Licked by the Flame (6 page)

But she was for damn sure not going to let him get the stupid idea that she was looking for a relationship. She’d be in charge of this from start to finish. And by all indications, the finish would be well worth her effort. Even through her clothing she could feel her body growing closer to a climax.

Not that she wanted him to think he’d done anything special for her. The man was full of himself enough. She needed to keep him in his place, especially since they still had plenty of work to do. She figured she knew just how to do that.

She slid slowly against him. He was cupping her breasts so he could get a good, long look at them in the light that came through the window overlooking the vast emptiness of the huge, forbidden mountain and the sprawling glacier at its foot. He was clearly a man who’d had his share of women, and she was just vain enough to feel a little bit giddy at the blatant appreciation she read in his expression now. He was drinking in his fill of her and he liked what he saw.

An involuntary sigh escaped as she filled her lungs. It would be so easy to just linger here, to let him bask in full view of her finest assets and wait for him to call the shots. The feel of his fingers over her nipples sent rivers of heat and desire surging through her extremities. Oh yes, he knew what he was doing, and he’d make sure she didn’t have to fake anything tonight. It was tempting to take advantage of that and just enjoy the waves of pleasure.

But then it would be over. He’d leave—as she would want him to, of course—and she’d be left alone to come back to reality. She hated that part. Damn reality might get shoved under the rug for a while, but once this was over she’d have to face it again. If she was smart, she’d drag this wonderfully distracting event out as long as she could.

She ran her hands over Nic’s chest, tracing his muscular contours and rubbing herself up against him. There was no use hiding how hot and ready for him she was, but as long as she kept her damn pants on she was the one running the show. She might prolong this fantasy.

He didn’t seem overly concerned about who was in charge, though. He let her explore his body and merely smiled with approval when she shifted against him, the barrier of her clothing becoming more and more obvious as their need for each other increased. He put his large hands at her waist, holding her steady as he pressed up against her, adding to the fire inside her. He shifted position and managed to find just the right spot to make her see stars.

Damn it, but he was going to make her come already and he still hadn’t even actually touched her
there
! If she wanted to remain the one in control of this activity, she’d better let things move just a little faster.

“I’ll take off my pants if you’re ready to put on a condom,” she said.

“I’m afraid you caught me off guard,” he said. “I didn’t bring any.”

“Is that your way of saying you expect me to let you go on without one?”

“No, it’s my way of saying you’re welcome to keep your pants on while we do this. I don’t need you naked to make your toes curl.”

There was a little bit of a challenge behind his words. She was half tempted to let him prove what he said, but the other half of her didn’t need proof. She knew he could do exactly what he said.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I plan to be the one making
your
toes curl, and I’ve got condoms in my bag.”

That was just a happy accident. She still had a stash in her bag from the last trip she’d taken with the previous tattooed asshole who had occupied her time. The one who made her think he cared about her but then took off as soon as she needed something other than sex from him. It was a valuable lesson learned and she wasn’t going to be making those same stupid mistakes ever again.

Even if she wanted to.

She shifted off him, enjoying the view as he lay there sprawled on her bed with his eyes dark and smoky and his cock rising up into the moonlight like a bronze pillar. She couldn’t help but reach out and touch it again, stroking her fingers over the velvety sheath. He murmured in some unrecognized language and she gave in to the temptation to lean over and taste him. Not just a teasing kiss; she put her lips fully over him, letting her teeth graze him lightly as she sucked him deeper inside. Exotic. Tantalizing.

She wanted more. As her tongue flicked around him, tasting and tormenting, the heat coursing through her was almost too much. Was it possible she might climax this way, simply from pulling him into her mouth? As the familiar wave of electricity threatened to sweep over her, she knew it was entirely possible.

What kind of man was this? She didn’t care. She wrapped her fingers around the base of his cock, marveling at the size of the thing as she continued to suck and glide her mouth over him, first slowly and then progressively faster. It was as if she could feel every spasm of pleasure that was building up inside him. It was building up inside her, too.

It was just a matter of who would succumb first. Damn, but she wanted to give in and focus on his hands that stroked over her body, toying with her breasts and leaving her marked by his heat. She wouldn’t, though. She would prove to him she could handle whatever he had to give her. Even if he’d hardly given anything and she was the one doing the work.

Not that she minded. He tasted like fire, like raw, unfettered passion. She drew this passion from him, letting it swell inside her body as tangibly as if he had penetrated her and thrust over and over within her. Hell, just the thought of it made her quiver and go weak.

