complete the human marriage ceremony, and birth his dragonlet. Simple.

The project of finding his life partner and happiness was basically accomplished.

His phone buzzed.

Following Rose’s directions, he landed them in front of Liam’s preschool. Liam scampered to the steps where other small humans played with their caregivers. She let go of Jasper and looked around furtively, her glow diminished and her shoulders hunched protectively.

He touched her cheek, slowing her. “I will return.”

“Thanks. I mean it.” Her sober expression lightened for a moment. She leaned in and kissed his jaw, murmuring sweetly, “For everything.”

His cock hardened in his trousers. Her soft breasts brushed against his chest, encased in the lavender lace bra and striped shirt he’d purchased for her, and he knew how they felt to caress and tease.

She smiled, her thigh brushing his arousal, and she turned to go to the school.

A woman in business dress raised her hand, calling for Rose. “Mr. and Mrs. Owens? I’m glad I caught you.”

“What is it?” Rose asked, standing in front of Jasper and not correcting the woman. “I heard you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yes, I wanted to ask about Liam’s permission slip.”

“Permission slip?”

“We’re starting a new program where we go across the street for an hour of children’s gymnastics. The permission slip is due today.”

She rested her hand on her hip. “Is there an extra cost? Because we’re already subsidized.”

“No cost. We just need your permission to take him across the street.” She addressed Jasper. “We spoke to your mother about this.”

His brows rose. “My mother? How would you speak to my mother?”

“She picks Liam up every day.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Rose said without correcting the relationship. “Do you have the form? I’ll sign it right here.”

“Actually—”

“It’s no problem,” Jasper assured her. “We can acquire it. But Rose, why did you agree that the mother who comes every day is my mother? My mother is nowhere near this planet.”

Rose sucked in a deep breath, smiled tightly, and said, “We’ll be right back,” to the confused administrator. She led him around the corner of the block, out of sight of the preschool, and tapped his chest. “Let’s fly.”

He obeyed, carrying her to her grandmother’s house. “You don’t usually lie.”

“I know, it’s just…I look more like my mom than my dad, and you’re white, so your skin color matches my grandma’s.”

“Hmm.”

“Trust me. It was awful when we were growing up. ‘Are you adopted? Did you have a different dad?’ They said that to our faces in school, teachers and other students. It’s easier to let people believe their assumptions than to argue.”

“That’s funny.”

“Why?”

“You have much more in common with your grandmother than I do. You’re genetically related and human. I’m neither.”

“I know, but we’re not used to aliens in our lives, so no one thinks of that.”

“And I have always thought we were a similar color.”

She raised her brows, giving him her familiar you-must-be-crazy look. “Why do you say that?”

“Because.” His scales shimmered to the surface, just under his human skin, and her eyes widened with understanding. “You match my dragon.”

She stroked his skin. “Magic.”

“Not at all. Shifting is a dominant trait. Human’s lack of ability is recessive—”

“Okay, that’s right, I forgot.” She tapped his arm. “Go back to normal.”

“Technically, this is still normal.”

“You know what I mean.”

He retracted his scales. They landed in front of the house beside the Jaguar. Mud and animal prints spackled the surface, but it was otherwise in good condition.

“Wait here.” Rose started up the steps.

“Rose.”

She turned on the top step. Worry wrinkled her eyes. “What?”

His confidence waned. “Am I still compartmentalized out of your family life?”

Jasper’s question struck Rose hard.

She sucked in a breath and let it out. Her hardened shoulders sagged. She rubbed her cheek. “No. I just…no. It’s fine. You can come up and meet Grandma.”

His chest lifted again. He floated up the steps in one hop and landed beside her.

Rose pushed in the door. “Grandma?”

The house was warm and moist, and a fetid odor tickled his nose. Yellowed newsprint covered the windows, narrowing the dim corridor.

Rose stepped around a dark stain on the worn carpet. “Grandma?”

The older woman sat in the kitchen squinting at a paper beneath a bare hanging bulb. “In here.”

“Grandma, you forgot the permission slip for Liam’s preschool trip.” Rose pointed over her shoulder. “This is Jasper.”

Grandma set aside the paper and heaved to her feet with a cry.

“Jasper, this is my grandma.”

He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Rose’s grandma clenched her faded floral housecoat. A toe poked through her flat slippers. “You…”

“He’s my old boss, and now we’re kind of dating.” Rose pressed his forearm to lower his hand. Her grandmother watched him as if he were a deadly predator and she was cornered. Rose faced her grandmother chirpily. “Right, so where’s the permission slip? On your bulletin board?”

“Maybe.”

“Here it is.” Rose grabbed the top one. “Why didn’t you mention it?”

Grandma clutched her elbow and stared at the lower cabinet. “Dancing’s for rich people.”

“They told me it was free.”

“Liam’s too innocent.”

“Movement is supposed to be good for his delays.” Rose frowned at the other papers. “Grandma, what’s this notice about charging you for damages to the common room?”

“Briar’s friend broke the washer. They want me to pay for a replacement.”

Rose huffed. “What about your broken stove? And AC? And the crack behind the toilet? And the mold? Hey, this letter came three weeks ago. Payment was due yesterday.”

“I didn’t want you to worry…”

Rose’s shoulders tightened. “Okay. Okay, we’ll figure something out.”

“We can fix all the problems.” Jasper reached into his jacket for his human currency. “For the mold, we will rip out the walls, the flooring, the pipes, electricity—”

Grandma flinched like he’d raised his fist. “Destroy my home?”

Rose shooed him into the hall. “Not now.”

“The sooner the better.”

“Rose, my home…”

“No, it’s… We have to go.” She marched him out of the house. On the porch, she hugged him close and tapped him to take off. “Preschool.”

He lifted them both into the air. “Your grandmother shouldn’t store her food near toxic plants.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. She never has food in her house.”

“That is a serious problem.”

“I know, but you can’t give Grandma money.”

“I will not hold it over her.”

“No, I mean, you literally can’t give her money. She’ll just give it to someone else who needs it more. You’d have to hire the contractor yourself. If the rot goes all the way through, it’ll be a huge deal, maybe even condemn the house.”

“Then why are you letting your grandmother live in that place?”

She choked. “I’ve been trying to get her to leave for years!”

“So why not hire your own contractor and make the changes?”

“Because we can’t just rip down the house. We don’t own it. It’s not supposed to be our problem, it’s supposed to be the landlord’s. We reported him a bunch of times, but nothing happens. I don’t even think it’s corruption, I just think it’s incompetence, slipping through the cracks, I don’t know. A different person answers every time I call.”

“What about the charges?”

She shook her head, depressed. “I’ll…I don’t know.”

“You won’t fight your landlord?”

“Well, the charge is probably right. Briar’s ‘friends’ break things. A lot of things. And even though the landlord owes us for the living conditions, it’s not right to shirk our responsibility.”

“You mean the responsibility of the person who broke the machine.”

“Yeah, but they’ll never take responsibility, and Briar has no money, so it’s back on me.” She sighed and groaned. “Just when you think you’re coming out ahead, something new pops up and wrecks everything.”

He smiled. “You describe every product launch everywhere.”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t complain. I don’t, usually. It’s what compartmentalizing is for.” Then she frowned. “Oh, but you asked.”

“I did, and I will ask again. Talk to me, Rose. I won’t be compartmentalized out of your life again.”

She hugged him tighter, warming his heart.

They dropped off the permission slip, then took off again.

In the air, she checked his watch. “Maybe you should just take me to work.”

“You don’t wish to enjoy an hour and a half in your apartment?”

“I’d love that. I don’t know what I’d do with myself. It’s a dream.”

He landed in front of her small apartment. “Live the dream.”

She released him, a little uncertain. He leaned down to give her a kiss and then stopped. She disliked public affection. “See you soon.”

“Okay.” She eased her weight to the balls of her feet and planted a kiss on his cheek.

He turned to meet her.

Their lips brushed.

She stumbled back, adorably awkward, and grabbed the porch pillar. “Okay, see you tonight.”

“I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Oh! Right. I…right.” She climbed the steps, dropped her keys twice, and let herself into the house. Then, her eyes peeked between the blinds at the window.

He waved.

She ducked, then opened the blinds and waved.

He lifted off and made several phone calls in the air. One was to the landlord, another to the housing inspections, and another to a Realtor. Rose had told him the method to improve her grandmother’s living situation. He executed it.

Her family was a part of her team. He had made a mistake with Briar, and now he knew better. Rose had tried to fight and been beaten down by a lack of progress. So, he would fight for her.

Jasper finished his calls and reached the office. He landed by the front door, entered the lobby, and exchanged pleasantries with their gruff human receptionist, Jeanine, while waiting on the security escort.

Peridot arrived, out of breath, to escort him through the building. “Jasper. How is your plan for returning to the Onyx Corporation?”

“It needs work.” Jasper strolled to the elevators with Peridot. “I hope you’re working well with my fantastic team.”

The other dragon didn’t answer right away. They rode the elevator to the top floor.

“They’re very easy to work with,” Jasper continued. “You need only to ask, and they will give their all to the building.”

“We have spoken little.”

“They can be task focused.” Jasper stepped onto the soft carpet of the top floor and followed Peridot into his old office. “I had to initiate many conversations to gain a good understanding and personal connection.”

Peridot took Jasper’s old chair behind his old desk. “You did?”

“Yes, I talked about myself and made connections. Also, I asked them about themselves, and we developed a rapport.”

Peridot looked confused.

“As an aristocrat, perhaps you never did this,” Jasper offered, staying on the guest side as was proper.

“Never.”

“I’m told it’s a workplace practice. I recommend you take up the habit. Anyway, I’m sure things will go well. My team is so competent that even if you do nothing, they will exceed expectations.”

“I see. Thank you.”

The office door slammed open.

Mal roared at him. “Jasper! You never answered your texts. You’re late! What were you doing?”

“Dropping off my future nephew.”

“Nephew!”

“As I explained yesterday, I will marry Rose, and she—”

“Shh!” Mal clamped a hand over Jasper’s mouth. “She’ll hear you.”

“Mmph?”

“Larimar. The daughter of Adviser Wrathmoda.”

“Mmph.”

“She’s here. Waiting for you in the conference room.” Mal released Jasper. His malachite-green scales stood up midshiver. He straightened and shook himself, and they descended under his skin. He was the fearless leader who gazed upon danger and saw opportunity, so it was strange to hear him panic. “We can’t beat her.”

The scales on the back of Jasper’s neck and arms also rose. He took a deep breath and straightened his suit. “I am not afraid to fight.”

“You should be.” Mal led them to the conference room.

Kyan and Alex waited in the hallway. They looked nervous and out of sorts. Behind them ranged the security forces. Unlike the energy from moments ago when Jasper had exited the elevator, now the floor was quiet and evacuated.

Pitching his voice lower, Mal leaned toward Jasper’s ear. “Try to get her outside before you draw her anger.”

“If you wanted her outside, why didn’t you refuse her entry?”

Mal looked at him like he was crazy. “You think we had a choice?”

“If you had no choice, why did you think I do?”

Mal didn’t have a good answer.

Jasper turned and entered the familiar conference room.

A white-blonde female sat on a chair in all-white trousers, blouse, boots, and a long white trench coat. Her slender ankle balanced on her knee.

Jasper reached out his hand to shake. “Larimar? I apologize for keeping you waiting. I’m Jasper.”

Larimar dropped her leg and stood. She towered over him, at least seven feet, and he had the unsettling experience of rolling back on his heels to keep his eyes fixed on her sharp, milky blue-green eyes. “Jasper.”

He swallowed.

Amber was small, and he’d forgotten that even in human form, female dragons were another breed. Also, Amber worked hard to be seen as an unassuming part of the team, whereas most females flaunted their superiority and relished the opportunity to show off.

Larimar clamped his hand. “You’re smaller than I expected. Mother is hard on husbands. I hope your health is strong.”

Jasper steadied himself as Larimar pumped his limp hand. “My health is strong.”

“So you say.” She flexed to claws. Razors ghosted across his skin. “My doctor will confirm. My accountant will tally your assets. As you are a low caste, I expect little.”

“Ah.” He twisted his hand trying to relieve the pressure. “There is a slight problem.”

Her claws dug in, holding him so he couldn’t move or risk slicing himself to the bone. “There is no problem. You are grateful for her attention.”

“I initiated the marriage proceedings too hastily, and—”

“What? You did not initiate.” She laughed, and her mouth showed sharp incisors that could rip his throat out. “We have had our eyes on you since your appearance at the top of the business charts. I approached your mother then. And although she has made suicidal threats to fight House Tektite, when our warships appeared over her planet several days ago, those threats wisely ceased.”

“I thought my mother arranged your offer after the Empress demanded Mal.”

“The Empress? No.” Her white-blonde brows lifted. “But you are going to build us a company so vast, so powerful, that when the current treaty protecting Earth inevitably collapses, we will rule this backwater planet.”

“That will be—”

“We will set up her company before Mother arrives so all she must do is glide into her new position of power as the richest dragon outside Draconis.”

“I can—”

“Now, take me to the finest office on Earth. This one is cramped. I will wait there until you have produced the company I deserve.” She released him.

He rubbed his wrist. The human skin was grazed, but the dragon scales underneath were uninjured. “I would be happy to take you to the finest office.”

“Good.”

He used his cell phone to arrange the transaction, and—with Mal’s permission from the hallway—displayed the interior photos on the wall screen. “This is your new office building.”

She scooted forward and examined the crisp white lines, the amphitheater shipping docks, the ice and snow in the backdrop. “How quaint. I suppose everything is smaller on this planet. What floor is it?”

“It’s in Sweden.”

“Hmm.” She leaned back and rested her ankle on her knee. “Your building is already configured for intergalactic export.”

“It is no longer my building. I left the company before my mother accepted the offer.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Then what are you still doing here?”

“I’m a guest, like you. Look.” He waved his hand over the wall screen. It didn’t respond. “I cannot operate any dragon machinery.”

She glanced at the hallway. Had she exiled his brothers from her sight? It was common on Draconis, but the first incidence on Earth. And it would happen all the time if he actually married Adviser Wrathmoda and joined the aristocracy.

Imagining it hurt his heart.

“Very well.” Larimar rose, towering over him once more. “Take me to my quaint office.”

He led her out the door—she had to duck through the doorways—and into the emptying hallway to the elevator, taking the usual guest route through the building.

She folded her arms. “I had no idea the most successful dragon family outside Draconis couldn’t afford a properly sized building.”

“It was built for males,” he agreed. “That is why I have acquired you an office that will need fewer adjustments. The space has already been customized for taller humans. The Swedish basketball team owned it.”

“Hmph.” She followed him out of the elevator on the ground floor and into the parking lot, where they both rose. His brothers hovered overhead.

Jasper checked his watch. There wasn’t enough time to take Larimar and return before he needed to pick up Rose. “Please review the office and make a list of improvements. I will join you.”

She zoomed near him. “No.”

He edged back, uncomfortable with her speed, bulk, and ruthless razor claws. “No?”

“You’re scheming to get away from me. Your brothers have been whispering all morning. They think I don’t hear them.” She lowered her voice to a malicious whisper. “I do.”

He had hoped to have this conversation long-distance since he hadn’t gotten it out in the office, but at least here, he had room to fly away. Too bad she was faster. He continued backing up. “Yes, I’m sorry. Please rest assured I will help set up the company for you.”

She continued edging into him. “Of course you will.”

“But—” His back hit the wall of the office building. “I will not marry your mother.”

She arched a brow. “Oh?”

“The female I desire also desires me. We have bared ourselves and mated. We are married in the dragon way.”

“Mm.” Larimar gazed around, squinting, and then returned to him. “How strange. I don’t see her anywhere.”

“Yes, well, she’s a human—”

“A human!” Larimar laughed with her teeth. She slammed her claws into the building, digging out chunks of concrete. “Jasper, what a funny little joke. Who can a low caste marry? A no-caste, of course. And so what happens when a dominant female comes to collect you?” She snicked her claws in front of his face. “Nothing. That’s what happens.”

“I will set up this company, but I will not marry,” he repeated, his voice shaking even though he strove to keep it steady.

“That’s so silly.”

“I’m sorry, Larimar.”

“Don’t be.”

She moved faster than he could see. Her claws enclosed his throat.

He couldn’t breathe.

She yanked him off the wall and sneered. “As if you had a choice.”

* * *

Jasper was late.

Rose sat on her front step, her toes wiggling, and stared up at the flawless blue sky. The day was already hot and threatening to get even hotter.

And how luxurious it had been to relax on the couch with a cup of tea! She was never home by herself, ever. Liam always ran underfoot, messing up one part of the apartment while she cleaned up another part, so they went round and round until bedtime. Alone, it was so quiet! She could even hear birds chirping from inside.

She was still a little sore in funny places from sex with Jasper last night, so she’d put her lunch in the fridge and rested, reliving the sweet and swoony moments until her heart had almost burst.

Imagine a world where Briar was healed! Or at least not so angry and impulsive. What a dream!

It was too much.

The urge to tidy had forced her up, and she’d run after the vacuum, then the duster, and then the bathroom. Her floors would never be as white as Jasper’s, and she’d never fully polish any of the fixtures, but sweeping up lint and dust still felt good. And her muscles limbered, and the squeaky soreness receded. Tidying was therapeutic, as it had always been.

She also thought best while she was moving, so while her body went through the familiar motions, her brain worked on Grandma’s problems.

If Rose married Jasper—not that she would, but she very much might—then she and Liam could move into his spaceship, and she could ask to switch the renter to Grandma. She’d stay on the lease. Jasper wouldn’t charge rent—and what was rent on a spaceship, anyway?—so Rose could still afford the lease on this place. Since it was a one-bedroom, Briar couldn’t crash. At all. And her so-called friends couldn’t either.

Rose snorted to herself. Convincing Grandma to close her home to Briar was a fantasy all right.

Rose had checked the time, stowed her cleaning supplies, grabbed her lunch, and headed out onto the stoop to be ready for Jasper.

And here she waited.

Her phone showed it was past the hour. Rose left a calm voice message on Jasper’s phone. Then five past the hour. Ten past the hour. She stood and paced. Where was he?

Taylor came out her door and locked it, then saw her. “Good morning. You look like you’re waiting for the sky to fall.”

“It already might have.”

She tilted her head quizzically.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Rose waved her worries away. “Ignore me. Are you going out?”

“For groceries, my weekly book club, and I volunteer at the food bank. Are you usually at work now?”

“Yeah.” She searched the blue sky. “I was supposed to have a ride…”

Taylor looked up at the sky too. “The young man with the Shin Rey chef knife? Is he coming by hot-air balloon?”

“He’s a dragon, so he can fly.”

“Ah, yes. Apparently, he’s not so good about the time.”

“But he’s never late. I’m worried.”

“Given his history of misunderstandings, I can see why.” She unlocked her Smart car, stowed her purse in the back, and opened the passenger’s side. “Have a seat.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.”

“You could, and you better.”

“I really couldn’t. There’s the bus.”

“Then you’ll be even later. Come on, get in.”

“I’ll make you late,” Rose protested.

Taylor lifted a brow. “Late to grocery shopping? I thought you worked at the Onyx building, not in the next state.”

Rose hesitated, but Taylor insisted, and Peridot was just looking for an excuse to write her up and fire her, so she jumped in and buckled up. Taylor zoomed out of the apartment complex. Her car was the size of a large golf cart, and the engine was strangely quiet, but it got them around.

Rose’s nerves eased to be on the move, even though she dreaded what would happen when they stopped. She wanted to make time travel backward.

“Do you suppose he’s been arrested again?” Taylor asked at a stoplight.

Rose felt bad all over again. “I don’t think so. There’s some chaos at work. He probably… Well, he wouldn’t forget, but…”

“He misunderstood.”

“Okay, the thing last time was partly my fault.”

“You encouraged him to stalk you with a chef’s knife?”

“No, I discouraged him, and the knife was… I don’t know what that was. He’s usually better at social cues, but some dragon wants to marry him, and marrying a human was the only escape, and he didn’t want to marry any human but me, so, here we are.”

Taylor turned into the parking lot. Dragons in human form dotted the sky flying to and fro like an international meeting of superhero businessmen. She looked up out the windshield. “Is it always this busy?”

“No.” A hole darkened the side of the building, and dragons hovered around it, arguing. She hoped it didn’t relate to Jasper’s silence. “Thanks for the ride.”

“You’re welcome.” Taylor rested her hands on the steering wheel and stared. “It’s a different world, isn’t it? And so close to home too. I can’t wait to tell the book club. I heard they came to Earth centuries ago. Maybe we’ll have to read a medieval book on dragons.”

Rose waved again and hurried into the building through her usual entrance. Peridot was nowhere to be seen. The offices were strangely shut down as though everyone had panicked and evacuated. She dropped her lunch in the staff room fridge.

Her coworkers lounged on the couches and chairs, the picture of unconcerned relaxation. Shawn scrolled news on his phone, Elle typed a school paper on her laptop with her headphones in, and Patty circled weekend sales in the newspaper.

“You’re late,” Shawn noted.

Rose jerked her spine straight. Hot electricity jolted through her, and she gesticulated wildly. “I know! I know, it’s… I’m so sorry. I was going to come in earlier, but then Jasper said to go home and relax, so I did, and he never came back. My neighbor just dropped me off. I came as fast as I could. I was supposed to get a ride from Jasper.”

Elle stopped typing.

Everyone stared at her.

Elle popped her gum. Loudly.

“So, Jasper let you down too, huh?” Shawn asked.

“Well, I just… I think…something happened… When I see him, I’ll ask.” She crossed her arms, her heart still beating hard. “What do you mean ‘too’? He didn’t let you down.”

“He let us all down with that jerk in charge.”

She made the shush gesture. “Calling our new boss a jerk is not appropriate at work.”

Shawn clamped his lips. Elle rolled her eyes. Patty looked sympathetic, but she didn’t speak.

The lack of encouragement was frosty.

“But anyway, it might not have been up to him, and…”

Nobody was listening. Elle had returned to typing furiously, and the others didn’t care about her defending Jasper.

It made her sad. They’d been so close before.

No, not close. They’d been close to Jasper. Rose had kept them at arm’s length. On purpose, so it wouldn’t hurt when they turned against her.

Funnily enough, it hurt anyway.

She cleared her throat of the painful lump. “So, what are you doing? Since it clearly isn’t work.”

Nobody answered.

She sucked in a deep breath against the pain and turned away. “Okay, I’ll just—”

“We’re having a résumé party,” Elle said, breaking the silence. “And Patty’s making a list of prices for selling her restored furniture on eBay.”

“Oh.” Rose cleared her throat again. “Huh. Are you, uh, having any luck with that?”

“Shawn’s got a job interview tomorrow. I’m looking for a paid internship. Patty?”

“Look at this beauty.” She tilted the papers to show off a gray chest of drawers with elaborate carvings, not unlike what might go in Jasper’s ship. If it were gold, it could match the bed. “It sold for a hundred dollars. I’ve got three in my garage.”

“Wow.”

“I always wanted to start the business, and Ed said, why not? Since we’re getting pushed out anyway, I just have to figure out my schedule so I don’t bump into Ed and I don’t get tapped for babysitting. People think since my hair is gray, I can’t get enough of my grandkids, but let me tell you, I can.”

“Rent an office,” Elle suggested. “Or a showroom or something, so you have to be out of the house.”

“Then my husband will drop the kids off.”

“Don’t tell him where it is.”

She tapped her lips, pensive. Then she gestured to Rose. “You want to sit? I have space.”

“Thanks, but I have to get back. The sewage filters wait for no one.”

“You’re not on the rota.”

“I know, but if we wait until my week, there won’t be any pipes left.”

Shawn smiled evilly. “We can only hope.”

The others shared his ill humor.

Rose didn’t enjoy leaving her coworkers in this mood. Even though she wasn’t their supervisor, and they had every right to be upset about how they were treated, they shouldn’t let the place fall apart. “What’s the point of coming in if you’re not going to work?”

Elle snapped up her head. “What’s the point of working if you’re going to get fired anyway?”

Rose felt her mouth open, and she closed it. “Responsibility? Being responsible. A part of the team?”

Elle exchanged glances with the others.

Shawn said it best. “When you find the team, let us know.”

Shawn’s snide remark kicked Rose in the gut.

Right.

Rose headed out of the staff room and almost flattened Peridot. “Oh! Goodness. Peridot!” She raised her voice so they’d hear her inside the lounge. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.” He turned away from the staff room without looking inside and walked with her to the environmental tech closet. “You’re not at your station.”

“Yes! Ah, you see, um, Jasper was supposed to give me a ride to work, and—”

“Larimar abducted Jasper.”

Ice water crashed over her. She gasped. Her worst fears confirmed. “No.”

“Yes,” he replied, matter-of-fact. “Larimar took him to Sweden to run her business and marry her mother.”

“Sweden!”

“I’m disappointed in you, Rose. You should have known this already.”

She stammered. “What? But how?”

“That is a common refrain from you, isn’t it? How could you have known about the morning meeting? How could you have known that Jasper was abducted? I’m disappointed with your lack of effort to remain informed about your workplace.”

“But…but I called Jasper—”

“Larimar has confiscated his cell phone.”

“And I was waiting for him—”

“It is your responsibility to reach work. Not his. And, as his marriage partner, it is your responsibility to protect Jasper. You’ve done a poor job of both.”

This was a nightmare.

She squeezed the cart. “What can I do?”

“Jasper said you wouldn’t fight. That seems to be true.”

“Okay, that’s the second time you’ve said I have to fight.” She held up her hand. “Jasper’s never said anything.”

“Because he knew you would refuse.”

“Refuse what?”

“Refuse to fight Larimar, the dragon who’s abducted Jasper, in Sweden.”

Her head reeled. “You want me to fight a dragon? In Sweden? Right now?”

He eyed her as if she were demonstrating her bad attitude.

She sputtered. “How can I even get to Sweden? I don’t have a private jet.”

“You don’t need a private jet. You can just fly.”

“Um, yes, I need a jet. I’m not a dragon. Humans can’t just fly. Maybe if you guys could, uh, help me…”

“Help you fight against a female dragon like Larimar?” Peridot cracked his first uncomfortable smile. “We would not stand a chance. She would destroy us before we got close. Flame us from the sky. Slice us with her razor claws. Tear our throats out with her teeth. No, you must defeat her by yourself with your bare hands.”

She choked. “Bare-handed?”

“That’s how we resolve marriage rivalries.”

“And you think I can just fly over to Sweden, without a jet, alone, and declare war on this homicidal female dragon when you guys can’t even stop her from kidnapping Jasper in the building you own with everybody around?”

Peridot nodded as though she’d restated the obvious. “You will not fight.”

“It’s not a question of will! It’s a question of ability.” She shook her head. “So, what happens now? Is Jasper going to be all right?”

“He will either fold to her marriage pressure, or she will destroy him.”

Her panic rose again. “What? You have to save him!”

“Yes, his brothers are thinking of a method now.”

Oh. Okay. Her panic lessened. These dragons could do anything, and they were far more prepared, especially the security guy, Kyan. He was massive and scarred and capable. They had guns, technology, money. Everything she didn’t have, they had. If anyone could mount a rescue mission, it would be Kyan.

She was panicking over nothing. Well, not nothing, but something she couldn’t control.

Like the accident. Like cancer. Like Briar’s head injury.

Rose gripped the environmental technician cart with shaking hands. If only she could see Jasper. Talk to him. He’d reassure her like he always did.

So she would make sure he had a building to come back to.

Rose reached for her hazmat suit.

Peridot stopped her. “Where are you going?”

She froze. “Is there another morning meeting?”

“No, but you’re assigned to the top floor.”

“Right, but it’s been three days since we lasered the sewage pipes, and we need to get on that before the parasites spore.”

“Why are you concerned? That task has been assigned to someone else.”

“Yeah, but, uh, I’ve been here the longest, so I know the hidey places.” Shawn was begging to get fired, but she couldn’t be the reason. “You can adjust the rota when something else becomes the priority.”

“The top floors are used by the most important dragons. You must surround them with beauty and cleanliness, always.”

“Well, yeah, but the toilets—”

“And you must clean the conference room. An earlier argument destroyed the table. You’ll find chips in the ceiling.”

As usual.

“The mess makes the room unusable. Luckily, you are already assigned there. It’s the highest priority.”

“The toilets are on every floor,” she pushed. “If the pipes burst, the entire top floor will be unusable.”

He seemed to consider it.

“The rota’s not set in stone. When something changes, you have to adjust.”

His eyes narrowed. “Jasper made that rota. Are you arguing with his judgment?”

She swallowed. “I’m not trying to… Well, nothing against him, but I did argue with Jasper.”

He shook his head. “I won’t write you up this time.”

Her heart punched her throat. She wanted to scream, For what?! But that wouldn’t help.

“Jasper is no longer your superior. And while I can’t write up employees for past infractions, please listen and learn: You must never, ever question your superiors. They’re your superior for a reason. If you haven’t figured out the reason, you’re not smart enough to become a supervisor.”

Blood rushed in her ears, outperforming the roar in the HVAC engine room.

He waited for her.

She nodded and coughed. “Okay.”

“My father used to say that before he threw me out of the family.” Peridot’s jaw tightened. “Now, memories are all I have left.”

“Oh. Uh, sorry.”

“I don’t talk about it because it is a painful subject.”

Then why are you talking about it to me?

He stared.

She fumbled for something, anything, to follow his confession. “Huh.”

He lifted his brows and shook his head in disappointment. “Well, I will not repeat this personal conversation. Do you feel inspired to exceed expectations?”

“Um…”

“The correct answer is to say ‘Yes’ and then complete your task in less than my estimated time. For cleaning out the conference room, I estimate it will take ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes! To dig conference table chips out of the ceiling? That’s not even time to get the ladder out of the closet.”

“Yes, but I judge by how long it should take, not how long it will take you.” He set his watch. “I’ll check in on you.”

Rose hung up the hazmat suit and shouldered the rocket pack for cleaning windows. It was allowed indoors—they used it sometimes in the shipping bays—but the finicky controls made it dangerous. She could levitate without a ladder to remove the conference table chips from the ceiling.

“At least let me get to the room before you start the timer.”

“A dragon wouldn’t ask for accommodation.”

She muttered under her breath as she strapped on her utility belt and collected the scrapers, clipped a bucket to hold the scraps, and grabbed the vacuum wands. “I’d like to see a dragon clean the room in under ten. I really would.”

“Rose? Are you questioning me?”

She jerked up. “No. I was stating a wish. A desire. That’s not a question, so I’m not questioning you.”

He pursed his lips and followed her to the elevator. “Very well. We will divide the room, and at the end of five minutes, we will see whose side is cleaner.”

Her hands quivered. Part of her wanted to take that challenge. The other part of her wanted to keep her job.

She shut up as the elevator rose to the top floor. Peridot stepped out first. Crazy energy filled the cubicles—dragons shouting for each other, phones ringing, chaos. But because she’d been up here every day doing the basics, she’d kept everything wiped down and neat.

Peridot stopped at the conference room doorway.

The conference table was a massive piece of African mahogany custom-built for the office. She knew because Jasper had to restock them frequently, and the question was how to do so sustainably.

Dragons had cracked it into two and smashed chunks into pieces. Six hundred pounds of wood had fractured at extreme force, and bits were embedded in the walls and floor, as well as the ceiling. It must have hit the window, because the glass was super thick, but it was spiderwebbed.

Dragons had also warped half of the comfy office chairs. Metal bent and stuffing puffed out of long claw scratches. Fluff confettied the floor and floated like a mist.

They’d even upended the coffee trolley. Espresso grounds stained the wall. Cream seeped into the carpet. Droplets of sticky stuff coated every surface.

Peridot floated above the mess and marked off the halves of the ceiling. “Five minutes.”

She adjusted her mask over her face and snapped on her formfitting work gloves. It wasn’t the worst she’d seen, but it was bad. “For the ceiling, or the entire conference room?”

“Entire conference room.”

“Okay, because we’ll need the mobile dumpster for the chairs, the industrial vacuum for the fluff, the—”

“Industrial vacuum?” He raised his brows. “No, that will not be necessary. The wand you have is sufficient.”

She pointed at the fluff. “That little stuff clogs the filter.”

“You are wielding dragon technology. Human detritus will not clog it.”

“I’ve been doing this job a long time, and—”

His eyes hardened to green glass. “Are you questioning me?”

She shut her mouth. Her teeth clicked.

“Are you?” he repeated.

She licked her lips. “I’m not questioning you. I was, uh, sharing.”

He frowned. “Sharing?”

