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

by Caris Roane

  After a moment, he felt her shift and he drew back. She’d reached for a bar of soap and had a glimmer in her eye. “May I wash you, Grant? I’d really like to.”

  He could only smile as he took a step back and gestured with hands spread palms-up. He then pushed his long, wet hair behind his shoulders.

  She took her time. She began at his neck and worked her way over his shoulders. She made cooing sounds and kept telling him how beautiful he was. He’d never thought much about it. His world was about strength and dominance. The warriors of Savage were physically powerful as all hell.

  When she’d made an entire circuit around his body, she ended with one hand on his cock and the other massaging his testicles. He swore he’d never been happier.

  He kissed her and let her have her way until a typical urgency forced him to stop her fingers before he was too far gone.

  She smiled and kissed him. He took the soap from her. “My turn.”

  He thought there couldn’t have been a better ritual for what they were about to do. He tended her as thoroughly as she’d soaped his body. He memorized her curves and planned a tongue-assault on her peaked nipples.

  When he rubbed between her legs with soapy fingers, she clutched at his arms and gasped. “I forgot how good that could feel.”

  He rinsed her thoroughly then took a step back. “Show me your wolf.”

  Without hesitation, she lifted her right arm and there on the inside was her wolf-sign, shimmering in pink, violet and green with small flashes of light blue all the way to her elbow and back. Her wolf-sign was increasing.

  He took her arm and kissed the colors. He watched as the same colors glided a few inches farther up her arm. With his lips, he followed the wolf all the way up to her shoulder. She groaned softly.

  He shifted to kiss her hard. She moaned heavily as she leaned against him, her full wet body pressed against his. The water poured down on them both.

  I’m loving this.

  I am, too, she responded.

  He’d never been more grateful for telepathy.

  He drew back but continued with his mind connected to hers, Show me your wolf again.

  This time, she tilted her head back and once more closed her eyes. Her wolf appeared in an almost heart-shaped form of iridescent pulses between her breasts.

  He kissed the spot tenderly. He encircled her waist with one arm then covered her left breast with his hand. His kisses blazed a trail to her other breast.

  Yes. Yes. Her voice was breathy even in his head.

  When he took her breast in his mouth and began to suck, her hips arched hard against his body. Small gasps left her throat.

  He sucked harder and her hand flew to the back of his neck adding pressure. I’ll do anything you want me to do.

  You’re doing it.

  He loved how open and confident she was.

  A lot like Renee.

  The thought of his wife brought too many memories surging. Of loving her. Of losing her.

  He released Natalie, remembering why he hadn’t been with a woman this way in all these years, not since Renee’s death.

  “What is it?” Her words were slightly muffled as he tilted his head back and let the rain-shower beat over his face.

  He dipped his chin. “I had an unfortunate thought. I’m sorry.”

  She pressed her palms against his pecks and smoothed her way to his shoulders. “Renee?”

  “Yes.” His gaze flew to her face. “How did you know?”

  She appeared to debate her response, then said, “We both lost so much. I haven’t been with a man since I got here.”

  His eyes widened. “Not once?”

  “No. Oh, God I just realized that would add pressure, but I didn’t mean it to. I never wanted to be with anyone until you. We can stop if you like. Honestly, Grant, I’ve had the brakes on since we met. I’ve barely got them off now and I can’t offer a single guarantee that I won’t slam them back on and leave you out in the cold at some point either.”

  He gathered her against him and held her close. His eyes burned. He reached to the central lever and shut of the water from overhead. The other two still sent warm sprays of water over them both from opposite directions.

  “I want to make love to you, but damn this feels intimate and wonderful and more permanent than I’ve ever allowed before.”

  She squeezed him hard. “We’re in the same boat. How about we give each other permission to walk away at any time.”

  “Sounds good. Maybe necessary. I’ve also dealt with the shit of this world by not getting close to anyone.”

  He felt her take a deep breath then release a sigh. “Ditto. Okay. So, we’re letting each other off the hook here.” She drew back and met his gaze.

  He nodded slowly. He didn’t know how true or accurate that was. But for the moment, it helped. Maybe that’s what this would be between them, helping each other over the hurdles one at a time.

  He shut off the remaining heads then grabbed a nearby towel. He took his time drying her off then handed her a fresh one. “For your hair.”

  As she tended to her dripping locks, he began his own drying off process, including squeezing water from his hair.

  When he started to leave the shower, she caught his arm. “Truly, you don’t have to do this.”

  She was exactly what he needed right now. “I want to more than you can know.”

  He took her towel and tossed it on the floor then picked her up and cradled her in his arms. “Let me take you to bed.”

  ~ ~ ~

  As Grant carried her into the bedroom, Natalie felt buoyant. She was right where she wanted to be, loose strings attached.

  She shifted in his arms and leaned up to plant her mouth on his throat. She slung her free arm around his neck to pull him closer then began to suck. His wonderful scent of fresh-cut lumber began to flood her nostrils. She ached between her legs and couldn’t wait for more.

  She’d enjoyed sex with Aaron. It had been sensual, hot and full of love. A niggling of doubt passed through her that she shouldn’t be engaging with Grant like this. He’d already gotten distressed.

