Page 23 of Dragon Detective

“Because I’ve never met a vampire, and it would be cool. Does he sparkle in the sunlight?”

“I doubt it.”

“Oh, then he’s one of those who can only creep around at night. He’ll take the night shift jobs, then.” Her low laugh rang out.

“Our other new hire is an ogre.” I was changing the subject, but I didn’t like her salivating over a vampire when she had a dragon shifter standing in front of her sporting a partial hard-on and a full mating mark honed into her alone.

“Oh, interesting. How do ogres differ from orcs?”

“They’re a different species.”

“Hmm.”

“Tell you what,” I said, “I’ll get my things tomorrow. There’s no need to go out tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” It wasn’t like we’d share a bed.

“I bought toothbrushes and other sample size toiletries in case my guests forget theirs, so I can give you those.” She crossed the room and entered the foyer. “They’re in the closet outside the kitchen. Let me grab some, and I’ll show you where you can sleep.”

She stepped out of view.

A subtle click rang out.

And that’s when she screamed.

Chapter 13

Hannah

The feel of Reylor’s mouth on mine lingered as I strode down the hall to the closet.

Why had I kissed him? So much for my dating hiatus. Although, you didn’t need to go out on a date to kiss someone. With that in mind, I opened the closet door.

And screamed.

Reylor rushed down the hall, sweeping me up and wrapping me in his arms and wings.

Wait. Wings?

I looked up at him, taking in the flames licking in his eyes and the smoke pouring from his nostrils. His face otherwise remained the same except for the fangs jutting up from his lower jaw. But wings! Partial ones, that is. I suspected his full dragon form would overflow the foyer.

“What happened?” he barked.

“There’s a dead rat on the floor of the closet. There are no rats here. No mice either. Max wouldn’t allow them to live inside this building.”

His wings retracted into his spine, and I wanted to ask him to do it slower so I could watch. It was amazing. I couldn’timagine how wonderful it would be to have wings. Maybe, then, I wouldn’t be afraid of leaving the ground.

Stepping away from me, he moved over to the closet, squatting down. “It’s not dead.”

“It’s still alive?” Sympathy flooded me. Was the poor thing injured and if so, was that a creature I could take to the local vet? “Is it someone’s lost pet?”

He lifted it and straightened, turning to lean against the wall beside the open closet door. “It’s fake.”

“It wasn’t there this morning. I know that for a fact, because I received my toiletry samples the other day and loaded them in the bins in the closet earlier today.”

“Who else has access to your house?”

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