by Kacey Mark
Shauna strained to open her swollen lids. Through blurry, red slits the hawk appeared, several feet away, rolling and twisting on the ground in inescapable pain, beyond the reach of Shauna’s flames, but locked inside the blistering shell of his own body. His waist and thighs were roasted to a lobster hue. Fragments of what could only be skin, hung like tattered rags.
The crackle of flames echoed amid scampering feet and the distant cry of fire from the other patrons. Pinpricks of water rained down from the cell’s sprinkler system. It did nothing to quell the blaze. Piercing alarms rang through the hall and metal doors slammed. Ghostly plumes of human bodies raced past Shauna’s cell.
Except one.
A large, dark figure marched toward her, through the swirling, back smoke. He bent over the lock near the cell door. Within seconds, the metal hinges screeched open. His attention never turned to the writhing man on the cell floor. He approached the ball of flames that fluttered and snapped around Shauna.
Too close. Stay back! She couldn’t force the words through her swollen throat.
The flames answered for her as they expanded in a threatening whoosh.
They consumed the man’s silhouette until he stood in the center of the orbiting flames.
Illuminated by the fire’s bright glow, no fear registered on Adrian’s hardened jaw. His chest expanded with a mighty breath. He pressed a fist just under his nose. The air rushed from his body again, through the funnel of his fist.
A cloud of jade-colored smoke burst from his hand, expanding and curling through the room, pushing out the smoke and crawling along the ceiling of her cell. Tiny, cooling grains hailed down on her. They bounced off Shauna’s skin like a hot frying pan. A faint, hissing sound grew until it overpowered everything else.
Shauna-flames bowed under the downpour. They weakened and flickered until they collapsed into nothing. The remainder of Shauna’s energy disappeared right along with them. She fought the heavy sag of her eyelids. The watery rise and fall of her vision brought sporadic dark and light glimpses of Adrian as he knelt beside her.
One thick arm supported her upper body as he unwound her from the tangle of chains and charred vinyl, then lowered her to the mat. He reached for her then retreated, as though unsure the safest place to touch.
Her exhausted mind couldn’t decipher the look on his face. Anger and concern tugged at his dark brows, and waged war in his eyes.
She wasn’t burned. Couldn’t he see that? She wanted to parrot the thought out loud, but the moment her mouth opened, she snapped it closed again.
Adrian rocked back on his heels and reached for the hem of his tee. Bronze muscles rippled animating the winged silhouette tattooed on his chest when Adrian pulled his shirt over his head.
He leaned over her.
Shauna drew in a painful gasp. She sent him a wide-eyed look of caution. He’d extinguished her, fair enough, but not even she got to pick and choose who she burned. Why would he put himself in that kind of danger?
Adrian’s face dropped all hint of emotion as he tugged his large tee shirt over her head. Shauna breath came easier as the dark cotton brushed her face. The warm smell of cinnamon and camphor soothed her charred sinuses. She wanted to burrow back inside the moment her head emerged, but Adrian wasn’t wasting time.
Her sock-monkey limbs flopped to her sides, first one then the other when he pulled them through the arm holes.
He tugged her upper body forward to drape over his shoulder. His knuckles brushed the edge of her breasts and the inward curve of her waist as he worked the shirt back and forth over her torso.
A shiver raced through her body.
If she angled her head just right, her cheek would graze the cool strength of his bare shoulder. Her face could find refuge in the corded muscles of his neck, feel something real and unharmed in her presence, if only for a moment, before her curse found its strength again.
But no. Her body up and quit on her. The best she could do was drool on him.
Shauna pushed out her lower lip in a pouty frown. After all this time, not a damn thing had changed.
Chapter Twelve
“Does any of this make sense?” Shauna stared at Adrian. “No?”
Her gaze hunted for any indications of life. Was she speaking a different language? It probably sounded that way. Every other word came out slathered with wet hiccups. He hadn’t asked for an explanation, But Shauna’s tongue kept rattling anyway, like a runaway baby buggy. Her brain couldn’t rise above infancy level. Her big girl britches had burned away.
