Brothers of the Flame (An Ariel Kimber Novel Book 1)

by Mary Martel

  He sat there with his back against the headboard with his legs crossed at the ankles as he dug through my bookbag.

  I looked at him with wide eyes. “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t come in here, boss me around, then start looking through my things.”

  “Calm down,” he grinned at me. “I’m not snooping through your shit, I’m not like that. I’m getting out that paper you’re supposed to write about me. I’m going to write it for you while you lay there looking pretty.”

  My face heated up as I blushed. He thought I was pretty? Did I want him to think me pretty? I closed my eyes as I realized yes, I very much wanted him to think me pretty.

  “You’re going to write a paper about yourself?” I asked him.

  “Yeah. Do you have any more homework you’d like for me to do for you while I’m at it?”

  I laughed as I shook my head. “No, that’s all the homework I have for the day.”

  Heavy footfalls came down the hallway, two sets.

  “The twins are back,” Tyson informed me. Like I didn’t already know this? I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t deaf.

  “We made her BLT’s.”

  “You made BLT’s, twin. I entertained the drunk lady.”

  “Too true. Thank God her cell rang, I thought we were never going to escape her.”

  “She asked me my age then proceeded to tell me I needed to find myself an older, more experienced woman to teach me the ways of the world.”

  Good God, the woman had no damn shame.

  “Set the plate down and then go home,” Tyson barked at them. “She’s tired and needs rest and peace and quiet. None of which she’ll get with the two of you here bitching at each other.”

  “You’re coming too?”

  “Later,” Tyson muttered distractedly. “I’m going to write this paper first.”

  “Fine.”

  A gentle fingertip ran over the top of my right shoulder along the strap of my tank top, causing my eyes to snap open. Addison frowned down at where his fingertip met my skin. “What-” he started to ask.

  “For another day,” I whispered as I cut him off. His mouth snapped shut and his blue eyes bore into me, probing for answers to his questions. My skin started to heat up from where he touched me. Why did it feel like my skin was going to burst into flames whenever the twins touched me? And why did I like it so much? “There’s only so much a girl can take in one day.”

  Addison nodded in understanding as he pulled away from me.

  “Tomorrow, pretty girl,” Abel said over his shoulder as the brothers walked out of my bedroom. The door closed softly behind them. Tomorrow? Did he mean he’d see me tomorrow or that I’d answer their questions tomorrow?

  I sat up, picked up the plate one of the twins had left on the bed beside me and I stuffed my face with the best sandwich I’d ever eaten in my life. Also, the biggest. I could only eat over half of it before collapsing on the bed and curling into my side.

  I groaned happily into my pillow. “I’m so tired now.”

  “Sleep,” came Tyson’s simple command from beside me.

  I closed my eyes and let my body relax as I sank deeper into the bed. Then, like a crazy person, I fell asleep in my bed beside a boy I’d met only the day before while he did my homework for me.

  Before sleep entirely consumed me, he whispered, “Ariel? Are those cigarette burns?”

  He’d seen my scars.

  “Do you smoke?”

  “No,” I mumbled as I drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  “Do you feel that, Ariel Kimber?” asked a voice from behind me. A voice I’d never heard before. A deep, distinctly male voice that sent shivers racing down my spine.

  I spun around in a circle, frantically searching for the owner of that voice. All I could see were trees. Trees, trees, and more trees. But no man.

  Soft laughter floated around me. “The boys were right about you, Ariel Kimber. You are exceptionally beautiful. I had only seen you from afar until tonight.”

  I ignored the compliment because a faceless man calling me exceptionally beautiful kind of freaked me out, especially after he said he’d seen me before. I focused on the first thing he’d said and asked, “Can I feel what? And how do you know my name?”

  The laughter came back, only this time it somehow felt closer. My breathing picked up speed as I, once again, spun around in a circle. There was no one there.

  “The heat,” his voice slithered across my skin in a smooth, gentle caress.

  I didn’t feel any heat, though. In fact, it was kind of cold. I shook my head from side to side in a negative. The only thing I felt was somewhat alarmed by this situation.

