Kissed by Fire

by Kimber White

  “Here and there and everywhere,” he answered.

  “No, really.” I went up on one elbow. It was Xander’s turn to explore me. He traced my brow with the pad of his thumb. Leaning forward, he kissed my nipple. I sighed as a tremor went through me. Heat pooled between my legs. He had me throbbing for him already.

  “You taste as good as you look,” he smiled.

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  Sighing, he sat up. I leaned against his chest as he kissed the top of my head. “I was born in the Scottish Highlands. A place called Knoydart. We lived in hiding for a lot of years. When we were children, we were vulnerable. I don’t know how my mother managed five dragonlings. She’d seen the most powerful members of her house and my father’s cut down. Murdered. We were born with targets on our backs. That’s why she waited so long to bring us into the world.”

  “It must have been terrifying for her.”

  “When we were grown, we had to leave Scotland. All the people she trusted grew old and died. Rumors started to swirl about her. So, we went to France. Then to England. Ireland for a while. Sweden. I’ve lived everywhere at one point or another.”

  “Three hundred years is a long time,” I said. “Does that mean you’re...I mean...are you immortal?”

  “No. Avelina says a full-blooded, mated dragon can live to a thousand or so.”

  “A mated dragon?” I asked. Xander’s eyes grew dark. I knew enough about regular shifters to have heard of fated mates. New heat flared in my heart. Because you’re mine!

  He’d known where to find me. The moment I turned and saw that feral wolf staring down at me, something happened inside me. Terror gripped my heart, but I’d felt a new power rising. I’d screamed, of course. But that’s not all I did. I called to Xander. I don’t know how. It hadn’t been with words. And yet, the moment I knew my life was in danger, my heart had tried to find his.

  And he’d been there. Had Avelina told him where to find me? She must have. I couldn’t fully wrap my mind around the other possibility. Or at least, I couldn’t yet say the words.

  “Why?” Xander said. His expression became hard and grave; his eyes went black. He slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants. I pulled the sheets around me.

  “Xander.”

  “Why? You disobeyed me. I asked you before. Were you testing me?”

  “What? No. Of course not. And what do you mean disobey?” It was in me to tell him he wasn’t the boss of me, no matter how juvenile that sounded. Instinct told me he wouldn’t appreciate the humor.

  “If I’d been just a few seconds later. If I hadn’t gotten to you in time…”

  “But you did! Why? How?” I already knew the answer. So did he. It seemed he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud either.

  “I’m just glad you’re safe. If anything happened to you, I couldn’t live with myself. Shae, you have to listen to me. You can’t go back out there. Those wolves will come back. If you ever had any doubt what they were after, I hope this little side trip of yours put it to rest. God, what were you thinking?”

  The color drained from his face. Xander took a staggering step sideways. At first, I thought emotion had overcome him. Then, I noticed the blood.

  “Xander!” I leaped out of bed, letting the sheet fall to the floor. I grabbed Xander’s arm. He had a deep scratch on the underside of it. I hadn’t noticed it before. Now, the blood flowed freely, dripping down his arm and staining the carpet.

  He blinked hard, as if he couldn’t quite focus on the wound. “What is it?” I asked.

  “I don’t...that second wolf stabbed me with something. But...it should have healed by now.”

  The cut looked angry; the edges swelled and pulsed.

  “We should clean that,” I said. “Where’s your first aid kit? Do you even have one?”

  “I’ll be fine,” he barked.

  He didn’t look it. Sweat beaded his brow. “And you still haven’t answered my question. What were you thinking, Shae? Why in the world did you go back to that bookstore after everything that happened? And what the hell did you say to Marie to get her to let you out the front door?”

  I reared back, surprised. “Marie? What are you talking about? She’s the one who arranged for a driver for me. Oh, God. I forgot about him. Henry. His limo was supposed to be parked in front of the building. Did you see him? Shit. Xander, what if those wolves got to him? We need to go back and make sure.”

