Dark Fire
A Wild Darkness Calls story
Dark Fire
Gods' Stones Series
by Alix Richards
Genre Erotic Paranormal Romance
Tags erotic, short, romance, paranormal, fantasy, series,
Release November 11. 2014
Editor Susan Davis
Line Editor Greta Gunselman
Cover Designer Shirley Burnett
Words 10330
Pages 46
ISBN 978-1-77127-612-2
Price $2.50
Back Cover
“You know exactly what I’m saying.” Lea moved directly in front of him, her silver-violet eyes ablaze with unnamed emotion. She gripped the edges of his denim jacket and jerked him flush against her.
His hands spanned her hips in a failed attempt to keep them from touching. Normally, females didn’t rush him in this manner. Raider opened his mouth. Before a word escaped Lea’s lips covered his.
Shock jolted his system as her tongue thrust against his. The smooth dominance with which she moved halted all rational thoughts. Dreams from his teen years moved through his mind, teasing him with what he’d fantasized about while young and innocent.
Fingers twitched as he pulled her closer and took command of the caress. Raider barely noticed Lea hadn’t fought him for control. She relented without a sound. Did that mean something?
For the past decade, Lea Manchester lived with secrets she shared with no one, including her family. Those same secrets have now come back to haunt her and harm her family. She didn’t have time for a hot attraction, even with a warrior sent to bring her in.
Raider Silverthorne isn’t accustomed to a dominate female asserting herself without fear, ready to fight. This assignment should’ve been a normal retrieval, and then Lea kissed him. All rational thought left.
In that second, he knew she belonged to him and he wouldn’t be handing her over to the Hybrid Council.
Excerpt
Lea strode toward him and stopped. Her eyes spoke out loud of what he’d sensed. Something sizzled between them. And it wasn’t the fact they were on opposites sides of the law.
“Listen.” She stepped back. “We’re going to be here until the weather clears, and the mountains don’t let go easily. So let’s just put it all out there. I don’t enjoy beating around the bush.”
“What are you talking about?” Raider narrowed his gaze on hers as his whole body stiffened in heated awareness.
“You know exactly what I’m saying.” Lea moved directly in front of him, her silver-violet eyes ablaze with unnamed emotion. She gripped the edges of his denim jacket and jerked him flush against her.
His hands spanned her hips in a failed attempt to keep them from touching. Normally, females didn’t rush him in this manner. Raider opened his mouth. Before a word escaped, Lea’s lips covered his.
Shock jolted his system as her tongue thrust against his. The smooth dominance with which she moved halted all rational thoughts. Dreams from his teen years moved through his mind, teasing him with what he’d fantasized about while young and innocent.
Fingers twitched as he pulled her closer and took command of the caress. Raider barely noticed Lea hadn’t fought him for control. She relented without a sound. Did that mean something?
* * * *
When she’d gotten it into her head to kiss him, she hadn’t considered her reaction. Sure, Raider Silverthorne was smokin’ hot, but knee wobbling, head spinning, heart stopping sexy. No, none of those crossed her mind. Lea just wanted to get the first kiss out of the way, because they were stuck in close quarters until the storm passed. One male and one female meant one thing—sex.
She’d thought since she instigated the intimacy the control was hers. Yet, here she was, lost in the passion hot sensations drowning her. She had submitted.
A sharp poke tore through the deluge of unlocked emotions. With a silent cry, she jerked away from him. Eyes wide, Lea’s fingers swiped across the burning. Glancing down, the digit came away bloodied. She snarled. He had marked her. Hand fisted, jaw clenched.
How dare he! No male marks me without my permission. Air hissed through lengthened canines and incisors. She took a step and stopped as realization hit her. She ran the tip of her tongue over the descended teeth. All four sets exposed. That never happened. She swallowed.
She forced herself to inhale and hold it. Lenna warned her one of these days her actions with males would come back to haunt her. At the time, Lea had laughed…not now. Maybe her older twin had it right; she did get herself into deep shit without thinking.
Her gaze traveled up to be snared by Raider’s metallic one. His chest heaved and jaw clenched. Had she gone the wrong route with this one? Her throat suddenly went dry. She twisted her hand to show him the blood from her lip. Cool air brushed the abrasion, telling her it still bled.
Something deadly and dangerous slithered behind those mercury eyes. Lea stiffened and kept from moving back when Raider stepped toward her. Her actions could be questionable at times, but when a male hybrid had that look about them…well, she wasn’t completely brainless.
Unnamed emotions flashed bright then dulled, only to flare again. She told herself it was her imagination. Another deeper, darker part of herself murmured recognition—Twin Flames.
Relax. It’s nothing. Just an extremely heated attraction that’s all. Breathe you idiot, you’re going to pass out. Even as she silently berated herself, Lea knew it was exactly what she feared. Why now, why a Terentian warrior? I don’t have time for this. My cousins don’t have time for this.
The memory of why she was there to begin with caused an ache to bloom in her chest. Failure wasn’t an option. She had to gather the gems, meet up with Liah and disappear. Dealing with Raider and whatever this was between them wasn’t in the timeline.
“I apologize.” His rough vocals carried through the painful haze covering her mind. She hadn’t noticed he held her finger and licked the blood from its tip. Her heart tripped over itself. “I didn’t realize I bit you.”
“It’s all right.” Lea tugged her hand, he didn’t release her. “Let go.”
“Why did you kiss me?” His pale eyes bored straight to her soul. She blinked.
“We’re going to be here, together, alone.” She shrugged. “I wanted to get it out of the way. Now we know we’re attracted to each other. It’ll be easier sharing body heat.”
“Sharing body heat?” Raider’s eyes widened.
If the situation wasn’t serious she’d have laughed at his expression. Lea already figured he came from a tropical climate not to be aware of the weather in the state. She tilted her head, studying him. Did he come from Calanthia? She shoved the wondering back, it wasn’t any of her business where he came from.
“Yes, it’s the only way we’ll sleep comfortably.” She stared up into his face, watching for anything that would give her answers without her asking. “Unless you want to take turns sleeping and watching the fire, that is?”
“The fire won’t continue burning throughout the night?” The pad of his thumb rubbed back and forth across the tip of her finger. She forced her attention away from the motion.
“Not that one. Too small. It’ll glow embers until early dawn, but with the temp dropping like a rock already…” She shivered. “Sub-zeroes aren’t something to mess with. Personally I prefer to be in a building with a furnace.”
Lea swore the only reason she shivered was because of the chill that had worked its way inside. She wasn’t accustomed to being out in this weather. In no way did it have anything to do with Raider.
“We can’t leave now?” Raider glanced over his shoulder then back.
“Um, no.” She shook her head and chuckled.
