The Fire Within

by Marie Harte

  “You are unbelieveable!”

  “I know,” he said with no small amount of conceit, and much as she wanted to strangle him, she felt a sense of relief that he at least had all his faculties. The minute they pulled out of this mess, though, she vowed to slug him. Then kiss him.

  Apparently the argument between the wraiths had come to a conclusion, for the wraith holding her by the hair tightened his grip and pressed its claws deeper into her neck.

  “Samantha,” Darius said with enough force to snap her attention from the threat at her throat. “Affai, open your mind to me. Now!”

  With the urgency she now faced, she didn’t question him and at once let herself go. She felt his presence within her, felt him sharing her inner self. And then warmth unfurled throughout her body, filling every pulse and beat of her heart.

  “Grasp the wraith’s claw against your neck,” Darius said softly. She did so and saw the creature’s startled glance. Before it could do or say anything, however, it began to glow.

  Bright red heat emblazoned the wraith from its cruel hand to the rest of its gnarled body. The heat grew until bright orange flame engulfed it, burning it into a small pile of ash upon the ground. Samantha welcomed the heat, embracing Darius’ blaze with all of her being. She stood then, free from the wraith’s grasp, and felt Darius’ fire licking her skin wherever it touched.

  “It flames! It burns!” shouted a wraith. Immediately the remaining five turned on Darius who sat crookedly against a tree. Samantha could sense his strength ebbing and frantically looked about for something to use as a weapon.

  Without knowing exactly how, she managed to incinerate two wraiths with fireballs. The magic soon faded and with three wraiths on the attack, she quickly looked for a weapon. She found several large rocks and threw them with accuracy against the remaining enemy. Mentally thanking her college softball days, she continued to pelt the approaching Netharat until she ran out of ammunition.

  They were almost upon her when the ground shook, taking her off her feet, and she stared in astonishment as mountains of dirt spewed from the ground directly around the wraiths. Water gushed over them, pouring from an invisible source out of the air above their heads. The creatures screeched and cried for help, only to drown beneath mounds of dirt and cleansing water.

  The earth swallowed the bodies whole, then settled as if nothing had happened.

  Still staring at the scene in disbelief, it took Samantha a moment to gather her bearings.

  “Up here!”

  She glanced up to see Marcus and Cadmus atop the rock wall staring down at them. She could see the glare of car lights piercing the dense treeline and wondered how they had known to look down here for them. She and Darius had broken no railing when they’d rolled down the hill.

  She took no more time to wonder, however, as Darius collapsed to the ground. Rushing to his side, she took off her jacked and placed it beneath his head. Stroking his bloodied hair, she prayed with all her might that he’d recover. His face looked paler than before, his strength apparently sapped from having saved her.

  Cadmus and Marcus appeared quickly and in little time they headed to their home, where Cadmus assured her Darius would receive aid.

  As she stared down at the head she held in her lap, she willed him to get well. She grasped one of his hands, holding tightly to the palm now cold against her skin. They had a lot to discuss, specifically the appropriate and inappropriate times to discuss feelings.

  He squeezed her hand, a flare of heat passing between them, and she closed her eyes with a small smile.

  “Concussion or not, you can’t put me off forever, Darius Storm.”

  She thought she heard him chuckle before she drifted into sleep, clutching his hand as if she’d never let go.

  Chapter Eleven

  Darius opened his eyes to find Cadmus staring down at him, concern darkening his eyes to black. “Give me some room to breathe,” he grumbled, startling a chuckle out of his brother.

  “It’s about time. You had us worried.”

  “Us?” An obvious glance told him he slept alone in his bed.

  Cadmus rolled his eyes. “She’s in the other room catching some sleep. We had to forcibly carry her from your side. Happy?”

  Cadmus had a tendency to exaggerate, but if what he said were true, Darius was indeed a happy man. Recalling Samantha’s deep welling of love after he’d been pummelled in the woods, he couldn’t help feeling like the luckiest man in the world. Now he only had to convince her to leave this tired realm behind and journey to bigger and better things.

