ClosertoFire Read online

  He took his time licking her, her cries deeply satisfying, erotic music. He found the hard bud of her clit and pressed down with his thumb, bringing it out from beneath its little hood. He breathed over it and felt her thighs shiver against his shoulders.

  “Pl—” she began, and he watched her teeth clamp on her pink tongue. She’d remembered—no begging. Good girl.

  “Yes?” he asked softly, drawing torturous circles around her clit with the pad of his thumb, careful not to touch it. “What were you going to say, Lily?” When she hesitated, he chuckled. “You want to beg, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she groaned, her breath coming in rapid little gasps. He nipped the inside of her leg again. She jumped, whimpering, and he lapped up the answering flood of wet warmth from her pussy, still careful to avoid her hard clit.

  “You will use my name when you speak to me,” he corrected her firmly.

  “Yes, Bane.”

  “Tell me exactly what you want, Lily,” he said, watching her hips twitch with her hunger.

  “Please make me come, Bane,” she ground out from between clenched teeth.

  His lips curved in a wicked smile. “That’s my Lily,” he murmured. He drew her clit into his mouth and sucked gently. She came hard, screaming his name, bucking against his mouth. Her hands slipped on the counter but he slid an arm around her lower back, catching her.

  She’d barely stilled before he stood, positioned the head of his cock at her entrance and seated himself in her in one hard thrust. The flutters of her renewed orgasm stroked his length as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding on as though her life depended on it.

  “Yessss,” she hissed. She kissed him wildly, tasting, exploring his mouth with her tongue. “Please,” she whispered finally against his lips, forgetting his command in her heat, “take what is yours.” He took her with abandon, pounding his cock into her welcoming little body as hard and fast as his need demanded. When he came, the orgasm seized him ruthlessly, every muscle in his body stiffening with shocking force. He sank balls-deep into her and let go, his shout joining her cries of pleasure in the small space.

  They stayed there for what seemed like a long time, breathing hard, holding on to each other, bodies joined. His hunger sated for the moment, Bane took his time kissing her, expressing with his hands and mouth a gratitude he could not put into words. At last he broke the kiss, stroking her hair and drawing her head to his chest.

  “Wow, Lily,” he murmured, burying his face in her soft hair and inhaling deeply. The scent he’d found so intoxicating the night he’d first kissed her—lavender and lemon—had combined with a second he recognized as Darek’s. The synthesis was pleasing and he caught undertones of his own scent joining the mix.

  “Mmm?”

  “You amaze me.” He didn’t know what else to say. He’d been alive for a very, very long time and he’d long ago believed that his run of firsts was finished. He’d been so wrong. The creature that shared his soul and his body, an animal he’d thought incapable of fulfillment, was content. At peace.

  Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he held her tightly for a moment then stepped back to fasten his jeans. She winced a little as he helped her down from the counter and he dropped to one knee, searching her body for injury.

  Finding none, he asked, “Are you all right?” If he’d hurt her, he’d never forgive himself.

  She laughed, tugging him to his feet.

  “My legs were just a little stiff. I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?” He searched her legs for bruises or welts.

  “Bane, no. You didn’t hurt me. I’m fine,” she assured him. “Really.” She grinned. “If you ever hurt me, you’ll be the first to know, dragon-man.”

  “Dragon-man?”

  She shrugged. “Unless you prefer ‘Lord Master’, but I think Darek might object to that.” She frowned. “Speaking of which, I’m not allowed to wear panties anymore?”

  His dragon rumbled with pleasure and he straightened, looking down at her. “Just not under skirts.” He observed her response, curious. The objection surfaced, she considered voicing it, then it faded from her eyes. “Good girl,” he purred, stroking her jaw.

  “I really, really shouldn’t like it when you say that,” she said, rubbing her cheek against his palm.

  “But you do, don’t you, Lily?”

  “Mmmm-hmmm.”

  “It’ll be our little secret then,” he said. “Yours, mine and Darek’s.”

  She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “Is Darek like you? Is he going to be full of rules too?”

