Caress of Fire (Dawn of Dragons Book 2)

by Mary Auclair

  “You didn’t find Devan.” Marielle brought her gaze back to him, and he felt her pain and fear like a burn on his skin.

  “When I arrived at the rendezvous point there was no one there.” Fedryc watched as intelligence battled worry in Marielle’s face, and intelligence triumphed. “I found Rela, but she’s barely alive. Dr. Ylco doesn’t even know if she’ll wake up.”

  “And Ignio Marula?” Henron stepped to his side, calm and collected as always.

  “Dead.”

  Marielle snapped her face to him, her mouth hanging open, her breath caught. She blinked twice, then shook her head slowly.

  “Dead?” Henron spoke again, his eyes confused and his tone just breathless enough for Fedryc to notice. “How?”

  “His throat was slashed. I found him in the canyon where Marielle was supposed to meet with him.” Fedryc locked gazes with Henron and saw his friend frown. “I left him there.”

  “It seems he outlived his usefulness. I’m not surprised. Ignio Marula was a common thug, and the leader of the Knat-Kanassis has no use for such a man.” Henron lifted a brow. “It’s a pity. I’d have loved to spend some quality conversation time with him.”

  “And Rela was just a pawn,” Marielle whispered. She looked back at the examination table. She walked past Fedryc, then stopped just beside the girl.

  “She looks like she’s sleeping.” Marielle’s voice was heavy with pain and memories. “She was always such a sweet, frightened little thing. Devan and I, we had so little, but whatever we had, we shared it with Rela. Devan especially. He loved to take care of her. She is a year younger than he is, and taking care of her gave him a purpose, a mission. They were like two halves of each other. It will kill him if she dies.”

  Fedryc stood beside his Draekarra, looking at her as she stared at the girl, a torn, pained expression on her face. Marielle reached out, her fingertip barely brushing the bruise on Rela’s cheek, then she tucked the girl’s dirty hair behind her ear.

  “What happened to her?” Marielle spoke like a ghost and it made Fedryc ache to touch her, to kiss her until she forgot all the pain she carried that was eating her from the inside.

  “She was unconscious when I found her, but judging by her injuries, she was beaten.” Fedryc took care to speak softly but Marielle flinched nonetheless. “Dr. Ylco says her brain sustained a serious trauma. He doesn’t know if or when she will wake up. He will do the best he can, but there is no guarantee that she will ever wake up, or that the Rela who wakes up will be the girl you knew.”

  “It won’t matter.” Marielle spoke in a decisive, final manner, and Fedryc knew she was speaking the truth. Marielle would never turn her back on Rela, just like she would never give up the fight for Devan. Her heart was fierce and steady, and he would give the world just to have her look at him the way she did the girl on the table.

  Well, not exactly the same way. He wanted her love and affection but he also wanted so much more. Because she had taken a piece of his soul and wrapped her slender fingers around it until he couldn’t see a world that was not centered around her. It was more than the need to produce an heir for his bloodline; more than lust.

  He needed her the way he needed the blood that ran hot in his veins.

  “You know what this means, right?” Fedryc stood close enough that he could feel the heat of her body through his clothing.

  “That the list of people who are suspects just got shorter.” Marielle’s voice was cold and merciless. “Who knew about Ignio Marula’s threat? Who knew I wouldn’t go?”

  “You, me and Henron.”

  Fedryc shot a quick glance at Henron as he raised his eyebrows at Marielle. His friend seemed surprised at the sharp turn of her reasoning, but he wasn’t. Marielle might be small and physically weaker, but she had the heart of a warrior.

  “Maybe a guard overheard us, but that is a stretch. No one was in the room but us.”

  “It cannot be one of us.” Henron nodded to Marielle, suddenly intense in his focus. Because they all understood. The killer had finally made a mistake.

  And it was going to be his undoing.

  “You forgot someone.” Marielle looked at Fedryc, then Henron, then back at Fedryc. “Silva was there in the room with me. She knew.”

