Burning Violet_Lick of Fire Read online

  She peered at him with the same penetrating gaze that had unsettled him earlier. A small, sad smile touched her lips and she nodded once.

  “I believe you.”

  It was all she said before returning her attention to her own food, so why did Idris feel like she’d just acknowledged the five months he’d just spent in hell? There was something about her… ‘She’s a good judge of people,’ Ladybird had said, but it was more than that. She was a para, he had no doubt about it. As to what her power was exactly, he’d have been hard pressed to guess. If not a telepath, then what?

  They ate in silence for a little while. Idris savored every mouthful of bread or soup, as though each one might erase one of many unsatisfactory meals. When he finished the last of his soup, Linda stood and took his bowl. Without a word, she refilled it, maybe not as fully as the first time around, but certainly enough that he wouldn’t go to bed hungry.

  “How long will you be here?” she asked Ladybird as she sat back down. “I’ll be glad for your company as long as you care to stay, but I know you, child. And I just need one look at your friend to know he’s the same.”

  Ladybird glanced at Idris before returning her eyes to the crumbs of bread she was playing with on the table, her fingertip pushing them this way and that in what looked like an absentminded gesture.

  “I’m thinking a couple of days,” she said quietly. “I might have to leave the bike with you for now since they’re looking for it. We’ll rent a car, it’ll be less noticeable. What do you think?”

  She addressed the last toward Idris, catching him by surprise. He hadn’t realized her plans included him. He finished chewing his vegetables slowly to give himself time to think.

  “I’ll be sad to lose the bike,” he said in the end, “but you’re right. It’s too distinctive.”

  “And where will you be going?” Linda asked. “Home?”

  Home… Part of Idris wished he’d had a home to go back to, but even if he had, it would have been too much of a risk. Ladybird, on the other hand, answered without hesitating.

  “Yes. It’ll be best if we keep low for a while, and there’s no better place for that than Sanctuary.”

  “You’ve mentioned that place several times,” Idris said, “but I still have no idea where that is. Or what.”

  “It’s only the closest thing to Heaven we’re likely to find on this side of life,” Linda said with a little chuckle.

  She stood and started gathering empty bowls, but Ladybird stopped her, offering to take care of the cleaning up for her.

  “Thank you, child. I’d appreciate that as I’m late in feeding the chickens.”

  She draped the shawl that had been resting on the back of her chair over her shoulders and walked out through the back door. Ladybird picked up the empty bowls and cutlery and carried them to the sink. Idris watched her back for a few seconds before pushing away from the table and joining her. He stood next to her and took the bowls after she washed them, rinsing them and setting them on the drying rack.

  “So, Sanctuary?” he asked.

  “It might not be Heaven, but it really is the closest to it we can build. It’s right on the northern border. It’s a private property, large enough to contain three small towns, two on one side of the border and one on the other. We’ve got fields, orchards. An air strip. It’s fenced in, with surveillance and patrols. We’ve got allies in both governments that basically erased every trace of it from records. We even found a way to make sure no satellite looks in on us. As far as nearby towns are concerned, we’re just a benign religious cult that likes to keep to itself. The few people who know it’s a place for paras are people we trust with our safety. People come there to live in the open as who and what they are, or just to rest for a while after they’ve been hunted or jailed. We can give them new identities and help them start over, anywhere they want.”

  They were already done with the dishes. Idris leaned back against the sink while Ladybird finished clearing up the table before scrubbing it clean. With his arms crossed he watched her work, replaying her words in her mind. He’d never heard about a place like that. It sounded too good to be true.

  “You say ‘we,’” he noted, “but you’re not there. You’re here, rescuing paras with your grinch of a boss.”

  “I was rescuing paras,” she corrected, a note of bitterness in her voice. “I’ll have to find another way to do that. I know there’s another group operating down south but I’ve never made contact.”

  He’d lived in the south for five years but he’d never heard about any such thing. He almost said as much but realized she’d taken the tangent on purpose.

  “That still doesn’t tell me who ‘we’ is.”

  She was done with her cleaning. She remained with her back to him for a few seconds before she leaned back against the table, facing him with her arms crossed as his were.

  “One of my great-great-grandmothers owned the property a couple of hundred years ago,” she said in a voice so blank of emotions that Idris couldn’t help but wonder what she was hiding. “She’d found gold in the mountains there, and she bought land, piece by piece, until she had a domain large enough that she could fly without anyone seeing her. My family lived there, mostly cut off from the world. They’d grow up safe, then go into the world to find their mates, and most came back to Sanctuary. Even today half the people there are related, to one degree or another. It used to be no one was told of Sanctuary who didn’t belong to the family by birth or mating, but ever since the world found out about us and started hunting us, we’ve been welcoming others, helping them. My mother’s in charge, now. I mean, we vote on big decisions and she’s got people to advise her, but in the end she makes the important decisions.”

