Sapphire Flame: A Paranormal Romance (The Flame Series Book 7)

by Caris Roane

For months afterward, even with counseling she’d sought, she would awaken in a profound sweat from dreams where she was chased for what seemed like hours on end.

  Now Grant was asking her to go back there, to start re-engaging with her own future.

  She paced the long length of what she called her family room, the one with the Milky Way painting. She’d had the stone tiles laid because she wanted something solid underfoot in a world that could turn violent on the whim of a drug lord or uber-powerful, piece-of-shit alter, like Kryder.

  She forgot Grant’s presence as she strode, as she thought about having to do the impossible all over again. Tears rushed to her eyes. She hadn’t wept so much in her life as she had in the past three days. She brushed away the few tears that dared to trickle down her cheeks. This wasn’t the woman she was, a weeper and freaker-outer. She prided herself on being able to keep her emotions in check.

  But with the prospect of having to pry open things best left shut down, she didn’t know what to do with all that gut-twisting anxiety.

  “What’s the problem here?” Grant asked, only it wasn’t harsh.

  She was halfway back up the room when he finally left his position by the sliding glass door. He now stood a few feet from the end of the kitchen island. She lifted her arms up then dropped them to slap her thighs with her hands. “I had nightmares, Grant, for weeks after the first few times I looked into my future. I saw things I wish I could un-see. I saw myself getting shot while in the air and falling. I was in or near Savage at the time. It’s one of the reasons I’ve kept my distance from your kind.”

  He moved closer. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “It was a door I’d shut. I’d even had therapy to overcome the nightmares. I never thought I’d have to look again. I never wanted to.”

  He frowned slightly. “How did the shooting incident end?”

  “I didn’t stick around to watch. I honestly feared I’d be seeing my own death.”

  She’d never seen him look so serious. “If you decide to continue, we’ll be in this together from this point forward. Tell me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always understood that the future was fluid, that what a fae witnessed wasn’t always what happened.”

  He now stood directly in front of her once more. “That’s right. That’s how my therapist helped me to release the nightmares. I forced myself to believe what I saw would never happen. But one of the ways I did that was to visualize that if I avoided Savage, then I would never have an opportunity to get shot.”

  He took her hand. “Maybe you should stick with that plan. Stay in Revel. Stay safe.”

  His words disturbed her more deeply than anything else he could have said. Though he’d spoken kindly, she wondered if his true intention was to challenge her.

  She’d never understood until this moment exactly how she’d been living for the past six years, like a turtle with her head and legs pulled in tight beneath its shell.

  She could feel the frown between her eyes, the depth of the crevice. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but she couldn’t go back to that life. She couldn’t ignore that her transformation to an alter fae had been intentional, that Renee had died by the hands of the same man, and that Talya had almost died as well just two nights ago.

  She’d never believed that an individual only had one single destiny or fate. Life was about multiple choices all along the way.

  Yet in this moment, she saw her destiny clearly, just as she had said before. She would breathe her last to take Kryder down, even it meant having to see her death from a gunshot wound, or if it meant renewed nightmares, or anything else the horrors of Five Bridges might soon rain down on her head.

  She met Grant’s gaze straight on. He, in turn, scrutinized her face. “You’re determined.”

  “More than I realized. The way I was living—” She didn’t need to finish the sentence. “But I will do as you’ve requested. I will engage with the future on our behalf, whenever and wherever that might be.”

  “Good. I’m with you, Natalie. One hundred percent, nothing held back.”

  “I know that, and I trust you. Just understand that this will be a physically painful process for me.”

  “It will get easier.”

  “Maybe.”

  “So, how does it work, looking into the future, I mean?”

  She moved away from him to stand at the nearest bank of windows. Her garden was in order, though not for the first time she wondered if she should bust apart some of the perfect rows and rectangles. Even her design had been about creating order in the chaos of the alter world. “Best if I show you, let you witness the process.”

  “Where do you want me?” He asked.

  The odd thought flitted through her mind, In my bed. But she kept it to herself. It wouldn’t serve at all if she started thinking about kissing Grant and not about her need to investigate the future. “Where you are is good. I need to focus.”

  “Okay. Go for it.”

  With her back to him, she forced herself to relax as much as she was able. She closed her eyes and felt the fae part of her begin to expand. The usual cramping took place along the small muscles beside her spine. She ignored the resulting pain that pulsed up her back and into her neck. No amount of therapy had been able to relieve her of these symptoms. She’d had to accept that her gift came with a certain level of pain and often a bout of nausea.

  Her hands turned of their own volition, palms up. Her neck arched. In her studio, this would be the moment she would invoke her client’s name. Instead, she whispered, “Natalie. Now.”

  But it was as though someone hit her on the side of the head. She listed and would have fallen. Grant was suddenly there, however, and caught her.

  She opened her eyes and turned to face Grant. “Thank you for catching me.”

  “What was that? What’s going on?”

  “Not sure.” She reviewed what had just happened. It took her a moment to understand that she’d done this to herself. “I’m not allowing myself in. Oh, God, what if I can’t do this?”