“My experience. And, you know, I want your test to be fair. You want us to clean the whole room in five minutes, and I’m the only one with a vacuum wand. Are you going to pick up everything by hand?”

He nodded, perusing the room. “I did not think…”

“To grab the supplies? I know, that’s what I was saying. You don’t even have the mobile dumpster to toss the broken stuff into. How about we forget this contest, and you can watch how I clean and get some ideas?”

His eyes narrowed again. “Ideas?”

“You know, for improvement. Like, you see what I do, and I’ll tell you why I’m doing everything, and then you can review the results and, you know, learn.”

He considered it.

Her hopes rose.

“No,” he decided. “We will trade tools at the midpoint. I will use my superior dragon method, and you will try to keep up.”

Okay. “And the broken chairs?”

“We will roll them into the hallway and clear them later.”

Right. Okay.

Peridot held up his watch. “Of course, you know if you fail this efficiency test, you’ll be fired.”

Her heartbeat accelerated.

She liked this job. Even if her coworkers resented her, Jasper was no longer here brightening her day, and her new boss held the threat of firing over her head, she still liked this job. It was interesting. She had to improvise and solve unique problems, from parasite hunting to technology wrangling, and even the normal parts like washing dishes and polishing picture frames were welcome oases of calm. There was a great sense of satisfaction in starting with glass grimed with fingerprints, coffee, and, worse, bodily fluids (after a fight, they’d often draw blood, and guess what? It went everywhere, and she had to clean it) and ending with pristine, shiny, clear glass.

That was why the résumé party hadn’t appealed. She wanted this job. She wanted to keep it.

So she had to fight. “I understand.”

“Good. This will go faster than I realized.” He lifted his watch. “Give me the vacuum at the halfway mark. I will tell you.”

She unclipped the wand and handed it to him. “Oh, here. You can do it first.”

He gripped it, confirming the power button. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.” She manipulated the rocket pack to levitate, nearly braining herself on the low ceiling, and dropping to the floor again.

He watched her with consternation. “Stop this playfulness.”

“I’m not playing.” She eased up again, more carefully, and hovered dangerously near a big chunk. She really should have grabbed a helmet.

Jasper never would have forced her to do something like this.

She hoped he was okay.

If she lost her job, how would she ever know what happened to him?

She needed to keep this job and seek out one of the other brothers. Somebody would know how to help him. Kyan. She’d ask Kyan.

Assuming he didn’t blame her like Peridot.

Rose poised her chisel next to the chunk. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Your job is on the line.” Peridot clicked the stopwatch button. “Start.”

Jasper crossed his bare arms in the ice-crusted prison. Dragon-proof irons shackled his ankles. An icy wind drove pinpricks of snow against his skin.

Larimar lounged on an ice-covered boulder in the calm between snow flurries. She’d found this abandoned concrete bunker on Google Image Search and been delighted to repurpose it to hold him.

They were somewhere in the southern hemisphere. He’d blacked out before they’d arrived and awoken naked and chained.

She preened in pure white muffs on top of her previous outfit, and her pale cheeks were pink with the wind. “You know I will keep you out here without food or water until you drop your pretensions and marry Mother.”

His breath puffed, forming tiny crystals in the air. The cold ground had made his feet ache, but a firm coat of scales insulated him against frostbite.

Mostly he worried about Rose.

“I’ll leave you out here to starve. Until your skin freezes off and your bones protrude. Until you’re a skeleton of a male.”

Had she gotten to work? She’d relied on him, and he’d let her down. For the first time in his life, he’d failed to uphold his commitment, and of all people, it was to Rose.

Of course, Peridot would understand. Today was an exceptional circumstance.

Peridot came highly recommended. He was a serious dragon who had overcome a difficult adjustment as a fallen aristocrat, and he’d taken great pains to make no errors at Carnelian Clothiers. He’d never supervised anyone before, but as an exceptional employee, he’d wowed his bosses.

Jasper’s team was great, so they’d never miss him. Not the way he’d miss—

“All right, already!” Larimar stormed to Jasper. “Aren’t you starving?”

“Humans can go without food for three weeks, and dragons even longer,” he pointed out. “It’s barely past lunch.”

“Yes, but we don’t have three weeks. Mother will be here. Build her an intergalactic brand before she arrives! Preferably before tomorrow’s lunch.”

“I will work the problem out with you as a team.”

“But you’re Mother’s fiancé, which is as good as my slave.” She unleashed her claws again. Her face elongated in rage, and a thick, meaty tail emerged from her tail bone as she hunched into the start of a terrifying dragon. “I could chew on you. Slice off your hands. Take out your eyes.”

His scales rose in defense, and it felt like horrifying shivers over his body. “Please don’t.”

“Confirm you are Mother’s fiancé.”

“It would be a lie.”

“It’s not a lie if you obey, slave!” She drew her razor-sharp claw along his cheek. The human skin parted as his dragon scales rose to protect him. Her claw sliced through with an electric, painful zing, and a hot bead of blood froze on his cheek. “I’ll take your eye!”

His fingers flexed and his eyeballs twitched. He wanted to keep these pieces. Among the many other great pleasures of life, fingers were necessary to stroke Rose and give her relaxing massages, and his eyes were necessary for seeing her look adorable. He wanted to keep them very much.

Jasper held his breath.

Larimar’s stomach growled. Long, low, hungry gurgles.

She glanced down at her midsection, then retracted her claws and rested on her heels. “You are much harder to break than an ordinary low caste. This must be because you worked at Space Voyages Inc., the most profitable business in the Outer Rim. That is why I knew you must establish our company.” She flicked out one of her claws again. “But you are mine now. So I can take an eye.”

He swallowed. “Your company will suffer.”

“You will suffer.”

“Consider how much slower I would move without depth perception.”

“That would be your fault for displeasing me!”

He didn’t argue. “The result is the same. Lowered performance, slower growth, less profit.”

She flounced away from him, boots crunching ice, turned on her heel, and stormed back. “I could spray you with my lust hormones. You’d become my slave, unable to turn me aside. I know how to do it. My mother has used this attack many times.”

He’d rather be maced. “And how long were her victims stupefied? I thought you wanted to set up this company quickly.”

“I do! You are the one slowing me.” Her eyes changed to dragon pupils with furious glowing threads. “And I am an aristocrat who will not allow insubordination!”

Her stomach growled again, long and squeezy sounding.

She covered her belly.

“Return my clothes and phone,” he urged. “I will acquire food. No one negotiates well when they’re hungry.”

Strangely, his words reached her, and Larimar returned his clothes and phone. She balked at removing the ankle chain, which made it impossible to put on pants. “You are still Mother’s fiancé, and therefore, my slave.”

The phone rang in his hands. He answered.

His brother Kyan spoke tightly. “Brace yourself. My team is setting an explosion for—”

“Please don’t.” He looked to the sky and spied the dark dot of Kyan flying against the distant white. “I am in no need of rescue.”

He made a skeptical snort.

“We are negotiating a business contract. There is no need for violence.”

“She threatened to take your eyes.”

“Outside violence,” he amended. “The best way to help me is if you will care for Rose. She relied on me today, and I failed her. In my absence, can you—”

Larimar’s claws extended and clasped his mouth in a razor hold. Her eyes shifted to fierce dragon, and smoke curled from her mouth in fury. “End this useless conversation.”

“…please care for her.”

Kyan sighed roughly, which Jasper took for an affirmative. Jasper ended the call.

“Another useless deviation like that, and I will destroy you,” Larimar vowed.

“It was not useless.” He dialed his caterer. “Mental health is as important as physical health to peak performance.”

Her gaze narrowed. “I have never prioritized mental health.”

“Then imagine how much better you’d perform if you prioritized.”

“My performance is perfect.”

“If you have never prioritized mental health, then you have no baseline.”

She blinked.

The caterer answered, and Jasper placed an extensive food order, then contracted with dragon transporters since he doubted Larimar would consider the errand worthy of her aristocratic status. His dragon cell phone said they were in Antarctica, and this bunker was concrete, so the humans must have fabricated it elsewhere before abandoning it here.

A dragon courier dropped off two crates, and Larimar opened box after box of serving trays, appetizers, salads, sides, entrees, and desserts. She hovered over the boxes, paralyzed. “Why did you order so many?”

“You are new to Earth. This is what I buy for a new-recruit welcome lunch.”

She dipped her spoon into mustardy potato salad, miso soup, and tacos verde. Then she kept tasting.

His stomach growled. He was calm enough to be hungry.

She sat cross-legged on the boulder and savored the food with little murmurs of appreciation. Then she sneered, “Aren’t you sorry you disobeyed me? You’re hungry. And you will be until you obey.”

“If I intended to sabotage you, I’d refuse food.”

“Lies.”

He tapped his brain. “Peak performance.”

After some time, she carried over a box of potato salad. “Here.”

He was a little hungry. Jasper thanked her and consumed the rich salad sprinkled with spicy pickle crunches.

“I do not have to force you to be Mother’s fiancé. You will face her wrath when she arrives, and your only hope of survival is that she values you more alive than dead. You will accomplish that by creating the most lucrative company for me. Do you dare to disagree?”

He shook his head.

“Then.” She straightened her shoulders, pleased. “Stop delaying and start performing.”

“Unchain me from the wall.”

She hesitated, but eventually did so with a growl. “If you try anything, I’ll eviscerate you.”

He pulled on his pants. “Try anything like what?”

“Escape. Sabotage. Anything.”

“You have outlined the reason I am dedicated to creating this company for you. So let’s go now to the office I arranged for you and begin.”

She flew, abandoning her lunch on the ice, and he called another company to take care of the mess while en route to Sweden. Summer sun warmed his frosted skin.

Once inside, they adjourned inside to the head conference room, and he unpacked a new box of dry erase markers, then posed in front of the wall-sized whiteboard. “What kind of company do you wish to create?”

“The most lucrative.”

“Lucrative now, or lucrative in six months?”

“Yes.”

So lucrative now. “Which industry? What are your starting resources? Do you have a business plan?”

She grew excited, sitting up in her chair and resting her palms on the desk. “Yes, I have a business plan. The industry isn’t important. And the Onyx Corporation is my starting resource.”

He recapped the marker with a click. “It wasn’t part of the marriage offer, so I returned my share of the business.”

“You still have access to the building.”

“I do not. I can’t even brew a cup of coffee.”

“Oh.” Her lips flattened in a line. “Well, it doesn’t matter either. Once we show a profit—exponential profit—then Mother will be eager to invest.”

He tapped the base of the marker against his palm. “You have no capital?”

“Of course I have an allowance. And there are your liquid assets, and your lair—”

“My female needs my lair.”

“Until she’s no longer your female.” Her eyes glittered. “But very well. Here is my capital.”

And he noted her modest numbers, but kept quiet about their significance.

For the treasured daughter of a high-level aristocrat, an adviser to the Empress, the numbers were nowhere close to what the Onyx Corporation spent on a single product launch. But it was enough for prototyping.

He finished his notes and silent evaluation. “And your business plan?”

“Yes!” She straightened again, eager. “It has three steps.”

He prepared to transcribe.

“First, acquire the most lucrative product. Second, sell that product to Draconis at the highest prices. Third, reinvest our profits to expand, and repeat the first two steps.”

He finished transcribing the plan. It looked like 1 - Acquire; 2 - Sell; 3 - Profit. She beamed and nodded once, satisfied.

Jasper pushed. “That’s it?”

“That is it.” She clasped her hands, claws entwined. “I’ve wanted to run my own company for years. I’ve dreamed about this. You’re the first person I’ve ever shared my plan with.” She gazed on the whiteboard and sighed. “It’s perfect. When can you start?”

“Start?”

“With acquiring the most lucrative product and shipping it to Draconis?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“You will need to fill in a few details.” He made new bullet points on the next wall. “Which product?”

“The most lucrative.”

“Highest price point? Cheapest to produce and ship? Most return on investment?”

“Yes, all of those.”

“The highest-priced products in the Empire are spaceships. Earth lacks the raw materials, knowledge, and production facilities, so you should relocate to the Outer Rim.”

“Obviously, I do not mean the highest-priced item in the Empire.”

“Cheapest to produce and ship are gemstones. Once these reach Draconis, however, they are also easiest to reproduce by local labs, so you must reinvest in new products and watch the old bestsellers make money for other dragons.”

“Ugh. How irritating.”

“And it increases the initial investment. Human clothing and art, such as is exported by the Onyx Corporation, now requires a huge investment to flood the market with our products before the local companies do so; consequently, the brand itself—like Carnelian Clothiers—sells more than just patterns. We sell authenticity. Your company will have to establish your brand from scratch, which requires a massive outlay.”

“Of course I don’t want to sell something easily reproduced.”

“Then determining the items with the highest return on investment is an infinite process of testing and refining. Markets, politics, trends, fads—everything affects the bottom line in intergalactic sales.”

“No.” She held up her hands. “I have studied Earth ever since your first product launches. The most lucrative product is always obvious.”

“Earth is teeming with products.”

“But there are only three versions, so selecting the most superior version will be easy.”

He tilted his head. “I don’t understand.”

“You wouldn’t because you are only in acquisitions. You lack a leader’s vision. That’s why you need a dominant female, like me, to lead a company.” She tsked and shook her head. “It’s incredible your siblings have done so well. Your sister must be secretly leading you.”

Anxiety squiggled in his belly. “The Gentleman’s Society investigated us and concluded that we are not reliant on her nor in violation of un-dragon-like behavior.”

“The Gentleman’s Society is composed of weak-minded males. They missed the obvious, just like you.”

“Which is?”

“Take this human food, cheese.” She lofted the small triangle she’d carried in from her lunch. “I well know that there is only cheddar, pepper jack, and limburger.”

“Limburger,” he repeated.

“Of the three, the best is pepper jack.”

“Actually—”

“This is determined not only by my palate, which is refined, but also by sales figures, which I know about because of my friend Fire Opal in the Gneiss family that exports cheeses.”

“Yes, of those three, pepper jack is understandable, but—”

“In the realm of coffee, there are three types: black, iced, and raspberry cinnamon mocha with caramel-drizzled whipped cream.”

“No, there—”

“Iced is superior. And in the realm of your own expertise, human clothing, you always debut three outfits with every launch, one of which is the clear winner. For example, three pinup dresses, three cotton robes, three styles of jeans.”

“Because—”

“You will provide me with products that have not gone to Draconis, I will evaluate which one will succeed, and we will only export the successful product, thereby minimizing loss and maximizing profits.”

“There are more than three,” Jasper finally broke in. “Humans have vast, mind-boggling creativity, and we didn’t want to overwhelm the Empire with choices, so we always selected a specific clothing type—say, the jeans—and then narrowed it to ten styles based on our own preferences. Alex tested samples on a few dragons, who selected the top three to launch on Draconis.”

She eyed him skeptically. “Ten styles of jeans? Can there be ten entire styles?”

“There are many more than skinny, high-rise, and lime-green distressed.”

“Green is a superior color. I suppose you could have made the skinny and high-rise in green also.”

“Or in bootcut, flared, straight-leg, cropped, and a multitude of colors, with or without embroidery, lace, and so forth, which humans imagine every day.”

She frowned.

“They are overflowing with creativity. It’s like a fountain. A geyser. All who land and immerse themselves in the culture have conspired to shelter the precious fountain from our influence, because, with our dragon-like efficiency, we may crush or run it dry.”

“Explain,” she ordered. “I don’t understand half of what you just said.”

“You cannot present a small sample size of any one human-designed object, because there is infinite variety.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t avoid your job, Jasper. I know that you’re lying, just like I know this cheese I’m holding is melted cheddar.”

“It’s brie.” He tapped the label on the top. “Which is a different cheese.”

She focused on it. “I thought that was the company name.”

“Taste it.”

“I am not fond of cheddar.” She unwrapped the plastic and nibbled, a frown still marring her face, and her brows lightened. She regarded the cheese and popped the whole thing in her mouth. “It’s different. Creamy. Good.”

He made a mental note. “Many humans enjoy it. It is one of the most popular semisoft cheeses.”

“Why wasn’t this variety exported instead of cheddar?”

“I don’t know.”

“You must.”

“We conduct testing, but receive useless data when we ask the wrong questions. Cheese, clothing, and art are not measured in the same way that the gun that fires the most bullets is the winner. They are matters of taste and creativity, things with which dragons have little experience or talent. We have launched a hundred outfits, but our warehouse holds far more failures. It is the same at Carnelian Clothiers.”

“Perhaps we should add varieties to existing markets,” she mused. “Draconis could enjoy a fourth cheese. How funny that no one else thought of it. Why not debut four instead of three?”

“There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of fermented milk curds.” He checked his resources. “Yes, there are over eighteen hundred known varieties of cheese.”

She blanched even paler than white blonde. “Eighteen hundred?”

“Earth’s strength is its diversity, its creativity, and the human ability to continue to work a problem to discover new solutions even after we have ruled on an optimum. There is no shortcut.”

“Perhaps we should choose a different market. Not cheese, with eighteen hundred options, but perhaps coffee drinks.”

“There are more coffee drinks. Each type of bean, condition of growing, method of roasting, grind size, and the ratio of additives contribute to a different final drink.”

She paled even more. “Alcohol?”

“Are you referring to only fermented or also distilled?”

“Ah…fermented?”

“Beer, wine, cider, mead, or sake? Keep in mind that each of these will vary based on their original materials, fermenting conditions, additives, and so forth.”

“Oh, I meant distilled.”

“Gin, brandy, whiskey—”

“Stop! Stop.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I will export cheese. The original exporters made a mistake by exporting cheddar when they should have exported a superior version like brie.” She brightened. “Yes, this will be easy. So many low castes on Earth do not have the refined palate of an aristocrat. I will review all the products exported by low castes, correct their mistakes by exporting the superior fourth product, and profit.”

“Do you propose to taste eighteen hundred cheeses?”

She shook her head, amused at his simplicity. “Of course not. How could you acquire all of them?”

“Acquiring them is no problem.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s a simple matter of compiling a checklist and organizing couriers. A few specialty cheeses may require detective work, so I will assign it to more eager new hires.” He reviewed the brie wrapper. “If we collect one sample of each cheese at about this size…say, twenty grams, just for an estimate…that’s about thirty-six thousand grams…factor in wrapping, and it will take up a few boxes of space… We could store the entire product test in this conference room.”

“Yes, but this will take too long.” She huffed. “What’s the most popular cheese on Earth? I will export that one.”

He reviewed internet articles. “It depends on the country.”

“How can that be?”

“Taste, Larimar, and human variety.”

“Well then, what’s the most popular cheese in your country?”

“America?” He checked the internet again. “For eating on another food or for eating by itself?”

“By itself, of course.”

“Cheddar.”

She grimaced. “Why am I surprised? Humans are lesser than low-caste males. You would share bad taste.”

“I can limit my acquisitions to only the most popular.”

“No, no. That’s what the exporting family tried. Otherwise, how would Draconis have ended up with cheddar? The other popular flavors must be worse.” She shook her head, new determination in her eyes. “To determine the most superior, I must eat every flavor myself.” She flicked her fingers at him. “Very well. How fast can we complete this step and begin selling the most superior product?”

“That depends.” He focused on her. “How fast can you eat eighty pounds of cheese?”

Rose’s sleepy head tipped sideways and rested on the window just as the bus went over a bump.

Bam.

She jerked awake and rubbed her forehead.

Luckily, no one had noticed, and even more luckily, she’d awakened before the bus closed on her stop instead of after it had passed. She pulled the line, heaved to her feet, and staggered to the exit, holding poles to stop her feet from slipping. The bus screeched to a stop, and the driver opened the door.

Heat blasted her in the face.

She hit the sidewalk, waited until the bus had zoomed on to cross the street, and dragged into work.

Since Jasper had been abducted a week ago, Rose hadn’t been sleeping well. Her worries battled one another, each as large and terrifying as his dragon captor she wasn’t supposed to fight. Grandma’s unpaid debt could lead to an eviction, Briar threated to take Liam, and Jasper was missing. She was sleeping at her apartment, on the back-straining couch, during the summer heat wave.

Rose entered the air-conditioned corporate building.

Kyan greeted her in the lobby. “Status?”

“Same as yesterday,” she replied, leading him past the reception desk with a wave to Jeanine, who was growling into the phone, and through the staff entrance to the environmental center. “How’s Jasper?”

“Whole.”

Well, that was good, then.

The large male stepped in front of her. “Do you require care?”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks anyway.” She put her head down to hurry past him.

“Rose.”

She stopped, one hand on the handle to the environmental tech closet. So close. “Yes?”

“Do you have any training?”

She straightened. “Training? You mean, to do my job? You guys said I didn’t need training when I was hired. I would—”

He made a cutting gesture to stop her. “Military. Black ops. Weapons?”

Oh. “No.”

“Nothing?”

“I barely graduated high school, so no.”

His lips folded. He looked in what she assumed was the direction of Sweden.

She checked her watch. Two minutes to be on time. “Anything else?”

He shook his head and marched to the shipping bay, rose into the air, and disappeared.

She hurried to her locker to store her things and checked the rota. Even though it was a new week, the rota remained unchanged. She grabbed her cart, stocked it, and headed to the elevator.

Ever since she’d won the cleaning contest with Peridot, he’d left her alone. But she couldn’t afford to lose this job, and without Jasper to fall back on as a security pillar, she’d felt too vulnerable to continue arguing.

She had always thought she kept her head down and did her work, but now that she was actually doing that, she realized she’d enjoyed a fun, friendly working relationship with people who cared. And her friendly, although distant, relationship with Kyan only highlighted how much had changed.

On the first day after Jasper’s kidnapping, Kyan had offered to fly her home. She’d declined, deeply unhappy. “Can’t you rescue him? You rescued everyone else.”

“Jasper won’t leave until he satisfies Larimar and Adviser Wrathmoda.” Kyan’s dark gaze glinted. “Unless you rescue him.”

“Me? What can I do?”

“You are his female. A dragon female would challenge Larimar.”

She’d been bathed in fear. “You want me to challenge the dragon that demolished your conference table?”

“Larimar did not demolish the conference table.”

“Oh.” She’d hugged her elbows despite the sweaty heat. “Then who broke it?”

“My brothers and I argued about how to rescue him.” Kyan’s gaze had grown troubled. “Jasper’s calming voice is missed.”

That was touching and understandable, and she’d refocused on the plan to rescue him. “So you want me to challenge Larimar to, like, a duel?”

“No, that would be suicide for you.”

Okay, so they’d agreed. “Then what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing.”

“There’s nothing I can do?”

“Correct.” He’d frowned and flown away.

She’d wanted to disagree, but how? Saving Jasper was another thing she couldn’t control.

Two days ago, Kyan had asked if she’d earned any belts in martial arts, and yesterday, he’d wanted to know if she had a ranking in Krav Maga—which, she’d told him, counted as a martial art, and so the answer was still no.

Now, while Rose waited for the elevator, Peridot glided to her. “Rose. How long do the top-floor bathrooms take you to clean?”

She raised her guard. “I don’t know.”

“Seventeen minutes on average. Do you know how long you spent yesterday?”

She held up a hand. “Okay. I can explain.”

“Don’t explain. Just exceed my expectations without me having to say a thing like you did for Jasper.”

Irritation fought with her commitment to keeping her job. She contained herself until he turned away. “I explained things to Jasper all the time.”

He turned back. “No, you didn’t.”

Anger rocketed. She put her hands on her hips. “Yes, I did.”

“You didn’t. Jasper told me.”

“I was there! And I don’t know what he told you, but you misunderstood, or he said the wrong thing, because we argued all. The. Time.” The elevator opened and closed, but she couldn’t stop the cavalcade pouring out her mouth. “I had to clean the bathrooms longer because of the problem with the pipes! They’re starting to bubble, which means—”

“Stop.” Peridot held up his finger. “I saw you on the security cameras. You will not explain.”

“But—”

“You will do your job according to your role so I can concentrate on shipping.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.” She laid out her palm to illustrate. “Okay, look, there are certain areas where if we skip a few weeks, nobody will notice, but other areas if you miss a single day, people will notice. And regardless of species or culture, let me tell you, the bathroom is one of those places!”

“You’re wrong.”

Disbelief smacked her. She threw up her hands. “How can I be wrong?”

“I make the rules. I am right. You are wrong.”

She shook her head. A hundred thoughts occurred to her, most of which would lead to her firing.

Down the hall, Elle and Patty peeked around the staff room door.

Peridot had his back to them, so he didn’t see. “Listen and obey.”

“I never listened that much to Jasper! And I never blindly obeyed him, believe me. We were friends.”

Peridot narrowed his green eyes. “I already have a girlfriend.”

“Good for you. I can hardly believe it, but good for you. So?”

“You and I will not have the same relationship you have with Jasper.”

Her stomach dropped. “That’s not—”

“We will maintain a boss-employee relationship, and there will be no friendship.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Fraternization may be common in human workplaces, but it is not common with dragons.”

“I didn’t mean romance! I meant just normal workplace friends.”

“Dragons do not have workplace friends.”

“Yeah, but—”

“And even if we did, there is no need for a friendship with you.” He eyed her like she was slime. “You are my employee yet you do not respect your role or mine. Therefore, do as you’re told until you are fired.”

Until. Until.

Her coworkers disappeared back into the staff room.

She hugged her elbows, the throb of pain surprising her. She’d never say she hated Peridot, but he had no problem basically saying it to her face. Bitter pain twisted her lips. “Hey, why don’t you just hire our replacements already? If it’s so easy to replace everyone. I’ll even train them.”

“Your suggestion is fiscally irresponsible. Hiring workers before I need them? No, I will hire them when they are required.” He stalked down the hall.

Her mouth moved even though she knew she should keep quiet. “You don’t even know how the waste system works. How can you train anybody new if we’re all gone away?”

He turned on his heel and eyed her like she was an idiot. “I can read.”

“You have a manual? Does it tell you about the moss parasites? How come you’re not worried?”

He turned fully around. “Are you questioning my judgment again?”

“No.”

Which was actually a yes, but she didn’t want to get fired.

She crossed her arms tighter. “I just want to know. Why are you riding me? Why are you timing how long I take to clean a bathroom and whether I’m at the right spot, and you aren’t doing that to any of your other so-called employees?”

“You are my only employee who oversteps her role.”

“I’m the only one trying to do my role!”

He shook his head with mild sadness. “Jasper said I could leave everyone alone and the work would get carried out. I have taken him at his word.”

“But—”

“You are the only one who cannot be left alone.”

“Except everyone’s in the staff room, and you need to apologize.”

“Apologize? For what?”

“For saying you’re going to fire us all!”

He flattened his lips. “No, I don’t think so.”

“But you—”

“Rose.” He floated closer. “Are you trying to order me, your boss, to obey you?”

She shut down. “No.”

“Good.” He left.

Waves of anger crashed over her with cutting lines she could say. Would he listen? No, and this company—Jasper’s company—would suffer. But arguing was useless, and she knew it. She’d be fired.

Rose passed the elevator and stopped in the staff room doorway. Everyone looked away and acted busy, except Shawn.

He stared at her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She walked in and flopped on the last couch. “I’m sorry, guys. I owe you an apology.”

The room fell silent.

“I said we weren’t friends, but that was a lie. You are my friends. I didn’t want you to hate me, and then you did. I’m sorry I was too scared before. I’ll do better now.”

Patty gave her a hug.

Shawn drank his diet cola, then belched. “We were always cool.”

“I’ll forgive you.” Elle held up an index finger. “If…”

Patty thumped Elle on the shoulder. “Oh, you.”

Rose tensed. “If?”

“You tell us what Jasper’s place is like.”

“Oh. You mean Jasper’s space yacht?”

The trio nodded eagerly, and she described it from her week-old memories. “His old friends built it for him. There are seven bedrooms. He would probably invite you to spend the night when he gets back. We just have to ask.”

“He owes us,” Shawn said. “He better not say no after he left and threw us under the bus.”

“It wasn’t his fault.” Rose interrupted their tender reunion to defend their former boss. “It’s dragon politics. I didn’t understand either. I still don’t understand. But he’s loyal to us. He would never have left if it was up to him.”

The others weren’t convinced.

“Like he still has no sway in his family’s company?” Shawn asked.

“He could check on us, but he doesn’t,” Patty said.

“And you could say something,” Elle added, resting her chin on her folded hands.

“He was kidnapped to Sweden for, like, a week. Even I haven’t seen him.”

Elle grimaced. “So how do you know he still cares about us?”

“I don’t know, I just do.” Rose stood and stretched.

“Are you seriously going back to work? Why?”

“I don’t know. I just have to.” Rose pulled at her sticky top. “Is it me, or is it hotter than usual?”

Elle jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Patty hasn’t charged the AC scrubbers in a week.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“They’re overcompensating,” Patty explained. “Like when your new boss tried to vacuum up the fluff and—”

“He’s your new boss too.”

“Oh, he’s not my new boss,” Patty corrected, and the rest agreed. “After he clogged the vacuum even though you warned him not to, he dumped the fluff into the regular garbage instead of the mobile dumpster. That loose fluff, combined with the external vents blocked by overgrown weeds, is causing a bottleneck that should kill the whole system in…well, I don’t know which will go first, us or the HVAC.”

“I’m hoping us,” Elle said.

“Didn’t you have ‘one more write-up’ days ago?” Rose asked.

“He stopped looking in on us,” Patty said. “He said so to you out there. I think he’d rather be ‘right’ than get anything accomplished.”

“He’s an idiot,” Shawn said.

“He’s not an idiot. He just won’t listen,” Rose said.

“That’s why he’s an idiot.” Shawn shook his shaggy head. “He won’t listen to the expert who’s been here forever, fixes everything, and knows it all.”

Patty and Elle nodded.

“He listened to Jasper,” Rose said. “He just misinterpreted.”

Shawn eyed her. “I meant you.”

Her heart about stopped. “Me?”

The trio nodded.

Her heart sped again, and her chest kind of ached. Liquid prickled in her eyes, and she sniffed and dabbed at her nose with her finger because she was not going to cry. “I don’t know everything.”

“You know enough,” Shawn replied.

“You know to ask questions and listen,” Patty added. “And weren’t you the first employee?”

“That’s Jeanine.” Rose forced her throat clear. “They hired me second.”

“That makes this, like, your company too. We get why you don’t want it to blow up, even if it’s not up to you.”

Again, her heart clenched. Her coworkers really were her friends. She headed to the doorway. “Well, I’ve got to get back to trying to work, so…”

“Hey, if Peridot will never fire us, maybe we should stage a walkout,” Elle said.

“See if he notices?” Patty asked.

“It would make him hire new employees. He’ll see how important Rose is.”

Patty pursed her lips.

Shawn muttered, “He’s an idiot, so I doubt it.”

Rose went to the doorway. “Um, well, when you all get fired, did you want to see each other outside of work? I could give you my number…”

Elle raised her dark brows. “Oh, like how you dated Jasper after he stopped working here? You’ll be real friends after we stop working here too?”

“That’s enough.” Patty gave Elle a glare and Rose her number. “Let me know if you ever need another coffee table.”

“Will do.”

“And will you pick up the phone if I call you?”

“I’ll try. No one ever calls me, so half the time I don’t realize it’s on silent.”

Rose’s phone rang.

“Hey, who’s calling? Is it a joke?” she demanded.

Everyone shook their heads, and the caller ID showed the local police department.

Nerves twinged in her belly. The police? She gulped and answered. “This is Rose.”

“Hi, Rose, this is Officer Hitchens calling about a vehicle registered to you.” The voice was efficient yet friendly.

“You found my car?”

“We sure did, and we’d like to have a quick chat. Can you come in now?”

“Sure. Well, actually, I’m at work.”

“It’ll be harder to get out of the impound without these answers.”

She checked her watch. Her break had ended long ago. “Can we do it over the phone?”

“No.”

She rested her wrist against her forehead. “Okay. I don’t have my car, obviously, so I’ll be getting the bus. I’ll be there in…”

Shawn closed his laptop. “I’ll take you.”

“Are you sure?”

“What, you think I’m afraid to get in trouble?” He shouldered his bag.

“We could come by and pick you up,” Officer Hitchens offered.

“Oh, my coworker’s giving me a ride, so I’ll be there in a few.” They exchanged more details and hung up. She patted her pockets on instinct. Of course, she had to run back to her locker. “I should tell Peridot…”

“Forget that guy,” Shawn said.

“He’ll only write you up,” Patty pointed out, and Elle nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, okay. I guess I’m ready.”

“What happened to your car?” Elle asked.

“I don’t know.” She patted her pockets again. Wasn’t she forgetting something? “It’s nothing. I’m sure it’s fine.”

Patty cleared her throat.

Rose glanced up.

Everyone was staring at her.

