Defiance (Heart Lines Series Book 5)

by Heather Hildenbrand

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Sam

  Alex’s mouth left a trail of fire across every inch of my skin it touched. His hands roamed and explored until there wasn’t a single pleasure receptor he hadn’t discovered. When his mouth moved aside long enough for him to slide a finger inside me, everything else in the world disappeared. I lost myself in the sensations of his tongue and hands, thrusting my hips to meet each dip and swirl.

  “That’s it,” he whispered, his hot breath tingling against my wet center. I twisted against the sheets, my body slick already from the heat warming me from the inside out. But Alex held me firmly in place, one hand wrapped around my thigh as he dipped his tongue along my folds, his finger working in and out of me in a steady rhythm.

  Faster and faster, I careened toward my own release with Alex prodding me every step of the way. I arched my back and grabbed handfuls of the blankets and hung on. When the pressure built to its breaking point, I went willingly, too happy to throw myself over the edge.

  My orgasm rocked me, and I threw my head back, probably moaning loud enough to wake the house. Alex slowed his pace but never let up until the shaking in my thighs subsided.

  Finally, I opened my eyes to gaze lazily down at him.

  “You look tired, warrior princess,” he drawled, still grinning from between my legs. It was the first time someone had called me warrior in a way that felt empowering. “You want to go to sleep?”

  “Not a fucking chance,” I rasped. “Get up here.”

  His grin widened and it filled my heart watching him smile like that after everything that had happened today. His teasing was exactly what we both needed. I loved him for it. And I needed him more than I ever had.

  He slid up and over my belly, dragging his chest across my already tight nipples. I sucked in a breath and he dipped his head to nip at my lip, pulling me into a kiss that left me aching for him all over again.

  “Alex,” I breathed.

  “Tell me what you want,” he whispered back.

  “You,” I told him earnestly, pushing my hips up to grind against his thick erection. A wave of desire shot through me when I realized he’d shed the rest of his clothes at some point. Not that I’d been available to pay attention to that sort of thing.

  “What do you want from me?” he asked and the heat in his gaze alone sent another pool of warmth straight to my core.

  “I want you inside me,” I managed, already reaching for him. I wrapped my hand around his length, guiding him into place. He slid inside easily, and I gasped as he filled me up.

  “Fuck me,” he moaned softly, and my belly tightened as he slid out and then in again, setting a rhythm that had me climbing to a fast release a second time.

  “That’s the idea,” I said and his eyes sparkled in amusement and desire as he stared down at me.

  When his lips found mine and his tongue pushed against my own, he swallowed my cries as I flew up and over. The orgasm pulsed through me, and I hung on, pressing my fingers into his back as Alex continued to thrust. A moment later, his body shuddered and his mouth tore from mine long enough for him to utter a low groan. I felt a rush of warmth as he came, his entire body taut as he rode his own wave of pleasure.

  When he’d stilled, I reached up and drew his mouth back to mine, my entire body relaxed and tingly in the wake of so much sensation. Alex kissed me slowly, his body sinking lower until we were both a puddle of liquid muscles against the mattress. When he finally drew away, I traced the line of his satisfied smile, fully aware I had one of my own to match.

  “You look much better,” I said.

  His brows rose in a mocking challenge. “Are you saying I looked bad before? Because I didn’t hear you complaining when I had my face between your legs.”

  I laughed. “No, you looked damn good before.” My cheeks heated as I added, “Especially with your face between my legs.”

  Alex chuckled and kissed the tip of my nose. “You look pretty damn gorgeous yourself right now.”

  I searched his warm eyes for any trace of the grief they’d held earlier as we’d walked back to the car from our visit with Sushna.

  “Don’t,” he said before I could ask. “Let’s not talk about it. Just for tonight. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I whispered, forcing all of it aside. I could do that for him. Just for tonight. His expression softened and he kissed my cheek, then my ear, and then my throat. I sighed as he kissed a slow, lazy circle around each of my breasts.

