Swallowing Fire

by ERIN BEDFORD

  “Pretty sure it wasn’t.”

  Firestar didn’t seem to like my answer, a low rumble coming from his chest. The hands on my hips dipped lower, slipping between my thighs and into my pants before I knew it. I wiggled my bottom against his front and arched against him as his fingers stroked me, causing a dull ache to develop.

  “Tell me,” Firestar demanded, his fingers fast at work bringing me higher and higher.

  I gasped and moaned, “Tell you what?”

  “Tell me you want it.” He ground against my butt, demonstrating what exactly he wanted me to say.

  “I want it,” I croaked as Firestar’s fingers slid inside of me. I thrust myself into his grasp, seeking to feel him deeper. Firestar seemed more than ready to give it to me as he repeatedly plunged his fingers into me.

  Just as I was about to reach my release, his hand froze. I cried out in frustration and smacked his side with my hand. “What the hell?”

  “The baby can’t feel me doing this, can he?”

  The question was so absurd, I burst out laughing. When Firestar tensed behind me, I realized he was serious and choked back my amusement. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. I just ...” I shook my head and changed my tone. “No, Firestar. If I am in fact pregnant, the baby couldn’t feel it. I’m not even showing yet. It can’t be much more than a bundle of cells.”

  “Well, if you are sure ...” Firestar trailed off before jerking my pants down my legs. I ached in response, eager to continue where we left off.

  Grasping my leg in his hands, he lifted it so that it was over his as he shifted his hips before pressing into me. I groaned as he filled me to the brim. I reached back behind me, my hand seeking something to hold on to. My fingers laced into his hair, clutching at his silky locks.

  Hot and hard, Firestar angled his hips until he hit the spot inside of me that made me let out a choking gasp. Hitting that same spot in quick succession, it wasn’t long until I had hit my release, my hands pulling at his hair. Firestar let go of my hips and cupped my breast in his hands, using it to drive me harder into his length.

  Firestar tensed against me and let out a throaty groan before burying his sweat covered forehead against my neck. I stroked his head as I caught my own breath, my heart racing in my chest.

  “What time did you say you were supposed to go see the medic?” he asked, moving away from me and getting out of the bed.

  I had no shame as I watched him walk across the room to dig through his bag where the guys had dumped it. God, I could bite that ass.

  As if he could read my mind, Firestar glanced back over his shoulder with a knowing grin.

  Shaking my head at him, I sat up on the bed. “I don’t know. I was just going to head that way and see if they’d see me.”

  “I’m going with you,” Firestar stated as he pulled on clean clothes from his bag.

  “I didn’t expect anything less.” I got out of bed, tugging my pants back up around my waist. “I’m sure Raiden and Jack will want to be there too.”

  Firestar frowned. The look on his face made me wonder if he had forgotten that the child might not be his. I hoped I wasn’t looking at a future problem.

  “Hey.” I came up next to him, placing my hands on his shoulders. “We still have to find out if I’m pregnant. We can worry about whose it is when the time comes.”

  “And what if it’s not mine?” His expression was far more tortured than I expected it to be. Firestar had always been an optimist.

  “Then we’ll deal with it then.” I squeezed his arms with a reassuring smile, but he didn’t return it.

  “That’s what you keep saying, but what does that mean?” He shrugged my hands off, moving around me to sit on the edge of the bed. He swapped out the shirt he had passed out in for another one of almost the exact same tan shade. “How exactly are you going to handle it?”

  I opened my mouth to answer but came up empty. Firestar was right. When the time came, I didn’t know what we would do. Hell, unless there was some kind of distinguishing features, I didn’t even know how we would know whose it was.

  Well, we could go back to the human world. I knew they had medical tests that could tell us who the father was, but it wouldn’t solve the problem of what to do with the results. Had I been stupid to think that we would stay together forever? That having a child wouldn’t change anything? The very idea of losing one of them made it hard to breathe, to think, to live.

