Licked by the Flame (20 page)

She kissed him back. These weren’t the sweet kisses of discovery or the demanding kisses of lovers staking their claim; they were the hot, searing kisses of pure, unfettered desire. Two people equally determined to fully enjoy themselves with one another. It was beautiful in its simplicity and intoxicating in its sensuality.

She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer and testing his taut skin with her nails. He might appear solid and ungiving, but he was tender and soft when they connected. She skimmed her fingers over his back and took hold of that wonderful, muscular ass. He kissed her harder, drawing her tongue past his lips and sliding his burning cock against her.

Damn it, she hadn’t taken off her panties. She shifted against him, trying to take him inside her, anyway. He deftly refused.

“You are not ready, my dear,” he murmured, moving his kisses from her lips to her neck.

“You sure as hell are.”

“I will make certain we are ready together.”

He seemed determined to make good on his promise when, about ten seconds later, he put his hands on her hips and scooted her up so suddenly his kisses went from her upper body regions to the lower ones. And good grief, where did her panties go?

“You deserve proper attention,” he whispered, running his finger over the inside of her thigh as his lips nibbled her there. “I want to see how you open for me, taste all that you are.”

She could only watch long enough to see his head dip low over her. Then sensation took over and she shut her eyes, reveling in his touch. His tongue explored her, his hands kneaded her, and his kisses found the secret place that made reality fade away completely. She sagged into the soft bedding and let him have his way.

The rush of sensation washed over her again and again, each time nearly sending her over the edge. Yet somehow he continued his attentions without letting her fully succumb. He truly was an expert. Light and warmth filled her, and her body tensed and relaxed with an increasing pulse. She arched against him, groping for something to grasp to keep from spiraling out of control.

“What are you doing to me?” she moaned as another wave threatened to crush her, then harmlessly subsided.

“I am loving you, Lianne. Give in to it. Let me show you how you make me feel.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she rasped. “It’s too much.”

“No, you have so much to give. Let it go and I will show you how.”

And then he wasn’t speaking, he was pressing his mouth against her again, drawing something from her. Her soul, maybe. She didn’t know and she didn’t care. It felt too good to worry about what might be happening to her. She would do as he asked.

She gave up her control, letting go of her tenuous hold over her body, her emotions. He was touching her whole body at once, engulfing her in heat and desire. She breathed it all in, filling herself with sensation and letting it flow out of her again. The climax was just waiting there, hovering over her until she could finally reach it.

With one little nip at the very peak of her arousal, Nic sent her soaring into an ocean of bliss. She cried out, gasping for air. No one had ever taken her so far with so little effort. She breathed in and out, waiting for her head to stop spinning.

“Ah,
now
you are ready,” Nic said.

His voice was smoky and ragged. She didn’t even realize he had let up on his kisses, but now he was above her, his lips close to her ear and his hot breath whispering her name.

“
Now
I’m ready?” she panted. “I think you’ve finished me.”

She felt him press against her, softly, tenderly. Her body reacted like fire, raging and burning for him in a way she never imagined was possible. Apparently she was not finished yet. Not by a long shot.

“Now you will have what you need,” he murmured for her. “We both will.”

He was careful. Her body welcomed him eagerly as he thrust his cock into her. The heat, the electricity…it was blinding but oh, so very good. She wrapped her legs around him to take him all in.

“You are perfect for me,” he said. “I will be perfect for you.”

For a moment he let her get used to the feel of him, then slowly he began moving. Gently at first, with long deliberate strokes, he tormented her with his prowess. She wanted to climax again, to fall into that endless abyss of pleasure and ecstasy, but he held her back. He kept the waves at bay just enough that she was aware of what he was doing, but she was helpless to urge him along.

Her body was his, completely at his mercy as he pleasured them both. She could feel the warm flow of emotion that saturated them now; it went back and forth between them like the very oxygen that they breathed. Gradually his pace increased. He was thrusting with more power now, more urgency. She needed him more and more as he continued on. She held herself to him and rocked, again and again in desperate effort to survive the excruciating torrent of pleasure.

