Up In Flames (Netherworld Series Book 2)

by Olivia Hutchinson

  “I want to sketch you,” he said softly, casting a long glance in her direction as he stopped the truck.

  “Sketch me? Haven’t you drawn me enough?” She turned again to face him, her face impassive but he knew what she was thinking. She didn’t want to be the subject of his sketches. It made her feel awkward as he could imagine it would make anyone feel. She was insecure about her body, a body that in his opinion was the most beautiful one he had ever laid eyes on.

  He shook his head. “I don’t think it’ll ever be enough to satisfy.”

  When she sighed, he took it as a good sign. “I just don’t know…”

  “Please,” he said, grasping her hands. “Allow me just this one time. When we get back in the cave. Let me show you how beautiful you are. If you can’t stand it, if it’s really that bad for you, I’ll never ask again.”

  “I…” she started before squeezing his rough hand with her soft one. “Okay, but just this one time. Don’t do it again without asking me first either.”

  “Agreed.”

  Walking back to his cave, he felt like he was floating on air. He carried her bag and helped her along until they got to the cabin. In the pitch black, he guided her down the stairs until he could light the waiting torch for her to see by.

  He took her straight into his bedroom where he tossed her bag in a corner and bent to light the fire in the fireplace. After casting in a couple more logs to warm the chill that had settled in the air, he turned to her.

  “Take your clothes off.”

  Getting naked in front of Liam when she knew he was going to stare at her, scrutinizing every detail of her flawed body, was much more difficult than she ever imagined it would be. Her clothes ended up in a pile at the foot of his bed. She stood there with her arms wrapped around herself, trying to ward off the chill that swept over her skin.

  Standing up from where he was squatted next to the fire, he came over to her and pulled her toward the flames.

  “I don’t want you to freeze,” he said, turning her so she faced the flames and wrapping his arms around her. His body was hot pressed against her back and after a minute, being cold was the last thing on her mind.

  “Are you warm yet?” he asked as he nuzzled his face against her hair.

  She wanted to say no just to keep him there and avoid the entire thing but she had already agreed to pose for him. She wasn’t about to go back on her word and so she nodded her head. It was time to get it over with.

  “What do you want me to do?” she asked, turning in his arms.

  He glanced toward the bed and then back at her. “Here,” he said, leaving her standing there while he pulled the thick blanket off the bed only to wrap it around her shoulders. “Do whatever you want to do. Get comfortable somewhere and I’m going to go get my things.”

  She nodded as he left, turning to look around the room. Everything seemed uncomfortable or cold. She didn’t know where he wanted her to go. Did he want her laying wantonly on the bed? Did he want her to drop the blanket and just stand in front of the fire? She walked over to the bed and dropped the blanket, only to immediately start shivering.

  Every time he left the room it was as if he sucked the heat out with him. He always seemed to radiate it but she had never realized the extent of it until he was away from her. Giving up, she plopped down on the thick rug in front of the fire. Keeping the blanket snug around her, she was staring into the flames when he walked back in the room.

  “Not what I had in mind,” he said, looking down at where she sat.

  “I’m sorry. Do you want me somewhere else?”

  He held his sketchpad and charcoal in his hands which he waved around when she offered to move. “No, no. This is better.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked, letting the blanket fall from her shoulders so she could climb to her feet without getting tangled.

  His eyes travelled over where the blanket had fallen to expose her breasts and pooled around her hips. “Better by the second.”

  She gave him half a smile before looking back toward the flames. They danced in front of her, licking the logs. She heard him sitting on the bed behind her and a second later there was the sound of charcoal scratching the paper.

  Heidi did her best to ignore what he was doing. She found that staring into the fire helped with that. There was something peaceful about watching it, the heat from the flames warming her face and exposed skin.

  It was so fitting for him to surround himself with flames. From the large fireplaces to the candles that littered his home, he was always surrounded by them. The smell of the burning wood always clung to his skin. She loved it. Loved the way he smelled. Loved the way he tasted when he kissed her. Loved his heat that warmed her to the core.

  She didn’t know how much longer she would stay there with him, but in that moment she knew she didn’t want to go. She would never get angry at him to the point of leaving again. She may become agitated with him, but she wouldn’t leave. Not if he still wanted her there.

  But what kind of life could they possibly have together? Any romantic relationship they had would never be accepted by the people he associated with, at least not when they realized she was human. What would she do then? Crawl back to her own cold bed with a broken heart.

  Never in a million years would she have thought that she could find happiness in the Maine woods. But there she was with her happiness sitting behind her, sketching her so he could commit her form to memory. So after she was gone, he could look back at it and remember her.

  The realization of love hit her square in the gut. She couldn’t deny she loved him. Loved him with everything she had in her. Loved him with a fierce passion despite the knowledge that he wasn’t perfect. His imperfections were what she loved about him. Misguided as he sometimes was, so was she.

