Ash Bringer (A Storm of Fire: Paranormal Dragonshifter Romance Book 1)

by Courtney Leigh

  Draven brought a hand up to the back of my head, cradling me just before he slowly let me down to earth. Cupping my face in his hands, he took a long, absorbing look and leaned in, kissing my forehead with a tenderness I would never have thought him capable of the first day we’d met.

  I smiled, letting out a breath as if to laugh. “Careful,” I said. “I might start to think you care about me.”

  A deep, throaty chuckle vibrated from him. He looked hard into my eyes in a way that wiped the smile from my face and replaced it with awe. As the sun started to sink behind the western horizon, the light turned a fiery orange that brought out the warm hues in his hair and the glisten in his eyes. I raised my hand slowly to his face, caressing the side of his cheek, his jaw, and across his lips with the tips of my fingers. Draven reached up, taking my hand just as it passed over his mouth, and kissed the middle of my palm, sending electric ripples through my entire body. My breath trembled as he moved and kissed the brand coiled around my wrist.

  “My offer still stands,” he whispered. “I can remove it.”

  The thought almost hurt now. Before, it was the most important thing in the world to me to be free from Draven’s shackles, but now? Now it felt like that tether was one of the only things keeping me afloat in a torrent that threatened to tear me apart.

  “Do I have to decide now?” I asked in a voice so small I couldn’t tell if it was even mine.

  “It’s what you wanted,” Draven murmured, his voice tight.

  I shook my head, stepping in closer to Draven until our lips were only a hair apart. “I don’t know what I want.”

  Draven drew back, denying me the kiss I nearly had. “I do,” he said. I looked up at him expectantly. “I want you.”

  The words were like warm honey being poured over my heart. My mouth twitched into a smile, which faded when darker thoughts started to flood my head. I wanted him so badly it stung, but there was no way I could say those words to him after all the things I’d discovered about Taurus and what happened between him and Draven’s brother. I reached down, squeezing his hand in mine. Forever was a promise I’d never made before and I couldn’t make it now until the secrets were out and there were no more thorns that could fester.

  “Your brother,” I said. “Taurus killed him, didn’t he?”

  Draven nodded sorrowfully. “But not as a slayer. Not the way I thought. There are a lot of things I know now that makes all of this a lot more complicated.”

  “Like what?”

  Draven looked into my eyes with a gentler pressure than I was used to, calming me rather than aggravating me. He looked as if he wanted to tell me something, but the words were lodged in his throat, unable to come out. As I watched him, feelings started to float to the surface that turned my emotions upside down. I drew back, hearing a dozen voices tumble across my thoughts all at once. I saw fire and ash blowing across a destroyed town and Taurus standing in the middle of it.

  “Taurus is the one that burned down Crescent Cove,” I said in a broken voice. “I didn’t...I didn’t want that to be true, but it is, isn’t it?”

  Draven’s face shifted with regret. “You could read that in me, couldn’t you?”

  “Why? Why can I hear things like this? Why am I seeing things that aren’t my memories?”

  “It’ll go away,” Draven assured. “It’s from the transfusion. I’m sorry.”

  I didn’t need his apology. I needed an anchor. It wasn’t rage I was feeling, or hatred. It wasn’t even betrayal. What I was feeling couldn’t be named. I loved Taurus, even after the truth. I loved him until the day he died and everything he’d taught me made me stronger. The emotions tangled inside of me, the knots made more taut now with my affection for Draven in the mix and my new found disdain for the Falcons. I wanted the thoughts silenced, but I couldn’t brush them away. I was screaming inside and couldn’t shut it up.

  Wrapping me in his arms, Draven pulled me close and held my head lightly against his chest. The soothing beat of his heart softened the anxiety that was spilling from my soul. I closed my eyes, letting him anchor me back in the present where I finally started to feel like I was safe.

  38

  Everly

  . . .

