Swallowing Fire

by ERIN BEDFORD

  My mouth watered in anticipation, and I reached for him, but he ducked out of my grip and knelt between my legs. His fingers gripped my thighs and held them apart as he dived into my heat. I grabbed the back of his head with one hand while the other clawed at the bed beneath me. His mouth teased and lapped at me until I was just on the edge before he pulled back, making me cry out in frustration. When I had almost lost my orgasm all together, he started again.

  “Raiden, for the love of god!” I cried out when he denied me my release for the third time. “Stop with the torture, would you?”

  “Say please.”

  “Pretty please with gobs of raspberry tarts on top!” I tugged at his hair in an effort to get him to begin again, but he only chuckled at my antics.

  Much to my chagrin, he didn’t immediately go back between my legs. Instead, he stood to his feet and moved across the room. Confused and turned on by the sight of him long and hard, I started to get off the bed.

  “Don’t move.” He held a finger up before my feet could touch the ground. I quickly stopped moving and waiting anxiously for his return. He found the bottomless bag and began to rummage through it. When he came back, he had rope in his hands.

  “What’s that for?” I asked an eyebrow raised.

  “Put your hands together,” Raiden commanded in that alpha tone of his that made a shiver of delight run through my body. Doing as he told me, I clasped my hands in front of me. With deft hands, he quickly had the rope wrapped around my wrists. The material of the rope was rough but not so much that it bit into my skin. He’d tightened it enough that I couldn’t move more than just my hands, my wrists securely trapped.

  “Get onto the bed.” There was that tone again, my inside gushed. I struggled to do as he commanded but found my bound hands made it hard to manage. Seeing my plight, Raiden lifted my legs and helped me onto the bed. He climbed on after me, taking the extra bit of the rope and dragging my arms up above my head.

  With my arms secured above my head, I tested them out, trying to get them loose but I was utterly trapped. Excitement filled me with what he would do to me next. Raiden had always been a bit of a dominant in the bedroom, but we hadn’t gone so far as to use restraints before.

  “Are you, all right?” Raiden asked as he settled in front of me. His eyes were searching my face, probably for any signs of discomfort or rejection. A big part of our play was about making sure I was comfortable. He never forced me further than I wanted to go but always strived to push my limits.

  Nodding my head, I leaned back against the pillows; my arms pulled tight above me. My legs fell open on their own as Raiden moved closer to me. I hoped he’d continue what he had started but instead his mouth found mine. Tongues tangled, he dominated my mouth like he did everything else in bed never once letting me take the lead or become complacent.

  When he released my mouth, my neck stretched to follow him before I couldn’t move much more because of the ropes. Raiden didn’t seem to notice my frustration and moved his lips down my neck and along my chest. He sucked my nipple into his mouth, one of his hands cupping the other one. My hips bucked off the bed, and I tried to get closer to him, but it seemed like the more I tried to get close to him the more he backed away.

  Letting go of my breast with a smirk, I wished I had my hands back so I could smack him. My snarl of annoyance quickly turned to a gasp of pleasure as his fingers found their way into my slick heat. He thumbed my nub as he dipped first one and then two fingers inside of me.

  Raiden moved at a maddeningly slow pace, making my release burn as it came up, but still, he didn’t let me have it. I found myself utterly empty as he removed his hands from me completely. Ready to curse him out, using a few choice words I’d learned from Bianca, all I got out was fuck before he pushed into me.

  No longer teasing, Raiden gripped my hips in almost a biting hold as he drilled himself into my insides. They clenched tightly around him as I gasped and moaned. I tried to grab him, to have something to hold onto but my hands were bound still, and all I could do was take what he gave me.

  Which he did splendidly.

  Eyes flashing gold, Raiden gave me a feral grin, his canines seeming longer than usual and dangerously sharp. Seeing him like that should have scared me, but it only ended up making me finally come apart. Not giving me a second to catch my breath, Raiden kept going until he found his release and the roar that he let out shook the room.

