Fire and Flame (24 page)

The knock at the door and Colin’s entrance wasn’t a welcome diversion. By the look on his friend’s grim face, Brent doubted he’d get out of the office before Sara got dressed.

So much for his fantasies of soaping Sara’s golden curls.

****

“Maybe we should wait,” Sara suggested from the passenger seat of Brent’s pickup truck while they waited for Derrick to move his vehicle into the street.

He sent her a sidelong glance. “Why?”

“People are still trying to kill us.” She gestured to the spot where her Lexus would have been. “We should wait until there is less of a danger of someone blowing up our car.”

He turned his head fully toward her, eyes rounding wide and mouth going slack.

What had she said?
Our
car rather than her car? Where had that come from?

Sara averted her gaze uncomfortably.

“I’m not going to be driving it,” he said several quiet seconds later. “It’ll be fine.”

A vehicle was only in danger if he drove it? That implied he was in danger. Sara wished she could argue otherwise. But there was always going to be someone who wanted his position. He’d have to be strong to keep himself alive. Brent would have to be as violent and aggressive as every other Fire witch. And he knew she didn’t like violence or aggression.

Sara focused her attention on the side yard as he eased the truck down the driveway. Whatever had happened Thursday, last night, and this morning had to be part of a fling leading up to her duty. There was really no other choice.

He’d have to be powerful to live and thus wouldn’t and couldn’t change to please her. As a regional high priest, he’d also be expected to further the race with pureblooded children. For all his claims that she and his child had to stay at McKenna House, that wasn’t a viable option.

Their presence would be a target for anyone wishing to harm him. It would be exactly like the current situation with the Ena brood. If she weren’t willing to violently protect her family and teach them to defend themselves, Brent would have to spare guards for his brood. Last, but certainly not least, Sara had dreams to follow in the big city.

So it had to be a fling.

Why, then, did she feel miserable when she thought about this ending?

“What kind of car do you think you want?”

Thanks to her gloomy mood, she lifted her shoulders negligently rather than give Brent’s question any thought.

He glanced at her. “Another Lexus?”

“I liked my Lexus.” Even to her ears her response sounded robotic.

“I’m sorry about your car, Sara.”

Brent’s lifting pitch caught her attention. She glanced over, noting the twist of his lips and concerned furrow of his eyebrows. It wasn’t difficult to work out he was assuming her lack of animation was anger over the loss of her car.

“I know,” she assured him. “I’m just not really in the mood to think about a new car right now.”

At the next intersection he came to a full stop then put the car in park. He faced her. “Do you want to do something else?”

A memory of Brent’s wicked grin and fingers inside her flashed in her head. Her face warmed in shame as she tried to hide it from him. It was a little disconcerting that her body had responded with low throbbing based on the single suggestion.

The beginning of a new courtship was often like an obsession. She assumed it was to blame for her current predicament. Surely it was why Brent had remained in her bed all night and then nearly started a fresh session when they woke. And also why there had been threats about similar happening tonight.

Given the thought in her head, Sara shouldn’t have been surprised when Brent’s hand set atop her thigh. “Sara?”

She didn’t want to worry about next month or next year. Sara only wanted to enjoy the here and now to the fullest. Who cared if it was temporary obsession if it brought them both enjoyment?

Twisting in her seat to face him, she leaned over the center divider until she could push her tongue between his lips. Gently she brushed her mouth over his until his hands dropped helplessly to his sides. Sara lowered her palm along with them but with a purpose. She found the zipper on his jeans, drawing it down to free him. He hardened beneath the thick denim at an alarming rate.

“Sara,” he mumbled against her lips. “What are you doing?”

“What does it feel like?” she asked as she pushed her hand into his jeans, taking hold of the rigid organ it hid.

“Phoenix,” he softly cursed. “It feels like you’re trying to get us into an accident.”

“So find a safe spot where we won’t.”

Brent drew away where he could see her expression. And rather than voice the skeptical question in his warily narrowed eyes, the question of
what has gotten into you
, he gave a light nod and then put the car back into drive.

