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“It’s a bit of a thrill, don’t you agree?”
    “No,” she said. “It’s a bit of a death trap.”
    A black Bentley slid smoothly to the curb. Alec opened the back door as the driver greeted them. Leather and new-car smell escaped into the darkening sky. “My driver will take you home.”
    “I don’t think so.” Lucy pulled free, regaining her wits. “Then you’ll know where I live.”
    Alec leaned closer, the scent of him clean despite the heat. “I already know where you live.”
    The knowledge shocked her. “I want a cab.”
    “Of course.” Alec shut the door and nodded to a waiting doorman. “Over here.” He escorted her to the roped-off cab line. Drunken tourists shuffled quickly into cars, and soon they were at the front.
    Alec opened the door to a yellow cab. The sharp smell of bleach and hot plastic swamped out. He picked up Lucy’s hand and turned the palm up. He waited for her to meet his gaze, then kissed her hand, letting the tip of his tongue touch her life line. Heat uncoiled in the pit of her stomach, flooding her cold limbs with fire.
    She snatched her hand back. “You’re crazy.”
    “No, I’m perfectly sane.” Alec brushed her hair over her shoulder. “Remember what I said. I can help you.”
    Perhaps it was the surety of the metal cab door in her fingers, escape literally at hand, but her eyes sheened with tears. He was just too much. It was all too much.
    “No thanks. I decided not to be a whore fifteen years ago.” She tried to pull free and slide into the cab, but Alec held her firmly in place.
    “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at eight.” Alec released her, and she slid across the cracked vinyl seat to the far window. He shut the door and handed the driver a hundred dollar bill.
    Lucy refused to look back. “Please just get away from here,” she told the cabbie. Her voice cracked with the emotion she had fought to contain. She deliberately didn’t look back at the Crown Jewel and its enigmatic owner, but kept her eyes on the dirty cab window. Someone had kissed the pane, leaving a puckered outline in candy-apple red.
    Had she ever been so carefree, to put on too much lipstick and kiss a window?
    No.
    Fresh misery swamped her. She had to talk to Joey, find a way out of this mess. And book a flight. Beyond the window, the lights of the Strip bleared to a distorted neon rainbow, like someone’s pot turned to fool’s gold.

Chapter Five
    The scent of the chase thrilled Alec’s dragon as he coasted above the Las Vegas strip following Lucy’s cab. He didn’t have to worry about the desensitized human eyes below him. They were too distracted by the strip’s bright bursts of neon and an overabundance of flash and awe to notice his shadow.
    On the dark horizon, lightning fractured the night, sending a web of energy across the sky, stretching his scales and shaking him like a fist. He tucked his wings and dove fast, spinning, delighting in the descent, exhilaration in every wing stroke.
    Dr. Lucy De Luca—Ph.D in sass and thievery—was his destined mate. The shock of their kiss still echoed through his bones like reverb from a bass-blasting speaker. Happiness swelled through his chest, and something even more elusive energized his worn body. It was hope.
    In centuries past, a dragon might be mated with a magician, but never a human. It was assumed the fates avoided them because they were too frail, mentally and physically. Regardless, he had a mate, a feisty human mate. Now, he just had to extract her from whatever mess she was in.
    Alec landed in the shadows, shifted into his human form, and approached Lucy’s tidy house in Henderson with furtive steps. The house was tan-bricked with decorative, but functional, bars at the windows. It was surrounded by brick walls with an all-business looking iron gate for access that reminded Alec of the woman. Lucy was a bit of a fortress herself.
    He was curious about the inside of her home. Human’s domiciles revealed much about