Fire did that for dragons.

Grom’s nails clicked on the steps outside. Van limped back to the couch and sat, waiting for Lisa.

She followed Grom inside, closed the door, then walked toward Van. “We should maybe talk about this.”

“About my brace?”

She pursed her lips. Her sweet, soft lips. “You know what I mean.”

“The kissing?”

“Yes, the kissing.”

He shrugged. “We are adults. Adults sometimes kiss. What else is there to talk about?”

She sat beside him, exhaling softly. “That’s all this was, then? Just a sometimes kiss? A kiss because we both overindulged?”

He nodded, the crackling of the fire singing him to sleep. But he wasn’t ready for bed yet. Not with Lisa so close. “And if it was more?”

“It can’t be.”

He studied her. She was holding something back. Hiding something. Her business, to be sure. But it made him feel sorry for her. Whatever it was, could it be so important that it would prevent her from experiencing a little pleasure? Was she worried this kiss would affect her job? “I won’t say anything to the League. I promise. I am sure many of their employees have become friendly with some of the fighters. It would be natural, no?”

She fixed her gaze on his brace. “I suppose so.”

Was that it, then? He wasn’t sure. There was no relief in her face. “What else is bothering you?”

She looked up. “Nothing.” The smile that followed seemed there only to cover her true feelings.

He let it go. If she didn’t want to tell him more, that was her right. He would leave her alone. As much as he didn’t want to.

The surprise of that thought would be enough to occupy his thoughts all night. And then some.

Monalisa couldn’t explain what was going on inside her no matter how much she wanted to spill everything. Van would throw her out if she did. There was no other possible reaction for him to have when he learned that the woman he’d just kissed—who’d just kissed him back and enjoyed it—was the same woman who’d used her gifts to ruin his life. And was here to do it again.

He would be livid. And he would have every right to be.

Which was why the kissing stopped now. It had to. She couldn’t get involved with the man she’d been sent to dupe. Because, eventually, the truth would come out. And if he had feelings for her, those feelings would just make things worse.

So whatever had just happened between them on the porch? That was absolutely, completely over.

Even if kissing him was the best thing she’d ever experienced.

Keeping her cool on the outside required serious work right now, because on the inside she was jumping up and down and melting into a puddle and screaming like she’d won something while giggling as if she was eight years old again. Possibly floating a little too.

The man could kiss.

No, she didn’t have anything to compare it to, but she was pretty sure she would have known if the kiss had been bad. Which it wasn’t. Not even a tiny bit. A bad kiss wouldn’t leave her wanting more. A lot more.

Van was such a surprise. He was gentle while still being strong. He’d made her shiver as he’d set her on fire. And with only the touch of his mouth on hers, he’d lit up every nerve in her body.

He put the super in supernatural.

And with that one kiss, she was smitten. Ruined, really. Because for the rest of her life, he would be the ruler all other men were measured by. And if she lived to be a thousand years old, she was always going to wonder…what if?

She swallowed down the growing lump in her throat and looked at him. “I guess we should get that brace off, huh?”

He nodded, eyes a little heavy. She was tired too. Tired of all the pretending. Tired of her father. Tired of not getting to live her own life.

She bent to work on Van’s brace. The straps were Velcro, and there were plenty of them. She dug her nails beneath the first one, trying to shake the lingering questions in her head: What would it be like in this instance if her life was her own?

She ripped the first strap open, the sound gratifying. If there were no constraints on her, she wouldn’t have stopped kissing him so soon. That much she knew.

But there were constraints on her. More than there were straps on this brace. So she’d stopped and done her best to dissuade him not to do it again.

No matter how much pleasure the thought of more kissing brought her.

She tore the second strap open.

No matter how much misery her life caused her.

The third strap followed. Then the fourth. Each tearing sound underscoring her wretched existence.

She needed to get away from Van before she stopped caring and blurted out everything. Or started rage-crying.

There was only one way to fix this mood. Shifting and allowing herself the freedom of being in her true form. It made her happy when all else failed.

She freed the last strap and pushed to her feet. “All done. I’m going to bed.”

She didn’t wait for his response, just ran upstairs. She stepped out of her heels, then ditched the dress her mother had bought her. She was antsy, but it was too soon to shift. She’d have to wait until Van was asleep to be sure that he didn’t come looking for her for any reason.

In his current state, that was definitely a possibility.

As if on cue, he called out for her. “Lisa? Are you all right?”

She tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling. No, she wasn’t all right. And she might never be. She blinked back the threatening tears. “Yes. Just tired.”