  But Aaron wasn’t here.

  He’d been gone six years.

  As Grant settled her on the bed, then gently pulled her hips to edge, she reached up and touched his face. Grant was here, and he was real, so real. His skin was warm and smooth, except where a line of his wolf-fur exaggerated his prominent cheekbones. His damp hair, pulled as it was away from his face, enhanced his strong, rugged looks.

  Yes, Grant was here.

  He seemed serious as he dropped to his knees. He spread her legs and leaned all the way over her first to kiss her on the lips then to plant a series of kisses down her chest. He took time with each breast until all her doubts melted into the comforter beneath her.

  She wanted this with Grant. She’d wanted to be with him, to make love with him, to have real, here-and-now sex with him from the time they’d been together in the refuge’s emergency room.

  Her body responded to each tug on her breast, each fondle of his fingers, each strong suck. Her hips rocked, and deep moans left her mouth.

  He kept massaging her breasts, but his lips began a slow, sensual descent. Her sex clenched as he drew near her labia. She held her breath and waited.

  Instead of continuing to the desired goal, he lifted her right knee and kissed the inside of her thigh. Of course, this was a whole new layer of sensation, a teasing kind of kiss that made her hips rock harder still. He took his time. She wasn’t sure if she loved it or hated it. She wanted his mouth on her.

  He stopped and looked at her. He carefully massaged her thigh then he smiled. “Anything in particular you want?”

  She lifted on her elbows. “Your tongue, right now on my sweet spot or I swear you’ll pay.”

  He grinned. “I knew I liked you.”

  He shifted her leg to rest on his back. When he dipped down, and his tongue made an appearance, she cried out. The anticipation was al
most too much. How long it had been.

  When he took a long swipe over her sex, she cried out again and groaned. The pleasure was almost too much.

  He licked again.

  And again.

  When his hands once more found her breasts, she reached down and swept her palms up and down her arms. She loved the feel of his muscles, his strength, his manliness.

  His licks came quicker now, punctuated with sudden sucks. She cried out each time.

  Look at me. His deep voice commanded her.

  She met his gaze as he kept licking then sucking. Pleasure began to grow, to expand.

  You’re licking me.

  Yes, I am. You taste like lemons and mint and woman. I could eat you forever. He slowed his licks.

  She loved that he was drawing the moment out.

  I think you need something more.

  Yes. Your cock. Driving hard.

  He chuckled. I have something else in mind.

  Still looking at her, he dipped lower. She gasped. “Oh.” Her voice sounded strange, almost pinched.

  When he drove his tongue inside, her head rocked back all on its own and a deep groan floated up to the ceiling.

  You like that? he asked, mind-to-mind.

  Yes. God, yes.

  He went to work and plunged his tongue into her like a piston. She’d forgotten that he was wolf, not just man. He had more power than a human male, more force, more quickness.

  She gasped for air as pleasure built, as her sex began to reach for his tongue with each assault.

  So close.

  Her words gave him a nudge and his tongue went faster and deeper still. A second later, she was flying over the edge.

  Ecstasy drove through her sex in a series of exquisite ripples, but it kept on driving and pushing up through her abdomen. Shivers chased over her body. Her breath caught on a searing cry.

  He slowed for a moment but continued driving then suddenly he was plunging again. The action took her by surprise but not her body because another orgasm, more intense than the first raced through her and opened her throat for another long cry.

  The divine aftermath relaxed all her muscles and she lay with her arms stretched over her head.

  Grant continued to rub her thighs in long gentle strokes that felt like heaven. She wanted to keep him with her forever.

  How had he known to do what he did?

  The thought that grabbed her mind was how many women, how many female wolves he’d been with in his pack or in Savage. A growl formed in her throat, which she suppressed quickly. Yet a sudden spark of jealousy remained. She didn’t want Grant being with anyone else and she hated the thought of all the women who’d come before.

  But her rational mind only laughed at her idiocy. Grant was a strong male and would need release. She had no doubt there were plenty of women in his pack who had helped him out. She forced her absurd thoughts away.

  “Good?” Grant asked.

  She opened her eyes. When had they closed? She met his gaze. There was a surprising tension around his eyes. “Very. Exquisite, in fact. Thank you.”

  She lifted up on her elbows with only one desire, to give him some ease. Because right now, he looked wound up and not in a good way. “My turn, Handsome.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Grant’s brows rose. He tried to smile but couldn’t. Natalie’s words, the taste and smell of her, the sight of her wolf-sign which continued to chase over the surface of her skin, had his balls aching and his cock rigid.

  Her swollen lips and flushed face, the glazed satiated look in her eyes, told him he’d done his job.

  He wanted to enter her. He might have done it, too, but as he rose from his knees, he realized he was shaking.

  The earlier sensation of needing to shift had become a profound drive he’d never experienced before, not while taking a woman to bed. He wasn’t sure what he needed to do. He struggled to control himself. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he shifted. He feared he’d do things that would hurt her.

  “You’re showing a lot of fur sign.” Natalie sat up and let her legs rest over the side of the bed. Her hands went to his chest where a V-shape had formed in lines of his dark-and-buff-colored fur. She leaned in and took a long sniff. “That’s amazing. Like a sawmill.”