First a brat, then a bawling brat. Could this night get any worse? She wiped her moist cheeks with the back of her hand.
The vehicle emitted a series of soft chimes. Adrian’s attention flicked to Shauna, then straight ahead through the tinted windows. What was that? Her timer? Was Adrian waiting for her blathering monologue to continue? He hadn’t said a word. His expression remained cool as polished granite.
What more did she expect? How should a man react to a wailing nutcase curled in his passenger seat? “You see? This is why I need you. My entire life has been ruined by this,” she held up her palms, “this blazing chastity belt.”
The vehicle chimed again.
Adrian’s tone remained even, ignoring the alert. “I wouldn’t say ruined. Inconvenienced maybe. You can still orgasm.”
“It’s not the same.” She sent him a harsh frown. “Stop sounding so damn clinical.”
The sharp-edged tattoo flexed its wings as Adrian gave an offhanded shrug. “Sex is overrated.”
“It is not,” she snapped. “Not when an entire empire can be built on it.” Shauna thumbed a gesture behind them where O’Nightingale’s had long since disappeared. “You of all people should know.”
Adrian’s attention leveled on the road. “I know what’s of value and what’s not.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, thank you.”
A moment of silence stretched between them. The throaty hum of the engine continued, unaffected, like the stubborn jerk behind the wheel. Maybe if she blew her nose in his shirt she’d get a reaction.
“The entire relationship between a man and woman hinges on it,” Shauna continued. “I-I’ll never have children. I’ll never be able to experience a moment so profound that it defies all reason and sends a person’s mind into a million different places at once.”
His gaze slid toward her and the corner of his mouth twitched with a wry smile. “You’ve been reading too many romance novels.”
Shauna’s eyes brimmed with fresh tears. Her dam of logic and resolve had crumbled. No way to hold it back now. She was melting. In a puddle of tears.
Oh, how attractive.
“Who spends an entire night in an underground sex club and still can’t get any action.” She jabbed an index finger towards her chest. “Me. That’s who. On my back,” she muttered in a smarmy tone. “What kind of lame ass come-on was that?”
“It served its purpose.”
“Stop trying to be so damn cordial.” The last word erupted in a pitiful cry. “What the hell is that?” Shauna asked as the vehicle chimed. Again.
“Your seatbelt.”
“Oh.” She stretched the belt across her torso. “Of course. Safety first.” She attempted to shove the tab into its metal buckle. “Not that I couldn’t use a good head injury about now.” She jabbed at the buckle again and missed. Her voice grew in frustration. “What is wrong with me? I’m in the middle of a…a fe-meltdown here. That’s not like me. I don’t do this kind of thing.”
The weight of his hand settled on hers, and the buckle clicked. “Hey. You’re crashing. The chocolate’s wearing off, that’s all. You’ll be fine in a few hours.”
Shauna gestured to her half-naked state and blurted between chest-lurching sobs. “Even in a moment like this, the best I can get is a pity pat on the hand. Even then, you’ll get burned.”
She paused. Swallowed. “Why aren’t you getting burned?”
“You’re lacking a f
ew things.”
Lacking? Her brows furrowed. She lowered her glance to the perky mounds beneath the black cotton. When Kimmy’s dress reduced to feather-light flakes of ash, it left her completely exposed. Maybe he didn’t like what he saw.
He angled his head and sent her a lopsided grin. “Not the outside. You’re body’s flawless.” He looked away. “It’s a combination. Male hormonal rage plus your fear equals combustion. You’re not afraid of me.”
“Well, isn’t that scholarly.”
“You’re not interested either. The chocolate’s elimination half-life drains sexual intrigue as it declines. You might crave more, but you aren’t capable.”
Shauna arched a sardonic brow. “Really. Well, mister smarty-pants, it just so happens that I’m never not in the mood. And I’m beyond capable. I’m a freakin’ slip-n-slide.”
