He loved her, but he felt no hope at all that she might love him back.
“Treasure.” It was a groan. “Oh, Christ, you’re so pretty.” He jerked, his grip tightening on her hair. “Fuck. I can’t believe you would touch me. I never thought I’d ever have someone so pretty and sweet and… maddening. How do you do this to me?” His whole body shook. “Oh fuck, I’m going to…” He pulled her away and she made a disappointed mewling sound. “We can’t do that or it’s gonna go too far. It’s wrong to have you…” He gave his head a clearing shake. “The soul mate.” He swallowed hard. “Just… tell me… something. Anything. Just give me something and we’ll end this.”
Gaia, Kingu was the hardest man to seduce in the realm! Even for a warrior, his control was really impressive. But, now that she’d gotten him this far, Hope needed to finish it. It was the only way he’d ever accept their connection and they were so close.
She smiled smugly and didn’t say a word.
Red eyes narrowed like death and she felt her body spasm in response. “Wrong… Fucking… Answer.”
Hope nearly grinned.
Game, set, match, Hope, of the Fire House. And the crowd goes wild!
Kingu shoved her back and then yanked her forward so the belt went tight, trapping her arms above her head, again. Hope’s legs parted before he even had a chance to grab them, opening for him. She wound them around his hips, moaning as he covered her. The heat of him pressed against her core.
Oh yes. Oh yes. Her mouth found his hungrily as she undulated against him, trying to get him even closer. Kingu reached down to push her rumpled skirt up to her waist. He wasn’t even going to take the time to snap his fingers and remove it. Hope loved that he was so far gone. This was exactly what she’d wanted and he was giving it to her.
Her tongue touched the edge of his granite jaw. “I want you inside me, monster.” Her voice was pleading. She was going up in flames. “Deep and solid and stretching places that only you’ve ever touched.”
He swore in some language she’d never heard and held backing, refusing to let her close the final distance. “First tell me what I fucking want to hear.”
“I want you so much, Kingu.” She writhe against him and gladly stopped teasing. “You’re the only one I’d ever be with.”
His growl wasn’t anything an Elemental or human could’ve made. It was exactly how dragons must’ve sounded. It was the most erotic thing she’s ever heard. “Who do you belong to, Hope? Who are you this hot for? Who are you are allowing to touch you, right now?”
“You.” It came out as a sob. “You’re my one, dummy! I’ve been telling you that again and again! Take me right now or I will clobber you!”
“Right answer.” He kissed her and Hope thought she would die if she didn’t find relief soon. It was all too tight, too scorching. He let out another growl right next to her ear and she nearly broke down. “Mine.” The word was a brand. “You’re mine. Say it.”
“Yours.” She met his gaze desperately. “Please. I need you now or I’m going to go burn up. Please, just… Oh God.”
Kingu pushed into her and Hope cried out.
Her head when back on a wail of surprise and pleasure. “Oh deeeeeeear.”
He was big. Really, really big. She rocked, trying to accommodate his massive size and he slipped in even deeper. It was like he really was touching her soul. Hope’s glazed eyes met his shocked ones.
“You’re inside me.” She said softly, trying to process it. “I’m not a virgin, anymore.”
“Neither am I.” In the midst of his savage desire, he looked somehow confused and a little nervous. Like he had no idea how they’d gotten here. Opponents of the Fire House usually ended up feeling that way.
Hope’s heart twisted in pleasure. She’d had the feeling that he’d waited for her. Kingu wouldn’t just give himself to anyone. No other woman would know what to do with him. “My monster.” She whispered, turning his earlier words back on him. “Say it.”
“Yours. Gaia help you, Hope, everything I am is yours.” The words were a haggard vow. Kingu turned his face away from her and let out a hissing breath. “I’m so sorry.” He started to draw back. “I shouldn’t have done this. I didn’t mean to let it go this far. I’m sorry. I…” His jaw tightened and he slammed forward again as if his instincts just took over. “Ah fuck! I’m sorry. I have to. I can’t stop.”
