Pounding Earth

by ERIN BEDFORD

  “Isn’t she beautiful?” Raiden asked Firestar, one hand cupping my breast while the other held me in place. I knew what he was doing. Firestar was the most territorial of all my men. Jack and Raiden shared well, which they had proved to me on more than one occasion. Firestar not so much.

  Grunting, Firestar didn’t answer but did take a step closer.

  The hand on my hip slid between my lips and rubbed my clit. I finally broke. The combination of Raiden’s ministrations and Firestar’s attention was too much for me. My head fell back against Raiden, and I cried out, my hands grabbing at whatever I could find, which ended up being Raiden’s hair.

  If I was hurting him he didn’t complain, nor did he stop moving inside of me. Firestar was now at the edge of the tub, his hands tightening on his biceps. Why he forced himself back, I didn’t know but had a feeling that it wouldn’t last for much longer.

  Raiden thrust into me a few more time before he stilled, a shaky groan coming from him. Shifting me to the side, he kissed the side of my neck. “See? Beautiful.”

  Sagging in his arms, I didn’t even have the energy to reprimand him. Teasing Firestar had been Raiden’s hobby, but now I had a feeling that it might be more than that. Maybe he was trying to make the alpha male lighten up some. Firestar could be a bit intense at times.

  Instead of answering Raiden, Firestar offered me a hand. Taking it, I allowed him to towel me off. I had to hold onto him for the most part, my legs were still too shaky to stand on their own.

  “The meeting will be starting soon,” Firestar announced after he was finished. “You should get ready if you want to attend.”

  The never-ending debate on what to do next would finally be answered tonight. Me, my men, Jack’s Uncle, and the head of the three tribes who had agreed to help would meet to discuss tactics. I hoped it meant we would stop waiting. Not that I didn’t enjoy spending more time with my men, but the waiting wasn’t putting up any closer to saving Lord Shen or easing Raiden’s worry.

  “Sorry, we took a bit longer than intended.” I wrapped the towel around myself and tried to look contrite. When Firestar rolled his eyes, I knew I’d failed.

  “I blame it on Raiden.”

  “Hey!” Raiden protested jumping from the tub. Water dripped down his deliciously muscular body and my libido flared up with renewed need. I was a lucky, lucky girl.

  “It wasn’t all him.” I agreed, turning my hungry gaze from Raiden reluctantly. “Besides, don’t pretend like you wouldn’t have done the same.”

  Firestar’s lips ticked up slightly. “Just get ready.”

  He stalked from the room, and Raiden called out after him, “I guess I’ll just dry myself off, thanks!”

  2

  “What do you think will happen?” I whispered to Raiden as we made our way to Jack’s Uncle Fafnir’s office. The Northern Lord had been more than a gracious host. Giving us sanctuary when everyone else was out to get us. Even my own home wasn’t safe, not with my cousin Ned there.

  Raiden squeezed my hand. “It’ll be fine. These are seasoned warriors, not some group of squabbling children.”

  A shout and crash came from ahead of us. Quickening our pace, we rushed to the office door. Raiden shoved the door open to see Firestar pinning one of the tribe leaders against the wall.

  “I stand corrected.” Raiden shook his head.

  The other two tribe leaders jumped to their feet, but Lord Fafnir waved them off and sat back down himself. Firestar growled lowly to the man, too quietly for me to make out what he was saying, but if I knew Firestar, he wasn’t asking him to be best buds.

  I sighed dramatically, causing Jack, sitting in a chair off to the side, to glance my way. His pale eyes focused on me as he stood, and I didn’t even pretend that I wasn’t eating him up with my eyes.

  Jack was a delicious specimen in and out of clothes. He’d give any GQ model a run for their money the way his suit jacket stretched across his broad shoulders and tapered at his waist. He had left his long white hair loose, and it fell down his back in a cascade of silk.

  I’d had those strands trailing down my body as he moved inside of me. Just seeing them caused my lower half to clench in need. When Jack stopped before me, I arched up on my tip toes and pressed my lips to his cool ones. His hand curved along my hip, bringing me flush against him.

