Forged in Darkfire: An Amber Lee Novella (Amber Lee Mysteries Book 5) (9 page)

It was Lily who fought it back. She had known of Brian’s plan and stood ready to counter his Magick with her own. Once the Dark Fire was in the world she knew she wouldn’t be able to send it back from where it had come; only an act of selflessness and defiance would do that. But she didn’t need to control the Dark Fire, she only needed to control Brian; and none had stronger power over the mind than Lily.

They watched him burn, consumed by his own hubris, and fled.

He would never forget Brian’s dying wail, that awful, gargling sound, and there—in the heart of the tempest—he thought he could hear it at the edge of his senses, but his focus wasn’t on the noises around him; it was on Natalie and her delicate skin. In that moment, lost as he was in the deepest kiss of his life, he didn’t know why he had ever resisted her.

The feel of her soft skin on his excited him in a way no one had ever done before. Her lips, wandering away from his mouth and finding the line of his jaw, his neck, his collar, sent electricity rushing through him. And as they swirled and danced in the air, carried by the power of this evil storm, Damien wanted nothing more than to taste her, to hold her, to bind himself to her forever.

So he took her face and kissed her again, then he pulled her legs up to his waist and pressed her close to him. In his mind he thought of a silken ribbon, wrapping around their bodies, joining them together as the wind carried them, tossed and tumbled them like rag dolls. But in their bubble of Magick they were protected, undisturbed, and the ribbon was able to work.

Heat was rising from their entwined bodies, sweat starting to form on Damien’s chest, and soon the kissing had become too much for him to bear. He slid his arms beneath hers, explored the landscape of her body with his fingers while she ran her hands through his hair, and slowly reached for the empty space between them, finding himself and… suddenly he was awake.

The windows in the bedroom were already steamed up. Lily was gone, Damien could see, and the door was closed. But he was only aware of that by virtue of being possessed with peripheral vision. More immediate was Natalie. She was naked, tucked into his body like a perfectly fitting S shape, and sweating almost as much as he was.

Together they lay on their sides, Natalie facing away from Damien, her bare back pressed against his naked skin. She was searching for him blindly, and when she found him—hard—she guided him into her. Damien’s heart exploded into a rapid frenzy at the moment of contact, beating hard and fast as, for the first time, he entered a woman.

Damien lost his virginity in that moment, surrendered to Natalie as a sacrifice to allow the binding to take hold. Only it wasn’t enough to simply enter her. This was only the beginning, he knew.

Around them, a soft, cold wind was blowing. But the heat between them was palpable, and it seemed to Damien like he could still hear the roar of the Dark Fire in the back of his mind. Receding, but present. It was not over yet. But Natalie’s loud, euphoric moan snapped him out of the dread, and he slipped his arms under and around her body… and pushed.

The motion was gentle at first, and awkward, but they found their rhythm soon enough, their bodies slowly starting to move as one; away and together in a slow, tender dance of skin and sweat and heat. Natalie reached around the back of her head to search for Damien’s hair and pulled him toward her neck, which he kissed without any more need for encouragement.

He could feel the pressure building inside of him. The rocking of their bodies, the steady, rapid breaths leaving Natalie’s lips, the feel of being inside her, her breast beneath his hand, hard nipples between his fingers; this was all new to him. It was carnal and natural and primal, and he had never felt it before.

“Damien,” she whispered, finding his hand and squeezing it.

It’s working
, he thought. But the fight wasn’t over yet. No ritual was done until it reached its end, and they had yet to get there still. Inexperienced as he may have been, Damien needed to finish. And if he failed, if for some reason he
couldn’t
finish, he feared Natalie would fall back into a death-sleep from which he would not be able to save her.

He slipped out of her, against his urge to be inside her, and gently pushed her to her back. Then he crawled over her slippery, sweaty, naked body, between her legs. She opened herself to receive him, wrapping herself around his back, and then he was inside her again. Only this time their eyes were locked, and Damien found himself falling into those deep, brown pools.

Together they swayed, moaned, and groaned. Natalie’s hands explored the ridges of his lean muscles, her breasts rocked with the motions of their bodies, and Damien, at the last moment, closed the gap between their lips for one last deep kiss. One kiss before it was over, before the Magick took hold, before they bound themselves to each other for life in one single act.

“Damien,” Natalie sang between kisses, “Please, please, Damien.”

When she tightened her fingers around a clump of his hair Damien spilled himself inside her. Natalie’s body tensed at the sensation and she groaned into his mouth. A few rapid pulses, an instant and a lifetime of bliss, and he was spent—it was done; but Damien’s body continued to shake until long after.

He couldn’t remember how long it was until they had separated; only that they eventually had, and now the sun was up.

His body still tingled all over from what had just happened. Damien didn’t much care that he had just lost his virginity; despite being a big moment in his life, this wasn’t the important part. The important part was that Natalie was lying next to him, naked and with her arm around his chest, sleeping soundly and not unconscious and in the grips of some evil force.

There was a knock at the door, and then Lily pushed it open a head’s length. The shades were drawn in the bedroom, but judging by the light peeking through the gaps Lily’s head wasn’t blocking, the day was definitely in full bloom. Realizing, suddenly, that he and Natalie were naked, he bolted out of bed, dashed toward the door, and placed his weight against it.

“Morning,” Lily whispered through the door.