  Too tired to question it too much, I put Raiden’s strange behavior to the back of my mind to think about later.

  Raiden reached up and untied me, the circulation rushing back to my wrists making them tingle. He rubbed them gently with a satisfied grin on his face.

  Letting him take care of me, I grinned. “So, whip cream, huh?”

  7

  The weeks that followed dragged on. By the time the winter games were upon us, we were all feeling tense, most of all me.

  “What you are feeling is completely normal.” Trina gave me a sympathetic look that made me want to punch her. How dare she be so nice to me?

  Irritation pricked at me like an angry bitch, or rather dragon, waiting to rip someone’s head off. My emotions had been going haywire the last few days, and I’d taken it out on the guys more than once.

  Hence why I was currently sitting in Trina’s office. Pretty Trina who didn’t have a parasite growing inside of her making her feel like utter shit. Why did I want to be pregnant again?

  Oh, yes. My father demanded it and who was I, as his daughter, to refuse? Screw him and the whole freaking kingdom.

  “So, it’s normal for my breasts to hurt, to throw up everything I eat, and to have this burning need to destroy something? That’s normal?” I scoffed, disbelief in my voice.

  Trina, the patient woman that she was, set down the clipboard she had been scribbling on and approached me. “Yes, and a lot more. Be prepared for rapid mood swings. Swelling. Even an overactive sex drive.”

  I snorted at that. Sex was the last thing on my mind right now. I felt disgusting and irritated all the time. The guys had started to treat me like a ticking time bomb ready to explode at the drop of a hat, and after kicking Raiden out of my bed more than once, none of them had broached the subject of sex.

  Thank fuck.

  Turning my attention back to Trina, I sighed. “So, when can I expect it to stop? Before the baby actually arrives, I hope?” I raised a brow daring to have a twinkling of that emotion inside of me.

  Trina smiled and patted me on the arm. “Every woman’s pregnancy is different. Most only are sick during the first trimester. Others are sick the entire length of the pregnancy.”

  My nose wrinkled in irritation. “So, you’re saying I’m screwed? And not the good kind.”

  Laughing at my words, Trina shook her head. “You can eat crackers or another bland food to help the sickness. If you get heartburn, sleep reclined. As far as the irritability, try tea. They should have some peppermint or chamomile tea in the kitchens. It should make you and your men happier.”

  “Make them happier? They did this to me!” I frowned at the suggestion. “Sorry. Thanks, I’ll try that.” I hoisted my stupid body tom its stupid feet and made my way out of the infirmary in hopes of finding those things.

  The guys had left me to my own devices today. They’d been too excited to see the arriving representatives from the outlying villages than to deal with me. I’d have gone out to watch as well, but my nose - like the rest of me - had gone haywire. The last time I went outside just the smell of the cooking nuts I had loved so much the first few days we arrived made my stomach turn. I wondered how many other things that I loved would I lose before this pregnancy was over.

  “Hey,” Firestar started when he came around the corner and saw me. His eyes darted around me almost like he was searching for an escape path. When he found none, he asked cautiously, “How are you?”

  I shrugged. “I just saw Trina, and she suggested a few things to make me less ...” I gestured to my
stomach with an exaggerated movement. “Just less.”

  “Good. Good.” Firestar nodded, and my eyes were drawn to his hair.

  “Did you cut your hair?” I cocked my head to the side. The red hair I loved had grown since our time together, curling at the base of his neck. I loved to bury my hands in it while we made love. The same with all the guys. Who knew I was such a hair girl?

  Now though. Now it was barely an inch long.

  Firestar touched his head and gave a nervous chuckle. “Oh, yeah. It was getting long, and if I’m going to participate in the games, I didn’t want to have to worry about it.”

  “But I liked it long,” I pouted, fiddling with the end of his shirt. “Why didn’t you ask me first?” I felt the first prick of tears that I knew would follow an epic breakdown. Another of the pleasant side effects of pregnancy.