  He started to back up, to give her room, but she said, “Stay right where you are.”

  He’d been so preoccupied with not shifting, he didn’t realize her position in relation to his body.

  “Come closer.” She grabbed his ass and urged him toward her.

  Before he could stop her or explain his difficulty, her mouth was on him.

  Oh. God.

  Warm. Wet. Gentle. Sucking.

  Natalie had taken him in her mouth. Nothing had ever been more welcome and for whatever reason it calmed his wolf, at least for the moment.

  He settled his hand on her nape and arched his hips. One thrust in. So good.

  Her hands were free, and she used them. She glided her palms up and down his thighs then over his abdomen. She raked her nails across his skin low, near his cock. Pleasure washed over him in shivers, everywhere she touched him.

  She rimmed her tongue along the sensitive ridge and he groaned. A hand glided over his balls and he spread his legs a little more. She caressed his testicles and with a finger pushed at all the sensitive tissue, then stroked the perineum.

  So much pleasure.

  He thrust again. She caught his cock with her wet mouth and pulled back with a firm tug all the way to the crown, then brought him back into her mouth. She repeated the process.

  He was getting close, but he didn’t want to come like this. He needed to be inside her.

  “Wait.”

  She slowed her movements, then stopped as she released his cock from her mouth. She looked up at him and waited.

  “I want to be inside you.”

  “I want that, too.” She moved backward on the bed, with her legs spread wide purposefully.

  He groaned as her sex came into view, streaming and ready for him. She held out her arms.

  There were no other preambles. He stretched out on top of her and using his hand to guide his missile, he found her opening. With his crown seated, he settled his forearms on either side of her shoulders and began to push.

  Her whole body did a roll of pleasure which drew him deeper.

  He pulled back, then pushed some more.

  She groaned and cried out. “You feel so good.” Her hands gripped his shoulders.

  He looked down at her, at the faint freckles across the bridge of her nose, at her beautiful, passion-drenched hazel eyes, her swollen lips.

  Slowing his thrusts, he leaned down and kissed her.

  Her gaze bored into his. For a moment, he felt as though he saw all that she was, the loving wife she’d been to her husband, the hopeful mother, the powerful fae who’d built a home for herself in Revel, even a wolf. His heart expanded as though trying to reach her by punching through his sternum. He wanted this woman. He wanted to possess her in every way possible.

  He kissed her again. She responded with a moan and with a dip of her tongue between his lips. He curled his hips and thrust hard.

  She cried out, her back arching. More. Her voice in his head was like a drug.

  His lips found hers again and he worked her mouth the way his cock plunged in and out of her sex.

  She raked her nails along his flesh and his wolf loved it.

  But that was the problem.

  His wolf had begun making serious demands again. Fur sprouted over his entire chest and he could barely keep his nose from elongating. In a sudden flurry of pain, his legs and arms cramped.

  He withdrew from her and howled in pain. He planted his hands on his thighs.

  She leaned up on her elbows. “Grant, what’s wrong? What’s happened? Your eyes are gold and you’re showing so much fur.”

  He struggled to catch his breath. Sweat poured from his body. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t even offer a telep
athic word for her.

  She sat up and rubbed his shoulders. “It’s okay. We don’t have to do this. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

  The gentle touch of her hands and the sympathetic words did more to calm his wolf than anything else.

  Finally, his vision cleared. He cupped her face with his hands. “It’s my wolf. Everything about you seems to excite and stimulate that part of me. I could barely control shifting while I was inside you.”

  “Then shift. The wolf is you. I’d be okay with that. I think.”

  He saw her doubts then kissed her. “It’s not what you think. I don’t know what I would do to you if I shifted. There’s a good chance I would hurt you. Don’t ask me how I know, I just know. Shit. I don’t know what to do.”

  She leaned back a little and stared at him. I’m going to call on my wolf and see if I can help figure this out.

  Okay. Telepathy made things better as well. He was wrung out from holding back.

  She closed her eyes and he waited. He watched in awe as her wolf-sign appeared between her brows then washed down her face in a glow of color to disappear. She winced suddenly as though experiencing pain, but her expression soon cleared. The same wolf-sign then rippled down her chest and abdomen and settled to pulse just above her landing patch.

  He had fallen to a half-aroused state, but the sight made him rigid again.

  When she opened her eyes, she smiled. “I know now what to do. And don’t worry. I will be perfectly safe, and you will love it.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Natalie watched relief flood his face. He reached for her, but she laughed and quickly levitated off the bed and out of range, so he couldn’t touch her, not yet. She grabbed the remote for her security shutters and pressed the key to lower a second, hidden set of external shutters. She might be flawed in all sorts of ways, but one thing she knew how to do: She was able to think well-ahead and to plan. This quality had always been part of her nature which she supposed might have contributed to her ability to see the future. In some ways, she always had.

  “What are you doing?” Grant shifted to the edge of the bed but remained seated.

  While the shutters did their work and until she received an all-clear from the remote, she went into the bathroom. She returned to Grant with a damp washcloth and a towel. She handed both to him.