SeducetheFlame (7 page)

The flames flared hot and high at her assessment. The
crackle sounded loud and dispersed across the Atlantic where no boat waited to
rescue them.

“That fire isn’t listening to you,” she insisted.

“It will,” Ray answered in a low snarl.

“Give it what it needs.”

“And what’s that?” He shook his head once in a curt motion
and reached out. His power responded and the fire reached even higher. The
ceiling of the wheelhouse turned black and smoke billowed as the flames reached
it.

“Your fire needs its mate.”

Ray stilled. The muscles in his broad shoulders twitched.
Wind, tinged with smoke, ruffled his hair.

The spreading destruction paused. She could feel the heavy
expectation and hunger of his power as it waited, barely contained. Gulping,
she kept on, holding his attention.

“We’ve started it. Whatever you hoped to avoid, it wasn’t to
bring us to this. Trapped out here with life in the balance and our powers
handicapped. Even if the Coast Guard found us right now and brought us to
shore, we still need to repair ourselves. This is what I want deep down, and
hiding from it will not help me. It’s what you want. I can see it in the way
your fire seeks me. It wants inside, to meet and join with mine. Fire needs
water, Ray.”

He turned on her with a snarl. “I told you this would
happen. I’ll burn everything down.”

“We all live with the danger of causing a power surge with
our first loves. All of us. I nearly drowned my first boyfriend when I lost my
virginity.”

His scowl turned into a snarl and he stalked toward her,
jerking her body into his raging-hot skin. The sheet she’d held around her
fluttered and flew free. Like a flag flying over the water it disappeared on
the wind. “Not another word about another man.”

The low threat was real and deadly soft. But it wasn’t a
threat to her. He couldn’t bear the thought of another man touching her any
more than she could a woman touching him.

“Claim me, mate,” she challenged. “Then anyone who came
before will be wiped away.”

Sure, she’d never forget anyone she’d ever cared about, but
Ray took her meaning. They’d never share the intensity of their joining with
anyone else. Nobody could compare.

His mouth swooped down to claim hers again. Her lips were
tender from the unaccustomed use, but she didn’t care. She grabbed onto him,
holding him tight. But she wasn’t close enough. She snuggled higher until she
managed to climb his fine body and wrap her legs about his waist. His hard cock
pressed against her though his pants, and her hot core rubbed against the
fabric.

The friction wasn’t enough.

“Claim me, love,” she insisted and bit his ear. He hissed
and whirled around.

He strode toward the wheelhouse, toward the fire that even
now threatened to flare out of control. But he didn’t go in, and he didn’t
bother trying to subdue the flames. Her back came up hard against the part of
the wheelhouse still unclaimed by fire. The force of slamming into the wall
brought some pain but it only added to the pleasure.

“You wanted it. You’ll get it. You’ve been wanting my cock
for fourteen years, haven’t you, mage?” His words were harsh, but she knew it
was his reaction to the gut-searing effect of tearing down the walls he’d so
carefully erected for so long. Those walls had turned out to be ultimately
useless and unnecessary. To finally face that he’d kept them apart and lonely
for so long, it made his anger flare.

But she was here to be his counterweight, and she could take
all that anger and soothe it in cooling, healing water.

“I have. Take me. Take me, hard. I’m yours.”

He pressed her into the boiling-hot wall as he removed his
hand from under her ass. He opened his zipper and guided his cock to her slit.
Then with a surge, he plowed into her, full, long, and hard in one stroke.

His hands flattened against the wall and the only thing that
held her up was his cock and her legs around his hips.

“Oh God. That’s good,” she practically purred.

“It’ll get better,” he promised.

“It couldn’t,” she teased, taunting him for more.

He gave it to her. His hips pulled back in a short move and
thrust hard. He ground against her as he made short, hard thrusts. “You want
this joining? You want to accept me, to risk that that life may be cut short if
you’re weaker?”

