Page 17 of Surge of Fire

I hadn’t. “No. What do you think that means?”

“It could mean a number of things, but it definitely suggests we’re standing on top of a volcano, and–” His hand is on the wall, so I place mine halfway on top of his and the wall, trying to get a sense of what he’s feeling. For a second, we just stand like that in silence before he clears his throat. “This is honestly incredible. As far as the world is concerned, this isn’t even an extinct volcano, it’s a mountain. The fact that this is an active volcano–”

“Active?” Aydan asks from behind us.

Granger jerks his hand away from mine. “Yes, uh, well, not active in the sense that it’s likely to erupt any time soon. This would be classified as a long-dormant system. It’s likely been thousands of years since it last erupted, and unlikely to erupt any time soon, but the potential is there.”

“Fuck,” Aydan whispers, and he draws closer to me so that I can feel the heat from his chest against my back. “Should we even be on this mountain or whatever the hell this is?”

I hate that my head spins a little when he’s this close. I hate that when he moves close to me my brain wants to believe he’s been protective of me because he wants me. When, in reality, he’s being protective because he sees me as some useless, innocent flower he needs to stand over. But my dumb ass brain doesn’t seem to want to accept that.

“The mountain is perfectly safe,” Granger says, followed by a little laugh. “Trust me. These people have put millions of dollars into the Phoenix Institute. They wouldn’t just throw that away on an actively erupting volcano.” He moves away from us. “I’m going to get a few more samples.”

I watch him walk away, then turn back to the wall and place my hand on it. God, I love the feeling of heat. It has this way of washing over my skin and sending every hair on my body standing on end. I swear I was meant to grow up in the south,spending my days basking in the sun and forgetting the chill of the north.

Aydan’s hand touches the wall beside mine. Just a few inches separate the two of us. He shifts a little closer, so this time I can feel him behind me again. The urge to sink against him comes and goes in a flash as I remember the way he sees me. I think maybe this nearness might be even more painful than having him far away, especially when he’s only this close to scare off Will.

“You know,” I whisper, “you don’t have to protect me from hot men. They’re not going to bite me unless I let them.”

He stiffens behind me. “Don’t say things like that.”

“What? Things that imply I have sex with hot men that may or may not involve biting, or that I don’t need you to protect me from anything because I’m not a wilting flower?” I try to say my words sweetly, knowing it’ll piss him off.

He’s quiet for a long minute before he leans in, his breath hot on my ear. “There’s a difference between sounding like a woman and sounding like a whore. Maybe keep that in mind for the future.”

I whirl around, angry as hell. “Did you just call me a whore?”

He leans in, fury in his eyes. “Never. You know that’s not what I said.”

“It damn sure sounded like it,” I say, punching my finger into his chest with each word.

His jaw clenches and unclenches. “I’m just trying to say that you don’t have to flirt with assholes to make a point that I don’t have any control over you. I get it.”

“I’m glad you know you don’t have any control over me, but don’t think for one second that I’m flirting with Will just because it bothers you. I’m flirting with him because I intend to get laid and laid hard this summer.” Okay, maybenowI’m really tryingto piss him off, but I don’t care. I head away from him as fast as I can, while still being aware of the delicate ecosystem.

I’m mad. I’m not a moron.

A strange feeling rolls over me. I stop, craning my neck.Was there a sound? Is someone watching me?Overhead, a flock of birds takes flight, blocking out some of the natural light that still streams down from above. I frown up at them, wondering if they’re the reason I feel unsettled.

Something is… wrong.

Then the damn ground begins to shake. The earthquake had given all the warning it was going to give as crystals and dirt begin to fall from above, shattering around me. I cover my head with my hands, unsure of what to do, when suddenly I’m being yanked back against the cave wall.

A big body covers mine, and I glance up as Aydan wraps himself around me, shielding me from the falling debris. The sound of men shouting filters in through the roaring of the earth, and the air darkens with dust.

I start to cough. Aydan presses even closer, and I push my face into his shirt, trying to breathe in clean air. His body is huge around me, like a force of nature as powerful as the earthquake itself. I get the deep sense that I’m safe in his arms, that he’d never allow anything to happen to me, but I worry about him.What if something hits him? What about Granger?

My legs shake with adrenaline. With a need to do something. To protect the people I love. But even when I push against Aydan, he remains firmly around me. An impenetrable wall determined to protect me from the quake.

The shaking slows, then quiets, and finally stops. The dust in the air slowly clears, and Aydan’s body relaxes inch by inch around me. I look up. He’s staring down at me. His face is intense, worried. He focused on me like I’m his entire world when the earth was just crumbling around us.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his words so quiet that I’m mostly reading his lips.

I nod.

He reaches for me, combing my hair back from my face. Or, maybe, combing debris out of it. I don’t know which, but the gesture is tender. Protective.

“Sam!”

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