“What?” Rose asked, startled.

Elle rested her chin on her hand. “You got a call from the police about your car, and it’s nothing?”

Patty shook her head sadly. “I just gave you my number too.”

Even Shawn looked mildly irritated. Or maybe he was just hot. It was hard to tell.

“Well, I just… It could be nothing. I don’t want you to… I let my grandma borrow my car. She gave it to my sister, and my sister hasn’t brought it back. I assumed she wrecked it somewhere or lent it to someone else, because other people have been driving her around and she hasn’t given it back.”

“Did you report it stolen?” Shawn asked.

“Of course not. I know who had it. It was my sister.”

“But if she wrecked it, then you’re liable. If the police want to interview you, it could have been used in a crime.”

No, that was crazy. Briar made bad choices, but she wasn’t a criminal.

“You should lawyer up,” Shawn said.

“Oh, that would make me look guilty. Besides, who has the money for a lawyer?”

They exchanged glances.

“Maybe you should call Jasper,” Patty suggested. “Just in case.”

Rose took their advice and left a voice message on the way to the station.

Her unease grew.

This was probably nothing. Well, nothing sinister. She’d have to pay impound and tow fees, and any damage to the car. Please don’t let Briar have hit a street sign! That was something she would do. Crash into a street sign, abandon the car, never say anything. How much was it to repair street signs? A crash probably totaled the car. And Rose had just finished paying off her last accident.

Shawn parked in front of the squat, unassuming, glass-and-brick-fronted station. “Good luck.”

Her heart sank. “Thanks.”

She got out, thanked him again for the ride, and he drove off, leaving her alone in front of the steps.

How bad could it be?

An itch burned the small of her back, so she called Grandma. Briar wasn’t there today and hadn’t been for the last week, but she explained why she’d called.

“You better see what they want,” Grandma replied tiredly.

“Yeah, okay. I just thought Briar might know.”

“She doesn’t keep track of things. She’d lose her own head if it wasn’t screwed on.”

Rose had to bite her lip from snapping, Then why did you lend her my car? But Grandma would have no answer, and anyway, Rose blamed herself. She’d thought Briar had been out of town that week.

“Your sister can’t take care of herself, Rose,” Grandma reminded her. “That’s why you have to. She’s your family. You’re all she has left.”

“I know.”

Rose stowed her phone and braved the bulletproof glass. It felt funny talking to the man behind the window, like making an order at a payday loan shop. She asked for Officer Hitchens, and after getting her information, the desk officer led her around the glass and into the station.

Officer Hitchens was a tall, fit black man with a friendly smile who offered her a seat and a coffee in a small conference room. When the door closed, it sealed up like it was locking her in. The reality of being inside a station for the first time strung her nerves tight.

“Now, Rose.” Officer Hitchens poised his pen over a pad. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“What happened to what? My car?”

He nodded, friendly.

“I, uh…well…” Be honest, be honest, be honest. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I left the car for my grandma to get to a doctor’s appointment while I was at work. She said that my sister had borrowed it, and I haven’t seen it since. Until now, I mean.”

He tapped his pen. “Where are your grandma and your sister?”

She gave her grandma’s address. “I don’t know about my sister. Sorry.”

“But you let her borrow your car?”

“I let Grandma borrow my car.” She started to sweat. “Is something wrong?”

“Why do you ask?”

Because she was in a police station answering strange questions. “I thought maybe Briar was in an accident or hit a street sign…maybe…” She swallowed. “Was it a crime?”

He sobered. “Where were you last Wednesday at eleven forty-five p.m.?”

Her brain turned to panicked mush. “Home? Alone?”

“Can anyone vouch for that?”

“No.” She hugged herself. “Maybe my neighbor. I don’t know. Why?”

“Think hard. It will go better if you cooperate.” He stared her straight in the eye. “You don’t want to end up in jail.”

No, she couldn’t go to jail. She had to fight.

Last Wednesday, she was with Jasper on his spaceship. And she told Officer Hitchens with relief.

He clicked his pen. “On a spaceship.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Like, a ship filled with big old dragons?”

“No, it was empty except for us.”

“Us.” He fixed on her with a face that told her he didn’t believe her but wasn’t calling her a liar yet. “Can anyone corroborate that?”

“Liam was there, but he’s four.” And she didn’t want him at the station. “Oh, you can ask Jasper. It’s his ship.”

“I see. Can we get this ‘Jasper’ down here?”

“I can’t. He was kidnapped to Sweden.”

He looked up. “Look, this will go easier for you if you cooperate.”

“I am cooperating.”

“The same way you cooperated by telling me you haven’t had your car in over a week, even though we know you parked it in the Houck neighborhood last Wednesday?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t even know where that is.”

“So you didn’t drive it to Houck?”

“No. And I would never abandon my car.”

He leaned back, satisfaction on his face. “I never said it was abandoned.”

Heat and then icy cold flushed through her. “I assumed because it’s been missing.”

“I thought you said you lent it to family.”

“Right, but my sister never brought it back.”

“Your story doesn’t fit the evidence, Rose.”

“How?!”

Officer Hitchens leaned forward. “Help me help you.”

She nodded vigorously. “I want to. I swear.”

“Now, we have video evidence of you entering the house.”

“House? What house?”

“The house where you panicked and abandoned your car.”

“Where? That Houck place?”

“It’s starting to come back to you, huh?”

“No!”

His eyes narrowed. “We only want the truth. Can you give us the truth?”

“I told you the truth. Jasper saw me all Wednesday. I’ve got a witness. He’s just not available.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m telling you, I can’t get him here. He’s been abducted by another dragon.”

Officer Hitchens frowned and tapped the pen against his jaw, thinking. Then his brows cleared, and he pointed the pen at her. “Tragger and Dave brought in a dragon a few weeks back. A prowler with a kitchen knife.”

“Yes. That’s him! He came to my apartment with a…well, it was a misunderstanding.”

“Oh. I see.” He did not return her relieved smile. “The obsessed boss is your alibi.”

“No, that was part of the misunderstanding.”

“And we can’t talk to him because he’s conveniently been abducted.” Officer Hitchens leaned forward again, unchanged. “Rose, I want to help you, but if you can’t explain how we have video evidence of you breaking into a house and destroying property, I don’t have any choice but to put you in jail.”

“Jail!” She jolted upright as if a wire had run through her chair. “Please, no. I can’t go to jail. People are relying on me. And my job—I can’t lose my job.”

“Here’s a pen and paper.” He slid both in front of her. “Start explaining.”

“I can’t. I mean, are you sure it was me?”

Officer Hitchens nodded. “One hundred percent.”

“It’s impossible. I don’t know. I can’t explain.”

“Sounds like a lie.”

“It’s not a lie!” How could he have video evidence of her breaking into a house? Because it had to have been Briar. If Rose gained two head injuries, a bunch of weight, wore totally different clothes and makeup and hair, then they could be confused. She wanted to protect her sister, but this evidence made no sense.

Officer Hitchens tapped the pen and paper. “You know the truth, Rose. You seem like an honest girl who made a mistake. Come clean and get it over with.”

She picked up the pen. “What do you want me to say?”

“You know.”

“I don’t. I swear, I don’t.”

Another officer tapped on the glass and opened the door. “You have a visitor.”

“Be with them in a second.”

The door started to close, but on the other side, she saw her savior.

“Jasper!”

Jasper blocked the closing door with his foot. “Rose.”

Rose rushed past the table and ducked around the police officer. She threw herself in his arms.

He squeezed her tight. Everything it had taken to get to here, starting from Rose’s worrisome voice message and confirmed by Kyan’s alert, was worth it to hold her. He’d pay for slipping away during Larimar’s cheese-induced coma, but he’d have a few hours before she came to. And he had left a note.

Rose pulled back. Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. “You escaped?”

“I took an unexcused absence.”

Her eyes widened. “You too?”

He tipped up her lips and kissed her. Her taste confirmed everything he was doing was right. Her arms tightened around him, and he scented her lovely arousal.

He ended the kiss first.

She licked her lips, her lashes fluttered, and then she seemed to realize her surroundings and stepped back but let him keep her tucked against his side.

He looked up at the officers. “Kyan has brought Rose’s lawyer. They need to conference before we continue the interview.”

The officer tapped his pen against his pad. “We have questions for you too.”

“Officer Hitchens needs proof I was with you last Wednesday.”

He flicked his gaze to the interviewer. “Will video evidence from my lair suffice?”

She stepped back from Jasper. “I was on video?”

“For safety, all areas are under constant visual monitoring.”

“All areas?” Her voice flattened and her eyes flashed. “Even the bathroom and the bedroom?”

“The bathroom contains critical plumbing, and the bedroom is also a critical, inhabited area.”

“You better edit that tape to not include those areas!”

“But Rose, that is where you spent the most time.”

Her mouth opened. A high squeak emerged.

“And if they compare a physical scan of you now to the video evidence, they will see the necessary body markers to know it’s you.”

She coughed. “Body markers?”

“Hairs, moles, freckles.” He gestured at his inner thigh. “The birthmark you have on your—”

She clapped her hands over his mouth. “The police don’t need a body scan. You will skip the voluntary nude pictures, and they can ask for that when they bring you a warrant. All right?”

He nodded.

Officer Hitchens cleared his throat. “Send over the video. Before you leave, Miss Owens, we need a DNA sample.”

“Oh, sure.”

“No.” Jasper stopped her from accepting the kit. “Your lawyer said human DNA analysis isn’t advanced, so it is difficult for humans to differentiate between you and your genetically identical twin sister.”

The officer coughed. “Your sister’s an identical twin?”

“Yeah. She borrowed my car.” Rose tilted her head. “You said you had video evidence of me breaking into a house and abandoning my car, but I don’t look that much like Briar anymore.”

“Briar is a size twenty, while Rose is a size eight,” Jasper inserted. “She wears her hair short and has a four-inch scar over her brow.”

“How blurry was your video?”

Officer Hitchens didn’t reply.

Rose softened. “How bad is the trouble? Did she break into a house?”

“I can’t answer questions about an active investigation.” Officer Hitchens looked like he had a painful toothache; he grimaced and rubbed his jaw. “Don’t leave town.”

Jasper walked Rose out to the main office to Kyan, who looked him over gratefully, and introduced Rose to her new lawyer. Because the officer had dismissed her, they returned to the legal office. A few of the more frightening terms, such as accomplice, liability, charges, and whatnot, were tossed around, and the lawyer advised Rose not to talk to the police again. All communications should go through the law office.

“About custody of Liam…” Jasper mentioned.

“Family law is a different practice.” The lawyer picked up the phone. “I can refer you to a friend.”

“Will they give me custody while I’m under investigation for some crime?” Rose asked.

“Not my area.” The lawyer leaned forward. “But get any current custody arrangement in writing. The liability is an issue. There are many issues.”

“Briar doesn’t write.”

The lawyer folded her hands around her materials and gave a flat smile. “You have my advice.”

They thanked her, and then Jasper took Rose out of the offices, bid farewell to Kyan, and launched into the air. “Do you think ‘out of town’ means orbit?”

“Yeah, that would count as leaving town.”

“I could anchor the ship over Vancouver. It would burn more fuel.”

She patted his chest. “You have to leave if you get called, right? Better to stay at my place. I can get a ride to work from Taylor from home, not from your spaceship.”

“I’ll show you how to pilot.”

“Oh, like that’s easy.”

“Well, it’s more complicated than the floor sweeper. And the plumbing. And all the systems. And if you make a mistake, you’ll burn up on reentry.”

“Let’s not.”

They flew to Grandma’s house. She wasn’t there.

Rose pulled out her phone to call, and it rang in her hands. She snorted in surprise. “Second time today. I swear, nobody ever calls me.”

“I’ll call you, Rose.”

“Thanks.” She put the phone to her ear. “Grandma?”

Briar’s voice leaked around the seal to Rose’s ear. “Rose, don’t tell them you lent me the car.”

“Briar, I didn’t lend you the car.” Rose rubbed her forehead. “Look, it’s too late. I already talked to the police.”

“Don’t tell them you lent me the car.”

“I already talked to them, all right? They know you had it.”

“Don’t turn your back on me, or else you’ll be sorry. Liam’s still mine. If they come after me, I’ll make you regret it.”

“I already regret it! What did you do?”

“Say it was you.”

“What was me? Breaking into a house? What else?”

“Figure it out.”

Rose gritted her teeth and shouldered away from Jasper, even though he could still hear everything. “You want me to lie for you? How can I confess when I don’t even know what I did? Anyway, it would never work.”

“We have the same DNA.”

“Yeah, but different fingerprints. And there’s a video! I’d lie for you if I could, Briar, but it’s too late. You should have given my car back when I asked.”

“You’ll regret this!” The phone went silent.

Rose pulled it away from her ear, wincing and shaking her head. She glared at Jasper. “That was your fault.”

“It was my fault Briar committed some crime with your vehicle that you should have listed as stolen to prevent this very scenario?”

She tapped the phone against his shoulder. “Okay, that’s not your fault. It’s your fault Briar hasn’t been around to prep me on her lie because she’s been out spending your money. I thought two grand would go faster, I really did.”

“And if she had prepped you? Would you have lied?”

Her lips pulled to the side. “No…”

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

“I would have known what not to say to the police. Briar can never keep her mouth shut. She would have bragged about what she ‘got away with,’ and I would have stayed clear.”

“Thus implicating yourself. Again.”

“Not necessarily. I mean, I’m not a criminal genius, that’s for sure, but someone has to take responsibility, and if it’s just money…” She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Well, I know how to save, and I could always just accept the fine. She can’t take it on, anyway.”

He scooped her against his chest and nuzzled her. “You are the definition of a team member. Taking on the burden to distribute the weight. You can lift so much more when everyone works together.”

“Yeah, it’s the ‘together’ part that needs improving.” But she smiled and accepted his touch. Then she noticed the neighbor watching, and she stepped back an appropriate distance. “Where’s Grandma?”

The neighbor answered. “She had to go to the doctor. The other appointment.”

“She didn’t tell me.” Rose’s expression dropped to horror. “Where’s Liam?”

The neighbor pointed.

Liam played two apartments down, with another family, in a sandbox. Rose’s shoulders sagged. “So, what does your spaceship do to combat bedbugs?”

“Nothing survives decontamination.”

“Good.” She called. “Liam! It’s time to go.”

He threw himself on the ground and arched his back. “I don’t want to!”

“Great. He skipped his nap.” She raised her voice. “Now.”

“I want to stay with Grandma!” He threw sand. It sprayed in the eyes of the nearest children. One stopped and blinked; another waddled into the house wailing for Mama.

“We can’t, Liam. Don’t make me come over there. Jasper wants to go.”

“I’m not in a rush,” Jasper murmured to her.

“He’s just hungry.” Her stomach growled. “Ugh. I forgot to eat lunch.”

Jasper called his supplier while Rose marched Liam back to the house.

Luis meandered out on his porch, saw Jasper, and waved. “Hey, man, you’re back. You forgot your car here. I’m taking good care of it.”

“Thanks, Luis.”

“Yeah, man, no problem. You help me, I help you.” He sipped a beer. “So, you been chained to a wall or what?”

“Only on the first day.”

He laughed. “Yeah? You know some crazy women.”

“Not by choice.”

Rose carried Liam under her arm. His arms and legs thrashed as he screamed. She shouted over his screams. “Okay. He’s ready.”

“Where’s his backpack?” Jasper asked.

“Oh, great.” She eased Liam to the ground and headed into the house. Liam raced for the sandbox.

A rickety old car pulled up, and Rose’s grandma got out, shaky and breathing hard. She spoke to the older lady driver, closed the door, and started for the house. Then she saw Jasper and halted, paralyzed.

Rose exited. “Oh, Grandma. Have you seen Liam’s backpack?”

She shook her head, her eyes still on Jasper, filled with mistrust.

Rose continued down the steps and enfolded her grandmother in a hug. “How’d you get to your appointment?”

“Friend,” she replied, muffled. “I asked Briar for a ride, and she laughed.”

Rose pulled back. “Briar was here?”

Grandma shook her head. “On the phone.” She rested a hand on the railing to pull herself up the steps.

“Liam wants to stay for dinner. You got your check today, so I thought maybe it would be okay.”

Grandma’s shoulders sagged. “I bought gas for my friend. Had nothing left for the store. But come on in. I’ll find something.”

“It’s okay,” Jasper told Rose. “I did a little shopping.”

A delivery truck wheeled into the apartment complex, navigating the potholes, and parked behind Jasper’s car. Two drivers jumped out and opened the back. They carried in crates of food, sagging on the steps. Rose and Liam followed them, and her cries echoed out with amazement.

“Cheese, meat, organic whole milk, and apple juice! Look, Grandma…”

Half the neighborhood peered out, and the kids stopped and watched in awe.

He thanked his suppliers, whom he’d diverted from the planned delivery at Rose’s apartment to here, and carried the last box of food into the kitchen.

“It’s Christmas morning.” Rose stacked boxes on the counter while her grandmother examined a whole frozen chicken. Liam twirled while making hooting noises, a tornado of energy and excitement.

“I’m going to cook a chicken,” her grandmother said. “And those rolls.”

Liam’s eyes lit on a box of mix. “Pancakes!”

“Yeah, we’ll have pancakes.”

Out in the neighborhood, music started up loud. Luis called out, “Hey, we’re having a block party! A neighbor party. Come on out.”

Rose and her grandmother smiled. Liam squealed.

Jasper stood in the middle of their rotting kitchen and felt good for the first time since he’d been kidnapped. The only question was how long he could stay before Larimar woke up.

Rose helped Grandma thaw the chicken and dress it for the oven. Everything else was getting prepped for the barbecue. The less time they spent inside the moldy house, the better. Jasper had wrinkled his nose at the wallpaper, but today, she was concentrating on the good things in her life. Like not sitting in jail.

The police and everything else could wait.

Luis entertained them in fine form, introducing around his vast extended family, and she met guys in suits and women in low-cut designer tops. He had a big network for a man who sat around his apartment drinking and yelling at his TV. He’d held a few parties but never invited the neighbors, and he was a fun host, deferential and yet joking to the elders like Grandma. Grandma hadn’t smiled so much in years.

They pooled food, since Jasper had ordered more than Grandma could ever eat, and everyone enjoyed cinnamon horchata and real tamales along with roast chicken and fluffy rolls. Grandma’s face lit as she gave away the food. Nothing made her so happy as gifting her bounty to others.

Jasper gave the adults joy rides in his Jaguar and flew the kids around the parking lot. The kids laughed and screamed and laughed some more. Seeing so many little hands hanging off him made her heart stop, but he flew low, slow, and safe. Although, afterward, the mothers shooed away their children and apologized for any roughness.

“So, you moving in here to marry Rose or what?” Luis asked him point-blank during a lull while they were eating.

Jasper glanced across the crowd at Rose but answered Luis. “After I finish my work for the other dragons, I’ll be free to pursue my own future.”

“Aw, man, don’t be that way. You belong here with Rose.”

Jasper smiled with no promises. He had a pleasant way of making someone feel good even when he disagreed, and he soothed feelings without contradiction. An impressive skill Rose wished she had; she’d get further with Peridot.

“Your people, they miss you,” Luis continued. “You should be here.”

“I’ll be here as long as I can,” Jasper promised.

“Stay.”

“I’m stuck. I have to appease the other dragons, or Rose must defeat them in mortal combat.”

Everyone swung to her.

She stopped midchew. The urge to freak out, refuse, and batter Jasper for putting her on the spot like that nearly choked her. But she didn’t want to run, especially not from him. “We’ve never discussed this, you know.”

“Because it’s not your responsibility.”

“Everyone else seems to think it is.”

“Everyone else forgets you’re not a dragon.” His lips curved in an adorable grin. “You have a powerful, competent presence, Rose. Just like a dominant female dragon.”

Her heart squeezed. He always said the nicest things.

Luis’s head tipped forward. “Hey, you really have to defeat some dragons?”

She shrugged like it was no big deal. “I don’t know, probably. And here I am, all out of machetes and machine guns.”

“Machetes? You need a machete?”

“No, no. It was just a figure of speech.”

“You need a weapon, Rose?” He called out to a brother-in-law, and they chatted in Spanish. Luis jerked his thumb at the other man. “You need a saber? We got Mexican-American war sabers.”

“No, that’s not what I need.”

“Any weapon? You need a weapon? For fighting dragons?” He squinched up his forehead. “Like a knight lance, or you want me to ask around?”

“No,” she said firmly.

“Female dragon scales are bulletproof,” Jasper said. “They’re also lanceproof. No impact-based weapons will intimidate Larimar. That’s why I have to found a company for her mother. Once it’s created, there’ll be more than enough work to keep any dragon distracted.”

The men nodded.

Wait a minute.

Rose lifted her hand in protest. “Distracted? Your plan to get out of marrying that adviser is to distract her?”

“Mal was so distracted by creating the Onyx Corporation that he didn’t pursue a female until it was required to save the company.”

“Mal’s kind of special.” And she didn’t mean it in a bad way. She meant that Mal roared around the office and yelled at everyone except his sweet, shrinking-violet wife. “Is that adviser anything like Mal?”

Jasper smiled pleasantly. “Do you have a better idea?”

Her stomach flipped. He did that nice disagreeing thing again. “I don’t know. Run?”

“But then I could never return. I’d be exiled from this solar system, my family, and you.”

Her heart thudded. “Never?”

“Investors get mad when you ghost them.”

“But they’re not investing in you. They’re guilty of kidnapping.”

“I’m a resource to them. And I’m looking for another solution. Until that happens…” He shrugged. “Distraction.”

She ached for him. Jasper pledged himself to her well-being. He loved her. He’d been devoted since their first moment together.

She stroked her nails. They weren’t moisturized anymore, but she remembered their smoothness from over a week ago, massaged with his lotions. She wanted the chance to feel that again.

Forever.

The party continued into the evening with citronella candles, loud music, and flowing beer. Kids went to bed, and Jasper helped the other guys break down buffet tables. Rose helped Grandma inside, packed leftovers into her fridge, and flooded the sink up to its crack to wash the dishes. She hummed.

“Take care,” Grandma muttered.

Rose cut off her hum. She splashed water and soap on the pan. “Sorry.”

“Don’t let down your guard.” Grandma waved her fingers. “Don’t trust a smooth talker. The happiest day of your mom’s life was that promotion right before her diagnosis. Your dad gets a new car, and somebody runs him off the road. Good things only happen with bad.”

“I know, but I can’t think the worst all the time.” Rose scrubbed.

“Don’t end up like me. You have energy, Rose. Health. You can prepare.”

“I think I am prepared.” Rose held up a stained spoon. “One of these days, I’ll go to college, get a good job, and move you into a nice house.”

“Worry about yourself, not me.”

“The mold will collapse the floor out from under your feet, Grandma.”

“By then, I’ll be dead.”

Rose just shook her head and carried on with washing.

Grandma muttered her familiar liturgy while she put away the dishes. “The richer they are, the worse they lie. How many times did your uncle get taken in? Money’s the root of all evils. Don’t trust it, and don’t trust those who have it. Be smart with yourself, Rose.”

Her mutters ebbed and flowed over the high-pitched whine of old lightbulbs, which were also attacked by suicidal moths. Her words had comforted Rose since she was a kid. Why worry about not having money since it was the root of all evils? And no matter how little they had, Grandma was always here.

But Rose wasn’t used to seeing Grandma stop mid-rant, rest a hand on the counter, and breathe hard.

“Er, Grandma? What was the doctor’s appointment?”

“My asthma.”

“You’ll get better if you leave this house.”

Grandma avoided her gaze. “I’m never going anywhere.”

“Oh, come on.”

“I’m going to die in this house. I’m old and ready.” She ran the threadbare towel over the clean silverware.

Grandma was maybe sick, definitely frail, and hardened like a little gem. No, she wouldn’t live forever. No one would. But she might rightly die in this house.

So might Rose.

She could almost see it. Herself, old and complaining, in this kitchen while Liam washed dishes. Her muttered tales of woe. Yikes. She could see it in 3D. A lot more bitterness, a lot more loneliness, and she’d end up right here, too worn and tired to make a change.

That’s why she had to change her future now.

Tonight.

Jasper stuck his head in the back door. “Liam fell asleep at the table.”

Grandma shied away from Jasper.

“I’ll be right there.” Rose washed the last dish, drained the sink, and dried her hands on her shirt. She shouldered Liam’s little backpack.

Jasper thanked her grandmother for the food. Her grandma ignored him. As if he was a devil and speaking to him would make danger appear.

Well, she was old.

Rose hugged her and followed Jasper outside to one of the last standing tables. Dirt smeared Liam’s face, food stuck to his hair, and green freezer pops stained his mouth. He flopped over her shoulder, a heavier weight, as though he’d doubled his mass at dinner. He probably had. Kids did that.

She stepped close to Jasper. He tucked her within his strong, comforting arms.

He rose into the air. “Your apartment?”

The practical part of her said yes. She couldn’t risk Jasper getting called away from his spaceship, stranding her. Spending another cramped night in her hot apartment was the hard reality, the bitter truth Grandma had prepared her for in the old kitchen.

Rose had to make a change.

“Can we go to your ship?” she asked.

“Absolutely.” He snugged her close and zoomed.

The journey wasn’t as rough as the first time; the ship was closer, and she didn’t get as many ear pops or chills. They entered, Rose removed shoes and dropped Liam’s backpack, and then she rested Liam on his bathroom counter and did a quick sponge bath and tooth brushing while he tried not to flop over. She rested him in his bed and kissed his forehead. “Love you.”

He struggled against sleep. “Rose…bogeyman…”

“Screw the bogeyman.”

He sighed, a small smile on his face, and dropped back to sleep.

Yeah. Screw that guy.

She returned to her suite to brush her own teeth, wrap her slim dreads in a peach silk scarf, and drape herself in a matching silk nightshirt.

Jasper wasn’t in their rooms. She continued up the stairs, cautious as Beauty in Beast’s tower, and found him in a control room. He typed, pensive, and swiped screens. Draconis script interspersed with English. The letters were sharp, blocky, and foreign.

She curled into the seat behind him. “Crop out the naked parts.”

“Kyan said to send only the bottom floor.” He typed a few more things, swiped the screen, and sat back. “He will convey you to work if I am called away.”

“How very responsible.” She stood, moved forward, and dropped her arms around the back of his neck, nestling his head between her soft breasts. “I love team players.”

He leaned back into the seat. “I will do anything to help you, Rose.”

“I know.” Arousal tingled in her breasts and pooled between her thighs. She’d tasted her first sex, and her cravings roared. “And I need your help.”

“You do?”

“So much.” She rubbed against him.

He slid his strong hands up her forearms to her elbows and pulled her around to the front to rest on his lap. She settled into place straddling his hard thighs. He lifted her peach shift to reveal gold panties and bra embroidered with ivory flowers. She posed for him, slipping her fingers beneath the hem. The jewel-tone red flecks in his dark brown eyes gleamed with dragon interest.

“Change color,” she urged.

His scales rose to just below the surface, darkening his skin but not covering it, and hardened his body. She skated her hands up his chiseled forearms, stone biceps, and unbuttoned his shirt to luxuriate in his hard pectorals. He was immutable and gorgeous, accommodating and demanding, and hers.

Rose teased a finger down the bumps of his six-pack and along a dark treasure trail to the edge of his trousers.

He hooked his finger under the seam, extended a claw, and severed the fabric. His dark arousal sprang free, a long curved shaft nestled in a mat of curly hair.

Her pussy throbbed.

“You are so hot,” he murmured.

She moaned. Urgent need made her quiver.

Jasper lifted her nightshirt, unclasped her bra, and attacked her nude breasts, dragging first one nipple into his wet mouth and rolling the point between his teeth, and then the second.

Desire lanced her belly. Heat tightened her nipples, and arousal streaked into her center, drawing dewy wetness to her channel.

She tugged at her panties. “I want you.”

In an instant, Jasper snuck a claw under the silken fabric, and it separated into two halves, giving her crotchless panties. He softened his finger back to human and glided over her hard nub. Pleasure bloomed between her legs, and she leaned into him.

“You’re so wet,” he growled, his canines turned to teeth as his eyes glowed a dark chocolate brown.

She lined up his shaft against her damp entrance and descended, embracing his cock one inch at a time. As he filled her, the cosmos whirled around their cockpit, centering them in the middle of the stars. She reached the end of his shaft and seated herself fully against him, united for all time.

He looked into her eyes. “I love you so much.”

Her heart trembled. The slightest friction of body to body ignited a swirling passionate flame in her channel. The orgasm overwhelmed her, hot and hard, and left her shuddering.

He held her tenderly, chased her mouth, and stole a kiss, and moved under her. Pleasure mellowed into a slow-building sweet heat. She moaned her pleasure. He dropped a wet finger between their union and stroked her hot nub while his cock thrust in and out, completing and overwhelming her. His soapy scent tickled her nose, and his masculine taste teased her tongue.

She loved him so much.

The urge to confess her feelings built like the second orgasm. She needed to tell him how she felt too.

But instead, she gripped his shoulders and rode his cock, thrusting harder and faster, until the stars burned out and she arched. A second, even more powerful orgasm ripped through her body, filling her veins with cosmic dust and an ocean of gold glitter.

“Love…you…” Jasper repeated, gripping her hips to center her channel, and then he groaned and released deep in her channel.

She collapsed on top of him.

The urge to confess pounded at her breast.

But they’d just had sex, and that was the worst time to say she loved him. She should say it at a more meaningful time, when he knew she wasn’t trying to manipulate him or reacting to the most amazing night of her life.

Exhaustion urged her to sleep, even with her knees contorted against the armrests.

“You can’t sleep here.” Jasper lifted her into his arms and flew her through the ship, weightless. He deposited her in the master bathroom.

She marshaled enough energy to clean up. He joined her and then put on a new suit. She slithered into the comfy bed.

“We should plan a wedding ceremony. But first.” He handed her a small gold box. “What do you think?”

She opened it.

A massive diamond nestled in a cloud of smaller diamonds, like a queen surrounded by her subjects.

Tears clogged her throat. Rose tried to gasp, For me? But it got stuck, and she kept silent.

She marveled over the glimmer and the weight. Like the solid-gold bed, it seemed excessive, almost uncomfortable, and yet fulfilled a deeply hidden core dream. Could she own a ring this beautiful? Someone like her? Rose wanted it, craved it.

Jasper slid the heavy, heartfelt jewel cluster onto her fourth finger. It fit perfectly.

She tried not to cry. “It’s…wow.”

He smiled, reassured by her response. “Good.”

The urge to tell him rose again. But she felt like if she tried, a coughing fit would carry her words away, or he’d change his mind. Briar used to toss her gifts back because she’d bought the wrong thing, or Briar was no longer interested.

“I love it,” Rose said, forcing herself to confess at least that much. “It might be too fancy for a simple janitor like me.”

“Environmental technician.” He grinned and tucked her into the bed. “You can wear it around your neck. I know you care about your neighbors, and I don’t mind if you keep it a secret.”

He understood her. He got her.

Jasper stood and glanced at his phone.

“Aren’t you coming to bed?” she demanded.

He hesitated, then obliged and crawled in beside her, still in his suit.

She rubbed his thick silver tie between her fingers. “New pajamas?”

“I have to be ready for the call.”

Right. The night sobered a little. Even though she’d decided to love Jasper, a lot of obstacles sat between when they could see each other again, much less plan a wedding.

“Did you call Kyan?”

“He’s on standby. When and where do you want to hold the wedding?”

Her mouth dried. Her mouth opened…and her grandma’s warning appeared like a ghost wielding sharp fears. She would be happiest the moment before everything crashed down. “I’m afraid to even imagine.”

“Our wedding could be anywhere. The top of any mountain. The bottom of the sea. A tropical island all alone, the floor of a circus in Las Vegas. If you can dream it, I can arrange it.”

He listed venues, each more extravagant than the last, and they wrapped around her heart like tiny, protective wires.

Rose wanted to be with him anywhere, any time, and yet reaching for him and making a wedding plan tempted fate. The happiest day of her life was the most dangerous, and with this gorgeous man planning his wedding to her, her heart squeezed an awful lot like it was the happiest day of her life.

“I can’t decide,” she finally broke in. The lie scissored her heart, but she stuck to it. “It’s enough that I’m here right now, right?”

“You can always be here.”

“Let’s talk about the wedding later.”

He was silent, then he sighed and nuzzled her. “Okay. I understand. I’ll be here, Rose, until you’re ready.”

But she was ready. And that contradiction made it hard for her to fall asleep, and she woke up when he slipped out of the bed, summoned by the rising air siren alarm emanating from his phone. He flew to the bedroom door.