  Wincing, he sat up and rubbed at his head.

  “Arim sent us medicine.” Cadmus nodded to Darius’ temple. “He told us you suffered from a serious head injury. But one swallow of the blue juice and the injury healed.”

  “Then why the headache?”

  “That’s the juice you’re feeling. It’s only temporary.”

  Darius grumbled his thanks and slowly slid his legs off the side of the bed. “I take it Marcus and Aerolus are okay?”

  Cadmus frowned. “Marcus is upstairs in his room preparing for work tomorrow, if you can believe that. Once he knew you were okay, he muttered something about overly competitive co-workers and started grabbing files left and right. But Aerolus still isn’t here.”

  Darius froze. “Still? How long was I out of it?”

  “Two days.”

  “And in all that time we haven’t heard from him?”

  Cadmus shrugged. “Arim said Aerolus is fine. Apparently our brother is up to some sorcery the big guy won’t mention. Not my business, according to chatty Uncle Arim.”

  He sounded miffed, and Darius felt a smile wind its way past the pain in his head. “Relax, Cadmus. If Arim said Aerolus is fine, then he is.” At his brother’s raised brow, he reluctantly explained. “I don’t always agree with Arim, but I trust him. He’s never let us down.”

  “How quickly you forget the ‘Knowing Crystal’.”

  “It was tampered with, remember. And that wasn’t Arim’s fault. I should have known it was a fake. I thought it odd it didn’t react to Samantha until we were set afire.”

  “Odd, hmm?” Cadmus smirked and Darius knew he’d said too much. “So you knew as soon as you put it on she was your intended?” He batted his eyes mockingly. “That’s sooooo romantic.”

  “Shut up, you idiot, and help me to my feet.”

  Once standing free of the bed and his brother, Darius walked around the room slowly until he could move on his own without flinching. He needed to find Samantha, to see her with his own two eyes, and in private. They had a lot to discuss and he had neither the inclination nor the patience to wait another minute.

  Cadmus muttered something about rushing things while Darius gingerly dressed in a pair of loose-fitting boxers. “Don’t bother me for at least another hour. No, make it two.”

  “Go easy, bro.” Cadmus opened the door for him and stood back. “You’re not a hundred percent yet. And Samantha’s been through a lot since she’s met you. Don’t go pushing her around about Tanselm. Try finessing her for a change,” he said wryly. “She needs understanding.”

  “I know.” For once he didn’t disagree and his calm acceptance surprised Cadmus into silence.

  Walking downstairs, he felt more like himself. The headache didn’t hurt all that much, and he had to admit his body felt in fighting form—so much that thoughts of Samantha in bed had their desired effect.

  Sporting a rock-hard erection, his patience thin at best, he knocked on the door and entered without waiting for permission. To his delighted surprise, she was in the midst of undressing and wore only a bra and panties. She looked tired though, her hair framing a pale face, her eyes shadowed by fatigue. Yet nothing could make her look less than beautiful in his eyes.

  “I missed you,” he said simply.

  A huge grin lit her face, chasing away her tiredness with the radiance of sheer joy. “It’s about time you woke up.” She slowly approa
ched him, her hips swaying with timeless feminine grace.

  “That’s what Cadmus said.”

  “We’ve been worried.” She drew close, their bodies sharing the heat he generated. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she tugged him down to her. “Don’t do that hero stuff again.” She kissed him with a hunger that made his cock spike even harder.

  Unable to stop from moving against her, he pressed his desire forward, needing to ease the building ache. She moved her lips to his throat and he smelled the rich perfume of her shampoo, filling his head with all sorts of ideas about where he’d like to feel her hair over his body.

  “Samantha, love,” he paused to ravage her mouth. “I need you.”

  Cupping her breasts in his hands, he heard her swift intake of breath before she returned his kiss with a fire that made him burn to have her. Lust raced through him with a vengeance, desire for her growing until he was consumed with it.