  In what world would they ever be able to make this work? The happiness that had soared within her only moments before crashed to the ground with the sorrow of knowing that no matter how she felt, no matter what she wanted, they would never be able to be together.

  But what if he loved her just as she loved him? She had hope that he felt the same way for her. Assuming he did love her, would it change anything? Would they be able to work out how to be together?

  Sadness creased her brow as she turned her face down to stare at her lap. She hadn’t realized she had been wringing her hands and instantly stilled them. Moving around wouldn’t help Liam with the sketches.

  Liam…

  She didn’t hear him come up behind her but she felt the heat from his skin as his naked flesh touched hers. His arm came around her shoulders as he brushed her hair to the side, exposing her neck. Lips brushed over her skin and she melted back against him.

  “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear.

  Turning her head, she met his mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed and she couldn’t help but think that this was what her life was supposed to be like. What she wanted it to be. He was gentle, perhaps sensing her inner emotional turmoil. She turned in his arms and he cupped her face. His warm lips left hers, trailing whispered kisses over her face. Her cheeks, her nose, her eyes.

  When he came back down to her mouth, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. She braced her hands on his chest, her head falling back as his mouth trailed down her neck. He brushed feather light kisses over her collarbone and down further still.

  Every place his lips touched burned. Heat furled within her stomach, turning and growing like the flames of the fire. Sweat beaded on her skin as he pulled the blanket from her lap. When he hoisted her onto his lap she wrapped her arms around his neck and straddled his legs.

  He kissed her mouth again, his palms stroking her back. Her hair fell in a curtain around them, dimming the light of the fire. Clinging to his shoulders, she ground her pussy against his rigid cock. She wanted him. She wanted him inside her more than she had ever wanted anything else before.

  Heidi wrapped her hand around his shaft, pulling him toward
her. When she had the thick head against her opening she impaled herself, sliding down him until she couldn’t take any more of him inside her. She sucked in a harsh breath as her head fell back.

  He held her hips, guiding her as she moved. His mouth found her breasts as she rocked on him. Back and forth, never completely separating their melded bodies. She couldn’t stand any separation between them. She needed him.

  She heard her own faint moans mixed with his. He released her hips and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him until there was no air between them. His heart beat against her chest and hers against his. He kissed her then, his mouth gentle and soft.

  Every time his cock filled her completely it brought her closer and closer. She couldn’t bear to think of him pulling out of her when he came this time. She couldn’t bear the thought of anything separating him from her. She wanted all of him.

  When she reached her peak, she sank down on him one more time, taking every inch of him she could until pain prevented her from moving any more. She shuddered against him, her moans swallowed by his open mouth.

  Her inner muscles held him in place and so did her clenched limbs. When he tried to pull her from his lap, she wouldn’t move, too focused on keeping them together.

  “Heidi…” he gasped as he tried to pull her away again. “Heidi!”

  A loud groan radiated from his chest. He stopped trying to separate himself from her. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her with a crushing strength. He held her against him until the air was forced from her lungs. His cock throbbed as he erupted inside her, the searing heat branding her.

  She screamed when it touched her. Liquid flames started from where they were connected and spread up though her gut until it was everywhere. All over her body from the tips of her fingers to her toes, was being seared. Fire ran through her veins and for a second she thought she was going to die. He was burning her alive.

  13

  “Heidi!” he cried when she screamed. How could he have let this happen? How could he have lost control?

  When she went limp in his arms, he was able to pull himself from her and was on his feet in an instant, taking her with him.

  “Heidi?” He shook her in his arms, but got no response. Her eyes were closed but he could still hear her heart beat in her chest. What had he done to her?

  Never had he heard talk of something like this happening, but no dragon had ever mated with a human before. If she had been a dragon, she would’ve been able to withstand the searing mating heat that so closely resembled liquid magma. Dragons were fireproof but Heidi was no dragon.

  He laid her body on his bed and leaned over her, his palm on her cheek. He could feel the increase in her body temperature. She was burning up, much hotter than any normal fever for a human. There was no sweat on her skin. It was if all moisture had evaporated from her reddened flesh.

  He kept his hand over her heart. He didn’t know what to do except to make sure her heart still beat in her chest and that she still breathed. It was pounding to the point where he feared it might be too much. He’d heard of a human’s heart exploding before and hers was going too fast.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please, Heidi,” he begged. There was no response from her. No muscle twitches. Nothing. She just lay there and he lay next to her, pulling her fiery body into his arms.

  He pleaded with her, begging her to wake up. He apologized, his own heart feeling as if it had been ripped from his chest. He had done this to her. He was the only one to blame.

  Liam held her for what seemed like days, but couldn’t have been longer than a few hours when her heart finally slowed. At first he feared that it would stop but when the beat was strong and evenly paced under his hand for a full minute, he took his first sigh of relief.

  Her skin began to cool next. Sweat beaded on her skin until it was running in rivulets. He sat up at that point to give her body a chance to cool itself down. When thin wisps of smoke curled from her nostrils, his eyes widened.