Not weak enough to stop her ministrations, of course. With just a bit more pressure, she dragged his cock through her lips. She could feel the pulsing begin as he moaned. Yes, she’d done what she wanted. He was helpless under his climax now. She drove her lips over him again, taking him into her mouth and holding him there until he could hold his control no longer.

He growled aloud, a deep, animal sound that made her thrill with excitement. Then he came. The waves rolled over him and she clung to him for dear life. She held him there, keeping him under her command until she knew he was finished.

She’d done it. She’d won. She’d dragged a raging climax from him despite the way he made her go weak with the slightest of actions. She’d proven that she was in charge. She’d wrangled her own body into submission even as she’d done the same to his.

That, in itself, was pretty damn orgasmic.

R
aea buzzed her wings and glanced over at Kyne. They’d been gathered around the rough-hewn dining table in the cabin’s small kitchen area, listening to Baylor for some time now, and she could feel the tension building in the air around them. The taut muscles in Kyne’s still-human-sized body were tight with his barely pent-up apprehension. She had long since shrunk back down to her natural size, but Kyne remained every bit as large as his father. His body held the effects of the Sizing Dust much longer than hers.

She watched him, studied his wary interaction with Baylor. Despite Kyne’s obvious fairy features, the resemblance between the two men was uncanny. How had she not known right from the start how very human he was?

It seemed that his human characteristics were more pronounced the more he was around humans. His aura was just a bit dimmer and his body more angular, more rugged. She doubted that Kyne would appreciate if she pointed it out to him. She wished he could appreciate his more human attributes. Certainly she did.

Perhaps it was, in fact, his blatant humanity that had attracted her to him in the first place. He was wild, exotic, and absolutely irresistible to her. Of course forbidden passions and longings had come bursting to life inside her as she had been around him. Kyne was everything her deepest, most secret nature craved. Her initial battle against that had been futile from the start.

Now, however, it appeared they were being asked to help battle something else, something unknown. Whatever these forces were, they were actively compiling an arsenal to cause irreparable damage within the Forbidden Realm. The Veil itself seemed to be their target. Baylor had no idea whom he could trust and whom he could not, so he’d come here.

He needed Kyne to do what he couldn’t, to travel swiftly and undetected to find out what he could about these strange happenings. And Kyne would go, she had no doubt of that. Despite his animosity toward his father, he would go. He loved the Forbidden Realm more than he hated the man who sired and then abandoned him.

And whether Kyne liked it or not, Raea would be going with him. She loved him more than she feared whatever they might find at the end of their journey. In the wild, uncivilized West Fjords of Iceland, of all places. There was no telling what sort of magic was running unchecked in a land such as that.

“It’s here,” Baylor said, pointing to a crude map he had drawn on a discarded paper. “I’d download more-specific coordinates for you, but I’m afraid none of my electronic technology works up here in this cabin.”

“We don’t work like that, anyway,” Kyne said. “I’ll be navigating by magic, so your human drawings are worthless to me.”

“There’s an awful lot of magic over there, I’m told. Really ancient things have been left undisturbed for centuries. You sure you can find the way?”

Kyne sneered his response, clearly insulted by Baylor’s question.

Raea decided it was a good time for a question of her own. “You said your information indicated the equipment was being delivered to a remote location at a volcano. Is this the same sort of equipment we found here in the woods?”

“No, this machinery has been altered in some way. Instead of supporting the Veil, it seems to create further damage to it. All we know is it’s highly dangerous and is being sent to the wilderness around the Drangajökull glacier. It’s been shipped out of Sandstrom Industries in unusual quantities for some time now.”

The named triggered a recollection for Raea. “Did you say Sandstrom?”

“Yeah,” Baylor replied. “It’s owned by some guy not too far from here. Not sure what his connection with the Forbidden Realm is, though.”

Raea’s heart thudded in her chest and she shot Kyne a quick glance. He frowned at her.

“Sandstrom? Is this name supposed to mean anything to me?”

“It’s a fairly large corporation,” Baylor said, not noticing Raea’s panic. “It’s owned by some genius recluse who spends most of his time out on his boat.”

Kyne seemed to be digesting this. “Boat? Wait a minute, this isn’t the same guy who—”

Raea interrupted him and sparkled for Baylor. “Do you know this Sandstrom person? Is that how you came by your information?”