  Fire lit Xander’s eyes. I still didn’t like his skin tone, but anger seemed to strengthen him. “Henry?” he asked. “She arranged for him? On whose orders?”

  “Avelina’s,” I answered, still not clear on why he was so angry.

  He exploded. He swept his wounded arm across his body and knocked a lamp to the floor. I jumped back. He turned his back on me and stormed out of the bedroom.

  “Xander, your arm! Where are you going?” I stumbled after him, having the presence of mind to grab his dress shirt off the hook near the door. It hung to almost my knees and I hastily buttoned it, mismatching a few.

  The elevator doors slid open and Xander charged inside.

  “Stay here!” he commanded.

  “Where are you going?”

  He punched the buttons on the panel. “It’s time I had a talk with my mother.”

  “Let me go with you.” I tried to catch the doors, but Xander’s hard look stopped me in my tracks.

  “Are you going to stay put, or am I going to have to tie you to that bed?” God help us both, the instant he said it, my own fire raged within. I wanted him to do just that to me plus the thousand things that went with it.

  Xander’s fire blasted to the surface too. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, he stuck his hand between them. He got to me in two strides. Shuddering, his lips found mine.

  “God,” he gasped. I was wet. So wet. Lust raced through me, turning my knees to rubber.

  “Please,” he said, softening. “Just stay here. I’ll be back.”

  “No,” I said. “You’re hurt. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  He let out a growl of frustration. “I meant what I said. I’ll tie you to the damn bed.”

  Oh, God. I wanted him to. That green fire danced behind his eyes as he correctly sensed my thoughts.

  “I promise,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “If you’re not, I’m coming down to find you,” I said.

  He sighed and tore a hand through his hair. “Exactly what do I have to do to get you to behave?”

  “Maybe a little more of what you did there on the floor?” I was teasing, shocked that I felt so bold.

  “Just...God...Shae...stay put.”

  “For a little while,” I said. “I’m not kidding. I’m worried about your arm. It looks like it’s getting worse. If you’re not back up here like you said you’d be, I’m coming after you.”

  He took it for the compromise it was, shook his head in exasperation, then turned and boarded the elevator.

  Chapter Eleven

  Xander

  Riding the elevator wasn’t my best idea. My emotions swirled, unsettling my dragon. I still tasted Shae on my lips. I wanted so much more. I wanted to own her. Devour her. Let the flames consume us both. I almost had. She had no idea what it took for me to hold that back. I wouldn’t hurt her. I would never hurt her. But, damn if I didn’t want to push the edge just that much further.

  I could barely see straight. My dragon became a real danger, thrumming inside my head. If I shifted in the middle of the elevator, it would rip the building apart.

  Mine. Shae was mine! I would kill for her. I would die for her. There was no denying what she was. Human or not, she was my fated mate. Never before had I felt a pull like this one. If I was the lock, she was the key. She calmed the chaos storming inside my mind. Her touch drove the madness away. She was the one.

  The elevator door slid open to the roof. Though I’d sent out a call, I hadn’t needed it. Avelina was
already waiting. She must have told my brothers to wait somewhere else. I felt their presence. They were swirling somewhere high above, cloaked against curious eyes.

  My talons dropped and hot blood welled in my palms. The sting of the wolf’s bite burned through my arm. My simmering rage at Avelina drove out thoughts of what it could mean.

  I thought I had things under control until I laid eyes on my mother. As I stormed across the roof, wind whipping all around, I let out one long blast of fire.

  She turned on me, her own blue fire rising. Her white hair flew around her like a cyclone.

  Careful, brother! Gideon’s thoughts reached me. They could cloak their flight, but there was no way I could hide my fury. Especially as I directed it straight at Avelina.

  “Why?” I barked. My whole body trembled as I struggled to keep control. I wanted to shift. I wanted to let my dragon out and fly above the city with the rest of them.

  Avelina stayed cool as ice. Of course she was expecting all of this. She knew me well.

  I lunged at her. “You actually sent her to the wolves! If you wanted her dead, why didn’t you just do it yourself?”