  For the rest of the day, Draven and I remained at each other’s sides. I found an unexpected comfort in his presence now. Draven escorted me to his room, where he lay with me till I fell asleep. Even with the chill coming from the open window, his body heat lulled me into a slumber that felt more restful than my two days worth of unconsciousness.

  When it came time for dinner, I woke alone, to my surprise, and walked downstairs by myself. The other ladies of the house had prepared a meal of chicken and salad, but with Ronan’s childish appetite, he stuck to a bowl of pasta alfredo specially made for him.

  The only person missing was Draven. Not wanting to seem too concerned, I distracted myself from him by speaking with Lukan about what discoveries he’d made on Rikard’s plans. I heard barely a word of what he had to say though, my thoughts lingering on why Draven chose not to eat with everyone.

  After dinner, I changed into one of the silky night dresses Keera had given me. I walked around the house, casually searching for Draven while I pretended to do other things, and settled in the downstairs sitting area in front of the fireplace, staring at the flames. At some point, I’d started to doze off when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Amear standing behind the cushioned chair.

  “Ms. Ghlass,” she said.

  I laughed at the address. “Everly,” I corrected her.

  Amear smiled politely. “It’s very late. Perhaps you should go up to bed.”

  I nodded and stood up from the chair as Amear started to walk away. “Uh,” I caught her, “any idea where Draven is?”

  Amear shook her head. “I haven’t seen him all day.”

  Sighing, I let Amear leave and started making my way through the quiet mansion alone, but when I reached the stairs, I wondered if I was supposed to go to my own room or Draven’s. Part of me wasn’t sure if Draven would even be in his room if I went to it. Then again, how badly did I want to see him? I found myself trying to understand what I really desired as I padded up the steps, eventually reaching Draven’s floor.

  I saw Draven’s door. It was cracked, but there were no traces of light coming from inside and that feeling I had been noticing when he was near wasn’t going off. I walked toward it and slowly pushed the door open to enter, finding the room quiet and empty but smelling of Draven. That scent had become such a comfort over the weeks and I’d barely noticed it until that moment. That moment when one intake of breath put me at ease and energized me all at the same time.

  Slowly, I made my way to the bed and sat myself down on the edge of the mattress. On the nightstand was an arrangement of candles, which looked to have been lit once or twice, but were otherwise in good condition. I thought about lighting them, but then again the blue light from the moon outside made the hue of the room rather peaceful and I needed peaceful for a while. I wondered if being with Draven was going to allow me any peace in life. He was a raging flame. Unpredictable. Combative. Could I commit myself to that for good? Forever?

  It seemed as if hours had passed before I felt that tickle on my skin. That little surge of static in my veins. Draven was coming and I couldn’t decide whether I was happy about it or just afraid of the decision I’d have to face when he came into the room.

  Looking toward the door, there he was. He stepped into view, his figure washed in cerulean moonlight. His eyes were calm, barely glowing in the darkness, but they still had a faint, orange hue. They were the tamest I’d ever seen them. He stopped in the doorway for a moment, looking at me as if he didn’t expect to find me there, and then stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. I stood from the bed, taking a deep breath only to smell the faint scent of smoke coming off of Draven’s leather coat as he slid it off and draped it over a chair.

  “Where were you?” I aske
d, though the words coming out of my mouth felt like those of a suspicious wife. I wanted to burn them as soon as they fell from my tongue.

  Draven took another step, moving further into the space. As he did, the candles on the nightstand ignited and cast a warm glow across the walls and atop the bed, destroying the moonlit atmosphere and replacing it with something a bit more aggressive. Immediately, I felt as if that’s what Draven was in my life.

  “Thinking,” Draven answered.

  “Did you burn down a camp?” I said, somewhat jokingly. “You smell like smoke.”

  “I always do after a transformation,” he said, taking another step toward me.

