Open Flame (Dragon's Fate) (6 page)

BOOK: Open Flame (Dragon's Fate)
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He stared at her and nodded. “Carmen. I guess all of you mates will hear her.”

“Madoc was next. Ilmir is being unpredictable. Typical Ilmir,”
Carmen said.

“Who is Madoc? Who is Ilmir?”

“What did she just say, Fina? I cannot hear her.”

“Do not tell him,”
Carmen stated.

“She said not to tell you.” Fina narrowed her eyes and shot an angry stare at the man.

The woman’s laughter rang like an irritating bell in her ears.

“Ilmir is my brother. We are all Zir, though we are all somewhat different. Ilmir’s element is air.” He stood and walked to her. The atmosphere about her heated to thick, unpleasant soup.

She angled her chin up and stared at his nose. Anything but his eyes. Her stomach fluttered in that same odd way it had the moment she’d bumped into him in the lane before her pa’s shop. For five years, she had hated this man.

“I am Madoc. Our element—yours and mine—is fire.” His fingers gripped the back of her head. His lips came down and caressed hers.

Her mouth opened to him just as her treacherous flesh had in the garden when he’d bitten her. A need to be as close to him as possible burned all the way to her toes.

Her cunny throbbed, and she unwillingly moaned into his kiss. She lost her wits, cake-brained.

Her body wanted him. He wanted her.

Damn them both.

She would have this her way. No one, not even her own body, would make her mind like this man. She needed to push him away.

She moved her hands up to his chest. The smooth silk of his vest cooled the heat of her palms. That felt capital. Her head grew light and giddy. She found the buttons down the center and slipped each fabric-covered bud through its slit. What was she doing? She was supposed to push him away…

She pushed the silk aside and found the tie at the top of his cotton-and-lace shirt. She untied the frill and slipped her right hand onto his chest. Tight, coarse curls met her fingers, and her hand trembled as she wrapped them around the tip of her middle finger. She had never touched a man’s bare chest before.

He grasped her hip. The wool of her skirts rasped up her thigh. She stilled her hand and pressed her palm against his chest.
I need to
push him away…
The air in her lungs grew heavy, and she struggled to breathe. His fingers grazed the thin cotton of her knickers.
Or I will be lost in this, but oh… This sensation…should not be squandered.

His tongue twisted and explored her mouth. Each strong stroke against her own tongue elicited pleasure deep within her soul. He tasted of sweet spicy peppers and a delicious substance she didn’t know. Sugar maybe.

His fingers slipped into the part in her knickers. Her flesh tingled everywhere, and the bite on the side of her neck throbbed with an ache so acute her knees weakened.

She wanted him to bite her again. How odd a thought!
Push him away now…
She couldn’t.

He explored the curls at the top of her legs, and his other hand rubbed her buttocks through her skirts. The finger teasing her curls slipped lower into the crevice that slit her in two. Her legs parted, and the flesh between her thighs dewed and tingled, the same sensation with which she woke from each one of her torturous dreams. She wanted to feel him touch her wetness for real.

His finger slipped down deep. Her hips jerked, pressing to his hand, wanting him inside.

Her nightmare—or dream—became reality.

How could she both hate and desire this man?

His touch glided around the opening to her body, and he moaned. The manhood between his thighs poked at her belly. The hand on her buttocks lifted away, then descended onto her bottom in a light pat. His finger in her wetness slipped all the way inside her cunny.

Tingling pleasure prickled through her bottom, and she tore her mouth from his. She arched her neck away from him as she cried out.

His finger slipped out and back into her opening.

Her flesh bloomed with heat, and her body quivered.

His teeth scraped her neck over the bite he’d made. A trickling sensation ran down her throat. He licked and then he bit down. Pain rippled through her. She tensed. The memory from the garden rushed back to her—his amber eyes shifting to red, and white fangs protruding from his mouth. Blood flowed down his chin. Her blood.
No.