She dug her nails into his shoulders with a brutal grip. He
hissed and she knew she drew blood. “Who says I’d be weaker?”

Accepting the reaction she expected, she hit her head
against the wall as she pressed back. He increased his thrusts, driving into
her over and over.

The roar of the fire screamed and the heat of the burning
wood seeped into her spine.

“I want to have you, Clarissa. Forever.” His voice cracked,
in tune with a roar of cackling fire.

“You’re mine,” she answered and dug her nails in deeper.
“Always have been.”

He whirled her around and took her to the deck, his cock
never leaving her. She arched from the wood surface as he continued his
thrusts, now going long and deep as he lifted her legs, spreading her open, and
pushed so far inside her she swore she’d never been fucked so deep. Her ankles
came around his neck as her body was helpless to the lust riding them.

Her sensitive pussy clenched around his movements. She
palmed his ass, and as the intensity nearly overwhelmed her, she clawed into
him again, latching onto his muscular backside as he worked her. Inside her
core, she felt her power opening. Like it bloomed to life for the first time in
the heat of the sun, it unfurled.

White blazed across her vision and her heart beat in time
with his. It did. She knew it did, deep inside her. Just as she knew he’d
reached out to her to join their para-talents in an unbreakable bond.

He shouted and his hot come filled her again. She shivered
and shuddered as a response rose deep inside her to expand out in a shivering,
clenching wave. The melting feeling of bliss flowed over her.

Rain dropped on her face and his back. Her grip on him went
slick. He groaned and kissed her cheek as hot steam rose from him. In a dim
part of her mind, the only part functioning beyond her lassitude, she directed
a wall of water to crash down over the wheelhouse.

The fire dispersed and steamy seawater rushed all over her.
Ray hadn’t moved. His cock was still buried inside her and his hips still
slowly rocked. But the tension of reining in his power to keep the fire from
spreading left his body and he hummed a deep, contented sound.

“Damn woman. If you wanted a shower after sex, I have a
really nice one at the house. You couldn’t wait?” He laughed and rolled to the
side, carrying her with him to splay on his chest. The motion made his cock
pull free and she clenched as if she could cradle him there forever.

“I’ll hold you to that shower.”

Ray grinned. It had a lighthearted quality he’d rarely shown
but she’d seen more of when they’d first met. Over the years his brooding had
gotten darker, more common, and she’d missed the flirty smiles. But they’d
finally overcome the hurdles.

And that smile showed he knew what she did. When they’d
joined, their powers had clicked home. They wouldn’t bleed each other dry. She
was sure of it.

“Let’s get back to shore. Get Vince settled in with Jonah,
behind a locked door this time.” Ray found his wet and sodden pants on the deck
and slipped them back on. And though they couldn’t stay out here, stranded,
with an unconscious sick man below deck, she hesitated to bring an end to the
moment.

“Sure. Let’s go home.” She glanced down at her pale skin
even as she gathered her powers about her, commanding the water to turn them
about and guide them back to the river.

Her mage strength rushed through her veins in a comforting
wave. With it came the knowledge of just how far out they’d drifted, exactly
where they were, and how far she’d need to push the waves to get them to dock.
But she didn’t know one thing. “Except exactly what will I be wearing when I
step off this boat?”

Ray gave a sly smile. “You mean, besides me?”

She snorted.

But her hands trembled when she reached out. Did she have it
in her to get them home?

Clarissa did have it in her.

Her arms trembled by the time she navigated them into dock a
few hours later, but she did it. Her skin chapped from the wind and pink from
the sun, she stood tall and proud. And nude.

“Damn clothes, anyway,” Ray grumbled then whistled low as he
pointed at her and twirled a finger in the air.

A smoke-scented blanket formed around her body like a dense
cloud. The smoke didn’t bother her. Strangely, it reminded her of how Ray
hadn’t been able to keep the barriers between them.

They stepped off the boat at Jonah’s dock and her knees
nearly gave out.