  “Would you leave?” I croaked, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. “If the child isn’t yours, would you leave me?”

  When Firestar met my eyes, his intense expression softened. Standing from the bed, he crossed the room and scooped me up into his arms. Pressing his forehead to mine, he murmured, “Of course not. I made the mistake of leaving you once. It’ll take more than a baby to make me leave again.”

  “Even if it’s not yours?” I couldn’t help but ask. I needed to know what to expect when the time came. Jack had already made his stance perfectly clear. And Raiden, I had a hard time seeing him leaving for that reason.

  “There will be other children,” Firestar explained, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Mine does not have to be the first.”

  “And what of being Lord of the West? Whoever’s child it is will gain that title,” I reminded him with a frown. My father had made it very clear who would gain his kingdom and the only way I would was to have a child. Anybody’s child.

  Firestar scoffed. “You forget that I have a kingdom of my own to rule, and once my father has passed, I couldn’t think of anything better than to combine the two. Then we will never be separated.” He cupped my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine in a chaste kiss. When he withdrew, he smiled. “Now, let’s go see if there is a fuss to be made about.”

  Beaming up at him, I nodded.

  We made our way out of the bedroom Jack’s uncle had been kind enough to provide and knocked on Raiden’s door. When no one answered, I frowned.

  “Maybe they already went to the infirmary?”

  Firestar shrugged. “We can at least go and see.”

  I tried to remember which way Lord Fafnir had told us the infirmary was and started that way. We only took one wrong turn before we found a large door at the end of a hallway. That had to be it.

  “What do you think of our host?” Firestar asked as we approached the infirmary. “He seems to have less of a stick up his butt than our Jack.”

  My lips ticked up into a smile at his reference to Jack being ours, but I didn’t comment. “He seems nice enough. Though, it's curious that he wasn’t surprised by our arrival.”

  “Isn’t that suspicious?” Firestar’s brow crinkled.

  I chuckled. “Not if what my studies have told me. A lot of the ice dragons have the sight.”

  Firestar’s eyes widened, and his mouth gaped slightly. “Really?”

  “Truly.” I nodded before stopping at the door labeled ‘Infirmary.’ “Most of them can only see small spans of future though, and it’s usually broken up too much to tell what is really going to happen.”

  “What good is that then?” Firestar scoffed. “I would think that would cause more confusion than good.”

  I shrugged. “I wouldn’t really know. I’ve never met a seer and never wanted to. Knowing too much about one’s future can cause more pain than its worth. Besides, can you imagine? Knowing when you or someone close to you will die?” I shook my head with a frown. “Too painful.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” a soft feminine voice said as the door to the infirmary opened. “I’ve found it to be quite useful in my field of work.”

  The woman who stepped out of the infirmary had pale hair like many of her fellow northerners. Jack’s eyes were a light blue, but hers held practically no color at all, the irises barely distinguishable from the rest of her eye. She folded her hands in front of her, her white clothing a stark contrast to her dark skin.

  “Hello,” I said, offering my hand to her. “You
must be the medic. I’m Maya, and this is Firestar.” I gestured to the man at my side.

  “I know.” She took my hand in hers, her skin as cool as Jack’s usually was. “I’m Trina.”

  Trina didn’t try to squeeze my hand like some female dragons would. She simply shook it and let go before ushering us inside.

  “Pleased to meet you.” I glanced around the room. “Have the others arrived yet?”

  There were several cots, but only a couple of them were occupied with sleeping patients though I couldn’t see them since curtains separated each of them. Well, that was good. I wouldn’t have to worry about their prying eyes.

  Trina led us toward the back of the infirmary without responding to my question. Instead, she answered my question not with words, but by pulling back the curtain of the last partition, revealing Jack and Raiden talking quietly amongst themselves.

  Well, that was certainly interesting. While I’d only been in the infirmary back home, the medics there were pretentious snots, thinking they knew more than anyone because they could heal. Trina didn’t seem to share that same line of thought.