Thirty seconds later he’d parked in an abandoned warehouse’s empty lot. Sara released him from his jeans as soon as he’d turned off the engine. She bent over him, taking his erect organ in her hands.

“Sara, what—”

Her mouth closed over his sensitive tip, cutting his question short. She swirled her tongue over him then withdrew to gently suckle around the edges of the swelling purple head.

“Oh, dear Phoenix!” His head slammed against the headrest.

Sara paused long enough to unbutton the fastener. With a swift motion, she spread his jeans to get at the sacks below. Then she gave them the same delicate treatment before exchanging the hand that had been massaging his tip with her mouth.

Brent’s fingers dug into the handle to his left while the other gripped the headrest. “Oh, Phoenix.”

She fastened her mouth to the base of him. Brent groaned her name then tugged at her arm. There was enough strength in the gesture to lift her. Sara opened her mouth to question the change only to have him kiss her silent.

His palm covered her breast, gently kneading in wonderfully rhythmic motions. Brent’s kiss alone kept her upright. He grazed his free hand down her side, sparking fire under her skin as it went. The tongue circling within her mouth echoed the attention he paid her nipples. Sara’s focus shot far lower when his hand slipped into her jeans. A single massage within her folds had her gasping his name.

“Oh, god,” she groaned against his chin as she struggled for breath. “I need you so badly. Right now. Right here.”

His smooth, newly-shaven chin lifted beneath her lips while he spoke. “You can have me anytime, anywhere, princess.”

Sara lifted herself onto her left knee on the passenger seat in the quest to get at her waistband. Brent watched her lower the denim around her knees. If the heavy set of his eyes meant anything then he enjoyed what he saw. He impeded her attempt to shimmy completely out of the rough fabric when he rubbed his fingers through her damp slit. Sara’s head lifted toward the ceiling as her body shook from the touch.

Brent pushed a pair of digits inside her, tormenting her with his fingers. It was time she torment him with her body. Sara forced herself out of his reach. She didn’t need him impeding the removal of her jeans.

“Sara,” he groaned as he reached for her.

She let him palm her breast over the shirt because it would mean he’d be distracted during her movements. Judging by the layout in the interior, she was going to have to perform minor acrobatics. Unless…

Sara lowered her torso over the center divider once more. Taking him into her mouth, she used oral to distract him from the seat adjustment. She couldn’t be sure if he’d noted the movement or mechanical whirring. But he appeared surprised when she straddled him.

And then before Brent could complain, Sara took him fully inside her, throwing back her head in the narrow space at the pure enjoyment of his heat inside her.

****

Brent stared in awe at the figure she cut. Her golden hair streamed down her back and her lip was clenched between her teeth as she emitted a quiet little moan. He’d never seen a sexier sight in his entire life than the image of Sara riding him.

She’d managed to move his seat nearly into the back of his truck and reclined it as far as it could without him noticing. Sara’s mouth was the most dangerous distraction in the world. Phoenix! When she fluttered her tongue over him in her delicate angel way… It was a minor miracle he hadn’t finished right then.

Leaning forward, Brent sucked Sara’s nipple through her shirt. Her breath caught with a sexy gasp. Sara’s hips lifted faster, working over him harder.

“Princess,” he groaned. “I’m going to finish too soon if you keep that up.”

“Then finish,” she replied breathlessly without slowing. Her slick thighs gripped his with wonderful pressure. “You can be ready two seconds later, can’t you?”

His chest shook in a laugh. She’d made him laugh more in the past two days than he had in months.

“Not while I’m still thrusting,” he said.

“You’re not thrusting.
I’m
fucking
you
.”

“By the Phoenix, do you always talk like this?”

Her cheeks colored prettily. “No.”

Was there anything unattractive about her? Even her embarrassment over talking dirty was sexy. He needed to reward her for both her attempt and her honesty.

Gently he brushed his thumb over her cheek. “I like you dirty or clean, princess. Do whatever feels good.”

