Fire Maidens: Paris

by Anna Lowe

  “Um… Natalie?”

  She laughed, and he wondered if she was suffering from some form of shock. But when she pulled back, her face glowed with excitement. “Don’t worry about Alaric. I’ve got that part covered.”

  He tilted his head, tempted to ask. But, heck. A man had to trust his mate, right?

  Then Natalie sobered and searched his eyes. “Tell me about mates. Tell me everything.”

  Tristan glanced at the stack of books. How much had she read?

  She nudged him, so he started with the basics. “Most shifters believe in destined mates. That there’s only one person out there for them, and the moment they meet, they both know it.”

  His mind drifted back to the first day he’d laid eyes on Natalie, and how the earth had shaken under his feet.

  He went on quickly. “Shifters don’t get married. They mate for life.”

  Her eyes met his. “For life, huh?”

  For life, his dragon murmured.

  Then he looked at his feet. “At least, that’s what most shifters believe.”

  Natalie touched his arm, and a little electric zing traveled through him. “What do you believe?”

  He stalled, studying Bijou before answering. But he’d promised Natalie the truth — the whole truth — so finally, he plowed ahead.

  “For a long time, I didn’t believe in mates. My mother and father…” He trailed off, clearing the gruffness out of his throat. “They mated, but it didn’t work out. Not the way true mates are supposed to. My dad came and went, and my mom was…full of regrets.”

  He balled his fists, thinking of all the times his mother had stared off into the distance, hoping for her mate to return, then hoping he’d leave.

  “But now…” Natalie whispered.

  He met her eyes, because she had to know how serious he was. “Now, I believe. The minute I met you, I knew. Not just that I wanted you. More like I wanted to do anything for you. Love you. Protect you. Lay down my life if I have to.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Hopefully we’ll never come that close again.”

  He pursed his lips. He’d do it again — a thousand times over. But, yeah. He’d rather dwell on the good parts. “I love having you in my life. Just watching you read or look out the windows — or smile. I love watching you smile.”

  She lit up, giving him the confidence to go on.

  “It’s like my whole life up to the moment I met you was just a warm-up. I didn’t know why I was living until I met you. And now I do.”

  She looked a little breathless at that point, which was good, because so was he.

  “Why are you living, then?” she whispered, clutching his hands.

  At any other point in this life, he would have struggled to answer. But now, he could reply without the slightest hesitation. “To love you. To make you happy. To let you make me happy too.”

  Her smile stretched and her eyes glowed. “Pretty good speech, mister.”

  He flashed a smile. Whew.

  Then she grinned and threw her arms around him, murmuring in his ear. “I want that, too, Tristan. I want you. Forever. But dammit…” He pulled back, alarmed, but Natalie smiled. “Stop doing this to me.”

  “Doing what?”

  “This.” She sank into the mattress, pulling him with her. “Stop making me crave sex all the time.”

  Relief made him burst into loud laughter that he muffled in the sheets. “Not my fault. That’s a side effect of destined mates. What was that word again?”

  “A perk,” she murmured, nibbling on his ear. “Fringe benefit.”

  He rubbed his jaw along hers, marking her with his scent. None of the emotions Natalie aroused in him were fringe anything. They caught him up and swept him away, whether she was sad, scared, or — like now — hungry for contact.

  But there was one more thing he had to tell her, so he forced himself to hold back.

  “Natalie.”

  “Hmm?” she mumbled, more interested in the way his abs led down to his groin.

  “There’s one more thing you have to know.”

  She groaned. “I think my brain is full. Now, it’s my body’s turn.” Her hands snuck lower, stoking his desire.

  “To mate, I have to bite you.”

  “Fine,” she mumbled, working his boxers down.

  He blinked. Fine?

  His shock must have shown, because she laughed. “Honestly, I’d say yes to anything right now. But seriously — yes. I read about that. I trust you.” Then her voice dropped to a purr, and she wrapped one leg around his side. “Right now, I want you. I want us. I want everything.” Then she laughed. “Greedy, huh?”