Rose called out. “Jasper!”

He turned in the doorway. “I didn’t mean to wake you. It’s early morning. You have plenty of time.”

“No, I wanted to tell you I’ll think about where to have our wedding.”

“Good.”

“And if it’s okay for you…if you don’t mind…that is, if you think it would be okay, I would like to move in with you. If that’s okay.”

He returned to the bed, launched onto her, and rolled her around the covers, shocking her into crazy, wild, fun laughter. He nuzzled her beneath their mountains of blankets. They snuggled in the middle like the cream filling to a fluffy cannoli.

“It’s okay, Rose. I made this whole lair for you.”

“Oh, and it will be for Liam too.”

“Liam is yours, so this lair is for him too.”

She returned his kisses, a smile plastered to her face.

The phone vibrated again and emitted the air-siren warning.

Jasper gave her one more lingering kiss, ejected himself from the covers, and zoomed out the bedroom door.

Rose settled back in the bed and blinked at the ceiling.

It was early; she was tired. But also buzzing. She’d move in! What should she do first? Take a bath? She needed a bath.

But maybe, first, just a little more sleep…

Her phone rang.

She answered. “Jasper?”

“I’ll teach you how to navigate later,” he promised over the phone, and she cuddled into the comforter, enjoying a moment of teen romance that she’d never enjoyed as a teen. “Kyan or another of my siblings will help you transfer your things.”

Unease returned. How could she be ready when she didn’t know if they had another week?

And how could she fight for Jasper when everyone said any attempt was suicide?

“Maybe I should wait until this whole thing blows over.”

“You do not have long.”

“I don’t have much to move. I just have to put in my notice, get the apartment in order, you know.”

“Good, start. Adviser Wrathmoda will arrive in less than a week.”

Her heart contracted. “Jasper, be safe.”

“Of course I will.” His smile was audible through the phone. “Do not worry. I will always come back to you.”

He had to end the conversation.

She lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling canopy. All the people she cared about had come back to her. The problem was that many had returned with missing pieces or in individual boxes. Her mothers had been so radioactive, they couldn’t even have her box at her own funeral.

But Jasper was a dragon. He’d be fine.

She had to worry about moving and a million other exciting things now.

And, just in case something should happen, she had to keep Liam close and convince Peridot to fix the department before the building burned down—or worse, she lost her job.

Jasper strode into the delivery room.

The alarm system he’d programmed to notify him of Larimar’s awakening had gone silent. He shut off the motion detector, stowed the machine, and focused on the shipment information just as she dragged herself through the outer door—claws gouging the concrete, a wild fury in her white-blue eyes as she whipped across the room.

His nerves shot him in the chest.

“Good evening, Larimar,” he said in an ordinary tone.

She saw him, blinked, and her dragon melted away. “Oh. You’re out here.”

“Yes, I am.” He reviewed the next box. Would she realize they were the same boxes he’d already inventoried last night? He hoped not. “Are you ready for the final ten pounds of cheese?”

Her face blanched even paler to a greenish-blue hue. “I will never eat this fermented milk substance again.”

He lowered the clipboard. “Then have you decided which flavor to export?”

“Give me the last box,” she grumbled as she returned to her tasting room. While he opened it, she prepared a bottle of water, a bottle of red wine, and a tub of crackers. “Mother wanted to raze the planet for a training ground, and right now, I almost agree with her. What’s the point of such variety?”

“Humans can’t help themselves. Just last month, my Rose invented a new method to remove parasites from our sewage pipes.”

“Dragons are ingenious. Our intelligence lacks nothing.”

“Humans apply this creativity to all things.” Jasper booted the software he’d developed to record her cheese evaluation. “Food, clothing, interior design, sex…”

“Sex?” She glanced up from the cheese samples, loathing changing over to surprise. “Don’t be ridiculous. There is only one position for sex.”

“Humans found more.”

“Why?”

“You haven’t seen their educational videos?”

“I need not educate myself. I have had partners. A dragon of my great beauty and influence has never needed lust hormones. Suitors approached me, dazzled and reverent, as they should.” She glared at the cheeses and heaved a great sigh. “Okay. I’m ready.”

They began their routine. He scanned the cheese; she opened it, nibbled a taste, spit into the bin, and then guzzled wine and crunched a cracker. Jasper video-recorded and entered her opinions into the spreadsheet. He’d designed the testing method based on Alex’s tests.

The first day, Larimar had eaten twelve pounds of cheese, the second, only three, and the third, she’d lain in bed all day feeling unwell. After that, Jasper suggested the spit method, and now she could test almost twenty pounds per day, limited by her jaw soreness and mucus. Occasionally, she stopped to throw up, and then she returned to her test.

At the mid-evening break, she grasped the wrappers in her clawed hands. “This is taking too long.”

“We’re on the final box,” he encouraged.

She burped and swallowed harshly. Then she shook her head. “I will not make it.”

“You will.” Her determination in the face of physical limitations reminded him very much of Rose, and he couldn’t help respecting her, even though they were not friends. “Selecting a product always causes the most violent fights among my siblings. You bear the entire burden with none of the synergy. You have already shown impressive determination and rare fortitude. You will finish.”

“I don’t know if I want to.” She scrubbed her face, then plucked a random untested cheese from the box. “If I decide the product today, can you ship it to Draconis tomorrow? So we can launch and see profits next week?”

“It depends on the product,” he admitted. “The cheese you hold in your hand requires nine months of aging.”

She tossed it into the trash with a sigh. “I could have saved myself time by only tasting the products you could export.”

“You’ve learned for the next launch.”

She formed her claws into a fist and thumped her thigh. “I don’t have time to learn this now. I must execute! You were already supposed to know. You’ve been doing this for half a decade!”

“Mal decides the products,” he deflected. “I acquire and ship them.”

“Your job is pointless.” She scrubbed her face. “Mother should have gone after your CEO.”

“Empress Horribus already proposed.”

She dropped her hands. “Why? Did you ever find out why Empress Horribus, the most powerful dragon in the Empire, with her pick of male aristocrats to wed, deigned to offer her claw to you low-caste, backwater, no-name males?”

“We ran the number one company off-Draconis.”

“But she could have married the aristocrat heir of the number one company on Draconis at any time. And if she’d wanted your company, she could have claimed it, and you, with her armies. She could have taken the Earth for herself. No, instead, she offered her claw, like a love match, and her interest has kept any other speculation, such as Mother and the generals, away from taking Earth for themselves.” She drummed her nails on the floor with a rat-a-tat-tat. “Did any of you ever meet the Empress? Was she shown holos?”

He shook his head.

“I wouldn’t think so, given your caste. Your mother’s estate is all the way out on the Outer Rim.” She shook her head. “It is a mystery.”

“For us too.” He leaned forward. “We still have some protection. A warship—”

“One warship.” She flicked her fingers dismissing him. “If Mother takes this planet, she will bring the arsenal necessary to destroy any opposition.”

His throat tightened.

“That is why you must impress her. Perhaps your knowledge of multiple sex positions will do so. But I doubt it. She cares about coin.” Larimar faced the cheeses with dread. “And that’s why one of us has to finish these cheeses. But your palate is so unrefined that you prefer cheddar over limburger! The task falls to me.”

He poised to record her next findings. “Thank you for not advocating the total destruction of Earth.”

“If I have to eat any more of this, I’ll change my stance.” She curled her nose up at the mild rosemary-infused soft cheese. “But anyway, I want this company to succeed as much as you do. It might surprise you to learn I’m not Mother’s favorite. I am neither rich nor important enough to inherit Mother’s political seat without a duel. I’ve never led an armada, and I have no desire to, and so the only option to amass great wealth is commerce. In two decades, if I make twice as much as the richest company on Earth, I should secure my place in politics and in her heart.”

Jasper had no idea how to reach that goal. “While luxury goods are a good place to start, the goals you’re describing require products on a different order of magnitude. You can’t reach it by eating cheese.”

“Thank the volcanic mother.” Her grateful smile turned to sadness and then wavered between confusion and fury. “Then why are we wasting our time?”

“Because Earth has no products that could double our current income. We surveyed it in their ‘Middle Ages,’ and it contains no useful natural resources. No stellarium, for example. The lack of raw materials is why we’ve ignored the planet for so many years.”

“They have rare materials. Gemstones, minerals.”

“Trace. The same as you’ll find in any dragon lab. You’d do better surveying for asteroids composed entirely of diamond, because you will never find a gemstone of equivalent size on Earth.”

She clenched her wrappers. “No. I have not come this far to be dissuaded.”

“You need to export an essential. A medical product to reverse aging or a chemical weapon made from Earth plants.”

“And how long would that take to develop?”

“The last family went out of business and returned to Draconis in disgrace.”

She seethed, clenching and releasing the wrappers.

“At least if you succeed in a luxury good, you will have more capital to collect, synthesize, and test every known biological—”

“If?” She split her clothes shifting to full dragon and whirled on him in fury. “If! What do you mean, if? I have tested every cheese. I have put in this effort. You will ship it. There will be no if, or I will bite your head off!”

He took a deep breath and held it. Tightening his abdomen stopped the trembling. Although he had gotten to know Larimar a little, she was an unknown female dragon who’d chained him to a wall and still considered torture acceptable. And unlike the mercurial dragons he did know, such as Mal, she might not calm down.

She deflated all at once from his lack of reaction, settling nude on the floor in a puddle. “My stomach hurts.”

He let out his breath. “Perhaps you should rest.”

“No.” She straightened and began her work again. A few more cheeses in, she commented between spitting, “Your female. Does she really allow you to pleasure her using more than one position?”

His cock heated at the memory of just a few hours ago. Rose, wild and beautiful, riding him to climax. “Most of the positions are her idea.”

“How strange. Is it even possible? Navigating the tail requires a finesse most dragons don’t master.”

“She is a human, so tails are not a consideration.”

“Disgusting. Plain. Unpleasant aftertaste.” She spat a cheese, and it took him a moment to realize he was supposed to record her judgments on the cheese, not that her judgments were about sex. “Hmm, I suppose the change of anatomy is a reason to watch educational videos.”

“Yes, but she does things even I have never seen. And her smile, her happiness, the way she trusts me… I would sacrifice everything for her. This feeling increases the intensity of coupling.”

She chewed and spat a few more cheeses, steadily forcing herself through the samples.

“I understand a little that feeling,” she finally said. “Mm. This one has an extra spice. What is it? Cinnamon. That is sneezy but interesting. Write it down.”

He wrote it.

“I can’t believe any cheese can be interesting now, so that’s very interesting.” She swished the wine and swallowed. “It’s too bad dragons can’t get drunk. I would order many of these wines. But as I was saying, there was a male—a low-level family, aristocratic but just barely—who once made me feel such intensity. Like the first bite of good cheese and not this seventy-seventh pound.” She lowered the cheese sample to her lap, morose. “For a short time, I thought we would make a simple, yet of course successful, family.”

“He disagreed?” Jasper asked cautiously. “Did you chain him to a wall?”

“No, but I should have.” She sliced the cheese with her claw, tasted it, and continued her story, still nude and, like all dragons, immune to moderate cold. “He wasn’t aristocratic enough for Mother, but she was curious about my obsession, so she sprayed him with her lust hormones. He became enslaved to her, as weak males do, and she took him away from me and kept him for herself until…oh, until she tired of him.”

His heart lodged in his chest. “And then?”

“Last I heard, they assigned him to a copper mine on Beryllium Four. She paid off his family, so they didn’t care.”

He let out his breath.

She eyed him sharply. “Why do you look relieved?”

“I heard a story of handbags…”

“Mother reserves punishment for someone she hates. She had no strong feelings for this male. Neither did his family. Nobody cared. Even I didn’t care. Why should I care if a male is assigned to the smaller tunnel complex instead of the main one? It’s nothing to me if he’s in sub-cavern B or C, and sometimes A if the venting system goes awry. Those details are meaningless.”

Jasper let a few cheese judgments go by, and then, gently, asked, “Is he in sub-cavern B?”

“Right now? Since it’s the fourteenth hour in Empire time, taking into consideration the elliptical orbit around the local star, and dividing it by the output hours…he’s in his rest cycle, and about to go back to sub-cavern C on the west fork, where they discovered a new vein.”

“The copper mine operates off Empire time?”

“It’s a mix based on conditions and—not that I look up his schedule very frequently, so don’t think I do, because I don’t.” She held up her claw to admonish Jasper. “There’s no point. I barely have access to Mother’s smallest intergalactic yacht with a broken replicator! It would take coin to outfit my own spaceship capable of jetting to the asteroid, and power to overrule Mother’s orders. I’d have to take over the whole mining operation. And that’s not so easy, believe me. I’ve run the numbers. It would take a lot of coin, raised as quickly as possible, to do this.”

“It’s a good thing you don’t care.”

“A very good thing.”

They continued working quietly.

Jasper finally cleared his throat. “I could, possibly, help with acquiring supplies and sourcing a ship capable of—”

“Don’t leave here again.”

He blinked.

“I know you left, and I can see it was to go to your female, but this is life and death to me. It should be life and death to you too. Mother will be angry when you refuse her marriage. She will seek to punish you and your female.”

“She will never reach my Rose.”

“That’s what I thought, once.” Larimar forced another piece of cheese into her mouth, chewed, and spat. “Ugh, soft and smells like old broccoli.”

He recorded the impression.

“If you care, you will stay as far away from your Rose as possible. Give me your phone.”

“I need it for supplies.”

“The wall communicator works just as well.”

“Yes, but…my contacts…are more accessible on my phone, and if there is an emergency…there is an emergency…”

“If she calls you, you will sacrifice her life by going to her now instead of working your hardest?”

“A proper work-life balance is more productive than all work.”

She held out her hand.

He reluctantly handed over his phone.

She elongated her mouth to dragon, chomped, and swallowed the metal. Her eyes made crescents. “Anything but cheese is delicious.”

“The battery will give you heartburn.”

“As if I do not already have it.” She stared into the crate. “This isn’t getting any smaller.”

He studied the software morosely, inputting her judgments. Larimar wasn’t wrong. His goal was to protect Rose from Adviser Wrathmoda. Ideally, they would never meet. And if Larimar was correct, then losing his phone was for the best, even though it felt for the worst.

Rose was moving into his spaceship. Soon, she would be insulated from her worries. He had started the process to assist her grandmother. His lawyer would protect Rose from any legal action, and the family lawyer referral would help against Briar. Kyan would save Rose from any true emergencies.

Jasper disliked it, but perhaps losing his phone was fine. If it would protect Rose from Adviser Wrathmoda, that was all that mattered.

Liam refused to get ready for preschool.

“Shirt!” Rose chased the giggling boy around the giant room. Their small apartment was easier to corner him. She had to fake him out when he leaped over the pirate-ship bed, hook him around the waist, and wrestle on his shirt. “Pants! Socks!”

He wiggled free, ran to the corner, tore off his shirt, and raced away.

Her irritation hit the roof. “If you’re not ready by the time Kyan gets here, you’re going to preschool naked!”

He squealed with glee.

She grabbed the door and banged her forehead against it lightly. Whoever was watching these tapes later would get a show.

Obviously, she couldn’t send Liam to school naked, the same way he couldn’t skip breakfast or brushing teeth.

He’d woken today in a shaky mood that flipped between screaming and giggling, and even though the giggling frustrated her more, they were about the same on the out-of-controlness spectrum. Why was she surprised? They’d been living at Jasper’s for a week, alone, and only went to her apartment to pack. She was still trying to convince Grandma to move in and take over her lease.

Moves were stressful for adults. Kids too.

The pirate-ship bed was a far cry from his sad cardboard car at the apartment, but the sad car had been present for most of his life, and as exciting as the new pirate ship was, it was still new.

She totally got it.

Too many things had been going right, from the unusual neighborhood block party to a quiet week of minding her own business and ignoring problems at work. She was scared too. The only difference was that she pretended everything was fine, while Liam ran in circles screaming.

Time to change tack.

“I’m going to eat breakfast,” she announced. “And if you aren’t dressed by the time I get there, then you can’t have any pancakes.”

He squealed and kept running.

“All right, no pancakes.” She turned and started to walk away.

He screeched to a halt. “Yes, pancakes!”

“Put on your clothes.”

“Yes, pancakes!” He danced his feet.

“Okay, I guess you’d rather dance than get dressed, so no pancakes.”

“Rose!” He picked up the first pile of clothes she’d tried to dress him in, threw them, and melted down crying. “Pancakes…”

She collected the clothes again, murmuring in a soothing tone as she guided his skinny little brown arms and legs into their right holes. She even got away with buttoning his shirt, a task he liked to laboriously complete a hundred times slower than she could, testing her patience even on days when they had lots of time. He sobbed the whole time about “Yes, pancakes…”

“Okay.” She rubbed his fluffy black head. His hair was getting long again; she might have time to shear it short tonight before packing the electric razor. “Let’s get a quick breakfast.”

“Pancakes…”

“You can have pancakes as long as you eat them super fast so we’re not late for Kyan, okay?”

He rubbed his red eyes and wiped his snotty nose on the back of his hand, refusing her tissue.

Whatever. That’s what sanitizing gel was for.

Thank goodness for instant ovens. The dragon technology was like a microwave but with extra features. Frozen waffles popped out crisp and hot, perfect for slathering with butter and maple syrup. Luckily, her substitution based on the first thing she saw in the pull-out freezer didn’t cause another meltdown. Liam ate the waffles, subdued. They got teeth brushed, faces scrubbed, and shoes all Velcroed just as Kyan arrived, and consequently, Rose was already on her first frayed nerve before she even got to work.

She greeted her coworkers camped in the staff room as she stowed her lunch in the work fridge. In her opinion, they were bored enough to return to the job if Peridot would apologize, and only the principle kept them in the staff room, protesting.

“How’s your car?” Patty asked.

“Still impounded. They haven’t charged anyone, and I might still be on the hook because I let family borrow it.”

“Not your sister, though.”

“I know, but if she argues, it’s hard to prove otherwise with her being family and borrowing my stuff in the past, so…yeah, we’ll just see.”

“At least you don’t need a car right now,” Elle said.

Rose agreed. It was weird to accept a ride from someone who was not Jasper. Especially Kyan, who didn’t hug. He was a massive, deadly, scarred warrior who was so giant and tall that he just held out his forearm. She and Liam stood on his big boot and hooked their arms over his forearm like holding onto a bar on the bus. And even though Jasper held her tight, Kyan seemed to have more experience and control, so she felt safe on the daily commute. He also never seemed tired, and he was always exactly on time. He’d looked upset when she’d asked about watching over Jasper. Obviously he was spying because he gave her occasional updates, but that was it. Failing his ability to rescue Jasper, he seemed to take comfort in ferrying her on the daily trip to and from the spaceship.

Speaking of transport…

“You’re looking for another four-seater, under a thousand, that runs, right?” Patty asked, grounding her in the staff room present. “I’ll keep an eye out for you on Craigslist.”

“Thanks.” Rose stretched. “Well, I’m off to the top floor. Again. That place would be spit polished if they didn’t keep breaking conference rooms.”

“The lower toilets are fizzing,” Elle said.

Great. Just great. “Did anyone tell Peridot?”

“Why?” Shawn demanded. “He’s using the bathroom, isn’t he?”

“He’s got eyes,” Elle agreed. “He can see.”

They all took a moment to wonder about their boss’s bathroom habits.

“Someone should mention it just in case,” Rose said, but she could also hear the uneagerness coloring her voice.

“Jasper checked over the whole building every day,” Patty reminisced. “Even during the product launch rush. I miss him. You must miss him more.”

Rose shrugged a shoulder.

Yes, she ached to see him every night when she went home alone, and excitement bubbled as she imagined this might be the night he could sneak in and wake her, or that now he might get a new phone and call or text. Sure, it wasn’t possible, and yes, their separation would end soon. Until then, endure, endure, endure. That was her life.

“I should talk to Peridot,” Rose said finally. “We ignore the sewage plant any longer and it’ll be a fire hazard.”

“He has his manuals,” Shawn bit back. “He should know.”

“He’ll only blame you for pointing it out,” Elle said, while Patty nodded. “And ask if you’re ‘questioning his judgment’ if you want to fix it.”

“Right, but it literally could burn down the building. If he doesn’t answer, I guess I should report it to his boss.”

“Whoever that is,” Shawn muttered.

They all spent a moment imagining who Peridot’s boss was.

They’d never had to know Jasper’s boss. It had never come up. Each dragon ruled over his or her own domain. Mal led the company, but he’d never touched the environment, and from the few conversations Rose had overheard, Mal didn’t know how the building operated. He didn’t care about anything Jasper did so long as the right product shipped on time. And the same with Pyro when he’d worked here, and with Kyan, Amber, and Alex. They each contributed a separate expertise that together fit into a successful whole.

“Have any chunks traveled to the top floor?” Rose said. “If they have, someone has to be told.”

They wished her luck. Shawn rolled his eyes with the irony of the situation—she had just cleansed the building of the last alien mass, and now their problems were a hundred times worse—and she zipped up her coveralls, then stocked her cart. It had been a long time since she’d put on her lavender-scented hazmat suit. If she’d been cleaning the pipes regularly, then she’d have been in it every few days. Or doing the windows, or anything other than the top floor.

She hummed along with the waiting music in the elevator, then stepped out onto the top floor.

Despite it being an ordinary workday, the managerial floor was nearly empty. The company hadn’t launched a product since Jasper had left. Apparently, the process had stalled out, and so many people had escaped the warren of cubicles until they were needed, while the offices stood empty.

It made her job easier, because—

A conference table smashed through the wall, bursting drywall into powder and splinters.

She jumped.

Inside the distant room, Mal roared. “Come over here and say that, you sniveling brimstone eater!”

Rose relaxed while the fighting sounds increased. It was just another day at the office.

She focused on the real problems. Rose pushed open the women’s bathroom door and peered inside.

There had been a lot of fighting these past two weeks. The heat of the summer must be getting to the dragons. Normally, they wrecked a conference table a month, but lately, they’d been wrecking one every other day. Jasper’s entire back stock of tables had been depleted, and unless Peridot had ordered more, they would soon run out.

Not her problem.

She finished her regular clean super fast and perused the stalls.

Ash floated off the water. Bubbles clung to the bowl. A few bubbles floated to the surface and popped. One carried a black seed, and when it popped, the speck ignited for a microsecond and then dropped into the bowl as ash.

Jasper would call this a critical infestation. It had happened once before. Jasper had taken down the whole system for several weeks to overhaul the old HVAC, but he’d swept every day until he could bring it online again. What must the treatment system look like now? A magic forest? If there were big stalks and all opened at once… Rose shuddered. She couldn’t imagine.

The smell required no imagination. The bathroom already smelled like cow manure.

Rose finished her cleaning, flushed the toilets—which made the problem worse—and sprayed with Febreze she’d brought from home because Peridot hadn’t reordered the fragrance spray. Anyway, the other spray didn’t work as well. This situation called for at least home Febreze. Maybe industrial strength.

She pushed the cart to the door.

Cheryl entered.

“Oh, Rose.” The former intern greeted her shyly. Now she was a big-time art director, but aside from hints of more provocative clothes—in today’s case, a crimson pinup dress hidden under her thick, comfy, dark hoodie—she seemed the same. “Thanks for cleaning. There was weird pepper in the toilets this morning. Maybe the pipes are flaking?”

“They are, and the ‘flakes’ are flammable.”

Her eyes widened. “They are?”

“I’d work from home after today, or else you’ll have to drive to the nearest toilet when you have to go.”

She hugged her midsection. “When will it be fixed?”

“I don’t know.”

Cheryl peered in the first stall. “Jasper leaves, and the whole place falls apart, huh?”

“You got that right.” Rose pushed the cart out, shaking her head.

Alex waited for her in the hall. His two-tone eyes, sculpted blond hair, and crisp suit intimidated her even more than Mal’s roaring. The good-looking dragons were all worrisome in their own ways. “Come with me.”

She started to push the cart.

“Leave that.”

She stopped. “You don’t want me to pick up the conference room?”

“No.”

Her stomach dropped.

She followed the broad-shouldered male down the hallway.

Trouble. She was in trouble.

And without Jasper, she couldn’t trust the dragons at all.

Was she fired? Had they seen what was happening in the building and blamed her? She was the most senior. She should have stopped it. Why did she let Peridot wreck everything instead of fixing it on her own?

“This way.” Alex led her through the conference room door—never mind the massive hole where the conference table jutted into the hallway like a wrecked car—and directed her into the room.

She stood ramrod straight.

The dragons stared at her like she was in front of a firing squad.

Mal paced, claws extended, green bulk shimmering on his torso where the shreds of his suit remained visible. He’d apparently shifted to dragon and back to human without taking the time to change. “Rose! You are a human.”

Was that a question? She braced. They knew she was a human. Was she going to be fired for not being a dragon? That was what Peridot wanted.

Peridot wasn’t here. So maybe she wasn’t being fired.

“Therefore, you have no chance of defeating Larimar or Adviser Wrathmoda in teeth-to-claw combat.”

She dipped her head in agreement. “Yeah.”

“So give up Jasper.” Mal stopped and pointed at the engagement ring she kept on a chain under her shirt. It was too big to flash, and she wouldn’t risk cracking it or losing it on the job. “Break your engagement so he can marry Adviser Wrathmoda.”

Heat and cold flushed through her. She gripped the ring through her shirt, half-insulted and half-furious. “He can’t marry the adviser.”

“You should have married him long before.” Alex sat on one of the few unbroken chairs and rested an ankle on his knee. “Wasting his time means you lost your chance.”

“It’s your own fault,” Mal agreed. “Hand over that engagement ring and stop using his stuff for your convenience.”

“I’m not using ‘his stuff’ for my convenience,” she snapped. “He told me to move in with him.”

“Yeah, but you won’t even fight for his life.”

“Because everyone says it’s impossible.”

“It is impossible,” Alex said, and the other dragons nodded. “Even we cannot defeat the adviser. A human would be smeared, smashed, burned, and eaten in seconds. Fighting her is suicide.”

“And I’m not suicidal,” she retorted. “But what I am is pissed off. I get that we should have worked it out earlier—for your convenience—but look at yourselves. Jasper sacrifices himself all the time so things go better for the rest of you. That’s what he’s doing right now. Jasper doesn’t want to marry the adviser. No one wants to marry the adviser, so in a fit of selflessness, he took it on himself. Did you stop him? No! And now, instead of figuring out how to rescue him, you’re in here figuring out how to make it easier for him to get stuck in a rotten married life.”

“Because the adviser is not a dragon we can defeat,” Alex pointed out, and the deadly security dragon, Kyan, nodded.

She held up both hands in the stop motion. “Are you telling me you have no plans to rescue him? No plans at all?”

A sharp silence fell over the group as tattered and splintered as the fixtures.

“Wow.” She crossed her arms, shook her head, and tsked. “Jasper said not to worry because he was a member of your ‘team,’ and he was sure you guys would figure something out. Instead, you can’t even finish a single meeting without breaking the room, blaming each other, and now you’re blaming me and him. I told him he had too much faith in you guys, and I hate it, but it looks like I was right.”

Rose’s accusation echoed over the room.

It had the desired effect. The dragons stiffened and growled.

She hugged herself. As much as she didn’t want to be someone’s lunch, even more, she couldn’t let them dismiss Jasper.

Kyan stood. “Jasper won’t escape. He refuses to leave you. If you give him up, then we will use his spaceship to hide in deep space. That is why you must give him up. So he can hide and survive.”

“Deep space?” Rose repeated, staring at the scarred security officer. “You can hide Jasper somewhere the adviser can’t find him?”

Kyan nodded.

“For how long?”

He shrugged.

“A week? Or a year?”

His shrug came more grudgingly.

“The rest of his life?

He inclined his head.

“So you want Jasper to cower in exile, terrified of being discovered, in deep space, alone, forever. Wow. And he refused for no reason? Except me?”

“At least he’d be alive.” Kyan sat abruptly and crossed his arms.

“So that’s one solution. Anybody else?”

Alex leaned forward. “Larimar wants coin. Jasper should liquidate his assets and bribe Larimar to reveal Adviser Wrathmoda’s darkest secrets. He will then use those secrets as leverage to leave him alone.”

“First of all, I thought the adviser already got everything of his. That’s why he had to get kicked out of the building, so the adviser didn’t get his stuff.”

They nodded.

Alex crossed his arms. “Yes, but Larimar will never receive his assets. This is her only chance to partake from the match.”

“Great, so betraying her big, dangerous, scary mom is her only chance for some cash. What dangerous secret does she know?”

“We will find out.”

“Are you sure she and her mom are even close? Because I don’t know any secrets about my parents. I barely know the basic facts. In fact, I don’t know any secrets about anybody.”

“You’re just a human.”

“Well, thanks. But before you settle Jasper’s fortune on the promise that somebody might know something, you might want to double-check it’s worthwhile.”

He cleared his throat. “Of course.”

“And also, how do you know she wants to help you? At all?”

“She covets our company. We could offer a limited lease.”

“Oh, sure, you kicked Jasper out, but welcome her in with open arms.”

“She will not overstay. We have a plan.”

“You do? Let’s hear it.”

He glanced around the broken table, then laid it out. “We will make it more lucrative for her to set up her own company than to remain here.”

“You’re going to bribe her—again—to leave.” Rose could not believe these dragons made so much money being so stupid. “Have you ever bribed someone before?”

“Yes,” he said, clipped.

“Then you should know that once she knows there’s money, she’s going to come back. This Larimar has no reason to free Jasper, or else she already would have done it. Based on how you guys describe the adviser, I’m not even sure she can. In a fight between her and her mom, who’d win?”

Silence answered her question.

“And then why should Larimar help if she just trades on promises? She promises she’ll free Jasper after the product launch. Oh, but she can’t. It’s after the next product launch. Oops, but not then either. Just let her have one more product launch, and one more, and one more, forever.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Okay, but you’re letting her into your building. Your space. Based on a promise! And you can’t beat her. Do you know how hard it is to evict somebody? Especially when they’re stronger than you.”

“She will leave for more money.”

“And she’ll be back when it runs out. Bribing is like opening a cash register, because there’s no end in sight.”

Alex frowned.

“Never negotiate with terrorists,” she advised.

He eyed her coldly. “If you never negotiate with terrorists, the hostage sometimes dies.”

“Then we fight.” Pyro cracked his radioactive-red-streaked knuckles. “I’ve held my own against females. Adviser Wrathmoda can’t defeat us all. Not with your black ops tricks and my fists.”

Kyan stared at him from under thunderous brows.

“Back to basics,” Pyro insisted. “Teeth to claws.”

“You defeated a young female in a war zone, separated by steep casualties and experimental armor,” Kyan returned. “Not an ancient female with her own private army.”

“Great, so they turn the Earth into a war zone. Sounds like fun.” His crazy grin gleamed. “Jasper’s my brother. Nobody beats on him but me.”

Mal roared and slammed the remains of the conference table into the ceiling. “You’re all useless!”

Pyro’s claws and teeth extended.

She raced to the door and watched the fight from the safety of the hall.

Pyro snapped at Mal. “You have no better idea.”

“Anything is better than your idea! You’ll wreck my company and Cheryl’s Earth for nothing!”

“Not for nothing. Is our family nothing? You’re the ones who want to sacrifice Jasper. Where is your pride as an Onyx?”

Kyan growled. “Sit down.”

“You sit down.” Pyro whirled on Alex. “Why are you so cool? Your brother’s in danger. You don’t even care. You care about nothing!”

Alex’s two-tone eyes glittered. “I don’t waste time talking. I act.”

“Well, I fight!”

“And your fighting days are long past you.”

Pyro screamed. Furious red scales exploded over his skin. He flew at Alex, who dodged underneath, proving himself faster. Pyro threw a wild swipe. His claws caught Alex on the cheek. Long threads of blood splashed his perfect skin.

Alex stood.

Pyro stopped and made a surprised sound. “Oh.”

Alex touched the blood and stared at the red on his fingertips.

The room grew deathly quiet.

His eyes glowed, turquoise and light purple, swirling with uncharacteristic fury. His lips peeled back from long, sharp teeth. He shifted, shredding his fine clothing, and all the dragons jumped back in surprise. His long snout snapped at Pyro. “You want to fight?”

“Ah…” Pyro cracked his knuckles. “Well, yeah…”

“Then let’s fight.” Alex slammed Pyro in his scarred chest.

Pyro collapsed.

Alex’s teeth closed around his throat.

The other brothers cried out.

Kyan knocked Alex aside.

His razor-sharp teeth snicked just above Pyro’s throat.