The finger between her legs twisted and swirled in her wetness. The pain in her neck warped into a red light behind her eyes. Pleasure and an urge to push against him overwhelmed her. She gripped the hairs on his chest with her hand, and he bit harder.

She couldn’t let this continue or they would end up joined and committed. Heat seeped from the spot between her legs, through her. Each stroke built a coil of tension in her abdomen. She slid her feet farther apart, needing more, wanting his weight on her as his member penetrated her flesh.

No!

She fisted her free hand.

Show him. Show him. Prove to yourself…

She lifted her fist and punched him as hard as she could in the neck. Pain spiked through her knuckles, and his mouth knocked free of her.

His hand on her buttocks gripped hard, and he coughed.

Warmth slid down her neck to her collarbone. She fought back a cry as her breath burst out.

His finger stilled up inside her, hard and demanding, encased in her swollen flesh. He stared down at her with flaming red eyes. His palm firmed against her mound, and he propelled her backward with that hand. Her feet scurried to move with him.

Her entire body throbbed with the tension for release. For him to push her to explode in light. Her bottom and legs hit the edge of the bed. His finger thrust hard inside; then he rocked his palm.

Pops of light flashed in her vision as her body jerked. Her toes curled. The pressure released, and she cried out as wetness flooded his hand and rushed down her knickers. Her body tingled everywhere.

He covered her with his body and pinned her to the mattress.

His amber eyes smoldered, and he slowly removed his finger. Her flesh resisted and clung to him as he did.

He smeared her wetness on her thigh. “Why did you hit me?” The line of his lips softened, and concern held steady in his eyes.

Her flesh ached for him to fill her again.

To the stars. That expression both drew her to him and made her want to hit him again.

She couldn’t look at him. She closed her eyes.

“Fina.” He whispered in her ear and removed his hand from her knickers. The cool air from the room rushed in against her wet flesh, and she shivered. “Your mind fights me. Fights us.” His teeth nipped at her earlobe. “Release your thoughts. Tell me how you feel. Let us happen.”

“I cannot.” She turned her head away, and tears burned at the edges of her eyes. Why was she crying? Her stomach tightened. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but she didn’t truly know.

He sat up from her. “Until you can, we cannot be.” His long fingers raked his hair out of his face, and he shifted on the bed beside her.

He’d given her what she wanted. Yet why did it feel like he’d slapped her instead? Her brow furrowed, and she sat up next to him. She needed to touch him once more.

She wrapped her fingers about his hand on his thigh.

He stared at her with anger in his eyes. “You said you need to leave. Then go with haste and remember that you are not as you came to Paris. You have an element now burning through you. Be cautious, as you will need to learn to control fire. She is not an easy woman to tame… Like you.”

She removed her hand from his. “I don’t want your element or any of this black magic.” She stood and rushed toward the door. He would not take this back, and she wanted nothing to do with him. Her chest tightened. That was a lie. Her body wanted every bit of him.

“Fina, when you come back—and you will come back—you will not leave again.”

That would be easy. She would never return. “I understand.”

“You are foolish.”
Carmen’s voice echoed in her mind.
“He will not leave you be. Besides, you need his help. Fire is a deadly foe.”

She enjoyed his touch…too acutely. If she stayed, she would end up in bed with him for days. A sound mind. A weak body. The memory of the sensation of his finger deep inside her womb weakened her knees as she reached the door. Though sound, a careless mind. Her hand shook as she grasped the door handle to leave this room. She twisted the doorknob and pulled the door wide. Straightening her shoulders, she stepped through to the hall and pulled the door closed behind her. A sigh burst past her lips, but it relieved none of her tension. Her soul said to turn around. She had left his room, but why did she have a feeling her mind never would?

 

Madoc stared at the door. He could not leave her alone. If she would not accept his help and guidance, maybe she would accept another’s help.

Hudson.