  “You will when we touch you.” Hot, moist breath landed on the back of my neck, making my entire body shiver in fear. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out.

  A silky, smooth fingertip trailed down the back of my neck leaving a blazing trail of heat in its wake. Heat I’d felt before, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember when. My chest heaved up and down with every breath I took as my body shook uncontrollably.

  “I can feel it inside of you, just waiting to be set free.” He whispered in my ear as his body drew closer to mine. Heat enveloped me and I fought the urge to close my eyes and sink into it. It felt comforting, warm and snuggly. Safe even.

  “Feel… feel what inside of me?”

  Soft lips traced the crest of my ear. “Magic,” he whispered sinisterly as his tongue gently touched my ear lobe.

  “That’s enough,” another male voice shot out of the dark forest surrounding us.

  The unknown man behind me chuckled darkly as his heat moved away from me. “I don’t like waiting and I had to meet her for myself. I meant no harm.”

  “In a dream, Uncle?” The voice was sharp and angry. I recognized it, but couldn’t for the life of me put a face or a name behind it. “You were practically molesting her. We agreed to wait. At least until she’s met all the others. This didn’t look much like waiting to me.”

  “I’ve been waiting since she got here. I told you I could feel-”

  “Enough,” the voice I recognized barked. “What’s done is done. Get over it.”

  I felt frozen to where I stood, unable to move. I couldn’t even get my fingers to twitch.

  “Wake up, Ariel Kimber,” the second voice whispered sweetly as a gentle breeze hit my face. “Wake. Up.”

  I sat up in bed with a start. My heart beat wildly inside my chest as I frantically searched the dark corners of my bedroom for something, anything. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. I flopped back on my pillows in a huff with my arms spread out wide. The other side of the bed where Tyson had been was still warm. He must have only recently left me. Night had fallen. How long had it taken him to write one paper about himself?

  Tyson… something about him nagged at my brain. But what? Something about my dream. Why did Tyson remind me about my dream?

  Holy shit!

  I sat up again in a panic. That voice! Tyson’s voice. He’d been the second man in my dream. He’d called the other man Uncle. Tyson had an Uncle Quinton. Why would I dream about Tyson and a man I did not now, nor have I ever met? I thought about the things that had been said in my dream, but the more I thought about it the more it slipped through my fingers like quick sand until there was nothing left of it. Damn. I had a feeling it was important, whatever it was.

  For as long as I could remember, I’d always had very vivid dreams. And they always meant something. I couldn’t explain it, but I always paid serious attention to my dreams and I took each one very seriously. I’d never told anyone about them. Can you imagine what my mother would say if I told her I thought my dreams were important, that they meant something or were trying to show me something? She’d totally lose it. I shuddered at the thought.

  Tyson had been in my bedroom. He’d laid on my bed and called me pretty. And the twins made me food while my mother molested one of them. All this after they k
new she had hurt me. This day could not get any weirder.

  I got up to use the bathroom and exchange my pants for a pair of short sleep shorts. They were yellow with hot pink hearts on them. Very girly and very cute. I took my bra off but left my tank top on, it would work just fine to sleep in and it was comfortable.

  It wasn’t until I pulled my comforter back so I could crawl into bed when I saw it. My bookbag sitting on top of the pillow on the other side of the bed. On top of it sat a piece of paper. I was dying to see what he’d written about himself.

  I quickly scooted over and picked it up. Then I laughed. It wasn’t my paper. It was a phone number. I dug through the rest of my bag in search of it, but it wasn’t there.

  I dug my phone out of my bag and added the new number into my New Contacts with Tyson’s name.

  I opened up a new message and sent him off a text.

  Ariel: Am I to assume this means you did not do my homework?

  Less than a minute later my phone vibrated and I got excited. I’d only ever had my mother to text with before and I’d never enjoyed that.

  Tyson: Am I to assume this is the pretty girl who lives in the big house next door?

  I grinned at my phone, loving it when he called me pretty.