Alex scrambled out of Kyan’s hold and slashed his trench coat and Kevlar.

Kyan jumped back.

Pyro recovered and bounced, shifting the rest of the way to a radioactive-red dragon. “Come and get me, little bro!”

Alex flew at him.

Pyro slashed.

Kyan dove between the two with a roar.

They both turned on him. Suddenly, Kyan was the defender trying to separate two furious dragons.

Mal burst into green scales and attacked the trio. “This isn’t solving anything!”

Okay, so this would take a while.

Rose vacuumed the hall while the dragons raged and broke the rest of the conference room furnishings. Then she dusted desks, polished fixtures, and neatened frames.

Eventually, the noise died down, and she checked.

The dragons were entangled with each other, teeth lodged in tails, claws threatening to rake unguarded sides, deadlocked.

“So that was the least useful solution.” She crossed her arms like she was talking to Liam about bad choices. “Are you done?”

Mal made a gurgling noise and released first. The other dragons disentangled, and then they sat in scaly piles nursing wounds and muttering. Mal shifted back to human, nude and everything, and she whirled away and hid her eyes. He pulled suits from a closet and tossed them at his siblings.

While buttoning his shirt, he demanded, “What do you propose?”

“What do I propose?” she repeated.

“For saving Jasper, and our company, and Earth.”

She choked and faced away until after they belted their pants. Then she turned and gave them her best skeptical eye. “You know I’m just the janitor, right?”

“But you don’t like any of our ideas, so you propose one.”

“Me?” She shook her head. “I thought it was stupid, but even Jasper’s idea to distract Larimar and the adviser by creating a successful company seems better than yours.”

“That was Jasper’s idea?” The dragons exchanged interested looks, and Mal urged her to continue. “What else does he suggest?”

“Ask him yourself.”

“We can’t.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?”

“Larimar ate his phone.”

She waved the excuse away. “No, the instant he offered to marry that adviser for you, you kicked him out. Just abandoned him like you never cared.”

“What else could we do?” Mal demanded. “You said it yourself. If he’d stayed here, Larimar would have moved in. Adviser Wrathmoda would claim my company as her asset.”

“Yeah, better save your company over his life,” she said sarcastically. “Because you know Jasper would do the same.”

Mal frowned. “No, of course Jasper would sacrifice himself. He always sacrifices himself.”

“Well, now he’s trying to save himself. Too bad he doesn’t have a family that actually cares.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “You accuse us of not caring, but you are the one eating his food, enjoying his lair, and spending his money while he suffers. You do not even miss him because you have his things.”

“You think I’m a gold digger?” Her heart beat faster. Just like when her coworkers had turned on her, and when Peridot had shut her down. Now Jasper’s brothers thought she was a bad person. “You think I don’t care about Jasper? I only want his money?”

“You don’t want to buy his freedom, yet you won’t fight for him.”

“You said fighting was suicide!”

“And you have no alternative ideas, but say we shouldn’t use Jasper’s money. Why? So you can have another solid-gold bed?”

“I never asked for that.”

“His spaceship could save his life.” Alex focused on the ring peeking between the folds of her blouse. “You denied his love for years, and only now that he’s gifted you expensive presents, you’ve agreed to be his wife.”

“I never agreed to anything!”

The dragons stared at her in reproach.

Mal growled. “You’re living in his lair, carrying his ring, and yet you still refuse to marry him? I thought humans cared more for love than coin, but you are a real dragon.”

Blood rushed to her head. She grabbed the ring and yanked it off her neck. It burned where the thick chain snapped. “You want this so bad? Have it! Have his money! If you’re so sure this will save his life, I don’t need it. I don’t need any of it!”

She threw the ring in the center of the room.

They all stared at it.

Her hands shook. She glared at each and every one of them, daring them to challenge her, and one by one, they looked away.

“Bring. Back. Jasper.” She stormed out of the conference room, grabbed her cart, and shoved it to the elevator.

The elevator opened.

Peridot stepped out, stopping in surprise. “Where are you going?”

She could not deal with him right now. She dropped her head. “I’m taking a break.”

“You were just on a break.”

“No, I was in a meeting.”

“It was not an official meeting on your schedule; therefore, it was a break.”

She dropped the cart handles. The elevator doors closed. “Are you serious?”

“Your attitude is poor. You never do your work.”

“I’m the only one who does my work!”

“You talk back. I have tried to guide you to exhibit proper workplace behavior many times.”

“No, you’ve gotten in my way, made the entire building unlivable, and ignored everything that makes sense.” She jabbed her hand at the conference room where she’d been pulled, against her will, into a meeting. “The toilets are spitting methane parasites, there are no refills for any cleaning supplies, you aren’t monitoring any of your employees—who refuse to work because you said you’re going to fire them—and you think I’m just here for the paycheck. You’re as bad as the other dragons!”

He stilled. “Did you just insult your employers?”

“Yes, and I’ll do it again. They’re the idiots who put you in charge!”

“You are fired.”

She gripped her hair and screamed. “You can’t fire me. I quit!”

A long silence fell over the hall.

Peridot held out his hand. “Your key.”

A sick, roiling feeling exploded in her stomach. Her heart thudded even harder than in the conference room.

She’d done this to herself. It was over.

Rose reached into her pocket. She pulled out the slim square that had been her first ever key. Her first real job. Her first responsibility.

Once, this key had been a symbol of respect. Her coworkers had looked up to her. Mal and the other dragons had occasionally consulted her on human things. Jasper had made her feel like a valued member of the team.

Peridot snapped the key in half.

She felt the snap in her spine.

“Leave your cart.” He called for building security, and two dragons flanked her sides. “Security, escort her from the building.”

Her escort dragons followed Rose to her locker. She changed out of her coveralls and turned to go to the staff room.

The dragons blocked her. “The exit is behind you.”

“I wanted to say goodbye,” she said.

They were immovable.

She couldn’t quite see over their wide shoulders. Maybe one of her coworkers noticed? She walked through the front lobby, past a standing, openmouthed Jeanine, and out the front doors to the burning-hot sidewalk.

They left her and returned to the building.

She turned.

What was she hoping? That the sky would turn red and a white light would glow? Mal and the others would run after her and apologize, crying that it had been a mistake? She was right and Peridot was wrong?

It didn’t happen.

They all thought she was a heartless gold digger.

Four years of her life, erased.

She turned and trudged to the bus stop, realized she didn’t have change, and walked under the relentless sun to Grandma’s moldy old apartment complex.

Along the way, her stomach rumbled. She’d forgotten her lunch in the staff room. Not that the security dragons would have let her get it!

The hotter she got, the sadder the situation left her. She relived her final words and wished she could take them back. Her tennis shoes felt heavy.

Peridot had been looking for an excuse, and she’d handed it right to him. The few instants of mouthing off had felt great, but he’d manipulated her into what he’d wanted.

She had to start over. Without a reference. No prospects.

Ugh.

She’d have to start job searching right away. There was no time to waste. Liam was relying on her. And Grandma.

And she’d thrown the ring. What had she been thinking? That was Jasper’s ring! Alex had manipulated her into reacting, but she shouldn’t have thrown it. Once she stopped compartmentalizing at work, it had gotten harder to ignore the slights.

But it was too late.

It was all too late.

Oh, and Rose had to see if she could rescind her notice to leave the new apartment. But she also had to confess that she had no job! Would they let her stay on the lease with no job?

In the worst case, she’d move in with Grandma. The place gave her headaches and made Liam’s nose bleed, but a moldy shelter was still shelter.

She was a terrible parent. CPS would never let her keep Liam. Even Briar would question her judgment, and she’d be right.

Responsibilities made the last blocks drag.

It was just past Liam’s preschool pickup, so Grandma wouldn’t be home.

But when Rose turned in to the parking lot, Grandma’s whereabouts fled to the back of her mind.

The place had turned into Pyro’s war zone. Couples strapped saggy love seats into overweight sedans; families crammed boxes into trucks. Everyone moved at once, and the looks she got were less than friendly. One mother whose children always played with Liam put her baby on her hip and spit at the sidewalk as Rose passed. Why? Rose lowered her head, too beaten and confused to start anything, and hurried to Grandma’s unit.

Then she saw the Jaguar.

What was left of it.

The frame smoked, a burned-out husk of metal. Shattered glass crunched in a halo around it. The windows had gone first. The tires melted around slashes. Sledgehammer dents were interspersed with long scratches.

She gaped.

Luis stood behind her. “You want a picture? Send it to your boyfriend?”

“I can’t,” she said. “He’s being held prisoner, and the warden ate his phone.”

“I guess he deserves it, huh?” Luis ambled by his house. His front door was closed for the first time she’d ever seen in the daylight, and a beefy padlock cinched the handle. Luis kicked it hard enough to rattle the windows and then continued on his meandering way.

Rose’s world was ending, and she had no idea why.

A paper had been stuck to Grandma’s door. Rose climbed the steps, avoiding the mushy third, and tore down the paper. Eviction Notice. 72 hours…

Her vision blurred.

She hurried inside. “Grandma?”

Her grandma sat in her usual kitchen chair, a cup of water in one hand, a blank stare on the far wall. She shook herself and turned. “Rose?”

“Grandma, what’s going on?” Panic infused her. She’d already put in her notice. This was her safe hole. “I thought we had more time to pay off the washing machine!”

Her old eyes stared blankly over the kitchen. “Your boyfriend did this.”

“What?”

“I told you not to trust him, Rose. Money screws honest folk every time.”

The whole story came out while Rose paced in the kitchen and Grandma shared what she knew. Jasper had listened to Rose, gone over the ineffectual head of the local housing authority, and brought down the hammer of the state. Immediate eviction, and it was not their problem if you had nowhere to go and no way to get out.

Rose gripped the wobbly back of the second chair, dazed. “When do we have to be out?”

“People came in hazmat suits. They wouldn’t let Luis inside. He waited until they left, and they came again with a padlock.”

“Grandma.”

“They looked like invaders from the moon.”

“Grandma, when did the seventy-two hours start?”

She squinted as though peering over her memory. “Yesterday. They came yesterday…morning.”

Rose walked through the house inventorying the contents while she called first Jasper—voice mail, of course, but hopefully he’d get this message when he got a new phone—then her coworkers—also voice mail—and then Briar. Nothing for Briar, not even voice mail.

After that, she sat on Grandma’s sagging bed for a long, long time.

She was alone in the world.

All alone.

Pity wouldn’t help right now. Jasper was alone too. Rose promised to be strong. She intended to fight.

Rose called a few more numbers, then returned to the kitchen and pulled out the plates and cookware, stacking them on the floor because she didn’t trust the table. “Okay, we’ll pack up whatever we can, take it to my house,” and fumigate it on the way, “so just leave clothes. We’ll figure something out.”

Grandma’s old eyes fixed on her vintage towels. “They said not to bring linens.”

Rose dropped them on the table. One of them had a red handprint. She pulled it out of the pile.

Liam’s name and first year were written beneath the messy print.

She set it on the plates. They couldn’t destroy this. She’d beg Jasper to use the decontam on it.

Then her memory triggered. “Where’s Liam?”

Grandma studied her wrinkled hands.

“Grandma?” Rose paused. “Where’s Liam?”

Tears shimmered. “I’m sorry, Rose.”

The floor tilted. A high-pitched buzz started in her ears. Of all the things she didn’t want to hear today, this was what she most dreaded. The question formed in her dry mouth even though she knew the answer. “Is he okay?”

Grandma nodded.

“Where is he?”

“I went to the preschool. I went early because I… She was so mad about that car. You talked to the police, Rose. You know she can’t help it, and yet you embarrassed her. You made her feel bad. You should have protected her.”

Rose shook her head. An entire ocean sloshed inside. “No.”

“I went, and it was already too late.”

“No, no.”

“She was with that new boyfriend of hers, the one who acts like he’s always so high and mighty. They signed Liam out and quit the daycare.”

“But she’s bringing him back.”

“Rose…”

“Of course she is. Briar gets bored. She’ll bring Liam back. She’ll bring him back when she’s bored.”

“She’s his family, Rose. She has as much right as anyone to—”

“No!” Rose stomped, rattling the dishes, fists cocked. “Briar can’t keep anything! She’ll lose him, pawn him off on friends, forget him in a locked car. You can’t let her keep him.”

“We don’t have a choice. She’s his mother.”

“She’s a terrible mother! That’s why I have to. She can’t. Not if she loves him. Not if…not if…”

Grandma rested an old hand on Rose’s shoulder, and her gaze was filled with the terrible acceptance of a mother who’d already lost her children. “Briar took him, Rose. He’s gone.”

Something was wrong.

Jasper organized his project sheets on the wall screen. Larimar had called her mother in the other room, and only the loudest exclamations reached him, but the tone and Larimar’s body language filled him with unease.

She’d promised to let him take a break after her mother approved the products. All he had to do was make a single phone call, and production would commence. His construction workers would build the shipping platforms. On Draconis, Larimar’s agents would prepare to accept the products. They’d ship as soon as the Empress’s successor was decided and trade resumed.

Larimar had overseen and approved his work. She’d been smart enough to be guided by his experience and had bossed the dragons back home into line.

They’d gotten ahead of plan, and now Jasper ached to talk to his people. Rose, his siblings, the old office. Things were surely going well and nobody missed him, not a fraction of the amount he missed them, but soon he would know for sure. He was almost done.

Almost.

“Yes, Mother, this is the product. These cheeses.”

Larimar’s voice rose with agitation. At this hour, the connection should be clear.

Jasper fabricated a reason to check the building integrity nearer the conference call.

Adviser Wrathmoda growled. “I dislike cheese.”

Larimar’s mouth flopped. “You…don’t like cheese? Not even limburger?”

“Stinks like frightened animals. Makes my nose run and cramps my belly.”

Larimar noticed Jasper. Her eyes widened in panic, and she looked at him for rescue while continuing to speak to her mother. “You don’t enjoy cheese.”

“Yes, so what good product are we exporting?” Adviser Wrathmoda grated in an uncompromising growl. “You promised to amass enough wealth so I can conquer General Ragiosa with my own fleet. We will fight over the War Admiral seat. Come, come. Tell me.”

“What…ah, what human products do you enjoy?”

“So far, none are fit for a low caste, much less an aristocrat. But fools disagree, and if they are so stupid as to give up their coin, I will take it.”

“Yes, the music and art from Earth are very popular right now. Did you—”

“I can’t see why. I hate everything. That is why I am relying on you, Daughter, to exploit this backwater and save our noble colonies, which have long been locked in by the useless General Ragiosa.”

“Ah…have you tried their chocolate?”

“I can’t keep the names straight.” Her voice dropped dangerously. “I am risking my name for you, Daughter. Give me a product I will be proud to export. This is your final chance to impress me.”

Larimar swallowed. “Of course I will.”

“Hmm. I will arrive to taste your product in three days. But not cheese! It kinks my intestines and gives me the most disagreeable flatulence.”

The screen went dark.

Larimar covered her face.

Jasper waited.

She lifted her head and howled at the ceiling in frustration. “Three days! I ate eighty pounds of cheese for no reason.”

“Perhaps she is lactose intolerant. Humans have created cheeses without lactose to—”

“Never again.” She glared at Jasper. “We must export a different product. Not cheese. And we must present it to Mother in three days. This building is unworthy of her personage. Can we even build an appropriate showroom in three days?”

He compared his memory of the Space Voyages Inc. showroom suite, the most lavish space he’d ever seen, which the aristocratic customers had called rustic. “I can prepare a showroom. But what will you export?”

“I don’t know.” She stared at the empty boxes. “Eighty pounds, wasted. What do we do?”

“Continue your plan. Your mother dislikes human flavors, so she does not represent the general population of dragons who love—”

“But she has to approve! You heard her. She won’t export anything she dislikes, and she fears being compared to ‘idiots.’ Taste matters to me, but to her, it is life.”

That was a conundrum. Mal had never been precious. He wanted to make the most money as quickly as possible, and he didn’t agonize over his selections. A benefit of being low caste.

Larimar paced. “What do all dragons like no matter what?”

“Coffee.”

She rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows coffee. The family who exports it always ranks on the charts. They net more profit than the Onyx Corporation because they don’t have to reinvent themselves. That’s one reason food products attracted me. After the research phase, they sell themselves.”

“There are perhaps more coffees than cheeses.”

She stopped and glared at him. “Do not make me hate coffee.”

“Does your mother enjoy coffee?”

She resumed pacing. “Good point. I don’t know. And if it fails her standard, then we’d be an ‘idiot’ for selling it.”

“What about a rare coffee preferred by the Gentleman’s Society?”

Her brows rose. “She would accept that endorsement even if she disliked the product.”

“Alex has tested some products on secret, high-level members of society. Our family is not the only one. Other aristocrats have carried home souvenirs. Even the Empress hoarded a truffle covered in edible gold foil.”

“Good, Jasper, that’s what I’m talking about.”

He started for his terminal to call to Alex about the last bag of specialty coffee. He’d collected it for Amber, and then during the investigation, the Gentleman’s Society had made off with most of the limited supply. He’d planned to follow up with the distributor after Amber’s honeymoon. Now, it was the priority.

“What if Mother dislikes coffee?” Larimar tapped her fingers against the door frame. “We should offer her three types, shouldn’t we?”

“The Gentleman’s Society did not prefer three types.”

“But if she’s having a bad day, she’ll refuse any one product on principle. We should offer her more products. If she dislikes the first, move on to the second, and so forth.”

Jasper lifted his fingers off the terminal. “You wish to present her with all the samples?”

“Oh, goodness, no. If we present her with eighteen hundred of anything, she’ll be furious. She might flame us both out of anger.”

“That would be unwelcome.”

“Unwelcome!” Larimar flopped on the chair, flicked out her claws, and shredded the air in frustration. “My mother is coming in three days. We have no company, no product for her to approve, no vast income for her war chests, and no place for her to even sit. She’s a dragon who repays insults with limb loss. Why are you so calm?”

Jasper pursed his lips. “Since reaching the number one spot on the off-Draconis company ranking, the Onyx Corporation has survived espionage, merging companies with an aristocrat, lizard cultists, bombings, and an investigation by the Gentleman’s Society, any of which could have destroyed the Dragon-Human Treaty and ended with planetary annihilation. So at this point, I am more stressed by missing my love and my team. Besides, fear-based work is less creative, and overtiredness leads to mistakes.”

She retracted her claws. “It does?”

“Yes, we have documented many detrimental effects. That is why I always strive to improve the environment for optimal production, including emotional health.”

“Does that really affect performance?”

“If you were working with your male, wouldn’t you expend the maximum energy?”

She gazed dreamily into her mind. “I would take that dragon back to my lair and never emerge.”

“You would emerge eventually, and then you would work to secure his safety.”

She snapped back to focus and crossed her arms. “I am dedicated now.”

“You cannot sustain a business on emergencies. You cannot achieve optimum production.” He returned to his terminal and called up the most popular exports.

Larimar frowned. “Would you be so much more productive with your Rose?”

“As a first step, yes.”

“This is an emergency.”

“Yes, which is why I’ve remained quiet about my worries for her well-being over yours.” He tapped the screen. “Which product samples do you want prepared for your mother?”

Larimar selected, and he made arrangements to acquire them. Building a rustic showroom was a bigger problem.

“Perhaps we can test the products on her ship,” Larimar suggested. “Then she never has to set foot on Earth.”

“Stepping a foot onto Earth is part of the charm.” Jasper did not want to close himself into a spaceship at the mercy of Adviser Wrathmoda. Even though he could not survive a firefight, he wanted the option.

“Perhaps you’re right. Towering over the humans who can’t shift could be fun for her.”

Jasper began to design what he hoped would be appropriate.

Larimar stood and went to the door. “Call her.”

“Hmm? Your mother?”

“No.” She snorted. “Call your female.”

He jolted upright at the view-screen terminal where he’d been making his supplier calls all week, then fumbled Rose’s number twice before he got it right.

No answer.

Disappointment clashed with anticipation. He dialed the office without even thinking. Maybe she was working late—

“Onyx Corporation,” Jeanine answered, her monotone voice gravelly and familiar.

“Hi, Jeanine. How are you?” He sucked on his lower lip.

“Hello, Jasper. Mal’s expecting your call.”

“Oh, no, wait…”

But the phone was already being transferred. His oldest brother answered. “Malachite.”

Nostalgia prickled Jasper’s nostrils. He straightened to give his brother his best. “Hi, Mal.”

“Jasper? Thank everything.” The video screen in front of him flashed, and then Mal’s worried green form showed up in the shreds of a suit jacket. Jasper must have interrupted a fight, or Mal hadn’t bothered to change. “Are you ready to come home?”

“Yes, but my current hosts are not.”

Mal looked crestfallen.

Maybe he had been missed. “I’m looking for Rose.”

Mal looked around his office like she might be hiding behind one of Cheryl’s leafy potted plants. “She’s not here.”

“I didn’t expect—”

“Jasper, I…we want to help.”

He stopped his obvious question and focused. “Help?”

“You. Somehow. Because we…we need you back.” Mal scrubbed his tired face, leaned forward, and smacked the desk with his usual decisiveness. “Get Adviser Wrathmoda off your back, come back here, and marry Rose.”

“Adviser Wrathmoda will not approve an Earth product she hasn’t herself experienced. I need a space to present Larimar’s products or host a final tasting. Can we borrow Mother’s office at the Onyx Corporation?”

Mal’s eyes narrowed. “Are you moving in?”

“No, the production facilities will remain here.”

“It’s easier to evict someone who’s never been allowed inside.”

That sounded like something Rose would say. “If we don’t leave, you can ask Chrysoberyl’s uncle to intervene. He would have a clear shot from space.”

“If you’re sure…”

“In the unlikely event that I’m wrong, the easiest way to evict would be to stop environmental services.”

Mal blinked. “Really? How long would that take?”

“Two weeks will become uncomfortable, and three weeks, unlivable. Any longer will cause a building hazard. Honestly, if Adviser Wrathmoda or Larimar take up residence longer than three weeks, we should move to a new building, because structural damages will exceed expenses.”

“You’ve been absent for almost three weeks. Are environmental services so temperamental?”

“Ask Rose. She knows almost as much about the environmental system as I do.”

Mal made a note. “We will host your meeting.”

“Please have the furniture moved to accommodate Adviser Wrathmoda’s size.” He gave the specifications.

Mal agreed distractedly. “Okay, will do.”

“Where is Rose?”

Mal had no idea, so he transferred Jasper to the security center. But Kyan gave him the same disheartening answer. “She’s not at the office.”

“Why isn’t she answering her cell phone?”

He shook his head.

“Is she okay?”

“She seems well,” Kyan said. “Her health appears fine.”

Seems? Appears? “Is it not obvious from your daily contact?”

“We no longer have daily contact.”

Jasper’s deep unease returned. “You’re supposed to be watching over her, taking care of her. Haven’t you been taking her to and from the office? Preschool? My lair?”

“She stopped that.”

“Why?”

Kyan shrugged a shoulder.

Jasper’s hackles raise. “Where is she right now?”

Kyan looked away to confirm her location. Confirm! How could Rose have slipped away from Kyan? Sure, he didn’t love her as Jasper did, but she was a valuable employee, far more important to operations than anyone else. Jasper wanted to snap at him, but he didn’t want to be a distraction. He clamped his lips shut on his pointy teeth.

Larimar appeared in the doorway. “Done yet?”

He turned to face her, fighting to remain calm while he waited for Kyan. “My brothers have agreed to lend their office for the meeting with your mother. I will confirm the arrangements to fit our needs.”

She crossed her arms. “Uh-huh. And your Rose?”

Kyan answered. “She is traveling from a family lawyer’s office into a grocery discount store.”

“I must see her.” Jasper whipped to Larimar.

She held up a hand, stopping his request. “I chose the products.”

“Feed the list to my suppliers.” He strode for the exit.

Larimar blocked him with a hiss. “You can’t leave.”

“No one is watching over her.” Jasper extended his claws. Scales showered over him, vibrating for a fight. “I gave myself to you on the promise that my family was watching over my female, and no one is watching over her.”

White scales erupted over her, and she grew to a massive size, crashing into the walls and ceiling. “Get back to work!”

“I can’t!”

She tossed him to the floor and snapped her teeth on his neck. “Obey me or die!”

He bucked against her iron arm.

She embedded her claws in the concrete around his face. He fought to exhaustion, and she didn’t bother to move, just essentially sat on him. Finally, he retracted his scales and his claws, returning to human. He’d never been a fighter; he’d never wanted to fight, and Larimar held him down so easily, it was depressing.

She rolled off and shifted back to human, pulled on one of the new dress shirts and trousers he’d stocked for her, and new boots. “Now, get up.”

He didn’t.

“Get up!” she snarled, teeth back at his neck.

“If you kill me, then you’ll be on your own.”

“That will be my problem and you will be dead!”

“I thought you wanted to win.”

“I thought you wanted to live!”

“I can’t focus until I have confirmed Rose’s status for myself. No one’s watching over her, Larimar. You have the schedules and whatever you’ve done to keep your male alive, to know about him, and I have nothing. You ate my phone.”

She sat on her haunches. “The sooner you get the business running, the sooner you can go back to her.”

“How long did it take you to focus? After your mother took away your male.”

“We don’t have that kind of time.” Larimar extended a hand, and when Jasper took it, she yanked him upright so hard, he nearly went flying off his feet the other direction. She forced a suit onto him, dusted off his hair, and picked up the list again. “Help me. Come on. Focus.”

He stared at the list.

A long pause passed.

She sighed and ended the call with a disturbed-looking Kyan, who’d witnessed the whole argument, and brought up the ordering software. She began hunting and pecking in the orders. “One hour.”

He jolted. “What?”

“You can go for one hour. Don’t betray me.”

Jasper raced for the exit.

“And you have to do the other stuff,” Larimar called after him. “Confirm the office space or whatever.”

He got outside and flew home so fast, his skin practically melted off. His speed would impress even a female dragon. The early evening sun cast shadows on the hot sidewalk, and he found Rose carrying two heavy plastic bags out of the discount grocery store.

He landed on the sidewalk in front of her in a rush.

She jumped and dropped her bags. “Goodness, you startled me.” Then she did a double take. “Jasper? Oh my goodness, Jasper!”

His heart catapulted in his chest. He opened his arms. “Rose.”

She dove into his embrace. “I missed you so much!”

His throat closed, and he couldn’t speak. He held her soft body to his.

She was lithe and healthy, whole and unharmed, and her delicate feminine scent hooked him, addictive. He buried his nose in her soft, unbraided black curls and squeezed her. She laughed, hugging him back just as tightly.

Eventually, she let him go. Tears glimmered in her eyes. “Did you get free? Is it over? Did you escape?”

“We’re three days away.” He collected her bags. She’d filled them with the lowest-quality discount toilet paper, a small jug of oil, and wrinkly black beans. “My brothers offered the head office for our final tasting. You must have talked to them.”

Sadness crossed her face, then anger. She looked away and hugged her elbow. “Yeah, words were said, all right. So, you’re not out of the woods yet?”

“Not yet, but the horizon is lighter.” He made the automatic turn to go to her grandmother’s complex.

“Ah, you can’t go back there.” She pulled him away. “Grandma’s living in my apartment, and you’re not too popular in the old neighborhood. Not that anybody’s still around.”

“Oh, has the housing authority responded?”

“Yeah, they responded.” Her tone didn’t sound as happy as he was expecting. “They evicted us in seventy-two hours. All the vans were busy, and we had to leave behind most of her stuff. It was mold damaged anyway, but Grandma was sorry to lose her bed, and she should have been able to move the couch.”

He stopped on the sidewalk. “The housing authority didn’t assist?”

“Nope. Why, were you expecting them to?”

“They said that they distributed moving assistance. Something called vouchers.”

“Yeah, but you get those weeks later. You have to pay to hire a moving company and store your stuff upfront. Plus find a new place. First, last, deposit. Application fees. Background checks. It goes on.” She shook her head and kept walking. “Luckily, I have a couple of weeks left on my lease. I wanted Grandma to move in anyway, and it’s been good to have someone with me while I…well, I was lucky.”

“The housing authority didn’t help.” He couldn’t understand this. “How hard is it to make a few phone calls and arrange temporary labor, storage, and housing? I would have done it in a half-hour. I would have found you another place to live! Humans have dormitories called hotels for temporary habitation.”

“Yeah, sure, if the housing authority had money and cared.”

“Kyan should have assisted you.”

“Really?”

“Or Peridot. Anyone.”

She looked away again.

He dropped the bags and scooped her into his arms. “I’m sorry. This was my mistake. Kyan should have noticed your distress and offered his help.”

“He doesn’t seem like the kind to pay much attention outside of guns, you know.”

“You must be right.” Jasper shook his head. “An apartment building is condemned, so the occupants need new housing. Why isn’t the next step obvious?”

“Well, there’s seeing the obvious, and then there’s doing something about it.”

“Why doesn’t anyone act? I can’t understand.”

Her smile returned. “No one’s surprised except you. You always do the right thing.”

“Doing the ‘right thing’ is like performing maintenance. It requires a small effort sooner and prevents an enormous catastrophe later.” He refocused on her. “For my part in this, I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “I knew it was a risk when we started dating. You’re a dragon, so miscommunications happen.”

“And my Jaguar needs to be moved.”

“Oh. Uh, no, the city took care of that.”

“I’ll locate and pay to release it.”

“No, Jasper, it wasn’t in great condition. I doubt they could even find a VIN to identify or charge you. Everyone knew you reported us, and they were…well, they were unhappy.”

“I’m sorry.” His heart ached for Luis and all the kind people who’d been shocked and thrown out. “I will demand a new phone from Larimar and be available to you and Liam no matter what.”

She stiffened. “So you didn’t get any of my messages?”

“No, I had to fight Larimar to see you, and here I am.”

“You defeated Larimar?”

“I convinced her I couldn’t focus until I knew you were okay.”

She patted his arm in a way that made him release her slightly, and then she pulled free, picked up her bags, and avoided his gaze. “Right. Well, you can see I’m okay, so you should head back and finish that one crucial thing. We can catch up after you’re free.”

He followed. “How is your family settling into your apartment?”

“Fine.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer my spaceship? It’s bigger for three of you living in one place.”

“We don’t need any more room,” she hedged, “and anyway, I don’t want to occupy it if you need to make a bargain or get away.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. I mean, we can talk about it after you’re free, like I said.”

He followed her with an even darker sense of dread. She was off; something was off. He pondered as she carried her bags into her gated complex. “How’s the team? Shawn, Elle, Patty?”

“I haven’t talked to them. Patty called me, but I wasn’t in a good place.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “The move, you know. Lots of shocks at once, no way to reach you.”

That was on him, but she was being evasive. “Is your grandmother’s health improved after leaving the mold?”

“Probably. I don’t know. We have to change her address with the doctor’s office to get her test results sent here at least until…for a while.”

“How’s Briar’s business?”

“She called last night about another investment, so I gave her your old number.” They reached the front step. On the lawn were strewn boxes, a mess unlike Rose’s usual tidiness, and bags of garbage that included Liam’s bent cardboard race-car bed.

“Liam outgrew his bed,” Jasper commented. “He liked that one.”

“Sure did.” She passed it without looking. “It needs to be recycled.”

“I’ll get you a bigger one.”

“No need.”

“Don’t worry, Rose. I’ll arrange a hotel for your grandmother so you can fit a new bed for Liam in your apartment.”

“No, Jasper.” She turned on the first step so she was eye to eye with him. “No need.”

“Liam still needs a bed.”

“Not here, he doesn’t.”

“You don’t wish to move into the spaceship until after Adviser Wrathmoda releases me, but that is still three days. I can get a bed delivered today, and—”

“No. Jasper.”

He rested on his heels. Rose’s eyes were diamond hard, her resolution a rock.

“Liam doesn’t need a bed because he’s not sleeping here anymore.” Her voice wavered. “Briar came and took him.”

His heart lurched. She was obviously destroyed inside and keeping it together for him. “Where?”

“It changes. Briar posts on Facebook.”

“You can track her location.”

“And what?”

“Get him back.”

Rose shook her head. “When Briar sees me upset, she hangs on tighter to what I want, or she destroys it in front of me.”

“You can’t abandon your team.”

“I’m not abandoning him,” she snapped. “I told you. When Briar takes him, there’s nothing I can do.”

“The family lawyer—”

“Also said there’s nothing I can do. Again.” She lifted her fingers and counted off the reasons. “Because we didn’t have a custody agreement. Because Briar’s his mother. Because I’m living in a one-bedroom apartment with my homeless grandma, to say nothing of my work situation right now.”

“You have me.”

“Right now, I have you.” Her eyes narrowed. “For how long?”