  I cocked my head, any traces of annoyance doused by a sudden, nervous exhilaration. Draven was looking at me strangely now. He stared as if he was stalking prey. His eyes were a piercing mixture of affection and hunger. He wore a cream silk shirt unbuttoned to the center of his chest, sleeves rolled up his arms. A stark contrast from the dark colors he normally wore. His hair was pulled back from his face. He took yet another step forward and suddenly my body was on fire. I trembled with need, my core screaming to be in his arms. Unsure exactly what it all meant, I practiced my self-control and remained still, watching as he approached.

  Once Draven was in reach, he stopped. Neither of us touched the other. Instead, I stood, feeling a strange static energy tingling between us that I was certain I’d never get used to. It made my heart stutter with surprise, which in turn made my blood race.

  “What now?” I muttered.

  “You tell me,” he said in the most irresistible tone I’d ever heard.

  Looking down, I tried to stall the decision I hadn’t made yet.

  “I had a dream about you,” I said. “When I was unconscious. Your brother was there. Lukan. Saxon, I think. You were all in a field of ash.”

  “I’ve stood in many fields of ash,” Draven said, his voice almost a whisper. Draven inched just a bit closer, his eyes moving down my body. “But that’s not what we’re supposed to be talking about.”

  This was it. This was the moment in which I needed to be true to myself and figure out what I was doing. My heart began to beat even faster. Inside, I knew what I wanted. Outside, it was hard to admit.

  “This is your last chance to make a choice,” Draven said. He reached down, gently taking my wrist in his hand and caressing the brand that curled around it with his thumb. “You know what I am and who I am. You know what I’ve done and what I can do. You can stay with me or I can take this mark away and you don’t ever have to see me again. You can be free.”

  “You know I have nowhere to go,” I said. “I can’t—”

  “You’re the champion. The Draakir will give you property. A house. Enough credits to live on for the rest of your life. Whatever you want.”

  There was a pause as if he was giving me a moment to think on it. When I didn’t answer, his eyes fell to my chest and lingered there before tracing the outline of my collarbone. Raising his hand to my neck, he tenderly caressed his fingers down my skin, moving my shrug aside. I slipped the thing off with a miniscule move of my arms, letting it drop to the floor as Draven’s fingers brushed one strap of my silk night dress off my shoulder.

  “But you have to decide because after tonight,” he whispered, his eyes meeting mine with a sincerity so dense I couldn’t see past it, “I’m never letting you go.”

  Not a single ounce of doubt was left in me. My body was vibrating with desire. Everything in me screamed to touch him. To feel him kissing me. To feel that fire ignite between us again. “Free” wasn’t something I associated with the outside world anymore. Free was being there with him, in his arms.

  I glanced aside, looking at the arrangement of candles beside the bed. I knew exactly what I wanted. It was on the tip of my tongue, shouting to be let loose. I slowly turned, facing the bed and coming to terms with what I was about to admit. When Draven’s body stepped up behind me, I felt his warmth blanket my back and course through my veins. His hands brushed up my arms, sending electrical vibrations through my flesh everywhere he touched. The other strap of my dress fell from my shoulder and as the silk slipped down the length of my body and gathered at my feet, I felt myself surrendering completely to Draven’s presence.

  He kissed the bend of my neck, the backs of his fingers tickling along my sensitive scars. Closing my eyes, I stretched my head to the side. He moved my hair away, touching me everywhere in slow, sensual motions that set my soul on fire. No man had ever touched me that way. No man had ever made me feel like my scars were not monstrous. He kissed them and made me feel like I was whole for the first time in my life. I turned to him, unable to take it for much longer, my breath shaking in my lungs. Draven’s knuckles skated tenderly across my cheek as I began undoing the buttons of his shirt, stripping the fabric from his body so he was bare against my fingers.

  He was hot to the touch, like stone that had just come from a bed of embers, but to me it was energizing. I felt his body under my hands. Every ridge of his abdomen. His firm chest. The broad stretch of his shoulders. The length of his collarbones. I explored Draven’s form until I’d memorized it and then took his cheek against my palm.

  “Kiss me,” I whispered to him.

