Firebinders: Marek (The Firebinders Book 1)

by Isobelle Cate

  Gwen’s face became a stage of all her emotions until her thoughts reached Marek. He let out a resigned sigh while Lia shook her head and Rogue groaned.

  “It’s not your fault,” they chimed in unison.

  “Okay, stop that.” Gwen sat up from slouching, palm raised. “That’s so creepy and uncalled for.”

  “Then stop thinking it’s your fault.” Rogue gave a one shouldered shrug.

  Gwen had refused to give up and continued with her experiments. She refused to let go of the hope that one day her dream of a cure would come true.

  Her smile was radiant the minute she noticed Marek by the door.

  “Hey.” Her eyes softened with an emotion that humbled him at the same time made his heart soar.

  He approached her and bent down to capture her mouth in a sweet kiss that had his blood going haywire with desire.

  “Hi.” He grinned looking down at her upturned face. “I need to leave for a while then tomorrow we’ll be having guests.”

  “Guests?” Her eyes widened in surprise. “Who?”

  “Jarred and Dani Levinson.”

  “Jarred Levinson as in the Formula 1 driver?” At Marek’s nod, she sat back on her chair, her green eyes filled with awe. “I’m impressed!”

  Marek chuckled. “I want Faith and Zac to meet them too.” He helped her stand to take her in his arms. “And I’m going to cook.”

  Gwen’s tinkling laugh had his cock hardening in his jeans, reminding him of the pockets of laughter they shared in between lovemaking sessions. Groaning, he buried his nose against her throat, grinning when Gwen sighed and hummed the moment he sucked on the pulse beating at the base of her neck.

  “They’re going to be in for a treat...you know…because you’re a good cook…” She moaned when his tongue teased her ear and she shuddered. “Marek…I’m not going to get any work done.”

  “And I won’t be able to leave the house and get the stuff I need for tomorrow if you keep rubbing my cock like that,” he whispered then bit her earlobe, sucking the sting thereafter. He kissed her once more, leaving her breathless. “Tonight, I’m going rub my dick against your slit until you beg me to fuck you hard.”

  Gwen’s breath hitched but she smiled, her pupils dilating and edging the green out at his promise.

  “I’ll hold you to that…firebinder.”

  He tensed, his heart tugging at the word she uttered. By calling him for who he was, Gwen had unlocked the gates Marek had built allowing a stronger emotion to flood in.

  “Marek?” she asked slightly confused.

  “Are you accepting who I am, Gwen Fraser?”

  A mischievous glint entered her eyes. “Your cock, maybe.” She laughed at his indignant look. Her eyes softened. Her palm cupped his cheek. Marek’s pulse raced at the look she gave him.

  “Yes.”

  Marek didn’t think that happiness could make a man’s chest explode with an emotion so strong it could bring him to his knees. He crushed Gwen’s mouth with his, pouring his gratitude, need, and desire into that one kiss before tightening his embrace until Gwen squeaked.

  “Fuck, sorry!”

  Gwen laughed. “It’s okay.” Then giggled when Marek smothered her face, lips, and neck with kisses. “We’re never going to get anything done at the rate we’re going.”

  The sound of Marek’s laughter boomed shoving the shadows, that had stayed for so long since his parents died, out of the house.

  And ultimately out of his heart.

  He was falling for Gwen. He wasn’t going to say anything…not yet. He was going to show her tonight how much, but he also wanted to get her something to mark this moment.

  “I wish I could just order the damn food online,” he whispered against Gwen’s throat, loving the way she shivered. His body was heating up. With her hands skimming his body, palms rubbing his chest before her arms encircled his neck, his cock was getting stiff and in need of her pussy.

  “Why don’t you?”

  He groaned when Gwen began to lick and put open mouth kisses on the column of his throat.

  “Oh fuck…” He wasn’t going to last.

  He dragged Gwen away from her lab and back to her bedroom. Slamming the door, he pushed her none too gently against the wall kissing her once more. Gwen’s frenzied breath fanned his face as their hands desperately tore at each other’s clothes, throwing them across the room until no inch of cloth covered them.

  Damn, he couldn’t get enough of her!

