Shadow and Flame

by Katya Moore

  "Undress me," I murmured against his lips. "I want you to undress me."

  I could feel him smile. "As you command," he whispered huskily. He moved himself to one side and slid his hands up my thighs, guiding my dress up over my hips. I felt a single finger tracing along my inner thigh, drawing teasing circles in an upward path. I opened my eyes and saw Aric grinning back at me. He stopped, lifted his finger to his lips, licked it with a devilish look in his eye, then began tracing higher along my thigh. A shiver tore through my body.

  Cass continued to lift the dress off of me, exposing my breasts next. His lips brushed the tender flesh that my bra left exposed. My head lolled back, eyes closing again. I raised my arms and let him lift the dress over my head. To my surprise, the fabric twisted around my wrists, pinning them. I opened my eyes again. Chase grinned down at me. I looked at Cass. He shrugged helplessly with a wicked grin of his own.

  "We talk," Chase said by way of explanation. "He told me you like this."

  I flushed bright red, remembering how I'd pinned Cass' wrists the exact same way. Oh, how the tables have turned. And oh, how my body burned.

  "Do you like this?" Chase asked, studying my face.

  I nodded emphatically.

  Chase lowered his face to mine. "Do you want this?"

  I nodded again.

  Chase nipped at my lips. "Say it."

  "I want this," I gasped.

  Aric's finger had traced its way to a bare couple inches from my panties. I writhed in anticipation.

  "You heard her," Chase said decisively, pinning my wrists to the pillow above my head.

  Cass reached behind my shoulder blades and unclasped my bra. His green eyes smoldered as he unveiled my breasts and slid the fabric up to join the dress around my wrists. He gazed at my body hungrily, as though he wanted to devour every inch of me. I could see the effort in his eyes, keeping him from taking me right there.

  "She's waiting, Your Nerdness," Aric nudged.

  Cass shot him a sidelong glare, then hooked his fingers into the hem of my panties. Aric removed his hand just long enough to let Cass slide the damp fabric down my legs. As Cass slid down the bed to finish removing them, Aric took the opportunity to slip between my legs and run his tongue along the path his finger had taken. I gasped out loud at both his audacity and the warm wetness sliding up, up toward my center. I heard a soft sound of annoyance from Cass, then felt him take his place at my side.

  "My breasts are yours," I sighed to Cass.

  My breath came in short gasps as Aric's tongue slid higher. Cass kissed his way along the top of my left breast, then drew my nipple into his mouth as Aric's tongue slid inside me. I cried out, long and lusty and impassioned. I could feel Aric smile against my body as his tongue caressed my folds, seeking and finding my clit. Cass' tongue twirled around my hardened nipple, teasing the nub and making me writhe all the harder. Chase maintained his grip on my wrists, watching with an eager eye.

  I cried out again. It was too much. I was on fire. My body was no longer my own. It was a thing of pure passion, helplessly writhing. I struggled against the bonds at my wrists, but Chase pinned them that much tighter. Chase's lips stifled my cries, and his tongue tangled with mine, adding yet another point of delicious contact. I'd never in my wildest, wettest dreams imagined anything like this. Cass's teeth grazed my nipple. Aric's lips closed around my clit, sucking at it intently. Chase moaned against my lips and twined his fingers between mine, still pinning me to the bed. It was too much. I screamed against Chase's lips, my hips bucking as my body was nearly torn asunder with a powerful orgasm.

  I lay there panting as the boys pulled back for a moment, gazing down at me with lust-filled eyes. Aric licked his lips and grinned a feral grin. "Liked that, huh?" he murmured, exceptionally proud of himself.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is that all you've got?" I taunted breathlessly.

  His grin broadened. "I'll show you what I've got," he replied, ripping his t-shirt off and flinging it to the side, hitting Cass in the face. Cass tore the shirt off his face and sat up to unbutton his own shirt. As the boys divested themselves of their clothes, I found it was hard to catch my breath, as the view was taking it away once again. Aric’s lean, lithe body. Cass’s swimmer’s build. Chase’s martial artist’s muscles and fine network of scars across his pecs. Each one different, each one delectable.