  As we approached, the conversation between Jack and Raiden died off, and they both looked at me.

  “Maya,” Jack said, standing. “How are you feeling?”

  I let him take me into his arms, seeking comfort in his embrace. “I’m fine. No more nausea.” For now.

  “And how’s our fearsome warrior?” Raiden smirked, laughter in his eyes as he nodded toward Firestar. “Are you sure you are strong enough for this?”

  Firestar growled, stepping toward Raiden. “I’m fine … or do you need proof, funny boy?”

  Raiden’s smile broadened. “I might just need that but not right now. After.” He nodded toward where Trina stood by the bed.

  Firestar followed his gaze and then relaxed. “After.”

  I exchanged a look with Trina who shook her head with a smile. Men.

  “Please.” She gestured toward the bed that sat up higher than the others in the infirmary. “Lay down.”

  I eyed the guys, my heart pounding in my chest. Swallowing thickly, I hopped up on the bed and inched myself down. My pulse raced in my ears, and a storm of emotions ran through me. Was I pregnant? Did I want to be pregnant? Oh god, what if I was? Could I really be a mother, especially with all the people who wanted me dead?

  A warm hand grasped mine, and I glanced up to see Raiden smiling down at me. “Everything will be fine.”

  Licking my lips, I nodded and squeezed his hand. Jack and Firestar stood just behind him, there for me without crowding me. I felt like an animal on display as it was without them all looming over me.

  “All right,” Trina began, taking her place on the other side of me. “I’m going to lift your shirt just a bit. It’s easier to do this if I’m touching your skin.”

  “Do what?” I asked a bit breathless as nerves began to kick in.

  She gave me a reassuring smile. “I will focus my magic on seeking out another life. Then we will know if you are truly carrying.”

  “And you’ve done this before?” My nerves made my voice shake. I knew medics had all kinds of ways to know if someone was pregnant but usually it required more invasive procedures. I wished more than anything to be back on Earth and could just pee on a little stick. That seemed so much more humane than letting a woman I didn’t know push her magic into me.

  “Trina is our best medic,” Jack answered for her. “She has healed many of our people and delivered most of them into this world as well. Maya,” he said my name softly, brushing my hair away from my face, “you have nothing to fear from her.”

  I smiled up at Jack before nodding to Trina. “I’m ready.”

  Trina gave Jack an appreciative grin before moving my shirt up enough to place her hands on my stomach. Her hands were cool, and I jumped in place slightly. Trina’s apologetic eyes met mine before she returned to her task.

  Her fingers moved along my stomach, and a tingling sensation began to form. She stopped just below my belly button and pressed slightly, causing the tingling to increase sharply, and I gasped. My eyes widened as a second heartbeat filled my ears.

  “Do you hear that?” Trina asked, her eyes still on my stomach.

  “Yes,” I breathed, amazed at the sound filling my ears. “I hear it.”

  Trina turned her eyes to look at me, a smile covering her lips. “That is the sound of your child’s heartbeat. Congratulations.”

  So, overjoyed by the news, my doubts about the whole thing settled down to a dull roar. My lips spread out into a large grin, and I couldn’t hold back the tears of relief. I was going to a mother. The concept caused so many mixed feelings that I had a hard time sorting them out.

  One emotion was clear as day, though, as the men around me whooped and cheered, clapping each other on the back.

  “Hey,” I shouted over their self-congratulations. “I’m the one that’s pregnant. How about a bit of attention over here?”

  The men had the decency to look embarrassed before they began to crowd around me. Each of them took a turn to kiss me and express their happiness.

  It was short lived though. I barely had a chance to get off the table before the doors to the infirmary burst open, and several people clamored in.

  “Trina!” one of the men shouted. “We need healing.”

  Trina ripped the curtain back and rushed out. Six men carried two bodies into the infirmary, bringing them right over to a set of beds. My men and I slowly approached from behind, not wanting to get in the way but too curious to just leave.

