Touch of Fire

by Michele Callahan

  But the subjects were not exactly cooperative. Not to an outsider. And she couldn’t blame them.

  Xander was taking her out this morning. She was hoping to run into the unicorns again so she could ask them for a hair sample.

  But she had to go home tomorrow. Real life was waiting for her. She had to report to the research facility bright and early the day after tomorrow. Which meant she had to drive home tomorrow.

  She had to leave Xander.

  The thought made her chest ache and she rubbed at it absently as she stared up at the ceiling where magical creatures chased each other in the plaster artwork above the bed. She loved everything about Xander’s home, from the amazing garden where the fairies now lived to the intricate details in every section of the house. Plaster ceilings in every room were works of art, from the magical beasts here in Xander’s bedroom to roses and vines in the hallways. The house was cool and quiet inside with a natural peace that seemed to emanate from the very walls. She felt comfortable here, relaxed. Happy.

  When was the last time she’d been happy? She’d spent the last few years of her life working her ass off, trying to make something of herself. And for what? Tens of thousands in student debt and so much stress that she’d started taking sleeping pills?

  But not here. Here she drifted to sleep with a smile on her face and dreamed about a certain smoking-hot elemental whose kisses curled her toes.

  Yes. That was her biggest problem. He was her biggest problem. She wanted him. She wanted to know what it felt like to have his naked body pressing her into the mattress, his hard length filling her up, his kisses stealing her air.

  She wanted him, but she had to leave tomorrow. Which didn’t seem fair to either one of them. If she slept with him and left, she’d feel like a tease, a royal bitch. She couldn’t do that to him. She just couldn’t. He was too honorable, too noble, too vulnerable for that. He acted tough, and he had incredible gifts, but she’d seen his face soften with little Flame wrapped around his thumb, seen the proud expression on his face when Kayla had been so enchanted with the carved artwork in the ceiling. He was protective and kind, and sexy as hell.

  He lived in Nowhere, New Mexico, in a tiny town with a couple thousand people, a bunch of magical creatures, and nothing else. She had a life back home, a new job making excellent money, an apartment to die for, friends, restaurants, movie theaters, shopping…

  And no one to share it with. She slept alone every night. She worked like a dog. She didn’t shop, or go to the movies. Hell, she barely had time to do laundry or take a shower. Some days she didn’t, she just went to work dirty, figuring the animals really wouldn’t care. Her life hadn’t been fantastic, but it had been enough. She’d always figured that once she settled into her new job, and school was done, that she’d find a nice man and settle down, buy a house with a white picket fence and a dog, and have a couple kids before she turned forty. That was the plan. That had always been The Plan.

  And sexy demi-god, fire elementals with scorching-hot kisses and shoulders to die for were not on her to-do list.

  But damn, she wanted to do him anyway. She wanted him, skin to skin, hot and naked and making her scream…

  “Oh, shut up!” She groaned and rolled her face into the pillow. She wanted him. No doubt about it. Why did he have to be here? In this nothing town?

  She pounded on the pillow with her fist a couple times and took a deep breath. He’d never leave this house. He’d built it himself. And the fairies? They needed him here to watch over them, especially little Flame. And he was a magical being living in a magical town.

  He couldn’t leave here. He’d never leave this place.

  Which took her right back to where she started…screwed.

  With a sigh she got up, took a quick shower and dressed in her favorite bright yellow sundress with pale white polka dots. She’d bought it for her trip and loved the way the flared skirt twirled around her knees when she spun in a circle. The dress made her feel like a little girl again, carefree and looking for adventure. The delicate lace underwear made her feel pretty, even if no one else ever saw them. She put white sandals on her feet, twisted her hair up into a knot and looked at herself in the mirror. “You are in deep trouble, girlfriend.” She shook her finger at her reflection but didn’t elaborate. That girl in the mirror, the woman with the sun-kissed cheeks, sparkling eyes and a certain glow about her? She knew exactly what she’d done wrong.

  She’d fallen in love.