  “Not so greedy,” he mumbled, barely holding back a growl. “But seriously—”

  He broke off when she surged under his body and tucked her hand into the hem of his boxers. Then she palmed his cock, and he hissed in raw need.

  “I don’t want anything or anyone to ever come between us again,” she whispered, grinding her hips against his while wrestling with the knot of her robe. “I need this. Please.”

  Her words were an order that went straight to his heart, and he couldn’t say no. Without thinking, he snuck a hand between the folds of her robe and palmed the soft flesh of her breast. His mind blanked out everything — all the questions, all the answers, all the unknowns. Everything but the burning need for his mate.

  Their next few kisses were rushed, fueled by pure lust. Then, guided by instinct, Tristan started to nip and sniff along her neck, homing in on the right spot to place the bite.

  His mind spun with the sheer thrill of it all. A mating bite. His mating bite.

  Her nipples pressed against his chest, and his hand itched to explore her core. So he touched her there too, and soon, she was wrapping her legs around him. Then there was no holding back. When he rose up over her and thrust in, they both cried out.

  Within seconds, his mind was a blur of sensual impressions. Her warm, slick heat. The light scratch of her nails across his back. The sound of her eager cries, and the slap of their bodies meeting, again and again. He could sense her blood rush, beckoning him.

  “Yes…” she cried, clutching him closer. “Yes…”

  He inched his mouth along her neck. Slowly, his canines extended, adding to the haze of pleasure-pain in his mind. When he scraped his teeth along Natalie’s neck, she arched.

  Take me. Please, my mate, her inner dragon called.

  He was so far gone that it didn’t really register how amazing it was to hear her inner dragon so clearly in his mind. It just felt natural, the way the fire building inside him was natural.

  Bite her. Take her. Seal your bond, a faraway voice whispered in his mind, low and sure. The voice of destiny.

  He thrust one more time, deeper than ever, making Natalie howl. Then he sank his teeth into her neck so quickly, it scared him. But an instant later, a hot gush swept through his veins, and he inhaled.

  Now. Do it, the voice urged.

  Without thinking, he channeled his inner fire and puffed past his bite. Natalie cried out, and part of him worried he’d gotten it wrong. But a heartbeat later, her cry turned to sheer ecstasy, and she shuddered beneath him.

  Every muscle in his body burned as the fire circled through her veins then whooshed back into his, making his inner dragon roar.

  Mate! My mate!

  It was thrilling. Exquisite. A rough, rugged high with a delicate edge that made him teeter in ecstasy for minutes on end. Natalie was right there with him, clutching his sides while her body trembled with need.

  “So good…”

  Tristan never wanted to let go, but at some point, the fire subsided into satisfied little embers — a signal to let go. Carefully, he sealed his lips around her skin and retracted his canines. Natalie shuddered as he did, coming for the second or third time. He kept his tongue over the bite, making sure the wound healed. Then he melted over her as his body shut down, utterly spent.

  Panting, he mumbled her name and combed
his fingers through her hair, though he was probably tangling it. Nothing registered but the heat inside him and the voice in his head — Natalie’s voice, singing in joy.

  Love. Mate. Never have to be lonely again.

  For a moment, sorrow washed over him. They’d each locked away how alone they’d felt — until now, when it all tumbled out like a wave. Tristan pressed his face against Natalie’s hair, letting her sweet scent remind him there was nothing to be sad about now.

  “Tristan,” she sighed, going limp. “I love you so much.”

  Light flooded his soul, and he bobbed his head up and down. “I love you.”

  She patted him on the back and chuckled. “Wow. Who knew?”

  He smoothed a strand of hair away from her eyes. “What?”

  “That being bitten could feel so good.”

  He laughed and scrubbed his cheek against hers.

  “And wow — what was that? That fire part,” she asked.

  “That’s a dragon thing,” he said, trying to sound casual about something he’d never really believed in, then had been blown away by.

  Natalie thought for a moment, holding him close. Then she whispered, “Do we get to do that again?”