  After ripping her bra and panties from her body, he forced himself to slow down lest he spill right then and there. He stepped back and stared at her, awed that she belonged to him. She knew it as well as he did, though they had yet to say the words. The omission bothered him, but damned if his body cared.

  His cock ached, needing to fill her hot, wet little pussy with his seed. Just thinking about it pushed him nearer the edge, and he decided to keep his boxers on, weak deterrent though it was.

  Samantha, however, would have none of it. She smiled, a sultry grin that had his attention focused on her full, ripe mouth. Then she licked her lips and he couldn’t help the groan that escaped. Staring down at his huge erection, she grasped his underwear and slowly dragged it down his legs, her face coming uncomfortably close to his cock.

  He wanted to shout with frustration when her breath fanned his shaft.

  “I want you, Darius. Here, now, my way.” Boldly taking the lead, Samantha made his heart stop when she knelt and took him into her mouth.

  “May the Light grant me strength,” he moaned as she began to suck. Her mouth felt warm, her tongue excitingly rough against the underside of his head. He knew he wouldn’t last long, and when she stroked and sucked him deeper, it was all he could do not to come.

  “Wait, love,” he gasped, grasping her silky hair to still her movements. “Let me.”

  In a flash, he pulled her to her feet and lowered her onto the bed.

  Surprise lined her lovely green eyes until she saw his intent. She swallowed audibly but made no protest when he spread her thighs wide and knelt between them. He lowered his head, the heady scent of her arousal luring him closer.

  He blew a soft breath across her clitoris, satisfied when she moaned his name. Lowering his lips, he drank of her sweetness, fingering the opening of her vagina but not entering. She writhed and he increased the pressure of his mouth, dying to suckle her hard nub until she screamed with pleasure. Again and again he lapped her essence, rubbing her cream over her folds and back towards her anus, enhancing her desire. Her breath now came in pants, and he knew she was close.

  “I need you,” she cried and wrapped her legs tighter around his head.

  “You need me. Remember that,” he threw at her as he licked her clit and suddenly thrust two fingers inside her. She bucked up and he began sucking in earnest, determined she should find her pleasure.

  He wanted her to come, to feel her body tense in a quivering mass of ecstasy. His cock hardened and he pressed deeper into the mattress, needing relief for his swollen shaft. But not before his affai found satisfaction.

  Removing his fingers, he shoved his tongue into her channel and was rewarded with a high, keening cry.

  “Darius,” she breathed, “I swear I’m going to kill you if you make me come without you.”

  He looked up from between her legs, staring at her heaving breasts and flushed face, and knew he’d never seen a more sensual woman in his life.

  “Yes, affai, as you command,” he said thickly. He crawled over her, resting the head of his cock between her soft, white thighs. Teasing them both, he coated himself in her cream and groaned at the exquisite sensation.

  With one thrust he penetrated, the feel of her welcome indescribable. She immediately came, her walls closing around him, the sensation on his stimulated shaft bordering on pain.

  “Samantha, love,” he rasped as he continued to drive into her, “you’re so tight. So wet.” He groaned.

  “More, Darius,” she demanded and locked her ankles around his waist.

  The action drew him deeper inside her and stars began firing behind his eyes. He pounded hard, riding her with a desperation born of worry, love, and need.

  She cried out and squeezed around him harder, and he came in a gush. Over and over he spurted, flooding her womb with blazing hot seed.

  He shuddered and cried her name, overcome with the lingering rapture killing him softly.

  When finally he caught his breath, he felt her push his hair out of his eyes. Staring down at her, he saw satisfaction and if he wasn’t mistaken, a warm blaze of tenderness.

  Her smile widened as she gazed up at him. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this. People will talk.”

  He looked at her in surprise for a moment before he began laughing. He laughed so hard he almost cried, and his mirth caused him to physically withdraw. The loss of her body caging his finally sobered him enough to pull her close under him once more.

  “You have a hell of a sense of humour,” he complimented, pleased when she blushed a pretty pink.