  “Turn around.” His voice harsh. “I’m going to fuck you from behind.”

  Gwen’s twisted looking at him, her lust evident in her eyes before she closed them when Marek rubbed her sopping clit.

  Marek gritted his teeth. “Always fucking wet for me. I like that.”

  She whimpered and squirmed, her pert ass arched for him.

  He palmed himself, rubbing Gwen’s slickness over his cock while his other hand lay on the small of her back.

  “Gwen, damn…”

  “What?” she whined, twisting her body to look at him. When he moved. “Where the hell are you going?”

  “Condom.”

  “No, Marek,” she begged. “Please, skin on skin. I want skin on skin.”

  “But—”

  “It’s okay, babe.” She reached her hand out to touch him. “Faith gave me something.”

  Marek gave a strained laugh. “Remind me to thank Faith when I see her.”

  “Okay, but right now I need you inside me. Take me, Marek, please. Oh God…yes!”

  Marek already had his cock at her entrance, entering her in one thrust. He nearly exploded at her pussy’s snug warmth around his cock and he had to lean against Gwen, pressing her against the wall at the overwhelming sensation of finally being one in flesh. His jaw clenched and he inhaled harshly when she squeezed him. He leaned back and held her hips, allowing himself to stay inside her, to feel her heat, for her pussy to clamp down around him, for her sweet honey to bathe him. He withdrew slowly and thrust in the same way building the tempo until he was surrounded by her sexy whimpers.

  Then he fucked her hard just like she begged.

  Gwen had her legs spread apart, her ass cheeks jerking as he pistoned his cock in and out of her. The scent of her lust surrounded him, the sight of her sweetness around his cock enamoured him. Her moans spurred him to please her as much as she pleased him. Desire rocked through his body and down to his cock. The fire in his veins intensified engorging his dick further.

  “Yes…Marek. More…harder…please.” Her body stretched taut, lust careening everywhere in her body.

  His grip tightened on her waist, his thrusts faster. He closed his eyes at the delicious sensations centering at the base of his cock, making his buttocks tense. His release was coiling, intensified by Gwen’s cries. He reached down and found her clit, pressing and rubbing it at the same time. And she soared to her release.

  Taking him with her.

  He trembled against Gwen’s back, his knees weakening as spurts of his essence filled her. His heart thudded in his chest, his neck, and his ears. His breathing was haggard, puffs of his breath hot while he littered Gwen’s back and nape with kisses before he nipped her shoulder. Gwen nearly crumpled against the wall had it not been for his cock still inside her. Marek held her close, taking her mouth in a languid kiss when she turned her flushed face to accept him. His arms encircled her waist before his hands skimmed her delectable body, cupping her breasts before his hand went down to play with her pussy again.

  It was mid-afternoon before Marek left the house with a smirking Rogue joining him. If it wasn’t for Jarred and Dani coming for dinner the next evening, he wouldn’t have left Gwen’s bed.

  Faith returned the next day wearing tight dark brown skinny jeans and a polo neck shirt in the same colour that hugged her figure.

  “Hey.” Gwen looked up from typing her observations on her laptop and saving them in the cloud. “You look nice. Wish I could rock that kind of get up.”

&nb
sp; Faith chuckled. “You can you know. You’ve got a nice figure.” At Gwen’s snort. “You really do so stop thinking you can’t and you don’t.”

  “I second Faith.” Lia breezed into the dining room, skipping down the stairs. She wore distressed jeans and a cream knitted off the shoulder sweater.

  Gwen raised her palms. “Okay, okay! I just don’t know how to dress up then.” She grumbled going back to typing her observations much to the two women’s amusement. “Where’s Zac?”

  “He’ll be here shortly. He’s having a teleconference with Roarke and the rest of the Cynn Cruors.” Faith sat on one of the chairs thanking Lia when she passed her a mug of coffee.

  “More coffee, Gwen?”

  “Yes, please, Lia. Thanks.” She continued typing before sitting back. She angled her head at Faith. “You know, I didn’t get to ask you more about the Ancient Eald’s alchemy.”