  “Oh no, Maya. I’m sorry,” Firestar shushed, pulling me into his chest and running his hand through my hair. “You’re right, I should have asked. I didn’t know you liked it so much.”

  “Neither did I,” I cried into his chest. My face heated and my nose became stuffy. I’d never been a pretty crier, and with my hormones out of whack, it was a million times worse. Several people walked past us as I bawled my eyes out about something so silly, even I couldn’t believe I was crying.

  When my tears finally subsided, I pulled away from Firestar with a huff. “Well, that’s getting old fast. I’m sorry, I got your shirt all wet.” I picked at his shirt where it had become thoroughly soaked.

  “It’s fine.” Firestar gave me a small smile, not even looking at his shirt. “Now, where were you headed off to? Maybe I could walk you?”

  My lips twisted into a frown. “Why are you being so nice?”

  Firestar frowned. “What do you mean? I’m always nice.”

  “No, you are surly, and anytime a woman cries, you run in the other direction. What gives?”

  Sighing, he ran a hand over his face. “The others and I are trying to be more ... understanding.”

  “Understanding?” I drew out, placing my hands on my hips and shifting my weight to one foot. “How do you need to be more understanding? Because I’m carrying one of your offspring, and it’s slowly driving me mad?”

  Firestar winced as my voice raised to a shout. Placing his hands on my arms, he moved them up and down in soothing strokes. “Please calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down.” I jerked away from him and snarled, “Your child is turning my body against me!” I spun on my heel and stomped away from him. Before I got more than five feet, I stopped and realized I was going the wrong way. Turning back, I hissed, “The kitchens are this way, not that you care.” I shoved past him and around the corner he had arrived from. I half expected him to follow me, but when he didn’t, my shoulders slumped, and regret filled me.

  What the hell was wrong with me? I’d cried about something silly and yelled at Firestar all in the manner of a few seconds. I didn’t care what Trina said, this couldn’t be normal, but if tea would help, well, I’d drink all of it.

  Later, I found myself four cups of chamomile tea deep and with an urgent need to pee. After I relieved myself, I sat back down at the table the kindly cook had been nice of enough to place another cup of tea on.

  Trina had been right. I did feel better but worse at the same time. I didn’t know if I was going to survive this pregnancy without killing one of the guys or even myself for that matter. God forbid I get postpartum depression, then no one would be safe.

  “There you are,” Raiden said as he sat down beside me. “I haven’t seen you all day. Are you, all right?”

  “I wished people would stop asking me that,” I growled into my cup as I took another large swig. I wondered if drinking, so much tea could have the opposite of the intended effect because just seeing Raiden’s face made me mad.

  “Well, if you aren’t going to talk, I will,” Raiden said as he motioned for the cook. “Is it possible that you might have some of those famous tarts? I’m starving.”

  Carl smiled broadly. “You are in luck! I just pulled some out of the oven for this little lady. I’m sure there is enough to share.”

  As Carl wandered back into the kitchen, I muttered, “Traitor.” I thought Carl and I had a special relationship, the kind where he brought me tea and sweets and didn’t ask stupid questions. Now he was giving my sweets away. Guess love was fickle that way.

  “So, the preparations are done,” Raiden continued as if I had asked. “I can’t say a lot about Jack and his people, but they sure know how to hold a contest. This is going to be one monstrous event. I can’t wait to participate.”

  “Oh, joy.” I rolled my eyes as I drained my cup. “Maybe during that time, you can remember why we really came here for? Like your father?”

  The excitement in Raiden’s eyes died, and I instantly felt guilty. “Sorry,” I rushed to say, setting my cup down harder than I meant to. “I don’t know what’s come over me.”

  I did, but he didn’t need to worry more than he already was. A pregnant lover and a family under siege had to make it hard to sleep at night. I knew it did for me.

