Blaze of Secrets (Asylums for Magical Threats)

by Donovan, Jessie

  “Later, pet. You can touch as much as you want later, but not right now.”

  She must’ve looked disappointed, because Jaxton leaned in and kissed her gently. “Pouting doesn’t become you. But the choice is yours: I can either fuck you hard or you can take my cock into your mouth. Which will it be?”

  She was getting used to his blunt talk in bed. “I like it when you talk like that.” His words encouraged her to be bold, and she moved to straddle him. She rubbed her sex over his erection. “And I don’t like waiting.”

  The next second she was on her back again, and she heard Jaxton mutter, “Plan B,” before taking out a condom and rolling it down his cock.

  Then Jaxton took her wrists and pinned them above her head. His free hand went between her legs, and all thoughts of reality faded as he stroked first her entrance and then her clit.

  She made a sound when he took his fingers away, but he replaced them with the tip of his cock and nudged at her entrance. She arched her hips up, and when Jaxton thrust to the hilt, she let out a gasp. Unmoving inside of her, Jaxton leaned down and kissed her, alternating between nibbling her lips and suck her tongue. As he began to strum her at the apex of her thighs, the uncomfortable feeling of fullness passed and she moved her hips to encourage him.

  Jaxton pulled almost entirely out before slamming into her again. A combination of pleasure and pain coursed through her, but she wanted more, to touch him, to move with him. She pulled her arms and surprisingly, Jaxton let go.

  He licked her ear and said, “You ready, pet? I can’t hold back much longer.”

  In reply she grabbed his ass and dug in her nails. Jaxton bit her earlobe and murmured, “So demanding. Just the way I like it.”

  Jaxton bent one of her legs and started moving. He thrust deep, her breasts jiggling from the force. Surprising even herself, Kiarra pulled Jaxton’s head down and bit his lower lip before raking her other hand down his back, all while moving to his rhythm. Despite her recent orgasm, the pressure was building again.

  Jaxton squeezed one of her breasts, and his other hand started flicking her clit again. She moaned and he thrust his tongue into her mouth and pounded harder. Pinpricks of light started to dance before her eyes. Jaxton applied pressure to her clit with his thumb and pleasure shot through her, quickly followed by internal spasms.

  Jaxton stilled and groaned, before settling his weight on top of her. Part of her couldn’t believe she’d just had sex with Jaxton, while another part of her was purring in contentment and telling her to just accept it.

  For better or for worse, the relationship between her and Jaxton had just changed forever.

  Tracing patterns on his damp back with her finger, Kiarra didn’t panic. Interacting with Jaxton had changed her from day one, and she liked who she’d become. She only hoped Jaxton wouldn’t hurt her.

  Jaxton kissed the side of her neck and said, “You’re too quiet, pet. What’re you thinking about?”

  Grateful for the distraction, Kiarra decided to dodge the question. She was far too content to ruin the moment with doubts. “I’m trying to decide if you were good enough to qualify as a ‘sex god’ or not.”

  Jaxton raised his head. “Well, then I think you need some more convincing, to put aside all doubts.”

  Kiarra bit back a smile. “Best out of three?”

  Jaxton smiled in a very male way. “I’d say best out of five, except you need to be able to walk tomorrow.”

  The erotic image of them having hours of sex, in various positions, went straight between her thighs, where Jaxton was still inside her. Something must’ve shown on her face, because Jaxton’s male smile became smugger. He leaned down and stopped a hairbreadth from her lips. “Such a greedy thing. Let’s see if I can sate your appetite.”

  He kissed her and tried to do exactly that.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Gio had received orders that a specialist would interrogate Millie Ward since the rowanberry juice was starting to wear off, and her interrogation would require a finer technique without it. While relieved he wouldn’t have to torture the woman, part of him wanted to prevent it. Especially after what he’d read about the pediatrics facilities.