  He laughed. “We can do that as often as you want.” Then he groaned. “Of course, I really should go report to Alaric…”

  She shook her head. “I need more time getting to know my mate. Thoroughly.” Her voice dropped to a sensual whisper, and when she put a finger to her neck, she groaned. “Wow. I could give myself an orgasm just thinking about it. Even touching it feels good.”

  Tristan nosed her finger out of the way and started kissing the tiny scars of the mating bite. And, hell. He nearly moaned at the sensation, too.

  Natalie started moving her leg over his, heating up all over again.

  “You’re a dangerous man, Tristan.”

  He laughed. “You’re a dangerous woman, seducing me all over again.”

  She snorted. “Ah, yes. The ultimate seductress. That’s me.”

  He pulled back and looked her in the eye. “Do you even know how beautiful you are?”

  She blushed, and he didn’t wait for an answer. He just ducked his head, whispering his lips over her breast. “I suppose I’ll have to prove it to you all over again.”

  Not a hardship. His dragon grinned.

  Within minutes, they were wrapped around each other, panting and groping all over again.

  “I’m liking these perks,” Natalie murmured, then arched at his next touch.

  “So do I,” he whispered, pulling her close. “So do I.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Two days later…

  Natalie took a deep breath as she looked up at the imposing facade of Alaric’s villa.

  “We got this,” Tristan murmured, squeezing her hand.

  She forced a smile, though her stomach was full of butterflies. They had put off meeting the Guardians for a few days, but now, she just wanted to get it over with.

  “On my own terms,” she mumbled one of the lines she’d been rehearsing in her mind.

  “Ready?” Liam asked from a few steps ahead.

  Natalie pursed her lips. Was she ready? To start her new life — a life with Tristan, and as a Fire Maiden — yes. But ready to face Alaric?

  Ready, her dragon side growled.

  In the few days since Tristan had given her the mating bite, that inner voice had grown louder, and she’d grown more comfortable with it. The dragon wasn’t a separate being. It was part of her and had been all her life.

  Ready for anything, it insisted.

  She straightened her shoulders. Slowly becoming a dragon shifter definitely boosted her confidence. Besides, she would never feel as secure as now, with Tristan and Liam backing her up. Liam had just received word of a new assignment in London, but he’d put off his departure to guard over the penthouse while she and Tristan recuperated. Of course, Liam had teased them mercilessly about all the — ahem — resting they’d done in that time. But he’d proven himself a true friend, giving them space and privacy — and somehow talking Madame Colette into doing the same.

  An hour earlier, Natalie, Tristan, and Liam had gone out for a fortifying coffee, then taken the Metro to Pigalle. Liam had led the way, keeping her mind off the meeting with a constant stream of jokes and chatter.

  “An Englishman, a Welshman, and a dragon walk into a pub…”

  Most of his jokes started that way and ended with him laughing himself silly.

  But that was an hour ago. Now, Liam hammered on the front door of Alaric’s villa and called out, “Hello. Anybody home?”

  Natalie tightened the scarf around her neck — the one concealing the tiny scars from her mating bite. She was dying to show them off, but she and Tristan had agreed not to flaunt that detail too much. If the others scented that they’d mated, fine, but they’d rather not complicate the meeting with their news, joyous as it was.

  Jules, the bear shifter butler, opened the door with a sour look. But the moment he saw Natalie, he bowed deeply and motioned inside. “Mademoiselle, s’il vous plaît.”

  Natalie stepped past him with a smile and a sincere, “Merci.” Jules was the only shifter in the place who didn’t seem to have a hidden agenda of some kind.

  Then she caught herself. Oops. A Fire Maiden was probably supposed to be aloof and regal. In other words, not too casual — and certainly not friendly — with staff. Then she snorted. She’d sworn to do this on her own terms, dammit, and she would. So she added a smile to go with her words, and miracle of miracles, Jules smiled back. Just a tiny one, but it was warm and genuine.

  “Suivez-moi,” he murmured, leading the way.