  “No, you’re right. We should be focusing on what we came here for, not on some silly competition.” He paused as Carl came out with the plate of tarts. The smile on his face was forced as he thanked him, but didn’t touch his plate. “From what I can see, there are quite a few men and women who could help our cause. I hope that Lord Fafnir is right when he said they were itching for a fight.”

  “I’m sure they are,” I reassured him before I snagged a pastry and took a bite. I closed my eyes as I moaned in delight when the raspberry filling touched my tongue. After I swallowed and opened my eyes, Raiden was staring at me. “What? Do I have something on my face?” I touched my mouth expecting there to be something there but came back empty.

  Raiden leaned forward and swiped his thumb across the bottom of my lip before popping it into his mouth. My eyes followed his movements as he slowly removed the digit from his lips. “Delicious.”

  Licking my lips, something I thought would be gone the whole pregnancy stirred within me. “Yeah,” I breathed, a delightful ache burning at the junction of my thighs. “They really are.”

  Taking my chin in his fingers, he angled my face up before capturing my lips with his own. My hand came up and tangled in his hair, pulling him closer as he lay siege to my mouth. He tried to release me, but I followed him until I ended up in his lap. Our kissing slowed to a small brushing of lips before we withdrew to breathe.

  “Tastes even better on you.” Raiden smirked, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. “I’m glad you are feeling better. I’d hate you to spend this entire time miserable. My mother told me about when she was pregnant with my brothers and me.” He shook his head, a frown on his gorgeous lips. “If yours is even half as bad as hers, I fear we may just have to put you on the battlefield. At least that might scare off some of my mother’s men.”

  “Hey!” I shoved at his chest. He laughed, and I couldn’t help but break into a smile myself. “I don’t think I’m that bad. It could be worse.”

  “Yes, it could be. But remember,” he pressed his forehead against mine, “no matter how bad you get, I will always be there. All of us will be.”

  “Really?” I asked, genuinely needing the extra assurance. “Even when I’m fat and can’t see my feet?”

  “Especially when you are fat.” Raiden smiled, putting his hand on my still flat tummy. “Even when you need us to carry you because your wings can’t handle your magnificence.”

  “Haha, very funny.” I poked at him with a smile. “You think you are so smooth, don’t you?”

  Raiden lifted a shoulder. “I try. Now,” - he slid me off his lap and stood to his feet - “why don’t we go check on the others? I’m sure they are dying to see you like I have been.”

  I snorted. “I doubt it. Firestar already had to endure my weeping spell, and then I blew up on him. I think he
’d be rather happy if I stayed away.”

  “Nah,” Raiden said, swiping his tart off his plate as we started toward the door. “Firestar’s a big manly man. He wouldn’t be scared of little ol’ you.”

  I chuckled and leaned into his embrace. We walked through the halls toward the exit, chitchatting about what we might expect in the next few days. We stopped right before the house’s entrance as my stomach rumbled. Raiden smiled at me before handing over the tart he had only taken a few bites of.

  Then the waterworks happened again.

  “Maya,” Raiden cooed, tilting my chin up to him. “What’s wrong?”

  “You gave me your tart,” I sniffled.

  “Yes, I did. You need it more than me. You have a baby growing in you after all.” He grinned and rubbed my back.

  “But you were so looking forward to it. It’s not right that I should have it.” I almost shoved it back at him, but my stomach rumbled once more.

  “See!” Raiden laughed. “Our child is hungry. Feed it. I can get another later. I’m sure when I tell Carl how the mean pregnant lady stole it, he will be sympathetic to my plight.”

  My lip ticked up in a snarl. “Just for that, I will eat it.” I dug into the tart with a ferocious growl that turned into a moan of pleasure. I couldn’t even be mad with this much deliciousness in my mouth.

  Raiden laughed and handed me my coat as he put on his. “Come along, my vixen. Let’s see what games they have in store for us today.”

  8

  “But I want to compete!” I whined for the millionth time as the guys stood around with stern expressions. I didn’t see what the big deal was. It was just a game. Not real-life battle which I had already been in, recently.