  There were at least five facilities worldwide, and their main purpose was to monitor DNA mutations caused by their parents’ gene-therapy trials. All of the children born inside the AMT compounds were sent to the pediatrics facilities, not just the first-borns. Some of the children were the second generation to be born inside the AMT, meaning that the program had been going on for a long time without oversight or Feiru High Council jurisdiction. At least publicly.

  He’d always been a man of the law, and imprisoning Feiru without legal basis irked him. Part of the reason he wanted to be a member of Parliament was so that he could draft or change laws for a better future and show that democracy still worked.

  His father had always reinforced that everyone should know their place in society. Even imprisoning first-borns had served a purpose—to protect the rest of Feiru kind from human hysteria and discrimination. But Gio started to wonder if his father was more concerned with acquiring power for his own goals than for the good of the Feiru public. Holding children without elemental abilities inside the pediatrics facilities did nothing to help repeal Article I, or to develop an elemental-magic-subduing formula.

  A beep sounded behind him, signaling the return of Kiarra’s tracking beacon. Gio noted the location and gave the coordinates to one of his retrieval squads, along with explicit instructions to bring Kiarra, and any others with her, back alive. The more information he gathered, the more likely it was his father would give him another task. Gio wanted to find out more about what was happening inside the AMT compounds, and to do that, he needed access.

  He also needed to find out more about his father’s motives.

  Taking a deep breath, Gio headed down the hall toward the interrogation room. It was time to see if he could stomach an interrogation conducted by a specialist.

  Kiarra woke at the sudden rush of cold air to her back. She opened her eyes to see Jaxton sitting upright, a gun in his hand. “What’s going on?”

  Jaxton squeezed her hip. “The fire escape rattled. Whatever made it was too heavy to be a stray animal.”

  She sat up, pulling the blanket up with her to cover her breasts, and listened. After a few seconds she said, “I don’t hear anything.”

  Jaxton rose, unashamed of his nakedness. She watched him walk across the room to the window and forced herself to focus on the possible threat instead of his well-shaped backside. “Well?”

  He remained still, probably scanning the surroundings, when he cursed. “There’s a small group of people standing near a van down there, and they’re gesturing this way. I can’t tell if they’re armed or not.” He threw a glance over his shoulder. “Get dressed, Kiarra. It may be nothing, but I’m not taking chances.”

  Ignoring the soreness between her legs, Kiarra threw on some clothes and joined Jaxton by the window. He was now fully dressed and craning his head at an odd angle, near the top of the window. Kiarra wondered what he was looking for, but she simply said, “I’m ready.”

  “Do you have your gun?” Kiarra took the gun from her waistband at her back and Jaxton nodded. “Right. I’m going to check the front entrance. Stay away from the window, but keep your safety off.” He placed a hand on her lower back and leaned in close. “If worse comes to worst, then use your fire.”

  He gave her a gentle kiss before he went to the door on the far side of the room. Kiarra kept an eye on the window and wondered who might be outside. Jaxton was experienced when it came to evading people and had been overly cautious yesterday, so whoever it was, they were good.

  Even if they’d interrogated Millie with the hope of finding out their location, Millie would’ve had no idea that they’d come here.

  Millie. If they were caught, no one could help Jaxton’s sister. That thought kicked her mind into gear. She checked to see if she could sti
ll call up her fire on a whim. A flame flickered to life on her hand and then extinguished. She was ready.

  Jaxton rushed to her side. “The bloody thing’s rigged, which means the fire escape is our only option. We might even be able to go to the roof and jump to a neighbor’s house.”

  “I sense a ‘but.’”

  “There’s a device above the window, most likely set to go off when it opens. Breaking the window might avoid the trigger mechanism, but the noise would surely alert the people down by the van.”

  So they needed a way to break the window without making any noise. Kiarra put the safety back on her gun and tucked it into her waistband. “I can melt the glass and the device. The people below will probably notice the bright light, but even if they mistake it for an explosion only at first, those precious few seconds might give us enough time to scramble down the fire escape. Once we reach the bottom, I can try to create some sort of fire barrier to give us time to get away.”