The waves of her furious release were not safely at bay now, they were swallowing her fully. She was drowning in a sea of sensation. Had she climaxed before? She had obviously thought so, but this was something much more than she’d ever felt. This went beyond pure physical pleasure. What Nic was doing had transferred her to another realm, another plane of existence.

She cried out his name, riding with him as he thrust against her over and over again. Her body seemed to become part of his, or perhaps he’d become part of her. The world was all Nic, his skin and his warmth and the way that he filled her.

She could take it no more and finally crumbled under that passion. He came over her at the same time, pouring himself into her and breathing her name as if it were a holy chant. She clung to him, shaking and gasping for air. He pulsated within her, tiny climaxes racing over her and carrying her slowly back up to the surface.

Her arms went limp and she could do nothing but wait for the tide of bliss to retreat. Nic dropped down beside her, bundling her into his arms and pulling her tight. She could do nothing but snuggle against him, warm and safe and exhausted beyond measure.

She’d never been so thoroughly happy in her life, though. Nic had made her feel things she’d never thought possible. And somehow, she knew she’d given him something, too. He had needed her and right here, right now, she had been enough for him.

That, she was pretty damn sure, was not something he could very often say.

Heat still whorled around them. Nic sheltered her with his body, but he knew she must feel the sting from some of it. His passion had filled the chamber with searing colors and light. The might of it had slammed into him with unexpected force, penetrating his skin, his will, and his soul.

Lianne had given more than he’d ever imagined, and he’d given in return. The flame in his core roared to full life. He was an inferno now, raging with every dragon power he had. He hoped he’d not been too much for her.

Years and years of denial, of hiding his true form and blending with humans, had cost him. Wearing their form and governing his thoughts and his actions day after day had drained him more than even he had been aware. Now, just now with this trembling, moaning woman in his arms, he was himself once again. She had filled him and revived even the parts of him he hadn’t realized he’d let go dormant. He owed her everything, and he’d given her everything that he’d had. He cradled her carefully as the tumult within and without them slowly began to settle.

When she spoke, her words were languid and slurred. “Wow. If this is all just part of some brain-damaged delusion, I don’t even care right now. That was amazing.”

Her pleasure was beautiful. He was happy to have satisfied her. Aside from his own needs, there was a great sense of pride in knowing hers had been met as well. She was completely at ease in his arms and he liked that. Her mind was as open to him as her body had been. He could touch her mind and know her like no one he’d ever encountered before. The walls he had felt earlier were entirely gone.

Fully exposed to him in their place was the raw, aching realization that Lianne had protected her secrets for a reason. She’d been protecting
herself
. What she’d kept hidden was deeply personal to her, a vulnerability she’d never meant for anyone to discover. But Nic had, unintentional though it was now. He felt every part of her, even this harsh, shocking reality.

You are dying.

He hadn’t spoken the words aloud, hadn’t wanted to hear them, let alone acknowledge their validity. But his mind was meshed with Lianne’s now and she knew what he knew.

“I am. How do you know that?”

“Your mind. I’m sorry, but I can enter your mind. You let me see inside of you, so I know.”

“I let you see that, huh? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now. I didn’t want anyone to find out, but it’s a little late for that, I guess.”

“You believe you don’t have much time left.”

“A few months, so they say. It’s a tumor, inoperable and without any hope for a cure.”

“And you knew that when you took this job?”

“It’s why I took the job. I needed to do something, to prove my life wasn’t completely a waste.”

“So this project…it will give you that?”

“My father’s company is searching for energy sources that can be tapped without damaging the world. Even magical creatures like dragons must realize that we can’t go on the way we have been. I thought if I took over this project, then…”

“Then you’d be leaving a legacy of hope for your people.”

“Something like that.”

“Sadly, it was not to be. The energy in this mountain is not for humans to use.”

“No, I get that now. But damn…I wish I could have done something to make things better. You understand that, right?”