  Chase handed my wrists off to Aric for a moment to undress himself. Aric took advantage of the situation, kissing his way down my arm toward my breast. Not to be outdone, Cass took advantage of Aric's distraction and slid between my legs.

  "May I?" he asked urgently. I could feel his cock against my thigh, ready and eager.

  I nipped at his lips. "Please," I urged.

  Cass' eyes half-closed as he sighed and slid the head of his cock against my folds. I moved with him, positioning myself to allow him to slide into me. Aric's lips closed over my nipple as Cass entered me. I let out a long moan of pleasure as he eased his length into my body. Aric moaned too. I could feel the jealousy flaring up in him as Cass claimed me. I bowed my head and kissed Aric on the cheek. He gave a soft grunt, then claimed my lips roughly. I kissed him back fiercely, moaning as Cass plunged deeper, more vigorously. Chase reclaimed my hands from Aric, lacing his fingers through mine as Aric clasped my cheeks between his hands, kissing me as though his life depended on it. Cass caught my nipple in his mouth, teasing it as he rode me harder. I felt Cass' thumb press against my clit, rubbing it as he took me, and I cried out against Aric's lips. My back arched. I felt my body surging toward another climax. I squeezed my eyes shut and tore my lips away from Aric, screaming like a wild thing as the orgasm took me. Cass groaned as he took his own pleasure, then beamed down at me. I reached up and caught Cass by the back of the neck, pulling his face to mine for a passionate kiss.

  Cass broke the kiss with a smile. Chase nudged him aside and lay down beside me. I could see his erection, tall and proud, and wondered what he was up to when he pulled on my restraints and brought me over on top of him. I laughed giddily as he rolled me to my knees, and I straddled him eagerly. He did not give up his grip on my hands. He held them like reins, guiding me to rest myself against the tip of his cock.

  I felt Aric moving behind me. Chase gave him a nod. I wondered for a moment what was going on, then felt Aric's fingers, coated with something cool and slick, pressing against my rear opening.

  I gasped at the contact. "Aric," I began, nerves fluttering through my stomach.

  "Trust me," he urged. "If you don't want it, I won't. But, trust me, just for a moment." His finger slid inside me. It was a strange sensation, but not unpleasant. He slid it out, then slid in two fingers. The sensation was growing on me quickly. I felt Chase slide a finger against my clit, and I moaned, eager to let him penetrate me. Aric's fingers moved in and out of my ass, and I felt a growing need for more. I pressed back into Aric’s hand, letting his fingers reach deeper. Chase worked at my clit a little more intently, and I cried out.

  "Aric," I sighed. "I want you."

  Aric gripped my hips. I could feel the tip of his cock press against my ass, coated in the same cool, slick substance. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. With a gentleness I hadn't known him capable of, Aric pressed into me. A bright burst of pain, then a long, slow feeling of being filled in a new, tantalizing way. As I groaned in pleasure, I felt Chase's cock press into me. For a moment, I was afraid I'd be torn in half, but as Aric drew himself out, Chase plunged himself in. They found a rhythm, and I found myself writhing in blinding ecstasy. Strange new sounds tore themselves from my throat as Aric and Chase took me, back and forth, Aric kissing the back of my neck, Chase caressing my breasts and tormenting my clit.

  Cass leaned in and claimed my lips, a calm in the storm that was rocking my body. It was what I needed to push me over the top. I screamed once more, head thrown back, eyes half-blind with the overwhelming sensation of it all. Aric plunged deep into me with a strangled cry. As he withdrew, Chase c
aught my hips and pulled me down onto himself with his own long groan of pleasure.

  I collapsed onto Chase. With a twist of the fabric, he released my hands from their bonds, allowing me to wrap my arms around him at last. Aric and Cass rested on either side of me, arms looped over me, pinning me to Chase's chest. We lay there, catching our breath, utterly spent. But, somehow, I felt more alive and awake than I ever had in my life.

  Cass chuckled softly. "Now THAT was a pre-combat mating ritual," he sighed contentedly.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Aric

  I watched my team join Alpha Squad and the McKinnett’s security team at the Old North Church on a small LCD screen in the back of the surveillance van. It was a wrench. I wanted to be out there. I wanted to be fighting alongside them.