  Jaxton shook his head. “That’s going to take a lot of energy, not to mention a phenomenal amount of control. You might burn out.”

  She poked his arm. “Do you have any other ideas?” When he said nothing, she smiled. “I thought so. Let me help for once, Jaxton. I can do this.”

  He searched her eyes before cupping her cheek. “You sure?” She nodded and he said, “I’ll make sure we survive the climb down. But you need to promise me one thing, Kiarra.”

  “Yes?”

  He leaned down. “If something happens to me, you run. Go to one of the safe houses and find a way to contact Neena or call the phone number I made you memorize. The person on the other side will help you.” She didn’t want to make a promise she couldn’t keep, but then he threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her head forward. “Promise me.”

  “Fine. I promise.” He rewarded her with a brief kiss before tugging her to the side of the window. When he motioned for her to start doing her thing, Kiarra kept her eyes on the window and concentrated on her fire. If she could pull this off, she would no longer be useless. She could protect not only herself, but those she cared about too.

  After double-checking that all of his weapons were accessible, Jaxton watched Kiarra and frowned. She should still be in bed, tucked against him, not melting glass and creating fire barriers to help them escape capture.

  The people downstairs were most likely here to collect Kiarra and take her back to the AMT. But he wasn’t going to let that happen. Kiarra was no longer just his charge.

  Sure, the sex last night had been fantastic—Kiarra had proved to be an unashamed and curious bugger in bed—but it was all of the small things she’d done that still made him smile. Kiarra’s teasing tone and half-hearted glares. The way she held him after and traced designs on his back. Or even the way she slept, with her mouth open, drooling a little.

  After what had happened with his brother and Marzina, Jaxton had never slept over with a woman because that would signal a tentative commitment, which could lead to an attachment. And when people became attached, they tended to forget their priorities and become blinded to the truth. Or so he’d believed.

  Now he wasn’t so sure. Kiarra was not only determined to help him, but she didn’t try to shift his focus or demand all of his attention. Between his contacts and her inside knowledge, they had a real chance to make a difference in the lives of first-borns, especially if they could bring down the AMT system.

  He wanted to keep her. Or rather, he wanted to convince her to stay. He could just imagine what she’d do if he mentioned a plan to “keep” her.

  A bright flash at the window caught his attention. A second later it was gone. The glass had melted, but the wooden frame and highly flammable curtains were untouched. Judging by how quickly Kiarra was mastering her abilities, he was starting to believe the legends about Fire Talents.

  “Nice work.” Jaxton went to the window and crawled out. “Now follow my lead.”

  Kiarra crawled out behind him, but Jaxton focused on the five people down below. Two were making a beeline for the bottom of the fire escape. Jaxton tugged Kiarra behind him and made it down one flight of stairs before he saw small lights flashing from the direction of the van. He pushed Kiarra down and fired off a few shots of his own, causing the three people near the van to duck for cover.

  Taking advantage of the opening, he looked over the rail and saw a man climbing up the ladder. He whispered, “Close your eyes and plug your ears,” to Kiarra before taking out a flash grenade. After releasing the pin, he crouched down with Kiarra, covered his ears, and closed his eyes.

  Light and noise filtered through his eyes and ears, but not enough to affect him.

  When it was quiet again, he grabbed Kiarra’s hand and pulled her along after him. But they had only gone down one flight before people started shooting at them from the van again. Jaxton ducked his head and said, “Keep your head down.”

  A bullet hit the railing next to him, so Jaxton picked up his pace; somehow they managed to reach the bottom flight without getting hurt.

  Since the ladder was already extended, Jaxton motioned for Kiarra to keep down and close to the wall before he turned and checked out his two opponents on the ground below.

  The man previously climbing the ladder was now on his arse, and a woman stood in front of him as a shield. She had her oddly shaped gun raised in his general direction, but since she was still disoriented from the flash grenade, she was aiming not at him, but about five feet to Jaxton’s right.