  It was an unusual amount of touching for a public place for him. I didn’t complain though. Ever since he had cast Gretchen, his ex, aside in front of everyone, he had been purposely more affectionate, like he had something to prove. Which I suppose he did. Ever since we got to the North, he had made one screw up after another, but he had been trying his best to make amends. I couldn’t fault him for that.

  He might be the father of my child after all.

  Pulling away from the kiss, I nodded toward Firestar who had finally let the guy go. “What’s his problem?”

  Jack frowned and turned toward our fourth. “Rick called Firestar a hot head for suggesting we attack head on.”

  “And his way of disproving that is to attack him?” Raiden asked with a grin. “Like a hot head?”

  “He had it coming,” Firestar answered, coming over to us. His auburn hair was tousled from running his hands through it too many times. His brown eyes narrowed as he glanced over his shoulder at Rick, the leader he had attacked. “Guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

  “Or you’re just a hot head.” Raiden countered and ducked just in time to miss Firestar’s fist. “Temper, temper.” Raiden clucked and shook his head.

  I placed a hand on Firestar’s chest, the thick muscle beneath it twitching in response. “Please, boys, play nice. We have enough going on without having to play referee in your squabbles.” I eyeballed Raiden, who gave me a cheeky grin.

  A throat cleared, and we turned our attention to Lord Fafnir. He sat behind his desk, his hands laced in front of him, an impatient frown on his lips. “Maya, I’m happy to see you are doing well. How is my grandchild?”

  Shifting in place, I forced a smile. “She’s fine.”

  “Good.” He gave a curt nod. “Then can we get to work here?” Lord Fafnir gestured his head toward the other waiting leaders.

  Properly chastised, we moved further into the room. Jack led me to his seat, and the three of them stood behind me like a protective force. I felt kind of silly, like I was the most important person in the room. To my guys, I supposed I was. Or I just had a big head.

  “So,” Lord Fafnir started, his eyes going back to the three leaders. “As we were discussing before, a direct attack would not be beneficial to anyone—”

  “If we go in like I—” Firestar started at my left shoulder.

  “That would be suicide,” Rick cut in, making Firestar step toward him. I grabbed hold of his arm, giving him pause.

  “Enough.” Both Rick and Firestar glared at Lord Fafnir but quieted. “I will not have a brawl in my office. We are civilized men, let’s act like it.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Raiden muttered to my right. I shot him a warning look, and he winked, laughter in his eyes.

  “No offense, my lord,” Dreds, one of the other tribe leaders, began. “But I don’t understand why you allow these foreigners to be in this discussion.”

  Firestar growled, “We have every right to be here, as much as you do.”

  Dreds locked eyes with Firestar. “I’m just saying, these are our men we are committing to the young lord’s cause. We should be the ones deciding how they should be used.”

  I didn’t know if it was the young lord comment or maybe Raiden was just being himself, but his next words couldn’t be considered anything other than hostile.

  “It’s this young lord’s family and people who are in danger, and he wants the only people he can trust to be in this room.” Raiden shifted forward slightly, his body tensing beside me. “If you don’t like it, then maybe we don’t need your men after all.”

  “Maybe you don’t.” Dreds countered with a frown. />
  “Now, hold on a moment.” Jack finally entered the conversation. “Let’s not let our emotions cloud our judgment. Dreds is right to be concerned for his men, as much as you are right to be concerned for your family, Raiden, but we all want the same thing here, to take back the east.” He paused and glanced around the room and, when no one objected, continued, “Leaving Lady Nariko on the throne would not be beneficial to anyone. Not with how she’s already made changes.”

  “Changes?” I twisted in my seat to look at Jack. “What do you mean?”

  Jack looked down at me a reluctant look in his eyes. “We just got word from some of the twins’ men on the inside that Lady Nariko has ordered a curfew on the people, limiting the market to being open for a very limited time each day, as well as banning any public gatherings of more than three people.”