Like a tumbling chain of clown scarves, she couldn’t pull those words back fast enough. The embarrassment that warmed her face couldn’t be hidden, no matter how deeply she pressed herself into the cool, leather backrest. “Just the whipped cream on my sundae, isn’t it?”
Good hell. Could she stop with the euphemisms now?
Adrian didn’t respond. His hand reached blindly for the pack of gum nestled in the center compartment near the gearshift, his gaze pinned on the road. The faint lines in his forehead deepened as though calculating her words.
“The only body that isn’t aching for it is the one behind the wheel.” Her sobs returned.
He folded a piece of gum into his mouth. His tone eased with a tender note of apology. “It’s nothing personal. The female’s tear composition contains a chemical component that—let’s just say now’s not the time.”
Silence passed between them.
Shauna wrapped her arms around her legs and propped her chin in the crevice of her knees. She muttered aloud. “Who would want to make love to a leaky, red-nosed faucet anyway?”
A muscle twitched with every hypnotic churn of Adrian’s jaw as he worked the gum in his mouth.
“I-I thought I was getting better,” she reasoned.
Adrian frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, but Shauna was faster.
“If I couldn’t find someone to help me, at least I’d found a place where I’d be accepted. I mean, at least Onyx—”
“Was a woman.”
“What?” Shauna shot him a deadpan look. “What.” She demanded louder. “Oh—no—no, unzip those lips. I want an explanation. A woman?” she sputtered. She tried to shake the thought from her head. To clear the cobwebs that must have clouded her vision.
Her touch.
Her sense of smell, and her better judgment.
“Well, who else knew about this?” she stammered.
Adrian’s chest bounced in a quiet snort. “Everyone. Didn’t you notice you failed to react to him—”
“Her…No. I didn’t notice. And I did react.” She lowered her head. “Sort of.”
Her nerve endings danced with delicious arousal every time Onyx touched her. The chocolate had swayed her body to react to everyone and everything. She got that. But what if all her male deprivation turned her awareness toward the safer alternative.
The safer sex.
It’s not as if the thought hadn’t crossed her mind a time or two. That would be the easier solution. But in the end, her puzzle piece didn’t fit that way. Her heart couldn’t fathom it.
What if her body had other plans?
The car slowed. “Shauna…It doesn’t mean anything.”
“You’ve turned me into a lesbian,” she wailed. “And I don’t even like girls!”
Adrian pushed out a sigh of frustration. The car rolled to a stop outside a mountain-style home with darkened, floor-to-ceiling windows and rough timber beams. The home looked new, but not the surroundings.
She’d seen this land before. Not from this specific angle, but the arched bridge over the pond—there weren’t many of those around.
He turned off the ignition.
Shauna looked to the house, then back to Adrian. “Where are we? This is our old neighborhood.”
“My place.”
“The Wilson farm?” Her gaze spanned the overgrown, moonlit-field to the east side of the home. The quiet, rippling pond to the west. “But how?”
He jerked his head in the direction of the front door. “Come on.”
Shauna crumpled with all the reluctance of a sulking toddler when Adrian opened her door. “You’re killing me with this nobility crap. I don’t want your couch. Just throw me back in your lake already.”
He bent low and scooped an arm under her legs. “You take my bed. I’ll use the couch.”
“Isn’t your bed big enough to share?”
“Nope.” He grunted.
“I don’t take up much space.”
“I do.”
“I only need a sliver.”
“I need it all.”
“Well, that’s what I was offering you.”
Adrian paused. He closed his eyes for a moment, then continued his steady pace.
“Adrian—” Her tone softened. “Please don’t make me beg. I need this. No one else can give me what you can—the cure, I mean.” Shauna tipped her head in consideration. “Don’t get me wrong. I really need the other thing too, but they go hand in hand.”
Adrian tipped her forward a bit as he turned the doorknob, then hitched her higher as he continued his march into the house.
