Licked by the Flame

by Serena Gilley

  His mind became a vast, wide space. Nothing was there, only openness and warmth. And Lianne. He could see her, moving toward him, reaching to hold him.

  He took her into his arms. Her skin was cool against him, her curves pressed against him in all the right places. He ran his hands over her back, cupping her round bottom and pulling her tighter. His cock was hard and eager for her already. She slid her body against him, the sensations making him grow hotter.

  Yes, Nic, that’s what I want, she was whispering. I want you. Make love to me now. I need you, Nic.

  Her breasts bobbed before him, full and perky with pink nipples just begging for his attention. He bent to suckle at one, then the other. She moaned with pleasure, pressing her body tighter against his.

  Now her delicate hand found his throbbing member. She grasped him, held his cock as if it were her lifeline for salvation. She stroked him tentatively, cautiously, her emerald eyes bright with expectation and wonder.

  Do what you want. You won’t harm me, he assured her.

  His words seemed to encourage her, so her hold on him grew tighter. Now it was his turn to moan from the sensations. She pulled him closer, her body practically melting into his. He could feel the heat from her core. She was soft and radiating with want. He couldn’t hold back anymore.

  He hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. They were floating in emptiness, supported by nothing more than their passion and the desire that drove them together. He thrust himself into her, growling with pleasure as her tight, wet body invited him deeper.

  He held her there, pushing into her and reveling in the feel of her pushing back. The perfect dance of their union went on, each moment more blissful than the last as desire and love became one with their thoughts, their unspoken communion. She whispered his name over and over, and each time he plunged himself deeper and deeper into her. The passion filled him until it seemed he might burst from it. Still, she was begging for more so he gave it.

  She was the one he had spent his life wanting. He’d never been fully empowered, never truly maintained his full strength. Always he’d needed to move on, from one partner to another. This time—finally—he’d found the one who could make him complete and give him what he’d never had.

  The power surged within him. She threw her head back and cried out, venting her passion as she came in his arms. He watched her release with amazement and with gratitude. The sight of her so enthralled sent him beyond his own threshold, the climax taking him and carrying him with her to ecstasy.

  There were no physical bounds to this passion. It rolled on and on, tossing them over and over as they held on to each other. He was inside her and she was inside him. They were one being, one mass of passion and sensation. He gave her everything that he had and waited for the end to arrive.

  He would be content to stay just like this for the rest of their lives.

  * * *

  She clung to him, her body reacting to his thoughts every bit as much as it had to his physical touch. He was remarkable, and she loved him completely. She barely felt the rough edges of his heated scales, the searing moisture from his breath, or the jagged planes of his beautiful, alien features. She stroked his cheek, traced the long, steaming line of his jaw, and looped her arm over his neck to help hold herself upright. Her body thrilled and sang with the same satisfied electricity she’d felt last night in his bed.

  She had to concentrate on breathing while her body regained control of itself. For those few moments, her pain was gone and it was as if she and Nic could go on this way forever. Now, sadly, the sights and sounds around her were starting to infiltrate her private place of bliss, and she would soon, she feared, be saying good-bye.

  She didn’t feel like dying quite yet and held herself closer to him. He shifted and swept her into his huge, heated embrace. His powerful arms encircled her and she marveled at how deadly they appeared, yet how gentle he was. She leaned her face against his warm chest and studied the metallic sheen of his talons as they rested against her arm. He was so huge that she felt nearly invisible nestled up against him this way. It was wonderful.

  “It’s no wonder I never felt like my life mattered to anyone,” she murmured. “I never had you as a part of it.”

  “Well, I’m a part of it now, however much more of it you have,” he replied.

  “Can’t be too much,” she said, not really caring one way or another at this point. “At least I’ll be with you when that machine blows.”

  “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather meet my demise with,” he said, almost with a laugh as if it weren’t the saddest thing ever that they should finally find each other just when all hope was lost.

  “Unless, of course,” he added, “we might not be meeting our demise just yet.”

  She frowned, his words not making sense. What was he saying? She’d gotten used to the idea of dying in his arms here. But, obviously that hadn’t happened yet. How much longer could that thing go on? It had been buzzing and humming and sucking up energy and magic like crazy. It couldn’t possibly contain too much more before…

  “Um, I don’t hear the machine anymore,” she said after a pause.

  “No, it appears that you did it, Lianne. Your insane idea worked. We generated enough passion to short the thing out before it got to critical overload.”

  “You mean…we’re not going to blow up?”

  “Not right now, at least.”

  It was a lot to take in. She had to think about it for a moment before it dawned on her that Nic’s voice was sounding a lot stronger now, too. And he was holding her! He could move again, somehow.

  “You’re getting your strength back,” she noted. “Damn it, Nic, we did it! We’re not going to die!”

  He gave her a playful squeeze and shook his huge head. “No, I guess we’re not. Hell, you saved all of us, Lianne.”

  “It was a team effort, you’ll have to admit. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have done that without you.”

  “And I know I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  She nuzzled against him. “Well, if you’re getting your strength back and we’re not about to be tragically vaporized, I have a strong suspicion that it won’t be too long before you get to do it with me again.”

