Light the Fire

14

He bent his head and touched his mouth to mine slowly, then gave me soft, teasing kisses, as though he was learning the shape of my lips. I slid my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, wanting more, but he was infuriatingly patient. I suppose he had to be, if he’d waited this long to kiss me. But then his tongue swiped across my lower lip and I opened for him with a gasp. As his tongue slid sensually against mine, he clutched me in his arms and made me feel cherished and adored, like he wanted to take his time kissing me and never let me go.

He pressed his forehead against mine. “Even better than I imagined it would be.”

“Good, now you’ve kissed all of us,” Blane called out. “We can finally move on to the fun stuff.”

I laughed. “What makes you think that will happen?”

“A man can hope.”

“That seems rather presumptuous,” I said, as I hefted my bag onto my other shoulder and continued walking alongside Falon. Gods, why had I packed so many things? With each step the bag became heavier and heavier.

“Isn’t that why we’re here?” Blane asked with a wicked grin. “To serve you?”

“You’re coming with me to serve the Fire God.” A small smile played across my lips. “And to keep me company, I suppose.”

“I think Blane has a specific way he wants to pass the time,” Derel said.

Blane chuckled. “As if you aren’t hoping for the same thing.”

Chapter Nine

I

thought about Blane’s comment as we found a spot to make camp for the night. I had kissed all of them now, although I hadn’t kissed Roth in years. Not since the night of the attack, when our lives changed forever. I wanted to kiss him again, but would he let me?

I’d tried to be supportive after his injury. I’d told him I didn’t care what he looked like, that I loved him no matter what and still wanted to be with him—but he couldn’t even listen to the words without going into a rage. He was in so much pain, both inside and out, and he said that seeing me only made it worse. He asked me to leave him alone, telling me he didn’t want me anymore, and I foolishly listened, hoping he would change his mind once he healed. Now I wished I could go back and force myself to stay, no matter what harmful things he’d said to me.

It was warm enough that we didn’t need a fire, but I drifted away from the group and began practicing my new magic on some weeds growing up from some rocks. The fire came easier now, though it still surprised me every time.

“I thought only the Dragons had magic,” Roth said, his gravelly voice behind me.

“Me too. It seems the Gods can make exceptions.” I tried to snuff out the flames, but when my magic didn’t work, I stomped on the weeds with my boots. “I’m sorry. Does the fire bring back bad memories?”

“It’s fine. We should get back to the camp though.”

I nodded and began to follow him, but then stopped. I was tired of this distance between us. “Roth, wait.”

He stopped and turned toward me, the moonlight highlighting both halves of his face. It made my chest tighten with emotion, and I found myself crossing the distance to him. When he didn’t move away, I gripped his shirt in my hand and lifted on my toes to press my mouth against his. At first he didn’t respond and I worried I’d made a fool of myself, but then he let out a groan and his arms went around me, hauling me against his muscular body. His mouth devoured mine like he was making up for the last two years.

My back pressed against the boulder behind me as Roth’s lips trailed down my neck. Desire swept through me, hot and needy, and I fumbled for his trousers, wanting him inside me again. Gods, it had been way too long, and I’d never stopped aching for him since that night.

He tore his mouth from mine as my fingers rubbed against his hard bulge. “Calla… We shouldn’t.”

“Why not? We’ve slept together before.”

“Yes, but not since this.” He gestured at the burn marring his otherwise perfect face.

“I don’t care about that. I loved you before your scars and I love you now too. If they took over your entire body I would still love you.” He didn’t say anything as I took his face in my hands. “Besides, this side of you is so pretty you need something to balance it out. Otherwise you’d make the other guys jealous.”

That finally got one corner of his mouth to twitch up. “I was always the best looking one in our group.”

I pressed a kiss to both of his cheeks. “I was so happy when I saw you in the crowd this morning. I couldn’t imagine spending my life without you. And now we’re here together, and I’m ready to go back to what we once had.”

He let out a ragged breath. “I love you too, Calla.”

My eyes widened. “You do?”

“I should have said it years ago. I just couldn’t imagine you would still love me when I looked like this, especially when you almost died that night. I figured if I stayed away, you’d marry one of the other guys, who I knew also loved you.”

“They were probably worried about hurting you by being with me.” “Maybe, though I did a pretty good job of pushing them away over the years. Especially Blane.” He tangled his fingers in my hair. “I was both relieved and jealous when the two of you started seeing each other. I hoped you would be happy together.”