Noah's Fire

by Lynn Howard

  “Time to go,” Noah yelled the second the clock struck midnight.

  “You didn’t even warn last call,” a Shifter complained as he tipped back his beer and finished it.

  “You know what time I fucking close. Get your shit and get out,” Noah yelled as he rushed to start his closing duties before the bar was even empty.

  “What the hell is his problem tonight?” someone grumbled as they headed toward the door.

  “Probably trying to get home to that little redhead he has working here,” the first guy said with a chuckle. The sound made Noah want to throat punch the jackoff.

  “That’s Colton’s mate, dumbass. Let’s go,” he yelled, making Shifters hustle a little faster out the door.

  When the last person was gone, he locked the door and shut off the outside lights. He looked around. Fuck it. He could sweep and mop when he got in tomorrow morning. He wanted to get home. He wanted to see Hollyn. He wanted to find out what was going on between them, and he didn’t mean in the chick flick kind of way. There was a physical thread tying them together and he wanted to find out what she’d meant about her magic being the cause.

  She’d sworn she hadn’t glamoured him, but there was a whole lot of shit at play. As much as he’d love to be paired with someone as hot as Hollyn, he refused to be forced into anything, and that counted by magic. Just because his bear had already chosen her didn’t mean he had to listen.

  His bear took the opportunity to chuckle a chuffing sound in Noah’s head. Who was he fooling? His bear had chosen. It would be harder than fuck to ignore that kind of bond.

  Jogging around the bar, Noah grabbed his keys, flipped off the lights inside, turned off the jukebox, then headed home. He normally kept the radio off during this drive; after hearing the jukebox and Shifters talking all day, he relished the silence.

  Not tonight. He needed something to fill his thoughts other than Hollyn. Otherwise, he’d end up breaking the speed limit by a lot just to get back to her. He scanned through the stations until he found talk radio and tried to pay attention to what they were talking about.

  Within ten minutes, his headlights flashed over his porch, and Hollyn was waiting out there, sitting on the top step with her arms wrapped around her knees.

  She’d changed clothes. She was no longer wearing jeans that looked way too big for her or a t-shirt that hid those tits he’d fantasized about all day. Now, she was wearing a snug tank top and a pair of shorts.

  It did nothing to help the need to touch her.

  “Hey,” he said as he climbed out of his truck. “You could’ve waited inside.”

  Did she think he didn’t want her in his house when he wasn’t home?

  “It’s too nice of a night to be inside.” She tilted her head back and looked up at the sky. “You don’t see that many stars where I lived.” When she tilted her head back down, her eyes had faded to that amethyst color, but there was silver swirling within their depths. He couldn’t wait to find out what the different colors meant. It was like her eyes were her own personal mood ring.

  “Guess not,” he said, lowering to sit on the step below her, putting him at eye level with her. She wasn’t as petite as Shawnee and the other women in his life, but she was a lot smaller than his six foot seven.

  They were quiet for a few heartbeats, just studying each other. He opened his mouth to break the silence but so did she.

  “I wanted –"

  “Did you –"

  They laughed. Noah motioned for her to go first. It was like an awkward first date.

  “You asked if I was glamouring you,” she said, turning her body so she was facing him.

  He nodded and turned toward her, leaning one knee against the step she was sitting on.

  “Okay,” she said, her eyes narrowed and darted away as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Noah’s hand tingled to reach up and pull that lip free and run his fingertip over it to see if it was as pillowy soft as it looked.

  “You know how you guys have animals inside of you and they just…pick your mate?”

  “It’s not really that simple,” he said. She knew more about Shifters than he’d realized.

  “It’s the closest thing I can think of for a comparison. So just roll with it. Okay,” she said, once again chewing on her bottom lip.

  “You’ve got to stop doing that,” Noah blurted out and repositioned himself on the step as his jeans grew tighter.

  “What?” she said with a frown.