  *.*.*

  Xander paced the kitchen, walking circles around the new oak dining set and chairs that had magically appeared in his home after his call to Topper. He knew he owed the witch a favor now, but it was worth it. The moment Kayla had curled up next to him on the couch that first day, he’d wanted to drive into town, find the purple-haired witch, and kiss her.

  But that had been days ago, and he was no closer to getting Kayla in his life, or in his bed. And he was running out of time. He knew she planned to return to her work and her old home very soon. Tomorrow. Which meant he had to make a move now. Tonight.

  The thought sent waves of heat through his body and made him hard as a rock. Which was how she found him when she walked into the dining room looking like a princess in a yellow dress and sandals. Her hair was pulled up, exposing the long, delicate neck and shoulders he longed to kiss and highlighting her cheekbones.

  “You’re beautiful.” He’d blurted the words before he could control his reaction to her, but when he saw the pretty blush in her cheeks and her shy smile, he figured the lapse of control had worked in his favor.

  “Thank you.”

  In the center of the table was a tray of fresh berries, complements of Glitter and her children, who had somehow transformed his garden into a richly diverse biosphere where a variety of fruit and vegetables now grew. Not that he was complaining as he watched Kayla take a seat and raise a dark red strawberry to her lips.

  “Did Glitter grow these?”

  “Yes. With Daffodil. They have transformed the garden.”

  “Again?”

  “Yes. Glitter said she knows you love peaches, so she’s growing a tree for you.”

  Kayla’s eyes grew wide, then misted with tears and she lowered her gaze, hiding her expression from him, which he did not like. How was he going to get her to fall in love with him if he had no idea what she was thinking? “I’ll have to thank her. Excuse me.”

  Kayla rushed from the room and he followed as her rapid stride carried her down the hallway to the garden. Her gasp reached his ears as he rounded the corner to stare in awe.

  The garden had tripled in size and stretched well beyond the confines of his home. “Glitter?” He called out to the fairy princess and waited patiently as the zipping streak of silver dipped and wove its way to him through the air. A few seconds later, a sparkling fairy hovered in the air a few inches in front of his face.

  “Yes, Xander?”

  “What have you done to the garden?”

  “Isn’t it wonderful?” She whirled around twice and Kayla stepped closer to his side. He reached for her hand, grateful when she didn’t refuse to allow his touch. “The magic is strong here, Xander! Even more powerful than my old home. I’ve summoned the others and they are coming! They are coming!”

  “What others?”

  “My village.”

  He tensed but Kayla squeezed his hand, and giggled beside him. “How many fairies were in your village, Glitter?”

  Glitter turned to Kayla with an excited glow. “Not many. We were just a small village. Less than eighty.”

  Xander felt his jaw drop. “How many, exactly?”

  Flame appeared and landed on his shoulder, her heat sinking through his muscle as her magic connected with his. “Seventy-seven!” Her tiny voice startled him and he heard Kayla gasp on his other side.

  “You can talk?”

  Flame danced around, looking more like a young girl now than an infant. “Of course. So can Spring and Daffodil, but not as
good as me.”

  Kayla chuckled. “That’s wonderful, Flame! How long will it take you to grow into a big fairy, like your mother?”

  Glitter smiled proudly. “It’s well, Flame, not as well. And they are strong, so strong here. It will only take a few weeks!”

  Flame took off like a red comet headed for the corner where he could see she had expanded Fury’s domain, forging more rock and metal for the firebird chicks to play on when they hatched.

  When the hell had he completely lost control of his own home?

  Chapter Nine

  “How did you do this? My house isn’t big enough to hold all this.”

  Glitter flew back a few feet and lifted her arms, spreading them wide, as if to hug the entire room. “Magic. I’m building a new kingdom here. It will grow and grow and grow so long as there is magic to feed it.” She was glowing now, a bright white, and sparkles fell all around her, drifting to the ground like glitter in sunlight.