“I do. But there is time. Perhaps another volcano will provide what you’ve been searching for.”

“I thought you said you could read inside my mind? There’s no more time for me. It’s been getting worse. Hell, for the longest time I thought all this was just a hallucination.”

“This is real, Lianne. You are here and you have given me more than you can ever know.”

“Oh, I’ll probably know about it as soon as I try to stand up and walk. You really don’t hold anything back, do you?”

“Did I harm you?”

“No, you were amazing. Seriously, you’re not like anyone I’ve ever known.”

“Well, you probably haven’t been with many dragons.”

“No. That’s pretty much a given. But…you still look human enough.”

“I can maintain this form when I choose to.”

“Thank you for choosing to, then. I really, really like this form.”

“And I’m glad that you do. I’ve never been so drawn to a human female in all my years, I must admit.”

She laughed at him and her voice made the chamber even warmer than it was. “I’ll take that as high praise. For two people who don’t really care much about each other, I’d say we’ve got some pretty intense chemistry.”

“Intense, indeed, although I’m not sure it’s fair to say we don’t care about each other. As a matter of fact, I find I care a great deal for you, Lianne. And go ahead and admit it; I do have some measure of importance for you, don’t I?”

“Well, I guess you do have a few qualities I find kind of important.”

She was smiling at him with the warm, tender smile of afterglow, and he could feel her emotions. They filled up his mind and permeated his skin. She loved what he had done to her, and she never would have let herself enjoy him so much if she didn’t care just a little.

It was a surprise to discover that this mattered to him. He’d never found himself actually
wanting
his human companion to care. The very process of acknowledging this felt foreign. He wasn’t supposed to feel this way after passion. The fact remained, though, that he did. He wanted Lianne to care. Very much.

Because he cared about her.

Panic suddenly washed over him as he realized just how much he did care. It was like a knife plunged into his heart when he thought of the danger she was in right now.

“I have to get you out of here,” he said, forcing the warm fog of pleasure out of his mind to make room for a more rational plan. “You have to be safe.”

“I am safe with you, Nic. True, I’ve got a bum leg, there are magical creatures ready to attack us, and I’m trapped in a volcano with a freaking dragon, but I’ve never felt so safe in my life.” She laughed at herself. “Hell, and here I thought my brain tumor was a bad thing.”

Her laughter was real, but so was the pain behind it. He touched her face and let his thoughts caress her wounded soul. So much he would do for her, if only he could.

But it was too late. He could feel them—fairies and the damn humans working with them—entering the mountain. It wouldn’t be long before the fate of Nic’s clutch, his very life, and the future of his kind, would be set.

“They are here now,” he told her.

“The ones who want to steal all your magic?”

“Yes. There’s no time to get you away from here, but if you remain in this room, you cannot be found. I will do all that I can to keep you safe.”

“But you won’t be in here with me?”

“No, I have to protect the clutch.”

“Then I’ll help you do that.”

“Absolutely not. It’s far too dangerous for you.”

“And it’s not exactly safe for you, either. I saw what they did to you.”

“I’m better now. I have my strength back more than ever now, thanks to you.”

“Thanks to me? What did I do?”

“You shared yourself with me. You gave me your passion.”

“You mean…this? Sex gets you your strength back?”

“Yes, and I’m feeling more powerful now than I ever have before.”

“
Seriously?
Is that what this was? You made love to me to get back your strength?”

“Yes, but…no, it was more than that, of course.”

She shoved him away from her. The sudden space between them sent an odd chill through his bones. He wanted her back in his arms, wanted to drown out the cold with the heat from her soul. When he reached for her, though, she slapped his hand away. It stung all the way into his core.

“I can’t believe it,” she grumbled. “All those times back at the jobsite, the way I kept hearing your voice in my head and I couldn’t keep my hands off of you…that wasn’t cancer brain, was it? That was you using your weird dragon powers over me. Damn it, Nic, you’ve been using me all along!”