Hope saw stars. Honestly to God, saw them glimmering all around her. “More.” She got out dazedly.
Gigantic arms came down on either side of her head, caging her. Like –even with the restraints-- he wanted to trap her beneath him. “I need you so much, Hope. You have no idea how much.” He mouth met hers as if a part of him still expected her to disappear when he touched her. “Don’t ever leave or it will fucking kill me. I’ll give you anything you want, if you’ll only stay. Anything, at all.”
As if she was planning on going anywhere. “I’ll always stay with you.” Hope’s legs gripped his waist, gasping in helpless desire. “Always.”
Inside of her, the fire burst free and started swirling into a tornado. Bigger and bigger, filling her. It felt fabulous, like touching heaven itself.
But it sure didn’t seem normal.
“Something feels strange.” She got out even as she kissed the side of his neck, her teeth scraping his skin.
“Please, don’t ask me to stop.” He ground out. “I can’t stop. You’re so good, treasure. If I have to stop, my powers are going to explode. They’re trying to get to you and I…” He broke off with a groan, trying to slow his strokes as if he thought that’s what she wanted. “I won’t hurt you. I swear to Gaia, I won’t ever hurt you. Please.”
His powers were trying to reach her? Something stirred in her mind, beneath the endless pleasure. Why would his energy being trying to get loose, unless…
Hope’s heart somehow started beating even faster. “Let go.”
“What?”
“Let your powers go!” It was a wail as he touched some magic spot. “Now! Do it, now.” And just in case he still tried to resist her, she looked right at him and kicked the blocks out. “Please, Kingu, I love you so much. Just let everything go and I’ll be yours forever.”
Then, Hope smiled hugely, her eyes bright and dimples flashing.
His pupils did that expanding thing again and Hope’s whole world exploded. Kingu surged into her so deeply that Hope didn’t sure where he left off and she began. The force of it triggered a chain reaction inside of her. “Kingu!” Her body contracted around him.
At the same time, she felt his powers rushing over her. So much power. Different from Elementals. Older and more primal. Hotter.
Kingu roared.
His release pushed her own even higher, the windstorm of fire inside of her latching onto his powers. Twisting tighter and tighter, until they just exploded into something completely new and whole. Something she’d never thought she’d ever experience. It felt as if a supernova went off around them. A galaxy of stars sparkled across their connection, now. For one timeless instant she could see them. See everything…
And it was spectacular.
Like cresting on a rollercoaster and feeling the weightless freedom for that one perfect moment at the top of the hill. A clean glittering rush of liberation and joy. Of wholeness. Hope felt tears welling in her eyes at the beauty of it.
Kingu had just given her something no one else ever could. A gift beyond measure.
Phazing.
She hadn’t expected the glittering constellation that briefly lit up the ceiling, but she knew enough about the other symptoms to self-diagnose. After one hundred and fourteen years of thinking that she had a birth defect… That she could never Phaze…. That she would always be alone…
Hope had just honest-to-Gaia Phazed with Kingu.
She started crying, so overwhelmed she couldn’t even speak. She’d always been prone to un-Fire House-like tears and now they erupted in a bout unrestrained weeping that shook her
whole body. After so much bad luck, how could something so miraculous happen to her? Kingu was right, it was like a dream. An absolutely perfect dream.
She’d actually Phazed with her monster.
Oberon had told her truth.
Why had she ever doubted him?
“Oh Gaia.” Kingu pulled back like her sobs burned him. Breathing hard and looking staggered, he scrambled to untie her. “Oh Gaia, what have I done? Hope?” His hands shook as he released her wrists. He wasn’t meeting her eyes, but his gaze frantically scanned her body for bruises. “Hope? Are you hurt?” For a second, she thought that Kingu was going to touch her cheek, but he pulled his fingers back before they made contact.
“No, I’m not hurt.” Hope ran her freed palms over her face, drying the tears herself even as new ones poured out.
The whole world was realigning itself around her. She wasn’t flawed. She did have energy. Maybe it liked to stay hidden, but it had always been there. Hope could feel her powers connected to Kingu’s. Binding them together. Big and pure and undeniable.