  To his surprise, Kayla pressed her cheek to his shoulder and wrapped her free hand around his left biceps. “It’s wonderful, Glitter. Truly beautiful.” He felt Kayla’s smile in the pressure of her cheek against his arm. “And thank you for the strawberries. They were delicious.”

  The fairy laughed and did a backflip in midair before zipping off to attend to her fairy business. Xander lifted his hand to cover Kayla’s where it rested on his arm. “What am I going to do with seventy-seven fairies?”

  “Eighty-one.” Her giggle was music to his ears. “And I have no idea.”

  A frog hopped toward them and he saw Spring riding the creature’s back. The tiny green fairy had built some sort of saddle out of twisted vines and the young boy smiled at Kayla. “Greetings, pretty lady! Welcome to our garden.”

  Kayla knelt down on one knee to speak to the young boy. ”Thank you, Spring.”

  Spring nodded his head like he was a crown prince and nudged the frog who hopped back toward the pond. Kayla watched him go with a sigh. “This is so amazing.”

  She stood and took a few steps forward, into the garden, and looked around with awe. He followed her gaze to see glittering white lilies, a weeping willow tree taller than his home, vines covered in glowing yellow flowers, and small creatures everywhere, from frogs to squirrels. All through the garden birdsong filled the air as dozens of brightly colored songbirds gathered sticks and built their nests. He had an entire ecosystem inside his house. Amazing? That was one word for it.

  Magical. That was the other. The place practically hummed, the magic so thick in the air he could actually taste it, like sparklers on his tongue.

  Kayla whirled to face him with a smile on her face. “What are we doing today? Swimming with mermaids? Howling with werewolves? Boiling bats’ wings and newt with the witches?” She was laughing, and the sight made him feel lighter than he’d felt in, well, ever.

  “No werewolves. I warned you about them. Those horny bastards would be all over you.”

  She blushed, her cheeks turning a soft pink and he twirled her around by the hand until she was dizzy, and out of breath, and had nowhere to land but in his arms. “We’re going to a special place today.”

  “Okay. Where?”

  Staring down at her upturned face and open expression, he couldn’t resist tracing her bottom lip with his thumb. Today he would claim her. Today he would make sure she never wanted to leave. “It’s a surprise.”

  “I love surprises.”

  He kissed her softly, then grabbed her hand and pulled her outside to his truck.

  They drove for about an hour and he took the time to point out the beauty of the flowering cactus, the red rocks and the occasional fox or coyote he spotted in the distance. She didn’t see what he could see, didn’t feel the heat and power of the land, the sun, and the rocks as they absorbed the sun’s fire and heated the desert. So he tried to share it with her, the beauty he saw in the land and its creatures.

  When they stopped, he pulled a picnic basket from the back of the truck and led her around a rock formation in the middle of nowhere. They were an hour from Magic, and hours more from any hint of civilization. They were in the middle of nowhere, literally. Which was why he’d chosen this spot and asked his brothers to help him.

  The extra trouble was worth it when Kayla gasped and let go of his hand. They had rounded a corner and she saw the oasis he’d built for her. Rocks hung in a stark overhang above most of the small spring, shading the edges of the water and the surrounding plants. Flowers and vines climbed out of the water to line the hard earth with soft green leaves and flower petals that climbed the walls until it seemed the walls were made of flowers, not dark red earth. The mixed scents of hundreds of flower species made the air smell sweeter than the most incredible perfume. He couldn’t wait to swim naked in the warm spring water, or lay Kayla down on the flower petals and make her his forever.

  “Xander, this is incredible.” She wandered the edge of the spring and kicked off her sandals, dipping her toes in the warm water. “And it’s warm!”

  He set down the basket and spread a soft blanket on top of the vines and flowers. She grinned over her shoulder at him as he walked to join her at the edge of the warm water.

  Strategically turning his back to her, so she could watch every move he made, he stripped out of his shirt first, making sure to flex and pose a bit for her benefit. He turned to face her slowly, hoping she liked what she saw.