  He waved a finger at her mouth. “It just makes me want to kiss you.” Why did he say that? He shouldn’t have admitted that to her. Not yet.

  Her frown deepened for a second then smoothed. A small smile tipped the corners of her lips and it sure as fuck looked like she liked the idea of his lips on hers, especially when her eyes dropped to his mouth for a brief second before raising to his face.

  “What was I saying?”

  He could see her as clearly in the dark as he could on a gray, cloudy day, and she was definitely flushed.

  “Our animals choosing.”

  “Right,” she said, nodding her head quickly. “Right. Okay. So, you guys, Shifters, your animals pretty much tell you who your mate is. You form a bond with that person, even before you mark them.”

  “How the hell do you know so much about us?” Noah asked. There was no suspicion, just curiosity.

  Hollyn’s narrow shoulders rose and fell. “Fae are taught about any species that can be a danger to us. What I didn’t learn from my parents, I learned from Aron and the other guys.”

  Noah grunted once and nodded for her to continue. He grunted instead of speaking because he didn’t want her to hear the growl that was sure to come at the thought of Hollyn living with other men. Even if they were his friends and were just trying to protect her.

  Hollyn’s eyes roamed Noah’s face for a brief second before she looked away, but it was enough for him to see yet another change to her eyes.

  “Your eyes change colors like a Shifter,” he said. She looked back at him with a confused look on her face. “I mean, they don’t glow like ours, but they change colors.”

  “Yeah,” she said on a sigh. “That happens sometimes. It makes it hard to be invisible around humans. Although, it usually only happens when I’m scared, angry or…”

  “Or?” he asked when she didn’t say anything else.

  “Or my magic is trying to bind to someone.”

  Noah swallowed down another growl before speaking again. “It’s happened before?”

  “No.”

  One word. But it was beautiful.

  “You were saying how you’re kind of like Shifters when our animal chooses a mate.”

  “Right,” she said, blinking rapidly as if she’d been zoned out. “When our magic finds its…how do I describe this? You know how magnets have a positive and negative? North and South?” Noah nodded. “My body is kind of a neutral where my magic acts as one side of a magnet. When it finds its other side, it begins to bind to it, whether I or the other party is interested in being with each other.”

  She was rambling, shaking her head like her own description wasn’t what she’d wanted, how she’d wanted to explain it. “Okay. How about this, my magic has chosen you, and already began to bind us from the moment we met. We could go our own way, but we will both always feel this…pull, like we’re tied together and straining against that rope. Does that make sense?”

  He nodded slowly. He’d already begun to feel that. “Is there a way to break the bond?”

  Disappointment flashed through her eyes and the amethyst slowly bled to a blue-gray color.

  “I’m sure there is, but I don’t know how.”

  She thought he wanted to break the bond. “How much do you know about the mating bond?” he asked, giving in to the temptation and raising his hand to brush the hair away from her face.

  She leaned into his touch, nuzzling his hand for a second, and released a contented sigh.

  Noah reluctantly
pulled his hand away, but only because he wanted to have this conversation. And if he kept touching her, there was a good chance he’d scoop her in his arms, carry her to his bedroom, and plunge deep inside of her. That’s not how he wanted his first time with her. Well, not true. He definitely wanted to feel her wrapped around him, but he wanted to take his time exploring her body and tasting every inch of her.

  Hollyn frowned and pursed her lips in disappointment and Noah couldn’t help but smile. He’d been in such a bad mood for the last few years, yet this woman was able to elicit a smile from him with a simple pout.

  “So your magic is binding itself to me?” Noah asked, trying to get back to the conversation instead of focusing on how being near Hollyn made him feel lighter, happier, like he had the world sitting inches away from him.

  Hollyn gave him a crooked grin. “Changing subjects?”

  “I thought that was the subject,” he teased, nudging her with his shoulder.

  “I liked the subject of your hand on me.”

  And Noah had to once again adjust positions when his dick grew even harder, if that was at all possible.