  Fedryc stared at Marielle with a frown and Henron inclined his head. She was right, Silva had known, but his cousin was so young, it was impossible to think she could be the mastermind behind the assassination of his father and the abduction and torture of a young man.

  She simply wasn’t old enough to have such evil in her heart.

  “It can’t be Silva.” Fedryc shook his head. “She’s too young, she can’t possibly know Ignio Marula. She’s never even been out of the kingdom so how could she be leading the Knat-Kanassis?”

  “Silva could have talked to someone.” Marielle spoke softly, her face careful as she studied his every reaction. “Someone she trusted, someone who has the power to have done all those things.”

  “You’re talking about Isobel?”

  “Maybe Silva had another confidante. It’s possible. But I just don’t see who else.” Marielle inhaled, then shook her head. “But it doesn’t make sense. Isobel lived her entire life with her brother. His death turned her own life upside down.”

  “You are right.” Fedryc growled with frustration. This whole thing made no sense. “Isobel lost her position when my father died. She would not have brought this on herself. Still, she knew my father would have sent Silva to Lord Anion despite her age.”

  “There is a difference between murdering Lord Aymond and butchering a hundred people at the border, including children,” Henron pointed out, his face grim and serious. “Your aunt didn’t have any motive for that.”

  “No, she didn’t.” Fedryc shook his head. “But this is our only lead.” He took a step back, his mind rebelling against the idea of such a betrayal, but in the end his feelings didn’t matter.

  Isobel Haal had just become their main suspect.

  At his side, Henron cursed in Delradon.

  Fedryc felt the rage well inside his chest. He had been right all along. The snake in his house was much closer than he’d thought. It was his very blood.

  “I need more proof before I accuse my aunt of this abomination.” Fedryc turned to Henron, who returned his stare with a cold resolve. “You will maintain a detailed surveillance on the Lady Isobel. Arrest her at the first indication of wrongdoing.”

  Marielle’s eyes returned to Rela and Fedryc watched the landscape of pain and anger cross her features. Pain and anger that reflected his own.

  Dr. Ylco had sent her away a few hours ago, insisting that Rela wasn’t going to wake up any time soon. Marielle felt guilty about leaving the girl alone in the medical rooms, but exhaustion had eaten away at the edges of her mind so she hadn’t protested.

  At least, not very much.

  Now that she was back in the rooms she shared with Fedryc, fear took hold of her again. This new suspicion that Isobel was at the heart of the Knat-Kanassis’ encroachment on Aalstad was a new development she hadn’t seen coming.

  Marielle hugged herself, looking out of the large window in her bedroom.

  This view had become her refuge against the constant fear of living in the Draekon castle. Behind her, the door to the washroom opened and Marielle heard Fedryc’s wet footsteps on the stone. His shower had been long, to wash off the dirt and blood on his body and his soul. She understood.

  “I am sorry.” Fedryc’s voice came from behind her, but Marielle didn’t turn around. “I wish I could have brought your brother back.”

  “You tried.” She spoke from her heart. “And you were right. If I had gone, not only would I not have found Devan, but I would surely be dead by now. Now we at least know the killer has some link or another to Silva and Isobel.”

  “Yes, we do.” Fedryc’s hands closed on her waist and she was pulled against the hardness of his hot, wet, naked chest. Marielle was so grateful for his strength
when she found her own crumbling under the weight of her worry. “And it’s thanks to you and your sharp mind. Without you, I would never have thought it was Silva’s presence that proved a weak link in our armor.”

  Marielle sighed. “She’s not to blame. It’s not her fault.”

  “No,” Fedryc said close to Marielle’s cheek. “But it’s someone close to her. It’s the first lead we have and I’m not going to let it go.”

  “I know.” Marielle twisted in Fedryc’s embrace and found herself molded to his tall, strong form. Warm water dripped from the hair on his forehead and rolled all the way between her breasts. “But it’s a start. And you will have to be more careful than ever. If the killer suspects anything, he may lash out, and you’re his most likely victim. Trust no one from now on.”

  Marielle swallowed, then rested her head in the place between Fedryc’s neck and shoulder. His heartbeat came through her cheek, strong and steady, full of assurance in a future filled with darkness.

