Seared by Desire (50 page)

This was exactly what he’d feared would happen and the tears
welling in her eyes made him eternally grateful for Gabriel’s
strength. He lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing the healing
injuries softly. “No Sara, you haven’t killed anyone. From what I
can see you went for the buildings first giving the people in the
village a chance to escape. The fire elementals prevented any one
from leaving but there’s a water elemental here, he’s protected
everyone. They’re safe but I don’t know how much longer he can
shield them from the fire. You have to take control.”

She sobbed, looking around at the flames that surrounded
them. “I can’t Lucian, I can’t.”

“
Yes Sara, you can. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.
This is your power you can control it and I’ll help
you.”

“
How?”

He didn’t respond verbally to her question instead lowering
the hand he’d held so carefully and lifting her other hand to his
lips. His mouth moved sensuously over the wounds, his tongue
healing the scrapes and cuts as he took her blood into his
mouth.

Sara groaned, the flames of desire unfurling within her
causing the fire around them to seep back into her skin,
“Lucian.”

“
Take control Sara,” he ordered, tracing sensuous patterns
against her flesh with his strong tongue.

How does he expect me to take control when I can barely think
straight? Damn him, he knows what drinking from me does to me. He
knows what it does to me,
she
realised.

The mindless state of desire he was pushing her towards was
exactly what she needed. Her blood was heating with desire and the
flames that surrounded them were an obstacle to quenching that
desire, to touching Lucian, holding him close to press desperate
kisses against his flesh. She cursed the fire, wishing that it
would simply fade into nothing and the flames began to follow her
unconscious command, creeping back towards her and seeping into her
skin. As the power of the blaze settled into her body, strength
returned to her limbs and she was able to move them freely. Her
free hand lifted to pull Lucian's helmet from his head so that she
could caress the skin of his face with ease.

Sara’s touch surprised Lucian and he pulled away from her
hand, moving swiftly to press his lips against hers in a bruising
kiss. He pulled her soft body against his hard armour, wishing they
were alone so he could strip them to the skin. Forcing himself to
be content with the kiss, he pressed his tongue into her mouth,
duelling with hers aggressively, relieved beyond all measure that
she was alive.

Sara pulled away from the kiss, her blue eyes dark with
passion, her lips swollen from the strength of Lucian's mouth
moving against hers. “Lucian,” she breathed, her voice filled with
desire. “Lucian, bite me…please.”

“
My pleasure,” he conceded.

Her eyes fluttered closed when he pulled her hair away from
the column of her neck and placed a string of kisses against the
skin. “Lucian,” she groaned. “Now.”

His fangs lengthened, sinking easily into her tender flesh
and moans of pleasure spilled from their lips simultaneously. As
her blood flowed from her body into Lucian's mouth the fires around
them exploded, rushing back towards the unprepared pair. Flames
engulfed them but they stayed firm, holding each other tightly,
unwilling to relinquish their grip in the slightest for fear that
the other would be lost to them forever.

The extreme heat of the fire cooled and when Lucian's eyes
opened the only thing on fire was Sara. Her body was covered in the
brilliant white light of the hottest fire imaginable but she seemed
no worse for wear. “Sara, you’re on fire,” he began cautiously, his
mind still fogged from the taste of her blood on his tongue. “Are
you okay?”

She smiled widely, infectious laughter flowing freely from
her lips. “I’ve never been better Lucian.” Her arms wrapped around
him tightly. “And I’m not the only one on fire.”

“
What?”

“
Look at yourself Lucian.”

He lowered his eyes to look at the usually pale skin of his
forearm surprised to find that it too was covered in the almost
blinding light that covered Sara.

“
It’s okay Lucian. I’m in complete control now. The ever fire
is just learning to settle within me properly and because you’re
touching me, it’s covering you as well. I’ll find an empty field or
something on the way home and release the excess. You should ask
the men if they want to watch, it’ll be quite the
display.”

“
And Seraphina?”

“
She’s still here and I’ll never be free of her either. We
were born together and we’ll die together as well but I can control
her so long as you’re with me.”

“
I’m never letting you out of my sight again. You do nothing
but attract trouble when I leave you alone. You’re dangerous to my
health Sara, my heart can’t take the strain.”

“
Me?” she said aghast. “I’m not dangerous and if you’ll learn
to keep up old man, your heart will be fine.”

“
Me?” he chuckled. “Old?”

“
Yes!” she laughed.

“
What are you doing?” Gabriel demanded, his voice intruding on
the intimacy of the moment.

Both Sara and Lucian turned to look at the water elemental,
regarding him curiously. Lucian's eyes narrowed as he remembered
the harsh words Gabriel had said about Sara and he stood, helping
Sara to her feet. “I’m helping my wife, the she-devil. We’ve saved
you so it’s quite obvious that she wanted no part in this.
Apologise,” he ordered.

Gabriel’s spine stiffened in rebellion. “I don’t like being
told what to do. What authority do you have to order me to do
anything?”

“
King Lucian!” Russell called as he and the army entered the
village, the cowed remnants of the fire elemental village trapped
meekly between their bodies.

Gasps of surprise filled the air when the vampires witnessed
the glowing bodies of Sara and Lucian, the glow beating back the
darkness of the night much in the same way Sara’s sun had so many
nights ago. “The King and Queen of light,” they murmured, bowing
their heads in respect.

“
Lord Lucian? Of the vampires?” Gabriel breathed, visibly
shocked.

“
It’s King Lucian,” Sara corrected, gazing up into Lucian's
dark eyes affectionately.

“
And you’re his wife?”

“
You sound shocked,” Lucian commented coolly. “There’s no
reason to be. I told you before Sara is far too gentle to willingly
cause this amount of damage. I have yet to hear your
apology.”