  He laughed at her. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s still that little matter of your injuries we need to deal with. I’ve still got to find a way to get you medical help.”

  “Me? What about you? You’ve been banged up and beat on just as much as I have. See? Look at those burns on your face, and that tear in your wing, and…hell, Nic, did you know there’s a huge cut on your shoulder here? You’re bleeding a lot. Let me take a look at it. Does it hurt when I—”

  He suddenly thrust her away from him. She staggered back in shock, wondering what she did to offend him this way.

  “Don’t touch it! Damn it, Lianne, you’ve got my blood on your hands.”

  “I was just trying to help you, Nic. I’m sorry if I hurt you, but—”

  “My blood is poison to you, Lianne. Hell, why didn’t I think about that? I was just so damn glad to have you with me, I didn’t even think about how messed up I might be. Hurry, wipe it off on something.”

  He was moving around quickly now, rousing his huge form and nimbly grabbing her hands to examine them. She was startled by his actions and his words, of course, but clearly he was overreacting. Other than smears of rich, scarlet blood staining her hands, she was fine.

  “It’s okay, it’s only a little bit,” she assured him, wiping her hands on her slacks and waving them to show him no harm had been done.

  Her slacks, however, immediately began to sizzle. Swatches of fabric fell away where the blood had left a trail. She blinked in amazement, and noticed that other patches of her clothing had mysteriously melted away.

  “Um, your blood is dissolving my clothes. Is that normal?”

  He watched her carefully. “I think it’s dissolving the areas where your own blood had a
lready stained your clothes.”

  “Your blood is attacking my blood?”

  “I told you it was toxic.”

  “But I feel just fine,” she said, more than a little perplexed.

  He studied her, still careful to keep his distance. “What did the fairies do to you, exactly?”

  “I don’t know. They threw some sparkly dust in the air and the green guy said it would give me extra strength for a while, the gold-colored one said he was something called a Summer Fairy and he was doing whatever it is that he does to make flowers bloom—isn’t that a riot?—and the pink one said she’d grant me a wish.”

  “And what did you wish for?”

  She gave him a sly grin for that one. “I wished for lots of really awesome sex with you for the rest of my life. Hell, if wishing for stuff works, then you’re kind of stuck with me for a while, I’m afraid!”

  “That kind of wishing does work, I assure you. I’m just really at a loss as for how you can still be alive, though.”

  She shrugged. “They did their Fairy Dust thing and I came in here with you.”

  “And you touched me,” he said. “You must have gotten my blood all over you.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I was kind of a bloody mess already. Seriously, I must look truly disgusting right now.”

  “You look beautiful. You look…glowing. And hot.”

  “And you are a terrible liar. I totally do not look glowing or hot right now.”

  “No, I’m serious. Lianne, look at yourself. Your skin…it’s glowing. You’re becoming red hot!”

  He was right. She glanced down at herself and discovered the pores of her skin seemed to be emitting a strange red glow. She was on fire! Her clothes—what was left of them—suddenly burst into flame and burned entirely off her body. She danced around, desperate to get away from them, but oddly enough nothing hurt.

  She looked to Nic, frantic for him to tell her things were all right. She felt itchy and prickly all over, and suddenly the heat rolling off the lava pool started to lose its pungent sting. Despite quite literally combusting a minute ago, she felt suddenly chilled. She met Nic’s eyes and wondered why he was shrinking in front of her.

  No, wait. He wasn’t shrinking—she was growing! Her head was suddenly rising higher off the chamber floor. She felt as if she could stand up halfway to the immeasurably high ceiling. She threw her shoulders back and…holy shit, she had wings!

  “Oh my God, Nic. What’s happening to me?”

  He opened his wide dragon mouth to speak but he could not. He rose up with her, his eyes scanning over her head to toe, and his wings unfurling in wonder. She blinked and let out an amazed breath. A puff of steam blew out of her nose.

  “Steam, Nic. I’ve got steam coming out my nose. What the hell is going on?”

  “Well, it appears to me you’re turning into a dragon.”

  “A dragon? I can’t turn into a dragon! You can turn into a human, but I absolutely cannot turn into a dragon.”

  “I believe you just did.”

  “Well, undo it! How did this happen, Nic?”

  “I don’t know. It must have been the combination of Fairy Dust, wishes, and the dragon blood you got on yourself. It must have mixed with your blood and the magic just let it co-mingle—probably it had something to do with that flower bloom magic, I would guess.”

  “You would guess? But what does this mean?”

  “It means I’m not toxic to you, Lianne. We’ve got the same blood now.”

  She was twisting, thrashing her long neck around to look at her terrifying new body from every angle. No matter how she viewed it, she was a dragon, not as dark and scary looking as Nic, but truly a dragon. She had leathery wings, sharp pointy talons, and a long snakelike tail. Damn, but it was going to take her a while to get used to that.

  “Do I…do I look okay like this?”

  He laughed at her again and she noticed that the heat behind his scales flamed brighter. “Yes. You do. You are one very sexy dragon.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Nic. If I’m some dumpy, awkward-looking dragon, you’d better tell me now.”