  “It was a long day, you need to rest now.” His hand ran along her head, down her shoulder, then to her waist, betraying an intention that was far from sleep.

  His hand withdrew, then he pushed her away, softly but firmly.

  Marielle watched him as he turned around and walked to the dresser, a towel wrapped around his waist. He was magnificent, more so than she had any right to expect, and even more than she deserved. This man who carried the weight of an entire kingdom on his broad shoulders.

  Arousal began low in her belly, as stubborn as life itself.

  Her eyes trailed over the lines of his shoulder, his trim waist. All perfect honey, smooth and lined with agile muscle. Then Fedryc shed the towel around his waist, letting it drop to the floor. Her arousal grew as she looked at his nakedness, at the round, muscular shape of his butt and thighs.

  Perfection. Fedryc was perfection made male.

  She shouldn’t be aroused, shouldn’t be longing for sex as uncertainty closed around them like a closed fist, but there it was. Her need for him ran deep in her flesh and all that fear only made it more urgent.

  Fedryc turned around as if he could sense her eyes on his body, and stared at her. He was just as aroused as she was and his cock stood out, long and thick, deliciously hard.

  Wetness spread between her legs at the sight of it and her core clenched with need.

  He stood there, naked in the soft light of the glowing orbs, in all his masculine glory, beautifully sculpted abs and muscular arms on display as his expression took a hungry, predatory turn.

  Maybe it was because she wanted to fight all the death that surrounded her, proclaim that she was still alive, that she could still feel.

  That life was short and brutal and so was her appetite for its pleasure—with Fedryc first of all.

  “Come here, stand by the foot of the bed.” His rough voice left no doubt about his authority and a shot of arousal made her shiver. She responded to him so easily, it frightened her.

  Marielle obeyed, standing up as her nipples grew hard and her hyper sensitive skin felt every brush of the silk dress on her body. Heat pooled between her legs, where she ached for the possession of the male.

  “Remove your dress,” Fedryc ordered, his eyes on her every movement.

  Marielle’s fingers trembled as she pulled on the lace at her bodice, then freed her body of the silk dress which pooled at her feet in a flash of green silk. Her skin prickled as his gaze lingered over her body, traveling over her breasts, her waist, the soft cover of dark red curls between her legs. That gaze was a claim in itself, a brand on her body and soul that she couldn’t deny.

  “Turn around.” His authority shot through her like an aphrodisiac, and Marielle found herself covered in goosebumps.

  Slowly, she turned around, feeling his gaze on her body, hot and demanding. Her breathing grew fast, hard in anticipation.

  “Brace your hands on the bed.” Fedryc’s voice was closer now, just behind her. “And spread your legs.”

  All she could hear was the beating of her own heart as she silently obeyed him, bracing her palms on the bed and spreading her legs wide open. Wetness pooled at her sex and her entire body threatened to dissolve under the new feelings she was experiencing. Fedryc’s domination was a searing erotic shock, making her ashamed of her response to him at the same time as she craved it even more.

  She gasped when a hot hand smacked her across both buttocks, then squeezed the supple flesh.

  “So soft, so sweet.” Fedryc’s voice was hoarse and deep. “So female. And all mine. You are mine, Marielle Jansen.”

  “Yes.” The sound of her voice was like a surrender. A surrender to Fedryc’s animalistic lure, to his domineering lust and the pleasure she could feel just out of her grasp.

  Fedryc slid a single finger down her hot, moist slit, up and down the folds of her sex. He took his finger out, testing the moisture he found there, then his hands flattened over both sides of her ass cheeks. His fingers slid down between her legs, and his thumb rubbed against her clit as another digit entered her core. Marielle gasped and moaned at the shock of sensations that entered her with Fedryc’s touch. Her body sucked at him greedily, and pleasure rose inside her as his thumb pushed on her clit, while he fucked her with his long, thick finger.

  More, she wanted more. She pushed her hips back to increase the penetration of Fedryc’s finger.