“You got us home,” Ray murmured in her ear and the pride she
heard in his voice gave her renewed strength.

Standing on the dock awaiting them, Jonah sighed and tied
down the boat.

Just beyond the dock, the entire Cinder clan awaited them.
Anxious and loving faces stared at them in a mixture of laughter and relief.

“I called them in when you disappeared on me,” Jonah called
from the dock. “Here. This one is waking up from his beauty sleep.”

Vince stumbled down the dock and blinked in confusion. But
he didn’t appear to have it in him to run off again—not with the gathering CTF
crowd all glaring at him.

“Yeah, and you’ll have hell to pay for bringing me to
Savannah,” Griffin grumbled. “Astrid and I were leaving for our honeymoon. Good
thing you turned up when you did. I didn’t relish spending the next few days
combing the water for your can’t-swim-worth-a-damn-ass.”

His brother punched Ray in the arm before he caught him in a
one-armed hug.

“Some family reunion,” Sean said as he grabbed Vince’s
elbow. The CTF traitor snorted and glared as Griffin grabbed the other. Sean
could hear through his connection to Daisy, but his voice still sounded gruff
from infrequent use.

“I say, yes, some reunion.” Ray put an arm around Clarissa
and drew her against him in a possessive move that nobody missed. Everyone
froze in place with wide eyes and the only sounds on the dock were the rushing
of water and the crying of birds.

Daisy snapped out of it first with a smirk. “Finally get
laid, Uncle Ray?”

Sean chided his wife, “You shouldn’t talk like that to Ray.
After all, he’s been a dried up, desperate man for so long, he’s liable to
snap.”

“Some best friend you are,” Ray groused.

“Hey. I have no sympathy,” Griffin nodded at Astrid who’d
come to his other side and held his hand. “You gave me hell enough when I
wanted Astrid.”

Vince made a rude snort. “Can you break up the love fest and
take me inside? I’d rather face more of Jonah’s treatments than listen to all
this disgusting…”

Jonah punched Vince in the mouth.

The entire group sighed as the man they’d once cared for,
finally got just a piece of what he deserved for betraying them, almost killing
them, and for endangering the other para-talents with exposure. To let them all
be vulnerable to the whims and prejudice of society.

Jonah dragged Vince forward. The much-larger man, hulking
over them all with his nearly seven-foot frame, could easily handle Vince.
“When he overpowered his mate, taking from her until she died, it turned his
mind. He has a long atonement ahead of him, but I’ll see it gets started.”

“Jonah,” Clarissa called toward his back as he practically
dragged Vince back to the house where he had a treatment room. “I’ll be using
one of the cabins to get cleaned up.”

“Right,” Jonah answered without slowing.

A wealth of knowledge came in that answer. She’d be doing
more than getting cleaned up, and that was fine, that was all right with them
as her newfound family all promised to meet them for dinner.

“Or breakfast,” Daisy quipped. Sean slapped her on the ass.
Her friend, and in a way, now her adopted niece, called as Sean dragged her
away, “I left clothes and a basket for you.”

Ray turned her in his arms and the heat had already returned
to his eyes, flaring with yellow.

“Where’s this cabin?”

She swallowed. The words had been entirely different from
the meaning, the promise in his question. Jonah supported his income as an
alternative medicine healer by running a lodge. His gorgeous, meticulously
maintained property had two dozen rental cottages and access to another dock
where canoes and kayaks could be used by the vacationers.

“It’s the nearest one to the house. He keeps it for me
unless he has an overrun or a scheduling mishap.”

Ray found it easily and as he reached the foot of the
stairs, slung her up and into his arms with a quick and powerful move. She
giggled and he strode up the steps and through the unlocked door. As he closed
it behind him, he slid the deadbolt home.

“Shower?” he asked.

He didn’t wait for her to answer, but put her on her feet.
His blanket of smoke dropped from her, and he directed her toward the bathroom,
easily found in the small cabin.