Kingu wasn’t just her monster or her soul mate.
He was her Match.
…Who was not crawling into bed and kissing her like he should’ve been doing. Instead, Kingu looked shell-shocked and ashamed. He glanced down at his hands as if he’d never seen them before and backed away from her.
“Kingu, are you okay?” Why wasn’t he holding her like he was supposed to? Didn’t he feel their connection, now? How beautiful it was?
“It was my fault.” His voice sounded hollow and he continued retreating from the bed like he’d seen a ghost. “I tied you up against you will. I lost control.”
“No, you didn’t.” Hope frowned through the tears. “I mean, you did tie me, but it wasn’t against my will. I would’ve told you if I didn’t like it and you would have stopped.”
She didn’t doubt that for a second. Kingu had never used his strength against her. He’d just taken her like a warrior, hard and fierce, and he’d still been considerate of her size. There wasn’t a mark on her body and he outweighed her by over two hundred pounds.
Why was he acting this way?
Hope’s tearful joy faded into anxiety. Was he sorry that they’d Phazed? Was that some kind of social embarrassment to a god? He’d tried to pull back and she’d kept the game going. Had she pushed him into something he hated?
Did he not want to be connected with her?
Hope swallowed. “Did I do something wrong?”
He didn’t hear her. She could tell from the way he was shaking his head. “You’re free. I’m releasing you. I shouldn’t have ever, ever kidnapped you. What was I thinking to touch someone so above me? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Turning on his heel, he stumbled out of the room, without even stopping to gather his clothes.
“Kingu!”
He kept going, slamming the door behind him. Leaving Hope sitting forsaken on the bed.
Kingu had left her behind.
Chapter Twenty-Two
All kinds of things are coming to be subjected to fire, as it were—
hotter and hotter blows the element round everything.
Thomas Carlyle- “Address as Lord Rector of Edinburgh University”
Hope started trembling. An asthma attack threatened, tightening her lungs, but she couldn’t focus enough to go look for her inhaler. Every fear of abandonment that had ever woken up her in the middle of the night rushed back, clenching her heart in their icy grip. All her insecurities and nightmares swirled in her head like a smog of bad memories, blinding her to everything else.
Her parents rejecting her by leaving her in a basket to die. Wanting to fit in with the Fire House and secretly knowing that she wasn’t quite good enough. Holding Oberon’s hand as he died and realizing that nothing could ever bring him back.
Always, always, always being the one who got left behind.
No.
Misery gave way to anger and Hope’s mouth thinned.
Not this time.
She looked down at the plastic restraint on her ankle and then over at Kingu’s forgotten belt. Grabbing the buckle, she folded down the frame so the thin metal prong stuck up. It took less than three seconds to twist the makeshift pick into the lock of the cuff and free herself. She tossed it to the ground and stood up.
If Kingu didn’t want her that was too fucking bad, because she’d already claimed his ass. It was done. They’d Phazed and there was nothing he could do to change it. Her temper building to unheard of heights, Hope adjusted her skirt and grabbed her sweater.
Her idiot Match was about to learn that Oberon, of the Fire House’s granddaughter did not get left behind on her Phazing Day without one hell of a fight. She would…
Hope paused in the act of pulling on her top, her head tilting to one side.
A soft eerie sound from outside filtered through her rage; an almost inaudible whistle that she felt more than heard. The twirling noise corkscrewed down her spine. In the wild, it would’ve been the kind of sensation that caused animals to pause, their hearts racing and their bodies poised in preparation for flight, even if they weren’t sure why. And there was no way they could’ve known why. No one could have known.
…Unless they’d been trained in Fire House field opt communications.
Hope’s head snapped around to look at the balcony, her mouth curving.
It was about time.
She strode over to the glass door and threw it open. Putting two fingers to her lips she gave a shrill whistle back. In less than twenty seconds she was surrounded by her family. Six Fire Phases jumped right onto the balcony, forming a circle around her. Her eyes went from Teja to Missy to Satour to Alder to Pele and finally to Djinn. Only Qadesh was missing and she knew he’d be around here someplace.
