Amethyst Flame (The Flame Series Book 2) (12 page)

Do you think we eluded Loghry?

I have no idea, but Fergus did an outstanding job getting us to this point.

I’d have to agree.

The ride was bumpy through the territory. She knew exactly when the van reached Defiance Bridge, which led to Elegance, because suddenly they were rolling on smooth pavement. Defiance was one of the five large tri-part bridges that had given Five Bridges its name. The Savage Border Patrol worked their territory’s end while the Elegance force checked vehicles and pedestrians at the entrance to spellcaster territory.

She was impressed that the van wasn’t stopped at either checkpoints. Had to be Fergus’s clout because they’d been waved through without incident at both ends of Defiance.

As another means of precaution, the driver of the van took a long, circuitous route getting to Emma’s house. Even then, the driver stopped two streets north of her home to let them out.

The van took off immediately just as Vaughn covered them both with his vampire disguising shield. If there were warlocks or witches in the air, none of them would be able to see Vaughn and herself.

He flew her toward her home, and a split-second later they were descending into her backyard.

It was only two in the morning, and Emma had made it home alive.

Of course, the night wasn’t over yet.

CHAPTER FIVE

“I’d heard of the shifter fighting pits, but I’d never seen one before. The area it covered was smaller than I would have thought.” Vaughn sat forward on a patio sofa, his gaze fixed to nothing in particular. He held the beer Emma had given him, dangling it between his knees with two fingers at the neck.

Her cat, Toby, would rub Vaughn’s exposed and now-healed shin, then move to his jean-clad leg, weaving in his preferred figure-eight pattern. Vaughn would reach down once in a while and pet him.

Still standing, Emma leaned against the nearby Indian rosewood tree, but the rough-looking bark didn’t seem to bother her back. She sipped a beer as well.

Divested of her Sig Sauer, her narrow waist was an invitation all over again. She’d released her long, auburn hair from the top knot, and it hung around her shoulders. She looked incredible.

“How’s your leg?”

He glanced down. The wound had closed up completely, and he had no pain at all. “There’s only some redness to show I’d gotten shot. Thanks for fixing me up.”

She pushed away from the tree. “And thanks for helping me get those girls out.”

He swigged his beer, finishing the rest. “Best feeling in the world.” He set the bottle on the glass coffee table in front of him, settling it next to his Glock and holster. “They’re probably home by now.”

Emma moved near the sofa. “But will they stay there? Or will Loghry go after each and every one of them again?”

Vaughn flipped his hand back and forth, gesturing first to Stormy in the tree then the cat now half reclining on his left boot. “What do your friends say?”

Emma turned to the owl first, then glanced at Toby. Her quirky smile made another appearance. “They’re still celebrating.”

The owl lifted a clawed foot off the branch and hooted. The cat meowed in response. Vaughn was surprised, though he shouldn’t have been. Emma was a powerful witch and some of that power had become part of her familiars. “I guess they are.”

Emma moved closer and sat down, not exactly right next to him but not so far away he couldn’t reach over and grab her. He worked hard to keep himself restrained, but he wanted her right now, something fierce.

She drank again and released a sigh. “How much of the ghosts can you see? And isn’t it unusual for a vampire to see ghosts at all?”

“It is. As for what I can detect, at first, in the Graveyard, I didn’t see anything. I only felt fingers on my face. Later, I had the impression of three faces, but right now,” he paused and glanced at the figures sitting on top of a nearby dining table, “they’re almost fully formed. They’re even wearing clothes and seem to like the color red.”

Emma chuckled. “That they do.”

“Which one is Becca?”

“Our spokesperson ghost?” Emma shifted her gaze toward the table as well. “She’s wearing the jeans and red tank top.”

Vaughn stared at the triplets for a long time. They appeared to be communicating with each other. “The whole thing is amazing, that I can see them, that you can levitate and I can fly faster.” He shifted toward her. “Speaking of that. How exactly did you discover you could levitate? It must have come as a big surprise.”