“
But she’s a fire elemental.”

“
What has that got to do with anything?”

“
Lucian, it’s okay. It’s not his fault. I did something
horrible. Whether I wanted to do it or not is
irrelevant.”

“
Sara, I want him to apologise. If I let him get away with
this now then what sort of message will I be sending? The others
may decide to try and attack you for what’s happened
today.”

“
I don’t want to bring another war onto your doorstep not when
we’ve just gained peace.” She walked towards Gabriel, her hand
firmly within Lucian's and his free hand holding tightly onto the
hilt of his sword. Sara’s eyes locked with Gabriel’s aquamarine
gaze and Seraphina rose within her.

Calder!

Sara’s step faltered.
Seraphina?

Calder!
The spirit repeated,
happiness filling her voice.

Sara’s brow furrowed in confusion, Seraphina never sounded
happy and the only time she even came close to expressing the
emotion was when she was preparing to kill people for a
feast.
Seraphina, who is
Calder?

Brother.

Seraphina, you’re one of a kind. There’s only one child of
flame and he is
not
a fire elemental.

Water!
she screamed
aggravated.
Seraphina is fire. Calder is
water. Brother.

Seraphina’s jumbled rambling finally made sense. The man in
front of her was cursed just like her to carry the spirit of his
element within him. If anyone could understand why she’d done what
she had it was him. She continued walking, closing the gap between
them until she was directly in front of him. “Calder,” she
began.

His eyes widened and he stared at her in shock. “How?” he
spluttered. “How do you know?”

“
I know because I’m like you. My spirit is called Seraphina
and she has no regard for life. She would consume everyone here if
given free rein. I was too weak to control her before but it will
never happen again. You must know what it’s like to be guided by
forces outside your control.”

He looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “Your
curse?”

“
Yes. Seraphina’s fire raged within me uncontrollable, slowly
but surely eating away at my life until I met Lucian.” He squeezed
her hand in a silent show of support. “But I’ve found the one to
cool my flame, with Lucian beside me I’ll never falter
again.”

He nodded his head in understanding. “My name isn’t Calder,
it’s Gabriel and I apologise for what I said before. No one but the
four of us will ever truly understand how important control really
is and how easily it can be snatched away.” He turned from Sara to
face the delegates that had gathered. “King Lucian's Queen is
innocent. The guilty ones are the fire elementals who gathered us
here.”

“
Speaking of fire elementals,” Lucian mused, moving away from
Gabriel and the delegates back to his people and the fire
elementals that stood cowed between them. “Gareth, where is
Abigail?”

“
Here my King,” he responded pulling the violent fire
elemental towards him. Her brown eyes were ablaze in anger, her
teeth bared.

“
If I remember correctly I told you that I wouldn’t kill you
I’d save that pleasure for Sara.” He unsheathed his sword. “But we
both know that Sara is too –”

His words were interrupted when Sara pulled out of his grip
and stepped directly in front of Abigail, punching her squarely in
the jaw and knocking her to the ground. “A sword,” she stated
quietly, the command all the more deadly because of the control
held in her steely voice. Gareth pressed his sword into her
outstretched palm and she felt the familiar warmth that always
filled her when she was holding one of her blades. “Abigail, you
almost killed me. Once upon a time I might have let that go, I
might have went by the ‘forgive and forget’ creed but not today and
do you want to know why? You made Lucian worry. You don’t deserve
to live. I could kill you but I want you to suffer for what you put
Lucian through.”

Dropping to her knees, Sara embedded the sword in the ground
beside Abigail’s head. Grabbing both Abigail’s hands, Sara reached
for the well of power that lay within her former friend and pulled
hard. Abigail’s body jerked wildly but Sara held firm pulling the
power from Abigail until it had all settled within her body. She
dropped Abigail’s hands abruptly, standing and moving back to
Lucian, enveloping his body once more in the white glow of her
fire.

“
What did you do?” Abigail croaked.

“
I took your powers Abigail. Don’t worry I’m going to do the
same to most of the people here. If you can’t use what the heavens
gave you properly then you don’t deserve it.”

“
No!” she shrieked. “You can’t do this.”

“
I think you’ll find she’s already done it.” Lucian commented
coolly. He smiled, clearly proud of Sara’s actions. “Gareth,
Russell, watch them while we’re gone.”

“
Where are you going?” they asked.

Lucian's tilted his head heavenward, staring at the dark
night sky with knowing eyes. “Nowhere special,” he remarked
mystically. Wrapping his arms around Sara’s small waist, he leapt
from the ground and into the sky.

Sara gasped in shock, watching nervously as the village
became smaller until it was nothing but a speck against the ground.
“Lucian, what are you doing?” she shrieked. “Put me back on the
ground.”

“
Are you afraid that I’ll drop you? I’ve done this before and
I didn’t let you fall back then and I didn’t even know you then.
Trust me.”

“
I don’t remember you taking me flying before.”

“
You were unconscious,” he commented dismissively. “I brought
you up here for a reason.”

“
What reason?”

“
I wanted to be alone with you and this is the best place to
do it.” His grip on her body tightened. “I thought I’d lost you
today Sara. Again.”

“
It won’t happen again Lucian.”

“
Damn straight it won’t. Sara, I want to ask you properly this
time.” He brought her hand to his lips, kissing the knuckles
tenderly before straightening the digits of her fingers. “Will you
marry me?”

“
Lucian, you know I will.”

“
Good. Then let’s get on with it.”

“
Now?” she gasped.

“
Why not now Sara? Every time I let you out of my sight
something happens. I want us to do this now, just the two of us
after all, we’re all that matters. I even have the rings.” He
placed the solid gold band in the centre of her palm, holding his
hand out to reveal his own ring.