Teja arched a brow. “Lycus showed up, alive and apparently unBanished, whining that you’d let yourself get kidnapped. Care to explain why you’d do something so stupid?”
“I’ve been courting my Match.”
“Match?” Djinn looked her up and down, noting the changes in her energy. For instance, the fact that she had energy. “You Phazed with someone?” He sounded incredulous.
Teja groaned.
Pele looked past Hope into the bedroom. She made an impressed sound at the decimated bed and the restraints. “Nice work, kid.”
“Shit, we’re not going to get to blow up anything to save you then, are we?” Alder muttered. “Frigging Matches are like an epidemic today.”
Hope had no idea what that meant. All her attention was on Djinn. Her big, older, surprisingly kindhearted cousin, who’d once kidnapped a terrified bearded human from Tupelo for her when she asked to meet Santa Claus. In June. Her eyes filled with tears and she threw herself into the safety of his arms. “Oh, Djinn! My Match doesn’t want me.”
Satour took a quick step back, in case she tried to hug him next.
Djinn let out a sigh, long resigned to Hope’s un-Fire Phase-like embraces. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He awkwardly patted her shoulder as she clung to him. “Who wouldn’t want you? You’re perfect! You’re one of us!”
The others all nodded.
“And if he kidnapped you, that’s a good sign.” Missy added. “All the best Matches start out with a romantic abduction and some bondage games.”
“That’s how my parents met.” Pele agreed. “Mom kept Dad locked in the attic for twenty-two years. It’s part of any proper honeymoon, Hope.”
“I know, but Kingu just walked out on me. What kind of Match does something like that?” She sniffed against Djinn t-shirt. “He’s ruining my Phazing Day with his lousy kidnapping skills. He told me I was free. And look! I’ve escaped and he doesn’t even care. He left me.”
“Bastard.” Satour grumbled. He looked around the ominous exterior of the fortress and gave a grudging shrug. “A bastard with good taste, but still a bastard.”
“Bastard counts as cursing.” Pele told him.
“Why don’t you just take a f
ew days and think about your options, Hope?” Teja suggested a little desperately. “I mean, you don’t have to be Matched to this guy. There has to be a way out of it.”
“I don’t want a way out of it!”
“Hey if this is Hope’s Match’s fortress… then this is our fortress.” Alder reasoned. “Finally, a nice weekend place. Well, except for all the Banished Phases running around. Aren’t they supposed to be dead?”
“We can have the whole pastel wasteland reduced to beautiful ashes by morning!” Missy clapped her hands together in glee. “Oh, I’ve always wanted a fixer-upper!”
“Nobody burn anything, yet.” Djinn ordered, which was possibly the first time he’d ever said such a thing. “Hope, do you want to keep this man as your Match?”
“Yes!” Hope’s earlier resolve came rushing back. “He’s mine, Djinn. The same way Pele is yours. I love him.”
Teja’s hands went up in annoyance.
“Alright, then.” Djinn kissed the top of Hope’s head and he gave a resolute nod. “Priority one is getting him back for you. Is he really a god like Lycus said?”
“Not just a god.” Hope said proudly. “He’s a gigantic monster with super-powers.”
“Ooooooooohhhhhhhh.” Missy breathed. “He sounds wonderful.”
“He is, but he’s going to be very, very hard to ‘convince’ in any of our normal ways.” Hope warned. “He can lift Lycus with one hand and he can made plastic barriers with a snap of his fingers.”
“He does sound like a good catch.” Pele mused. “What’s he look like?”
“He has red eyes, a face like a dragon, and has to duck through doorways.”
“Fuck, that’s awesome.” Alder admitted.
“Cursing.” The others all chorused.
He ignored them. “Hey, maybe this guy just wants you to pursue him.”
“You think?”
“Sure. If he’s used to being awesome, he’s used to being chased. You just have to be more persistent than the other chicks.”
“I don’t think Kingu is trying to play hard to get, though. He’s really very sensitive…”
Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) Page 31