She turned toward him as well, angling her body. “I’ve never been so shocked. But when we’d first arrived at the edge of forest and you moved me off your boot, I didn’t touch the ground. I couldn’t believe it. So while you were settling things with Fergus and his crew, I was gaining my bearings. The weirdest thing was having an absolute certainty that not only could I levitate, but I had the skills necessary to make it work. It was an incredible feeling.”

“But how did this happen between us?” He turned more fully and planted his elbow on the back of the sofa. He rested his face against his fist. “I’m not getting what’s going on here, why we seem to be sharing our different
alter
abilities.”

She finished her beer and set the bottle next to his. She curled her knees up to better face him, then mirrored his movements by putting her elbow on the sofa as well. She rested her head against the palm of her hand. “Iris said the same kinds of things happened to her and Connor, a sort of sharing of gifts. Iris said she’d bit Seraphina and held her in a vampire thrall. That was one of the reasons they made their escape. Can you believe that?”

Vaughn leaned forward slightly. “I remember now. Connor said something about it, but it made no sense at the time. He said he could kill like a witch could. Jesus, this is a lot to take in.” But there was something else he needed to talk over with her. “What the hell was all that about back there with Dagen-the-asshole? I was ready to kill him.”

“I know. I could tell. And I really didn’t want you in the pit with that monster. Once Max was out of the way, Dagen came after me. He wanted me to live with him as his mistress in Savage, since I could never be a real mate, at least in his eyes. Max had a different view entirely.

“I hate Dagen with a passion. There’s something not right with him.” Her nostrils flared. “He
smells
evil, the way the dark coven witches smell. It’s hard to explain what that odor is like. It’s as though some tinge of underworld sulphur catches hold of them. But if he really is mixed up with Loghry, then that would explain a lot.”

“It would.” He smiled suddenly. “I have to admit I loved it when you hit him.”

“Oh, that’s another thing. I mean, I lashed out because I was mad but I didn’t expect to deliver a blow that could knock him off his feet. The thing is, the punch carried a portion of your strength. That’s why he fell. This is just amazing and kind of hopeful. Maybe between us we have something that could battle a wizard of Loghry’s ability. What do you think?”

Vaughn had only half listened to her words. He was caught up in his lust again, which increased because of the excited glitter in her eyes. The woman had a lot of life in her and he wanted some of that.

Using his free hand, he caressed Emma’s face. “I think
you’re
amazing. That’s what I think. And thanks again for taking care of me in the field.”

“It was my pleasure.” Her cheeks took on a rosy hue.

His lips curved. “Now what are you thinking? Why are you blushing?”

She didn’t answer him, instead, she moved very slowly, like a cat uncurling itself, and slid onto his lap. “This is why.”

She kissed him, then nipped his lip. “I’m not proud of this, Vaughn, but part of me wanted you to take Dagen, to end up in the pit with him and tear him to shreds. When he was confronting me, I could feel your vampire power rise, and it was sexy as hell. The tension in your hand alone, because you were still holding mine right then, was a fire on my skin. I wanted you so much. And some of that desire is still with me.”

He stared into her glinting green eyes, and his body responded instantly, which meant his jeans weren’t fitting so well anymore. He would never know what she was like in her simple human form, but he loved her dynamic
alter
witch nature. She held nothing back, and this was something they shared in common. It was all or nothing.

She dipped down to suck on his neck, and that’s when he felt it, a tenseness in her bite as though she had fangs. His mind loosened at the same time, a very strange sensation that he would describe as the beginnings of a vampire enthrallment.

He drew back and held her gaze. “Did you feel that, Em?”

“What? No. I don’t know. I was just enjoying your throat.”

“But that’s my point. You were acting more like a vampire than a witch. You almost had me in a state of thrall.”

“I did? Wait a minute, I did. You’re right.”

“Let me see your mouth. Bare your teeth for me.”

She opened immediately for him. He rubbed along her gums hunting for the swelling that would release a pair of fangs but nothing was there. When he started to remove his finger she caught it between her teeth, then drew it inside and sucked.

He groaned, and his jeans shrunk a little more. “I need out of these pants.”