  “Afraid of a revolt, I’m sure.” Raiden huffed. “My mother was always the suspicious type. Though she has right to be now.” He chuckled bitterly.

  “What about her friend?” Lord Fafnir asked. “Is Drac still holding the border?”

  Nodding, Jack placed a hand on my shoulder. “A bunch of cutthroats and pirates. The few scouts we’d sent out to check the situation barely made it out alive, some not at all.”

  “Should she be in here while we talk about this?” Deric gestured toward me with a concerned look. “It might be a bit … unpleasant for a woman in her condition.”

  Anger rage through me like an inferno. My hands gripped the edges of my chair as I leaned forward. “Are you implying that being pregnant means I no longer have a brain?”

  “No, of course not.” Deric tried to backtrack. “I’m just saying—”

  “What?” I snapped, my face heating until I felt almost feverish. “That I’m feeble and too delicate to hear the horrors of what my mother in law has done?”

  Deric tried to argue again, but I didn’t give him a chance.

  “I would think that I should have some say in all this since it all started with me. I should be the one to end it, don’t you think?” My voice rose to a shout, and even Firestar placed a hand on my arm, but I jerked it away. The heat spread now from my face to my arms and torso, as my anger grew exponentially.

  “Maya.” Firestar’s low rumble pulled my burning gaze from the ice dragon. “You’re burning up, and that’s saying something coming from me.”

  I glanced up at Firestar. “I’m fine.” But even I knew that was a lie. I’d never felt such a sudden fever come over me before, and I couldn’t stop it. The fiery rage filled me until I felt as if I might explode at any moment.

  “Maya?” This time it was Jack who said my name. The cool sound of his voice usually calmed me but, in this case, only irritated me further.

  “I said, I’m fine,” I shouted, turning in my seat to shove at him. At first, I wasn’t sure what had happened. One minute, Jack was standing there full of concern and the next he was slammed against the back wall, his jacket on fire.

  Shouts filled my ears as the ice dragons rushed to his side, using their magic to put out the flame. Horrified at what I’d done, I stared down at my hand with wide eyes and then back to Jack. I’d done that. That fire had come from me.

  “Maya?” Raiden’s hesitant voice barely registered in my ear. I glanced to the side where his hand hovered in mid-air as if afraid to touch me.

  A large warm hand landed on my arm, and my attention turned to Firestar. “You’re not hot anymore.”

  The statement made me realize he was right. The heat, the burning feeling had disappeared the moment I’d hit Jack. But what had caused it to begin with?

  “See?” Deric scoffed from Jack’s side. “She doesn’t need to be in here if she can’t control her own magic.”

  “It’s not my magic,” I snapped and then slowly said, “I think it’s the baby’s.” My eyes went to Firestar as I realized what the fireball meant. I didn’t have control over fire. I could control plants and do basic spells all dragons could use, like levitation, but fire? That wasn’t in my wheel house. But it was in Firestar’s.

  Firestar’s mouth dropped open at my implication, and then a proud sort of grin covered his lips.

  “Great.” Raiden snorted. “Now, he’s going to get a big head.”

  “You would too.” Firestar’s gaze snapped to Raiden’s.

  “Damn straight I would.” Raiden brushed his thumb against his nose and chuckled.

  “Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Jack snarked from the wall. My eyes shot back over to him, where he had proceeded to remove his ruined jacket and shirt. The pale, muscular expanse of his skin was unmarred by the flames. I licked my lips. I would never get enough of looking at my guys. I’d never figure out how I’d gotten so lucky.

  “Stop looking at me like that, love,” Jack commanded, and I shook my head, clearing the lust from my face.

  “Are you sure you’re alright?” I asked, suddenly feeling guilty about drooling over him when I’d just thrown him across the room.

  “Yes,” Jack answered, coming closer to me so I could inspect him. “Just a bit of bruising and a ruined suit. I liked that one by the way.” The amusement in his eyes wasn’t lost on me, and I grinned.

  “I’ll make it up to you.”

  “I’m sure you will.” Jack smiled slightly and traced my lips with his fingertip. “But now we have more pressing matters.”