“What time is it?” Damien asked.

“A little after three.”

“Three? Jesus.”

“How is she?”

“Asleep.”

Lily nodded. “I’ll make you guys something to eat,” she said, “Come out when you want.”

Natalie started to stir when Lily closed the door and left. Damien headed back toward the bed and she curled up to him, wrapping her arms firmly around his waist. He kissed her on the top of her head and, almost in response, she sighed deeply and kissed him on the shoulder, then on his chest, and finally his neck. Her fingertips sailed up the ridges of his abdomen and chest to find his face and pull it toward her lips.

A jolt of electricity snapped between them as they touched; only he didn’t recoil. The sensation drew him to her, and the warmth that followed sent him warm feelings of comfort and happiness. Her mouth opened to his again and he found her tongue with his own, flicking the tip at first and then pushing deeper.

Hungry again.

Seconds, and Natalie was on top of him again. He was inside her again. And they were rocking again. He had bound himself to her; he knew from the vibrations in the Currents. There was only one now, where before there had been two. From now on their souls were one. Their bodies were one. Giving a part of himself to her had saved her life, but he knew their journey together would not be an easy one.

They would be drawn together forever. Their souls and bodies would sing to each other, bound regardless of their feelings. Could he love her? He had tried so hard to keep her at arm’s length to protect himself, his Coven, and her. If he didn’t love her, even a little bit, the Magick may not have worked; at least that’s what he thought. And if he didn’t love her now he could learn to love her, this Witch of honey and cinnamon.

Whatever happened now, the Magick had been set and their bond had been forged.

Forged in Dark Fire.

I don’t know about you, but…

Damien may have been a dick in Book 2, but when he told me this story I fell in love with him all over again. I mean, he didn’t
love
Natalie at the start. Maybe he did, at some point, but what relationship is final? Even one where two people literally share pieces of each others’ souls. And given the circumstances in which he and Amber met, it was easy to see that Damien was in a vulnerable position; as was Amber. Theirs was a fling born of circumstance, and it was never going to last.

But hey, that’s life, right?

Anyway, This book was an indulgence. I wasn’t meant to ever write it, nor was I ever meant to write Forged in Moonfire, but you know how things go. Your mind starts filling up with sexy men and women, they start talking to you one at a time at first, and then suddenly they’re all screaming at you like needy little children! But now that Moonfire and Darkfire are written, the itch has been scratched, and I hope that you—like me—are happier as a result.

I know I am; I know this series is fuller and more complete, and I’m totally excited to have gotten to this point!

So, moving swiftly on! Book six -
The Red Witch
- picks up immediately after the events of the Necromancer, and is available right now!! You won’t want to miss this book. It’s going to be the best one yet, full of danger, thrills, spills, and—of course—that tough relationship drama you’ve come to know is so prevalent in my stories. And to prove it, here’s an excerpt:

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I thought of Aaron and how much I just wanted to wrap myself around him and sleep. Even if I knew I wouldn't ever have an ordinary life, was it impossible to want and have a normal week? Or even a normal day? I would settle for that. I'm not greedy. But Collette had promised me that I would never have a normal life, not as long as this stranger drew breath, and I had read way too many books and watched way too many movies to know that if anyone ever said that to someone, it was probably true.

“We should be doing something then, shouldn’t we?” I asked, “Trying to locate her?”

Collette shook her head. “You are not ready to face such a foe yet, Amber. I am here to prepare you, but if we go searching for ze asp in ze sand we will be bitten before we know what’s hit us.”

“So… we wait?”

“We wait. She will not strike for some time.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because our quarry is immortal; and immortals are slow.”

“Immortal?” There’s that something else, I thought, answering my earlier question. “How is that… how is it even possible?”

“Some say she made a deal with ze devil in exchange for eternal life. Ze story of ze Witch desperate for ze fountain of youth has been told many times, but zis is because it happens more often zan you could imagine. Ze devil would never suffice himself with a single servant.”

“I didn’t… believe… in the devil before this all started,” I said, “Wiccans don’t believe in the devil.”

“But you know ze truth now. And in any case, ze devil is only a name by which to know ze beast. It has many names in many cultures and tongues. Some believe and others do not, but it has great power and has always existed; as has Magick.”

“And one of its servants is after me. What I want to know is why.”

“Because, ma chèrie,” said the Necromancer, “Ze Red Witch is ze only one who can break ze game Linezka has been playing; and she doesn’t want zat.”

Tap here to buy the Red Witch now!

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As an Indie Writer, reviews are my lifeblood so if you did enjoy the book, please drop me a review with your thoughts and comments. Indies thrive on reviews and I’m always appreciative of each and every one I get. If, on the other hand, you did not enjoy the book, drop me an email at
[email protected]
and let me know why.

Finally, keep your eyes peeled - the next Amber novel in the series is coming soon; and this one is going to be the best one in the series.

Katerina Martinez

FORGED IN DARKFIRE

An Amber Lee Mystery Novella

Copyright © 2015 by Katerina Martinez. All rights reserved Cover uses images © 2015 Shutterstock.

Published by Katerina Martinez.

Visit: www.katerinamartinez.com

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WARNING: This book is intended for mature audiences since it features mature language and some explicit sex scenes.

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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental.

Reproduction in whole or in part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read my work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or tell your friends about this serial to help spread the word!

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