  My body reacted, my nipples hardening all over again as he brushed his lips over each one. Instantly, his body responded, and I felt him grow hard against my thigh.

  “If you don’t stop now, we’re never going to get any sleep,” I warned.

  Alex lifted his lips from my stomach long enough to shoot back, “Who said anything about sleeping?”

  My belly tightened, but instead of giving in to the ache his mouth created just yet, I sat up and reached for his face with both hands. I drew him up until we were eye to eye and tilted my head, drinking him in until my heart felt full of so much love there wasn’t room for anything else. Not Hina. Not magic. Not gods and wars. Just Alex and a different kind of knowing. The kind of absolute certainty that said this man was exactly who I wanted in bed with me every night forever.

  “What is it, warrior princess?” he asked, a smile playing at the edges of his mouth. And goddess knew how much I loved that mouth …

  “Nothing. I just … I love you in case I live,” I whispered.

  When Alex grinned, I knew exactly how tonight would end. Alex was right—there was no sleep in our immediate future. “I love you in case I live, too,” he whispered back. And then his mouth roamed lower, and I fell back against the tangle of sheets, more than happy to lose myself as long as it was for him.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Alex

  The smell of smoke woke me.

  Coughing, I fumbled for the switch, squinting against the orange glow that illuminated the room even without the lamp light. I stopped, my hand halfway to the switch as I realized there was already plenty of light in the room. Too much, actually.

  I coughed again and shoved to my feet, letting the blanket fall away as I caught sight of the view outside the second story bedroom window. Behind me, Sam stirred, waking more slowly, but I didn’t look back at her. Not even when her hands came around my waist in a lazy, still-asleep move and she pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder. I couldn’t take my eyes off the view outside.

  “What’s wrong?” Sam asked sleepily. Her husky voice normally would have distracted me from anything else, but this was different. A danger that left me rooted where I stood.

  I stared dumb-founded at the sight just beyond the yard. How in the hell did I battle this?

  “Look,” I said quietly, my voice tight as I continued to watch in disbelief.

  Sam shifted to peek around my shoulder. Her hands tightened suddenly around me, and I knew she saw it too.

  She gasped softly. “What—?”

  A fat plume of grayish smoke rose from the woods behind Harold’s house. The backdrop both above and below was lit with orange as flames licked their way up the trees and into the night sky, washing everything in sickly yellow and gray ash. I sniffed again and let out a long breath, glad to realize the smoke wasn’t inside the house. But the flames were moving fast—even now I could see them jumping from one tree to the next—and all my relief died away.

  I’d never seen so much fire or smoke. If we didn’t do something soon, it was going to consume everything in its path. A path that included this house.

  Sushna’s words echoed in my mind and I felt my hands begin to shake with rage. You are all witches, every one.

  “Witches always burn,” Sam murmured, finishing off the phrase in my mind. Her voice was tortured as she spoke, and I grimaced.

  “You think Sushna did this?” Sam asked.

  “I think she knew it was coming,” I said.

  “RJ,” Sam said simply.
Firmly.

  I turned away, unable to bring myself to tell her that’s the only thing it could be. “We have to make sure it doesn’t reach the house,” I said instead, finally drawing away from the window and from her long enough to reach for my pants. I shoved my legs inside them, hurrying now that the spell of my own shock had been broken.

  Sam hurried to get dressed too.

  I didn’t bother to argue or try to tell her to stay inside. I knew she wouldn’t listen. Still, by the time we reached the first floor together, my worry level left me breathless. I flung the door open and almost barreled into Harold.

  He blinked back at us, his face ashen and his clothes reeking of smoke. “The trees. He—He’s burning the trees,” Harold said, his voice cracking.

  Sam went to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Harold yelped and when Sam drew away and peeled his shirt back, large burns were already starting to blister. I bit back an impatient demand. Clearly, he was hurt and in shock. But he knew something. Something had happened.