He checked his wristwatch. “Fifteen minutes.”

“There you go.”

“Can I borrow your phone?”

She reached into her pocket and brought it out. “Why?”

“You don’t like my spaceship, so I’ll buy you a three-bedroom house.”

She lifted the phone out of his reach. “I didn’t say I don’t like your spaceship. I don’t know how CPS would feel about it, but don’t waste your money on a house.”

His heart lurched again. “But this is how you get him back from Briar.”

“Could you buy off the adviser or Larimar? Pool your assets and pay them to go away?”

He didn’t know.

She took his silence for her answer. “So I don’t want your money. I don’t want your spaceship. I don’t want to tangle up your stuff when you need it the most.”

“You need it now. Liam—”

“And I can’t accept something that might get taken away. That doesn’t help. I can’t reach you. If something I was relying on falls through, that’s devastating. It’s worse than never relying on anyone to begin with.”

“My family would help you.”

She put a hand on her hip. “Jasper, your family doesn’t even have your back, so why would they have mine?”

He swallowed because he’d struggled with the same fear. “Forget me. You have to get Liam back, because Briar isn’t taking care of him.”

“I know.” She searched the sky, her voice heavy, tragedy pressing on her shoulders. “It’s been three days, and her posts are erratic. Liam hasn’t been to the preschool. The last place she stayed didn’t have a kid’s bed. He slept on a lounge chair. When was the last time he changed his clothes? Is he brushing his teeth?”

“Why are we standing here? I’ll spend my last five minutes finding Liam.”

“And then what?” She scoffed at him, the dark rings around her eyes suddenly much more prominent. It was as if they’d traveled back to weeks ago, when he’d first tried to force his way in. “Beg Briar to change her mind? She loves hurting me way more than she loves money, and because of what you said, she knows that my usual tactic of disinterest is a lie.”

“You can’t give up on him.”

Hot anger flashed over her face. She shoved him back. “You think this is giving up? No, this is me enduring.”

“Stop enduring and start fighting.”

“Oh, so, you have it figured out, huh?” She shoved him back another step. “Just go kidnap Liam back. That’ll be fine. Like how the man I love is kidnapped by a rival female dragon, and I have to fight her, but fighting is suicide.”

“Briar isn’t a dragon.”

“Life is like a four-hundred-pound dragon. It comes and sits on your chest, and there’s nothing you can do but wait until it gets bored and lets you up again. And that’s what I’m doing. Fighting the only way I know how to fight.”

“Rose, you can do so much more.”

“Oh, sure, I could complain to CPS just like you complained to the housing authority. How did that turn out?”

“I solved the problem.”

“Unlike you and Briar, I’m just not willing to destroy Liam’s life in the process of ‘solving things’ for him.”

A deep shame filled him. She was right. About so many things.

He’d pushed his way into her life and then set about improving her happiness without understanding the delicate working relationships she had perfected. He’d misunderstood and destroyed everything.

The proper functions of spaceship parts were defined: each part fit in its own slot and did its work; remove a piece, and the ship cannot fly. But in his case, he’d removed many pieces from her life without watching over the result. Her ship had self-destructed, throwing casualties in his wake.

He could arrange anything except the happiness of the woman he loved.

He couldn’t even save himself.

Jasper’s watch alarm beeped.

They both looked at it.

“Time to go.” Rose pushed him down her narrow walkway, through the waist-high picket fence, onto the empty parking strip in front of her apartment. She backed up until she stood on the other side of the gate. “Let’s just take a break, okay, Jasper? It’ll be better for everyone. Look me up when you’re no longer enslaved.”

Jasper’s heart contracted. “You’re breaking up with me?”

“It’s not a breakup so much as a break, uh…” Rose leaned against the gate. “Not down…well, it’s so you can stop wasting time on me and refocus on you.”

“You are breaking up. You no longer want to be with me.”

“To be fair, we’re not exactly together,” she pointed out. “We were supposed to pretend to be married to save you, and that didn’t work. It was a stupid idea to begin with, and it’s only made both our lives worse.”

His chest burned. It felt like he’d been flayed alive with a laser, belt to chin, and mortal ice filled him with savage pain. “It wasn’t supposed to be pretend.”

“No, it wasn’t. But everybody’s treating us like it was fake, so it might as well have been.” She looked as hurt as he felt. “Anyway, you’ve got to get back.”

“I’m not enslaved,” he insisted, but the words sounded dry and unfair in his mouth. “Larimar’s mate is enslaved, and I’m raising the funds to free him.”

“That sounds like you. Selfless as always. Lighting yourself on fire to keep other people warm.”

“I would never self-immolate when better materials are available.”

“It’s a figure of speech. It means you don’t value yourself. You just sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice for other people who don’t even care.” She put her hands on her hips. “Try not to get married or killed.”

“No.” He tried to swallow the knife of hard truths. “I’m sorry, Rose. I’m… You really want to break up?”

“Well, it’s one less person CPS has to investigate when they remove Liam—because someone’s going to report Briar eventually, even if it’s not me—and they’re looking for a foster home.” She shrugged a shoulder. “You have a record, after all, and that looks bad on their reports.”

He felt faint. “No.”

“Sorry, but I’m telling you this so you’ll get it.” She rapped her own temple. “Stop worrying about me and start worrying about how to save yourself! Your brothers obviously have no plan, and distraction isn’t working.”

He struggled for equilibrium.

Rose still loved him. She was acting callous to protect herself, again, and she was also trying to help him. But it didn’t feel like help. Too many barbed truths lodged in her words to comfort him.

“I will look you up,” he promised gruffly. “I will take you away, and no one will stop me. You’ll be mine.”

Heat and hunger flashed in her eyes.

She licked her lips. “Well, I heard that when dragons are serious, they abduct their mates off the street.”

“I will. Even if you mace me.”

“Promises, promises.” She stroked his roughened cheek.

He grabbed her palm and kissed her hand. “I’ll fix this. Believe me.”

“I’m not the one you have to convince.” She dragged their foreheads together, held him close for one long, endless moment, and then let him go. “At least we get to say goodbye.”

“Our day is coming, Rose.”

“Okay.” She stepped back. “Focus on you now, Jasper.”

He flew up and hovered at a hundred feet, watched her return to her house, and then he flew straight to Larimar’s office. Rage, fury, and sorrow whirled in his heart, forcing out his scales, kindling a hundred plans and then flaming the planning board clean.

Jasper would not get married or killed. And he no longer relied on others to save him from those fates.

He’d always done his job. He’d ignored external distractions to complete his work, and he’d assumed his performance was average, that he was only doing what made the most sense, and that everyone would perform the same tasks.

He’d been wrong.

Rose knew the truth all along. Jasper had undervalued himself this whole time. To his allies, to his enemies, and most of all, to himself.

He finally understood.

So he needed to act.

Jasper landed and strode into the Sweden office. Larimar hunched at the screen typing in the products and didn’t seem to notice he was late. “This is kind of fun.”

“I need a new phone.”

“Denied.”

He sat in an office chair and crossed his legs.

After a few minutes, she said, “What are you doing?”

“Awaiting orders.”

“You know what happens next.” She finished the hour-long order he would have processed in minutes and turned to face him. “Gather the products, toss the ones we can’t export, assemble the supply chains, and prepare for Mother’s arrival.”

“And I need a phone.”

“Denied. Use this terminal you’ve been using all week.”

“It’s inefficient, and I have my own projects.”

“You’re not allowed to work on your projects. Only work on mine.”

He tilted his head. “If you argue for ten minutes over everything I request, then we won’t be half done when Adviser Wrathmoda arrives.”

She stood and flexed her claws. “That’s why you need to move!”

He checked his wristwatch. “Eleven minutes.”

“Now, Jasper. You’re a small, weak, low-caste dragon with dull scales in boring brown. Get back to work before I sit on you.”

“Twelve minutes.”

“I knew allowing you to meet your girlfriend would bite me in the tail.”

“Meeting with her made me realize that I’ve been blind. You limit me. Everyone has limited me. But you know what?” He stood. “This is Earth. I’m no longer constrained by arbitrary, ill-informed, and inefficient requirements.”

She narrowed her gaze. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean I am a small, weak, low-caste dragon with dull scales in boring brown. But none of that has any bearing on my worth.”

“It means everything.”

“I’m good at logistics. I think the whole process through, foresee and solve problems others can’t conceptualize, decide so easily, you don’t realize what I’m doing, and I leave no one behind.” He faced her head-on. “You want this showcase for Adviser Wrathmoda set up your way? Or do you want it set up right?”

Her eyes returned to normal color. “I’m listening.”

“How long do you have?” He tapped his watch face. “I couldn’t even tell you everything I learned from Space Voyages Inc. What I’ve learned from the Onyx Corporation. From Rose. From Earth. It would take a decade just to train you to see the world the way I see it. Do you want that experience working for you? Then give me the tools I need and get out of my way.”

“All this over a stupid phone?”

He held up his watch. “Fifteen minutes.”

She rolled her eyes and stomped her foot. “You’re supposed to be helping me get funds to save my mate. We’re the same, right?”

“Sure.”

He held his ground, demanding his worth for perhaps the first time in his entire life. Certainly the first time since he’d been dropped off at the orphanage. He’d grown up knowing that nobody owed him anything, grateful for whatever friendship he got, and he’d improved his natural easygoing attitude to make himself likable no matter what it cost. Now, days away from a crisis, he knew that cost. He’d overpaid.

Jasper demanded the action from Larimar that he should have demanded from his siblings, from the housing authority, and even from Briar. Rose had seen it before he did. But he swore it wasn’t too late.

“You’d do the same as me,” Larimar insisted as she handed over a new phone. “If you switched positions. I’m not a bad dragon, just focused. Admit it.”

“If I ever held you hostage?” He cocked his head at her, smiling with his familiar pleasantness, but not censoring his words. “Okay, sure. I’d eat your phone and give you an hour a week to visit your mate too.”

“Oh. No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Let’s put the past behind us, Larimar.” He ignored her eager agreement to focus on his work. “It’s going to be a busy two days.”

* * *

Rose watched the sun descend out the back window while her heart took its sweet time breaking.

Grandma flipped channels on the couch. She liked drama, the higher the better, and so, despite Liam’s absence, Rose’s apartment was still filled with arguments and tears. Rose rested her chin on her hand. The tears were easier coming from a four-year-old than the so-called adults on TV.

Taylor tapped on the front door and pushed it open, which irritated Rose because she always locked doors. “Hi, Rose. Hi, Helen.”

Grandma waved. “Don’t bother to knock.”

Rose stood. “Actually—”

“Good neighbors are always welcome,” Grandma said. “Rose, start the tea.”

Taylor waved her hand, trying to soothe the tension. “Oh, I just stopped by for the moment. Rose, I saw you talking to your young man. Dragon. He looked okay after all.”

“He’ll be okay,” she agreed, “probably.”

“Good.” Taylor faced Grandma again and lifted a black-and-red movie case. “Helen, you survived last night’s horror show, so how about Clown Sharks from Space? It’s like Jaws mixed with It, according to my grandson.”

“How is your grandson? Did you send him the meditation book on enduring loss?”

“I did, thank you very much. We haven’t spoken since…well, I know I’ll never replace his parents, even if I try to watch the movies they used to watch. Who watches horror as a family? But it’s not my place to judge.”

“Of course you can’t,” Grandma assured her. “You’re just trying to be there.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“You lost your children, and that hurts you just as much as it hurt him to lose his parents. You’re doing a good thing, Taylor.”

“Yes, well, thank you. Anyway, come over whenever you like, and you don’t have to knock.” Taylor bid a good evening to Rose and closed the door.

Rose waited until Grandma looked engrossed, then got up and flipped the lock. How funny she’d been living next to Taylor for months and Grandma got her life story in a day.

Grandma intruded into the kitchen during the next commercial break.

Rose shifted her chair so Grandma could get to the counter. “You’re good friends with Taylor now.”

“We have a lot in common.” Grandma clicked the button for hot water and sat at the table with Rose. “You’re not supposed to outlive your kids.”

Rose rubbed her temples. “I’m never having kids.”

“Make sure a boyfriend doesn’t change your mind. The smooth ones will make you cry.”

“He’s not smooth, and he already made me cry. We broke up.”

Grandma lowered her tired head. “Better now than later.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t want to be my age, kicked out of everywhere, and find yourself living off your granddaughter, dragging everyone down.”

“You don’t drag me down.” Rose rested a rough palm on her Grandma’s bony hand. “Besides, you took care of me when I needed it. Briar too, and Liam. You never got to relax into retirement because suddenly, you were raising a bunch of extra kids.”

“That wasn’t anyone’s fault. Life throws you down.” Grandma stared out the window into Taylor’s flourishing summer garden. “Just be smart and don’t slip. Anyone who promises to make your life easier is only going to cost you.”

“I guess you learned that lesson. While you were beating cancer, my uncle lost your house.”

“He couldn’t help himself.” Grandma huffed a laugh and shook her head. “Always came back, hat in hand, promising this time would be different. He was too hopeful. Too naïve. He always fell for those rich suits, those shysters. No matter how much I gave him, the money never lasted.”

“You shouldn’t have given him power of attorney.”

“He was always so embarrassed when he came back,” Grandma said as if she thought she was agreeing with Rose. “I just wanted him to succeed. Just once. And no one else understood. Your daddy used to get so mad.”

“My dad?”

“He said I was making your uncle a failure. Enabling him instead of sending him on his way. But what could I do? Family helps family.”

The kettle popped.

Grandma fixed a cup of tea. “The time I got a second mortgage and signed over Grandpa’s pension to your uncle, your daddy came to me in tears. Said he was going to change the will. If he left you with me, I’d make you homeless. He was going to send you and Briar to your mother’s aunt in Missouri.”

“I have a great-aunt in Missouri?”

“You don’t know because she’s a stranger. Your dad rolled her tractor when he was courting your mom and tried to hide the damages. She didn’t approve of him after that and wasn’t shy about saying so.”

“Is she still alive?”

“Her address is in my papers. But he never got up the courage to mend the bridge, and she’s never reached out. When you were born, when your momma died, when your daddy passed. She never sent a single sympathy card.” Grandma continued with her story. “Your dad asked me what was I going to live on. But we got by. That’s what family does, Rose. We sacrifice.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. Grandpa paid off your old house and you got his pension, but you signed it over and took out a mortgage to give the money to my uncle?”

Grandma nodded.

“What did my uncle sacrifice?”

“You sound like your dad.” She grinned at her cup. “He wanted me to crush his brother’s dreams. And for what? When I stopped the money, your uncle left me for good.”

“Like when your money ran out and he moved to Reno?”

“Exactly. I wanted to have a relationship. What was a little money? We got by.”

“Except here we all are, for the second time in our lives, basically homeless,” Rose said flatly. “Why didn’t Dad change the will?”

“He got tired of arguing and gave up.”

“Dad just…gave up.”

“Your great-aunt never cared when you were orphaned. At least Liam still has his mother.”

“Except his mother is an unstable wreck who cares more about hurting me than taking care of him.”

“Briar’s focused on her dreams, like your uncle, but she’ll come around. Liam will make her a better mother. You have to trust, Rose.”

“Why, Grandma?”

“For some, the maternal instinct takes a little time to arrive. You can’t tell her no.”

“Why?” Rose repeated. “Why can’t I tell her no?”

“She’s family.” Grandma checked the time, poured out and washed her mug, and hurried next door to Taylor’s. She left the TV running and the door open.

Rose closed and locked the door, shut off the TV, and sat back in her chair.

She felt like someone had smacked her in the face. Her head throbbed. It matched the pain in her heart.

Today, she learned that she’d come from a long line of cowards and quitters.

Her dad had never intended to die, of course. But he’d given up on arguing with his less responsible mother or mending bridges with a seemingly more responsible aunt. Grandma had given up a home over cutting off her grasping son. Now, Rose was expected to give up on Liam.

Grandma had never fought the hand she’d been dealt. When the four-hundred-pound dragon of life sat on her chest, she endured until it crushed her—and she’d let it crush Briar and Rose too.

Wouldn’t Briar have gotten better care if they’d had money? Wouldn’t she have had regular wellness checks, a kinder time at school, more friends and activities to keep her away from the “friends” who preyed on orphaned, injured teen girls?

And now Grandma shrugged and let Liam go because she couldn’t tell people no.

But Rose could.

She was an expert at drawing lines and setting hard boundaries. Jasper was right. Sighing and letting things go was not who Rose was, not now, and not ever. When had she gotten so mixed up?

She had to plan her attack.

Jasper said she needed a house. She needed a lawyer. She needed money.

She needed him.

He couldn’t rescue himself, or else he would have done it weeks ago. The same way she felt powerless about Briar, he felt powerless about female dragons. Everyone said his “female” had to rescue him, right? So Rose had to do it, somehow. And what did she do when she hit an unsolvable problem?

Rose grabbed her phone and texted Patty. She got a swift reply, and then she endured yet another restless night with Grandma’s snores on the leaky air mattress in the bedroom. The couch had grown lumps from extra sitting, and right before the dawn, Rose conked out. A knock on her door jerked her awake.

Patty stood on the steps, bright-eyed, with Shawn and Elle behind her. “Ha, you’re still asleep! That’s what you get for working the midday shift instead of early morning.”

“I haven’t been sleeping well.” Rose stepped back to let them in.

“That’s fine. Have a latte.” Patty pushed a medium-sized paper travel cup on Rose.

“Thanks.” She slurped the vanilla latte, set it on the table, and welcomed everyone else in.

Patty strolled around her apartment. “It’s just how I imagined. Oh, are you sleeping on that couch? If I’d known, I’d have gotten you a day sleeper.”

Shawn shouldered past, carrying a big thermos.

Elle stood just inside the threshold, carrying a paper travel cup in one hand and a plant in the other. “Thanks for inviting me over.”

“Thanks for coming over.”

Elle handed Rose the small potted plant. The label said, Just try and kill me. “It’s a pothos. They’re hardy.”

“I enjoy a challenge.” Rose set it on the windowsill.

“If you invite me over sometime, I’ll fertilize it.” Elle wandered deeper and stopped at the closet. “You still have the scarf I knitted you.”

“Of course I do.”

“You never wore it, so I wasn’t sure.”

“Well, I can’t wear it to work. That’s alpaca! Anyway, I hope the next time you come over, it’s to see Jasper’s spaceship.”

Everyone oriented around her like an impromptu staff meeting. The energy changed in an instant.

“You have a plan!” Patty wiggled her elbow and nudged Shawn. “I knew she’d have a plan.”

“I don’t have a plan.” Rose held out both hands in a gesture of welcome. “I haven’t had a plan for a long time. And I’m not such an idiot I can’t admit when I’m wrong. I need help.”

“How can we help?” Shawn asked, and the others nodded uncertainly. “You’ve been here the longest and you’re dating our ex-boss, so…”

“Tomorrow, Jasper’s hosting an event for the adviser. The only way to save him is if I defeat her in a fight. We know the building better than anyone.”

“You know the building better than anyone,” Shawn said.

“And I’m no mastermind. I can’t defeat her alone.” Rose tapped the kitchen table. There were four chairs including the broken one she pulled over and took. “This is a brainstorming session. I’ll lay out everything I can think of. You guys too. If it’s crazy, it’s crazy. But we worked great together. We accomplished so much. I don’t want to give up on Jasper because I was too egotistical to ask the team.”

Shawn started to smile. “So you’re smarter than the new guy.”

“Yeah, too bad you weren’t the boss.” Elle pulled out her seat, and everyone else took their seats as well. “Whatever we do, we have to set off the sewage pressure release right when he walks past.”

“You could rig up a motion sensor.” Shawn arranged the Goodwill silverware in a diagram to get the creativity flowing. “Attach the window security node to the sewage dump tank and sync it to his DNA.”

“Could you program that?” Patty asked in awe.

“I bet we could.”

“Great, we will consider it if we need Peridot out of the way.” Rose drummed her fingers. “But how can we fight off an angry female dragon that’s twice the size of this house?”

“What are her vulnerabilities?” Shawn asked, returning to track. “Can we use the security lasers on her? The window force field cuts flies in half. Ask me how I know.”

But they all knew. The field shut down when authorized dragons flew in and out, and reengaged mid-fly. It sensed and zapped larger creatures such as birds nonlethally, which was nice.

“Yeah, her scales are hard as a diamond,” Rose said. “So what cuts diamond?”

“We don’t need to cut when we can etch,” Elle said.

“Or bleach, or laser,” Patty said. “A bad sunburn would make even the nastiest dragon think twice about picking on our Jasper.”

“We need info,” Shawn said.

“I know someone who would know.” Rose called Kyan’s number.

While she was waiting on hold to speak with him, Grandma emerged for her morning cup of tea. She eyed Rose’s friends with the same skepticism she’d trained on Jasper. They were too successful. She could sense the healthy savings accounts on them, and it made her nervous.

“Rose is going to fight a female dragon,” Elle announced cheerfully.

Grandma mumbled into her cup, “It’s never going to work.”

Patty patted her elbow. “Of course we’ll be smart. This is Rose we’re talking about.”

“Going to bury another child…”

Elle glanced out the kitchen window. “Oh, um, I think your neighbor is calling for you.”

Rose followed her gaze. Taylor faced them on her porch, but she focused on tending her plants. “No, she does this all the time.”

Elle eyed her meaningfully.

“I, uh, mean she never does this. I think, uh, Taylor is definitely signaling you for help. Did you, uh, have rhododendrons at the old house?”

“Azaleas,” Grandma corrected, setting her teacup on the counter and heading to the door. “She better not trim them in this heat. Everybody’s got a death wish.”

The door swung shut on her mutterings, and outside, she called out to Taylor, who came to the fence. They had a lively neighborhood chat.

“Good job,” Patty told Elle.

“No negative nellies,” Elle agreed and rolled her eyes at Rose. “You almost missed my signal.”

“We need a code word,” Rose replied just as the gruff, deadly security guard answered the phone. “Kyan? Have you guys come up with any good ideas to save Jasper from the adviser?”

He was silent for a long moment. “You will not release him from your engagement?”

“Actually, I broke up with him yesterday. He didn’t tell you? It’s probably because your idea sucked and my cooperation didn’t help, did it?”

Everyone gaped at her in shock.

She waved them away, heartened by Kyan’s continued silence. “If you have no better ideas, Jasper’s environmental tech team will do what you guys couldn’t and fight off the adviser.”

“You couldn’t scratch one of her scales with a human weapon,” Kyan growled back. “She’s impervious to anything short of nuclear fusion.”

“Okay, we agree. This is a brainstorming session, and everything’s on the table.”

“A dragon nuclear fusion.”

“You know the HVAC system runs off the engine of the first spaceship that brought you to Earth, right? It has a self-destruct sequence, and I know the codes.”

“You know the codes,” Kyan repeated. “Jasper gave you the codes?”

“To shut it off in an emergency if he couldn’t get to it. Anyone can open the doors and self-destruct. I’d rather not, because it would turn the entire planet into a sun, but this is a brainstorming session, and nothing’s off the table. We just need to know what we’re fighting against.”

“I’ll be there in one minute.” The phone clicked.

Shawn grinned. The others mirrored him. Elle laid her hands flat on the table. “Don’t piss off the environmental techs.”

Rose agreed, and they worked with a new purpose.

Finally, finally, they were going to fight.

Jasper flew over the Onyx Corporation office building for what might be the final time.

The rooftop blinked with spaceship guide lights, illuminating the dramatic, never-used top-floor entrance to the matriarch’s corner office. The walls of glass windows rotated outward, and Jasper alit on the extended marble-coated ramp. A gentle breeze wafted the distant ocean scents and much nearer loamy fields beneath his nose. The sun burned bright. Adviser Wrathmoda couldn’t arrive in hotter or more fortuitous weather.

A nervous buzz invaded his usual placid calm.

He’d divided his attention between preparing for Adviser Wrathmoda’s visit and putting things right. Rose’s car, her grandmother’s apartment complex, and losing Liam had happened so quickly and took longer to fix. After witnessing him multitask, Larimar had released control. Dictating his actions took too long anyway. He worked faster and more efficiently than she could follow.

The only part of today’s presentation he hadn’t reviewed was the state of the Onyx Corporation office. Why worry? He’d left the building in Rose’s capable hands.

When he waved his contractors into the dramatic entrance, he observed his first mistake.

A musty yellow haze drifted through the warm, ornate room.

Uh-oh.

Mal strode forward wearing a suit jacket over his bare chest. “Jasper, you’re here. Ready for the big event?”

“Adviser Wrathmoda arrives in two hours,” he agreed. “Will you activate the coffee machine?”

Mal plugged it in. “Let me know how we can help.”

“Where are the beans Alex acquired? Input them and set the timer to coincide with Adviser Wrathmoda’s arrival.”

Mal looked over the wall-sized machine. “You can do that?”

“I can’t. You revoked my security clearance.”

“I didn’t. But you mean, the coffee machines can do that?”

“Only the machine in here. We acquired superior products for Mother, should she ever visit. Speaking of which, why is the HVAC off?”

“I don’t know.” Mal punched random buttons. “So you’re not running the environment tech anymore, huh?”

“No, of course not. That’s why you hired Peridot.”

“I didn’t hire him.” Mal poked the machine. “Can’t you do this?”

“Press the red button.” Jasper led him through the sequence while supervising contractors in the showroom. “Good.”

“I did it.” Mal wiped glistening sweat off his forehead and sighed. “It’s so hot in here.”

“That’s because the HVAC is off.”

“So that’s why…”

“Why is it off?”

Mal shrugged.

“Where’s Peridot?”

“At Carnelian Clothiers. They’re planning the next product launch.”

“Bring him here.”

Mal called up Pyro while Jasper moved down his list of tasks. He caught up with Jasper at the throne-like main office chair. “Peridot’s busy. Pyro’s on his way over. Make it work without Peridot.”

Normally, Jasper would accept Mal’s ruling and figure it out, but he didn’t have time or clearance. “Does Pyro know how to operate the HVAC?”

“No.”

“Then I need Peridot.”

“Pyro needs him more. One of us will go down and flip the switch.”

Jasper turned and nailed Mal with the steady gaze of an expert who had decades of experience in his field. “First, there is no ‘switch.’ Second, there are two ways the HVAC goes off. One is on purpose. If it’s an emergency shutoff, we must analyze the events leading up to the shutoff to make sure we resolve them before the complex sequence to turn it on again. Otherwise, this office building will turn into a crater. And that’s the best-case scenario.”

Mal blinked. “Crater? My office?”

“Peridot must walk me through what happened these last few days to isolate the problem.” Jasper sniffed the air. “And also tell me the last time he flushed the sewage system.”

While he finished setting up the room, Larimar arrived in a new business suit. She’d styled her short hair with ice-blue highlights and wore matching blue-striped white nail polish.

Larimar eyed Mal. “What’s wrong? You’re a clothing company that can’t afford a shirt?”

Mal looked down at his bare chest and grimaced. “There were no more shirts in my closet.”

“Why not?”

Mal shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Try the fourth floor, second storage pod, third shelf, behind the kimono fabric,” Jasper commented, only a fraction of his attention on their conversation. “And inform Peridot he needs to restock.”

Mal blinked. “You order my replacement shirts?”

“I review and order supplies every week. How did you think I resupplied your closet?”

“Replicator.”

“Maybe Peridot will upgrade. Get a shirt and meet Pyro at the HVAC control panel. Await my instructions.”

Mal hurried away.

Jasper checked off the last item on his list.

Larimar studied the office with a critical eye. “I thought you said this place was nice.”

“It is the best room in our building.”

She frowned.

Jasper took a moment to envision his brilliant future.

A little dust aside, the cavernous luxury room was ready. They had moved its massive desk and rotating holograph of red Draconis to one side to make way for the show.

Adviser Wrathmoda would exit her ship, appreciate the fresh air and sunshine of the peak summer day, then shift to human and clothe her dominant form in a dignified silk kaftan. She would continue inside and assume the gold matriarch throne.

Larimar would present the company, its prospects, and sample products.

Once Adviser Wrathmoda approved the final product, Larimar would point out that Jasper couldn’t leave Earth for marriage. They needed him to run the company. Adviser Wrathmoda would depart alone because, as everyone knew, she only cared about coin.

He’d pursue Rose, and once Rose saw what he’d done to make things right—and the steps he was taking to prevent such mistakes from happening again—she would commit herself.

Larimar scuffed her boot on the floor, returning him to the present. “It was nicer before.”

“The HVAC will clear the air.”

He’d left the office in such good hands, it couldn’t be an emergency. He was just being thorough.

“That’s not the only thing.” The dust on her boots dulled its shine.

Perhaps he was being nostalgic. He called Jeanine. “Can you send Elle to the matriarch’s office?”

“Elle quit days ago,” Jeanine replied in her usual flat unimpressed tone.

“Quit!” Jasper gritted his teeth. Elle had gotten an amazing offer elsewhere? He’d missed the chance to wish her well! “I’m sorry to have missed her. Who’s in today?”

“Nobody.”

“I don’t believe I’ve met Nobody, but if you’ll send him or her up, I’d much—”

“No one. There’s no one left in Environmental Tech.”

Jasper felt a twinge of irritation, like when he’d heard the true meaning of the housing authority vouchers. On a day this important, and after Mal had asked how to help, why hadn’t he scheduled any environmental techs? “Thank you, Jeanine. I appreciate your situational awareness on this matter.”

“Okay.” She hesitated. “It’s good to hear your voice, Jasper. I missed you.”

He was too surprised to answer. Jeanine was almost dragon-like in her unemotional efficiency, even though she kept a human outlook. She hung up and left him staring at his phone.

Fine. He had time. He could get a broom himself from the hall supplies closet and sweep.

Peridot met him at the door, looking flustered. “The HVAC isn’t working?”

“Yes.” Jasper paused in the doorway. “When was the last time you cleaned the filters?”

“Filters?”

“It’s a daily task for maintenance. It—”

“Jasper!” Alex swooped into the room with Darcy’s youngest sister, Nicole, in his arms. He released Nicole and jogged the bag of coffee into Jasper’s hands. “I found it. The last bag.”

Nicole crossed her arms. “Oh, you found it?”

“With Nicole.”

“Alex, please.” Jasper gestured at the coffee machine. “My clearance…”

Alex dumped the beans into the machine. “Adviser Wrathmoda had better not enjoy it.”

“Why not?” Larimar picked up the empty bag and sniffed the grounds. “If the Gentleman’s Society will order this exclusively, it is my best chance to win Mother’s approval.”

“The roaster can’t recreate the conditions of the original roasting.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll never believe it.” Nicole smirked, her tattooed arms crossed over her black tank top. “They roasted it in a—”

“—licensed roasting facility overseen by a licensed coffee roaster,” Alex interrupted smoothly. “Who has since retired. And moved to Norway.”

“Norway is closer to Larimar’s headquarters,” Jasper informed him.

“And retired,” Alex repeated. “Very retired. So you will have a supply problem if she likes it.”

Larimar groaned and clenched her hands to her chest. “Please tell me that the chocolate-coated espresso beans are not limited.”

“They’re fine.”

“They’re soup.” Nicole rotated the bowl to show the beans. “It’s crazy hot today. You should have stored them in the refrigerator.”

Larimar gasped. “I did! I was just getting ready…”

“We will fix the HVAC.” Jasper tossed the melted beans. “I prepared more in the small fridge. Don’t take them out until one minute before Adviser Wrathmoda consumes them.”

The group converged on the fridge.

Jasper returned his attention to Peridot. “Filter cleaning. Who did it last?”

Peridot shook his head.

“Can I see the week’s rota?”

“This week?”

“It rotates.” Jasper stepped into the hall as he dialed. Mal and Pyro had positioned themselves to run the HVAC startup sequence on the lowest floor. He continued speaking to Peridot. “Always schedule coverage for special events, in case something goes wrong with the building, as it has.”

“No one was on duty this week.”

Jasper turned around halfway to the closet. “How did you manage the environment without employees? Is this an austerity measure or an example of aristocrat efficiency?”

Peridot ran a hand through his hair. Unusual sweat beaded on his forehead and upper lip. “After I fired Rose, the rest of the staff quit, and no one has answered our hiring notice.”

“You fired Rose?” Jasper thought he had hit his limit for shock, but the bar just got set lower. “Why?”

“She rejected the rota. She disobeyed orders. She questioned superiors.”

“That’s not unusual for humans.”

“Well, but…she ignored important staff areas and snuck off to the back rooms.”

“Can you give me an example?”

Peridot gestured around the floor. “I assigned her to the VIP areas, but she rarely cleaned there, and instead tried to escape to the wastewater corridors.”

