Scorched [Pain & Love 3] (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Ashlei D. Hawley

“Just another…few steps,” Lydia said, encouraging him between gasps. Junior’s eyelids fluttered dangerously, and Lydia knew that movement had exacerbated his blood loss. If she didn’t get him out soon, all of her effort to that point would be wasted. He’d die of smoke inhalation, or he’d burn. She would have killed a million Fallen for the return of her Dragon form at that moment.

  Though she expected to collapse under the weight of Junior fainting, Lydia managed through stubbornness and unknown reserves of strength to get them both through the door. Fire crawled over the edges of the threshold, making them look like lions dragging themselves through the trademark circle of fire in Hell’s circus.

  Dan rushed to them as soon as they made it outside, taking Junior from Lydia and pulling them both away from the burning building. Lydia looked back at it from the safe distance they’d parked the vehicle at and prayed. She prayed she hadn’t left anyone in there to burn alive except the vamps. She couldn’t live with herself if she’d had the chance to retrieve someone else’s brother or son and had instead left him to the fire.

  “He’s alive,” Dan said in surprise when he opened the back driver’s side door and laid Junior out as carefully as he could on the backseat.

  “It’s awful to say, but I hope he was the only one,” Lydia admitted. She took one last look at the burning building, feeling a kinship with the flames that had saved her and possibly Junior’s life. She hoped again the fire hadn’t taken the life of an unknown innocent as she opened the driver side door.

  When she situated herself in the passenger’s seat, Dan plopped into the driver’s and pulled his seatbelt on. He took her hand, being careful of the injuries Mallory had inflicted on her. He understood what she’d meant when she said she hoped Junior had been the only one alive. He’d been the only one she could have saved.

  “You did a good job, Lydia,” he said, stroking the back of her hand and then raised it to place a soft kiss on the bandaged skin. “You got him out.”

  Lydia blew out a breath, letting go of her guilty thoughts. If there had been another living soul in the building, he was at peace. She’d done what she could. She’d taken out the crazed vampires. Henry had one fewer faction in his army. She’d done well.

  “Yeah,” she said as Dan put the car in reverse. “Now let’s get him home.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Luke Senior was the first one to rush from Heddy’s home to take the burden of bringing Junior inside from Dan. The big man wept unabashedly as he cradled his youngest child close to him. The mother of the Wright siblings was close on his heels and supported Junior from his other side.

  Inside Heddy’s home, they placed Junior on the couch and covered him in a thick quilt. Luke and Annette had been assisting with the evacuations and had taken up residence with Luke’s mother after they’d given all the help they could. With their son returned and in dire condition, they took over.

  “He’s lost a lot of blood,” Annette said, and her voice was surprisingly calm for the mother of a man who’d just been vampire breakfast. She had a first-aid kit by her side and knelt near Junior, dabbing at his multiple injuries with antibacterial liquid. “Leigh, dear, I need you to help me get him out of his uniform. We have to see if he has any injuries anywhere else.”

  Mutely assisting his mate’s mother, Leigh did as he was told and stood quietly nearby when it was done, waiting for more instructions. Daria bustled into the room, her demeanor improved and her energy level high because of her healing talent being needed. She was never more active and energetic than when someone had been injured.

  “The hospitals are useless to us at this point,” Daria said as she shooed Dan out of her way. “He needs fluids because we can’t get him a transfusion right now. Dan, get in the kitchen and start making some broth. Heddy, would you please tell him where the things are he needs to cook?”

  Heddy stood and waved Dan toward the kitchen. “Come along then,” she said to him. “Let’s get a pot of soup going.”

  “Anything I can do?” Lydia asked. Truth be told, the only thing she wanted to do was take a shower. She smelled of sweat and smoke, and parts of her clothing had been singed.

  The room went unnaturally quiet, as though everyone had been dropped into a deep well. The bustling stopped, and each member of the Wright family looked Lydia’s way. The discomfort she felt was extraordinary. Clearing her throat just to break the breathless silence, she said, “I mean, if there’s nothing, I’d like to take a shower, I guess…” She trailed off as Mallory stood. The new vampire had been crying for hours, it seemed, and her blue eyes looked as bright as lightning as she approached.