  Listening to her, Idris could only marvel that he’d never heard even so much as a whisper about it. What would he have done if he had? There had been a time in his life when he could have used guidance from people who knew what it was like to struggle with powers, but today…

  “Sounds like a nice place,” he said with a nod. “Maybe I’ll check it out after I take care of my business.”

  Ladybird clenched her jaw before loosening again.

  “Your business. Getting your revenge, you mean.”

  When he nodded, she went on.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea. You’re being hunted. Don’t you think they’ll be looking for you in the place where they found you before?”

  It was something Idris had thought about, yes. The last thing he wanted was to be captured again and sent back to jail, and yet he couldn’t just forgive his former allies.

  “The entire time I was in that place,” he said very low, “getting out and making the people who sent me there pay was all I could think about. It’s the only thing that kept me alive. You can’t understand—”

  “I do,” she cut in, a thin smile softening the interruption. “I do understand. I was in one of those cells, once. Nowhere near as long as you were, but long enough that I had a few fantasies about revenge. But revenge doesn’t help you heal or move on. It just allows your wounds to fester.”

  Offering her a grin that bared his teeth, Idris pushed away from the counter and started for the door.

  “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that, sweetheart.”

  As he was passing by her, she raised a hand toward him, briefly touching his bare arm and sending a shiver down his spine.

  “How about this?” she said when he met her gaze. “Come to Sanctuary with me. Rest for a little while. We’ll get you a new identity, a bike or a car. And then if you still feel like you need to take your revenge, you’ll be free to leave. No one will stop you. Not even me.”

  When he started to shake his head, she added quickly, “At least think about it before you say no? As a favor to me? You owe me that much.”

  Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Idris couldn’t help but be amused. She really didn’t know when to quit. He could count on the fingers of one hand the w
omen he’d met in his life who’d been as determined as she was… and she was in a whole different league. Maybe it should have annoyed him, but strangely enough he didn’t mind. Or at least, not that much.

  “I’ll think about it,” he offered, and kept to himself that he wouldn’t change his mind.

  The searing smile she gave him in return was worth the trouble. He started for the door again, and she called after him, “I’m going to say good night to Linda, and then I’ll turn in for the evening.”

  He thought at first that it was her way of saying they wouldn’t be finishing what they’d started earlier after all, but when he glanced at her, her expression reflected an eagerness that was as good as a verbal invitation, red spots darkening her cheeks while her eyes blazed with desire. He might be across the room from her, but with no more than that look he was suddenly hard and aching again.

  “Right,” he drawled, passing his tongue over his lips. “We did have a pretty long day. A good bed would be welcome.”

  “Very welcome, yes.”

  She winked at him before conjuring a shawl over her shoulders in a flurry of rearranging feathers. Out through the back door she went, and Idris went back to his bedroom, walking away with the complete certainty that she wasn’t at all talking about the bed.

  “Clean up first,” he muttered to himself. “Make her wait a little. She’ll be that much more eager for you.”

  Somehow, though, neither the prospect of making her crave him enough that she’d beg nor the delights of his first hot shower in months could keep him away from her for very long.

  With water still dripping from him and nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist he went to her door. It wasn’t fully closed, and all he had to do was push it open to find her waiting for him at the foot of the bed. A flash of heat coursed through him at the sight of her sitting there in a red satin robe that clung to her every curve, and every inch of his skin suddenly felt as dry as his mouth. He walked in and made sure to lock the door behind him.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Idris leaned back against the door, the nonchalant pose at odds with the intensity of the hunger reflected on his features. His eyes roamed over Violet and he clearly enjoyed what he was seeing; so did she.

  “Flatterer,” she said, drawing out the word.

  Confusion briefly touched his face, but when she looked fixedly at his crotch, where the towel that covered him tented in an impressive fashion, he laughed.

  “All for you,” he confirmed.

  His right hand came to rest on the edge of the towel, the gesture full of intent. Violet licked her lips, unable to tear her eyes away.

  “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he drawled.

  Getting to her feet, she tapped a finger across her lips and affected a thoughtful expression.

  “Tempting,” she said, “but you’ll have to do better than that.”

  In lieu of encouragement, she transformed the long, silky robe that covered her down to her ankles into a powder blue baby doll nightgown that fell no lower than her thighs. Idris pushed away from the door and took slow steps toward her, one hand still holding the towel at his waist, the other rising toward her décolletage. He traced the edge with a fingertip, barely touching her skin.

  “I told you I don’t beg,” he said very low, the words like a rumble of distant thunder.

  “How about asking nicely?” she replied, her words just as quiet but a little breathless.

  “I don’t do ‘nice’ either.”

  “No? So taking care of my arm, that wasn’t you being nice?”

  She inched just a little closer to him. Without heels, she had to look up to meet his gaze. They weren’t touching, but they were so close she could feel the heat radiating from him. It felt delicious against her skin and feathers.

  “Is it nice that I did it only so I could get you half undressed, and see where that would lead us?”

  She snorted at that. He was full of it. Someone who thought only with his dick wouldn’t do such a good job with a bandage.

  “All you’ve got to do is say ‘please’ and you’ll know exactly where that road leads.”