  Raising a brow at her, he waited for her to finish the story.

  “Fine,” she said, lifting a hand to push her hair behind her ear. “Yes. My magic started binding itself to you from the moment Aron pulled onto your territory. I tried to stop it. I’m not real hip on the whole not-choosing-for-myself thing. And I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about being life and magic bound to a Fairy who might have Hell following behind. But…yeah. It’s not permanent. Not yet.”

  “How does it become permanent?” Noah asked, his voice deeper from the lust and excitement over possibly having this incredible woman in his life.

  Wait. Did he want to be bound for life? It was bad enough his animal declared her his mate without giving Noah the choice. But now Hollyn was telling him that they were fated rather than given a choice about their lives.

  As he studied Hollyn, he watched in awe as her eyes flashed from sapphire to amethyst then back. Was she fighting the pull?

  “Do you want this, Hollyn? Or is it like with Shifters?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, leaning back a little as her eyes bled back to sapphire and stayed that way for a few minutes.

  “We don’t really have much say in who our animals pick for us. I get that they have a more primal sense of our mates, that they can feel something we can’t, but…do you have a choice? Do you want this? Do you want me or is it just your magic?”

  For some reason, he couldn’t fathom how a woman like Hollyn, someone so beautiful, so strong, so different from any woman he’d ever met would want to settle down with a bear Shifter who lived in the middle of nowhere and served beer in a hole-in-the-wall local bar. She was used to the city, used to bustling life, used to being surrounded by humans, not a bunch of raucous Shifters.

  Hollyn’s eyes narrowed and she seemed to be thinking about what he’d said. Finally, after a stretch of silence that had his nerves frayed, she shrugged slightly.

  “I don’t know.”

  Not quite the answer he’d wanted. Then again, he wasn’t really sure what answer he wanted. Because, he wasn’t sure how much of how he felt about Hollyn were his true feelings and how much was their supernatural DNA telling them how to feel.

  Why the fuck couldn’t his kind just find a woman they’re interested in, fall in love, and decide whether or not they wanted to spend a lifetime together? Why did their animals get to choose?

  He thought back on his last relationship; she was a prime example of why their human halves didn’t choose their true mates. She was a waste of time and energy and just wanted a free ride. She was a compulsive liar and bordered on emotionally abusive. She’d also been the reason he’d stayed single for so long afterward.

  His animal had tried to warn him, growling and snarling when they’d been together. He wasn’t doing any of that now. With Hollyn so close, he sounded like a damn cat as he released a strange purring sound in Noah’s head.

  Around Hollyn, his bear was settled and content. Just like Noah.

  “All I know is I feel safe around you,” Hollyn said, snapping Noah’s attention back to her. “That’s something I haven’t felt since I was a little girl. I know there are still risks, I know there are still people out there who’d love nothing more than to see how much money they could make from me. But with you, being near you, I feel like the rest of the world is so far away. Like…no one exists outside of this little bubble.” She spun her index finger in a circle, indicating the territory.

  Unfortunately, the world did still exist outside his territory. And, even if Aron and the rest of Ravenwood were able to locate and eliminate the current threat to Hollyn, there would always be others who would hunt her kind.

  But he could keep her safe. He knew, without a doubt, he’d give his life for this woman. Mate or not, magic binding or not, he wanted her. He’d wanted her since he’d laid eyes on her this morning. Maybe they weren’t in love, but he knew this woman would one day own his heart and soul like no one had in the past.

  Chapter Five

  Did she want this? That’s what Noah had asked her. She’d thought about that very same question all day, but no matter how many different ways she tried to subdue her magic, no matter how many reasons she came up with as to why she shouldn’t bind herself to a Shifter, she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

  Noah was a good person. His people were good. Even before she’d found out they’d fought for the rights of female Shifters, he could tell they had good hearts. They’d welcomed her in with no questions, although other than Shawnee and Noah, they didn’t really know how dangerous her presence could be to their existence. Shawnee had told her about the war they’d fought against her own family Pride, how she’d thought she’d lose the entire Clan. Would they want another fight? Would they want to go through all that again because of her?