  “Who did this?” I asked simply and waited.

  Harold pulled away from Sam and she whispered an encouragement to him just as the door opened behind me. Brittany slipped out and appeared at my side. Then Safar who was yawning and Koby behind her.

  “Who, Harold?” I asked again, louder. “Give me a name!”

  Everyone blinked and Safar frowned, craning her neck to see around me to the window. Brittany dropped a few curses and shoved past me to the porch, staring with her mouth open at the fire blazing.

  Harold looked from Sam to me. “I brought Breck home and he brought the flames. Ea is burning the trees.”

  “Breck,” Sam cried, her voice breaking on the single name.

  I didn’t wait for more of an explanation. I had a feeling Harold couldn’t give me more anyway. Not in this state. “Help him,” I managed to call out as I slipped past Harold and launched myself off the porch and into the yard, sprinting toward the burning forest.

  Sam yelled something, but I couldn’t hear her over the crackling of dry wood straight ahead. A sound on my right had me slowing. I looked over and found Brittany beside me, a fierce determination etched on her face. She thought I was going to tell her to turn back. But I only nodded and we ran together toward the woods.

  I headed for the grove of trees Harold had used for transporting Breck the first time. Smoke hung heavy along the path until it was choking me. I pressed on with Brittany close on my heels, both of us coughing until we were forced to slow our pace. The heat grew more intense as we got closer, and I skirted the edge of the path until I could find a way to get closer without burning off my clothes—or worse.

  Flames licked along the edge of the trail so I zig-zagged along, dodging small pop-up fires from embers that had jumped from the main blaze. I thought about yelling for Breck, but I knew the moment I opened my mouth, the smoke would pour in and take over. I couldn’t let it. Not if I wanted to last long enough to find him out here.

  Even so, smoke clogged my throat yet again and I doubled over, coughing, eyes watering. When I finally straightened, Brittany caught my eye and without a word, she signaled and then made a show of stripping off her shirt to reveal a thin tank underneath. She covered her face with the fabric and motioned at me. I nodded and did the same with my own shirt. I used hand gestures and muffled words to let her know the plan and then we parted ways, splitting off to make a wide circle where we’d meet on the other side.

  Brittany ran off, disappearing too quickly in the thick smoke fog.

  I turned around and stepped carefully, taking the time to search inside the ring of flames, my heart thudding heavily against my ribs. I coughed as I went and kept my hands off the tree trunks that were all boiling hot this close to the flames’ epicenter.

  I’d gone several yards when a muffled yell had me doubling back. I searched, weaving closer toward the fire and then back again when the heat got to be too much. The crackling of dried, dead bark and leaves drowned out everything else, and I wondered if I’d imagined the voice.

  But I kept going, desperate to find Breck. To bring him back. We couldn’t lose him this way. Mason had been bad enough. But Breck? Like this? It wasn’t fucking happening. It just wasn’t. And the trees—I wasn’t even willing to think about what we might lose from the fire. All I could think about was finding Breck—alive.

  Up ahead, something flashed through the smoke and haze. A boot, maybe? Hard to tell thanks to the distance and the darkness. I ran faster and darted in among smoking redwoods, coughing through the shirt that still covered my face. My eyes burned, and I had to blink to even make out what was actually in front of me. I blinked again through eyes that burned and watered—and stopped short before I could run right over the body on the ground in front of me.

  I didn’t waste a breath before I grabbed the ankles and began to pull.

  Breck groaned but didn’t fight me. That meant he was either unconscious or conscious enough to see that it was me. Either way, he was alive and that was enough. He didn’t object as I began dragging him through the smoke.

  I didn’t stop moving until we reached the outer perimeter of the fire’s damage zone. The smoke thinned here and I ripped my shirt off my face and bent to offer it to Breck instead, rolling him onto his back.

  At the sight of his face, bloody and bruised and swollen, I stopped moving and stared down at him, noting the damage that couldn’t possibly have come from a fire or smoke inhalation.