“Yeah. Need to get all that smoke and salt off me.” She
couldn’t wait to wash the grime off her.

“Get it started. Gonna throw these pants and blanket on the
porch. They’ll smoke up the place.”

He moved away, and she let him, though she wanted to snatch
him back so he couldn’t even breathe without her touch on him.

She adjusted the water of the shower and stepped in. Her
favorite soap and shampoo were still here. So she sudsed her hair and let the
stress wash away.

Strong hands joined hers. She leaned into Ray’s long, lean
body as he gently and reverently slid a soaped washcloth all over her. He
concentrated his efforts in all the sensitive spots until she practically
purred. His attention lingered between her legs as he gently cleaned her, and
he didn’t just give attention to her pussy. But then he growled low in his
chest.

“Much as I want to take you against the tile, I found
something in that basket I think I need to use even more.”

“And what’s that?” she asked breathlessly. She was pretty
sure she was willing to do absolutely anything with Ray.

“You’ll see.” He washed himself quickly as she rinsed the
shampoo out, but when she added the conditioner, his hands were on her again,
rubbing her nipples and stroking her hips. As soon as she was done, he whisked
her out of the shower and into the bedroom.

“Here, let me.” She ran a hand down Ray’s back and wicked
away the water. Her power was at full strength and it felt good. Damn good.

“Let me,” he rejoined.

She stood next to the bed and he gripped her shoulders to
keep her from moving forward. His mouth came down on her shoulder and he licked
a drop of water. She moaned and her knees weakened until she fell forward.

“That’s it,” he murmured. He helped her move up the bed on
her belly and he sat astride her ass, catching the water beading her skin with
his tongue.

He licked across her shoulder blades. With a long, slow,
painstaking gentleness, he nibbled down her spine. His heat simmered on his
skin. She sensed more than felt it, but his power remained safely tucked inside
him, as hers was held calm inside her. There’d be no danger he’d burn down the
cottage or she’d wreck it in a tsunami.

His hands rubbed over her arms and dried her skin as he
inched down to sit over the bottom of her legs. His mouth covered the small of
her back with kisses and swipes of his tongue.

“That’s incredible,” she encouraged.

“It’ll be even more incredible.” He slid all the way off her
and she whimpered. But he didn’t cover her, giving her his heat. Instead he
calmed her with a stroke over an ass cheek. Leaning away, he grabbed something
from the basket next to the bed, but she couldn’t tell what. “Shhh. It’ll be
even more incredible. Be patient.”

He kissed the top of her crease, right at the bottom of her
spine. She shivered. His hands massaged her globes and gently spread her. His
mouth licked down, capturing the water that remained from the shower. Then with
long strokes of his tongue, he found the entrance to her rear and teased it.

She moaned but relaxed into his care.

“You’ve never been taken here.” His words were confident and
full of meaning. He’d sensed it from their connection. He knew the answer. And
she knew his intention. The fleeting mention of another man had made him
jealous, and even though they both knew it was unreasonable, and neither could
change or would want to change what had come before—after all, she’d genuinely
loved her first husband—they both wanted to share this new, unique experience.

This was a first for them both.

And it was the first either of them had made love to someone
with this depth of connection.

In answer, she spread her legs wide and relaxed into the
bed.

He lifted her hips, and nudged his cock into her pussy. He
stroked with short thrusts that hit that part of her behind her clit. In one
bold thrust, he brought her from languid desire to full blown lust.

A container popped and she nudged back, moving herself on
his cock in anticipation. “This is lube. It shouldn’t be cold since I’ve been
holding it. Relax. Okay?”

Commanding, strong, determined, hardheaded, and stubborn—Ray
was all those things, but that last question was still all him: concerned and
caring. If she wanted to stop at any point, he’d do as she asked.

“Don’t stop,” she growled and fisted the sheets, nudging her
ass higher in the air.

“Never.”