  Ariel: Only if this is the boy who has multiple personalities and living in the big house next door.

  Tyson: Lol. I only have the one personality, it just happens to be a big one.

  Ariel: If you say so…

  Tyson: I do.

  Tyson: And I brought your paper home to finish. You fell asleep and I didn’t want to risk waking you.

  I hesitated and looked to the empty side of my bed. I’d just woken up not fifteen minutes ago and that side of the bed was still warm. I looked to the time on my phone. 9:47. If what he said was true then he would have left hours ago. That made no damn sense.

  My phone vibrated again.

  Tyson: Did you sleep okay?

  I frowned down at my phone. I had except for that weird dream I couldn’t remember but was pretty sure he’d played a major role in it. That wasn’t a weird thing to tell someone at all.

  Ariel: I had a weird dream, but otherwise I slept great.

  I sat my phone down beside me and I got under the covers. My head only had a slight throb to it. I hoped I remembered to take some Tylenol before school in the morning otherwise the day would likely suck.

  I snuggled under the comfy blanket and closed my eyes as my phone vibrated again.

  Tyson: I’ll get you a dreamcatcher. It will filter through your dreams and capture all the bad ones while still sending the good ones through.

  Huh. I’d never thought about getting a dreamcatcher before. But did I really want to filter through my dreams? What if I missed something important? I wasn’t sure I would use it, but the gesture sure was nice.

  Ariel: Thank you. That’s very sweet of you, but not necessary. Tomorrow should I expect A-hole Tyson to make another appearance?

  Tyson: Lol. Never again. You have my word.

  I snickered. Yeah, right. When it came to being an A-hole I didn’t think he could help himself.

  I sat my phone aside without saying goodbye, snuggled into my bed and immediately fell back to sleep. I had no idea how I managed it seeing as I had napped for hours, but I pulled it off. It wouldn’t be until the next morning when I realized I hadn’t cried myself to sleep after all.

  Chapter Nine

  I was out of time and I’d barely just opened my eyes. Shit. Apparently, I hadn’t remembered to set the alarm on my phone. I didn’t have time to brush my hair or eat anything for breakfast. I threw the blanket off of me and raced towards my closet. I dressed in matching red panties and a red bra, black leggings, a black t-shirt with white lettering that read: The only Snow I want is Jon Snow, a tight zip up black hoodie and a pair of black flipflops. It was the best I could do on such short notice.

  I breezed into the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and pulled my tangled-up mess of hair up into a messy bun on top of my head. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror. Part of my natural coloring had returned which was good. The bruising at my temple that surrounded my wound was not good and I didn’t have the time to try and cover it up with makeup. I was a hot mess but was lying, telling myself I rocked it.

  I raced through my bedroom, nabbed my phone and my bag and I ran down the stairs. Mr. Cole was in the kitchen pouring coffee into a mug as I made a mad dash to the garage.

  “Whoa. Where’s the fire, kiddo?”

  “Late,” I called over my shoulder as I raced through the door. “No time. Gotta go.”

  The door slammed behind me as I rushed through the garage and straight to my new Rover. I couldn’t even bring myself to flinch at the loud noise. If it woke up my mother she could suck it, I was in no mood for her crap this morning. I should have stolen Mr. Cole’s coffee on my way through the kitchen. My stomach growled and I had a headache, coffee would go a long way towards making my day brighter. Heck, even a can of Coke would do it. Too bad I didn’t have the time.

  I climbed into my pretty, shiny new Range Rover. I stuck my key in the ignition, turned her on and hit the right button to open the closest door behind me. I was backing out as I clicked my seat belt in place. I cleared the door when I had to slam on the brakes. If I hadn’t stopped I would have plowed down Tyson. He ran around the Rover and opened up the passenger door. He was grinning at me as he climbed in. As soon as he had the door shut I was cruising back down the driveway.

  “Sweet ride.” Sweet, indeed. Just like his tone of voice this morning. I wondered if this was how he sounded every morning.

  “Um, not that I mind,” I looked at him to see him grinning at me, “but what’s with you riding with me? Is something wrong with your car?”

