Keeper of the Flame

by Stephanie Burke

  “The old ways? You guys practice warfare?” The Brothers had a little rebellion going! What would the ruling houses think of that?

  “Not warfare itself, strategy and free thinking. Although there are some who would fight for better laws governing men, most are content with their positions in life and would not endanger the Brotherhood.”

  “You were not content, were you? That’s why you are fighting so hard for your family.” Kendall had now found something new to respect in the man. Having been raised all his life in a subservient manner, he learned not to accept his position and to strive for something better. She rested her head upon her folded arms as she pictured him as an inspiration for others and that the freedom bug was catching.

  “No, Kendall. I was not content to let others decide my fate any longer. I liked choosing my own path. That is why I did what I did this morning.” He nodded to the little computer that had so aided him in relocating to this new planet, all traces of contentment leaving his face.

  His cold tone and blank expression sent a shiver of fear down her spine and caused her to sit straight up in her chair. What had the man done? Why did she feel like a little black cartoon cloud of darkness was hovering over her head?

  “What did you do, Flame?” She had to know how bad their situation was.

  “I have sent a homing beacon to the Execution Squad.”

  “You did what?” Kendall jumped to her feet and disregarded the clash of the falling chair as it hit the floor. How dare he endanger all of their lives without letting her in on his plans? “How could you do that knowing that they will try and kill our babies?”

  Flame was shocked by Kendall. Not by her loud outburst, for women had been yelling around him for as long as he could remember. It was the fact that she called Spark and Ember “our babies” that stunned him. He knew that she had feelings for him, but her slip was enlightening. Now he was sure that he had to make them all safe.

  His pleasure was obvious and misunderstood by Kendall. Did sex addle his mind? Just as soon as she had gotten used to his quirky habits, he moved himself on the top of her list of annoyances, right up there with screaming women in labor and Caressa. “That’s it! We have to get out of here, now!”

  Kendall turned to the babies as if undecided which one to pick up and run with first. How could Flame be so stupid as to call then enemy down on them after they had planned his new life?

  “Kendall, please sit.” He asked in a firm tone. “There are things we must discuss.”

  Now he decides to face the firing squad, she thought angrily. “No, Flame! We have to leave before they get here!” Kendall was almost frantic with fear. If they harmed on hair on those babies’ heads...

  “Sit!”

  Stunned into stillness, she slowly turned to see Flame towering over her with fire literally flashing in his eyes and his hair buzzing in the non-existent breeze.

  “I know what I have to do. I have to put the past behind me before I can move on to a future, any future. What kind of life can I give Spark and Ember constantly running from the threat of an Execution Squad? What can I offer you while death follows our every move? What kind of man would I be if I did not ensure your safety?”

  Kendall looked at the children who seemed to stare at their father in shock at the fact that he actually raised his voice. She couldn’t believe it herself.

  “What will you do, Flame?”

  He had to have a plan. He wouldn’t put them all in danger without a plan.

  “I will convince them that we are no threat to their power or I will end the threat that they posses permanently.”

  “You are talking about murder, Flame.”

  “Only if it comes to that.” He was deathly serious and it showed in the firm set of mouth and how he belligerently stuck out that stubborn chin.

  “I don’t know you, Flame.” Kendall turned and left the room.

  “What would you have me do, Kendall? How else can I get them to leave my family alone?” Flame’s boots clattered on the hardwood floor as he raced after her retreating back and spun her around. His eyes widened as he gripped her upper arms with his hands. He had never touched a woman in this manner in his whole life. What had come over him? What had desperation driven him to do?

  “Kendall, I am sorry,” he rushed to apologize as he immediately pulled his hands back as if he had touched fire. She eyed him with what he thought was fright, and he paled at the thought.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kendall yelled.

  She was far from being scared. She was furious. The stricken look on his face was almost comical. If their situation had not been so grave, she would have laughed.