  Success! Her eyes were glued to his chest and abdomen as he stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Slowly, he pulled her forward, afraid she’d bolt or resist him, but she came into his arms willingly and he breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted her so badly, needed her. His body was hard and hot for her, and had been in a state of nearly constant arousal for days. Every time he caught the barest hint of her scent, the sound of her laughter, the simple joy of watching her move about his—their—home made him ache to touch her. He was tired of fighting himself.

  He lowered his head and kissed her, exploring her mouth and tasting the lingering sweetness of strawberries on her lips. She sighed and melted into him and his arms tightened, crushing her soft breasts to his chest, pulling her body against his erection so she would know exactly how much he wanted her.

  “Swim with me?” Their foreheads pressed together and her eyes were still closed as he asked her to take a chance with him. If she got naked and got in that water with him, they both knew they’d do more than just float around in the water.

  She nodded and lifted her lips, initiating a kiss for the first time. He grabbed her ass and lifted her off the ground, hot and desperate to touch her everywhere, to taste her skin, to bury himself in her hot, wet core.

  Her kisses made him ache all over, his need so great that he was shaking.

  Kayla broke the kiss and stepped back, pulling her dress off over her head. See-through white lace adorned with intricate flower designs barely covered her rose-colored nipples. Fighting to remain calm, he watched as she reached behind her back and unfastened her bra, letting it slide down her arms before she tossed the delicate undergarment on top of her dress where it rested on the grass. In a flash, she’d slipped her panties down over her curves and kicked them away.

  She was naked, her curves on display as she smiled at him and stepped back into the water. “You’ve got too many clothes on.”

  He didn’t move, not until she was neck deep in the water and he could no longer see her tempting form. Stripping in record time, he followed her into the water and pulled her into his arms. The water wasn’t deep, he could stand easily, but his little Kayla could not. Her body floated against his as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her like he needed to, like she was his world.

  He felt the heat rising in his body, but here, in the water, he didn’t have to worry about snuffing out his fire, he could burn a little, and the water would take his heat and keep Kayla safe in his arms. This first time, he was afraid he’d lose control, afraid he’d burn her.

  Their kis
s turned frantic and she lifted her legs to wrap them around his hips. He felt her body shift, her core resting on the head of his cock as she whimpered and wiggled against his chest, fighting his hold so she could sink onto him and take him deep.

  But this wasn’t what he wanted—frantic and wild and out of control. He wanted to take his time. He wanted to taste her. He wanted to fill her slowly and watch her eyes go wide. He wanted to hear her cry out as he took her. He wanted her to whimper and squirm and beg. He needed her to be desperate and wild. He needed her to want to stay forever.

  Locking his arms around her so she could not take him before he was ready, he carried her out of the water and laid her down on the blanket, coming over her like a conqueror intent on getting his prize. Her back arched off the ground as he tasted and suckled her breasts. He kept her trapped beneath him, his body low and hard, grinding against her soft mound so she could not escape his sensual exploration. He licked and tasted every inch of her skin, replacing his mouth on her nipple with one strong hand as he explored the wet folds of her core with the other.

  She didn’t speak, but he didn’t need words. Her soft moans drove him on as he lowered his head and tasted her wet heat with his tongue. One hand still on her breast, pulling and tugging on the hard peak, he used the other to stretch her with his fingers as his mouth suckled and licked at the sensitive spot that made her tremble and thrash. She buried her fingers in his hair, tugging him closer, lifting her hips to offer herself to him.

  He worked her relentlessly, taking her to the edge and over twice before kissing his way back up her body to her mouth. When he was in place, his hips cradled by hers, she reached between them and guided him to her wet heat.

  Now it was his turn to shake. Her ankles locked around his ass and he tried to hold back, to enter her slowly, but she lifted her hips, driving him deep in one powerful thrust.

  He lost himself then, in her, in a heat and fire he’d only imagined possible. He moved faster and harder, her eager hands clawed at his back and her legs locked around him as she lifted her hips stroke for stroke, as frantic and eager as he for release.