  “You are beautiful, Lianne. I promise. If you’d like, though, I can teach you how to return to your usual form. It won’t be easy at first, but you’ll get the hang of it.”

  “So I don’t have to always look like this? Well, that’s a relief. Not that you don’t rock the dragon skin, but…damn it, Nic, how the hell did I turn into a dragon?”

  “Maybe we’ll find those fairies again someday and force them to tell us.”

  “Do you think we can make them reverse this?”

  “Do you want them to?”

  She had to pause for a moment at that. Did she want them to? This was quite a lot to take in all at once, sure, but if she let herself think about it for a little bit maybe it wasn’t so frightening, after all.

  Nic was a dragon. He was one hell of a dragon, actually, and she was crazy for him. He was still running his eyes over her and he didn’t look at all freaked out by the dramatic change in her appearance. He liked it, in fact, and she didn’t need telepathy to know what the steamy look in his eye and the lazy smoke seeping out of him meant.

  But if she was a dragon now, then she would have that telepathy thing. He could teach her to do his mind-control trick! And if she wanted to go shopping for cute shoes, she could still do that once she mastered the knack of changing her form. Most of all, she and Nic could be together wherever he needed to be. She could stay here with him and take care of his clutch.

  And there would be lots and lots of ragingly hot sex, that went without saying.

  “Yeah. Lots of hot sex,” he assured her, obviously reading her thoughts.

  “I think I’m kind of warming up to this,” she said. “I can’t really see a downside. This might not be a bad way to spend my last few months.”

  “Sorry, I have to correct you there,” he said, shaking his head.

  “What, you think this will alter my life expectancy now?”

  “I do. Dragons live for centuries, my dear.”

  “Dragons like you live for centuries, Nic. I’m kind of a special case,” she reminded him, tapping her head where that damn brain tumor waited to ruin all the fun.

  He just smiled at her and puffed out a white smoke ring. “There’s one more detail you ought to know, darling.”

  “Oh? What’s that, pookey bear?”

  “Dragons don’t get cancer.”

  No cancer? Oh hell, yes. She was totally on board.

  “Okay. I’m sold. If you’re feeling up to it, buddy, you’d better either teach me how to shift back into my regular body, or tell me where dragons keep their erogenous zones, because you and I are sooooo going to party right now.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Raea made herself comfortable in the tuft of moss in the sheltered cleft of a rock where she and Kyne had decided to rest and wait out the last bits of the storm. They’d used so much of their dust on assisting the woman that they would need to fly home using wind currents rather than magic. It was worth it, though. By all appearances, their efforts worked. She glanced back toward the distant silhouette of the mountain.

  “Still no sign of an explosion,” she noted.

  “But of course,” Kyne said with a yawn. “You grant good wishes. I’m sure everything worked out just fine for them. Now settle in here and get some rest. We’re out of dust, so it’ll be a long journey home.”

  “Swift said we should have no trouble getting to the land of the Celts,” she pointed out. “He says there are plenty of local fairies there to give us some dust for the rest of the way.”

  “If we think we can trust that. I’m not ready to put Swift on my list of best friends.”

  “I know he wasn’t very nice to us before, but maybe he’s changing,” she offered.

  Kyne grunted in response. She decided to drop the subject. Their green companion had returned to his ship, insisting that he wouldn’t mention anything about th
em or what had really happened inside the mountain. He planned to say that unknown forces had destroyed the equipment and everyone inside the mountain. Clearly that place was too dangerous to return to.

  Raea and Kyne had gone to the jobsite where the humans had been staging their research on the mountain and surrounding areas. They used the last bit of their dust to allow seeds of panic to germinate among the group, convincing them all that the mountain was unstable and that cave-ins had taken the lives of all three humans who had gone there. No doubt the project would be canceled and the humans would vacate the area. The clutch of dragon eggs would be safe. Nic and his human would survive their ordeal, and the plot against the dragons would fail.

  But now Raea’s eyes were heavy and she could hardly keep them open. Kyne was right. She really should get some rest. The sun was already up over the horizon, breaking through the clouds as they swirled and dissipated overhead. Soon it would be fully daylight. They would travel then. It would be warmer, and their auras would not glow so conspicuously when they approached populated areas. She snuggled closer to Kyne and took his hand.

  “I hope she’ll be okay with him,” she mused.

  “You saw how they looked at each other,” he replied, wrapping his other arm around her. “She’ll be fine.”

  “How do you suppose our magic will work on her? We didn’t heal her, you know.”

  “We bought her some time. Who knows how the human body will react to magic? She was pretty clear in her wish, so at least that much will work in her favor.”

  Raea nodded. “A human and a dragon. Who would have thought?”

  “It seems like the world is full of unlikely pairs.”

  She studied him, his strong features, the size of his not fully fairylike hands, the beautiful golden glow that surrounded him. She would have never guessed she could love him this much, yet she did. Somehow, against all the odds, they’d found each other.

  “We’re not so very unlikely,” she said. “You and I. Neither of us quite fit the life we tried to belong in, but we fit each other perfectly.”