  He grinned. “You mean is he dominant?”

  “I guess.”

  Bane lifted her chin and looked into her lovely wide eyes. “No, he’s not like me.” He kissed her forehead. “He’s much less patient.”

  “Oh.” Her mouth twitched.

  “The two of us can be awfully demanding, you know. You’re going to be a very busy girl.” She blinked, her breath coming in short, shallow puffs.

  Part of him wanted to keep her there, savor the nerves and arousal playing across her features. Her thoughts, full of self-doubt, made him relent. “It’s all right to like our rules, Lily.”

  She looked surprised. “How did you… Are you always in my head?”

  “Only when I need to be,” he answered. “Is that all right with you?”

  She seemed to consider, then shrugged. “I guess. It just catches me off guard sometimes.”

  He leaned in close, seeking the spot behind her ear where her fragrance was particularly intoxicating. A sparkle of color at the base of her throat caught his attention and he tugged her chin up, eliciting a startled cry. He studied it more closely, his heart pounding.

  “Oh Lily.” He ran his thumb over the intricate, shining design on her skin. The mark—his and Darek’s—rested in the soft indentation at the base of her throat, between her collarbones.

  She gasped when he touched it, her eyelids fluttering closed. “Do that again,” she purred, interlacing her fingers at his nape.

  His hands—steady, reliable surgeon’s hands—trembled. I was right. What now?

  He grasped her shoulders and turned her around to face the mirror. “Look in the mirror, Lily.”

  She gaped at her reflection, her amber eyes wide, and reached up to touch the mark.

  Bane watched over her shoulder, smiling at her in the mirror. Unable to resist the temptation, he cupped her generous breasts and played with her nipples through her shirt. “What do you think?”

  The design was circular, made up of the curled bodies of two dragons, one blue and gold, one red. Bane studied the blue-and-gold dragon, an unmistakable likeness of his.

  Her shocked gaze met his in the mirror. The colors in the mark shifted and shimmered as she touched it. “This is it then. Your mark.”

  He nodded. “This is my dragon,” he said, running his thumb over the blue-and-gold dragon. She gasped and shivered. “And this is Darek’s.” He touched the red dragon and it moved beneath his fingertip, flicking its tail.

  She laughed and covered his hand. “That tickles.”

  “You’re our wyrmate, Lily.” The sound of his own words made his heart pound and his cock harden.

  She turned to face him, looking nervous, and sudden fear of losing her overwhelmed him. “Do you like it?” His chest tightened. Do you want it? he wanted to ask, but he didn’t dare.

  Lily stood on tiptoe and threw her arms around his neck. “Yes. To both questions.”

  He blinked. She’d heard his thoughts. The knot in Bane’s chest relaxed. He pulled her close, squeezing her tightly. “Now,” he said, stepping back and smoothing her shirt with his hands, “you’d better fix your skirt. Darek’s going to want to see that.”

  She turned back to the mirror and pursed her lips, running her fingers through the tangles he’d put in her hair.

  Bane could only stand there, grinning like a fool. “You are so beautiful.”

  She b
lushed, lowering her gaze.

  He chuckled. This from the same woman who had brazenly begged for his cock five minutes ago.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  When they came out, Darek was waiting across the narrow hallway, leaning against an old pay phone and smirking. “Better?” he asked. His gaze dropped to the mark on Lily’s throat and his smirk vanished. He closed the distance to her in a single stride, his eyes fixed on the symbol. He reached up to touch it and Lily’s hand tightened on Bane’s but she did not stop him. As Darek’s fingers brushed across the symbol, she whimpered softly, her eyes glassy, and leaned against Bane. Her back arched in unconscious invitation.

  “It’s…sensitive,” Bane said in answer to Darek’s raised eyebrow.

  “So I gathered.” Darek met Lily’s slowly clearing gaze.

  The sound of coughing came from the bar around the corner, returning their attention to where they were.

