Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1)

by Brenda K. Davies

  He wasn’t Orin. He wasn’t an asshole who would turn on her like a rabid dog.

  This was Cole. This was the man she’d spent the past few days getting to know better as they shared books and discussed their lives. This was the man who made her feel alive every time he touched her.

  She briefly contemplated those who became shadow kissed before pushing them aside. It was a fear for a different time. This moment was only for them.

  She would have asked him again what he was dreaming about when he attacked her, but she already knew the answer. He was lost to the nightmare of war, and she so badly wanted to find him.

  When she stopped before him, his shoulders tensed as if he expected a blow and his hands tightened on his knees.

  Unsure of what to do, she remained where she was. She’d been so certain while crossing the room, but now doubt wiggled its way in to fester at her mind.

  He was a powerful, immortal being who was well versed in all the realms, and she was… well, she was her. She lived and worked on her small manor, her life revolved around her family, and she’d only ever left the mortal realm once in her life.

  What could she possibly offer him?

  Lightning flashed around the room again, and when he lifted his head, his silver eyes met hers. In his gaze, she saw such a mixture of distress and hope that melted her doubts.

  He was the most powerful being she’d ever encountered, yet there was something broken about him, something she longed to heal. She wasn’t entirely sure how to do that, but some instinctive part of her told her she could.

  She was a simple, not-so-powerful immortal, but she could offer him exactly what he needed…. She could help him heal.

  When she cupped his cheek in her palm, his beard rubbed against her skin.

  “Go, Lexi,” he said gruffly.

  Instead of going, she lifted his face and bent to kiss him. For a second, she worried he would turn away, but he didn’t. Instead, his mouth was a grim, flat line against hers as he remained unmoving on the bed.

  She’d made a mistake; she was making a fool of herself. She’d overestimated their connection, and he was about to pull away, laugh at her, and tell her to get out. He would remember her as the stupid fool who had been a game while he waited for his brother to heal.

  If he remembered her at all.

  The possibility he was toying with her had never occurred to her before. He was dark fae, but he’d come across as extremely honest.

  She’d believed the passion behind his kisses and touch was real and not part of some game he was playing to pass the time. However, as he remained unmoving against her, she couldn’t help thinking she’d made a gigantic mistake.

  She was starting to pull away when his arms encircled her waist. She had no time to react before he pulled her between his thighs. His hand slid up her back, his lips melted against hers, and he took possession of her mouth.

  All possibility of making a huge mistake vanished when his tongue stroked her lips. It slipped inside her mouth, where it created a firestorm inside her.

  Her fingers bit into his thick shoulders as he kissed her with a desperation she’d never experienced from him. His need for her was evident in every thrust of his tongue and the way his arms cinched around her.

  He wasn’t going to let her go, and he wouldn’t be satisfied with a kiss this time. She’d known that as she crossed the room to him, but it hadn’t sunk into her conscious thoughts until now.

  When she released the doorknob and returned to him, she’d known she was making a decision she could never take back. That she was walking a path she’d never walked before, and it could lead her straight off a cliff.

  He would most likely break her heart, but at least she would get to experience that part of life. She would at least know what it was like to have him hold her and feel his body moving against hers.

  His hand slid up her back to her nape before rising to entangle in her hair. Apprehension coiled inside her. He was so different from her, so much more experienced, and so sure of everything, while she was fumbling her way blindly forward.

  When she returned to him, she’d hoped to keep him from drowning in a sea of memories and despair while trying to experience more of life. She was completely out of her depth here, but when his other hand slid down to cup her ass, some of her trepidation vanished as desire bloomed.

  CHAPTER 45

  He should push her away and order her to run. He’d nearly killed her tonight, but now that she was in his arms, he wasn’t going to let her go.

  Refusing to let her go made him a selfish prick, but he wouldn’t part from her. He’d always been a selfish prick, and he wasn’t about to change when he was holding the biggest temptation he’d ever encountered in his arms.

  He pushed aside her robe and his hand bunched in her T-shirt as he pulled it up. When he slid his hand down to cup her ass again, his cock became rock-hard as his fingers traced the lacy edge of her underwear.

  He slid his fingers over those edges before tugging her underwear down to cup her firm ass. She was so right and beautiful, and he couldn’t believe he was holding her. After what he’d done to her tonight, she should hate him, but instead, she’d come to him.

  Growing frustrated with her underwear, he carefully sliced them from her silken skin, and the ruined material fell to the floor. Sensing her uncertainty, he cupped her ass again before sliding his hand down and between her legs.

  He would keep her so aroused she wouldn’t have a chance to change her mind. She gasped as she swayed toward him. His fingers slipped between her thighs and touched upon the wetness spreading between her legs.

  He’d considered himself hard before, but now his dick throbbed with its need for release. Plucking her from the ground, he lifted her and settled her on his lap.

  He could be inside her in seconds, something he wanted more than his next breath, but he didn’t take her. Instead, he planned to cherish every bit of her and this moment before entering her.