The duke had struggled with his powers. Had wanted to both embrace and resist them. Madness had seeped into his core. Indeed. Hudson would be the key to winning his mate.

Chapter Four

Hudson stood with a glass of cognac in his hand at the entrance to the parlor he and Madoc rented. “You wish me to run a servant’s errand?”

“You have gone through this before. I know you can help her or at least befriend her.” Madoc paced to the side table and then circled about with a package in his hand. “I had this made for her.”

“She recently departed here, did she not?”

“Indeed. I stopped time, as she has nothing with her to wear and she burned her sleeves.” A smile curved his lips, and then he shook his head. “I am out of control. I know. The freeze would not have stopped her anyway, but…” Hudson’s friend shook his head again. “She is going to be more powerful than I. Jordan can now breathe poisonous steam, but I have not gained any new abilities. She is changing in ways I am certain are alarming for her.” Madoc shoved the package at Hudson. “I wish Celeste was here. As Jordan’s mate, she is the only one who can really understand what Fina is experiencing. You are the next closest person I know who has transitioned to otherworldly.”

Hudson grasped the brown-paper-wrapped bundle, then set his glass on the round table. “You ask a fool’s task of me.” A love gesture. Hudson’s heart pinched in his chest as he remembered his wife, Laura.

“You are my closest friend. I know the struggles you have gone through in your transition, with your love, with the darkness.” He clapped Hudson’s shoulder.

Hudson cringed. Madoc did not know half of what he had done and gone through. He had no idea what madness he struggled with.

“Please. I trust you.” Madoc’s tiger-colored eyes met his gaze as he smiled.

Trust him. That was the last thing anyone should do. Hudson closed his eyes, and his stomach sank. Madoc was his only friend. Jordan, Ferrous and Ilmir, the other Zir brothers, had helped him too.

But if not for Madoc…

He would have been killed or cast off of the Isle after they found out about his dealings with the
blackness
. As it was, he had passed his title off to his eldest son and walked away from his life. If Madoc knew he still owed the blackness, he and his brothers would kill him without hesitation.

Would he see Laura then?

He shook his head. No. Going back in time and bringing Laura forward before she became ill was the goal. Winding time back would win him the life of love and happiness he lost. He sighed. His dreams of Laura would not be harmed if he helped Madoc today. Tomorrow, his deal with the blackness would trade this friendship away.

Madoc’s request came from his heart. Hudson would do whatever he could for his friend. “Very well.”

“She will have gone back to her hotel. She has no place else.”

He turned away from Madoc, and the hairs on his nape stood on end. The blackness would not be pleased. He was headed down the path to losing more than his manhood to the dark. But maybe the clock working Madoc designed here at the event with Franco would make his deal with the blackness unnecessary.

“I will return after I have given her the dress so we can work on the part design.”

“Capital, Hudson. Many thanks.”

He couldn’t look at his friend and instead stared at the full swallow of cognac left in his glass on the table. He would do all he could. More alcohol would only muddle things.

He nodded and stepped around Madoc. Hudson reached the door and twisted the knob. The door latch to the outside world rotated more heavily than usual. The latched clicked open, and he stepped out into his new purpose.

Chills raced his spine again. He shut the door.

The darkness in his mind checked his every move.

His throat tightened. Rushing down the stairs to the lobby, he felt his heart pounding in his cold chest. He needed to feed from a fresh live pig. But where to find one? Nausea flooded his mouth, and icy sweat slicked his neck beneath his cravat.

A pigeon in the park would have to do.

He reached the street and wheeled to the left to walk the ten blocks to her hotel. The coldness followed him, nipping at his trousers and the exposed skin about his neck. The darkness. A bird would have to wait. He reeled into an alleyway and spun about. The evening sun peeked over the black mansard roofs and warmed the freshly rained-on walk. Mist rose off the stone.

BOOK: Open Flame (Dragon's Fate)
13.23Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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