  He shook his head, a grin twisting his lips as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

  “You really like to tell people what to do, huh? I’ve listened all day. My turn to give orders.”

  But rather than saying another word, he let the towel drop. Before she could look down and get a peek at what made her salivate already, he picked her up and half dropped, half threw her on the bed behind her. She let out a wheezing laugh of surprise but couldn’t manage even a word in protest, especially when he climbed onto the bed on all fours and crawled up her body. The tip of his cock left a wet trail against her leg and thigh and it was all she could do not to moan at the touch.

  It had been a long time since she’d been with a man; too long. But this was not just any man now reaching for the flimsy ties that held the baby doll closed, was it? It was her mate. And he didn’t even know it. Or did he? His name had slipped from her lips back at the diner, but he hadn’t reacted at all. And he still hadn’t asked for her name. Could it be because he knew, or suspected? If he knew, she wanted to be sure; if he didn’t, she had to tell him.

  “Wait,” she said, covering his hand with hers and stopping him from opening the baby doll’s sides. “There’s something you need to know.”

  His face hovering above hers, he quirked an eyebrow at her.

  “Is your tattoo mate going to burst in and kill me for laying a hand on you?” he asked.

  She couldn’t help but grin.

  “No, but—”

  “Then tell me later.”

  And with that, his mouth crashed upon hers.

  It was technically their third kiss already, but it felt like the first proper one—the first that was allowed to develop and last. The glimpses she’d caught the first two times now proved to be true: they just ‘clicked,’ their natural rhythms falling in sync without any effort whether they devoured each other’s mouth or slowed down for something more sensual.

  Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she drew him tighter against her body. Months of captivity had left him close to being too thin, but he still weighed down on her comfortably, anchoring her to the here and now when her mind wanted to drift toward a dozen unanswered questions. The warmth coming from his skin flared every few seconds, like flames rising above a campfire to reach toward the sky.

  She retracted her feathers, leaving herself bare against him, just so she could enjoy his heat a little more. He raised his head when he noticed what she was doing, and fiery eyes roamed over her body. He licked his lips before smirking at her.

  “See? I didn’t have to beg after all.”

  She’d have argued the point—his kiss had felt like a very polite request to her—but the words simply melted on her tongue when his own teased a path from the crook of her neck to the tip of her left breast. Her nipples had always been too sensitive for this kind of stimulation, and she squirmed under him, her hands tightening on his shoulders to push him off. Instead, she stilled and opened wide, unseeing eyes toward the ceiling.

  The heat of his mouth and tongue transformed a touch that had always been almost painful to something that made her moan and arch against him. Without realizing what she was doing, she pressed her nails into his shoulders to hold him where he was. He chuckled in reply, and pressed a painless bite to the side of her breast before moving on to the next one.

  “Like this, don’t you?” he murmured, his lips caressing the achingly hard nub he found there.

  Words were beyond her reach, but she managed a little hum.

  “What else do you like, then?”

  He didn’t wait for her to reply. Even as he bestowed the same treatment onto her previously neglected nipple, his right hand trailed over her side and hip, raising goose bumps in its wake. Next, it slid to the inside of her thigh as he shifted to rest next to her. A gentle tap of his fingers let her know wha
t he wanted, and she didn’t even think twice before parting her legs for him. Her mind was still swimming in sensations even when he lifted his mouth off her to watch her, and they only redoubled when his fingertips gently started exploring her folds.

  “Like this?”

  She didn’t reply, at least not in words, but her gasp and the way she pressed down into his hand answered anyway.

  He continued to explore, finding every spot in and out of her that caused tendrils of pleasure to wrap around her. With two fingers curled within her and his thumb flicking back and forth, he rested at her side and watched her closely. She felt more exposed than she’d ever been before and started draping her arm over her face to hide, but he wouldn’t let her.

  “No,” he said strongly, twisting his fingers in such a way that she cried out. “Show me.”

  She dropped her arm and tried to say something, she wasn’t even sure what, but this time it was his thumb that pressed harder against her clit. She arched against him—and he only did it again, and again and again, until fire tore through her and it was all too much. Panting hard, her vision blurring, she grabbed his wrist and pushed it away.

  “Please, please, just…”

  Another shudder wracked her body and she finished with a moan.

  “Who’s begging now?” he asked, and his slight smile didn’t do a thing to tone down his smugness.

  She laughed quietly, calling him a bastard in a wheezing voice. After her heart had calmed down a little, she managed to raise her head to grin at him.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Pressing a hand to his chest, she pushed him onto his back and lost no time crawling between his legs. His cock, hard and thick, twitched in her hand when she took hold of it to lead it to her mouth. She swiped her tongue against the slit, enjoying the tangy bead of clear fluid, then took the full head inside her mouth. His flesh felt burning against her tongue and she let out a quiet hum of appreciation as she slowly moved up and down.

  She’d only been at it for a few seconds when he grabbed her hair in his fist and pulled to make her stop. She raised her head and arched a questioning eyebrow at him as she licked her lips.