  Avelina crossed her arms. She gave no outward reaction to me. I stood with my face just inches from hers, my lips curled back and the rising fire swirling inside of me. Gideon and the others came into view. A quick gesture from Avelina kept them from landing. They circled a hundred feet above, well within firing range.

  “Exactly,” she said. “If I wanted the girl dead, she would be. So, what does that tell you? Think, Alexander.”

  I turned and started to pace in front of her. “What the hell are you doing? I gave Shae my word. She is under our protection. How could you violate that? We’re Brandharts! We’re not oathbreakers, Avelina.”

  “And you’re too close to this. I had to know. We all did.”

  “Know what?” I said. A stream of fire came out with my words and landed harmlessly at her feet. She didn’t so much as flinch.

  Avelina let out a sigh. To her credit, her eyes misted. She looked downright tortured. She made a swirling gesture with her finger. My brothers took the cue and landed around us, forming a circle. At her nod, they shifted but kept their distance.

  “First of all,” she said. “I would never have let harm come to her. I was there, Alexander. You were just too...preoccupied to sense it.”

  “What?” She was lying. She had to be. I’d gotten no sense of her presence near that bookstore. I’d only picked up Shae and the wolves. No. That wasn’t true. It had been Shae alone who’d fueled my thoughts. Shae’s distress.

  “We didn’t know enough about her,” Avelina said. “She’s been under the care of a Circean wizard for almost a decade. I needed to know for sure.”

  “Know what?”

  “Careful, Xander,” Loch said. I’d taken a step closer to Avelina and my scales came out along my back. I took a steadying breath and moved away.

  “I had to know if she’d make contact with anyone else if she went back there,” Avelina said.

  “She didn’t!”

  She conceded the point with a nod. “That’s one. And I needed to know for sure if she really still needs our protection.”

  “That’s two!” I spat. “If I hadn’t shown up when I did…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. My dragon tore at me. Finn put a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to settle me.

  “It is,” Avelina said. She started to circle me. God, she’d planned this whole thing. Even down to this performance. None of my brothers would meet my eyes. They’d been in on it!

  Loch and Gideon stepped forward and grabbed my other arm. “Settle down, brother,” Loch whispered in my ear. “Hear her out. Shae’s all right.”

  “You were right,” Avelina said. “The girl’s neutral in this. I can’t say for sure whether the mage was, but I’m convinced she didn’t know anything about the dragonstone or whatever that man was mixed up in. You were right to trust her. You were right to bring her here.”

  She turned to face me. My brothers held me back as Avelina touched my face. Her eyes held a heavy sadness, her blue fire dimmed.

  “And three,” she said. “I needed to know if it was a spell he cast. Or your sickness clouding your judgment...making you see and feel things that weren’t real.”

  “Mother,” I whispered.

  “She’s yours,” she finally sighed. “There can be no doubt about it now. Only fated mates can feel when the other is in danger like that.”

  “Christ,” Kian muttered. He was the only one who’d stayed a little apart from the rest of us.

  I already knew the truth about Shae. I hadn’t been ready to admit it to her or anyone else. Now, my mother and brothers could see it plainly. The new fire that ran through my veins couldn’t be denied.

  Avelina cupped my face in her hands. “I know you want me to tell you I’m sorry, but I’m not. I did what I had to do. Like I always do.”

  Kian finally entered the circle. “This is impossible. This is some trick, some black magic worked by that fucking wizard.”

  Avelina turned to him. Pain gripped my heart. Shae had given me control, now it leached from me. I needed to shift. Now. I couldn’t see straight.

  “It’s not black magic,” Avelina said.

  “You said it couldn’t happen,” Kian said. “You said humans can never mate with dragons. They’re not strong enough.”

  “They aren’t. And they can’t.” Her expression turned stony as she looked back at me.