  Darek’s grin returned. “I tried convincing the bartender he’d taken one too many nips from the well this morning,” he told them. “He was swearing up and down that someone was having sex in the men’s room. I told him I’d check it out for him.”

  “Imagine,” Bane said. Lily blushed near purple.

  “The nerve of some people,” Darek said, taking her arm. “There’s an exit at the back of the kitchen, dear. I thought you might like to go that way instead of sashaying past the barkeep. Shall we?”

  Chapter Five

  They rented a car and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the maritime museum and shops near the pier. Lily had never been to North Carolina’s Outer Banks before and enjoyed herself immensely, spending hours poring over the exhibits about marine life, fisherman’s knots, shipwrecks and especially the Wright brothers. The little used bookshop near the beach drew her immediately and it was an effort to get her to leave without an armload of books. Bane and Darek insisted on following her lead and went with her patiently, though they seemed far more interested in watching her than in the museum or bookshop.

  For the first time in her life, Lily felt free to go where she pleased. Men who would have approached her before—some aggressively—made a sharp U-turn at the sight of Darek and Bane, who reluctantly agreed that she could meet Savara, and soon, to learn how to tone down the sexual glamor that ran in her blood.

  Despite Savara’s generosity, Lily wanted badly to find a plain pair of jeans and a T-shirt that didn’t show quite so much cleavage. The men obliged her, and by the end of the afternoon she had clothes that didn’t draw too much attention. The men surprised her by purchasing a set of earrings she’d been admiring in the window of a jewelry shop. The earrings were small, triangular Celtic knots in silver with three stones set into each one—a diamond, a sapphire and a ruby. Lily was a sucker for Celtic designs. Darek gave her the gift as they walked along the pier, watching the fishermen bring in their day’s catch. She hugged them both, her eyes tearing up.

  Not wanting to spoil the day, she waited until they stopped for a late lunch at a crab shack near the beach to out the elephant in the room.

  “So,” she said, resting her elbows on the table and squaring her shoulders, “about this Inquiry. You said it was tonight, right?” Bane peered over his menu at her, one eyebrow raised. Beside her, Darek shifted in his chair, growling softly.

  “We’re not going,” Darek replied. Lily felt the energy coiling within him. She was grateful there was only one other customer in the restaurant.

  Bane snapped his menu shut and set it down. “What about it?” he asked.

  Lily leaned forward. “I’m thinking it would be better if we went.”

  “What?” Darek asked, bristling. “No. Out of the question.”

  She held up her hand. “Just hear me out. If we don’t go, the Council will come after us, right? Not just me. You guys too.”

  “Lily,” Bane said, “Darek’s right. You don’t know what they do to idani. Some of the dracambri on the Council lost everything in the war. The older dracambri remember what it was like before the war. They trusted your mother’s kind and their sense of betrayal runs deep. Even the younger members have spent their lives hunting your kind.”

  “What about your sovereign?” she asked. “What’s he like? Does he have a wyrmate?” The words still felt strange on her tongue.

  “He does,” Darek answered. “She’s human.”

  Encouraged, Lily put her hand on Darek’s. “Well, if he’s mated to a human, he understands interspecies relationships?”

  Bane sat back in his chair. “Yeah,” he answered without conviction.

  Darek clasped her hand in both of his. “It’s a little more complicated than that, love. The sovrán, Anthony, thinks Savara sold out the dracambri. At the very least, she took Kai and vanished in the middle of a fight. She left Anthony and his mate, Chloe, alone with a nest of hybrids.”

  Bane shook his head. “It wasn’t like that, Darek. You weren’t there.”

  Darek grunted. “Oh right, I forgot. She’s a saint.” Lily watched the interchange, curious.

  Bane waved his hand dismissively. “Look, that’s a subject for later. Suffice it to say Anthony has no love for Savara right now.”

  Lily traced the edge of the table with her fingertip. “But that was Savara, not me. Aside from the fact that she knew my mother, I don’t have any connection to her.”

  “Even so,” Darek said, “he wouldn’t exactly be amenable to the idea of sanctioning an idani-dracambri mating. That’s how hybrids get made.”