  He’d seen that type of gun before, when he’d rescued Kiarra and his brother from the AMT—it shot tranquilizer darts.

  Before he could jump down to the ground, a small arrow of flame shot from behind him and hit the tranquilizer gun below. As the woman dropped her gun, Jaxton jumped down and twisted the woman’s arm behind her back. He took the spare tranquilizer gun from the woman’s holster and shot both the woman and the man. The drug was quick acting, and it knocked them out within seconds.

  Jaxton looked up, but Kiarra wasn’t there. A quick scan revealed her location to the side, behind a trash skip, with a small flame dancing on one of her palms. He fired his gun toward the van to keep them ducking for cover, and went to Kiarra’s side.

  He waited, not wanting to break her concentration, but after five seconds passed, he whispered, “Is it impossible, pet?”

  “I can do it, but I need you to help me focus.”

  “Tell me what do you need me to do.”

  “I need physical contact. Pull me close.”

  Despite the odd request, he didn’t hesitate. Jaxton placed his hands on Kiarra’s hips and pulled her back against his chest. “Like this?”

  A heartbeat passed before she answered. “Yes.”

  He kept an eye out for anyone else, but was soon distracted by a tingling sensation on the back of his neck. A quick sweep confirmed that no one was behind them or on the fire escape, but then the tingle started to spread. Soon there were flames dancing along his arms, moving down in a continuous stream until they collected in Kiarra’s palms; the more the flames moved down his arms, the stronger her flame grew.

  Holy shit. This wasn’t normal. The fire didn’t hurt him, and while Kiarra had successfully surrounded the fake plant last night without damaging it, at least until he’d distracted her, he didn’t think she was consciously covering him with fire.

  So this was the power of a Fire Talent.

  Something slammed against his back right before fire shot out from Kiarra, igniting an eight-foot dancing wall of flame. Kiarra leaned against him for a second before standing on her own without help. Adrenaline was probably the only thing keeping her conscious.

  Jaxton raised his gun and stepped around the skip to look for enemies. The way was clear. Jaxton took hold of Kiarra’s elbow and guided her toward the left and said, “Head down that street and turn left. If we get separated, I’ll meet you at the second safe house.” Kiarra’s wall began to flicker. He gave Kiarra a push. “Now go.”

/>   She hesitated a second, but for once didn’t argue. The wall of fire started to die down, and was now only a foot or two high. One of the men near the van was staring straight at him.

  Fuck. Now he needed to distract them long enough to let Kiarra get away. He knew Edinburgh well enough that he could find an alternative route to the safe house.

  Jaxton headed right, in the opposite direction of Kiarra, and fired off a shot to ensure that the people in the van would follow him. Careful to choose the path with the most obstacles to act as cover, Jaxton picked his way to the street on the far side. A quick check over his shoulder and he saw that the three people from the van were following him with their guns drawn.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Gio studied Millie’s face, relaxed in unconsciousness, and noted the bruise on her cheek and the cut on her swollen bottom lip. By the time Gio had arrived, the interrogation had been over. The specialist, Ramirez, had extracted little from the woman, but had assured Gio that the first session was usually the least productive. He’d be back in a day to try again.

  Something had to be done. Gio couldn’t stomach the thought of Ramirez hurting the young woman again. Her records showed nothing illegal, or even dangerous, about her. She just happened to be related to the wrong person. There was nothing to justify this kind of treatment.

  That put Gio in a conundrum, because he couldn’t give his father cause to dismiss him, yet he wanted to help this innocent woman. In order to do that, he was going to have to find a way to fool everyone.

  He turned, headed out into the hallway, and stopped in front of the nearest com unit. He pushed the button and a male voice answered, “Yes?”

  Gio leaned in to the speaker and said, “No one is to enter Room 5 without my permission.”

  “Yes, sir.”