“Well, then, I guess it’s our lucky day, because I know all the fire spells you could ever require.”
Her head snaps to me. Of course, this wasn’t part of her plan. I grin at her, but I know it looks more like an animal baring its fangs than anything else.
“I am the King of Flames, after all. You need spells to reach into the power of fire? I’m the right source.”
Her cheek twitches as she tries to smile. “Fine then.” She rips out the last page of a worn-looking book, and grabs one of the scattered pens. “Tell me some.”
I do, and then follow her back to the divan.
She accepts that I’m not going to lie down, which makes her work a little awkward. She prompts me to take off my leather vest, blushing hard as I do, and then she straddles me. But what she does next slams another new feeling into my chest, and this time it’s one I understand perfectly.
CHAPTER II
Cerys
Xerxes tenses under my touch. I don’t put my skin on his, but my open palms emit energy that he feels as if I were caressing him. The rivulets of fire that he has instead of veins move under his bronze skin, following the path my hands draw on him.
I have been doing this for years, I started learning when I was only a toddler, but with Xerxes, it feels like I’m doing it for the first time. Hardly surprising. He’s the most dangerous man in the world, and I’m alone with him in my room. He’s shirtless, and I’m straddling him, only the natural golden glow of his body and the oil lamp illuminating the gothic decorum. A scenario comes to my mind, sort of like role-play. The most powerful man in the world, coming to visit a forbidden lover in the shadiest corner of the city.
I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing the image from my mind, and struggling to focus on the task at hand. But the reality of this keeps pounding in my temples, making me too aware of his presence here, on my divan, between my legs. He’s got the most muscular, beautiful body I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s something brutally masculine, and raw in the way he looks. It’s impossible not to imagine sex with him, the fantasies are impossible to resist.
With my eyes closed, I murmur the first spell he taught me. I stumble over the words, his deep, rumbling voice bringing me back on track as he starts incanting the spell with me. Is it wrong that I like his voice, that this whole outrageous situation stimulates me deep in my lower belly? Even thinking about the guards outside, completely oblivious to the fact that the man they’re here to protect me from has breached their defenses, so easily, ignites my lust.
His manhood stiffens in his leather pants, pushing against my inner thigh. When I meet his deadly red eyes, he grins.
“Just keep going. It’s what happens when I feel fire magic close, so rest assured. I’m not going to rape you, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
I’m not afraid, and that’s the problem. As a virgin, am I even supposed to feel this way, so lusty for a man? It’s never happened before, but now cream trickles into my panties, and I’m afraid he can smell it. Damn it, I have to conceal my arousal, no matter what.
I concentrate on the spell, pressing my eyes shut until it hurts, and extending my senses to the chamber of lava deep under Arthur’s Seat. It’s not easy to reach it, since the volcano has been dormant for over a million years, here in the Flipside as well as in the human realm, but that’s not even the biggest problem.
“I’m gonna need you to steady me,” I murmur as my senses finally latch onto the volcano’s deepest source. It’s a faint connection at first, since the source is so far under the earth’s crust, with layers upon layers of hardened magma over it, that it’s a miracle I reached it so fast. Must be the adrenaline.
But the connection could break at any second, so I keep my eyes shut, staying completely focused on it. “If I go too far, I might disturb the balance, and wake the volcano. The power will be pulled to you like a magnet, but it won’t be easy to reach that point without causing some disturbance. I’m sure your body can withstand it, but mine might not.”
He places his large hands on my hips. His touch is light, protective even, but I’m all too aware those hands are weapons, large and deadly.
“I’ve got you,” he says in that deep, god-like voice of his. Sweet Divinity, help me through this.
I go on to the next spell, and lean my head back, enjoying the surprisingly pleasant sensation. I can feel the power of deep earth lava unlock as if a bolt has just been lifted. This is much easier than I expected. The fire can sense the King of Flames, and it starts towards him like starving children towards a long lost parent. All he needed me for was to channel it, and given, for that he required a good magic energy worker, one with experience. And there aren’t many of us around, because mages prefer to focus on other areas, much more glamorous than this.
Xerxes lets out a delighted, “Ah,” feeling the power racing towards him. But it passes through me at first, hitting me in hot, vigorous waves that my body might not withstand.
Xerxes’ grip on my waist turns rigid, making it impossible for me to move, and un-straddle him. But I need to move, I won’t be able to contain the power surging into me from the lava chamber, it will kill me. It doesn’t seem to even move the Fire King, who takes it in with a delighted expression on his face, his eyes closed, his manhood stiff like a thick iron rod against my inner thigh.
I lose my grip on the stream of energy, and it blasts into the room, creating a whirl and a deafening hum. I struggle, yelling Xerxes’ name, desperate to get him out of his trance. His eyes snap open, so red I have to shield mine, squinting. For a second I can’t speak or breathe. His magic is fascinating to behold. For a moment his face is the only stable image, everything in the room flying around in the tornado that the magic energy created when I lost my grip on it.
The hard features of his face set in an expression of complete control, and the whirl settles, all the flying objects falling to the ground. I breathe out in relief, relaxing in his arms. Our eyes lock, and time stands still.
As much as we both tried to avoid a connection being created between us, there’s no denying that a very strong one has just been born, and there’s no turning back. It’s not instant love, of course, I’m not even sure I even believe in that, but a feeling of belonging.
And a feeling that I’ve never seen such a gorgeous man before. I didn’t even know I was into this type of guy. But then again, Xerxes is in a league of his own, he doesn’t fit into any normal type.
Commotion and a mix of alarmed voices shatter the moment, forcing me to break eye contact with Xerxes, my head snapping to the door.
“No, Sweet Divinity, please no,” I whisper, getting off Xerxes. There’s a bang against the door as the guards slam against it to break it down. It takes only a moment for them to succeed, but even less for Xerxes to jump off the divan and shield me behind him.
A breeze runs through my already messed up hair, but I can’t see anything. Xerxes’ broad, muscled back blocks everything from sight, but I know what’s happening—the very thing I wanted to avoid when I agreed to help him replenish his magic powers; protecting the guards.
I can hear them hiss, I hear the metallic swish of their weapons as they draw them, and the slight buzz in the air as they charge their magic.