  “I asked you to bring him back to me thinking you’d be bringing a body if anything,” she said. “But you brought him alive. There’s nothing in my life I could ever do to repay you.”

  The blonde vampire hugged the Dragon woman tightly, being extra careful with her after the last incident of her uncontrolled strength. Lydia returned the embrace, shaken by the strength of the other woman’s gratitude.

  “Vampires have long lives,” Lydia replied with a smile. “You’ll be able to think of something eventually.”

  Mallory beamed at Lydia as they pulled apart. Annette had returned to her tending. From her spot on the floor, Daria smiled at her sister. Luke stood and pulled Lydia into a hug, as well. His voice was gruff and rough with tears as he offered his thanks to her.

  “You saved my boy,” he said. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Lydia said simply. She couldn’t think of anything more meaningful to say, especially seeing as all she’d done was drag Junior from the burning building. She didn’t want to downplay the enormity of his life by protesting the thanks, though.

  “Take your shower,” Daria told her oldest sister as she gently ushered her from the room. “Then take a nap. You deserve it. Heddy set up a space for us in the basement. Your blankets are down there. So is the spare shower.”

  Grateful to her sister for the allowance to leave, Lydia offered her an indebted smile.

  “Lift him up, please,” Annette asked of Leigh as Lydia found the stairs to the basement and began her descent into the lower level.

  Jade walked up the stairs as Lydia went down, and the emerald-eyed Dragon looked at her sister with calculation as they met in the middle.

  “He was alive,” Jade said, judging her sister’s demeanor.

  Daria might have gotten along with her easier, but Jade could read the oldest Dragon sister better than anyone. It often irked Lydia. That time, she didn’t care about anything besides the shower. Jade reading her didn’t bother her in the slightest, especially when it was such happy information she’d gleaned. “He was, and we got him home.”

  “I knew you would if he was.”

  Lydia was surprised by the warmth the words invoked. She and Jade may have fought like alley cats throughout most of their lives, but there was something to be said of sisterhood. Seeing how crushed Mallory had been when her brother was in danger had reminded Lydia that siblings held some of the most special places in any heart, including a Dragon’s.

  Lydia pulled her sister in for a quick hug. Jade hugged her back tighter than she would have expected.

  They didn’t say anything else. Throughout the centuries and different forms, Jade and Lydia had always been the ones to fight the most, but they still cared the deepest. She hadn’t done anything for Mallory’s brother she wouldn’t do a thousand times over for her own siblings.

  Jade finished making her way up the stairs while Lydia found her way to the basement landing. She rummaged through closets for a few moments before finding towels. The wisewoman had stashes of towels everywhere, it seemed. That’s how it worked when you had a lake house, Lydia supposed.

  As she stripped out of her burned and sweaty clothes, Lydia tossed them into the laundry room garbage and made her way to the basement bathroom. She turned the water on to mostly hot and stepped into the thickening steam with a grateful groan. Her body
ached in so many places that she couldn’t count the hurts. Her hand throbbed crazily, the broken fingers reminding her of their presence now that adrenaline had drained out of her. She wondered how she’d managed to go through the building, fighting vampires and setting fires, without even remembering that Mallory had broken it to shifting pieces of grinding agony. The situation had made her exist in a small tunnel of awareness and action, she decided. Then she wondered how she’d manage to wash her hair.

  As steam plumed around and the pounding stream soaked her heavy locks, Lydia pondered her options. She could use one hand for it, being careful to keep her broken, bandaged hand out of the stream. Really, that was her only choice. Frowning, she considered not washing it at all. It seemed like too much hassle. But she wanted the smell of smoke, blood, and burning vamps washed off her. She glared at her useless appendage, wishing she could just transform and heal the stupid human thing. Soon, she told herself. Soon they’d find their mother’s heart and undo the Hunters’ spell.

  “Room for some company?” Dan asked as he entered the small bathroom.