  “Figures,” Faith quipped, her eyes crinkling at the sides. “You and Marek have only had eyes for each other. He can’t take his hands off you.”

  “He’s been burning hotter than ever,” Lia added wryly after sipping from her mug.

  “Oh Lord, you guys…” Gwen groaned blushing furiously. She bowed her head and scratched an imaginary itch at the back of her head. Faith and Lia giggled more. Faith pushed out of the chair she was sitting on and sat closer to Gwen. She took Gwen’s hand in hers.

  “It had to happen, Gwen,” she said gently yet happy. “You two looked like miserable figs.”

  Gwen huffed a laugh. “Miserable figs?”

  “Yeah.” Faith shrugged. “Any day now you and Marek would have shrivelled up because you no longer had any juice of life left inside you.”

  Gwen sobered. “That obvious, huh?”

  “It was. Not overly but the way Marek looked at you.” Faith sighed. “It’s like he didn’t want any other man to be even near you.”

  “That’s not true!”

  “It is,” Faith insisted. “It’s a good thing that he knows Zac and I are together. Otherwise…”

  Gwen looked away. A host of butterflies took flight inside her belly at Marek’s possessiveness. She knew that. Marek had shown her every night and every morning since the first time they came together. He couldn’t stop putting his hands on her, and neither could she. The intensity of their joining had reached the zone where they connected and relished that connection. They rocked each other, exploring, absorbing, feeling every inch of their bodies. Marek was no longer just fucking her. He was making love to her. And with every moment they were together Gwen’s desire to depart waned. The thought of leaving Marek was now too unbearable to even consider but she had to go home. He had captured her heart and made it his. And she was falling in love with him. Could she make a long distance relationship work? They’d never spoken about it, opting not to even see the elephant sitting quietly in the room.

  “Where’s Marek?”

  Faith’s question broke her reverie and her cheeks heated once more.

  “He wasn’t there any more when I woke up. He said he had to buy food for the dinner he was cooking. Jarred and Dani Levinson are coming over.”

  “Cool! I’ve not met them though brother dear often talks about them. And after getting the food, he’ll be with Rogue dreaming up some hare brained scheme.” Lia plunked down on another chair, running her fingers through her silky black hair. Her blue green gaze assessed Gwen before she twirled her finger at her. “You’ve got that glow going on.”

  “It’s the heat.”

  Lia arched a perfect brow. “Sure it is.” She grinned. “You’ve made my brother very happy. I’ve not seen him that way in a very long time. Thank you.”

  Gwen swallowed hard at Lia’s acceptance, almost at a loss for words.

  “You’re welcome…I think.”

  “So what did you find from the extra blood samples?” Faith asked entwining her fingers around her mug.

  “You have unusual blood.”

  “Don’t we all?” Faith winked.

  Gwen couldn’t stop her soft laugh. “Quite right, but yours has another component that’s not present in Rogue’s, Lia’s, or even Marek’s blood.” She held up the vial. “Look.”

  The centrifuged blood had several layers comprised of the red blood and white blood cells and the plasma on top. The additional bluish purple layer above the plasma was what differentiated human blood from the samples Gwen had taken. However, Faith’s blood had another thin layer atop the purple specimen. It was a very dark red-orange colour that at a certain angle looked almost black.

  “This is the first time I’ve seen this kind of separation,” she said. “Mind telling me why your blood is different?”

  “Hmm…I can give you an answer which you might not accept.” Faith ventured looking at Gwen over the rim of her mug.

  “Try me. After what I’ve been told, it can’t get any more unreal,” Gwen replied in a wry tone.

  Faith exhaled. “Okay, here goes…that part of my blood belongs to Zac.”

  “As in Zac gave you his blood through a transfusion.” Gwen concluded before Faith to explain further. “But that shouldn’t have separated that way and given a different layer.”

  “It…wasn’t through a transfusion.”

  Faith looked at her almost apologetically.

  Gwen’s forehead creased. “How?”

  “He bit me.”

  “He what?”

  “He bit me and transferred some of his blood into me.”

  Gwen knew that she must have a ‘duh’ look on her face because Faith shoulders shook.

