Hearts of Fire by Kira Brady Read Free Book Online Page B

did his immortal, black heart have to hold out against such power?
    So he kissed her with everything in him. He tasted her lips and danced with her tongue and gave himself over to her wise, wise keeping. All the while he kept up the rhythm of their bodies together. The drums from their waltz echoed in his mind. Her soul burned like a bonfire, and he drove toward its welcoming warmth. He wanted a piece of it. Wanted one taste of heaven.
    “You’re holding yourself back,” she murmured beneath his lips. “Be mine tonight. Let me see you, love. All of you, not just this man-shaped half.”
    “I don’t want to hurt you—”
    “You can’t. I give myself to you freely. Take it. Take me.”
    The darkness in his breast roared. The dragon reached for her shimmering soul, brighter than gold, brighter than star fire. He felt her tighten beneath him again, and this time he seized her lips. As she trembled, a wave of energy rolled up her body. It reached his mouth and he welcomed it, a dazzling burst of light on his tongue. Her life energy connected them and rolled through his body with the roar of a tidal wave. For one brief, glorious moment, his inner darkness lit with the glow of a thousand suns.
    He let himself go, and his orgasm ripped through him. His mind flashed white. And he knew peace.
     
     
    Alice lay in the clearing across her lover’s chest, sated and languid like a cat in cream. His beautiful hands brushed up and down her back. He paused to trace the designs that swirled up her spine.
    “A tattoo?” His voice rumbled beneath her ear.
    “Owl feathers. To always remind me of my totem half, even in this human skin.”
    “I like it.”
    “Thank you. The ink was applied during my totem ceremony, when I became an adult in the eyes of my people.”
    “Were you always able to Change into an Owl?”
    “No. Not until I was thirteen. The Lady gifts us our totem Animal when we become adults.”
    “Any Animal? Or is it dependent on your parents?”
    “Any Animal as She wills it. But She often wills it to be similar to our parents. My brother is Raven, like my father. My mother was Owl. Could you always shift to dragon?”
    “Yes.”
    She ran her fingers over the pulse in his neck, reminding him that she was here to stay. “And?”
    “I could shift in the womb. I’ve never spoken of it so freely before—”
    “You can always speak freely with me.”
    He ran his clever hands down her spine to cup her bottom again. “It seems too good to be true.”
    “Is that so?” She raised herself on her arms over him. Her nipples peaked, and she brushed them across his chest on her way to his mouth. “I see I might have to remind you.”
    He swallowed as her breasts traced the edge of his lips. She straddled him. His hands clasped her thighs and moved higher. “Yes, ma’am.”

Chapter 4
    An hour later, still short of dawn, Alice led the way out of the tree canopy with her dragon at her tail to find a smoke-filled horizon. What had happened? With a burst of speed, she raced toward town. Every mile seemed like ten. Closer in, she caught sight of the flames that painted the clouds a dull red. Seattle burned.
    Her heart dropped into her stomach. What about their homes? Their livelihoods? The bustling city that her father had dreamed of?
    She clawed through the choking smoke and landed in the middle of Front Street. Not caring who saw, she Changed, while the wooden buildings burned around her. Men rushed to save what goods they could. Fire hoses lay abandoned in the road. The water pressure wasn’t strong enough to fight the blaze. The wooden pipes burned right along with the buildings.
    “By the Lady,” she whispered.
    Brand had Changed too, and he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry,” he said. He kissed her hair. “What can I do?”
    “Who caused this?” But there were scorch marks that looked suspiciously like thunderbolts on the nearby ground. Deep clawed grooves raked the mud.
    An earsplitting roar