  By the time he finished teasing her, she would be mindless and panting with need. When he finally did enter her, he would ensure the pain of her first time was minimal.

  He teased her clit until she trembled against him. He teased her until her legs were trembling around him.

  Rising from the bed, he broke the kiss while he lifted her. She locked her legs around his waist and clung to him as their eyes met.

  The hunter and emerald green mixture of hers had darkened, and her pupils were dilated. Her lips, swollen from his kisses, were as lush as her. She licked them as her gaze fell to his mouth.

  “You should run, Lexi,” he said.

  He didn’t know where the words came from; he certainly hadn’t expected to utter them, but he had to give her one last chance to leave. She had to realize that once he possessed her, he would never let her go.

  It had been a while since he fed, and the fae was hungry, though he wouldn’t take from her tonight. Tonight, it would be about her.

  For the first time in his life, he planned to deny himself. The realization would have been shocking, but he was far too lost in her to absorb it fully.

  When her beautiful green eyes continued to hold his, he didn’t see any sign of her changing her mind. There was apprehension in her gaze, but it wasn’t of him. How she didn’t fear him, he didn’t know, but it only made him care for her more.

  And he did care for her, he realized with a start. He didn’t want to protect her because she was Del’s daughter; he wanted to protect her because she was his.

  Excitement pulsed through him at the realization. She was his, and he was not going to let her go.

  He squeezed her ass before turning to lay her on the bed. When he set her down and stepped back to gaze at her, her eyes fell to his erection.

  He thought she might change her mind and bolt then, but she bit her lip and looked to him again. Her fangs had extended until the sharp points showed over her bottom lip.

  With tender care, he traced the tip
of one of those fangs, and when it pricked his thumb, he ran the blood across her lips. When her tongue darted out to taste his blood, a spark of hunger flared in her eyes.

  He smiled as he pulled the robe from her before gripping the bottom of her T-shirt and sliding it up to reveal her belly. Tugging it higher, he exposed her pert breasts before pulling the shirt from her.

  He tossed the clothing aside and gazed down at her. She was long and lean, and her time working on the manor had toned her body. However, she still possessed shapely thighs and luscious curves that begged to be explored. And he was more than eager to do exactly that.

  His mouth watered as he climbed onto the bed beside her and cupped one of her breasts. It filled his palm and spilled over a little as he ran his thumb around her nipple before bending to suck it into his mouth.

  Her fingers entwined in his hair, and she pulled him closer. He ran his other hand down her stomach. It slipped between her legs where he rubbed her clit before dipping a finger into her. She arched beneath him as he turned his mouth to her other breast.

  Her hips rocked as she fucked his hand until her breath came faster. Releasing her breast, he lifted his head to gaze at her as her head fell back.

  While she was so focused on the pleasure he gave her, he slipped another finger into her. He stretched her further in preparation for his invasion when it came.

  As she rode his hand, he drank in the beautiful sight of her while he pushed her closer and closer to orgasm. When she came apart, he muffled her cry with his kiss as the walls of her sheath contracted around his fingers.

  He broke the kiss and leaned back to savor her beauty as her eyes fluttered open. A sexy smile curved her swollen lips while the lightning bolts illuminated her sun-kissed, silken skin and exquisite beauty.

  She was the most stunning woman he’d ever seen, and she was his. The wolf within him bellowed this knowledge over and over again.

  Always the more subtle part of himself, he wasn’t used to having the primal lycan part of himself seeking to take control, but it had been asserting its dominance since she walked into his life.

  He had no idea what would happen if the beast broke free, but he was willing to find out if it meant making her his.

  • • •

  Lexi floated on a haze of passion as Cole remained kneeling beside her with a look of wonder and something more on his face. She couldn’t quite place what that something more was —confusion, disbelief, a dawning understanding that seemed out of place—but when his silver eyes met hers, the wildness in them made her breath catch.

  He was magnificent, powerful, and on the verge of losing control. After what transpired earlier, and her still sore throat, that should frighten her. However, when his fingers skimmed her belly and the tips of his claws grazed her skin, she felt no fear of him.

  He’d been lost to a nightmare earlier—no, not a nightmare, he was trapped in a memory when she tried to wake him. He was with her completely now. And he would never physically harm her while awake.

  He might end up breaking her heart, but that would be her fault as much as his. She’d walked into this knowing what he was, yet she was still here.

  “You should have run, Lexi,” he said in a gravelly voice distorted by his fangs.

  She probably should have run, but she hadn’t, and she was glad. There was nowhere else she’d rather be.

  Gripping her legs, he shifted until he knelt between them. When he leaned over her, the thick wall of his muscle and the heat of his body encompassed her. He propped his hands beside her head as he held himself over her.

  His silver eyes flickered, and for a second, she was staring into their Persian blue depths again. There was something so open and honest about that gaze, something so vulnerable it dug its way into her heart, and though her heart might end up shattered, she would never run from him.