“I’m sure you could get any girl in the city you wanted, but you did go to Nightingale’s for a reason.” She brushed along his stubbled jaw line with the pad of her fingertips. “I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure you need a little something too.”
“I really want to give it to you.” Shauna’s chest tightened with the giddy thrill of Adrian taking her up on her offer. The warmth of his arms against her bare legs caused a rush of moisture to pool between her legs.
His breathing grew weighted. Whether from carrying her through the house or warring with his better sense, she wasn’t sure.
Better to tip the scale just in case. “You can turn off the lights if you want. Pretend I’m someone else—”
“Stop talking,” he growled.
Was that a no?
When he lowered her into the bedside armchair, Shauna grasped his biceps. Her hands weren’t large enough to circle them completely, but Adrian got the hint. He didn’t move from his crouched position in front of her.
She searched his face. Would he really turn her away? “Please. Please I need this. You owe me this.” She grazed his hand with the soft inner portion of her thigh.
Adrian’s head lowered in defeat.
Somewhere inside Shauna, Marti Gras had unleashed. Complete with confetti, fireworks, and the urgent need to take off her top.
He paused. Pulled the gum from his mouth. His gaze considered it for several seconds before he offered it to her.
She frowned.
“Take it.”
Her inward party faltered to an awkward silence. She plucked the wad from between his fingers and put it in her mouth. ABC gum. This was his idea of intimacy? She buried her curt remarks before they could form full sentences and chewed.
Her gaze followed Adrian warily as he stood and turned away from her. He lifted a wide-bottomed container from a collection of glass vessels on his nightstand and poured a cloudy substance into his hand.
His gaze raced over the pouring liquid as if taking stock of every atom. He hesitated with the bottle until a last, tiny drop let go of the container’s lip and fell. He lowered the glass.
Shauna pressed her lips together. She craned her neck, leaning to one side then the other, catching sporadic glimpses of Adrian as he gathered secrets from all corners of the room and dove into his work.
This had been the closest she’d ever come to Adrian. It might not be sex.
Yet.
Her eyes squeezed shut. It might not be a cure, yet. But a step is a step. After all, how many people could he have
chewed gum with?
He crossed the room to a sage-looking plant affixed with dried, trumpet-shaped flower husks. Adrian curled his other hand around one of the out-branching limbs. With a quick yank, he stripped the husks from their stem.
Adrian clasped his large palms together and mixed his ingredients with an undulating motion of his hands.
Hello? Sex club? He’d been swapping spit underground with half the metropolitan area, and a little gum is supposed to make me happy?
Maybe it’s like in Pretty Woman. No kissing on the mouth. Or in his case, sharing gum.
Her shoulders fell in their sockets. Oh, who am I kidding? This is just weird.
“How does it taste?” he asked.
Her response fell flat. “Like gum.”
“More specific.”
Her eyes rolled in their sockets, and she offered a reluctant head bob. “Like mint…strawberry mint.”
He cast the mixture in his hand onto the bed of rumpled sheets. Fairy-sized globes of fluid scattered and jumped through the folds of cotton, but they didn’t soak in.
Adrian grasped the bed linens. With a sharp flick of his wrist, the sheets billowed. The mixture arced through the air. It fizzled and popped like soda bubbles leaping over the edge of an ice-filled glass. Just as the nearly undetectable mixture began its descent, it slowed and hung midair. It danced and spun through the breeze, driven by the giant fan above the bed. The mixture’s reach spread from ceiling to floor. It colored the air with a translucent purple glow, and flavored it with the scent of crisp, red apples.
Shauna opened her mouth to speak, but her words dead-ended in wonder.
The weight of Adrian’s stare brought her attention away from the glittery curtain of fumes. A sultry hunger grew to life from deep inside those stormy blues. A look that put her snow globe stomach from years past on spin cycle.
“It’s not just a curse, it’s a guardian too,” he stated.
Her brows lifted with skepticism. “My flames? To guard against what?”
