Keeper of the Flame (11 page)

“Lera… Sweet Lera…” His words came to her through the fog of pleasure.

Finally. Finally she knew what it was like to feel the highest of highs, the pinnacle of pleasure. Finally, she touched the stars with a man. Finally, she understood what it was really all about for her as a keeper of magic.

She had touched the place that had been out of reach with her other lovers. She had seen behind the curtain and learned there was ever more to see, ever more to experience. But at least she was on the path now.

Hugh rolled off her, never losing touch with her bare skin. He lay behind her, spooning her back with her front to the fire so she was warm on all sides. He’d proven himself a considerate lover in all ways, including now, in the afterglow.

Lera must have dozed, for when she woke next, Hugh’s warmth at her back was gone. In fact, she was lying flat on her back on the bedroll, her legs splayed wide apart and Hugh was between them, his head very near the juncture of her thighs. He looked up when she tensed.

“Glad you’re awake.” He winked at her, an audacious smile on his handsome face.

“Why’s that?” She felt strange, exposed like this, under the stars.

A quick glance across the fire reassured her that the baby gryphon was still fast asleep. She’d seen youngsters of that race before and knew they required more sleep than most infants and when they slept, very little short of an earthquake would wake them until they were fully rested.

“Because I was taught it’s not gentlemanly to take advantage of a woman while she is sleeping.”

“And now that I’m awake, it’s all right?”

“Definitely.” Hugh lowered his head, keeping his gaze locked with hers as he did something unexpected. His mouth opened over her clit, taking it inside the warm, wet cavern where his tongue waited to torture and play.

No one had ever done this to her before. Lera didn’t know where to look, but that problem was solved by the fact that Hugh would not release her gaze, holding it with his own. The moment was far more intimate than when he’d been inside her. They’d been in that together. This time, it felt like only she was being driven to distraction, and he was doing it to her. He was in control here and she’d given over her free will with no fight at all. Whatever he wanted to do to her, she was open and ready. That was the message her body was giving him and he was taking full advantage.

At the moment, she didn’t give a damn. Let him take charge if this was the result. She’d give total control to him, and gladly.

A dangerous thought for a woman in her position. Danger, of course, had been following her for years. Only yesterday, two separate attempts had been made on her life. Now was not the time to deny herself any sort of pleasure Hugh had in store. She might not live much longer, in which case, she wanted to enjoy these stolen moments to their fullest extent.

Hugh delved lower, his tongue stroking out to tease and tempt until finally, it made its way into her body. Stroking, licking and thrusting, Lera had never known a tongue could work such magic. She shattered against his mouth, suppressing her cries lest someone hear.

Hugh rode her through the climax, taking his time before prowling his way back up her body, kissing and trailing that talented tongue against her skin as he went. He didn’t stop until he was face to face, his mouth on hers. She thought she tasted a bit of herself on his lips, and the mere thought rekindled the fire in her belly. Never before had she been so easily aroused.

“One day we will make love somewhere you don’t have to stifle your sounds of delight, Lera. You will scream my name when you come, for all to hear.” His words were spoken between kisses as his hands stroked her nipples, pinching and squeezing in the most delightful way.

“But the baby…” she tried to explain.

“I know. And regardless of how barren this place looks, we do not fully know who or what might be around. No sense advertising our presence any more than we already have.” He swooped in for a masterful kiss, then rolled to her side, propping himself up on one elbow as their eyes met.

He had added wood to the fire, for the flames danced once more, licking his skin with their subtle light. They reflected in the cool green crystal of his eyes. He really was the most breathtaking man, now that she could see all of him. Those dusty traveling clothes had not done him full justice.

The thought occurred that perhaps that had been deliberate. Perhaps he’d been in disguise. In a land full of very observant gryphons, it seemed odd to have a dragon shapeshifter walking without notice among her people. Was he the only one? Were there more such as him, roaming the streets of the capitol city? If so, what were their real intentions?

“I never knew there were people like you in the world, Hugh.” She reached out to stroke his stubbly cheek with one hand.

She wanted to know more about him. Not just because his kind could pose a threat to the people and creatures of her land, but because he’d been as kind and gallant as a man could be, and he’d made love to her with a caring and skill she’d never experienced.

“There are a few of us. Not many, of course, and none that I know of, other than myself, in this realm.”

The clarity of his gaze became clouded with unease. He wasn’t comfortable with her implied question. That much was plain to see. But she had to ask. It was her duty to protect this land from all possible threats.

“Why are you here? Surely not just to rescue mistreated children and women on the run for their lives?” She tried to make a joke of her very real inquiry.

He smiled and stroked the hair back from her face. His touch was warm and gentle, soothing. She wondered again if he was using his magic on her, but had no way of knowing for certain. His was a kind of magic she’d never been trained to deal with. She wasn’t sure her usual tricks for detecting magical energy would work on him.

“I came to discover more about this land. I can’t tell you much more than that, but my intent was never hostile. I came here only to learn.”

And report back. He didn’t have to say it. She was savvy enough to know how these things worked. He’d been sent to gather firsthand intelligence on her land—whether for good or evil, only those he reported back to would decide. He was but the messenger. Or so he implied.

“And somehow you find yourself rescuing not only one female in peril, but two.” She tried to make light of the situation, hoping to distract him so their night together would not end abruptly. She hadn’t finished with his devastating body yet.

