Fearless (The Blue Fire Saga) (31 page)

“
Far enough from what
?”
Rave asked. “
Do you know w
hat’
s causing this
?
”

Balin shook his head. “We
are
not certain. Apparently, such a thing has happened at least once before, many
, many ages ago, beyond the memory of any who
are
now
a
live.
The Council of Elders is
about to meet to see what we might discover in the archives. I was waiting for you
three
to return
before I went.”

“Wait a minute,” Bain said. “Do you mean this is happen
ing to everyone? Not just to the
three
of us
?”

“It’s affecting everyone,” Balin replied. “
Everyone in the village has had their fire diminished.”

Before anyone could respond,
the floor of the cabin began to vibrate
and
a
loud rumbling arose from within the earth
.
Reflexively, Leesa grabbed Rave’s arm to steady herself.

She
had felt the Noises once before
on a previous visit
, but this time the shaking and the sound were
much
stronger.
If she had experienced something like this back in California, she would have called it an earthquake.
She remembered Dominic speaking of fell powers stirring under the ground here. She hoped they were not awakening,
whatever they were. Not
now of all times.

The shaking lasted for almost two minutes before things finally quieted.
Balin’s
sturdy cabin suffered no damage, other than a
nearly full
bottle of mead that fell off a
high
shelf and shattered on the wooden floor.
The golden liquid spread quickly across the floor. Balin made no move to clean it up.

“
A waste of good drink,”
he
said, smiling. “
Perhaps it will help season the wood.”

Leesa could not imagine that
the three hundred year old boards
needed any
more
seasoning.

“
The Noises have been
much
more active
than usual
of late
,” Balin continued.
“This is the second time just
this morning.”

“Do you think they
have anything to do with the problem with our fire?
”
Dral
asked.

Balin shrugged.
“I do no
t know.
The Noises have been here as long as we have. Never in my lifetime have they caused
anything such as
this.”

Leesa
’s stomach began to feel hollow. She didn’
t like what she was hearing. Dominic had said
using
her m
agic
here
might awaken whatever powers
lived deep
with
in the earth. She hated the thought
that
she might be responsible for something that was harming the volkaanes.
Worse, she
could not bear the thought
she might have hurt Rave.

“
Dominic said
there are fell powers in the earth near here,” she told Balin.
“Whatever that means.
He dreamed that using my mag
ic here risked awakening them. Tha
t’s why I left last week.
I hope this isn’t my fault.”

Balin recognized
the anguish on Leesa’s face
and in her voice
. He laid
his hands gently
up
on her shoulders.

“Hush, child,” he said. “You have done nothing to feel gu
ilty about. We’
ll
figure something out.” He turned to the others. “I must go to the Council.
Dral
and Bain
will come with me.
Young
Rave, you stay here with Leesa.
” He smiled. “With your fire
weak
ened like it is
, perhaps you will think of some way to comfort her.”

It took a moment for Leesa to get what Balin was hinting at. When she finally understood, she felt herself blushing. But she couldn’t stop smiling, either.
She linked her arms around Rave’s elbow.

Balin
followed
Dral
and Bain out the door. He
stopped in the doorway
and turned back toward Leesa and Rave
.

2
4
.
RAPTURE

F
or the first time since
way back at
the beginning of their relationshi
p, Leesa felt a bit awkward around
Rave. That
was
totally normal,
she told herself. Balin had just given them permission to do what she had been longing to do for months—kiss for as long as they wanted without worrying about her safety.
They were both pretty inexperienced with this st
uff, so it was only natural
to feel a little nervous. She gave Rave’
s arm a squeeze.

“Talk about a silver lining,” she said,
smiling.
“I’m just sorry it had to be because of something like this, with your fire being weakened.
”

“I’m not,” Rave said. He
reached up and
tenderly brushed a few stray strands of Leesa’s hair away from her forehead. “I told you I would give up my fire for you. I meant it.
”

Leesa sighed. Even without hi
s heat, she still thrilled to his touch.

“And I meant it when I said I would never let you do that.
”

Rave gently cupped her head in his strong hands, his fingers entwined in her hair.

“Well, we don’t have to worry about that right now,” he said. He bent forward, so that his face was only inches from hers. “So unless you want to keep talking….”

Leesa shook her head
slowly
. God, his eyes were beautiful. Her “no”
was barely
a whisper.
She watched as his lips moved closer to her right eye. When they filled her vision, she closed her eyes.

Rave tenderly kissed her eyelid, and then did the same thing to her other eye. Leesa had never felt anything so loving.

Next, his soft lips kissed the tip of her nose. Her own lips parted slightly as she felt his warm, sweet breath move down to
ward
her mouth. Finally, his lips brushed hers
ever so lightly. A
shiver
fluttered
down her spine.

Rave’s hands were still in her hair. She snaked her hands around behind his waist.
With no timer set and no one watching, she
pressed her lips against his and surrendered
completely to the feelings.

And oh what feelings! She scarcely noticed the
weakness of his magical heat. The sensation
was still beyond anything
human lips could provide. Their mouths opened slightly and her tongue
met
his. S
he quivered again. For the first time, she could take her time to truly savor its sweet, masculine taste
—like wild berries, she thought—a
nd
the
firm yet soft feel
of it
as it danced with her tongue.

Her passion rose and she squeezed her arms more tightly around him. Rave responded by
dropping his hands to her shoulders and
pressing his body against hers. An audible gasp escaped her throat at the exquisite pleasure.
This was a new sensation for her. She had lain in his arms and been carried against his
chest, but never before had she felt his body against hers like this, magnified by the passion of their kiss.
This was not volkaane magic. This
was magic of a different sort—the magic of love, of longing, of desire, of need.

His mouth left hers, but only to lick and nibble the sensitive skin of her neck. She arched her head back, thrilling to the wondrous feeling.
When his tongue found her ear, she thought she might pass out.

And then his tongue was back in her mouth. Somehow, she could still feel it on her neck and in her ear—how
was
such a thing possible, she
thought for a fleeting instant before she was once again lost in the sensations.
She pressed
her tongue greedily against his, taking and giving at the same time. It was hard
for her
to tell where she ended and he began.

Rave slid his hands down from her shoulders
and found
the swell of her breasts. She gasped again
as he gently kneaded them with his palms
. Only one guy had ever touched her there, and that had been a perfunctory experiment producing no pleasure
, only anxiety and guilt
. This was different.
As different as a ripe strawberry dipped in luscious chocolate was from a piece of stale white bread.
Rave
’
s hands sent waves of
electric
pleas
ure shooting through her body—s
he swore she could feel it in her toes. She grabbed the back of h
is shirt and pulled it out of
his jeans, then moved around
to the fr
ont and yank
ed it free there as well
. Her hands slid up under his shirt, caressing his stomach and his chest. His body was solid, as if he was constructed of marble
that had been warmed by the sun. I
t was marble with a thin soft coating on top of it, and she thrilled to the feel of his bare skin.