  “I...I...do not know? I want you safe from them. I want my children safe. I do not want to live my life in fear. I want them gone.”

  Flame was being open and honest in his feelings. He might not know what to do next but he was determined to face his problem head on. “How can I be worthy of you if I do not keep you safe?”

  Kendall bit back her anger and annoyance as understanding blossomed with in her. Her eyes began to shine as she threw her arms around Flame. The man was worried about her. No one had ever felt she needed the consideration of worry before. She relished the new experience and the feeling of being cherished. The feelings she was trying to define came gushing from her heart.

  “You are more than worthy of me, you idiot. I love you! If you did all of this to prove yourself a man, you had no need to. I don’t think I can live without you and I can’t stand the idea of them hurting you!”

  “You love me?”

  Flame had never heard those words before in his life and they gave him a feeling of wonder and a sense of hope. He raised his trembling hands and tenderly cupped her face, his thumbs running lightly over her cheeks.

  “I have brought nothing but trouble to your house and you profess to love me? How can you love someone like me?”

  “I love you for being you, Flame. You are the most kind and gentle man that I have ever known and yet you would cast aside a lifetime of beliefs to find a way to keep us safe. I love you because you think I need protecting!”

  She reached up to wipe away the tears that rolled from his eyes noticing that he did the same to the tears that trailed down her face. “You have taught me so much about dignity and strength, how could I not love you?”

  “Kendall!” Flame pulled her to him in a crushing embrace. “I never thought that I would find someone to love me. I love you so much, my heart aches with the feelings.” He ran dotted kisses over her face as she laughed with joy.

  Kendall felt small and protected, and entirely worthy to love this man. She sighed as he brushed his face back and forth against her head as if savoring each and every contact with her body. Needing to feel his firm, supple lips against hers, she rose to the tips of her toes and gently placed her lips against his.

  He groaned at the feel of her mouth against his before returning the favor. Instantly he felt his body react to her kisses as if it was trained just for her. Suddenly, he had to have more of her, had to express his intense emotions physically. He broke the kiss and dropped to his knees. He ran his hands up her warm thighs pulling her skirt up with them. “I have to taste you.”

  With a rip, the remains of the tiny bikini underwear she wore were cast aside, only to be replaced with his questing tongue and greedy mouth.

  Kendall gasped as her fingers latched into his hair as if it was a lifeline. She threw back her head in ecstasy and cried out as he pulled her leg over his shoulder to get even closer to her. Her whole body shook as electric pulses shot from him to the seat of her woman’s pleasure, awaking an ultra sensitive spot. Soon he had her braced with her back against a convenient wall and her other leg joined the first over his shoulder.

  Kendall cried out at the feeling of weightlessness as Flame supported and balanced her weight. She was soon riding his face and loving every minute of it. Only Flame could devise such a wicked position that she
found herself abandoning herself to.

  “I can not seem to get enough of you.” His hot breath tickled her throbbing flesh as his hands cupped then squeezed her squirming behind and held her still for his possession.

  “Please, Flame!” Kendall cried as he began to do some interesting things with his teeth. “I need you in me.”

  Instead of placing her on the floor, Flame simply fell backwards, supporting her weight so that her knees gently touched the floor, while he still held her suspended over his mouth. Kendall praised his ingenuity, loudly.

  When his head emerged from beneath her skirt, his eyes flashed with hot fire, his face wet with her dew, and electric sparks flashed through his hair. She was heading into overdrive and the sight was almost enough to carry Kendall over the top. Instead she turned and groped for his zipper, eager to return a small portion of the pleasure she was receiving. She eased his turgid flesh into her waiting hands.

  Flame tossed his head back in a shower of whipping red hair and moaned his pleasure and frustration to the ceiling. He sat back on his knees, bracing his hands on the floor behind him as Kendall rose dominate above him.

  “The feelings you give me, Kendall,” he moaned.