A slick finger circled her back entrance and lightly
caressed. The sensation was heady. Her hard nipples rubbed against the sheets
and her pussy clenched around his slowly moving cock. It was all a tease. Her
sensitivity prolonged with his leisurely pace.

Slowly, his finger nudged inside her.

She gasped, unprepared for the dual stimulation of his
penetrating her in two places. Groaning, she managed to push her ass farther
into the air, spreading herself as wide as possible. He moved his finger in and
out as his breathing quickened, but he kept his slow assault going.

“This is good?” He checked on her again.

Shivering under his care she could only grunt, but he knew
what she meant, that it was so good.

“A little more then.”

A second finger nudged inside her. A little stinging spread
from her entrance out as he carefully worked her. But the momentary flash of
pain quickly ebbed. The glide of his fingers soon returned to that same
torturous rhythm and the bliss was almost too much to take.

“Going to stretch you now.” Ray’s cool started to unravel
and his words had a guttural quality.

His fingers stopped pumping in and out. Another stretching
sensation as he used his fingers in a scissoring motion, opening her, readying
her for him in a careful way that turned her on unlike anything ever had.

Her moan ripped from her as his cock nudged that spot inside
her over and over. Helpless to the double pleasure that Ray gave her, she
closed her eyes on a cresting wave. Shuddering and bucking, she cried out.
White static took her vision and her pussy clamped down on the cock buried deep
inside her. Exposed to Ray completely, her climax washed through her and
exposed her. She hid nothing from him.

“Gorgeous,” Ray breathed. His cock pulled all the way out
even as her pussy tried to clamp down and keep him inside. She collapsed
forward, unable to hold herself up on her hands and knees.

Ray’s hands spread her and his cock head positioned at her
other entrance, the one she had no idea was so eager for attention until Ray.
Her body was so full of liquid warmth, she could only moan and wait for the
pleasure again.

“It’ll feel good. You’ll see.” He nudged forward and the
stinging returned.

She gasped and staring at the wall, she wished she could see
Ray, enjoy the torturous expression of his passion-lined face. Murmuring into
the bedding as the stretching turned into momentary pain, she felt the
resistance of her body collapse beneath Ray’s ministrations. “Next time, we use
a mirror. I want to see you.”

“Oh hell.” Ray’s cock slid in slowly as the pain ebbed.
“That visual almost sent me off and I only have the head in.”

“Give me more,” she encouraged.

“I am. I’m giving it all to you. You like it? You like my
cock buried balls-deep in your ass?”

“I do,” she gasped.

“So do I, love. So do I.” Ray grunted and leaned over her.
His cock was deep and hard. His hips ground against her ass and she bucked
back, impaling herself farther and pressing as hard against him as she could.
His warm and solid chest covered her back and the contact gave her an immense
rush of love and lust.

“Here,” Ray whispered at her shoulder before he bit her.
“Right there you already carry my mark. I left it there. Did you see?”

His cock pulled back and nudged forward again. The movement
stimulated the ring clasping his length and he started another slow pace,
fucking her in the ass. “You’re the first. You’re the first.”

She started to babble, trying to express how she felt, both
what he did to her body and to her heart. He understood her.

“Do this,” he encouraged as he gripped her hand and shoved
it between her legs. “Use you fingers on yourself. Make yourself come.”

His harsh panting at her ear filled her with pride that she
did this to him, made him lose all sense of decorum. She’d seen it when he lost
control of his powers, but together they were stronger, and it was even sexier
now that their mating meant he could lose rein of his passion while he gave
them pleasure. But his fire stayed contained, content to seek pleasure of the
body.

Oh, but his fire stoked inside her as his cock stroked, and
he directed her fingers to her clit. She played with herself as he pumped, and
she teased him further with her words. “Like this? You want me to fuck myself
while you fuck me?”

He groaned and his movements became erratic. His bucking
hips slapped into her. His cock worked her. Her fingers plucked at her clit in
a familiar way she knew would send her spiraling as the rush of pleasure moved
forward in an unstoppable wave.