  “You can. I know you can. You just need to relax.”

  “I am. I was just now.”

  He chuckled. “You were standing on your tip-toes.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  She released a deep sigh. “This isn’t going to be simple.”

  “What about life ever is?”

  “Philosopher now?”

  “Yes. Wolf-astronomer-philosopher. That’s me.”

  She laughed, then he surprised her by pulling her into his arms and kissing her. She drew back and looked up at him. “What are you doing? This isn’t helping.”

  “You’re wrong. This will help a lot because you need to get out of your head.”

  He kissed her again, only this time, she let him. She didn’t need a whole lot of encouragement to shift her focus or to slide her arms around his neck or to press her body the length of his. He held her tighter still.

  The moment she parted her lips, his tongue slid inside, and her sex clenched. She wanted him bad, more than she’d wanted any man in Five Bridges for the past six years. She knew it wouldn’t be long before they were together, but she didn’t exactly think the timing was right. She had work to do.

  Yet as he kept kissing her, gradually she began to relax and even to kiss him back, to nip at his lips and to use her own tongue to duel with his. She could feel him as well, his beautiful arousal and the promise of what it would be like to have him inside her.

  She’d truly forgotten how wonderful it could be to have a man holding her tight.

  Feeling as much as she did, it wasn’t surprising that her wolf made an appearance. She let herself experience this new expression of who she was as well. She released her wolf and felt her race in circles around the pair of them.

  When her wolf began to bark, Grant drew back, though he still held her loosely in his arms. He watched the spectral run. “There she is. What a beauty.”

  “I thi
nk she wants to go for a run. Why don’t you take her along the canal?”

  His brows rose as he turned back to meet her gaze. “You’re okay with that? What about your neighbors? They might call in a patrol car if they see a wolf around.”

  She smiled. “Well, why not? We’re about to enter the gates of hell. We might as well have some fun along the way.”

  “Care for a second trip on my back?”

  “I think I need to stay put. I may try accessing the future again.”

  His smile broadened. “You’re more relaxed.”

  “Then I admit you’ve helped me already.”

  “My plan worked but just so you know, I’ll be doing more of that other stuff and soon.”

  She laughed as he released her. “I’m counting on it. Now go.”

  She watched him shift and for a moment wished she could do the same. Instead, she moved to the nearest sliding door and let both wolves out.

  She closed the door at about the same time the wolves skidding across the gravel and headed toward the canal. When they disappeared, she became aware that with the smallest effort she could be in both places at once as well. She was racing in front of Grant and could feel him like a mountain following behind her.

  She drew her consciousness closer to her physical form and was grateful Grant had gone with his instincts and had kissed her. She felt different now, better able to address her futurist issue.

  She closed her eyes once more and let the cramping pain ride up her spine. Her palms turned up and her head arched. “Natalie,” she whispered. This time, she added, “And Grant.”

  What returned was a sudden, intense vision of him in her bed and she knew it wasn’t far into the future. More tears, dammit. She remembered reading these books set in English history. There was a phrase that came back to her: watering pot. That’s what she’d become. A goddamn watering pot.

  When Grant’s voice was suddenly in her mind, she realized the wolves had returned to the patio. The vision broke apart like sparkling light and she turned to open the door.

  Grant shifted as he crossed the threshold. At the same time her wolf returned to her. “Sorry,” he said. “But Neil contacted me just now. He had a strong word of advice. He said we need an invisibility spell.”

  “Where do we get one?”

  “He said he knows the wizard he can ask to do it for us. But there’s something else.”

  “What?”

  “Renee was the one who told him.”

  “Your wife?” Natalie was so surprised.

  “Yup. My wife. She seems to be everywhere.”

  “Are we supposed to go to Neil’s place right now?”

  He shook his head. “No. Neil can’t do anything until after the day’s sleep. He has to make contact with the wizard then set up the meet, but he wanted to clear it with us first. He’ll let us know the timing which will be sometime later tonight.”

  She could see he was uncomfortable with something that had nothing to do with Neil or his wizardry. “It’s Renee, isn’t it, that she’s here?”

  His turn to sigh. “It’s made me miss her all over again, yet here I am with you and damn, I want to make love to you.”

  In her heart of hearts, Natalie knew Renee wouldn’t object to what she was about to do. In fact, given Renee’s earthy quality and that she had truly loved Grant, she’d want it for him, for both of them.

  Natalie caressed the side of Grant’s neck then leaned up and kissed him. “Your Renee, like Aaron, were wonderful people. But both are ghosts now and Renee is here to help, maybe even to make sure we survive. She’s not going to mind what we do, which leads me to this. Will you spend the day with me here, in my home? I want to be with you more than life itself right now.”

  Chapter Six

  More than life itself.

  The words disturbed yet thrilled Grant. “The answer’s yes, but I need my gear.”

  She smiled and kissed him again. “Make it quick.”

  “Hell, yes, ma’am.”

  She drew the slider open and as he flew into the air, he could feel dawn prickling his skin. He still had time, but that wasn’t the reason he flew like a bullet back to his burrow.