  “You haven’t felt anything yet, Keeper.” Kendall whispered as her hands snaked up his shirt to caress his hardened nipples and run her nails teasingly across the hard muscles of his chest.

  His brain exploded with pleasure as her warm mouth created a damp path down his body and surrounded his turgid flesh.

  To Kendall, he tasted like warm sunshine and the essence of man.

  “I cannot withstand this pleasure, Kendall,” he moaned as she delivered another liquid caress with her fluttering tongue.

  He gasped in surprise as she pulled her skirt to her waist and lowered herself over him.

  “Guide yourself home, Flame,” she commanded as she stiffened her knees and braced her hands on his shoulders. She trembled with impatience as she waited for him to place himself in position.

  Flame groaned as he felt the head of his shaft touch the wet portal of her body.

  “All this is for you, Flame,” she murmured between biting kisses. She contemplated the flavor they made together as he hesitated at her threshold, then decided that he needed an additional invite. “Welcome home.”

  Flame gave a guttural cry at her words and slammed her down on him. His whole body shook as if struck by lighting and a shockwave of intense heat flowed from him to her, scorching her body with his desire.

  “Tight, so tight,” his words scorched her ears as his hands moved to lift and brace her rounded thighs as he tunneled deeper into her warmth.

  Her hands twisted into his shirt, damp with his sweat, as pleasure caused her head to whip back and her mouth to open in a silent scream. His soft lips moved in to caress her exposed neck as be began the motions that would bring them both to paradise.

  “I love you so much,” she managed as he picked up his pace of his thrusting hips and his arms enfolded her closer to his heat.

  “Kendall, my Mistress, my heart,” he all but shouted as he eased her to the floor and covered her with his heaving body.

  The abrasive material of his jeans added another element to their hurried mating as it scraped against her tender inner thighs. His hands groped for hers and their fingers tangled then intertwined as passion gripped them tightly. His hips slammed against hers and she arched her body up to catch each punishing thrust, giving as well as receiving. He pulled her hands high above her head, holding her captive to his motions.

  “My love!” he cried as she suddenly slammed her hips against his and reached her peak. Shuddering and crying out her joy, she tumbled off into a white-hot utopia, dragging him along with her.

  Flame reveled in her uninhibited response and felt a moment of satisfaction before he too was sucked into a steaming vortex of pleasure. He pushed his face into her neck and exhaled his release in one long hiss. Unable to support his own weight, Flame, chest heaving like a bellows, lowered his moist heat against her.

  Lying in the hallway, breath heaving with their exertions, Flame slowly rolled off of Kendall and pulled her onto his chest.

  “Have I made a mess of everything?” he asked as she burrowed into the safety of his arms. He had thought that he did the right thing by trying to end his problems once and for all with the death squad.

  “No.” Kendall answered honestly. “They would have caught up with us sooner or later and you were right to try and give yourself an advantage. You did what you had to do. I just don’t want to lose you so soon after I’ve found you, Flame.”

  “I will not let them separate us, Kendall.” He ran a hand caressingly up her back. “I have too much to live for.”

  “How much time do we have?” she asked, a little frightened of the unknown, but in true Kendall fashion, pushing forward and deciding what to do next.

  “A few days at most.” Flame had to have something up his sleeve. Why else was he so calm about meeting impending death?

  “What’s your plan?” she questioned. Now that her initial shock had worn off, she knew that he had to have a good plan. He wouldn’t risk their lives on a whim.

  “I plan on offering them proof of my destruction so my mother can have undisputed power over the House of Ice.”

  He now ran his fingers through the tangled mass her hair had become during their love play. Her usual neat bun was a thing of the past.

  “What proof is that?” Kendall raised herself on his chest to look down at his beloved handsome face. He gave her one of these devastating slow smiles that never failed to make her knees weak.

  “A lock of my hair. Everyone knows that a keeper would die before relinquishing one precious lock. It is a conduit for our energies. That is why no one ever sought to cut the evidence of my energies from my head and spare my house the awkwardness of me having been born with the energies.”

