Immortal Fire

Immortal Fire

Copyright
© February 2009, Brenda Steele

Cover
art by Sugar and Spice Press © February 2009

This is a work of fiction. All
characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used
fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book,
or portions thereof, in any form.

Sugar
and Spice Press

North
Carolina, USA

www.sugarandspicepress.net

Chapter One

“I cannot believe you dragged me
here for the third year in a row,
Mitzy
,” Kai
declared, miffed and already feeling boredom seep into her veins. They hadn’t
moved past the doorway yet, but stood surveying Kai’s mother’s guests. All
rich, all stuck up and none she wanted to get to know better.

“What can I say? I’m gifted.”
Mitzi patted her long thin fingers on the back of Kai’s shoulder.

“Gifted.” Kai snorted. “I ought
to skin you for always giving my mother hope.” Kai drifted farther into the
room, tense expecting her mother to pounce with her latest husband-material
human in tow.

Mitzi laughed behind her. “You’d
have to catch me first.”

“Yeah. And you’d cheat. Probably
turn into a cheetah or some other fast animal to get away from me.”

Her best friend chuckled, and the
two of them strolled on the outer edges of the room, avoiding conversation with
anyone but themselves. Kai scanned the crowd for her mother. Sure enough, a man
about Kai’s height of five foot eight tagged along behind Claudia Mendel,
looking too hopeful. Kai rolled her eyes then grabbed the first glass of wine
that floated past her on a waiter’s tray.

She didn’t know why she had
bothered to dress up. The slinky red dress and spiked heels were going to waste
on this crowd. Most of the men were over fifty, and she had no interest in weak
men. Yet, she’d have to choose one if she wanted a new lover, and an immortal
was out of the question.

Feeling eyes on her, she scanned
the room for the second time. All seemed to be absorbed in their conversations.
She took a slow sip of her wine and spotted him over the rim. A good head
taller than she was in her highest heels, shoulders that might block out the
sun if he stood over her and eyes that were riveted to her body. She almost
laughed at his boldness.

Leaning over to Mitzi and knowing
she was being obvious, but not caring in the least, she whispered, “Tell me
he’s not an immortal.”

“Who?” Mitzi glanced in the wrong
direction.

“Two o’clock. Tall and sexy.”

When Mitzi’s eyes landed on him,
she gasped.

Kai nodded. “Exactly. Well?”

“If you weren’t so closed off,
Kai, you’d know whether or not he is immortal. Besides, this is a human event.
Immortals weren’t invited.”

Kai grunted. “That’s never
stopped them before.” She looked around to see where Bevin was and spotted him
sitting in the corner, his chin tucked in his hand. He yawned, surveying the
crowd. His gaze roved over the object of Kai’s lust and kept on moving. If
Bevin hadn’t been alarmed, the man must be okay. Bevin, her trusty little demon
bodyguard could pick up on non-humans a mile off. She wanted Mitzi’s
confirmation. “Well, is he?”

Her friend seemed to be absorbed
with drinking in the man with her eyes. Kai bumped her, and Mitzi snapped out
of it. “Oh sorry. No, he’s normal. If hot can be normal.”

Kai set her glass down on a nearby table and swiped at the
corners of her mouth. “Good, because I think I’ve just found my new lover.”

She allowed her hips a little
extra sway as she strolled over to him and was gratified to see the bulge
growing in his pants. Any other man would have begun to tug and try to hide it.
He wore it almost like a badge of honor, daring anyone to comment. She grinned.
Oh yes, he was not the average Joe.

When she drew up in front of him,
she laid a hand on his chest and met his stare eye to eye. “Dance with me.”

His eyebrows shifted higher.
“Commanded by a woman? I think not.”

The music for once had a good
beat. She pivoted on the ball of one foot and let her body brush his as she
swayed to the rhythm. “So you’ll miss the chance to caress all this?” Pushing
her rounded ass out, she glanced at him over her shoulder. His eyes seemed to
flash.

He took hold of her hips and
began to move with her. They were too close for this particular party, but he
didn’t appear to care any more than she did. “Bold aren’t you?” he commented.

She laughed. “I go after what I
want. But yes, I’ve never been shy. Even with more to hang on to than I’d
like.”

“Hmm?” He didn’t at first know
what she meant. “Oh you mean the fact that you’re not nearly as pencil thin as
your friend?”

“You obviously like it.”

He gave her a squeeze. “I most certainly
do. Come back to my place. Or we can go to yours.”

“I don’t know your name.”

“So you’ll stand on ceremony?”

She shrugged and turned to face
him, ran her hands up his chest until she could lock them behind his head. “No,
I’d just like to know what name to shout out when you make me come. You
will
make me come, won’t you?” Going for
broke, she thought up something more outrageous to unsettle him. “This pressing
in my stomach isn’t for show is it?”

All she received in reply was a
curving upward of one side of his mouth. She’d expected to have him rushing
from the room with another comment or two. Only the men who didn’t have to take
care of themselves in the nearest bathroom had been allowed to share her bed.
She loved a man with control of
himself
, but not so
much she couldn’t make him rock hard in the middle of a dance floor. And
mystery man was most certainly stiff.

“I can tell already,” he affirmed
while lowering his hands to her ass.

“Tell what?”

“That I am going to enjoy playing
with you in every way possible.”

Chapter Two

“
Donovan
.” He
turned them both and headed out toward the French doors which stood open. A
scent of jasmine tickled Kai’s nose as they neared the exit.

“I’m sorry?”

