Page 23 of His Fiery Mate

“Not just in the department, and not just Melisandre. She and I were putting together the evidence and staking out city hall last night. Chief, the evidence points at you.”

The chief shoved his chair back, standing up and glaring at Tanner. “Are you two accusing me of these crimes?”

“No, chief. That’s why I’m here talking to you. It has to be someone in the department and someone with access to budget and cut-back proposals. That’s a fairly small list, and you fit all the markers and have the most to lose.”

“I didn’t do this, Tanner. I wouldn’t.”

“I believe you, Chief, and I think so does Melisandre, but when you look just at the evidence, it does point at you.”

“Thanks for the heads up, Tanner. How can I help?”

“A list of who might have had access to those files would be of tremendous help.”

“I’ll have Stuart…”

“I think it would be best if you send it yourself, directly to Melisandre.”

The chief nodded. “I’ll do that before I head over to city hall. I’m also going to recuse myself from anything having to do with the investigation and will probably put myself on administrative leave.”

“I hate that you’re having to go through this. If it wasn’t for you, I’d probably still be washing dishes at the Black Bear Diner.”

The chief shook his head and extended his hand to Tanner. “I don’t believe that. Someone in either this department, some law enforcement group, or even the mayor herself would have seen your potential. No, Tanner, you were always destined for a life in public service.”

There was a time when those words would have meant everything to him. Now what he wanted was for Melisandre to understand she was destined for her life to be spent with him. If that could be here in Kodiak, working alongside each other to keep people safe? Great. If not, and he had to choose between firefighting and her? Melisandre would win—every single time, regardless of the other choice.

MELISANDRE

Melisandre woke to the sun filtering through partially drawn blinds and wondered for a moment where she might be. She was surprised that she wasn’t concerned. She knew she wasn’t at her place, and then it all came flooding back: the stakeout, the chase, the near miss in catching the guy, the escape into and out of the In-Between, and the amazing sex with Tanner.

Melisandre rolled to her back, stretching her body and her arms overhead. Everything in her crackled and moved sinuously in his bed as snatches of memory and images flashed through her brain. God, he’d been insatiable, but then again, so had she. She remembered calling his name and raking his back as she’d writhed beneath him, reveling in the way he made her feel.

And now lying here alone, she didn’t have to wonder if it had been a dream or if it was over. He’d left her a note by the side of the bed telling her to stay as long as she liked and that he was going to talk to the chief. She should have been concerned about that, but she wasn’t. After all, the chief had picked Tanner up, for all intents and purposes off the street, and helped turn him into the firefighter he was. True, the chief had also turned him into the department’s ‘golden boy,’ but Tanner owed the chief and that meant something to Tanner, and that wasn’t a bad thing.

Getting out of bed, she collected her clothes and took a quick shower before pulling her hair back, putting her clothes on, and heading out the door. Her hand was just reaching for the doorknob when there was a knock.

“Melisandre? It’s Nicole. I thought I heard you moving around.”

Melisandre pulled open the door. “Good morning. Oh yum, what did you bring me?”

“Tanner wanted to make sure you had breakfast, and I just wanted to check in on you. We’re fond of you both.”

“We?”

“Asher and I,” said Nicole placing the tray on Tanner’s kitchen island, which also served as a table.

“That’s a relief. I was hoping it wasn’t you and your whole crew.”

Nicole laughed. “Not yet, but trust me, Kodiak is a small town. By day’s end everyone and their brother will be thinking that perhaps that whole engagement thing isn’t fake after all. It isn’t, is it?”

“I kind of thought it was when I said it. Then I realized I was warming up to the idea.” Melisandre shook her head. “I suppose I can blame it all on the whole fated mate thing.”

“I wouldn’t discount that.”

“I’m a dragon; he’s a hellhound.”

“And I was human. I thought all those sexy paranormal romances I was reading about people who could shift from human to animal and back again were pure fiction, and then I found out I was wrong. I kept trying to tell myself what I felt for Asher wasn’t real, but deep inside I knew it was. Now I just blame it all on him for turning me without my consent.”

“You were dying.”

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