  “Don't,” I said, ripping out of my brothers’ grasp. “Don’t lecture me. I don’t need to hear it. I know all of this. God. You’ve drilled it into our heads since we were old enough to talk. You want to know what I think? I think maybe you don’t know everything. It’s convenient because there’s no other dragon alive to ask.”

  “I do know everything,” she hissed. “When it comes to our kind and my sons, you bet your ass I do. You think this is what I wanted? You think this doesn’t tear me up just as much as it does you? Xander, you forget...I’ve seen what happens to dragons who can’t find their mates. It happened to your father’s brother. Little by little, he became a monster. We couldn’t save him. His mate was murdered by bear shifters before he even had a chance to find her. It tortured him. He couldn’t control his shift and it drove him insane until finally, his last shift tore him apart. He was trapped. Half-man. Half-dragon. You can’t imagine the agony.”

  “Can’t we?” Kian spoke, his voice barely more than a ragged whisper.

  “This is so cruel, so twisted,” she said.

  “How?” Finn said. “Why isn’t anyone else relieved? Xander’s found his mate. She’s here. She’s alive. She can save him. Why isn’t anyone else thinking this means there’s hope for the rest of us?”

  I met Avelina’s gaze. We didn’t have to say another word to fully understand each other. “Because I can never fully mate with her,” I said. “I can never hurt her. She can’t bear my children. It would kill her.”

  “So you’re just going to give up?” Finn said, incredulous. “Both of you?”

  My head split in two. Agony poured through me. My vision wavered and I swayed on my feet. Gideon caught me just before I slid to the ground.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Avelina said, charging me. In all the turmoil, she hadn’t noticed my arm. I’d kept it at my side, hiding the worst of it.

  “Xander!” Shae’s voice cut through the air. She came running toward me across the roof, red hair flying. A little part of me had to laugh. She’d been true to her threat. I hadn’t come straight back, so she came after me.

  Loch stepped aside and let her into the circle. Shae dropped to her knees in front of me and pulled my arm into her lap. It was a mottled gray, pulsating mess now. Scales and flesh twisted together.

  “My God!” Avelina sank beside Shae.

  “The wolves did this to him,” she said. “It just looked like a scratch when we first came back. It’s gotten worse. It’s infected or someth
ing.”

  Avelina shook her head. All the blood drained from her face. Loch was at her side, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder.

  “This isn’t a wolf’s bite,” she said.

  “You’ve seen it?” Shae turned to her.

  “Enough,” I said, struggling to get to my feet. “I just need a damn shower and a good bandage.”

  “No,” Avelina said. “I told you. That’s no wolf bite.” She felt frantically along my arm, then patted me down cop-style.

  “What the fuck, Avelina?” I said, pulling away from her. I got to my feet. She was right there in my face.

  “Only one thing makes that kind of a wound on a dragon, Xander. Did you see anyone else? I mean...the shifter who did this wasn’t in wolf form when it happened, was he?”

  “What...er...I don’t know. One wolf was already shifted when I got there. Another one came from the hallway. We threw down. He bit me or stabbed me or something. Then he shifted.”

  “Stabbed you,” she said, grabbing my arm again. She turned it over, running her thumb along the edges of the deepening cut. She turned to Shae.

  “Did you see where he went?” she asked.

  “He didn’t go anywhere,” Shae answered. “Xander killed them both.”

  Avelina smacked a hand to her forehead. “Dammit. Dammit! Loch, Gideon, you have to go back to that bookstore. Search everywhere. Turn the place upside down. God, I was so stupid not to stay. I never thought they’d be bold enough tip their hand like that.”

  “What the actual fuck are you talking about, Avelina?” Loch asked.

  She grabbed my arm and thrust it in front of him. “This,” she said. “Your brother was cut with dragonstone. That’s the only thing that can make that kind of wound. Dragonstone. Dragonstone!”

  She was half-crazed, bursting out of the circle, she paced and clasped a hand to her mouth. We all watched her, speechless. All except for Shae.

  “Er...I’m sorry...but what now?” she asked.

  “Dragonstone,” I said. “Used as a weapon, it can kill a dragon.”