Fire Storm — Val St. Crowe

Penny Caspian here. Another day, another dead dragon shifter in Sea City. This one's Fletcher Remington, a rich playboy who enjoyed surfing and heroin until he disappeared without a trace. Detective Lachlan Flint and I are on the case, mixing it up with the upper crust to find out what happened to him. Speaking of Lachlan and me -- we're in a holding pattern. He's afraid to get close to me, because he's apparently so mesmerized by the taste of my blood that he's afraid he'll lose control and hurt me. I keep saying that I can take care of myself, but it's like he's deaf. And the one time he does actually get swept up in the moment and kiss me again, my ex shows up. Yeah, the abusive jerk has powerful magic now -- I don't know from where -- and he's got no qualms about using it to beat me senseless and pummel Lachlan too. My ex wants me back, but that's never going to happen.