  Soon. Soon enough. I could feel my dragon in my chest, moving in ways it never had before. It writhed and coiled, like it was going to burst from my chest and take off on its own. I could still taste Sia on my lips, musky and sweet, and all told, I was having a hell of a time concentrating on the task at hand.

  "Queensguard Point, do you read?" Kane's voice came across one of the speakers in the van.

  I pressed a button on the console. "I'm here."

  "What's our status?"

  I gave a quick glance over the monitors. "The last civilians are being evacuated now." I could see our ‘firefighters’ ushering a passel of surly tourists and their fussy children out of the playground and past the barricade. "You'd think people with kids would want to get them out of an area that could possibly blow up. Humans have no survival sense."

  "Stay focused, Beauvais." I rolled my eyes at Kane's tone. The stick up his ass was poking him in the brain.

  "Hull, Salem, and Snow Hill are clear." I studied the monitors a little more closely. Something moved in the shadows by the target. "Hold on. We've got movement."

  The private emergency line snapped on. "Fire marshal reporting. All roads clear."

  Without taking my eyes off the target monitor, I reached over and hit the button. "Good. Get your people out of there and fall back. We've got it from here."

  "Affirmative. Falling back now."

  "Tell me about that movement, Beauvais." Kane was getting testy.

  I clicked to improve the resolution on the monitor. "I didn't see what made it, but there was shadow movement by the door. It's off my camera. Be aware."

  "Or you're just seeing things." I snapped my head around to glare at the unwelcome voice at the rear door of the van.

  Fucking great. I released the button and sighed. "The hell do you want, Dario?"

  "Just checking in to see how my baby brother is faring on his first big job," he grinned. "Anything you need help with? Like, everything?"

  "Eat a dick," I growled.

  "Now, now. Civility." He stepped into the van and sprawled in the seat next to me. Dario redefined manspreading. "Fill me in. What's what?"

  I wanted to tell him to fuck a cactus, but he'd be needed soon enough. "Quick summary. You know how to work a surveillance panel, right? Or were you too good for those when you were on the hunt?"

  Dario waved his hand. "Yeah, I've trained on them. Kane was usually the one tracking me, though, since I was the one in the field." He smirked at me. "I'm the one with the social skills."

  "Could've fooled me." I looked at the target monitor again. No sign of that shadow. The hairs prickled on my neck. Something wasn't right, and Kane wasn't taking it seriously. I jabbed an impatient finger at the bank of monitors. "Snow Hill, Hull, Salem, Cleveland, Margaret. We've got fire dragons on either end in fire and police gear, making sure we stay clear of civilians."

  Dario yawned. I resisted the urge to slap him. "And these three?"

  "North end, south end, target." I tapped the target monitor. "Buildings are tight against each other, and there's no back alley behind, so this is the only camera we have on the building. We're hoping the scouts were discreet enough to..." The monitor went black. "Fuck!"

  "Discreet enough to fuck who?" Dario joked, then looked at the screen. "Shit, Ricky, what did you do?"

  "I didn't do that," I snarled, then reached for the comm. "Kane, do you read?"

  The radio was silent. I could see my team advancing on the north end, Alpha Squad and the McKinnett's crew advancing from the south. Then, both cameras went black.

  I slammed back my seat. "I've got to get out there. They're going to get jumped."

  Dario planted a hand on my chest. "And what the fuck are you going to do about it, baby brother? Make wiseassed comments?"

  I ripped his hand off my chest and stood up. "I'm going in. Man the comms. If you can raise Kane, warn him. If you can't, and you don't hear from me in five minutes, send in the reinforcements."

  Dario stared at me mutely for an eternity. The corner of his mouth lifted in what might have been a proud smile, if it had been anyone but him. "Right, Ricky. Don't die."

  "I'll do my best," I said. His approval made me more uneasy than the camera failures. I shook it off and charged out of the van at a flat run.

  I flattened my back against the corner of an apartment building and peered down the street. I could see Kane and his team edging their way closer to the townhouse. Their attention was focused on their target. I focused mine on the camera mounts.

  There. I saw something move in one of the windows closest to the south end camera. Something scaly.

  Fuck. There's more than one nest.

