Alex beamed back at her. “Fantastic. I’ll have to buy you some housewarming towels. Kai likes pink, right?”

Sera smirked at her. “It depends on who’s wearing it.”

Alex snorted.

“How’s Riley doing?”

“I tried to wake him up this morning to see if he wanted to join us, but I think he partied too much last night.” Alex lowered her voice. “He had a guest.”

Sera looked up from the pale blue shoes that claimed they’d make her run faster. “Wait, what? Who?”

“I didn’t see,” replied Alex. “They were holed up in his room. But I felt her peppy magic. It’s that hippie fairy.”

“Chakra.”

“Cute name,” said Alex. “She’s pretty, and she doesn’t look crazy.”

“That quality combination is harder to come by nowadays than ever before. Good for Riley.”

The guys, having exhausted the car showroom’s offerings, were headed this way. Sera caught pieces of their conversation. They were discussing the Council and the Summit that would start tomorrow.

“The Magic Council is too weighed down in bureaucracy to be effective,” Logan said. “Too much talking, not enough action. Very little getting accomplished. This is why I work alone. Zero bureaucracy.”

“But you’re not working alone anymore,” Sera teased.

“True,” Logan said, wrapping his arm around Alex.

Alex smiled against his lips.

“There’s never any bureaucracy with Alex. She just runs straight at the first big nasty evil thing she sees and kills it.”

“Hey,” she protested, pulling away.

But he held on to her. She gave him an impish look.

“Ok, fine, it’s true,” she said, smiling as she looked into his eyes. “I confess. I like to kill big, bad, mean nasty things.”

“That just might be the sexiest thing about you,” Logan told her.

“Mmm, so nice to be appreciated,” Alex said, kissing him.

They stared into each other’s eyes, not noticing anything else. When Sera turned to look at Kai, she saw that he was watching her closely.

“What should we buy for you?” she asked, directing his attention to the shop window.

“This shopping trip was all your idea,” he said.

“Alex’s and mine. And we figured we would get you boys some things too.”

“Like what?”

She indicated a tight swimsuit.

He considered the piece of clothing—if you could even call it that—then declared solemnly, “It wouldn’t fit.”

She smirked at him.

“Besides,” he added, magic swirling in his eyes. “I prefer to swim nude.”

“Oh?” Sera asked, her brows lifting.

“Would you join me?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“On whether the water is warm,” she told him.

“That can be arranged.”

“With a little magic?”

“Naturally.”

His magic rushed over her like an electrically-charged river.

“You’re swooning, sweetheart,” Kai said smugly.

“I don’t swoon,” she told him, fanning herself. “It’s just a bit hot out today.”

His grin widened, the blue fire in his eyes burning hotter. He stroked his hand down her face. “It is hot today.” His words were loaded with meaning. “Sera, how important is this shopping trip to you?” His lips brushed her neck.

She swallowed a moan, slapping on her sauciest smile. “Alex wants to buy us housewarming towels.”

Kai shot her the badass dragon’s version of ‘tickled pink’. “The guys already bought us a plant.”

“What kind of plant?”

“A cactus.”

“I hope it’s not one of those walking cactus plants Alex told me about.”

“No. It’s a dragon fruit cactus,” he told her.

“Cute.”

“They thought so.”

He lowered his lips to her forehead, kissing her. “I’m glad you talked to me last night.”

“So am I.”

He pulled back, meeting her eyes cautiously. “Not freaking out?”

“Absolutely not.”

He looked into her eyes for a few moments, then nodded. “Good. Thank you for not running away.”

“That would have been unfair. I run way too fast for you to catch me.”

Magic sparked in his eyes. “Is that a challenge?”

Her heart thumped. She shrugged, she hoped casually. “It’s a fact.”

“Sweetheart, I will enjoy chasing you, enjoy seeing that smirk fade the moment you realize how very wrong you are.”

Emotion rattled inside of her, a mixture of fear and excitement. She imagined what it would be like for him to chase her.

“I will start slow, just to make you think you have a chance,” he told her. “I’ll let you get ahead. And the moment you begin to relax, I will close in.”

“I’ll fight you.”

A delighted smile spread across his lips. “I very much hope so.”

He leaned in, teasing her with the closeness of his lips. She arched forward to kiss him, but he pulled back.

“Playing hard to get?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “That’s you. From the beginning, from the first time you met me, even as you resisted, you’ve wanted me.”