  Noah was watching her closely, his eyes slowly roaming her face as if memorizing it. She couldn’t say she loved this man, but there were a lot of emotions she couldn’t quite identify. There was a ton of lust, no doubt about that. He was gorgeous. So big and thick and scruffy.

  She’d never been into scruffy guys, had never been one of those women who got hot over beards. But Noah wore it well. Even the t-shirt he wore made her all tingly the way it stretched across his broad chest and muscular arms. She knew he could protect her. And she’d protect him.

  She’d given him a tiny demonstration of her gift earlier in the day. What would he do if he knew how powerful her Elemental gifts were? Would it scare him? Nah. Noah didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d be scared by much.

  As they sat silently regarding each other, she felt the tendrils of her magic reaching for him, begging her to finish the binding so it could wrap itself fully around Noah. To embed itself in every cell of Noah’s body.

  “There’s more,” she said, closing her eyes and digging deep for the courage she needed to warn Noah of their future.

  “More what?” he asked. Ooooh. His voice was deep and growly and she had to clench her thighs against the sensation his voice sent through her body. Focus, dammit.

  “More to the story.”

  Noah turned more toward her and leaned his back against the railing. He nodded once, his eyes never leaving her face.

  “Soooo.” It was bad enough that he obviously didn’t like the fact that neither of them really had a choice in their relationships. She could only imagine how he’d react to the rest of it. “Remember how I told you my magic was trying to bind to you? That it wasn’t permanent yet and all that?” He nodded once again. “Once the binding is finished, once we’re bound for life…you’ll have a piece of my magic inside of you.”

  His eyes narrowed and his brows lowered, only one side of his face was lit by the windows behind them. “I don’t know what that means.”

  “You know how kids will cut their hands and press them together to be blood brothers
or blood sisters? You know how we all thought it meant we’d carry a piece of each other with us?”

  “I’ve never done that,” he said, wrinkling his nose in a boyishly cute manner.

  “You know what I’m talking about, though.”

  “I guess.”

  “What it means is, if we complete the binding, my magic will tether itself to you. It’ll flow through your veins, almost as powerfully as it does mine.”

  His brows flew up and his eyes widened. “If I’m bound to you, I’ll become a fucking Fairy?”

  “What?” she said and released a loud, surprised laugh. “Oh my gosh. No. You’re either born a Fairy or you’re not, Noah. We can’t change someone like Shifters can.” She giggled as she tried to picture Noah resembling the Fae of her parents’ time, back when their hair was almost as fair as their skin. “I mean, you’ll have my magic flowing through your veins. You’ll be able to feel me, feel my presence, and even my emotions, no matter how far away you are.”

  Noah sat staring at Hollyn, chewing on the newest information she’d dumped on him.

  And then a slow, wide smile stretched across his face. “I’d be able to find you anywhere,” he said, rather than asked.

  “Yeah. But you’d also be able to feel any pain I go through, any sadness. It can be overwhelming for a non-Fae.”

  “But I’d be able to find you, no matter where you are. No matter how far away you are.”

  She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. “Yeah.”

  “How do we complete the bond?” Noah asked, standing and pulling her to her feet with his hand wrapped around hers.

  “Noah,” she said, tugging on her hand to try to pull him to a stop. Damn, the man was strong. He wasn’t hurting her, wasn’t holding her hand in a death grip, but her feet were almost sliding on the wood deck as she tried to pull back, tried to stop him from rushing into this. “Listen to me.”

  He glanced back at her, saw the fear and trepidation in her ever-changing eyes, and slowed to a stop just as he wrapped his big hand around the doorknob. Releasing his hold on her hand, his eyes darted to it. “Did I hurt you?” he asked, his eyes taking on a faint glow.