  “I need one to deal with you.” She traced his lips with a finger, gasping when he sucked on the digit and nipped before letting go.

  Samantha’s eyes clouded, the feel of his mouth over her finger as erotic as his mouth over her clitoris. Impossible, but there it was. She was a walking hormone around him, or under him, as the situation now dictated. She sighed with pleasure.

  “You know you love me,” he said quietly, his eyes focused and intent on her face. “Why not admit it?”

  “And you love me,” she gave, tit for tat. “Why don’t you admit it?”

  She waited for him to deny it, to frown and dismiss her as an irrationally emotional female. Instead, he nuzzled her cheek with his nose and stared down at her, his eyes blazing red. Full, masculine lips quirked down at her and her heart seemed to stop.

  “As you command, affai. I love you.”

  She could only stare at him, stupefied. Then a thought hit her and her eyes narrowed. “You’d better not be playing with me.” Not about this.

  His lips were still curved in a half grin, but his eyes remained focused and unblinking on her. “I would never make light of such a serious topic.”

  She didn’t know what to say. “Well, uh, okay then.” Should she really tell him the truth of her feelings? That even the thought of living without him could destroy her?

  He grinned and shook his head. “Tsk, tsk, Samantha. I tell you what you want to hear and you think to deny me the same assurance.”

  She glared. He’d been reading her mind again.

  “I know you love me. I would only like to hear you say it. And as your king and overlord, I command it.”

  “My…what?”

  His stare grew hotter, the elemental fire at his command fusing them together. “I will soon be a king in one of Tanselm’s four corners, Samantha. And as my affai, you will be my queen.” He paused, as if to let his words sink in, for which she was grudgingly grateful.

  Loving Darius and admitting it was one thing. She had just summoned the courage to do so when he hit her with news of her impending queenship.

  “I’m not queen material.” Hell, I can barely manage my own life, let alone be responsible for the welfare of hundreds of others.

  “And yet you’ve managed me since we met.”

  “Stop reading my mind.” She wished he’d stay out. Trying to think and be honest with herself would be much easier if she didn’t have to guard her thoughts.

  “I can’t help it, affai. We are bonded
now. I have given you my heart. And you have given me yours.” He smirked, the insensitive clod.

  “So what if I have?” She knew she sounded defensive and felt stupid for it, but old wounds still had yet to heal. “You have a kingdom to return to. A war to fight and people to govern. You don’t really need me.”

  The teasing glint in his eyes faded. “You mean I won’t have time for you with so much else happening in my life. But you’re wrong.”

  She felt vulnerable lying naked under him and reached out for the covers. A ball of fire suddenly appeared, licking her palm, stilling her movements. She watched in awe, still not understanding how the fire didn’t burn.

  “You share my spirit, Samantha. Only a woman of great power and control could contain and withstand my fire.” He waved his hand and the fire vanished. “But only a woman as stubborn, intelligent and courageous as you could command my love.”

  He blinked, as if surprised such words came out of his mouth, and she couldn’t help grinning like a fool. “Oh, God, Darius. We are alike! I can’t believe my arrogant overlord just said something so poetic, and neither can you.

  “You’re bossy, too used to getting your way, and too handsome for your own good. You don’t drive a decent car and you’ll never make a believable bartender. You’re too intense.”

  He grinned. “But you love me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I love you. Now I suppose I’m supposed to be so blindsided that you love me I won’t realise you’re asking me to leave behind everything I know to live with you in your foreign kingdom.”

  His cheeks flushed and she saw chagrin in his eyes. “I, that is, I was just going to mention the necessary move to Tanselm.”

  “Cad was right. You don’t know how to deal with women.”

  His red eyes blazed. “I’m charming.”

  “Like a rock. So are you asking me to leave with you or not?”

  His eyes narrowed and she knew he’d hit her mental shields. “You aren’t close to your family, you have no ties here other than your job and you love me. What’s to decide? Once I can return to Tanselm, you’re going with me,” he almost growled the order.