Page 12 of Fire's Storm
The crack makes me flinch instinctively, years of training momentarily overriding my strange new certainties. But he doesn't even blink, as comfortable in the electrical storm as I have always been in fire.
"Your life was normal before meeting me," he warns, eyes serious despite the electrical storm intensifying around us. Trees sway in sudden wind that whips my copper hair around my face, clouds churn overhead, lightning continues to form a protective cage around us both. "If you come with me now, that ends forever."
Melodramatic? Overwrought? Yes, but it carries the weight of absolute truth. My world has already shifted irreversibly. I feel it in my changed body, in the electrical current that runs beneathmy skin, in the constant hunger that has plagued me since our eyes first met across a burning clearing.
"What happens if I come with you?" I ask, voice steadier than the turmoil inside me would suggest.
"I take you to the sanctuary. Teach you about what you are. What we are together." His expression darkens, pupils expanding until his eyes are more black than blue. "Complete the bond that's already forming between us."
The way he says "complete the bond" sends another shock of electrical energy racing along my nerve endings. Images from my dreams flash through my mind—his larger body alongside mine, storm energy flowing between us, our combined power creating weather patterns beyond what either could manifest alone.
More lightning strikes, closer now, the forest around us illuminated in stark white flashes that highlight the increasing emergence of scales along his forearms, his neck, his jawline. Midnight-blue with silver streaks, beautiful in their alienness. Proof of everything he claims.
"You could return to your human life," he continues, though something in his tone suggests he doesn't believe I will. "Pretend this never happened. The bond would fade eventually, though not without pain for us both."
At the word "pain," my body reacts instantly—a sharp twist in my gut, a throb in my temples, a momentary sense of wrongness so profound, it steals my breath. The mere thought of the bond fading brings physical distress that confirms its reality more than any words could.
"What kind of pain?" I ask, though I already feel the answer in my constant headaches, in the ache in my bones that eases only now, in his presence.
"Physical. Mental. Emotional." His voice roughens further. "Like missing a part of yourself. Like breathing with half a lung. Living with half a heart."
The raw emotion in his voice surprises me. This isn't just about physical claiming, about the hunger evident in his gaze when it drops to my electrified skin. This is something deeper, more profound than mere desire.
I think of my "normal" life—the emptiness that's always haunted me despite my professional accomplishments, the constant sense of not belonging among my peers, the fear of someone discovering my fire immunity and other unexplainable abilities. The relationships that inevitably failed because something vital was missing, because I was always searching without knowing what I sought.
And now, this new awareness that consumes me from within. This recognition that defies logic but feels more right than anything in my life.
Lightning strikes again, so close the ground vibrates beneath my feet. The storm responds to our connection, to the decision hanging between us, to the tension that builds with each passing moment.
"Normal is overrated," I decide, stepping toward him as lightning dances overhead. The words come easily, certainty replacing fear, anticipation replacing doubt. My body seems to move of its own accord, pressing against his much larger frame, seeking his heat, his strength, his impossible electricity that matches the current now flowing through my veins.
His arms wrap around me immediately, engulfing me in heat and that intoxicating scent that makes my head spin. One large hand tangles in my hair, tilting my face upward as he stares down with eyes now glowing so brightly, they illuminate my skin with light.
The relief of full body contact is almost painful in its intensity. Three days of skin-hunger satisfied in a rush of sensation that makes me gasp. My body molds against his larger frame as if designed to fit there, as if returning to its proper place after a long absence.
"Show me," I demand, the last vestige of my control manifesting as a command rather than surrender. My mind reasserts itself, recognizing this as a strategic alliance rather than mere submission. "Show me everything."
His growl of approval vibrates through my body, settling along my nerve endings as more electrical energy builds beneath my skin. His head lowers toward mine, his intention clear in the hunger that transforms his expression from controlled to predatory.
"You're mine," he rumbles against my lips, the possessive declaration triggering another surge of electricity between us.
"You'remine," I respond, shocking myself with the possessive counterclaim. I reach up, fingers tangling in his midnight-blue hair, pulling his mouth down to mine with unexpected strength. The tactical part of my mind recognizes the importance of establishing equal terms from the beginning—this will be partnership, not domination.
And as his mouth claims mine in a kiss that sends literal sparks dancing across our joined skin, as the storm reaches a crescendo around us, as my body melts against him with recognition that transcends conscious thought, I know with bone-deep certainty:
This is just the beginning.
FOUR
VULCAN
Electric currents race between us the moment her lips touch mine. Blue-white sparks dance across our joined skin, illuminating the darkness. My dragon nature surges forward. Scales ripple beneath my skin, midnight-blue with silver streaks catching the storm light.
Her taste. Sweet. Intoxicating. Different from anything I've experienced with dragonesses.
The storm responds to our combined power, creating atmospheric chaos neither of us can fully control. Lightning strikes closer. Wind whips harder.
Female. Tempest female. Compatible.