She let go of his finger. “And I need a shower, and I want you in it with me.” In a swift levitating glide, she moved away from him, rising well above the coffee table. She didn’t even hit the two beer bottles. She then pivoted midair as though she’d been flying all her life and sped to the glass doors that led into the house.

When the ghosts started to follow, she turned and wagged a finger at them. “Not allowed, girls. What’s going to happen here is private.”

All three looked downcast for a moment, then simply faded away.

Emma disappeared inside.

He followed in her wake, every cell of his body driven toward her. He felt consumed by his need. Once in the bathroom, he stripped quickly. She was already in the oversized shower, three heads flowing with water.

He had to laugh because she was spinning in a slow levitating move. It reminded him that he’d gone through his own aerial antics when he’d first become a vampire and realized he could fly.

When he joined her in the shower, she finally settled down and eased her feet to the tile floor. “You going to sex me up, Vaughn, or what?”

“Hell, yeah, I am.”

~ ~ ~

As Vaughn reached for the bar of soap, Emma let her gaze move slowly over his massive shoulders. His arms were heavily muscled, and while he lathered up, she put her hands on his right arm and tried to span it with thumbs touching and pinky fingers as well. But couldn’t.

“You’re huge.”

He glanced down at his cock then smiled wryly. “I am.”

She chuckled. She liked Vaughn so much, even the way he joked with her. He planted his soapy hands on her breasts and began to massage. She drew a deep breath and watched the intense expression on his face as he got busy.

He took his time feeling her up, smoothing his hands over her breasts and rubbing her sensitive nipples with his thumbs. She kept stroking his arms while he worked, loving how her hands rose and fell as she moved over his sculpted muscles.

She angled sideways, enough to get close to his left arm. He saw where she was headed so he released her nearest breast, which gave her just the right amount of room to kiss his bicep then open her mouth and sink her teeth. He pinched her nipple at the same time which had her moaning.

She pressed herself up against him and kept kissing, licking and biting his arm. His hand went to her bottom, squeezing her and holding her close so that she could feel he was completely erect.

He pushed the hair away from her neck and kissed her while she continued to nibble her way over all the different muscles. An image flashed in her mind of doing something similar, only with Vaughn flat on his back maybe even tied up at the wrists to keep him under control. The fantasy made her moan.

She moved up to his shoulder and continued her oral exploration. When he grabbed a good portion of her neck in his mouth, she grew very still. She loved the feel of it as though he was taking possession of her, staking his ownership. She felt a loose sensation move through her mind and knew she was partially enthralled, maybe because he hadn’t bitten her.

She was at his command.

He slid his hand between her thighs, and his voice entered her mind.
Open for me.

She took a side step, parting her legs for him. She moaned as his fingers drove inside and began working their own kind of magic.
Vaughn, I’m loving this.

Me, too. I want to bite you. Would you like that, Emma? Would you like to feel my fangs?

A delicious shiver raced through her head to her toe.
Do it. Please. I need you drinking from me, with your fingers buried deep.

He groaned as began licking her throat. He used a hand at the back of her neck to turn, then support her head.

The sting of his bite went straight to her sex, and as he began to take down her blood and slide his fingers in and out, a cry left her throat.

~ ~ ~

Vaughn drank greedily. Emma’s blood tasted like a fine wine yet enhanced with the scent of her spellroom, very witchy, and he loved it. He thrust his fingers in and out of her body and he could tell by the way she kept crying out and the way her body writhed that he could make her come.

And he wanted the flavor of her orgasm in her blood.

He thrust his fingers faster.
Come for me, Emma. I want to feel your sex gripping my fingers and pulsing. Come for me, you beautiful witch. I love tapping into your vein. So much power.

With that, he could feel her orgasm start to roll and wasn’t surprised when she released a series of cries. He sustained the pace to keep the pleasure spiraling within her body.

When the cries stopped and her body grew lax, he slowed the drive of his wrist then finally withdrew his fingers from her body. He released her throat at the same time, swiping the wounds with his tongue to seal them.