Sara lifted herself to the tip of his length only to thrust herself down again, enclosing him fully with her honeyed center. “This feels good, Brent.”

His entire body shuddered and shivered from both the physical and mental stimulation. “This feels more than good, Sara.”

Her pink tongue swept along her lower lip, moistening it before she lost control of her mouth in a long moan that sent a bolt of fiery sensation through him. Sara’s pace increased, robbing him of coherent thought. Helpless with desire, he could no longer hold up his head. It fell against the headrest with a dull thud she didn’t notice as she bounced up and down.

Her palms set against his chest for leverage. Brent could do little more than moan while she took the lead. Determined to watch her face, Brent kept his eyes wide open all the way to the second when her eyelids fluttered, her breath shuddered, and a quiet whimper escaped her gently parted lips.

He finally let himself go, hardly believing he’d managed to hold it together until then. The explosive climax shattered his mind, dislodging his grip on reality. For a small moment he felt embraced by the Phoenix itself. And when he returned to his shaking skin, he wondered if he’d just been reborn from his ashes.

Brent pried open his eyes for a look at the instigator. With Sara panting atop him glistening with sweat they’d generated together, Brent knew without a shadow of a doubt he loved her.

Chapter Thirty

Sara paced the pink bedroom. She’d been left home with Colin as a guard while Brent and Derrick went to Muncie to track down the black pickup. It had been hours since they’d left. Left to her devices, she couldn’t help but ponder her situation.

In less than a week she’d be fertile. Now that she and Brent were active together, she wouldn’t be able to refuse him her duty. That meant in six days she was going to be pregnant.

Would Brent expect her to remain at McKenna House through her pregnancy? With the recent danger to them both, she suspected he would. Months of living upstairs from him would put her tolerance to the test. Especially if he decided to behave like witches of the past.

Murder and violence weren’t the only practices Sara would like to see abolished in her race. Harems and forced breeding were also archaic customs she didn’t believe they needed to continue.

The sex ratio of the magical community had reached equilibrium. Thus there was no reason for the males to keep multiple females. And with the recent acceptance of interracial relationships, as well as women having careers, there was yet more reason for the practices to be abolished. Now females of their race could find financial support from other sources without risking an honor killing. In a nutshell, Sara couldn’t abide staying if Brent had plans to see other people.

Why wasn’t she willing to tolerate him behaving like any other male witch?

Sara could insist she was more human than witch in philosophy, which she most certainly was, but that wasn’t what had made her want to scorch Vanessa’s pretty head every time the woman set her roving eyes on Brent.

Sara had feelings for him.

She immediately halted her pacing at the shocking realization.

How would she cope with him moving on to other lovers when they had a child together? How had her mother coped? Sara supposed it had been easier for her mother because Fintan hadn’t lived with them. And eventually he’d moved hundreds of miles south.

Distance was really the only answer.

****

Sara was so pleased Brent had made it safely home that she didn’t think to question why he’d invited himself into her bedroom without knocking. Nor did she protest when he pulled the shirt over his head, dropping it to the floor as he crossed to where she stood viewing her book collection.

Brent’s hands went to the waistband of his jeans once he’d reached the halfway point across the room. He deftly unfastened the silver button then tugged the fabric down his thighs with a jerky gesture. Sara allowed her gaze to rake down his lean body. It came to a rest on the erect organ that had sprung from his pants. He stepped out of the jeans mid-stride. Brent thought undressing was an appropriate greeting?

He dragged her against his hot body for what was his true greeting. His tongue plunged through her lips as his hand held her head steady for the onslaught. If stripping on his way from the door hadn’t warmed her to his touch, his kiss with its devouring motion certainly had set her blood to a slow, sexy simmer.

Without a word of explanation, Brent’s free hand slipped beneath her shirt. Rather than going up as she’d expected, he thrust it under her yoga pants’ elastic band. Sara gasped into his mouth even before he began the wicked massaging between her folds. Brent’s tongue lost some of its direction as he groaned deep in his throat from shared desire. Then he pulled his mouth away completely.