“No, I’ve never met him,” Baylor replied. “From what I hear though, Sandstrom’s connection to the council was established by his wife, years ago. She’s deceased now—died sometime back in a freak storm, I believe—but it seems she made some kind of deal. I don’t know details, but Sandstrom Industries went from a little start-up in the guy’s garage to a multimillion-dollar corporation practically overnight. They’ve got some pretty high-end technology there. I’m not even sure Devin Sandstrom himself knows what it is they’re making and shipping all over the world.”

“But Devin Sandstrom is the guy with the mermaid, isn’t he?” Kyne asked, glaring at Raea.

“Mermaid?” Baylor exclaimed. “Now there are mermaids involved?”

Obviously they were going to have to explain this to him. Well, he already knew most of their secrets and hadn’t betrayed them. One more couldn’t possibly put them at any great risk, could it?

“Devin Sandstrom is a man we have dealt with before,” she began. “And it isn’t all mermaids who are involved, just one.”

“I think
involved
is kind of an understatement,” Kyne interjected.

Raea ignored him and continued. “She and Devin…well, they fell in love, and it was, more or less, my fault.”

Baylor shook his head in dismay. “How is that even possible?”

“It’s a long story,” Kyne said quickly. “The point of it is that Raea found a way to work it out and now they can be together. Sandstrom has a nice new connection to the Forbidden Realm.”

“I’m sure he would never do anything to cause harm to us, though,” Raea added quickly. “He’s a really nice man, for a human, I mean. No offense.”

“He might be a nice man, but his company has been supplying equipment that is being used to destroy the Veil,” Baylor said.

Kyne cursed under his breath. “And we helped the man possess more magic.”

“I can’t believe he would do anything that might put Aliya in danger. He loves her,” Raea insisted. “There must be other forces involved, people or creatures we don’t know about.”

Kyne didn’t seem convinced. “You really believe his company could manufacture this sort of machinery without Devin knowing it?”

“Well, if he knew about it, and if he had all this magic at his disposal, why did he need a Wish Fairy to help him find his true love?” Raea defended. “His company is very large, and you know he was completely distracted. Someone else must simply be using him.”

Baylor surprised her by agreeing. “It’s possible. You both know how things work. Your Fairy Council can make humans dance to their bidding if they choose to. I have no doubt that Sandstrom Industries has been in their pocket for years. Your man might truly be innocent.”

“So you suggest Sandstrom Industries is being secretly operated by the Fairy Council?” Kyne asked.

“Fairies have a knack for hiding in plain sight,” Baylor said. “They’re using Sandstrom Industries to manufacture the equipment you found in the forest. Between magic and plain old deception, they’ve secretly put together a select group of humans and fairies to oversee the project. We all just manage our own little piece of the puzzle, and I don’t even know who else is involved, beyond my immediate contacts. The trouble is, I don’t think the Fairy Council is the only group doing this. I’m worried there is another faction operating around ours.”

“You mean there is more than one magical coalition hiding inside Sandstrom Industries?” Raea asked.

“But how could something like that be hidden inside a human organization?” Kyne asked.

“My guess is they’ve set up their own division within the corporation,” Baylor explained. “I believe the Fairy Council is managing the main one, yet someone else has infiltrated their organization and is siphoning some of the secret equipment, reengineering it and diverting it for their own use.”

“Your mysterious person in Iceland,” Raea said.

Baylor nodded. “Exactly.”

Kyne shook his head, unconvinced. “So not only is the Fairy Council operating under Sandstrom’s nose, but some entity in Iceland is sneaking around under theirs? Do we really believe this is possible?”

“That’s what you need to find out,” Baylor said.

“All the while being hunted by the Fairy Council ourselves.” Kyne practically snarled the words.

Not that Raea could blame him. She’d certainly learned more about the workings of their Fairy Council in the last few days than she’d ever known in her whole life. Only a week ago she would have defended them, praised them for representing the needs of her kind. She would have called Baylor’s claims about mysterious shipments and shadowy forces ludicrous. Today, though, she knew anything was possible.

“You want us to go find this equipment hidden somewhere in a faraway place called Iceland,” Raea clarified.

“Near a semi-dormant volcano wrapped by a glacier, that’s right. I really would go myself, if I thought I could get out from under the council’s thumb.”

“Pity you can’t just ask my mother to look into this for you,” Kyne said. “Or is she, perhaps, not as eager to do your bidding as you’d like to pretend?”

