Keeper of the Flame

by Stephanie Burke

  “My condolences.” He turned to Kendall. “I know what I did was wrong, Kendall. I should have told you how I was feeling but I didn’t want to break your heart.”

  “So you screw my sister on top of my weeding gown instead? Thanks for sparing me all of that grief, Doc.” Her cold brown eyes stared unforgivingly straight into his soul.

  “Dallie, it wasn’t supposed to be like that!” Caressa desperately tried to explain, breaking into the intense stare-down. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. Richard and I started talking, and he told me that he really was intimidated by you, Dallie. You never need anyone. He needed to be needed. I needed to be needed too, Dallie. All our lives you never turned to me to help you with anything, you never needed me.”

  “And when I do want my sister beside me, this is what I get, Caressa. I needed your help and this is the help I get.” Kendall waved her left hand towards Richard and tried to hold back the anger that was snaking through her blood. She was starting to lose control, but Flame’s firm grip on her hand helped calm her a little.

  “I am so sorry, Dallie, but when Richard and I picked up that gown, I wanted to be you. You know, totally confidant and always knowing what to do? Just like you. I told Richard what I was feeling and he told me that it was nice not being around a superwoman, that he liked having a woman around that he could actually be some use for other that a sexual toy.”

  Richard cursed under his breath as a blush suffused his face with color and even Caressa seemed to regret what she had said.

  Flame’s hand tightened around hers in a stay-strong gesture as she drew in a deep amazed breath.

  “That never stopped him from wanting to play as I recall,” Kendall was now looking in disbelief at the two of them. “As a mater of fact, he started more games than I care to remember.”

  She contemplated telling the story of how Richard liked to dress up like a little boy in shorts and knee socks, and get disciplined for his bad behavior. She’d bet money that dear needy Richard had never told her sister about that one!

  “I know that Dallie, but you can be scary when you set your mind to do a task. Richard told me that you made him fell like less of a man sometimes and that he only felt confident about his work as a doctor when he was around you. Did you know he wanted to have children? You convinced him that children weren’t necessary to his happiness. I told him that I always wanted children of my own and a special man to make my dreams come true. We didn’t mean to Dallie, honest to God, but we started comforting each other and then...then things just sort of happened.” She finished in a rush and looked down to clasp her hands in her lap, drawing Kendall’s attention to a perfectly shaped set of hands that now wore a suspiciously familiar-looking ring.

  “So, my sexual excesses aside, you both wanted to be needed and completely forgot about the person who brought such needy people together in the first place.” That ring did look familiar. She leaned forward a bit to get a closer look.

  “That was no excuse for what we did, Kendall,” Richard ran his fingers through his hair, ruining his salon-perfect hairstyle. “We both know that we made a mistake. I know I should have talked to you about how I was feeling, but I didn’t know how to tell you.”

  “You compound that mistake by using that ridiculous story,” Flame added with his eyes narrowed in anger. “You have made Kendall feel that this whole affair was her fault, that she was lacking in some way, all because of your treacherous actions. You have made her feel half a woman and this is not so.”

  Kendall watched Flame take several deep breaths, slowly relaxing muscles that had gone tense with the heated exchange of words. He loosened the grip he held on her hand. Kendall noticed that he looked both surprised and perhaps a little liberated by having offered an opinion during their discussion.

  “My God, Dallie, I never felt you were not a real woman. If anything, you are more woman than I!” Caressa turned her stricken gaze first to Richard and then to her sister, “You are more woman than I could ever be.”

  She spoke passionately as she pressed both hands to her heaving chest, the perfect picture of a distraught female, and turned to Richard to confirm her words.

  “You were never half a woman, Kendall. I never felt that way. You just frightened me.” Richard ruefully admitted as he patted and stroked Caressa’s shoulder in a comforting manner. “I guess that I just thought that I wasn’t man enough for you, Kendall. And when I ran into someone who needed me just a little, I guess I lost my head.”

  “I’ve got to tell you something else, Dallie.” Caressa walked over to Kendall and knelt gracefully at her feet, spreading the skirt of her dress around so that none of her legs showed. That gesture alone made Kendall want to kick her sister, but her next words stopped her actions.

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen, Dallie, but I’m pregnant. I’m going to have a baby. Richard’s baby.”

  Kendall’s hand tightened convulsively around Flame’s as she drew in a quick painful breath. All was silent in the room again.

  For a moment, she flashed back to when her gynecologist told her that her painful cramps were being caused by endometreosis, back to when he told her that surgery was the answer, that she would never have children. She, for a moment, relieved the painful heartbreak, the mourning for all her children not yet born, and the agonizing pain in her suddenly motherless soul.

  Gently, Flame cupped her hand between his, silently telling her that even in the face of this latest betrayal, she was not alone.

  After a moment of quiet contemplation, Kendall gave a wry grin to her kneeling sister. She had finally got a clear look at the ring on her finger. It was the same one that she threw at Richard when she had stormed from his apartment. Despite the smile, she realized burning liquid filled her eyes. Kendall blinked them back to observe the people, the strangers, in front of her.

