“Need some company?” Jasin asked, sitting up and drawing my eyes back to his naked and very appealing chest.
“Not a chance,” I managed to say.
He shrugged, with a sinful smile on his lips. “The offer is always open in case you’d like to practice before we arrive at the Fire Temple.”
I ignored him as I prepared for bed, although I wondered if practicing wasn’t a bad idea. But the other three men were all watching us, and I knew they’d heard what he’d offered. Would they be jealous when Jasin was the first to bond with me? Or grateful it didn’t have to be one of them?
19
Reven
With my arms crossed, I kept a wary eye on Jasin as he threw streams of fire toward the wall of the cave. I’d already had to put out his flames twice yesterday. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had to do it again now. The man was reckless and out of control, although I had to admit he was a skilled fighter. I wouldn’t want to face him in combat, but I didn’t trust him not to get us all killed either.
Outside the cave, Slade lifted small pebbles and tossed them at Auric, who blasted them away with a strong gust. A blacksmith and a nobleman. I had little in common with either one and no desire to know them better. I got the feeling they were both hiding something too, but then again, who among us wasn’t?
On the other side of the cave, Kira was packing up the last of our camp so we could get back on the road soon. I caught myself staring at her as she straightened up and threw her bag over her shoulder, admiring the curves of her body in that thin dress and the way her hair brushed against her graceful neck. I turned away with a frown. I shouldn’t be looking at her like that. Not when I had no plans to make her mine.
“Are you going to practice your magic too?” she asked, as she walked over to me.
“I’m fine.” I didn’t plan on keeping these powers much longer either.
She tilted her head and examined me. “I suppose you don’t need magic to stay safe anyway. Where did you learn to fight like that?”
I gave her the side-eye. Once again, she was trying to learn about my past. If only she knew how similar our childhoods had been. But I never talked about that. “Here and there.”
She sighed and began to turn away. “I get it. You don’t want to talk to me.”
Something ached in my chest at the disappointment in her voice. No doubt because of this stupid magical connection between us, nothing more. It made me desire her and care for her, even if I didn’t want to. Gods, I couldn’t wait for this spell to be broken.
“My father taught me,” I reluctantly said. “He was a great swordsman.”
She paused and considered me again. “Do you think you could teach me as well? I’d like to be able to fight better at close range.”
“I can do that.” If we were training, I wouldn’t have to talk about my past or think about how much I wanted her. I drew both of my swords and handed one of them to her.
She examined the finely crafted blade, which was black and carved with elaborate designs. “This is beautiful. Your father’s?”
“They were, yes.” I gripped the matching blade in my hand. “How much do you know about sword fighting?”
“I’ve been trained in the basics before and I’m pretty good with a dagger.” She got into position, holding the blade out as if ready for an attack. “Maybe you can give me some tips and help me practice.”
“First of all, you’d be better off holding the sword like this.” I moved close and adjusted her fingers on the hilt. As we touched, the connection between us snapped into place, like when she’d healed me yesterday. I jerked my hand away and stepped back quickly. “See if that’s better.”
She swung the sword and nodded. “I think so.”
“Let’s see what we’re working with.” I lunged toward her, moving slower than I normally did. She raised her blade to meet mine with some hesitation, her movements a bit jerky. I swung again and she managed to dodge, then sliced toward me. I parried her, but with each second, I could tell her confidence was growing as she remembered how to use a sword. She’d clearly had some training before, but she was out of practice and still had a lot to learn.
“Not bad,” I said. “Where did you learn to fight?”
“The merchants taught me a little, and the rest…” Her face paled and she looked away. “I’d rather not say right now. We all have things in our past we’d prefer not to discuss.”
“That we do.” I gestured for her to attack me again.
We did another round, and by the end of it she was breathing quickly, her chest rising and falling in a way that made it hard not to stare at her full breasts. I couldn’t deny she was beautiful, or that I wanted her in my bed. That would be true even without the damn magic tugging me toward her. It simply made it harder to resist her. But I’d lived my entire life exercising control over myself and my surroundings, and I wasn’t about to let a pretty face and alluring body ruin all of that.
As I stared at her, she managed to catch me off guard and almost landed a blow. “Aha!” she said, laughing.
I scowled at her. “I let you get that one to boost your confidence.”
“Of course you did,” she teased.
We were about to go again, when Auric suddenly let out a pained sound, and we both turned toward him. Kira rushed out of the cave, with me right at her heels and Jasin a step behind us. I was instantly alert, worried the bandits had returned. Or worse, that the elementals had found us.
Auric was on the ground, nursing a cut on his cheek. “It’s nothing. Slade nicked me with a rock.”
Slade offered Auric his hand to help him up. “Sorry about that.”
“It was my fault, I missed that one,” Auric said, as he stood up and brushed himself off.
Kira moved close to Auric, inspecting his face. “I suppose it gives me a good excuse to practice healing you.”
She brushed her fingers against the gash on his cheek, while he stared at her with lovesick eyes. Pathetic. Except as she caressed his face, jealousy boiled up in me. I wanted her to touch me like that, not him. Gods, now I was the pathetic one.