“She doesn’t do my bidding. Hell, she’s got her own tasks to be managing, plus…well, let’s just say the council keeps their eye on her, too. Why do you think she never told you when we got back together? No one can know. The council constantly reminds me that anytime I step out of line, they’ll find a way to make her life uncomfortable. As they will yours, I’m afraid.”

“Is that the reason they dragged me into the Council Hall? You did something that upset them?”

“Kyne, this is so much bigger than us. Of course I would never want to do anything to make life difficult for you.”

“Yet here I am,” Kyne noted bitterly.

“Yes, here we all are. I can’t protect you anymore, Kyne. Things have come too far. We don’t have a choice. We have to take a stand and see this to its conclusion…whatever that will be.”

“Will our going to Iceland bring on this conclusion more quickly?” Raea asked.

“I hope so,” Baylor replied, shaking his head and looking as if he wasn’t entirely certain he had any hope left.

“Then we’ll go,” Raea announced, fluttering over to alight on Kyne’s arm. “Won’t we?”

“Is there any way I can talk you out of it?” Kyne asked her.

“Not very likely,” she replied with a smile. “But you’re welcome to try.”

Baylor chuckled. “I’d love for you two kids to have time to come to an agreement, but that’s a luxury we don’t have. We need to know
now
what this other group is up to, before it’s too late. Let her go with you, Kyne. I have a feeling she’s good for you.”

For the first time, Kyne replied to his father without a scowl or a sneer. “Yes. She is.”

She had to struggle to hide a satisfied grin. He was right, of course. She was good for him, but it ran both ways. They were good for each other.

Now she was going to find out how good they were for each other on another continent. Together. Near a volcano. And a glacier. With magical equipment that had the power to drain their magic and send them into a sexual frenzy.

If nothing else, this trip was going to prove to be interesting.

Baylor’s words had proven true. Ancient magic did run wild in Iceland. Kyne could feel it from here, and they were still quite a distance offshore.

“So this is called Iceland?” Raea called to him as they zipped through wind gusts of salty spray and approached the dark, rocky land mass ahead.

“It is,” he replied. “One of those peaks we see in the distance should be the mountain we are heading for.”

They’d used magic to plot their course as well as to accelerate their pace, but he could tell Raea was becoming exhausted from the journey. He’d insisted they spend as much time over water as they could in order to avoid detection by any humans, but as he studied the land it was obvious there weren’t many humans around. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find a safe place to land and take stock of things.

Raea probably wasn’t going to admit to him how tired she was, so he’d have to pretend he could use a rest. She was bravely matching his wing strokes and keeping up with him as they approached the jagged landscape of the huge, alien island. It was foolish and unnecessarily dangerous for her, but he was damn glad to have her at his side.

He pointed to one of the jutting mountains up ahead. His magical sense of navigation told him this was their destination. She probably recognized it, too, but he gestured toward it.

“Right there. That’s where we’re going.”

“It’s a very big mountain,” she noted.

“It’s a volcano,” he corrected. “Dormant, supposedly.”

“Semi-dormant,” she corrected. “And your father said scientists are in the area, and many of those machines have been sent here to tamper with magic.”

“Well, they haven’t tampered too much. I can feel the magic from here, can’t you?”

“Yes, actually, I can. There is strong magic here,” Raea replied as they swooped over the waves below that crashed at the rocky shore.

They were both tossed by air currents every bit as ragged as the foaming sea waters.

“Ancient magic,” he said. “Wild and untamed.”

“Obviously we are in the right place.”

“Getting tired, are you? Need a rest?” he asked as he twisted in air, watching her struggle to keep up with the frenetic pace of the wind.

“No. I can make it to the mountain.”

“We should rest,” he said. “Let’s just get inland, away from the damp wind, and catch our breaths.”

He could see how relieved she was at that suggestion. She had come all this way through the wind and some pretty unpleasant weather and hadn’t complained once. He gave her a sizzling smile. The one that she sent back to him almost made up for the fact that they were flying straight on into danger.

This land that now greeted them was rutted with deep valleys and rifts, dark volcanic rock that had been cut over millennia by runoff from the nearby glacier as it advanced and receded. The low-lying areas were dotted with sparse patches of moss and scrubby tufts of coarse grass. Their kind were not often affected by weather and external temperatures, but even he could feel the cold begin seeping into his bones. Maybe he was more sensitive to it due to his human blood. Raea gave no sign that it caused her any discomfort. Apparently she was determined to prove herself more than up to whatever challenges faced them.