  And then the blue was gone and the silver was back. She ran her fingers over his high cheekbones as he lifted one hand and grasped his shaft to guide it into her. The head of it parted her and pushed inside.

  Biting her lip, she kept her attention focused on him as sweat dampened his skin and the powerful muscles surrounding her vibrated with his barely leashed restraint. As he moved deeper into her, she tried to ignore the discomfort their joining created.

  And just when she believed he was going to bury himself inside her, he stopped moving and put his hand beside her head again. They stared at each other before he bent and reclaimed her lips.

  The tender caress of his tongue was so different than his demanding kisses earlier that she didn’t know how to respond at first, but when his tongue entwined with hers, Lexi relaxed beneath him.

  Her arms slid up to wrap around his shoulders, and she pulled him closer. She marveled at the differences between them. He was so unyielding and massive.

  He made her feel small and fragile but also cherished and safe as his thumb rubbed her cheek and the tenderness of his kiss dug its way deeper into her heart.

  Her fingers bit into his back, and as she adjusted to having him partially inside her, she lifted her hips invitingly toward him. She wouldn’t accept anything less than all of him.

  CHAPTER 46

  When she relaxed beneath him, Cole pushed past the barrier of her virginity and buried himself deep inside her. She stiffened as her fingers bit into his back.

  He continued to kiss her and tried to get her to relax again by stroking her flesh while her tight sheath gripped his shaft. The lycan part of him demanded to take possession of her, claim her, and own her.

  It craved her with a savagery he could never unleash. If it broke free, he would hurt her, and he could never do that again.

  However, the demand of the lycan was so strong that the ravenous, dark fae part of him ceded control to the lycan, something it had never done before.

  And that cessation of control caused the lycan’s need to grow. It wanted to mark every part of her as it claimed her completely.

  He labored to control his more savage urges as he remained unmoving within her. If he did to her what his instincts screamed at him to do, not only might he possibly destroy her, but he would also terrify her.

  He couldn’t let himself go, but he could relish every second of their time together, and he planned to do exactly that as he slid a hand under her ass and lifted it to give him better access. Her fingers entwined in his hair as he started moving within her.

  Her body yielded to his as she relaxed further and gave herself completely over to him. She was so supple, so beautiful, and so amazingly right in his arms.

  Yes, she was his, and no matter what happened, he was never going to let her go.

  His cock swelled as he resisted sinking his fangs into his mate.

  Mate!

  The realization didn’t hit him over the head like a hammer. In fact, it wasn’t as astounding as it should have been. Because the dark fae part of him had always been the more dominant one, he’d never expected to encounter his mate.

  Yet, here she was in his arms, and the lycan had taken control for the first time in his life. And it felt as natural as the rain beating against the windows. She belonged in his arms, and he would do everything in his power to keep her there.

  Growling, he thrust into her. He kept the worst of his impulses leashed as the wolf savored the exquisite pleasure of its mate.

  • • •

  Once the pain faded, all Lexi felt was the joy of their joining and the awe of being with him. She’d never known life could offer such an amazing experience as this, and she couldn’t get enough of it.

  He enveloped her in his arms, and lifting her off the bed, he braced his knees apart as he kept her embedded on him. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she cleaved to him while he guided her up and down his shaft.

  Something started to build within her. She recognized the pressure, the excitement, and need of a building orgasm, but this was so much more intense than anything she’d experienced before.

  She clu
ng to him as the scent of allspice and something musky enveloped her. She buried her face in his neck as the pressure building within her released. Her back bowed as waves of ecstasy crashed through her.

  She stifled her cries against his neck as the very fabric of her splintered apart until she was only pieces of the woman she once was. And as those pieces started to reform themselves, she realized she would never be the same again.

  • • •

  When her sheath clenched around his shaft and she cried out against his flesh, Cole wrapped his hand around her neck. A tingle ran down his spine, and he came with a shout that the storm drowned out.

  He held her as she went limp in his arms while more lightning illuminated the room. He watched the flashes as he cradled her and suppressed the pacing, irate lycan denied its full claim and the famished fae stirring to life.

  He’d never come so hard in his life, but he wasn’t completely fulfilled. He hadn’t claimed his mate, and he wouldn’t until he discussed it with her. She was not a lycan; she wouldn’t feel the call of the mate bond like he did.

  However, she was part vampire, and they had fated consorts. She might feel the call of that, but he couldn’t consider that while he was grappling to control his darker nature.

  Keeping himself restrained was easier to do when her naked body was flush against his. It didn’t matter that he wanted more; she was with him, which was enough for now.

  Laying her back on the bed, he gazed down at her exquisite body as he kissed her again and slowly withdrew from her. He’d already started to harden again when he pulled out; she wasn’t ready for that.

  There would be plenty of other nights where he would take her over and over again; he would make sure of it. This would not be one of those nights as she needed time to heal.

  She groaned in disappointment when he pulled out of her, and he kissed her again.

  CHAPTER 47

  Cole held her closer as Lexi nestled against his chest. Thunder continued to roll, but he no longer heard the sounds of battle.