She pulled back and smiled at Auric. “All fixed.”
“My thanks.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. “You’re truly amazing, Kira.”
Jasin grinned at her. “Now we’re going to get injured just so you have an excuse to touch us.”
She shook her head with an amused smile. “Please don’t.”
A strange sound came from the east, overhead. A huge gust of wind. The flap of large wings. The rustle of many trees.
I knew that sound.
“Get in the cave!” I grabbed Kira’s arm and dragged her inside before she could protest. “Hurry!”
“What is it?” Slade asked, as the others rushed inside behind us.
“A Dragon,” I said.
“What?” Kira’s eyes went wide, but she didn’t pull away from me, and I didn’t release her arm. I didn’t trust these other guys to protect her the way I could. None of them knew the danger that was coming for us, not the way I did. Kira knew, though. She understood all too well what the Dragons could do.
“Quick, cover the mouth of the cave,” Auric told Slade.
Slade gestured and some of the large rocks moved in front of the cave entrance, though they left a small enough opening for us to peer through. We each crowded around it and watched as the dragon appeared over the forest, his large wings spread wide, casting huge shadows on the trees. Dark blue scales flashed under the sun, and even from this distance his sharp talons were visible, as was his long tail.
The Azure Dragon circled overhead twice, as if looking for something, before finally moving on. The cave was entirely silent while we watched him, as if we were each holding our breath, and only when he disappeared from sight did we all take a collective exhale.
“Was he looking for us?” Kira asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“No way,” Jasin said. “How would he know about us?
”
Auric frowned as he gazed at the sky. “Some of the bandits might have gotten away and started spreading rumors about people with magic. Maybe he heard them somehow.”
“Or maybe it was a coincidence and he’s looking for someone else,” Slade said.
I realized I was still holding Kira close even though the danger had passed. I quickly released her. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get moving anyway.”
I glanced back at the sky, at the spot where the Azure Dragon had soared over us. That was supposed to be me one day.
Not if I could help it.
20
Kira
We stayed off the road as much as we could, eager to remain out of sight between the bandit attack and the Azure Dragon flying over us. I mentally shuddered remembering his dark wings soaring through the sky and that long tail stretched behind him.
I’d seen him once before when I was fourteen. He’d come to a village in the Air Realm I’d been visiting with the traveling merchants. I’d wandered off to pet some kittens in the inn’s stables when the Azure Dragon, Doran, swooped down and landed in the center of the town. I’d peered through the wooden slats of the stables as he changed back into a tall man with blond hair that hung past his shoulders. I was terrified he was going to flood the entire village or drown someone, but all he did was talk to one of the merchants briefly before casting his gaze in the direction of the stables. His eyes were cold and piercing, and I had the horrible sense that he would find me and finish the job the Crimson Dragon had started. But then he turned away, shifted back into his dragon form, and flew off without a word.
Just to be safe, I’d left the village that night on my own. The merchant family had treated me well, almost like another daughter, and I hated abandoning them without a word, but the memory of my parents’ deaths convinced me they would be safer without me around. Later I decided I’d been paranoid, that it was a mere coincidence that the Azure Dragon had shown up while we were there. He had no reason to look for me.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
None of us seemed to feel like chatting much throughout the day, and we made good progress toward the Air Realm without encountering any danger. When night began to fall we paused near a larger town, and Auric pulled out his map.
“We should stop there for the evening,” he said. “According to this map it’s a town called Rockworth and should be large enough for us to buy some new clothes.”
Reven frowned. “It would be safer if we avoided towns entirely.”
“The horses need to eat and rest,” Jasin said. “And so do we.”
Slade rubbed his dark beard. “We should stock up on supplies too if we’re going to be avoiding towns in the future. Especially since we didn’t get anything from that village yesterday.”
I gazed at the wooden roofs of the town, barely visible over the stone wall surrounding it with a small moat, likely to protect it from elementals. “Let’s stop for the night, but be especially cautious while we’re there. Auric, maybe you can borrow clothes from Reven or Slade so you don’t stand out as much.”
The men grumbled, but we stopped in the forest so they could change their clothes. I was already wearing one of my ragged dresses with my cloak over it. Jasin kept his black trousers from his uniform but donned a plain gray shirt from his pack. Auric’s fine silk clothes went in his bag, and Slade gave him a pair of brown trousers, while Reven reluctantly let Auric use one of his black shirts. They didn’t fit Auric perfectly, but they were good enough for now.
Once we all looked like any other group of weary travelers, we headed for the town. I rode with Auric, breathing in his clean, fresh scent as I held onto his back. Of all the men, I felt the most comfortable with him so far, which surprised me. On the surface we had little in common, but something about his cool, logical mind put me at ease. I also appreciated that he wanted to learn as much about me as he could, and the way he flattered me with his attention. And unlike Jasin, he seemed to want me for more than just sex.
Auric’s horse led us to the open gates, where the Onyx Army had guards posted to inspect everyone who went in or out. They regarded us suspiciously and I grew nervous they’d stop us. Reven slipped some coins into their palms as if he’d done it a hundred times before, and then they let us go through with barely a second glance.