“My name is Donovan. Donovan
Karey
.”

She searched her memory, and
while she didn’t pay too much attention to what her mother chattered on about
her high society friends, she didn’t think she’d heard the name
Karey
. So where did he come from?

“I’m Kai Mendel.” She grimaced.
“My mother put this party on. She does it every year.”

When they passed through the
doors, his hand slid to her ass again. She made no move to push him away. “And
like a dutiful daughter, you attend?”

“You don’t know me very well. No,
my friend Mitzi roped me into it.” She pointed back over her shoulder. “The
impossibly thin one, small like a pixie.” Mitzi wasn’t a pixie, of course. Kai
had no idea what her origins were beyond being an immortal, the only one Kai
allowed anywhere around her besides her bodyguard. Now that she thought of it,
Mitzi was just as much of an enigma as this man, except she and Mitzi had been
friends for the last fifteen years.

They stopped on the porch above
the gardens. Kai leaned back against the rail and shivered when Donovan ran a
hand along the deep V of her dress. “What makes you think
it’s
okay to touch me like this?”

He slid closer and leaned down
like he would kiss her, but he didn’t. She considered going in and taking it
for
herself
, but stayed still.

“You reek of it.”

“Excuse me?” Her hand went to her
hip.

He settled on the rail, his arms
folded across his chest. Why did she feel like he had rejected her? The look in
his eyes told her he knew how much she had wanted that kiss. It had been two
weeks since she’d broken it off with Jeremy. A girl could get cranky when her
needs weren’t met.

“I’m not telepathic, mind you.”
Her gaze flew to his when he said that, but he kept a straight face. “But I can
tell a woman on the hunt. And you, my beautiful flower, are on the hunt for a
lover.”

“So what if I am?” She moved to
stand in front of him, waiting for him to open his arms. He did, and she
stepped closer. The warmth of his body, the hardness of his cock, made her want
to strip him bare and ride her way to a mind numbing orgasm. “What if I’ve
chosen you? Can you handle me?”

“Every night of the week!”

Excitement rushed over her. She
had a serious appetite for sex, and none of her previous lovers had been able
to keep up. Each one of them wanted more. They wanted love. She scoffed at that
sentiment. It didn’t exist in any real sense. Not when she had her father and
mother’s relationship to base her theories on.

A door opened behind them.
Someone peeked out and then went back in. She thought it might have been Mitzi
who couldn’t disappear and reappear like Bevin. She hadn’t missed his
appearance farther down in the garden. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
Not with her father to face if he did.

Donovan tapped her hip. “So like
I said earlier. Your place or mine?”

“Hold on, lover.” She took his
bottom lip between her teeth and bit down slightly. He groaned. Releasing him
seconds before he could change her nip into a kiss, she laughed. “Not so fast.
It works like this. I let you simmer in your lust for a few nights. Maybe
less.”

“You’re into torture.”

“No, I’d like to check you out,
make sure you’re on the up and up.” She shrugged and shifted to slip out of his
arms. “I don’t take just any man to my bed. My father is . . . high powered. My
mother, in her frilly way, is as well. I’m careful about who I let too close.”

“That why you have a bodyguard?”
He flicked a thumb in Bevin’s direction.

She narrowed her eyes. “What do
you know of Bevin?”

“That he’s way too scrawny to be
any use. I could take him.”

Laughing, she covered her mouth
watching him turn red in annoyance. “I’m sorry. That’s so funny. Yes, Bevin is
small but he is wiry, and he knows all kinds of kung fu or whatever it’s
called. He’s kicked many a pretentious guy’s butt on my behalf, let me tell
you.”

She hadn’t meant to laugh so
much, but a human man, no matter how stocky his delicious looking muscles,
couldn’t take Bevin anywhere. The demon could light a fire on him faster than
he could spit, or use his power to toss him across the room. Poor Bevin had had
to prove himself before her father would let him guard her.

Donovan yanked her back into his
arms, and this time he pushed his tongue past her lips, His mouth pulled at hers
in a way that sent tingles of need shooting throughout her body. He slid his
hand down between her thighs, confirming for both of them that she was wet and
ready for him. While he stroked, she wanted to yank her dress up and push his
fingers up inside her, but she knew better.

A few more hungry
kisses,
and he released her. “Hurry . . .
Really
.” He slapped her ass, pressed a
card in her hand and strolled back inside the dance room. Kai stood there
stunned. How had he gotten the upper hand and been the one to leave her horny
on the porch?

The door opened, and Mitzi
bounced out. “Well?”

“Well what?” Kai was feeling less
than charitable.

“Do you have a new man or not?
Does he have the goods?”

Kai had to smile. “Oh yes, he has
the goods. And if everything checks out, I’m going to get my hands on them. And
my body.”

“And were your eyes like that
while you were with him?” Mitzi pointed toward her face.

Blinking, but feeling nothing
strange, Kai frowned. “Like what?”

Mitzi dug inside her tiny purse
and extracted a compact mirror. She handed it to Kai. “See? Your eyes are
glowing red. That’s so . . .”

“Demonic!” Kai shrieked. “My
father’s eyes do that when he’s angry. What the hell? How did this happen? I’ve
never exhibited before.
Never
.”

“I know. Maybe you’re tired. He
didn’t say anything, so you’re fine. Maybe it happened after he left.”

“Maybe.”

Mitzi held up her hands. “Okay.
Ready to go?”

Kai nodded on a sigh. “Yes, I
have a date with a vibrator!”