  When I stopped at the end of the beds, it took a moment for me to realize what I saw. Two men lay bloodied and unconscious. Even with their faces barely recognizable through the gore, I knew exactly who they were.

  Raiden’s brothers.

  4

  The last time I’d seen Fujin and Raijin, the twins had stayed behind to hold off their mother’s guards while we fled for our lives from the eastern palace. They were supposed to meet up with us later, but they never had.

  Now I knew why.

  “Fujin! Raijin!” Raiden cried out, trying to push through the crowd of men to reach his brothers. The agony in his voice made me ache for him. I could imagine how he felt. It had to be the same way I felt when I had thought he and Jack had been lost to me.

  I started forward to stay by Raiden’s side, but Jack’s hand on my shoulder stopped me. Glancing up at him, he shook his head, and I held back. There wasn’t anything I could do for him right now. Not until we knew what we were up against.

  “They’re still alive, but barely,” Trina explained as she looked over the twins’ wounds. I couldn’t see how she could tell that, I couldn’t even see their chests moving. Their clothing had turned brown from the dried blood.

  “Marcus! Corina!” Trina yelled. A man and a woman rushed into the room garbed in the same white uniform as Trina. They came to her side, ready to take orders.

  Even if Jack hadn’t assured me, I could tell Trina was far more competent in her role than many of the medics I’d met. She ordered the two around as she worked on cleaning and healing the wounds. Since there were two patients, Trina had to split her time between them, making the work a slow and grueling process.

  Raiden stayed by his brothers, anguish in his expression until Trina announced, “Please clear the room, I can’t do my job if you get in the way.”

  While I wanted to stay, there was nothing for us to do, and at the moment, it did just seem like we were in the way.

  “She’s right, we should let her work,” I said, reaching out to Raiden. “Let’s wait just over there.” I nodded to the door. He shoved my hands away from him with a watery snarl.

  “No, I won’t leave them again. This is my fault. I should never have left them.”

  Jack glanced at Trina who pressed her lips together in a thin line before nodding. “Fine, but stay out of the way and don’t make a fuss. The rest of you can come back later when we have something
new to report.”

  “Okay.” Tears burning my eyes, I let Jack and Firestar guide me out of the infirmary, but I kept glancing back at Raiden. He was my funny guy. He always had a laugh and smile for me, but he didn’t now.

  “Trina knows what she’s doing.” Jack put pressure on my elbow, grabbing my attention. “If anyone can save them, she can.”

  I kept silent but inclined my head slightly. I didn’t doubt the medic’s abilities, but she couldn’t help Raiden if they were beyond saving. He’d already lost his mother. I didn’t know what would happen if he lost his brothers too.

  “Why don’t we go find something to eat?” Firestar suggested, glancing at Jack over my head. “I made you miss breakfast earlier. You must be famished, and you need to keep up your strength now more than ever.”

  Honestly, I couldn’t think of food right then. My heart ached for Raiden, but I knew I had to eat. My hand touched my flat stomach, and I remembered the sound of the baby’s heartbeat. He was right. I wasn’t just eating for me anymore. There was another life I was responsible for now.

  “Come,” Jack said, taking my silence as agreement. “I’m sure the cook can whip something up to ease your mind. We have one of the best cooks in all Waesigar, and if I must say so, he makes one of the best raspberry tarts I’ve ever had.”

  “That sounds great.” I forced a small smile though I didn’t feel it. The guys had enough to worry about without having to worry about me losing it. I had to keep it together especially for Raiden. The last thing he needed right now was to see me worried too, that’d just make things harder on him. No. I had to be strong and take care of the baby. That’s what he would want me to do.

  Half an hour later, we were seated in the small dining room off the kitchen, though none of us were speaking. The cook, a particularly slim man named Carl, had brought us some of his famous raspberry tarts. I had nibbled at it to be polite but couldn’t stomach it. My insides were in too much turmoil, thinking about what could be happening on the other side of the house.