  She had begun to distance herself from the situation the moment she had met Flame and begun to put it in its proper perspective. Jealousy pinched at her slightly, she could never have children, but she also felt a strange sense of relief.

  It was time to set her mind at ease and her heart free. Her sister could have her seconds. What good were old leftovers anyway? She wanted a new meal on her plate, one that was piping hot and spicy and was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

  “You know what? I seem to be hurt more by the prospect of you two being the parents of my niece or nephew than by the thought of losing Doctor Dick over there.”

  Now that she had said it, Kendall realized that her words were perfectly true. She turned to face Richard. “I hope you kept the wedding dress as well as the old rock on Caressa’s finger. It’s much too late to try and find a new one before Caressa begins to show and my hand-me-downs can easily be lengthened. Remember, Richard, you have a reputation to uphold.”

  Strange as seemed, losing her fiancée didn’t seem so tragic anymore. If anything, Richard now seemed to be a pathetic little boy to her. Then she came to another somewhat startling realization. The real betrayal was that she had blamed herself for their actions.

  Flame was right. She could control her life but had no power on the actions of others. After she had gotten over the hurt and embarrassment, she felt nothing but apathy for them. She had finally settled her past mistakes where they belonged, in the past.

  She released Flame’s hand and slowly rose to her feet. She strode to the front door heal held high and swung it open with relish.

  “I congratulate you both on finding each other in this mixed-up crazy world. I wish you joy and happiness. I wish you heaven. Call me when my niece or nephew is born and I’ll send a gift. Finally, I’d like to thank you both for preventing me from making a terrible mistake by marrying you, Richard.”

  She then turned to her still kneeling and now somewhat shocked Caressa. “You are my sister and my only living relative; Caressa, but I don’t want to see your face for a while. In fact, I don’t want to see either of your faces for a long time.” She turned to encompass Richard
in her gaze. “Now get out.”

  Richard helped a stricken Caressa to her feet and the couple exited the cabin in silence.

  Caressa must really be upset, Kendall thought to herself. Her sister gave no thought to the mascara running down her face nor did she move with her usual flirty walk. Kendall gently closed the door after them and mentally dusted off her hands.

  Chapter Eight

  “I’ve just realized that I don’t know those people, Flame.”

  Kendall wrapped her arms around his waist. “I can’t believe that my sister is pregnant by my fiancée! And that she thought that I would be, I don’t know, happy about it.”

  “I thought that he was your past mistake, Mistress? Do you regret not keeping him?” The thought that Kendall still had feelings for her previous lover made Flame just a touch angry. What did she find so appealing about the half-man, anyway? What feelings did she have for him? The thought of his hands on her soft curvy body in a fit of sexual excess made him...

  Why should he care?

  “Oh, he’s in the past, Flame. I guess I’m feeling a little, well, insulted by the whole thing.” She looked up inquiringly into his eyes. “Am I intimidating, Flame? Do I scare you?”

  “Maybe he was not man enough for you, Mistress.” There was something wrong with his voice. It voice sounded raspy and had dropped an octave. Flame hugged Kendall to his chest, becoming familiar with the new embrace and the longing to feel her arms wrapped around him. “Again I tell you that you are the most courageous woman that I have ever known. Any man would be insane not to welcome your advances. Your strength has great pull upon me, Mistress, as does your kind heart.”

  “Would you, Flame? Would you welcome my attentions knowing that I scared another man into the arms of another woman with my, ah, zeal?”

  Her simple question and direct gaze caused a burning in his heart and a tightening in his manhood. It had happened a thousand times before since knowing her, when she stroked his hair or gifted him with a smile, but this time the feeling was more intense. What sexual act exactly did she perform that frightened the half-man?

  “Before, you said that my eyes were beautiful, Flame. Did you mean it?” Her eyes had gone soft and misty and Flame felt his blood slam into his lower region.

  “What is this feeling that I have around you, My Mistress?” he finally asked. His voice dropped deeper and took on a husky sound. “Why does my body react for you when it never has done so before?” He pushed her away in an attempt to put some space between the two of them. “What is it that you do to me?”

  Without trying, she had shattered all of the warnings that Devo had planted in his mind. With a flash of those eyes, those Tarcas-brown eyes, he was ready to kneel at her feet and swear his loyalty. It was frustrating, it was pleasurable, and it was confusing and new. This had to be lust, for no other feeling would make him her willing slave and fill him with a desire to put into practice what he had learned as theory.

  Kendal stared at Flame, picking up on his unspoken meaning at once. “You're a virgin?”

  She should have known. All the clues were there, but she had ignored them, thinking that an actual sexual act was involved in his pregnancy somewhere. “You have given birth but never had sex?”

  Color highlighted his face. “No, Mistress. I know all of the technical details, but I have never submitted my body for the pleasure of a woman. It is unnecessary to copulate in order to reproduce.”

  What was wrong with those women? The sex part was half the fun of having a baby—well at least that was what she had heard from many a woman in the throes of deep labor pains.

  Then too, her hormones raced out of control as she came to full realization of what his little disclosure meant. She was the first to solicit a sexual response from this man. It made her feel powerful and powerfully...curious? What technical details was he taught and could they apply to an Earth female? Her curiosity was running wild.