  “Didn’t you get my texts?”

  “No time for texting. I literally woke up less than five minutes ago.”

  He laughed quietly. “That must be why your hair is so adorably messy this morning.”

  I nodded, not the least bit offended by him calling my hair messy. “No time to brush it. Or cover up my face. Or eat anything. This day is going to suck so hard,” I whined.

  “I have a power bar in my bag if you’d like it,” he offered up sweetly.

  “Would I ever.” A wrapper crinkled as he opened the power bar for me and handed it over. I took a grateful bite and chewed as I cruised down the road.

  “So, what do you think the third day of school will be like for us?” I asked him after I swallowed my first bite.

  “I have no idea,” he told me bluntly. “But whatever happens today we’ll get through it together.”

  My heart skipped a beat. My, how a day could change everything.

  I had nothing to say in return to that so I ate and drove the rest of the way to school in silence. He didn’t seem to mind. As I pulled into a parking spot the big, black truck that had followed from a distance the entire way to school pulled into the empty parking spot beside me. I rolled my eyes. These boys were sweet but annoying.

  I climbed out of the Rover, waited for Tyson to close his door then I hit the button on the key fob, locking the doors. I no longer had to stand around in the cold with shaking hands while I tried to unlock the door with a key. Mr. Cole was the best and had great taste. Just not in women. Don’t tell my mother I said that.

  I was grinning from ear to ear when I turned around and smacked right into a huge chest. Vibrant green eyes twinkled down at me.

  “Good morning, Abel,” I chirped, no longer caring about waking up late.

  “Mornin’, pretty girl,” He grinned down at me. “You’re in a good mood. Are you usually like this in the morning?”

  “No, sir.” I grinned up at him. I shrugged and told him honestly, “I even woke up late this morning and had to deny myself caffeine because of it.”

  A dark eyebrow raised high on his forehead. “Then why are you so happy?”

  Good question.

  “Honestly?�
� I asked. I waited for his nod before continuing. “I think it’s the Rover.” I reached behind me with my hand and smoothed my palm along the driver’s side door. I made a sound deep in my throat, it sounded awfully like a moan. “She’s just so damn pretty,” I purred.

  All three guys laughed at me.

  “Yeah,” Abel said without taking his eyes off me. “She is.”

  My face heated up because I had a feeling he meant me and not the car. All these compliments were bound to give me a big head if they didn’t stop soon.

  “Time for class,” I announced loudly.

  They followed behind me as I headed towards the school building for another day in paradise. After leaving school yesterday, I’d completely forgotten about the fact that I would have to come back today. In fact, I hadn’t thought about school at all. I’d gone to bed last night without a heavy heart and no tears. The only time I cried yesterday had been because of physical pain.

  I felt like dancing until I stepped into the building. It was like the first day of school all over again. Everyone stared. Only difference was they weren’t entirely staring at me, but my companions instead.

  “Good grief,” one of the twins muttered under his breath.

  “Fucking vultures,” muttered the other twin.

  Tyson chuckled as he placed his hand on the small of my back and gently urged me forward. Heat shot up my spine, causing me to shiver. Why did that happen when they touched me? It was so bizarre.

  “Too much drama for us, Ariel girl,” Tyson whispered in my ear. “Let’s bail and hope they follow the twins.”

  A plan I could definitely get behind.

  Tyson and I walked together through the halls, all the while his touch burned the skin at my back. I ignored it, or at least I tried to. A girl could only fake so much, even to herself. I had to stop perving on my new friends, but first, I had to get them to stop touching me. The more they touched me, the more I wanted to touch them back. Tyson’s heat threatened to burn right through me, making my body quiver. Yes, I definitely needed them to stop touching me.

  When we walked into first hour my entire body stiffened and I had to bite my lower lip painfully to keep from groaning aloud. Tyson must have felt me stiffen because his hand immediately started rubbing soothing circles into the small of my back. He crowded close to my side as he leaned into whisper at my ear, “Ignore them. Everything’s going to be fine. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”