“I didn’t plan any of this,” he agreed ruefully. “But part of being…what I am…” he seemed to hesitate over the words, “…is protecting those who are innocent. Miss is clearly that.” He glanced over at the sleeping gryphlet and his compassion was clear in his expression.

“And me? You really have no way of knowing if I deserve to die.” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

“Nobody deserves an assassin’s blade.” His words were unequivocal. “If you’d done something worthy of a death sentence—which frankly, I cannot believe—then it would properly be carried out by legal representatives in a formal proceeding. I know at least that much about Helios. It is not a lawless place run by assassins and thugs. Not from what I’ve seen.”

She wondered what he’d been doing in Helios before their paths had crossed. How long had he been observing her city before he came to her attention by rescuing the gryphlet? What had he seen and done?

And why was she so fascinated by him?

Usually a woman of thought rather than action, Lera decided not to let this night pass in introspection. He was what he was. And right now, he was naked and if the hardness of that giant cock was any indication, he was more than ready to bring her pleasure again.

There would be time for thinking later. Or not. It was really up to the goddess how much time Lera had left and for right this moment, she planned to enjoy every last moment she had with Hugh.

She rose and moved so that he was under her, her legs straddling his middle. He seemed surprised, but helped her reposition them so that they were both comfortable.

Lera had never taken charge in bedsport before and was uncertain of exactly what to do. Hugh helped, cupping her breasts as they hung above him, bringing her hardened nipples to his mouth in turn as she squirmed over him.

“Do you like that?” Hugh whispered against her breasts.

She could only utter a soft moan of agreement as her hips moved restlessly against him. The friction of his hard body against her clit was good, but it wasn’t enough.

“Do you need some help, sweetheart?” His tone held a humor she was far from feeling at the moment.

“I need you inside me,” she said, desperation coloring her softly voiced words.

“So greedy,” he chastised, playfully nipping at her breast. “I like that about you.” He slid one hand between them, cupping her, letting his fingers roam through her curls until he found her clit and rubbed.

Oh, that felt good. But she needed more.

One long finger slid inside, as if testing her readiness. She wanted to scream. She was ready! Oh, so ready!

But he made her wait. The devil.

His finger pulsed inward, then out, and when it returned, there were two. Then three. Stretching, filling, pleasuring her.

“Hugh…” she whispered, a desperate plea.

“We’re going to have to do something about this impatience of yours, Lera,” he teased, moving his fingers in delicious ways. “But not now.”

“Praise the goddess,” she breathed in relief as he withdrew his fingers, replacing them with the very hard, very large cock she’d glimpsed in the firelight.

He certainly knew how to fill her. And then some. In this position, she was able to influence the speed and depth and it occurred to her that he hadn’t really given her all of himself that first time. He’d definitely been holding something in reserve.

Bright stars, had he! She sank onto him, annoyed by the hand he insisted on keeping between them. His care of her body would have been touching at any other time, but not now. Definitely not now.

She wanted all of him. No. She
needed
all of him, and he was holding back. The sneak.

“Move your hand.” Her tone held a trace of the command she was used to wielding and she knew it surprised him when his gaze shot to hers, full of question. Never mind, she thought. This joining was too important. “Give it all to me,” she tried again, hoping her voice sounded more coaxing than ordering.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Let me be the judge of what I can handle.” She surprised herself with the ability to speak a whole sentence. The way her mind fragmented at this moment, she hadn’t expected more than a few disassembled words.

“Are you sure?” His hand flattened between them, decreasing the space, allowing her to take him glorious fractions deeper. But she needed it all. She was desperate.

“Positive. Please, Hugh.” Her words came between pants of breath now, low and pleading.

He seemed to think about it for a moment more, then slid that big hand out of the way, bringing it to rest on her hip. A fiery brand of possession that felt so right.

She took him all the way, grinding against him when he was fully seated. She gasped at the sensations and met the fire in his eyes with abandon. She didn’t care what he might read in her expression. She was open to him completely. Bared to the soul. And it was the right thing to do. She felt it in her bones.

This man was different from all others. With him, she could release the beast she kept carefully hidden within. She could be what she was born to be. With him. Only with him.

Hugh alone could handle her fire. She knew it instinctively.

She began to move, holding his gaze, wondering what he might see in her eyes if she let loose completely. She’d been told about the magic inside her all her life, but had never been in a position where it might come out whether she wanted it to or not.

Not until Hugh.

“Can you handle my fire?” she whispered, dipping to kiss his strong chin as she increased her pace.

“I’m half dragon. Fire is my element,” he replied, his own breathing satisfyingly abrupt.

She felt the leap inside her at his words. A leap of magic. A leap of excitement. A leap of fire. A leap of faith.

She closed her eyes, knowing the flame was reflected there. She bent low to kiss him for all she was worth, needing to seal their bodies together in every way possible while the magic was riding her, glad he was who and what he was. Glad she needn’t fear burning him with the power she’d been born with.

She pounded her hips into his, matching his upward thrusts from beneath her as they met in the center of the storm, a timeless place apart from the rest of the world. There, in the heart of the maelstrom, their souls met and fused, heated by the magic of two separate traditions, now joined.

Lera hoped it was the first of many such joinings, but only the goddess she served knew for sure.

There, at that blinding center, passion exploded, whooshing outward and then back in to take them both on the ride of a lifetime, upward into the heavens and back, toward the rushing sea of sensation. Lera clung to him, physically and mentally, knowing he was with her in this climax of climaxes, even as their souls and magic parted and drew back into their separate bodies.