  I gave the radio one more try. Nothing. The Chosen must've found a way to dampen emergency radios. My mind raced for a moment. I reached into my pocket. It was stupid, but worth a shot.

  I group-texted Sia, Kane, and my team. Snakes in the townhouses across the street. Watch your backs.

  Sent.

  I stared at the phone, sweat forming on my brow.

  Nothing.

  Shit.

  Read.

  I looked up and saw Sia signaling Kane frantically. Kane looked up and saw her just as everything went to shit.

  The doors burst open on three of the townhouses facing the target. Sorcerers and Chosen poured out of them, some armed with long swords, others with large automatic rifles.

  Fuck.

  It was go time. I charged into the alley blindly, swallowing back my panic. Memories of my last big fight raced through my mind. Being dogpiled by sorcerers and serpents. The big dog-headed sorcerer who smashed my ribs and knocked me flat on my back. The meaty hand clasped over my mouth and nose, smothering me and dragging me to the van. The sharp blow to the head. The blackness that followed. The cage that followed that.

  No. I shook it off. That was a rabbit hole I couldn't afford to dive down right now. My friends needed me. Sia needed me.

  The sound of gunfire ripped through the street, echoing off the walls and sending my heart into my throat. I saw Sia start to shift, saw three gunmen draw a bead on her.

  No.

  My dragon tore itself free at last. I felt my body twist and shift, expanding in ways it never had before. My scales were an intense blue, like deep ocean waters. My neck lengthened. And the wings. I had wings. I stretched them out, long and graceful and spanning the entire width of the street. I was massive. Majestic. So this is what we’re meant to be. I wanted to luxuriate in it for a moment. No time.

  I opened my mouth in a mighty roar. The gunmen's heads whipped around, and I could see them blanch. I grinned back at them, then opened my mouth and exhaled, not entirely sure what to expect. A hail of ice shards ripped through the gunmen like the bullets they'd planned to inflict. They collapsed in bloody heaps. I looked at Sia, resplendent in her dragon form. Our eyes met, and she smiled at me, pride in her glowing amber eyes. My heart pounded faster.

  Then, someone stabbed me in the ass with a sword. I roared and whipped around, slamming my foreclaw down on the offending sorcerer. He got the full force of my blast. It wasn't pretty.

  I was aware of the battle going on around me, but something itched at the back of my mi
nd. Obviously, the Witch Queen and her crew knew we were there. Obviously, they knew why we were there.

  Obviously, they were going to kill the girls if they hadn't already.

  I whipped around as electricity crackled through the street. Cass spread his golden wings and slammed down bolts of lightning from the sky, sending up the smell of charred flesh. I charged over to him, stomping on a few sorcerers in my path.

  "Cass, you and South Squad clear these out. We've got to go in and rescue the girls." My voice sounded strange, echoey. I shook off the weirdness and focused.

  Cass nodded and turned back to the street. "Go. Take the rest of our squad. Use your ice and Chase's fire to blow the door off. In that order."

  "Got it." I tore off down the street and almost headlong into Chase.

  "The fuck?" Chase snarled, then turned and blasted an impressive barrage of flames at a pair of Chosen serpents. The serpents were obliterated, melted into the side of an unfortunate Prius.

  "Let's save your sister, asshat!" I roared. "They know we're here!"

  Chase blinked his jet-black eyes and nodded. "Sia! Galen! To the townhouse!" His voice resonated off the brick facades around us. His blood-red scales glittered in the streetlights as he lumbered toward his target.

  I turned to Kane, who was tearing apart a pair of serpents with his bare talons. "Call in the backup! We're going in!"

  Kane reached for his radio.

  "They're dead! Send a runner!"

  Kane turned to Tyrone and gave him a signal. Tyrone nodded, then began to plow his way through the battlefield with a power and tenacity that would make any quarterback proud. I saw him clear the end and round the corner at a full run.

  With that settled, I turned my attention to the door of the Witch Queen's townhouse. My head spun. My stomach lurched. Facing her again after what she'd done to me. I hadn't told Sia the half of it. I hadn't told anyone. No one knew exactly how close she'd gotten. No one knew exactly what I knew those girls were facing right the fuck now.