“You mean the sewage treatment facility? Where the methane filters are?”

“I… Perhaps? I don’t…”

Jasper’s stomach sank.

He opened the supplies closet and twisted the tap.

It gurgled, belched a stinky yellow cloud, and then gurgled again.

“There’s no water,” Peridot said.

Jasper twisted the tap off again. “Negative pressure builds when the sewage pipes aren’t properly scrubbed.”

“What does that mean?”

“Sewage gasses including methane erupts into the water system, as does the parasitic mold that grows anywhere it isn’t swept.” Jasper left the broom behind. They had bigger problems than grit on the floor. “Ask Kyan to disable the building’s fire suppression systems.”

Peridot blanched. “With a female dragon visiting? She could burn down the company.”

“And if the fire suppression system is belching methane-rich sewage gas instead of water, we will only accelerate her destruction.” Jasper glared at Peridot. “Do you still think it was wise to fire Rose?”

“She knew her priorities,” he repeated. “The VIP staff must be comfortable, or she’s failed at her job.”

“And you think the lack of water doesn’t affect the comfort of VIP staff?”

Peridot opened his mouth to argue.

“Uh, guys?” Nicole had exited the matriarch’s office and pushed open the women’s restroom door. She called from the doorway, “Your toilets are on fire.”

Jasper and Peridot joined Nicole at the door to the women’s restroom.

The toilets smoked. Fizzes bubbled up, and licks of fire erupted into geysers of flame.

“Inform Kyan,” Jasper said tightly.

Peridot flew to the security center.

Nicole puffed out her cheeks. “Is there another bathroom? It’s not an emergency, but…”

“All water sources in the building are compromised. This should never have happened. Rose was not taken seriously.”

“Sucks not to be taken seriously,” Nicole agreed. “If I were her, I wouldn’t come back, even if they gave me the moon.”

“What would you do with Earth’s moon? It’s a large, airless rock.”

“Yeah, good point.” Nicole smiled wryly at Jasper. “Sorry that we went to the trouble of finding the coffee for you and you can’t even use it. It was a real detective story! I felt like Nicole Drew, I tell you.”

“Yes, it’s odd that Alex wouldn’t simply use the last bag of coffee in my personal storage.”

Her eyes widened. “You have a bag of coffee? Here? Already?”

“Yes, in the supply closet on the fourth floor, second shelf, behind the new Arabica blend. I can’t fathom why Alex involved you.”

Her expression flattened. She crossed her arms. “Oh, I have an idea.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I do.” She marched back into the matriarch’s office, vibrating with fury.

Jasper was glad not to be Alex right now.

Peridot landed beside Jasper with a thump. “Kyan will shut off the system.”

“Now we know why the HVAC shut down. How long since you performed any maintenance?”

“I don’t know.”

“You weren’t monitoring?”

“I…”

“At all?”

“Well…”

“Are you trying to destroy our company?”

“No.” His face contracted with true misery. “I read the policy manual, but none of your humans reacted properly to my orders. And I didn’t have time to learn your duties and complete my work at Carnelian Clothiers.”

“You’re still assigned your old duties?”

He nodded. Exhaustion grayed his face. “I haven’t slept in three weeks. My girlfriend threatened to break up with me.”

“Who assigned my job to you?”

“No one.” Peridot sucked in a shaky breath. “Not officially. One day, I was scheduled here, and when I asked my scheduler, I was told that Pyro had requested me because of my competence. The job was a small favor. Everyone said your work wasn’t very involved. CEO Malachite, Pyro, my coworkers… Your duties should add only a few minutes to my day, I’d be exempt from meetings, and you would answer any questions in our orientation. The orientation was only supposed to take an hour, most of which would be visiting.

“But our orientation took all day. Everything you told me was different. You perform twice as much as I already did. I worked at this office for eight hours, accomplished only a few daily tasks, and then returned to Carnelian Clothiers and worked another eight hours, every day.”

“For three weeks.”

“When the environmental technicians quit, I thought my work lessened. I didn’t understand.”

“And you were trained not to ask questions, and feared that Pyro might blame you. No one supervised you and no one supported you, all because no one has any idea what I do.”

Peridot hung his head.

“You didn’t destroy our company. We’ve destroyed it on our own.” Jasper gripped Peridot’s shoulder with urgency. “Ask the staff to return. This is an emergency, so promise anything and ask nicely, as if they were the heads of aristocratic families.”

“But they are humans.”

“Yes, and they are the only ones who can save us. The structural integrity of the building is in question. Fly.”

Peridot flew.

A commotion sounded outside.

Adviser Wrathmoda’s spaceship descended.

Larimar threw open the door to the hall. “Get in here! It’s time.”

Jasper straightened his suit, brushed off any dust, and strode into the matriarch’s office. Only a few contractors remained. His brothers had fled; Alex to return Nicole to safety, and the others readied for action.

He’d started today certain of his plan.

But now…

Adviser Wrathmoda’s ship rested on the giant platform. The doors opened, and she emerged, a slippery mountain of fury, glistening with aristocratic silver piercings that tinkled like deadly spikes. Wrath was an appropriate name for her violent red bulk, the red-rimmed teeth that she snapped, and every wrinkle of diamond flesh that armored her like a dragon tank.

She stormed the marble walkway and stopped at the doorway. Her resonant voice boomed. “Daughter, my magnificence cannot fit into this paltry room.”

“Yes, my mother.” Larimar bowed low. “It is the style on Earth to shift to human form.”

“Human form?” Adviser Wrathmoda wrinkled her snout. “How disgusting.”

“You will tower over us, a magnificence in every form, and we will clothe you in the most beautiful and voluminous silks.”

“Hmph.” Adviser Wrathmoda shook her long neck. “You are about to witness a rare sight. An adviser of the Empress and heir to the five families shifted into a human! Gaze on my flesh and marvel.”

Larimar bowed lower. “Show us, my mother.”

Adviser Wrathmoda’s scales shivered up her limbs. She stretched and strained.

Shifting was something Jasper found easy, so he didn’t realize at first why she was taking so long.

Adviser Wrathmoda was stuck.

Larimar glued her eyes to the marble floor and remained silent.

Adviser Wrathmoda groaned and squeezed into her human form. “There, I’ve done it.”

Her voice sounded more nasal and high-pitched being forced out of what was now a short human throat. Flesh wrinkled around her small, beady eyes, and jowls comprised her lower face.

She lifted stubby human arms. Her middle formed a stout disk of flesh balanced atop two toothpick legs. “Now, dress me.”

Jasper glanced at Larimar.

Larimar bit her lip. “You’re, uh, a little different than we thought, Mother.”

“It’s been some time since I last shifted, but I’m not too different.” Adviser Wrathmoda wiggled her arms. “My garments!”

Larimar threw the draping around Adviser Wrathmoda. The silk kaftan complemented a ten-foot, four-hundred-pound human. Adviser Wrathmoda might be the right weight, but she was less than half the height, and the silk bunched around her nonexistent neck and puddled at her ankles.

She huffed. “Never…got these…human clothes…”

Adviser Wrathmoda gathered the silk and hefted her bulk through the office and onto her throne.

Larimar froze.

Jasper elbowed her. “Your speech.”

She shook herself and swanned forward. “Mother. Your presence…graces our presence. On this, this honorable day, you will feast on the rich glory of our future. I have gathered the finest offerings of Earth to—”

“Hold it.” Adviser Wrathmoda’s nose wrinkled. “What is that appalling stench?”

“Stench?” Larimar looked at Jasper. “The, ah, do you mean the aroma of Earth, Mother?”

“It smells like a sewage treatment facility.” She wriggled her thick fingers. “Very well. Bring me your offerings so I can get this over with.”

“But…our business plan?”

“Complexity has never been your strength, Larimar. If your plan is anything more nuanced than ‘acquire, sell, and profit,’ I will be very surprised.”

“Ah. My original business plan did bear some resemblance to your description, but that doesn’t matter. With Jasper’s help, I have refined—”

“Offerings. Now.”

“O-of course. The first product is something female dragons will love, yet has never been exported.” Larimar displayed a box of nail polish. “These ‘nail polish’ colored paints contain glitter and are popular with—”

“Color? Glitter? Attractive dragons shift to boring humans only to reapply colors to their claws? This is ridiculous.”

“Ah…the plainness of human skin becomes a wonderful blank canvas. So said several heiresses of the highest families, including—”

“Forget bubbleheaded heiresses who care about fashion. This is not a worthwhile investment.”

“But we can plan these polishes to match your outfit, which—”

“No clothing! It is even more wasteful than that polish. Why shift from sleek, gorgeous scales to a fleshy blob that requires covering? Plus no one ever exports clothing in my size.”

“We would—”

“Next item!”

Larimar looked longingly at the extensive suits and dresses they’d matched with the polish. “Well, the next item is—”

“Food,” Adviser Wrathmoda ordered. “My stomach is touchy. Get me the food.”

“Y-yes, Mother.” Larimar offered a fine gold platter piled with bumpy red peppers. “This is the ghost pepper, a spicy vegetable with an unusual tang, said to be a favorite of the captain of the Empress’s warship, the Gnashing Teeth. We have never exported it. Beside it, for comparison, are the Carolina Reaper and the Komodo Dragon chili pepper.”

Larimar lifted the tray.

Tiny shreds rested on small white dishes in front of their representative peppers. Beside each was a small cup of plain yogurt to cleanse the palate.

Adviser Wrathmoda reached past the small samples, grabbed a fistful of full-sized peppers, and downed them in one bite. “Hmm. They are small. The flavor is unique.” Her face soured. “It tears the stomach like brimstone. Ugh. An unpleasant clawing sensation.”

“Drink the yogurt,” Jasper advised. “It calms heartburn.”

Adviser Wrathmoda drank three yogurts, then grimaced harder. “This tastes like that fermented monstrosity, cheese.”

Larimar looked at Jasper with wide eyes.

He realized their error at the same moment.

Yogurt had more lactose in it than cheese.

Well, perhaps Adviser Wrathmoda wasn’t lactose intolerant…

Larimar moved to the next offering. “Wash it down with this hot beverage.”

Adviser Wrathmoda gulped the thick shot. “Ugh. I dislike coffee.”

“The Gentleman’s Society covets this one.”

She winced and cradled her belly. “It’s souring the yogurt. No, curdling. Ugh.”

“Perhaps solid food will help.” Larimar, in a panic now, grabbed the still-chilled espresso beans from the fridge and flew them to her mother. “Quick, eat this.”

Adviser Wrathmoda threw the entire dish into her mouth and crunched. She moaned and cupped her jaw. “I broke my tooth.”

Everyone gaped in frozen silence.

She spat out a chunk of the dish. “Never mind. It was this plate.”

Larimar released a huge sigh that echoed around the room. “You are meant to eat the espresso beans one at a—”

“No more food! I reject all of these. Traditional gruel is the best food. Exotic flavors, like human fashion, are a pointless fad that only gives indigestion. What do you love so much about this wretched planet, Larimar? I feared this project would be one of your ill-thought-out ideas, and so far, I am right. Show me the next product!”

Larimar folded her hands. “That was what we prepared for your visit, Mother. With your new guidance, we will discover and export a different item.”

“That’s it?” Adviser Wrathmoda huffed and stood. “Then I’m leaving. Bring the marriage contract!”

Jasper stared at Larimar.

She looked lost. “Ah, Mother. It turns out that I need Jasper here. For setting up the business. So…”

“When you have found something worthy of my name, then you will summon him from my side.”

Adviser Wrathmoda’s servants wheeled the massive contract, inscribed in gold on an elaborate scroll, to the center of the room.

“I signed our names already so we could leave without delay.” Adviser Wrathmoda snapped her fingers. “Jasper, come.”

Larimar gave him a helpless shrug.

So much for her help.

Jasper stopped at the scroll. “I’m sorry, Adviser Wrathmoda, but I can’t marry you.”

Adviser Wrathmoda froze and turned. Rage curled her fingers into claws, and smoke hissed from her throat. “What did you say?”

He was going to die.

She stalked toward him, looming larger and more deadly with every step. “Your matriarch accepted our match, insolent dragonlet.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“You will be sorry. And so will she when I ship your entrails to your mother for daring to defy both of us.”

“Mother knows my situation.”

“Your situation? Do you know your situation?”

“I pursued a human female who denied my claim, so I accepted our match. She changed her mind, and so I wish to change mine.”

Adviser Wrathmoda blinked. “That’s it?”

“Actually, there’s much more. Rose offered to pretend marriage, but I declined, so she offered a real marriage and then changed her mind. She blames me for losing her child. We are not currently dating, but after I get her child back and reconstruct her grandmother’s condemned apartment complex, I will present my wishes—”

“Silence.” Adviser Wrathmoda shook her head like she was trying to dislodge something. “This indecision, this illogic. Is it in the air? The water? The Earth aroma?”

Larimar stepped forward. “Mother? Are you well?”

“I should ask you the same.” Adviser Wrathmoda turned on Larimar. “Daughter, you are a ruthless closer, yet after weeks, you’ve accomplished nothing.”

Larimar linked her fingers. “I had false starts.”

“You don’t even look like yourself with those colors and hair accessories. Where is your illustrious dragon?”

“Yes, my school friend Ruby has introduced me to a hair designer.”

“That sounds monstrous.”

“It’s very satisfying, actually—”

“No.” Adviser Wrathmoda waved her fingers at her ears to rid them of the sound. “No, I have come here to oversee a lucrative business, which you have failed to deliver to me. Instead, I will take this male from the family the Empress inexplicably desires to marry into. If she emerges from her death sleep to live another hundred years, I will be her new closest ally.”

“But Mother, Empress Horribus is unlikely to emerge—”

“Do not discount her.” Adviser Wrathmoda raised a claw. “I mourned her once, shot down in our youth, and she returned to flame me with a vengeance. That is why I am a mere adviser now and not a general. She never forgot.”

“But this is madness!”

“It is very strange,” Alex interjected. He’d dropped off Nicole and regarded the adviser with the familiarity of a dragon who had kept elevated company because of his exotic looks despite his low birth. “Why did the Empress offer marriage to the males in our family? Because we were at the top of the charts outside Draconis? Then there is no need to marry Jasper. We are no longer the top of the charts.”

Jasper felt his chest move. “We aren’t?”

Alex shook his head. “We have launched nothing in your absence. It was inevitable.”

“But you’ve had weeks to—”

“I do not know the reason for her madness, but Horribus does nothing without a reason. Even her senility is deadly.” Adviser Wrathmoda shrugged. “Maybe you descended from the lost Draconian Heroes, or maybe your veins flow with secret nobility.”

“We recorded our lineage in the Hall of Dragons,” Alex replied. “My father was a low caste like his parents before him. No one was found in an egg.”

“Horribus has a reason. I want in.” Adviser Wrathmoda extended her claws to Jasper. “Whatever the reason, new husband, you are coming with me.”

Rose raced down the hall in her lavender-scented hazmat suit, her environmental technician cart jangling, and burst into the matriarch’s office.

She’d braided her hair into warrior dreads and put on shimmering gold lipstick. Rose had all her defenses.

The squat, ill-looking adviser unleashed her threat at Jasper. “…new husband, you are coming with me.”

“No, he’s not.” Rose parked the cart, set her heavy boots, and lofted the toilet wand in her thick rubber-gloved hands. “He’s not your new husband. He’s my fiancé! And you’re not taking him anywhere. He’s staying right here with me.”

Jasper’s eyes lit. “Rose.”

Everyone stared at her in shock.

The adviser asked out of the corner of her mouth, “Larimar, who is that?”

“The janitor,” Larimar answered.

Jasper started for Rose, his expression brimming with happiness. “You came—”

Adviser Wrathmoda whipped out her extended claws, blocking his path. “You. Stay.”

Rose glued her eyes to the growling crab-shaped female with a human body and enlarged arms, even though her words were for Jasper. “Of course I came. You said there was only one way to stop you from getting kidnapped and married. I’m here to fight for you myself.”

All the dragons’ jaws dropped. Jasper, his brothers floating at the edges of the room, the contractors Jasper had hired, and that white-blonde Larimar.

Their reactions didn’t help her confidence, but the rustles and squeaks of Elle, Shawn, and Patty wheeling their carts in behind Rose—they’d had to take separate elevators to fit—did.

She nodded at them.

Shawn shut the doors while Elle and Patty caulked them, plugging the cracks. They, like she, were wearing their fireproof hazmat suits. Unlike her, they’d sealed their faceplates.

Adviser Wrathmoda laughed like a phonograph needle screeching across a favorite record. “You are challenging me? Really? Small human, are you mad?”

Rose twisted the wand in her hands like a baton. “Furious.”

“I suppose you must think there’s some trick. So I should tell you now, idiot human, that if I kill you during this challenge, it will not break the Dragon-Human Treaty. You will only embarrass your lineage and orphan your heirs.”

“Well, I don’t have any heirs, and my ‘lineage’ is already embarrassing, so no loss.”

Adviser Wrathmoda sighed. “Everyone is so irrational on this planet. I suppose I will have to crush you into a paste. Although it pains me, it really does.”

Behind Rose, the environmental techs took atmospheric readings, oriented big carpet fans, and whirred the musty yellowed air toward the adviser.

Rose’s heart beat a hundred times a minute in her throat and her hands sweated inside the hot rubber. The wand slipped in her hands. “If it pains you, let Jasper go.”

“It does not pain me as much as I’m about to pain you.” Adviser Wrathmoda extended her arms. They shifted to bulky dragon while the rest of her remained human, so she looked even more like a giant crab. She whipped one massive claw at Rose.

So fast!

“Rose!” Jasper jumped on the adviser’s big arm, slowing her enough for Rose to back away.

The other swiped.

Rose jumped backward and brought down her laser, trying to cut off the hand.

The laser grazed Adviser Wrathmoda’s claws.

The ends chipped off.

Rose landed on her butt and dropped the wand. The laser shut off.

Adviser Wrathmoda squinted at her rounded-off tips. “You cut my claws. What is that weapon?”

“It’s not a weapon,” Jasper gasped, standing.

Adviser Wrathmoda snatched him in an oversized claw. “Of course she wields a weapon. It damaged me.”

He winced and wriggled in the iron grip. “It’s a waste sanitation laser set to maximum.”

“A laser for waste sanitation? A laser used in waste treatment touched my claws?”

Rose clambered up onto her feet. “Afraid to get dirty? Then don’t mess with an environmental tech!”

She squeezed the trigger. The beam shot across the room and blackened Adviser Wrathmoda’s white silk dress.

Adviser Wrathmoda shrieked and hopped out of its way.

Rose chased her around the office.

The dumpy female dodged and flew, overturning furniture and causing the other dragons to scramble. She hid behind the enormous gold throne. “Get away from me, human filth!”

“Let Jasper go.”

“He’s mine.”

“Then eat toilet wand!” Rose faked toward one side of the throne.

Adviser Wrathmoda flew out the other side. She swiped as she passed and batted the wand out of Rose’s hand.

The wand clattered to the floor and broke in half.

Uh-oh.

Adviser Wrathmoda stopped and smiled. “Now, dirty human, you will see that—”

“Rose!” Shawn threw another wand.

Rose caught it, then scooped up the broken wand pieces, faced her adversary, and threw them with all her might.

One of the rod chunks flew over Adviser Wrathmoda’s shoulder. The other nailed her in the belly and bounced off.

“Oof.” Adviser Wrathmoda dropped Jasper, burped, and hugged her middle. “Oh no. The food is climbing into my throat. Cramping…curdling…human food poison…ugh.”

“What’s she talking about?” Rose asked.

Jasper flew to Rose’s side. “The food she ate doesn’t agree with her. And now the strenuous exercise has worsened her symptoms.”

Adviser Wrathmoda snarled at Rose. “You will not defeat a dragon of my impeccable lineage. Certainly not with a toilet-cleaning implement. I’m a female dragon. An elder.”

Rose lofted the new wand threateningly. “I’ve got more.”

“I will end you now!” Adviser Wrathmoda’s nose elongated. Smoke pooled around her face.

“Fire in the hole!” Shawn shouted, muffled.

Her coworkers dove for the floor.

Rose raced to her team. She skidded the last few feet, dropped next to them, and slammed her faceplate closed.

Jasper bent over her and erupted his wings out his back, shredding his suit, to shelter the group.

Around Adviser Wrathmoda’s mouth, red fury launched out. What started as a focused eruption ignited the clumpy yellow haze fanned around her. Explosive flames deafened her roar and blasted her a foot backward. The ignition reverberated through the floor, and heat licked Rose through the hazmat suit. The brilliant light died.

Jasper stood and retracted his wings.

Rose blinked and sat up.

Adviser Wrathmoda rubbed her face. “What was that?”

Jasper’s suit smoked, and his fire-resistant brown scales receded beneath his unharmed human body. “The aroma of Earth.”

“It’s explosive?” Adviser Wrathmoda shook herself and began to hulk, growing in size. “How dare you humans insult me! You think to fight a dragon with fire?” She dwarfed the room and made the ceiling creak. “Fight me at my full size and weep!”

“Everybody stay down!” Rose called. “She’s going to blow herself up!”

The dragons dove for the floor, including Larimar.

Adviser Wrathmoda froze. “What…what are you talking about?”

“The HVAC’s been off for days.” Rose hugged her knees, still tucked and protected. “And the methane from the waste system’s been rising. It’s concentrated at the roof. Shawn checked it. If you break through the ceiling, you will tear electrical wire, cause a spark, and be blown to smithereens.”

“These ‘smithereens’ will not injure me. I’m a female dragon!”

“Oh, yeah? You want to sink your Titanic, you do that.”

“My…Titanic?”

“Your big ship.”

Adviser Wrathmoda craned to see the platform leading to her spaceship.

A small fireball of methane danced around the entryway and melted her paint.

She shrank to human form with a squeak. “My ship!”

Adviser Wrathmoda hurried across the platform and shooed away the fire. It licked her garment, singeing the edges. She patted the small fire out, burst to a massive dragon, and soared into the sky.

With the halo of the sun behind her, Adviser Wrathmoda bellowed at the office building. “Now I am outside! You will pay, you flightless, land-bound…uh…”

The rocket pack put Rose at eye level with the big dragon. Her practice chiseling conference tables out of the ceiling had improved her fine motor control. Rose wielded the toilet wand. “How’s your stomach?”

Adviser Wrathmoda cupped her claws over her belly. “It already hurt. Not because of you.”

“Sure? If the toilet wand doesn’t scare you, I have a sewage pipe welder.”

“Sewage pipe!”

“And Shawn knows where to find an entire dumpster full of decapitated flies.”

“I know where to find an entire dumpster of decapitated flies!” Shawn yelled from the edge of the platform.

Adviser Wrathmoda curled her lip. “What do I care for tiny headless insects?”

Rose smiled. “Kyan identified your ship’s intake ports. We know how to infiltrate your systems. All your systems. Don’t go to sleep.”

“My Titanic!” Adviser Wrathmoda snarled at Rose. “What is wrong with you humans? You’re dirty, nasty, smelly, little… I hate Earth and everything about it!”

“Feel free to leave right now. Or explode. I don’t care. We’re used to cleaning up other people’s messes.”

Jasper floated beside Rose. His brothers flanked the adviser. “This is my female, the one I was telling you about. Rose, this is Adviser Wrathmoda.”

“We’ve met,” Rose retorted.

“She’s resourceful. I hire for determination and thoroughness. Rose is our top performer.”

“All right, Jasper. No more flattery.”

“And problem-solving.” He ignored her, focused on Adviser Wrathmoda. “Rose transformed common equipment into effective weapons.”

“It was the team, actually.”

“And she has a wonderful team.”

“There are more of you?” Adviser Wrathmoda barked. “More than I see here?”

“Imagine how many more traps she can set,” Jasper said. “Imagine how embarrassing it would be if news of your defeat reached your rivals.”

Adviser Wrathmoda’s eyes narrowed. “I am not defeated. Not by a long shot. But, as it happens, I am too important to waste any time on ridiculous rivalries. You want this worthless low caste so badly, have him!” She flew to her ship.

Larimar flew after her. “Mother?”

“This is ridiculous,” Adviser Wrathmoda spat from the platform. “The original survey was right. The planet is a mud ball full of genetically backward non-shifters. The only dragons who like such pulp are genetically backward as well. I regret ever deigning to covet such a connection.”

“Mother, please—”

“Hush.” Adviser Wrathmoda shook her fist at the gathered Onyx siblings. “You will always be low castes. Your grandfather was barely a military commander! Your matriarch is a libertine with upside-down morals, and I question Ferocia Carnelian’s judgment at allowing her dragonlets a friendly connection. When my eldest is crowned the new Empress, she will sink your Titanic.” Adviser Wrathmoda hustled her servants rolling the marriage scroll back onto her ship.

For the first time, hope dawned in Rose’s heart. “She gave up?”

“No, I do not give up!” Adviser Wrathmoda snarled. “I have heard no challenge. It doesn’t exist.”

“Mother, please,” Larimar cried.

“I’ve left because Earth is a disgusting genetic backwater. There’s nothing here worth fighting over.” Adviser Wrathmoda flounced into her ship. Her nasal voice rose. “Larimar? I will see you on Draconis!”

Larimar collapsed on the platform and moaned.

The spaceship whirled up through the atmosphere and zoomed away.

Had they won?

Jasper crushed Rose through her rubbery hazmat suit. “You fought for me.”

“We all fought for you.” She returned his hug. “We’re a team.”

Liquid shone in his eyes.

They flew over Larimar’s crumpled form and landed inside the top floor. The rest of the staff shook Jasper’s hand. They were glad to see him too.

Rose called Kyan to vent the roof, and after being certain that the building had aired out as much as possible, they removed their helmets and marveled at the wrecked luxury suite.

“The building’s a disaster,” Rose told Jasper. “Sorry you had to come home to this.”

“I heard. What did Peridot promise to lure you in today?”

Shawn shared a look with the others. “I didn’t answer my phone.”

Elle put her arm around Rose’s and Patty’s shoulders. “We got lured here for you.”

“You came in for me?” Jasper’s chin wrinkled, but he held it together. “I would do the same for you in a heartbeat.”

“We know.” Patty squeezed his forearm, and he blinked, misty-eyed all over again. “What happens now?”

He pulled Rose under his arm, keeping her close. “I don’t know. But whoever comes back should request triple plus overtime until you clear this mess, and you know how the sewage treatment system is. A week of neglect is a month of extra work.”

Everyone nodded. They knew.

“So are you getting your old job back?” Elle asked.

“I don’t—”

“No!” Larimar stood, clutching a scrap of her mother’s shredded silk kaftan to her chest, and her desperate eyes shifted to rage. She stalked toward Jasper.

Jasper threw Rose behind him and shifted, brown scales showering as his dragon emerged to defend against the new threat.

“You defeated my mother, but you did not defeat me!”

“Larimar, don’t do this,” Jasper growled.

“You have to build my company. I need to prove myself.”

“Prove yourself with someone else,” Rose snapped. “Do you want the toilet wand? I’ll give it to you.”

“I don’t fear any toilet wand.” Larimar shifted to dragon, shredding her clothes and showering herself with elongated scales. She towered over them. “I’ll spray Jasper with my lust hormones and make him my slave!”

Lust hormones?

The dragon whirled and lifted her tail like a cat in heat. She aimed her butt in their direction.

Nothing happened.

The rest of the dragons swore and evacuated, racing out the building entrance while covering their mouths and noses, but Jasper was trapped.

He whirled to Rose. “Quick, Rose. Chain me to the wall. Don’t let her enslave me!”

“Any…moment…” Larimar growled, struggling with an unfamiliar action. “You will obey me…”

Rose had no chains. She dumped her hazmat helmet over his dragon head, smooshing his snout, and he shifted back to human to fit. Her coworkers wheeled their carts around him like a fortress. Patty and Elle positioned splash guards like riot shields.

Larimar shrieked with success. A fine mist sprayed the splash guards and dripped. More hung in the air like a cloud.

Rose waited to be overwhelmed…but wasn’t. Well, she was human, a female, and not the target. The stench was odoriferous and punky, yet also woodsy…hard to describe…

“Smells like the back forty,” Patty said.

“College-boy room filled with stale body spray,” Elle said.

“High-quality bud,” Shawn opined. “I sprayed orange scent to disguise it when the RAs called the campus police.”

Jasper remained hunched and held his breath.

Rose grabbed the Febreze hooked to her cart and sprayed the air, coated the splash guards, and painted Jasper’s helmet.

He didn’t move.

“Jasper?” Rose tapped his shoulder. “Jasper, are you all right?”

Larimar laughed throatily. “Arise, my slave!”

Jasper wobbled to his feet.

“Cast off your helmet and come to me!”

He took off Rose’s helmet. His beautiful eyes were glazed.

Rose shook his shoulders. “Snap out of it!”

Jasper blinked and focused on her. “R…Rose?”

“Come now!” Larimar ordered.

“Don’t move,” Rose said.

Jasper shook his head as though trying to dislodge a pebble.

Shawn snatched the Febreze from Rose’s hand and sprayed Jasper in the face.

He stumbled back and scrubbed his eyes. “Ugh. Shawn, what was that for?”

“Oh, sorry, man. You weren’t looking so good.”

“I felt odd at first, but then it dissipated.” Jasper wiped his brow and sniffed. “What is that strange spray?”

“Huh?” Shawn read the title. “Fresh Scent.”

“We ran out of odor neutralizer in the bathroom, and Peridot didn’t order any more,” Rose explained. “I brought it from home. Sorry I didn’t ask.”

“No, I apologize for not reordering before I left. Employees shouldn’t be forced to bring their own supplies.” Jasper held a deep breath and released it. “Is it superior? We should order this brand rather than what we used before.”

She fell under his hug. “I’ll have to review the spreadsheet.”

He kissed her red-and-black warrior hair. “I can’t wait.”

Larimar stood flummoxed. “Did I do it wrong? I’ve never tried to spray a male. It didn’t work?”

“No, your chemical attack didn’t work.” Shawn thumped his chest. “Because we’re environmental techs!”

Larimar shifted to human and swiped the bottle out of his hand. “What is this miraculous substance?”

Shawn averted his eyes from her unselfconscious, nude form. “Er…”

She shook the bottle at Jasper. “This, Jasper, is the chemical weapon you were talking about! It can neutralize lust hormone sprays. Think of the applications! We’ll make a fortune.” She hardened. “And then, when I go to rescue my love, no female will ever enslave him again.”

Shawn broke in. “You’re going to sell the spray that stops you from enslaving guys? Isn’t that like selling bulletproof vests to your enemy?”

“Yes, exactly. Everyone will want a bulletproof vest.” She faced Jasper. “How soon can you arrange an order with the manufacturer?”

“Jasper!” Mal flew in cautiously and then got more confident as no one was enslaved. “You’re free, which means we have to get back to work. Clean this mess. We’re holding an emergency meeting tonight to start the next product launch.”

Larimar turned on her nude heels and poked an index finger at Mal’s unguarded chest. “Jasper’s my employee, not yours.”

Mal’s skin flushed malachite green. “He’s my brother.”

“And look at how you guarded him? Any dragon could steal him away! That will never happen at my company. He’s a valued employee.”

“We value Jasper more than you know!”

While they argued, Jasper leaned against Rose. He wasn’t used to people arguing over him. Rose rubbed his shoulder. Nobody had asked him what he wanted.

Alex strode around the arguing CEOs and returned Rose’s engagement ring. “This is yours.”

“Thank you.” She closed her rubbery fist around the precious metal.

Jasper frowned. “Why did you have it?”

Alex opened his mouth, closed it, and looked away. An unusual agitation marred his cool features. “It is difficult to say…”

“No, it’s not.” Rose pulled off her glove and slid the ring onto her finger. “He told me I was only with you for the money. I got mad and threw the ring.”

Jasper’s eyes gleamed, ruby flecks in brown fire. “What?”

Alex gritted his teeth and met Jasper’s gaze, flinching. “It was a mistake.”

“They thought you might buy off the adviser. I shouldn’t hold you down.”

Jasper pulled Rose into his arms. His unusual aggression focused on Alex. “Never say that again.”

Alex stepped back, and for a second, it looked as if he would apologize, but he said, “I won’t.”

“Good.” Jasper focused on Rose, possessive and gorgeous. “You fought for me. Against two rival females, one of them an adviser. That is all anyone needs to know of your bravery and strength.”

She cocked a grin at him. “To be fair, I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“There is no need to be fair.” He covered her mouth with his kiss.

He tasted of crazy delicious love, her Jasper, like every wild thought and wish. She hugged him close, and when that wasn’t enough, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her, his tongue thrusting into her mouth, his cock hard as a lever between her thighs. Her pussy throbbed. She wanted him, here, now, forever.