  As if he’d been waiting for the prompt, Draven took my waist in his hands and pulled me to him. Raising myself on my toes, our mouths joined in a tender, breath-stopping kiss that sent sparks exploding through my mind. The kiss deepened as I soaked him in and each second that passed, my body wanted more of him. I was boiling with greed, my face flush with heat. His tongue tested the seam of my mouth and then plunged into me, taking me in a demanding manner that stripped away what little remained of my defenses.

  “I want you,” Draven whispered as soon as our lips separated for a moment long enough for him to speak. “Not just tonight.”

  I reached down for the buckle of his belt and pulled it free, loosening the buttons on his black jeans. Draven moved out of his clothes with ease, somehow keeping his hands on me the whole time. Naked now, he seemed more magnificent than ever, every curve and angle of his masculine form accentuated against the candlelight. He kissed me again, hoisting me up off the floor until my legs were wrapped snugly around his bare hips. I could feel his cock pressed between us, separated only by the thin cotton of my underwear. It was hard and as eager as I was.

  Holding me tight, Draven lowered himself to his knees atop the bed and laid me down gently on my back, his lips against mine the entire time. He caressed me with an appreciation that drove my senses wild and then he finally pulled his mouth from mine, leaving me deprived for a few seconds before he began placing kisses down my chest. I watched him descend my body, his tongue weaving trails along my breasts and down further. His hot breath made me arch with desire and still he kept going until his lips were tracing the peak of my hips.

  Draven’s fingers hooked my underwear as he continued kissing a path along my thigh, taking the last article of clothing off my body as he moved. Our naked bodies glowed in the orange firelight, the silence of the room amplifying the sound of our heartbeats and the breath that fed them.

  Draven brushed his lips slowly back up my legs, his fingers dancing along my bare flesh until I thought I was about to burst with need. Rather than continue the path of his lips back up to my mouth, he stopped, licking the sensitive flesh on the inside of my thigh, aggressively close to a place I didn’t think I’d ever be kissed. I grabbed the sheet beneath me in my fist, unsure what was about to happen, but utterly willing to let him show me.

  Draven’s fingers caressed between my clefts, arousing a swift pleasure. I bit my lip, dripping with need now when his hot breath slid over my sex, immediately followed by the pressure of his lips. I arched, inhaling deeply and exhaling on a sensual sigh. I could feel his tongue glide along my length, massaging every sensitive nerve there was to find. Closing my eyes, I let his mouth draw pleasures from me that I didn’t even know existed, losing myself in his kiss, but still
I found myself wanting more.

  As if he heard me, Draven traced his hand along the inside of my leg to my slick entrance and slipped one, long finger inside of me. I gasped, my breath filling my lungs in long strides as he played to my body’s cravings. Finally, when I felt like I was going to lose it in his arousing touch, he moved his lips to the soft skin below my belly button and continued swiftly upward until he was hovering over me. With his finger still deep inside, Draven’s large body was stretched atop mine. I looked up into his feral gaze, hungering for more of him.

  Unable to resist, I slid my hands around the back of his neck and pulled myself toward him, kissing him hard. I could taste myself on his lips, pulling his hair free of the tie that bound it until I could spear my fingers through his locks. I felt his cock pulsing with need between my thighs and all I wanted was to feel it inside of me. I pressed up against him and as if he was unable to wait, he removed his finger and guided his cock into place. He began a slow, gentle entry that drove me close to the edge.

  I took in a long gasp and let it out in a trembling whimper as Draven seated himself to the hilt. He sunk on top of me, his chest pressed to my breasts, and nuzzled his face in the bend of my neck as he rocked back to withdraw. The emptiness was agonizing for the prolonged few seconds he tortured me with his absence, but when he plunged back inside I was filled once more with a sense of completion.

  Excitement accompanied the immense pool of sensations that rose up as Draven pumped into me, his lips kissing my neck as he moved. He grunted against my ear, his muscles pulsing under my hands with each movement.