  “Fuck,” I said out loud, my voice hoarse.

  Hopefully Sam had stayed with Harold.

  Breck groaned again, this time his left eye fluttering open. “Do I look as bad as I feel?” he asked, his voice cracking as he struggled to open the eye that had been swollen shut.

  “Worse.”

  He laughed, but it turned to a cough. I bent down and tied the shirt around his face. “This will help with the smoke. Can you walk?”

  “I sure as shit am not letting you carry me out of here.”

  “Come on then. Your sister will kill me if you die.”

  “Does that mean I’ll win?” He laughed again which ended in more coughing. When he caught his breath, I hefted him to his feet, noting the scratches and cuts and one particularly bloody gash on his upper arm. I didn’t mention any of it or ask where they’d come from. I had a feeling I already knew.

  With my arm around Breck, painfully slowly, we made our way back toward the house. Brittany met us at the edge of the trees. Her eyes widened in relief at the sight of Breck with his arm around my shoulders and then narrowed again when she caught sight of his face. I shrugged and her expression tightened. She slipped over to Breck’s other side and slid underneath his other arm, letting him use her for support as we moved steadily toward the house.

  We found Safar waiting at the edge of the woods, unmoving, unblinking as she watched the woods behind us. When she didn’t fall into step beside us, I studied her in confusion. Her feet were planted purposefully and her chin was raised as she stared past us toward the woods. The moment we passed her, the smoke and heat vanished. I breathed deeply and turned back, finally understanding what she’d done.

  “Wards.” Brittany spoke so quietly I almost missed it.

  But that’s definitely what it was and I sent Safar a grateful nod. She returned it and went back to watching the trees and the fire blazing among them. I caught sight of the porch thanks to the light burning beside the front door. On the top step, Harold sat shirtless, shoulders drooping and head hanging low. Beside him, Sam’s eyes were closed and her hands rested on his bare arms. Her lips moved, but I couldn’t hear anything from here.

  I watched as Koby laid a hand on Sam’s shoulder and she took a sudden, sharp breath. Her eyes opened and she looked right at me with a knowing expression that felt like a punch in my gut. When her gaze flickered to Breck, her jaw fell.

  She jumped up and launched herself off the steps, meeting us halfway across the yard. Up close, her eyes were bright and I h
ad no idea if it was exhaustion from healing Harold’s burns or the stress of hanging onto herself after using Hina. And there wasn’t time to ask.

  She flung herself at Breck, hugging him tightly even as he groaned and his knees buckled. Brittany and I held him upright and Sam pulled back, apologizing.

  “Oh my god, you’re bleeding. What happened? What can I do?”

  “Whiskey,” Breck said, and I bit back a laugh.

  Sam looked over at me with wide eyes and my amusement faded at the worry she wore. “He’ll be okay,” I said, nudging her back so we could keep moving.

  Sam fell into step beside me. “How do you know?” she asked in a hushed voice.

  “Trust me. If he’s asking for whiskey, he’ll be fine.”

  We reached the front porch, and I handed Breck off to Harold and Brittany before turning for the yard again.

  “Where are you going?” Sam asked.

  “Someone has to find a way to put those flames out before they reach the house. Safar can’t hold them forever.”

  Sam hesitated, and I knew she was torn. I nudged her toward the door. “Stay with Breck. Make sure his injuries aren’t more serious. If they are …”

  She nodded. “I know what to do.”

  I kissed her, hating the idea of walking away from her right now, but there wasn’t another choice. “I’ll be back soon.”

  She didn’t answer as I turned and doubled back to Safar.

  The heat hit me first, but it was different than before. More muted. It took me a moment to realize it was Safar’s wards changing the air. Whatever she was doing was shielding us from the worst of it, including the smoke. Without that, the heat felt more like a summer day than a raging fire not a hundred feet away.

  A body stepped up beside me, and I looked over to find Koby. and beside him, Brittany. We all looked to Safar.