  Bane shot him a hard look. Taken aback, Lily fell silent. Did they think she was going to get pregnant?

  Across the table, Bane shook his head. “No, Lily. I checked—ran some lab work last night. We would never risk that with you,” he said.

  Her chest tightened. He’d checked? What was she, a science experiment?

  Darek’s lips drew back from his teeth. “Nice going,” he growled.

  Bane opened his mouth to speak but the waiter chose that moment to approach the table.

  They ordered, Lily holding back tears. The waiter left and an awkward silence descended.

  “I’m sorry, Lily,” Bane said finally. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded.”

  “No, I’m sure you’re right. We can’t have demon babies running around, after all. It’s unnatural.” Her lips felt numb. Maybe this whole relationship was unnatural.

  Bane leaned across the table, reaching for her hand. “That mark on your throat suggests otherwise,” he said.

  She traced the edge of the mark, closing her eyes at the pleasure it brought her.

  “Whether he likes it or not, the three of us are wyrmates, Lily. Pairing is inevitable,” Darek said. She looked into his deep-brown eyes.

  “I’m so sorry,” Bane said. “But the idea of taking you to them, when all they see in you is an enemy… I just can’t do it. I won’t do it.”

  She held his gaze for a long moment before nodding. “All right.”

  “There is one possibility,” Bane said. Hope rose in Lily. Darek raised a skeptical eyebrow. “If—and I do mean if—Savara and Kai are willing to go with us, explain what really happened that night she disappeared with him, the others might listen. If they knew about Savara, that there are other idani like her who will stand and fight against la vedova and the náladon…”

  “Bane, we’ve known Lily for two days and we wouldn’t risk her. If Kai is fully bonded to Savara, there’s no way he’ll risk it,” Darek said.

  Bane inclined his head. “If things go south though, Savara can sift, remember? She can get us all out of there. I think.”

  “You think? That’s not good enough,” Darek growled.

  “You’re right—it’s not good enough. I’d have to be sure Savara could sift us all out before we’d try.” He looked inspired. “But think about it, Darek. Anthony will catch us eventually. It’s worth asking Savara and Kai.” Lily watched the exchange hopefully.

  Darek considered for a moment. “And if the
y refuse?” he asked.

  “If they refuse, we don’t go,” Bane said.

  Darek rubbed his chin, looking tired. “Okay then.”

  “I’m going to call Anthony,” Bane said, “tell him there’s a complication, that we can’t make it until tomorrow night. That’ll give us time to talk to Savara and Kai.” He stood, his chair rasping against the wooden floor, and walked just outside the restaurant’s front door.

  Lily watched through the window as he took out his cell phone and placed a call. “It might work, Darek,” she said.

  He smiled but his eyes were full of worry. “It might.” He put his hand over hers.

  Lily watched anxiously as Bane paced outside the window, phone to his ear. She wanted very much to meet Savara. Her mother had died when Lily was in college and, as far as she knew, she had no surviving relatives. Despite their differences, she’d revered her mother. Once, in high school, Lily had stumbled onto a genealogy website and become captivated with the idea of researching her family tree. What followed was one of the worst arguments she’d ever had with her mother.

  “The past is over, Lily,” her mother had said at last. “It’s over, and I won’t go back there. What’s important is here, now, you and me. Especially you,” she’d said, wiping away tears that fought to the surface. Lily hated to see her mother cry, so she’d dropped the matter—but her curiosity remained. Sinclair was such a common surname that Lily had gotten absolutely nowhere in her own research. It was one of the reasons library school was so appealing to Lily—she’d wanted to learn how to dig deeper and find out more about her origins.

  The food arrived and outside, Bane ended his call. She could glean nothing from his businesslike manner as he crossed the room, so she simply watched him, admiring the efficient, athletic way he moved.

  “He’s so composed,” she observed to Darek. “Is he always that way?”

  Darek’s dark eyes were amused. The corners of his mouth twitched. “Why…you want to rattle his chain?”