Rockworth was more than double the size of Stoneham and many other horses and carriages filled the road, along with people walking along the side of it. We passed a bustling market with men and women selling their wares, before stopping at the first inn we saw.
The inn was called the Knight’s Reprieve and was crowded with dozens of travelers in the tavern grabbing some supper. Slade and Auric arranged for us to get the last two rooms, before we headed into the tavern ourselves. The room smelled faintly of warm food and was loud with the sounds of eating, talking, and music from a man playing fiddle in the corner. Reven slipped through the crowd easily and managed to grab us the last free table, but it only had four chairs.
“It’s fine,” Slade said. “I’ll sit at the bar and see if I can get any information from the other travelers.”
“Good idea,” Auric said.
As Slade took a stool at the bar, Jasin pulled out a chair at the table for me, before immediately claiming the one to my right. Auric got a journal out of his bag and began jotting down some notes, while Reven sat against the wall, his arms crossed as he eyed everyone in the tavern with suspicion.
A waitress with a low-cut dress that probably got her a lot of tips came over to our table, and her face lit up when she saw the man at my side. “Jasin! What are you doing here?”
Jasin flashed her the same charming grin he often gave me. “Just stopping in for a night.”
“Is that so?” She leaned close, accentuating her ample cleavage. “I’m so happy you’re back in town.”
“It’s good to see you, Minda. How’ve you been?”
“Good, but even better now that you’re here,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “My sister will be excited to know you’re back too.”
“Tell her I said hello,” he replied, while my fists clenched under the table. That familiar possessiveness rose up in me again, and this time it was harder to push down. Jasin and the others were supposed to be my mates and all, but even ignoring that, I’d spent the last few days traveling with them, sleeping near them, and fighting alongside them. Maybe I had a little bit of a right to be possessive at this point.
“I will.” She trailed a hand lightly along his shoulders and her voice turned sultry. “And if you need a room tonight, ours is free.”
He cleared his throat, glancing at me. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got a room.”
“Too bad. We had a lot of fun last time. Let me know if you change your mind.” She removed her hand, casting me a quick, appraising look. “I’ll get you all some food.”
After she walked away, I turned to Jasin, my blood boiling. “You slept with both sisters?”
“I did, yeah.” His eyebrows darted up. “Long before I met you. Is that a problem?” He gestured at the other men. “And should you really judge me when you’re going to sleep with all four of us?”
“I’m not judging, I’m just—” The words died on my mouth and I looked away, still seething.
“What? Jealous?”
“No!” My cheeks flushed, because that’s exactly how I was feeling.
He gave me that infuriatingly sexy grin. “I told you my bed’s always open to you.”
“Me and every other woman, it seems.” I jumped to my feet, making the guys glance up at me with worried expressions. “I just need a moment. Feel free to start eating without me.”
I headed out the front door of the inn, then walked around the side of it until I was near the stables and away from everyone else. My heart raced, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Gods, why was I so upset? I’d only met Jasin a few days ago and we’d never made any promises to each other. What he did in the past—or even now�
��wasn’t any of my business. He’d already admitted that he liked women. Lots of women. Which was fine, really. I didn’t have any real claim over him, just some weird magical bond drawing us together. Without that, we would be strangers. So why did it hurt so badly when I saw him flirting with that woman?
“Kira, are you okay?” Auric asked.
I turned toward him, trying to keep my face blank. “I’m fine. Just needed some fresh air.”
He moved closer, making me keenly aware of his height. “This situation is strange and overwhelming for all of us, but especially for you, I’m sure. It makes sense you would need to take a break from it now and then. But I just want you to know I’m here if you ever need to talk about it.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “I’m not sure it’s possible to take a break from it either. This is my life now, and for better or worse, I’m stuck with the four of you. And you’re all stuck with me.”
Auric touched my cheek, his stormy eyes locked on mine. “I don’t know about the other guys, but I’m glad I’m stuck with you.”
“You are?” I asked, resting my hand over his. I remembered the moment we’d shared this morning when I’d healed him, and my eyes dropped to his mouth. I’d wanted to kiss him then, but the other guys had been watching. Now we were alone.
“I know you think none of us want to be here, but I do. Everything about this feels right.” He lowered his head, his fingers tracing my lips. “Including this.”
With one hand on my jaw he pressed his mouth to mine, while his other hand slid to my lower back to pull me against him. Sparks flashed between us as he teased my lips open, before stroking me slowly with his tongue. With a soft gasp, I wrapped my arms around his neck, wanting even more. It had been way too long since anyone had kissed me, but my body seemed to remember how to respond. Or maybe it was Auric who did that to me.
At first, I’d thought Auric might be snobbish or distant with his fine clothes and his head always buried in a book, but his kiss was anything but. He took his time with my mouth, learning what I responded to most, and soon he made me forget everything I’d been upset about. All I could think about was this rush of desire that swept through me at his touch, and how I wanted more.
Stroke The Flame Page 8