  “There’s a teeny fee,” Lydia warned him, allowing him into her space. He was already naked. Apparently, he hadn’t thought his question or presence would be met with rejection.

  “I’d pay more than a teeny fee,” Dan murmured as he brushed his naked body against hers.

  Though excitement tripped all over itself trying to raise goose bumps on all of her skin, Lydia smirked at him and handed him the shampoo. “I find myself a hand short and really need someone to help me wash.”

  Dan took the shampoo and kissed her damp nose. “That doesn’t sound like a fee to me,” he said. “Sounds like a bonus.”

  “Well, then, lucky you,” Lydia said saucily as she turned around, presenting him with her tumbling masses of drenched ruby tresses. She realized she’d also presented him the swell of her wet, nude ass when he slid both of his hands down, cupped the smooth flesh, and squeezed. He must have put the shampoo down.

  “Wash first,” Lydia said with a smirk.

  “As my goddess commands.”

  His hands left her skin and sought the shampoo bottle again. Though she missed his fingertips on her flesh, she preferred to be clean in that moment. The scent of apples played through the stream and Lydia purred low in her throat, approving the way Dan’s strong fingers massaged the foamy liquid into her scalp. He took care to lather all of the wet strands and trailed shampoo down her neck and shoulders, bringing the clean, crisp apple scent closer to her nose. Another murmur of approval trickled out of her mouth.

  “You smell delicious,” Dan admitted and licked her arm below the line of apple-scented bubbles.

  “Well, let me rinse, finish helping me wash, and maybe you can have a taste,” Lydia said suggestively.

  “Here, let me do that,” Dan offered as she tipped her head back into the shower stream. He brought both of his hands into her thick hair, massaging the shampoo lather out of it, helping the water to rinse it clean. He pressed up against Lydia, and each of their bodies responded to the nearness. Her nipples peaked, rubbing against his chest and arousing them both. His erection bumped against her belly, and she thought about grabbing it but decided to heighten the tension by making them both wait. She acted oblivious to arousal, which increased the desire of both of them.

  After the shampoo was all rinsed out, Dan poured an ample amount of conditioner into his palm and massaged it into Lydia’s long hair. While it moisturized and softened her flaming tresses, he grabbed a smaller bottle of body wash, this one scented of vanilla. He lathered her torso, focusing with affectionate attention on her full breasts. He flicked his thumbs over her raised nipples. He slid his palms down her belly, spreading a layer of soap from the top of her rib cage to the lowest dip of her navel. His hands continued their path downward, spreading the vanilla lather over her thighs, making the skin even softer and creamier.

  “I think you’re as clean as you’re going to get,” Dan told Lydia as he gently eased her around. “But I want to be thorough.”

  He applied more vanilla body wash to her back, rubbing it into her shoulders and drawing soapy circles down her back. He lathered up her bottom with relish, happily gripping the moist flesh. His erection bumped the luscious swell, and he almost groaned his want. As enjoyable as the shower was, he wanted it to be done.

  He treated Lydia to another thorough rinse and trailed his hands down her arms and her waist, being careful to avoid the bandage on her hand. “How’s your hand doing?” he asked her in a quiet voice.

  Lydia opened her eyes, returned to the real world by his question. “What hand?” she asked.

  He chuckled, the masculine sound washing over her with as much heat as the stream of water. “I guess that’s a good sign,” he said and kissed her lightly on the mouth.

  Reaching around Lydia, Dan found the shower knobs and killed the water stream. He reached over to the sink, grabbed the two towels neatly placed on the edge, and wrapped Lydia in hers before he vigorously rubbed his body down with the fluffy fabric.

  “Heddy said she set up a place for me in the laundry room,” Dan informed Lydia. “It won’t be comfortable, but at least there’s a door to close.”

  “Ooh, romantic,” Lydia teased. Honestly, she didn’t care if it was a laundry room or a luxury apartment. After the day they’d had, Lydia just wanted to be wrapped up in his arms, content to worry about nothing but the moment. They left the bathroom full of steam and sweet scents and made their way to the tiny room at the back of the basement.