Jasper pulled back, his eyes fiery again. Dark scales shivered near his skin, changing their colors to match. His voice emerged low and hungry. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Wait!” Both Mal and Larimar protested at the same time.

They glanced at each other, then each overlapped their orders.

“We’re meeting now.”

“You are my employee, Jasper!”

Jasper released Rose and turned on them with contained fury. “Neither of you employs me.”

“Well—”

“You don’t—”

They broke off to bicker with each other.

Jasper cut in and started with Mal. “You kicked me out.”

“But you agreed because our trade secrets—”

“Were nearly burned to the ground. They still might. I can’t open a door without a security escort.”

“I don’t control security.” Mal lifted his phone to his ear. “Kyan, the threat to Jasper is over. Reactivate—”

“Don’t.” Jasper focused on Larimar. “You chained me to a wall. Ate my phone. And just now, tried to enslave my mind.”

“Competition in the business world is brutal, Jasper, you know that.”

“I know neither of you has apologized.”

They both startled. Mal grimaced at the ceiling as if searching his memory, and Larimar folded her hands over her breasts as if she would not deign to apologize.

Jasper continued. “You both dismissed me as an employee and devalued my work.”

“We prioritized you,” Mal refuted. “Your freedom trumped everything.”

“You have no idea what I did for the company.”

“Yes, but—”

“You thought so little of my job that you replaced me with a temp. You damaged him, hurt my workers, destroyed the department, and have nearly lost the building.”

“Because we needed you! What is a building? Or a few employees?”

Jasper’s growl made his voice harsh. “You attacked my mate, Mal.”

Mal’s gaze darted to Rose. “But—”

“You ignored her needs. Allowed her to be fired. Accused her—”

“She wouldn’t fight for you.”

“Because she’s a reasonable human being! Would you be so calm if we turned your treatment on Cheryl?”

Mal snarled, claws out. “I would end you!”

Jasper stared at him, point made.

Mal’s jaw closed with a snap. His shoulders sagged. He knew he was beaten. “Won’t you come back? For your family?”

“Maybe.” Jasper snugged Rose to his chest. “After I enjoy a well-deserved honeymoon. And after you hire someone else to clean up this mess and manage Environmental Tech. I performed these jobs at a sacrifice of my personal life, but not anymore. Now, I have a family. I have hours.”

“But, ah, I am starting a much more important business,” Larimar protested. “My defense company will prevent male dragons from being victimized by lust. Work for me because it’s important for all dragon kind! And I will value you. After we are set up and exporting, I will frequently respect these so-called working hours.”

Jasper eyed her. “I may consult with you remotely.”

“But think of the dragons you’ll save!”

Rose snapped at her. “You should be grateful Jasper doesn’t hold a grudge. If it were me, I’d tell you to pound sand.”

“Pound…sand? What is the purpose of pounding sand?”

“It has none, which is just how much of Jasper’s time he ought to give you. Be grateful he’s willing to help you at all.”

Her lids lowered to half cover her eyes. “I expect your call as soon as you finish this ‘honeymoon.’”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Rose muttered.

Larimar paused on her way to the door. “Why would I hold my breath? The air has already cleared, and anyway, I am leaving.”

Rose blinked. “Never mind.”

Larimar shrugged, jumped off the balcony while shifting to dragon, and flew away.

Peridot passed her flying the opposite direction. He landed in front of the environmental techs. “You’re all here.” He glanced at Jasper and Mal, then drew himself up. “I am authorized to offer you anything you wish to return and make the building habitable.”

Shawn shared glances with Patty and Elle. “Anything?”

“Anything.”

He rubbed his palms together. “The first thing you have to do is sing ‘I’m a Little Teapot’ while dancing an Irish jig.”

Peridot frowned. “I do not know that song and dance.”

“Oh.” Elle stepped out of her hazmat suit. “Here, I’ll show you.”

Jasper cleared his throat. “Mal, someone must support my staff. Order the needed supplies, give help and encouragement, and prevent unrealistic expectations from fracturing their goodwill.”

Mal turned to Peridot. “You know this area—”

Peridot backed away. “Jasper will confirm. I cannot assume his work as well as my own.”

Mal turned to Jasper. “You’re the only one who can oversee the building.”

“That is untrue, and I refuse.”

“Well, who else has the experience and ability to lead this cleanup?”

The environmental techs turned to Rose.

Her heart pounded. She gulped. “Me?”

“You’re already the leader,” Patty said.

“You have the experience,” Elle agreed.

“You make the machines work,” Shawn said. “Remember, they said to ask for anything.”

“Anything?” She met Mal’s gaze, and the unreality of negotiating her own salary instead of accepting whatever they gave her made the floor tilt. “I don’t know. I guess a raise?”

Mal crossed his arms and lifted his chin. “How much?”

She shook her head, unprepared to even hazard a guess. A couple of extra bucks an hour? Or would that be too much?

“At least my old salary,” Jasper said, rescuing her. “She’ll be performing my old work.”

“Only half of it,” Mal protested.

“You undervalued me.”

“What was Jasper’s old salary?” she asked.

“About a million dollars,” Jasper said.

“M-million? I’m sorry, per year?”

“Done.” Mal shook her hand. “You start now. Get to work.”

Jasper growled low in his chest. “Don’t undervalue my fiancée.”

“Fine. Two million, and she starts yesterday.”

“Mal!”

“It’s okay,” she said, still reeling, “I haven’t signed anything. This is crazy.”

“Three million, with the option to renegotiate your annual salary after you clear the mess.”

“That’ll take months,” she babbled. “And we’ll need more staff. Plus, as Jasper said, I’ve got a wedding to plan, a honeymoon to enjoy, and I have to get back my kid.”

“Honeymoon approved. Wedding plan approved. Work hours and kid approved.” Mal ticked them off. “What else?”

She looked at her staff. “What are you going to do for them?”

Shawn grinned. “I’ll take a million for the cleanup.”

“Done.”

The rest of them agreed, and Rose issued her first orders as the new Head of Environmental Technicians. “Patty, shut down the sewage unit. Once the water’s out, turn off the heaters. We’ll freeze the mess of parasites inside. Shawn, Elle, make a checklist of our priorities and then go home. It’ll take about twelve hours to freeze everything, so don’t come back until tomorrow noon.”

“Yes, boss!” her team chorused, Elle with a wry smile, Patty gripping her forearm with enthusiasm, and Shawn pumping his fist.

“Is that safe?” Peridot asked.

“We had to do a full system shutdown in the first year,” Rose told him. “Replacing connectors and recouplers. It’s not comfortable, and nobody should use the building until it’s back on again, but it won’t blow a hole in the ground either.”

Shawn jutted his chin. “Are you questioning our boss?”

“No, I read the manual and was just curious if…” Peridot’s eyes widened, and he looked faint. “Am I…am I still required to work both positions?”

“No, Shawn.” Rose traded a grin with him. “Peridot can go, and we don’t mind questions in our department. It’s how you learn.”

“Then you are released,” Mal said. “Go home to Pyro.”

Peridot let out a huge sigh. “Thank you. Very much.” To Shawn and Elle, he said, “I will review the teapot song and jig and perform it. I vow on my honor as an Olivine. I will not fail you.” He flew into the sunshine.

The environmental techs packed their carts. Mal began making phone calls.

Jasper murmured in Rose’s ear, “Ready to leap into action?”

“Yes.” Rose made a fist of determination. “First thing first, we have to save Liam.”

Saving Liam was Rose’s top priority now, and she needed Jasper to know.

Jasper glowed. “That’s the action I meant.”

“Oh?” She squeezed her thighs together, turned on by a different thought of Jasper. “I hope that’s not the only action you’re ready for. I haven’t seen you in days.”

He smiled and nibbled on her neck. “No, I am ready for any action.”

Mal got off the phone.

Rose disentangled from Jasper and made her first demand. “Can I get an offer letter and an advance on my salary? Since I started yesterday.”

Right then, the wall screen flashed, and Amber’s face appeared. “Jasper! Mother just received word that Adviser Wrathmoda dissolved your engagement. That’s lucky. We weren’t making any progress against the blockade.” She squinted. “What happened to the office?”

“Adviser Wrathmoda.” He pulled Rose forward. “This is my fiancée.”

“Hi, Rose,” Amber said with easy familiarity. “I like your hair today.”

She tugged her warrior locks. They’d taken hours, and she’d spent every second envisioning how she would fight for Jasper and get him back. “Er, thank you.”

“Where’s Mother?”

“I’ll forward you.” Amber disappeared with a wave.

The dragon matriarch appeared with a delighted smile. The mysterious final Onyx sibling, Flint, sat beside her. “Rose! I’m so pleased to meet you. As soon as this pesky blockade is over, assuming we still have an estate, I can’t wait to meet you. Jasper has been so devoted.”

Oh, this was awkward. “Yeah, he’s the best.”

“Isn’t he?” Their mother turned her elongated head at the dark gray dragon. “Flint was just enumerating Jasper’s good points. As if I didn’t know them all myself.”

Flint’s odd owl-like eyes blinked slowly, and a smile arranged itself on his dragon face. “Looks like the office still stands? Our loving siblings must have realized that you, Jasper Onyx, are the singular reason the business ever succeeded.”

Jasper looked surprised. “Me? Then why didn’t you warn me not to marry Adviser Wrathmoda?”

“Your actions proved my Linchpin Theory of history. More accurate than the Great Man Theory, more comprehensive than the Theory of Socio-Technological Evolution, my Linchpin Theory suggests that a seemingly unimportant single individual or small group is responsible for successes attributed to leaders and movements. Remove the individual, and the whole organization crashes down; in the case of our building, literally.”

“I’m a Linchpin? We’ve all contributed.”

“How well did the Onyx Corporation continue to function during the absences of Mal, Pyro, Kyan, and even Amber in comparison to the short absence of you?” Flint’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “From here, it looks as though you’ve survived a fire. How are the toilets?”

“Not great,” Jasper admitted. “Rose will turn it around.”

“Our new Linchpin. I hope the lessons learned today stay fresh in everyone’s minds.”

“How did you know my presence was so important? Even I didn’t imagine what might go wrong.”

“Environmental technicians are overlooked elements of successful spaceship operation; like supply chain logisticians—which you are also—their importance is evident when absent. A war may be won with incompetent leadership or warriors, not frequently both, but nothing survives an uninhabitable environment. Similarly, a backwater planet with no useful resources populated by genetically recessive non-shifters may be the Linchpin of the Dragon Empire.”

“Are you starting a war?”

“No.” His grin cracked his dragon face again. “Depending on what happens next, however, Earth may be the key to ending one.”

The dragon mother listened to Flint with blank happiness, as if she had no idea what he was saying but loved him anyway. “And then you will find a nice female and give me dragonlets.”

Flint’s cocky smile slipped. He cleared his throat and examined his claws. “That depends on many factors, Mother, not the least of which is finding a female who listens to my incoherent ramblings.”

“You’ll find one,” she assured him, and addressed Rose and Jasper again. “Congratulations, my darling Jasper. Rose, I hope you will be carrying Jasper’s dragonlet when I meet you.”

“Uh…”

“Jasper, please Rose and do not disappoint me. I need dragonlets! Where is Alexandrite?”

Everyone looked. He was nowhere to be seen.

“If he thinks this has changed anything, he is wrong! He will bring me a female, or I will make him a suitable match. Warn him, Jasper. He has three days.” Desperation made her eyes gleam and smoke curl out her nostrils.

The communication ended.

Jasper called Alex’s phone. Three days! That was less time than any of the rest of them had gotten. He left a message over voice mail.

Rose folded her arms. “Guess I’ll need to ask about maternity leave.”

“No pressure,” Elle joked from the back, and the other environmental techs laughed.

Mal returned to their topic from before the interruption—getting Rose an advance. “This way.”

He started for his office, but the environmental techs blocked the way, chiseling the door free. “Er, no. This way.” He flew out into the air, heading toward Mount Hood.

Rose tossed her hazmat suit and coveralls on her cart so she was back in street clothes. Jasper gripped Rose firmly, and they followed Mal.

The glacier dominated Portland’s skyline and tilted like a dark witch’s cap, the snow at the top all that remained in the summer heat. A stone fortress clung to one impossible outcropping like a dewdrop on a leaf. Jasper landed on a helicopter pad and carried her to the glass sliding door. It scanned them and then opened.

Cheryl greeted them from inside the warm stone entry. She wore cozy slippers and a Snuggie blanket indoors. “How was the meeting? Mal told me you scared off that adviser.” She led them down the wide stone steps into the Spartan office and tucked herself into a soft, dark couch. “How’s the bathroom?”

“Worse,” Rose said.

“Really?”

“The toilets are on fire.”

Cheryl blinked. “I guess I’ll work from home a little longer.”

“It’s for the best.”

Mal nipped Cheryl playfully as he passed to his palatial desk. “I like you in my lair.”

“I enjoy working in my pajamas, so it works out.”

He printed out a work contract, which Jasper read along with Rose and approved, and then Mal transferred her advance into a special account. They bid Mal and Cheryl farewell.

Jasper flew into the crisp mountain air. “What’s your plan?”

“It’s two parts, really.” She held him tightly against the whipping wind. “Can we use that dragon hospital?”

“I have to make a phone call.”

“Great, you can do it while we’re at the family lawyer’s.”

They made the stop. Rose collected a draft of the informal custody agreement she’d asked the family lawyer to draw up, and Jasper completed his call, then tracked Briar’s whereabouts from Kyan. They landed in front of a nice middle-class neighborhood.

Rose looked around. “Isn’t this the house that reported the vandalism?”

“It’s the Houck neighborhood,” Jasper confirmed. “One of Briar’s associates lives here in his parents’ basement. His parents reported the vandalism.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Where’s—oh.”

Briar ate an ice-cream bar as she walked down the sidewalk. She stopped in overacted shock, put her hands over her heart, and gasped at seeing Rose and Jasper. “I knew you’d come crawling back to me, Rose. I’m your favorite person, aren’t I? You can’t get enough of me.”

“Where’s Liam?” Rose demanded.

“Around.” Briar showed off galaxy-print leggings with oily streaks. “What do you think of my Oily Legs? I just made them. Want to sniff?”

“Briar.”

“You’re just jealous because I had a million-dollar idea, and you lost your chance to get in on it.” She licked the drip of her ice-cream bar. Chocolate smudged her stained shirt. “Liam’s around. Playing in the backyard pool or something.”

Nerves flared in Rose’s belly. “Under supervision?”

“Or something.”

She cut her gaze at Jasper.

He lifted the phone to his ear, hopped in the air, and his overhead circle widened. Liam must not be in the backyard.

Briar watched Jasper while she licked her bar. “Neat.”

Rose prepared herself for a hard fight. “I want you to sign that I’ve had physical custody of Liam all this time. This document,” she lifted the packet she’d gotten from the lawyer, “describes our arrangement.”

“I’m his mother.”

“You’ll still be his mother. But you have to stop threatening to take Liam away, or else I’m going to sue you for permanent custody.”

Briar snorted. “Please.”

“I also want you to agree to get examined by a dragon doctor and treated for your head injury.”

“No needles. No hospitals.”

“Dragons don’t have needles, and their ‘hospital’ is on a spaceship.”

Briar’s expression betrayed interest. “An alien spaceship?”

“Correct. Jasper will take you whenever you want. In exchange for getting, say, ten treatments, I’ll give you a million dollars.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Divided out over the course of, uh, ten years. Or twenty years, actually. Anyway, you can get your first payment today for signing these custody documents, and you get the next one after your first treatment. You decide when. Just call me.”

Briar rolled her eyes. “I always call you.”

“I’ll call you. Every month, every week if you want.”

“Every day?”

“Sure, every day. Me and Liam, we’ll call you.”

“Jasper too?” Briar chewed her bar and swallowed. “I want you to see how I’m living it up with this Oily Legs business that doesn’t need you. See? I can act like I don’t care, just like you.”

“I’ll call you every single day,” Rose promised. “For a year. I promise.”

“My phone’s broken.”

“I’ll buy you a new one.”

Briar coughed on her sneer. “Wow, you play hardball when I have what you want, huh? Which makes me just want to hold on to it and make you suffer the way I have all these years.”

Unfair accusations warred with defeat in Rose’s mind. She wanted to scream, she’d done so much. Why couldn’t Briar see? Because Briar had a head injury. Screaming was easy, but the way to reach her was much harder.

Rose centered herself and tried again. “Briar, you’ve always been my favorite person.”

Briar scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

“Since you were born, you were my rock. I didn’t like it when you got wild and angry. I miss so much the sister I had when we were little, and we still had Momma and Dad.”

“But that’s who I am now,” Briar retorted. “Wild child. Nobody bosses me around, not even me.”

“And I never met you where you’re at. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Briar frowned with distrust. “You don’t care about me.”

“I do. I’m just bad at expressing it. I mean, I almost let Jasper get force-married to another dragon. Two other dragons. All because I didn’t tell him how I felt.”

“Yeah, that’s you.” Briar bit her bar and chewed it. “So you’ll give me a million dollars right now if I sign papers saying you watch Liam?”

“I’ll give you two…um, twenty dollars, right now.”

She made a raspberry. “Your dragon man gave me two thousand.”

“Someone chained him to a wall for a week. I’m the only one with cash.”

“Typical.” Briar finished her bar, dropped the stick on the sidewalk, and smeared her chocolate-coated hands across her shirt. “You got a pen?”

Rose’s heart leaped into her throat. She fumbled with one she’d grabbed at the lawyer’s office. “Yeah, I’ve got a pen.”

Briar took it and made a show of reading the papers, flipping them back and forth and tilting her head, but she spent so much time glancing up at Rose and smiling that it was doubtful she took anything in. Rose fought her impatience. Briar knew how to push her buttons. Rose couldn’t stop the torture; she had to meet Briar head-on.

“Problem?”

“No…actually, yeah.” Briar pushed the papers back. “I don’t feel like it today. Give me the money and come back tomorrow.”

Argh.

“Show me Liam, and I will,” Rose snapped.

Briar waved her hand. “How can I keep track of him? He’s a kid.”

“He’s four! You can’t let him wander. If you can’t find him, I’m calling the police!”

“You’ll get him put in the system,” Briar sang.

“Better than kidnapped!”

Jasper landed beside them and covered Rose’s phone before she finished dialing. “Kyan’s security force was tracking him. He isn’t in any danger.”

“Then where—”

“He’s at the park.”

“Where? Alone?”

Jasper pointed down the block. “Yes, alone. So there is no danger.”

“That’s dangerous!” Rose ran pell-mell to the concrete playfield. Old pipes connected to empty slides, wooden platforms, and swings. “Liam? Liam!” She whirled on Jasper, who paced her. “Where is he?”

“Rose?” Liam’s voice peeped from inside one of the pipes.

She raced to it and peered in. “I’m here. Come out.”

He scrunched into a corner. “The bogeyman. He’s here.”

“He is here,” she affirmed, “and I’m kicking his butt. Come out and watch.”

“He chased me.” Liam sniffed. “I had to run and hide.”

“He’s not chasing anyone anymore. I’m going to get him good.”

“Rose,” Briar called, singsong.

Liam stilled. “He found me.”

“You’re not going back with your mom. I promise you.” Rose held out her hand.

Liam’s wide eyes took in Jasper hovering behind her. “Is Jasper going to eat the bogeyman?”

“Yeah, he’s got a medical ship that’s going to take the bogeyman out of your mom so she can be herself again. And in the meantime, we will keep you safe. I promise.”

He crept shakily out of the pipe.

Rose captured his skinny arm and pulled him into her embrace. He clung onto her, sobbing. She murmured how much she’d missed him. He was wearing the same outfit from days ago. The back pocket had ripped off, and dirt streaked his T-shirt.

Jasper stood before her, grim.

“Not in any danger?” Rose muttered, ready to give Kyan’s so-called security force a piece of her mind.

“Not in danger of being shot or blown up,” Jasper clarified, sharing her irritation. “I’ve already spoken to Kyan about our different meanings of ‘watch over,’ I promise.”

“Hmph.”

“Rose.” Briar strolled into the park. “You found Liam. Time to let his loving mother take him. You’re just a distant aunt who doesn’t even care enough to say you love him out loud.”

Liam cried harder.

“He’s coming with me.” Rose stepped into Jasper’s arms.

Briar’s mouth dropped. “But I’m his mother.”

“Act like it.”

“Grandma always says—”

“Yeah, Grandma’s wrong. Jasper, let’s go.”

He hesitated. “You will not have Briar sign the custody agreement?”

“She refused. We’ll have to take her to court. And we’ll do it with Liam in our possession, not hers.”

Briar huffed. “Hey, I didn’t refuse, okay? I just didn’t feel like signing right then. Come back tomorrow and ask me. I’ll say yes tomorrow.”

Rose changed arms, hugging Liam as tightly as he hugged her. “We can’t come back. If you don’t sign the agreement now, we’re taking you to court, and future communication has to go through our lawyer.”

“What is this? High-pressure sales? I want the night to think about it.”

“Have all the nights. Jasper, give her the card for my lawyer.”

Briar stuck out her lips. “If I don’t sign right now, you won’t call me?”

“Correct.”

She rolled her eyes and squinted at the sun, then jerked her chin at Rose’s left hand. “Give me the ring.”

Rose looked down at her diamonds. “You want my engagement ring?”

“Yeah, come on. You don’t need it. He’s rich. It’ll look better on me.”

Rose hardened. “Sign the papers.”

“You give me the ring, and I’ll sign,” Briar smirked. “I swear.”

Jasper tilted his head at Rose.

Rose shook her head. “I can’t seem to hold on to this thing.”

“We can buy another. You said this one was too fancy for you.”

“Ha.” Briar held out her palm. “Now I know it means a lot to you. Give it to me.”

Rose tugged off the ring and tossed it on the cement. It gleamed like a colorful stone.

Briar sighed. “Childish, much?” She started for the ring.

“Sign first, or else Jasper will fly over and nab the ring before you get to it.”

Briar narrowed her eyes. “You could fly over after I sign.”

“I will not,” he vowed. “Even though it’s Rose’s ring that I gifted her for marriage. I vow on my honor as a no-name, low-caste, consultant dragon.”

“Funny.” Briar clicked the pen and scrawled her signature, then ambled over to the ring and picked it up. “Pretty. Is this a real diamond?”

“It’s real,” Jasper assured her. “Created in the StarCenter labs, the highest certified jeweler on Draconis. It’s worth more than a million.”

She made a sarcastic oooh that showed she barely comprehended what he’d said. The issue wasn’t about the money to her. Briar had never grasped money. She just wanted a token Rose valued. Something that would make Briar feel more important in Rose’s life. The ring was worth a million, but she would have wanted it just as much if it had been a plastic ring from a vending machine. Like the phone calls, she wanted to be wanted.

If it led to Briar’s healing, then Rose could make a hundred phone calls.

Rose rested Liam, who subsided to hiccups, in Jasper’s arms. “I’ll call you tomorrow to talk about treatment.”

“Yeah, right.” Briar didn’t look away from her ring. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Then tomorrow, Briar would believe.

But for now, Rose had to take care of her family. She tapped Jasper’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Jasper jumped into the air and flew them to his spaceship.

Finally, they were going home.

Jasper stepped into his spaceship’s grand entrance and held the door.

Rose yawned with the change of pressure. She smiled and passed him, heading up the stairs. “Can you grab Liam water and a snack?”

“I can.”

“Thanks!”

It felt right to have them here again.

Her relief was also clear. She gave Liam a warm bath while Jasper prepared Liam’s food. When he delivered it, he found that Liam could barely keep his eyes open.

Rose had gotten him into clean pajamas, and the little guy passed out while she was conditioning his hair, Jasper’s chicken nuggets clutched in both his little hands. He watched Rose swab the unchewed bites out of Liam’s mouth and brushed his teeth. The child sagged over her shoulder.

Jasper wanted to offer his services beyond delivering food, but this reclaiming ritual was important. Liam belonged to Rose and she needed to feel secure by caring for him as a mother. Jasper stood a few paces back while Rose tucked Liam into bed.

“I love you, Liam.” She spoke loud and proud.

Even from the small distance, Jasper could see Liam smile in his sleep.

Rose turned to leave, and Jasper floated back out of the room, exiting just ahead of her.

She closed the door softly and collapsed into Jasper’s arms. “I feel shaky. It can’t be over. Something terrible is going to pop up and surprise me.”

He squeezed her. That was exactly why he’d held back. “You might be hungry.”

She blinked and covered her belly. “I’m starving!”

He flew her to the kitchen, served her an appetizer plate of instant-cook cheese rolls, crab puffs, Liam’s leftovers, and mini lobster-avocado toasts dusted with zesty lime curls. While she inhaled the simple hors d’oeuvres, he constructed a delicious, hearty meal of dry-aged strip meat seared at high heat, wild mushroom risotto, truffled potatoes, and orchard fruit. Arranging dishes on the tray in an artful presentation along with functional implements and a decorative orchid made his heart swell with happiness. He liked the challenge of managing vast supply chains, but providing well for his loved ones brought him true satisfaction.

Jasper carried the tray in.

Rose leaned back and rested one hand on her belly as she stared into space. Her other hand cupped a half-drunk herbal tea. She’d picked the appetizer plate clean.

She saw him and straightened, eyes wide. “I forgot it was coming and stuffed myself. Sorry. I should have stopped you.”

He slid the tray in front of her and sat in the next closest seat, needing to be closer to her. “You’re satisfied?”

“I haven’t eaten well in weeks.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “And I’ve been so nervous about the showdown, I’ve been running off adrenaline and coffee.”

“You defeated Adviser Wrathmoda with rare skill.” He crunched a piece of apple.

“Huh?” She opened her eyes and frowned, then sat up. “Oh, yeah. I meant the showdown with Briar. The adviser terrified me, but, with the rest of the team helping, I felt like we had a shot. And we did! Together…”

He rubbed her shoulders.

She leaned against him, trusting in him.

He helped himself to the risotto. “Will Briar complete the treatments?”

“I don’t know. If she thinks she can get under my skin by doing it, it’s possible. She’s been to so many hospitals.”

“You convinced her to sign the custody papers.”

“I hope she does treatment before we need to go to family court, but if not, well, then I’ll fight.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “The first thing I’m going to do with my paycheck is get therapy for Liam. We’re on a waiting list. Kids are resilient, and he’s getting everything he needs to bounce back.”

“I love it when you talk about managing resources.” Jasper grinned.

She traded a smile. “Yeah, sure.”

But he was being serious. Rose could dream up extravagant presents for herself, gemstones and furnishings for her lair, and that would be fine too. But she devoted her top energy to her family. She really was his perfect female.

“We’ll have to find a new place for Grandma,” Rose said, returning to thinking aloud. “Somewhere that doesn’t mind her credit history or late rent payments…”

“Your grandmother can move back into her old duplex.”

“It’s no longer condemned?”

“I tore it down. The rebuild should finish in a few weeks.”

“You bought it?” she repeated, amazed. “When?”

“Just after the housing authority condemned it. Luis is contacting everyone who rented. It’s only fair they get the first chance to return.”

“First chance…” She shook her head and laughed awkwardly. “Grandma won’t know what to do with a new apartment. We’ve never had one. That’s amazing.”

“It’s putting things to right,” he replied, “like you and Briar and Liam.”

Her eyes grew big. “I threw your ring. Again.”

He set aside his dinner and pulled her onto his lap, settling her against his powerful erection. “You wanted a different one anyway.”

“I still love it. But yeah, I want a smaller one that I don’t have to worry about losing.”

“We’ll pick it out together.”

He kissed her bare finger and teased the knuckle.

Her eyes were glued to his teasing, and her lips parted. Her tongue caressed the soft gold shimmer of her lips. “Lock the doors.”

He clicked the remote. The kitchen and dining room doors slid shut and locked them into the safe, private dining room alone.

He tongued the delicate skin between her fingers.

She let out a little moan. Her breasts heaved beneath her shirt.

He slid the fabric up and over her head. She tossed it over her shoulders to reveal a bronze satin bra adorned with silver roses. He stroked the hard points of her nipples.

She closed her eyes and arched her back, sliding her vee against his ready cock.

“This looks better on you than I imagined.”

“It’s going to look even better off me.” She unsnapped her bra, eased the satin over her arms, and bared herself to his hungry gaze.

He claimed her mouth with his kiss, plunging in and tasting her, and then he kissed down her collar and suckled her breasts, first one and then the other, sliding his thumbs over her hard dark pearls.

She gripped his hair and writhed against his cock, arousing him with fierce desire.

He flicked out his claws and zipped down the sides of her jeans, separating the hems from her soft skin.

She sat on the table, kicked off her socks, and wiggled out of the denim shreds, then hooked his belt loops and yanked him on top. She met his hungry mouth with her own counterclaim, shoved her hand beneath his belt, and gripped his turgid cock.

He groaned.

She murmured wishes so hot, he almost lost himself in her tight little hand.

He shredded his own pants and boxers, found her dripping wet entrance, and dropped between her knees to worship her feminine beauty.

She rocked up onto her elbows to watch.

He slicked her with his tongue, finding every crevice and claiming it for his own, supping on her floral syrup. Her taste shot into his veins like opium and made his scales shiver to the surface.

She fisted her hands in his hair and moaned his name.

He concentrated on her hot little nub, stroking it hard and flat and fast as she gasped and writhed, driving him closer, until she arched her back and shrieked.

Jasper lifted over her, claiming her boneless, pleasured form with possession. She was his, forever and ever. Only he would pleasure her. And only she would be his pleasure.

She forced her eyes open and returned his gaze. Her sloppy, satisfied smile changed to wicked need. She hooked one leg around his waist. “You’re not done yet, right?”

He let her guide his cock to her liquid entrance and make her own assessment. Then he lowered over her body on one elbow to stroke her forehead. “I’ve only just begun.”

Her smile broadened, and her eyes darkened with sweet heat. She hooked her other leg around his butt and contracted.

He slid into her hot, wet channel, filling her to the brim.

She moaned and shuddered. “Yes.”

He withdrew.

She grabbed his shoulders. “No, no.”

He pushed back in, buried to the hilt.

“Yes,” she sighed, and they began their mating dance, male to female, human to dragon, husband to wife.

He thrust into her slow and steady, building her climax a second time, savoring every inch of his cock encased in her feminine channel. They were one. This was the moment he had been made for. Connecting with his wife, filling her with pleasure, uniting their bodies to make a child.

Rose urged him faster, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts. Her human nails traced needy scratches across his back, and she gasped for him.

Hunger flared. He lifted on an elbow to avoid crushing her with his hunger, to gaze into her wild eyes, witness her desire as she writhed beneath his body. She grabbed his hips and arched, screaming her climax. He rushed into her welcoming center, filling her with his release.

Rose shuddered as though climaxing a third time, and then she collapsed on the table so decisively, it made a hollow thunk, which made her giggle. He chuckled and then shivered, the aftereffects of his emotional and spiritual release. She laughed, and her feminine muscles squeezed his sensitive cock. His twitch only made her laugh harder until they separated. He flew her up to the bath, deeply satisfied, and they cleaned up and brushed teeth.

She rubbed her thighs and winced.

His satisfaction stopped cold. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Just sore.” She smiled at him with an invitation. “Is this one area you know how to massage?”

“Yes, Rose.”

They finished, and he swept her away to the gold four-poster bed. She laughed again at its ridiculousness but sank into his caress—and more. Another bout of lovemaking sated her, and she yawned her way through the second cleanup, then got back into bed and curled against him.

He stroked her smooth, satin-covered shoulder.

She was fed, sated, clean, and warm. Her relatives were as settled as he could make them, with better futures on the horizon. His own siblings had survived setbacks, and over half the Onyx dragons had found happiness with their own beloved mates in safe, well-stocked lairs. Cheryl and Mal already expected the next generation of dragonlets. And perhaps Larimar’s export would even change the Dragon Empire for good.

Alex and Flint had no mates to support them. Flint lacked opportunity rather than desire, but Alex froze out budding attachments. He’d learned to look Jasper in the eye and smile, but the coldness in his eyes could not bridge the distance, and he had no true friends.

Was there no happy ending for these two? Would Empress Horribus awaken from her death sleep, as Adviser Wrathmoda feared, and offer to marry one of them? And why did Alex have only three days to show Mother his female? Jasper didn’t check his phone, but he hoped the voice message warning at least had been received.

Those were problems for another day.

With Rose at his side, his team was secure. Jasper held her tight, dropped his head to the pillow, and fell into a sound, well-deserved sleep.