  He had never seen anything except a dragon do that. But turning her into one of his kind was impossible. Wasn’t it?

  Her flesh faded from a threatening shade of red into her normal tone as her body cooled. What was left when the color faded he should’ve known to expect, but expecting it and seeing it were two very different things. Starting over her heart was a swirl of thin gold markings, the pattern of which differed from person to person. The fine threads spread from between her breasts, up her chest, and then wrapped around her shoulders.

  He knew without having to look that they extended down her back, but how far he was unsure. The mating brand was unique to the individual and hers was beautiful against her pale skin. It would be difficult for anyone without superior eyesight to see, but it was there. It marked her as his.

  At this point, he was just waiting for her to wake up. He no longer feared she wouldn’t survive and while it had scared the shit out of him, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief that she was his mate.

  The less he worried about her the more he noticed the changes in himself. They were subtle, only building upon what was already there. The need to protect. The need to be close to her. Her scent had been burned into his skin, mixing with his own. He smelled different and anyone who knew him would recognize the changes.

  When he placed his hand over his own heart, he felt the matching rhythms. From now on he’d know every time her heart sped up because it would mirror his own chest. They were connected. They’d always be connected. When hers finally stopped, so would his.

  Heidi took a deep breath and he perked up beside her. He knew she was waking up and before long, her eyes opened. She searched for him immediately, focusing on him as soon as she saw him sitting next to her.

  She reached up to stroke his cheek, her palm smooth against the coarse stubble. A small smile played at her lips as he lost himself in her gaze.

  “How do you feel?” he asked her after a minute.

  “I…I don’t know.” Her voice was weak.

  “Are you in pain?”

  Her eyelids were heavy. “I was.”

  “And now?” He didn’t want to keep asking her questions when she was clearly exhausted, but he couldn’t help himself. He had to know. Had to know if she was feeling the same things he was feeling.

  “No. No pain but I feel…different.”

  “How so?”

  She gave a light shrug of her shoulders. “Just different. I can’t explain it.”

  She wouldn’t know how to explain it. How could one explain the bond between two mates? No words came easily to describe the way it made him feel as if he were a part of her and her him. That was the only way he could describe it, but even that wasn’t accurate. It was so much more.

  “You need to rest,” he said, stretching out next to her.

  “I do.”

  “I’ll stay with you. Sleep.”

  She shook her head. “You can’t stay with me.”

  “Why?” he asked as he buried his face in her hair. She smelled like him.

  Her eyes were closed, somewhere between awake and sleep. “You need to fly. Go. Go stretch your wings, dragon.”

  He frowned. Since realizing he now had a mate the urge to change into his dragon shape had been steadily increasing. The need to take to the skies was almost overwhelming, but he wouldn’t leave her when she needed him. The fact that she gave him permission to do exactly what he had been craving drove home just how connected they were.

  “Are you sure?” he asked her, still disbelieving.

  “Mmm…” was the only response he got before she fell asleep.

  He got out of the bed and lifted the blanket from the floor. When she curled up onto her side, he saw just how extensive the brand was. It covered her back, only ending at the top of her ass. It was sexy as hell. The intricate pattern declared she was his.

  Liam tucked the blanket over her and left the room as quietly as he could so as to not disturb her. He left the cave, taking th
e steps up to the cabin two at a time, anxious to feel the night air on his scales.

  After two dragons mated they would usually fly together in the moonlight. Perhaps that’s where the urge was coming from. Leaving Heidi behind felt almost unnatural, but she’d be safe in the cave. He wouldn’t be gone long and then he’d be back in their bed with her. Lying beside her.

  He took to the air just as soon as he was out of the cabin.

  Heidi didn’t know what woke her.

  At first she thought the small noise was Liam returning to her, but there was something peculiar about it that made her realize it wasn’t him. Something wasn’t right.

  She leapt from the bed as quickly and quietly as she could, snatching her clothes off the floor as she darted to the corner of the room so she wouldn’t be seen immediately if the bedroom door opened. Her feet were silent on the stone as she moved. She pulled the black shirt over her head, not caring whether or not it was inside out, and thrust her legs into the jeans.

  Part of her felt her reactions were ridiculous but the other part of her—the part she chose to listen to—told her she was in danger.

  Her heart hammered in her chest. She tried to slow her breathing when she heard it again. Footsteps on the stairs. How am I able to hear that?

  If they were on the stairs then they were still far enough away for her to get out of the bedroom. That’s the first place someone would look for her first in the middle of the night.

  The iron fire poker was sitting on its stand next to the fireplace. Not wanting to be without something to protect herself, Heidi grabbed it as she scurried from the room. She went as far away from the stairs as possible, going into the kitchen and ducking down behind the table.

  She cursed Liam for having yanked the tapestry from the wall the day they fought. His secret alcove would’ve been where she would’ve gone had it not been wide open now.