Light the Fire

20

Then Derel’s fingers vanished, and were quickly replaced by something much larger, harder, and thicker. As he pushed inside my tight hole, a mix of pleasure and pain shot through me and I clung to Falon as I cried out. He held me in his arms and stroked my breasts lovingly, and when his mouth captured mine, Derel was able to inch deeper inside me from behind.

“That’s it,” he said. “Just relax and let me in.”

“Oh Gods,” I said, as he filled me up slowly, stretching me around him in impossible ways.

“You’re doing great,” Falon said, with a slight pinch to my n*****s.

Suddenly Derel was all the way inside, his hips flush with my behind, and I drew in a ragged breath as the feelings swept through me. I was one with both men at the same time, all of us joined together in the most intimate way.

“Please,” I dug my fingers into the light curls on Falon’s chest and whimpered, not knowing what I asked for, only that I needed more.

Falon gripped my hips and began to thrust up into me, which made Derel move too. Derel’s hands found my breasts and he arched over me from behind as he sank deep inside. Together the two of them began to move in a smooth rhythm, which felt more incredible than anything I’d ever known before. I was pressed between them, joined with them both, and all I could do was let them take control of my body and bring us all to release.

The climax swept through me quickly, making me cry out again and again as pleasure shook my body. I tightened up around both men and they seemed to surge inside me, both of them groaning and exploding together. All of us succumbing at the same time to the unimaginable pleasure of being one with each other’s bodies.

As satisfaction swept over us, the men wrapped me in their arms, squeezing me between them, while they whispered that they loved me and always would. I whispered that I loved them too as I snuggled close against them, my enemy and my best friend, and thought how lucky I was to have them here with me.

Chapter Thirteen

A

fter my tryst with Falon and Derel I found the library, while the men continued working in other rooms of the temple. At first all I could do was stare at the bookshelves lining every wall from floor to ceiling, full of dusty old tomes I couldn’t wait to crack open. Then I slowly stepped inside, examining a seating area on one side of the room and a small desk on the other with a giant flame carved into it. This was all for me, the High Priestess, I realized. Maybe I was meant to be a scholar of sorts after all.

A faded leather journal sat on top of the desk, covered in dust. I blew it off as I sat in the chair and then flipped the journal open, the pages making an audible crack as they moved for the first time in years. With my breath in my throat, I began to read.

My name is Ara and one day I’m going to be the next High Priestess.

Ara—my grandmother! Did she leave this here for me? No, she couldn’t have known I would come to the temple…but maybe she knew someone would.

For years the Dragons have been pressuring all the High Priestesses to step down. They’re scared of what we know. They’re afraid of what will happen if the Gods awaken.

My mother refuses to leave, of course, even though the Gods remain as dormant as this volcano. I’ve decided to record my thoughts in case something should happen to us, in the hopes that one day a future High Priestess will find it.

My mother said she didn’t know why Ara had left the temple and moved to Sparkport. Could this journal hold the key? Was it because of the Dragons?

I’d lived in fear of the Dragons all my life, as did everyone else with any sense. But the Dragons served the Gods alongside the priests—didn’t they? Why would they be afraid if the Gods woke? I had much to learn, obviously. Yet the Fire God remained silent.

I intended to read the journal cover to cover to learn about my grandmother’s life and my role here, but for now I skipped to the very last entry, desperate to know why she’d left the temple.

Once I turned twenty I was supposed to leave the temple and find four priests who would become my mates. Instead I let the Crimson Dragon seduce me, much to my mother’s dismay. She says he did it as a way to ruin me, and I suppose she might be right. If so, his plan worked—because I am pregnant.

I sat back and rested a hand over my racing heart. Gods, was I the granddaughter of the Crimson Dragon? Sark was the most ruthless and brutal Dragon of them all, even though he served the Fire God and ostensibly protected the Fire Realm and led our armies. I’d only seen him a few times when he’d come to check on Sparkport to instill fear in us, and he had been quite handsome, especially for someone hundreds of years old. But I’d also heard rumors that he burnt down the houses of anyone he suspected of conspiring against the Dragons. How could my grandmother sleep with him?

I forced myself to keep reading the final entry. Sark took advantage of me when I was young, lonely, and foolish…and now I’ll never be able to convince four men to become my mates. Not when I am carrying another man’s child—especially the Crimson Dragon’s. I suspect that was his plan all along, to prevent me from becoming High Priestess, though now he has abandoned me, claiming the child cannot be his because he is loyal to the Black Dragon. No doubt she would punish all of us if she found out he had sired a child with someone else, which is why I must keep this secret to my grave.