  Tristan and Liam flanked Natalie, and their footsteps echoed over the marble floor. Jules turned a corner, then knocked on the double doors of Alaric’s imposing den. A moment later, he pushed them open, and Natalie steeled herself for the worst.

  Luckily, the first to greet her was Clara, who rushed up with a warm hug.

  “Oh, my dear girl. So good to see that you’re all right. And you, Tristan.”

  When Tristan nodded stoically, Clara rolled her eyes and thumped his arm. “Men. Always having to be such warriors. Are we not allowed to fuss over you from time to time?”

  “Maybe from time to time,” Tristan murmured, flashing a tiny grin.

  Hugo came up beside Clara and winked. “Something tells me he’s already had someone fuss over him.”

  Natalie blushed deeply. Obviously, her scent gave every steamy encounter away. But Hugo’s eyes had already turned back to Clara, and they exchanged one of those secret looks that said, Remember the time when…

  Then Hugo shook hands with Tristan and kissed Natalie on both cheeks. “I knew you could do it.”

  Natalie hadn’t been sure of anything. But to have Clara and Hugo believe in her… That meant a lot.

  “And I know you can do this, too,” Clara whispered, tilting her chin toward the head of the room, where Alaric waited.

  The dragon shifter appeared just as stern — and displeased — as ever. Marcel was nowhere to be seen — thank goodness — but Morfram stood in the shadows of the right side of the room, staring at her neck. Natalie forced herself to stare back until he dropped his gaze. Albiorix was beside him, following her with his beady eyes. But both men nodded deeply and shuffled back as if reminding each other, Watch out for that woman. She kills vampires, you know.

  Not that Natalie ever wanted to kill anyone — or anything. Not even a vampire. But Morfram’s reaction gave her the boost she needed to face Alaric, especially when Liam and Tristan dropped back, letting her take the last steps alone.

  She clenched her fists. Once upon a time, each of those men had been summoned before Alaric, and each had proven his mettle. Now, it was her turn.

  “Sir,” she murmured with a tiny curtsy.

  Alaric didn’t say anything. He just sat on that throne of his, totally aloof. Then, ever so slowly, he reached for a newsp
aper, snapped it open, and began to read.

  Well, it appeared as though he wanted to read. But his eyes glowed in frustration as he squinted at the small type. He turned the newspaper this way and that in the dim light, growing more furious by the second.

  At first, Natalie thought the news was the source of his fury, and her stomach sank. Had there been a terrorist attack she hadn’t heard about? Had new enemies staged an ambush? Had left-wing political parties made gains in the polls?

  But then she spotted Alaric scowling at a pair of reading glasses on the far side of the table, and her pulse settled. Whew.

  “Here, let me get them for you,” she said, hurrying over for the glasses.

  Which might have been a mistake, because Alaric looked madder than ever. But, heck. He couldn’t be mad at her about his eyesight.

  He grunted a begrudging merci and snapped the newspaper a second time, signaling his audience to listen and listen well.

  “Les catacombes vandalisées.” He read the headline then scowled at Natalie over the top of the newspaper. Catacombs vandalized. Then his eyes flicked down, and he continued to read. “‘Vandals strike the Catacombs. Jean-Marc Pourtaud, director of the catacombs, despaired as he reported fire damage to the historic Moine Ensemble, deep in the catacombs. The unique area, closed to the public, suffered significant burn damage. Although the artifacts of the ensemble escaped damage, it is clear they were tampered with by the incorrigible vandals. Have they no shame?’” Alaric flipped the newspaper down and glared at Natalie. “What do you have to say for yourself?

  Natalie gulped and looked at her feet, not quite sure what to say. Luckily, Liam piped up.

  “The vampires started it, sir.”

  Natalie caught Hugo hiding a smile.

  “Monsieur Bennett, my question was not directed at you,” Alaric growled.

  “No, sir. Sorry, sir,” Liam murmured, taking a step back.

  “We did our best to put the sword and dagger back into their original positions,” Natalie tried.

  Alaric didn’t look impressed, but it was Morfram who replied. “Let us not forget it was a dragon shifter who orchestrated the attack.”