  “Oh, yeah. The attack.” I nodded in agreement.

  “No, pet.” Raiden urged me to stand up. “He’s talking about you.”

  “What?” I glanced at the guys. “I’m fine now. I swear.”

  Firestar shook his head. “That might be the case, but I have to agree with Deric on this one. If you’re channeling our child’s abilities, anything that upsets you might be a hazard to anyone in this room.”

  I chewed on my lip. He had a point. I didn’t want to set our host on fire because he said something I didn’t like. Or the guys. Crap. Did that mean I’d have to stay away from everyone but Firestar? How would that work? Man, my head hurt.

  Sighing in defeat, I threw my hands up. “Fine. I guess I’ll just go to my room or something.”

  “Or,” Jack interjected before I could get to the door, “you could go to see Trina. Make sure everything is alright?”

  Nodding, I placed my hand on the door handle. “Sure. Good idea. I’ll do that.” I paused before opening the door. “You’ll fill me in later, right?”

  “Of course.” Lord Fafnir answered a serious expression on his face. “Just take care of yourself and please try not to burn down my house. It took centuries to get it right.”

  With a nervous chuckle, I darted out of the room. I had a feeling burning down the house would be the least of my worries. What am I going to do when I go into labor?

  3

  On the way to the infirmary, my insides were numb. I still couldn’t believe what had happened.

  I’d shot a fireball out of my hand! Out of all the things I’d expected from this pregnancy, that was not one of them.

  Glancing down at my stomach, I raised a brow. “Any more surprises you want to drop on me?” When she didn’t respond, I sighed and kept heading to the infirmary.

  Pushing the door open, I searched around for Trina, the head medic. I found her white head of hair bent over a patient, muttering some soothing words to a young man. From here, it looked like he’d broken his arm.

  I cleared my throat a few feet away from the end of his bed. Trina glanced up from the young man and held up a finger. I nodded and turned my gaze away from them giving him some privacy.

  When she was done Trina approached me. “Hello, Maya. How are you? Good?”

  I laced my fingers in front of me and rocked on my heels. “Besides, shooting fireballs out of my hand? Sure. Peachy.”

  Trina’s eyes widened and then she smoothed her face over. Clearing her throat, she looked down at her clipboard. “And I’m assuming that’s not normal?”

  “Not for an earth dragon, no.” I offered her
a small smile. “We think it might be something to do with the baby.”

  “So, you believe you may be channeling her powers?” Trina’s brow rose, and then she hummed. “That’s possible. It’s not entirely unheard of.” She started toward the back, and I assumed she meant for me to follow.

  “Why did you come down here by yourself?” Trina asked with a disapproving look. “I would think one of your men would want to be here for you. Especially after something as scary as a new power.”

  I shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about it at the time. Still, a bit shocked it happened really. Plus, there was the whole meeting going on about what to do with the East. I figure getting things moving there is probably more important than my little surprise.”

  “Never.”

  I turned, shocked to see Firestar standing in the doorway. Something tight inside of me relaxed. I hadn’t realized how freaked out I’d been. Without a word, I moved into his embrace letting his arms wrap around me. I inhaled deeply, loving the wood smoke scent that was distinctively his.

  “Thank you for being here,” I murmured into his chest, squeezing him tightly.

  “Even though it took us a second to realize we shouldn’t have let you go along?”

  I smiled up at him. “Even so. You’re here now.”

  “Yes, you are.” Trina sat her clipboard down with a loud clack. “And if you don’t mind, I have other patients to see so …?” She gestured for me to get on the examining table.

  Releasing Firestar, I moved onto the table and laid back. Firestar stepped up next to me and took my hand. I met his gaze, tightening my grasp in his.

  Trina lifted my shirt up, exposing my swollen stomach. She held her hand over my stomach, a soft glow coming from her palm. Instantly, I heard the heartbeat coming from my stomach. It made my throat clog up, and I swallowed thickly.

  Trying to force back my hormonal need to cry, I watched Trina’s face. Her brow furrowed tightly, and she cocked her head to the side.