  “I must sound stupid here.” Gwen sighed putting her hair up in a messy bun and securing it with a pencil.

  “No you don’t.” Faith assured her. “And I’ll try to explain as best I can. What else have you noticed?”

  Gwen looked at her friend as she sought the words.

  “Your blood appears to have an unusual property that’s both living and dead. And yet, this property compliments what you already have. I still can’t isolate it though.”

  “You can’t,” Faith said. An almost regretful smile shadowed her mouth.

  “What do you mean I can’t?” Frustration started to ball in her gut not at Faith, but at herself for not being able to understand.

  “One cannot exist without the other. They form a whole. Separating them is like separating water from H20.”

  Gwen was really confused.

  “Gwen, I’m a doctor but there are also many things science will never be able to explain. Am I asking you to have a leap of faith? No. Am I asking you to believe that the supernatural exists? Yes.”

  “What kind of supernatural are we talking about this time?” Gwen asked dragging the words.

  “Vampire, werewolf, human hybrids. That’s who the Cynn Cruors are.”

  With every word, Gwen’s eyes became rounder.

  “No shit!”

  “Yes, shit.” Lia piped in again. “Luke and Adara were.”

  “Except for the Cynn mortals. They live really long lives but they both can take human mates,” Faith said.

  “You’re a firebinder,” Lia said.

  “Well…yeah. The rest of the Cynn Cruor women in Manchester are not. Though Phoebe, Blake’s mate is a Cynn mortal.”

  “Whoa! Stop for a moment.” Gwen butted in. Her brain working double time. “Hybrids?”

  Faith and Lia nodded.

  “Then Zac is…”

  “A vampire werewolf hybrid? Yes, I am.” Zac joined them closing the entrance door behind him.

  “Hmmm…This house is starting to look like Grand Central.” Lia raised her mug. “Don’t mind me. Sarcasm to me is what a blanket was to Linus.”

  Zac chuckled. “You must have been a handful when you were younger.”

  “Maybe.” Lia stood, the chair making a low screeching noise when she pushed it. “I’ll mellow down when I’m a hundred.”

  He chortled before kissing Faith soundly. Gwen looked away, thinking of Marek once mo
re and the many he had given her. Her body warmed at the memory of when he worshiped her body from head to foot before taking his fill of her between her thighs. She had repaid him in kind his own body tensing before he growled as he spilled himself inside her mouth.

  “How are the tests going?” Zac straightened rubbing Faith’s back.

  “I just found out something that explains why part of Faith’s blood is dead yet alive,” she remarked.

  Zac’s mouth quirked to the side. “Guilty.”

  “You don’t burn.” Her thirst for knowledge trumped any trepidation she had. She could have remained sceptical but her findings supported the existence of Zac’s kind.

  “Not exactly. I’m the only one of the warriors able to stay out in the sun. Something to do with my blood.”

  “Ugh, stop!” She grimaced, laughing at the same time. “I got more than what I bargained for.”

  Everyone laughed. Gwen eventually shook her head in disbelief.

  “Just one specimen and I get four plus one that’ll take years to study.”

  Zac stared at her, angling his head. “But you’re not going to publish anything, are you Gwen?”

  She snorted. “What if I do, will you kill me?”

  He looked down at Faith both of them sharing a look. The exchanged caused Gwen’s heart to stutter. The air in the room, even the noise outside grounded to a halt. Zac turned to her with regret.

  “No, but I will have to erase your memory of everything that has happened between you, Faith, and me.”

  She had only been joking but the thought of losing her memory made her heart squeeze tightly because those memories also involved Marek. Zac erasing her memory would be removing the indescribable joy she felt when she and Marek came together. And where would that leave her? No amount of accolades, prestige, or recognition from the scientific community would replace the man she had fallen in love with and the memories they already made. There’d be pockets of memories that will make her keep asking why she was having them until it drove her quietly out of her mind.

  “My report has put my life in danger and has killed my friend and colleague.” Her forefinger swung between herself, Faith, and Zac. “I was only joking but if you want me to say it out loud, then no. I will not publish it. We’ll just keep it amongst ourselves. However, you’re not stopping me from studying it more.”