Page 7 of Blazing Reactions

He found her collapsed beside her workstation, dark hair spilling across scattered notes. Even unconscious, she radiated power that called to his dragon with impossible intensity. Everytime he’d caught her scent in meetings, every moment he’d had to leave a room before his control broke - none of it compared to this.

“I’ve got this, Dr. Bennett,” Talon said. “You go on back home. Thank you for keeping an eye on her.”

His phone buzzed again. “Unless the building’s on fire—” he growled.

“Worse,” Levi’s voice cracked slightly. “Her two friends are here. The scary tech genius just disabled our outer defenses while drinking a Red Bull and complaining about our outdated encryption. I’m both terrified and impressed. Mostly terrified. She just smiled at me again. Why does she keep doing that?”

“Focus, Levi.”

“Iamfocused! Very focused on security and not at all on how she just quoted ancient Norse texts while dismantling century-old protection spells. Who even knows ancient Norse? Besides us? And why is it so attractive—I mean concerning. Security-wise.”

FIVE

Talon hung up as Asher stirred. For six months, he’d carefully avoided being alone with her, knowing his control wouldn’t survive direct contact. Now, watching her eyes flutter open, he wondered how he’d ever thought he could resist this.

“Well,” she managed hoarsely, “this is either going to kill me or cure me. At least it’ll be interesting.” Her eyes focused on him and widened slightly.

The casual mention of her death made his dragon surge forward with a ferocity that startled him, even as her sass pulled an unwilling smile. “Why would you risk?—”

“Risk what? Dying?” She let out a sharp laugh. “Spoiler alert: already doing that. At least this way it’s on my terms.” Her attempt at a careless shrug failed as another wave of power emanated from her body. “Though I have to say, if I’d known nearly dying would get you to stop avoiding me, I might have tried it sooner.”

His hands clenched at his sides, fighting the overwhelming urge to pull her close. “I wasn’t avoiding you.”

“Really? Because I’m pretty sure you developed a fascinating new allergy to any room I entered. Which was kind ofimpressive, actually. Very smooth exits. Very CEO-like running away.”

“I wasn’t running.”

His phone buzzed with Levi’s increasingly panicked updates:She just hacked the west wing using a PHONE. While drinking her third Red Bull. And explaining the flaws in our Norse runes. I think I’m in love. I mean in trouble. Security trouble.

Talon ignored it as Asher swayed on her feet. This time, he didn’t fight his instinct to catch her. The moment she collapsed against his chest, electricity surged between them. Six months of careful distance evaporated like smoke.

“You’re not dying.” His voice came out rough, more dragon than human. “I won’t allow it.”

“Pretty sure genetic deterioration doesn’t care about your permission.” But her hands gripped his shirt, betraying her fear. “Though your sudden overprotective streak is both confusing and oddly hot. Which would be embarrassing if I hadn’t already spent months trying not to notice how attractive you are when you’re being all commanding in meetings.”

The admission pulled a growl from his dragon. “You noticed?”

“Please. Have you seen you?” She managed a weak version of her usual smirk. “Though it would have been nice if you’d mentioned the whole dragon thing before I started having inappropriate thoughts about my terrifying boss. That should have been in the employee handbook somewhere.”

“My dragon knew your condition the moment you walked into that first budget meeting,” he admitted, his control slipping further as she pressed closer. “When you destroyed my financial projections without breaking eye contact.”

“That’s what cracked the conference table?” She winced and clutched his shirt tighter, but her eyes still danced withamusement. “And here I thought you were just really passionate about quarterly reports.”

Another text flashed:CRISIS UPDATE: Scary tech genius found my secret coffee stash, called it “cute,” AND hacked our barriers. I may have whimpered. Very professionally.

“Your dragon knew for six months and you still played avoid-the-scientist?” Asher’s attempt at indignation was undermined by the way she burrowed into his chest. “That’s... actually kind of flattering. The terrifying CEO lost his cool because of little old me?”

“You challenged every decision I made,” he growled, though his dragon practically purred at the memory. “In front of the entire board.”

“Someone had to. Your risk assessment models were tragically flawed.” Her body quivered, stronger this time. The lights flickered wildly as she gasped, “Though I have to admit, this isn’t exactly how I pictured getting your attention.”

“I always notice you.” The words escaped before he could stop them. “Every time you enter a room. Every time you argue with me. Every time you look at me like I was a puzzle you want to solve.”

“To be fair,” she managed through gritted teeth, “you were a very attractive puzzle. Even if you did practically vault over office furniture to avoid me.”

His phone lit up again:Both families incoming. Your mother’s plotting something. Dr. Andrews’s mother just reorganized our entire security team because their “molecular cohesion lacked efficiency.” I don’t know what that means but they all apologized.

“Oh god,” Asher groaned. “Our mothers. Together. This is worse than dying.”

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