  “Don’t move.” He removed his finger, but his thumb moved up and down on her clit at the same time, making her desperate for him to fill that aching, empty channel in her body.

  Marielle whimpered, shame and pleasure mixing to bring her to the brink of rapture.

  “Yes.” Her voice was breathless, her mind a blank and she shuddered when Fedryc slid two fingers inside her, fucking her roughly. Her walls clenched and squeezed as sensations mounted inside her body, riding the bridge between pain and pleasure as he kept pressure on her clit.

  “Come for me, my little firebrand.”

  Then he moved his thumb up and down on her clit and she screamed as her body shattered around him, wave after wave of powerful orgasm erasing everything in her mind to leave her void, panting and weak as she rested her face on the bed.

  “Now I will take you, my beautiful Draekarra.” He removed his hands from her flesh and the throbbing, hot tip of his cock came to rest at her entrance. He didn’t pause, didn’t wait for her body to accommodate him.

  Fedryc pushed inside her in a rough, hard thrust, seating his cock deeply as his balls swung and hit her still throbbing clit. He didn’t wait. He pulled back completely, then pierced her again and again as she braced herself on the bed, her hands now folded into fists and her body filled to capacity by his long, thick shaft.

  This was a raw possession, meant to tame her at her very core. And even if she had wanted to stop it, she wouldn’t have had the strength to resist the power of the sensations that built anew in her body, radiating from her sex as Fedryc mercilessly pounded into her.

  The sound of flesh on flesh filled the room, soon met by Marielle’s rising moans. The volume of her voice increased as Fedryc thrust faster, his cock growing harder, bigger, as his own release neared.

  She gasped for air as sensations overwhelmed her, bringing her closer and closer to a second, mind-shattering release. Then, like he sensed she was ready, he sent her over the edge of rapture when he flicked her clit with his index finger, then rubbed it in circles. She cried out, her head thrown back, her eyes shut as violent bursts of pleasure shook her, long and deep.

  Fedryc roared at her back, pushing deep inside her one last time. The heat of his semen filled her as he came, filling her up until she stopped screaming. When his own release was finished, he paused for a while, his hand running over her back as she straightened, her hands still braced on the bed, then he pulled out of her.

  Fedryc gathered Marielle into his arms, then laid her down in the bed, pulling the heavy blanket on top of her. After a few seconds, she turned to see him watching her.
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br />   “What?” The corners of her lips lifted in a smile.

  “I just have trouble believing that I found you.” He smiled, but it was tainted with sadness as he climbed into bed with her. “You are too wonderful to be true, my Draekarra.”

  Marielle chuckled as Fedryc nestled her against his body. Sleep washed over her as she cozied up to the man who had become her only source of safety. The man who was the only one to ever truly care for her.

  Tomorrow, she would worry for Devan and Rela.

  But tonight, she slept with Fedryc, and there was no one else in the world.

  Chapter 19

  Marielle woke up basking in warmth and comfort. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring at the two most beautiful silver eyes she had ever seen. They took her breath away and she had to force her throat to swallow. Even now, Fedryc looked like a God’s idea of perfection made male. His angular face was shaded by the early morning’s shadow, and his mouth was relaxed, without the constant tension of the days before. This was not the High Lord of Aalstad; not the Draekon, all powerful atop a beast of nightmares. This was a man who looked at her with tenderness and warmth.

  She reached up and traced the lines of his jaw.

  I love you.

  The thought blindsided her because it was the truth. She wasn’t sure when, but she had fallen in love with Fedryc Haal, High Lord of Aalstad. The feeling twisted in her guts and the smile faded from her lips. Because, in a way, despite all that had happened to her before, she had never been so scared. She was scared down to the pit of her stomach, right down to that tiny, closely locked door inside herself she always kept shut off. She was petrified by the intensity of her feelings and the implications they would have on the rest of her life.

  Fedryc held her gaze, like he understood how terrified she was by her own feelings, then he bent and kissed her, gently but firmly, until her fears melted away and all she could feel was the warmth of his skin all the way to her heart. Then he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.