  Chapter Eighteen

  A small twin air mattress occupied the space left of the washer and dryer set that Lydia assumed was older than she was. Inflated and covered with two of Heddy’s dwindling number of unclaimed blankets and a single thin pillow, the air mattress didn’t inspire a hefty amount of confidence in Lydia. She reconsidered her stance on feeling as content in the tiny room as in a rooftop penthouse suite. Their interlude had the makings of something awkward.

  “That doesn’t look very comfortable,” she said.

  “Who said we have to use it?” Dan asked with a shrug and a smirk.

  Lydia arched an eyebrow at him. “You proposing something else?”

  Dan responded by easing the towel from around Lydia’s still-damp body. She shivered. The floor of the laundry room was rough stone, a testament to how long ago the old house had been built on the lakeside.

  “Pretty chilly in here,” she commented as her nipples tingled and hardened. Whether it was from the coolness of the room or from Dan going to his knees before her and massaging his hands into her thighs, she wasn’t sure.

  “Is it cliché to say I’ll warm you up?” Dan asked and followed the path of his questing hands with his tongue.

  Lydia shivered again. It definitely wasn’t the cold. “Possibly, but I’ll accept it, anyway.”

  Guiding her with gentle yet forceful hands, Dan eased Lydia back until her bottom bumped against the cool metal surface of the dryer. A surprised squeal issued from her at the chill the machine passed through into her skin. Dan stood and placed his damp towel on top of the dryer and turned two knobs until the machine began to hum beneath her.

  “Warmth and a bit of sound cover,” Dan told her with a wink as he lifted her and sat her on the towel-covered surface.

  Placing his hands on her knees, Dan spread Lydia’s legs until she revealed herself to him. She held his gaze, a flash of challenge burning in their golden depths as he lowered his face between her legs. Lydia wouldn’t look away demurely, even when Dan nestled in her most intimate area. She owned her sexuality and felt nothing but pleasure at being exposed to him. He would give her what he wanted, and she would take and give from him. For her, sex was the great equalizer and the greatest form of empowerment. She wanted all the pleasure and power she could get, and to return all she could to him.

  “I don’t want you to think about anything else right now but making me come,” she said. The glow of approval in
his eyes, so much warmer and deeper now that they housed a human soul, seemed to spread into her. She fisted a hand in his thick hair and urged his mouth closer to her intimate parts.

  Dan let his tongue explore the hot, wet folds that housed Lydia’s core. As a Fallen, he couldn’t have appreciated the complicated, smoky taste of her warm juices and soft skin. Fallen didn’t taste, couldn’t enjoy flavors as he’d been given the ability to. Now he reveled in them, aggressively licking around her clit and plunging his tongue into the center of her wetness with eagerness.

  Lydia’s soft, aroused noises and tensing legs stoked the fires of Dan’s own lust. He gripped her too hard around the thighs, but every time he upped the pressure level, with his fingers or his mouth, she moaned louder. Though his cramping back and near-painful erection both caused him discomfort, Dan felt ecstasy from the response she gave him.

  He flicked his tongue over her clit with more speed, burying his face in the wetness until the delicate skin convulsed beneath him, sending shockwaves out through Lydia that made her dance atop the humming dryer. She tried to contain her orgasmic groans. The effort it took to hold back the cries made Dan swell to a level of hardness he hadn’t known he could experience.

  While Lydia panted and tried to recover, Dan stood to his full height, stretching out his cramped back. He didn’t want to give her recovery time. He wanted her writhing and whimpering beneath him. With a grunt of need, he drove himself into her to the base. He remembered their encounters from before. She didn’t need round of foreplay for penetration. In fact, she loved the feeling of his firm length being forced into her even without the benefit of preceding oral.

  Lydia gasped at Dan’s length and girth filling her. She clutched him around his back and moaned into his ear. He had to stand still for a moment, unfamiliar with the breadth of pleasure he felt in his purely human body. Pulses of sweet torment made his member twitch inside of Lydia. Wanting more of the pleasure of the contact as well as a breather, she instinctively tried to wiggle away. The movement only caused more ripples of fire to course through their connected flesh.