  “They are supposed to be convinced to leave us alone because you gave them a lock on you hair?” This was his great plan? Kendall’s eyes narrowed into small brown slits as she gazed down at her lover.

  “Did I forget to mention that the leader of this Execution Squad is my sibling?”

  He was serious! Her eyes widened as she realized how serious he really was. “What kind of family did you come from?” This was sheer insanity. His sister was trying to kill him. Where was the family unity in the House of Fire?

  “A very ambitious family who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. My sister might not kill me because of that bond. She felt remorse over what Catla had done. I think she will find my plan reasonable. She will not have the burden of killing her womb mate and my mother will have the power she seeks. I think she will accept my plan.”

  Flame was serious in his belief that his sister would listen to reason and aid him in his escape from his home planet, but Kendall wasn't so sure. As she snuggled back into Flame’s arms she decided pay extra attention to his sister when she and her cohorts came to visit. One could never be too careful when dealing with a woman scorned.

  Chapter Ten

  “Rise and shine, My Mistress! Is it not a beautiful day?”

  “Argh!” Some idiot yanked the covers from over Kendall’s head, exposing her to the harmful rays of the punishing sun! Cold morning air wafted over her comfortably sleep-warmed skin. Immediately her body, seeking protection from the dangerous morning daylight, curled up into a fetal position as her arms raced to cover and protect her head.

  “We must leave today, My Mistress! I have packed our things and your morning meal awaits!”

  One bloodshot, sleep-reddened eye cracked open and peeped through the shelter of her arms. It had to be a nightmare! Some longhaired, red-headed fool was smiling down at her, cheerfully inviting in the hazards of early morning sunshine to the sanctity of her bedroom.

  “What time is it?” the inhuman voice croaked as it eyed the harbinger of cold air and sunshine.

  “It is way past the crack of dawn, M
y Kendall! Crack of dawn!” the devil threw back his head with laughter. “I heard that on your listening device and I think that it is an apt description.”

  “I didn’t hear dawn crack!” the pitiful creature that was Kendall growled, anger growing in its somewhat feminine voice.

  “Didn’t hear dawn crack!” the red-headed buffoon cackled with glee. “You have made a joke, Kendall. I have never known a woman to possess a sense of humor!”

  Something inside Kendall cracked...like the dawn.

  “You meat-head!” she roared as she flipped her naked body over onto her back. “We don’t have to leave the cabin until noon!”

  Flame’s eyes widened as he watched the changeling that was once the love of his life. It had the same voice as his Mistress, the same beautiful eyes, and the same delightfully rounded body! It was a body that he now knew quite well. But this thing did not possess the sweet nature of his Kendall. The creature now struggled to sit up and swing its legs over the side of the bed.

  “I have made...” he began only to be cut off.

  “Shh.”

  “But Kendall, I....”

  “Shh.” This time with a finger placed over its lips for emphasis.

  “Kendall, I have....”

  “Quiet you!” she growled, turning to glare at the man with red-rimmed eyes. “You kept me up half the night making love, not that I’m complaining, but then you wake me at this ungodly hour when we don't have to leave here until later on this day! You just shh!”

  Flame blinked in surprise, then nodded once. “As you wish, My Mistress.” He spoke in a low dejected voice, void of all earlier delight and Kendall felt guilt pushing out her earlier annoyance.

  Shoulders slightly slumped; Flame turned at started to leave the room. There was such a hurt aura surrounding him that Kendall instantly felt contrite about yelling at him. After all he was only trying to help.

  “Don’t go, Flame,” she let out with a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry that I yelled. It’s just that I’m not used to all this nocturnal activity and you surprised me this morning.”

  He stopped at her words and looked over his shoulder at her, shooting her a hurt look. He looked absolutely adorable in a white T-shirt and his blue jeans. And that look was a heartbreaker.