  He needed this time with Natalie and maybe like her it was with a desire more than life itself.

  He packed a bag while half-levitating, half-running. He contacted Ryan and told him where he’d be, then he was out the front door and shooting back into the air.

  The prickling dawn sensation was stronger this time, so he added a booster and shot to the canal part of Revel. He descended into Natalie’s backyard once more as the steel shutters all along the patio began to descend.

  He flew beneath them and landed just outside the doors.

  She laughed. “Show off.” She then grabbed the front of his tank and hauled him inside.

  The kiss she gave him this time wasn’t anything like before. She hooked him around his neck with her arm and planted her lips against his. He dropped his bag and wrapped her up in a lung-squeezing hug.

  Her groans parted her lips and he drove his tongue inside in swift thrusts. When her other arm wrapped around his neck, he was pretty sure one of them was about to squeeze the life out of the other.

  He drew back and pinned her gaze with his own. “Show me your bed, but I hope it’s strong.”

  She smiled. “Everything in this house has a proper foundation.”

  He picked up his satchel then with his free arm grabbed her waist. He lifted her off her feet, levitated then glided to the hall.

  “At the end and to the right,” she said.

  He made a new speed record as he carried her down the hall. She sucked on his neck and, this time, a bunch of groans left his throat.

  Once inside her bedroom, he put her on her feet. As with the rest of the house, the room was neat as a pin. Instinctively, he knew she kept things in order because life in Five Bridges was the opposite. He got it because he was the same damn way.

  He released her though. “I’d throw you on the bed and take you right now, but I need a shower. Bad.”

  Air hissed through her teeth. “I’ll join you.”

  “Hoped you’d say that.”

  She opened the door to the right. “You can put your things over here.”

  His brows rose as he walked into her closet. “This is a garage.”

  She laughed. “It’s way too big. As you can see, I don’t even have clothes for half of it.”

  He set his duffle down on the bench against the wall to the right. “Now where’s that shower?”

  She gestured behind her. A door led to yet another hall as part of the master suite. “Yes, is the answer to your question,” she said. “When I built this house, I went all in and created a bathroom suite.”

  There were two doors on the opposite side of the hall. She gave him the details as she turned right into the hallway. “Toilet and sauna on the left. The shower is in the bathroom here on the right. There’s also a large tub in the last room at the end.”

  “Suite is right.”

  “Yes, it is.” She smiled.

  As he moved into the bathroom, a large space with double sinks appeared. The whole room was tiled with white, gray-veined marble and matching marble on the sink counters. At the far end was a walk-in shower with a rain apparatus and two shower heads at opposite ends.

  She went ahead of him and started up all three.

  He got his boots off then was stripping off his tee by the time she turned around.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, my. I mean, I felt your muscles, but Grant, you are built.”

  “It’s the advantage of being an alter wolf.”

  He unbuttoned his leathers, unzipped then slowly slid them down. He was in a half-aroused state.

  Natalie hadn’t moved or started to undress. She seemed to be enjoying the show or maybe her wolf was because he could see her wolf-sign floating over the surface of her hands and wrists in faint, iridescent colors. She seemed to favor pink, purple and green.
Some blue. It was beautiful.

  When he was naked, he approached her slowly watching her gaze take in his body, head to foot. She wasn’t embarrassed at all. The problem was she was still fully clothed and that had to change.

  He kissed her once on the lips, then began the process of stripping her down. She didn’t try to help. Instead, her hands were running over his shoulders and down his arms, whatever she could reach as he unbuttoned her tunic then unhooked her bra.

  He didn’t look at her breasts for the sole reason that if he stopped to admire her in any way, he wouldn’t get her leggings off. He slid his thumbs into the waistband and eased the fabric down her hips. He exposed a landing strip that had his mouth watering. God, he wanted to feast on her, his lips working her, his tongue plunging deep inside.

  He leaned down to remove her flat black shoes. She bent all the way over him and now he felt the mounds of her breasts against his back. He groaned. She then went about the business of separating his braid.

  When the job was done, he rose up and kicked all the loose clothing against the wall. He then took her hand and drew her into the shower. The temp was just right.

  She moved beneath the rain shower and lifted her face to feel the water. He stood facing her so that one of the other heads pummeled the back of his neck. It was his turn to look and to take in the full length of her beautiful, toned fae body.

  “This feels so good,” she whispered, eyes closed.

  His lips parted, but he couldn’t speak. His wolf seemed to be running laps beneath the surface of his skin. He was looking at what he wanted, and she was his for the taking.

  Her second wolf-sign, a lovely flash of iridescence, appeared at the base of her throat. His body responded instantly, and he angled his head so that his lips could reach the spot.

  As soon as he made contact, she relaxed or maybe melted was a better word for her response. She arched her neck just enough, so he could kiss the place properly and run his tongue in a slow circle around the small well.

  She moaned softly. Her hands found his arms and began a slow caress to his elbows then made a return journey.

  He continued to kiss her as the rain-shower poured over his back.