  Flame had understood that at sometime in his life, a woman might find him physically desirable and that he may be called upon to fulfill that duty. It had been explained to all the young men of the Brotherhood when they reached adolescence and by his father who was considered a master of the sensual arts.

  But he, himself, had only felt repugnance for the emotionless act that had been described with such detail. Even Devo was at a loss when it came time to explain what could motivate a man to stroke and caress a woman with such ardor without a thought to his own satisfaction.

  What Flame was feeling now was nothing like the emotions he had expected to feel. He knew that if he backed away from Kendall now, he would damage their relationship, for he recognized the lust in her eyes. But if he stayed near her, he was going to give into his baser instincts and take her on the floor like a wild animal, as his new emotions were demanding that he do. He was beginning to understand what had motivated Devo to place himself into a compromising position with a lady of a great house. He now felt a full understanding of his brother’s choices, and indeed felt compelled to make some the same decisions.

  “We have to do something about your virgin state, Flame. It’s not fair that they denied you the pleasurable experience before knocking you up.” She stepped closer to him, pleased to see that the curious sparkle was back in his eyes and his hair had began to wave around him.

  Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his hair, wanting to know again the feel of its wonderful texture, but this time, when it was alive with his emotions. She gasped as she received a mild shock, more like a tingle, from his wonderfully electric hair.

  It traveled down her arms and across her chest causing her nipples to tighten, before shooting down explode beneath her navel causing her eyes to open in pleasurable surprise.

  “Did you feel that?” she whispered gazing up into his shining eyes.

  “It is my excitement, Mistress.” His voice was rueful but his gaze was steady. “It is sometimes hard for me to contain my emotions.”

  Kendall gave him a wicked grin before tangling both hands into his wonderful hair and pulling his head down to her level. She placed her lips against his and gasped as the same tingling touched every nerve ending in her face with a sharp pleasure before it flashed down her body awaking and arousing her every nerve-ending straight to her toes.

  Flame moaned softly at the feeling of his very energy penetrating her body. It felt as if he was stepping inside her to experience every nuance of her pleasure and adding it to the feelings soaring through his body. The gentle touch of her lips twisted his insides and threatened to break his control.

  Almost as if in a trance, his arms moved around her body and pulled her closer to the heat of his chest as he sought to deepen the contact between them. He sighed softly into her mouth as he closed his eyes and felt the soft press of her warm body.

  “Like this,” Kendall murmured against his mouth before she slowly traced his lips with her tongue.

  His eyes flew open at the contact and his jaw dropped in surprise, giving her the perfect opportunity to press her advantage. She quickly gained access to the warmth of his mouth with her soft tongue and savored the unique flavor of him.

  He closed his eyes with a groan of pleasure that rumbled from the center of his soul as her small warm tongue danced against his.

  “This is not very sanitary,” he felt compelled to point out as she pulled back from him a little to gage his reaction.

  His mouth had set her tingling nerves on fire and her skin began to itch with the want of him. “Yes, I know, but kissing is so enjoyable,” she pointed out before she tightened her grip on that glorious mass of auburn hair and pulled his mouth back to hers.

  Flame groaned low in his throat before thrusting his tongue into her mouth, effectively taking over the kiss, proving that he was a fast learner. He crushed her small body into his larger harder one and delighted in the primitive thrill of dominating her in this small way. The soft mounds of her breasts contrasting with the feel of her pebble-hard nipples pressing
against him made him want to rip off her shirt and squeeze them in his hands.

  Kendall shuddered at the sensation of being crushed in his arms and moaned at the feeling of his arousal pressing full and hard against her stomach. His hands hungrily roamed up her back to pull her closer, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

  If the simple act of kissing this man inflamed her senses, what would physically making love to him do to her?

  “This shirt, may I remove it, Mistress?” he rasped between knee weakening kisses and persuasive laps of his tongue.

  He absently fingered the cloth that separated him from her bare flesh. He had a sudden urge to lick her skin all over and the shirt was in his way. If her body tasted as good as her mouth, no matter what she said, he was going to stay and feast for a while.

  “Yes,” she managed as she untangled her fingers from his hair. “If you remove yours too.”

  He stepped back from her and whipped her T-shirt over her head, all shyness forgotten in the face of his need to see and feel her bare skin.

  He looked and all movement froze. In puzzled delight, he stared at the white lacy bra that cupped and lifter her breasts so invitingly. His mouth went dry at the sight of her nipples straining against the soft lace and his fingers began to long for the feel of the soft skin that this garment so temptingly offered.

  “This garment, Mistress. I have never seen anything like this.” Tentatively, he ran his fingers over the lace covering and yet exposing her nipple.

  Kendall moaned at the contact and wished that the material would disappear so she could feel his rough fingers on her flesh, caressing her as she longed to be touched.

  Taking matters into her own hands, she grabbed both his and pressed them to her aching breasts. Again her body shuddered as she forced his fingers to tighten ever so slightly around her aroused flesh.

  Flame almost cried out in joy at the feeling of her soft breasts in his hands. In the back of his mind, he marveled at the many and varied uses of that particular part of the female anatomy.