Hunted By Firelight by Krista Street

Chapter 18

~ AVERY ~

Charlotte and I called it quits on my magical practicing around eight. Supper was being served, and I was mentally spent. In the past few hours, what I’d learned was that trying to harness the power roiling around inside me was as complicated as astrophysics.

Without an external environmental trigger that provoked an automatic response, the power was an intricate web of layered smoldering magic which couldn’t be utilized by simply snapping my fingers. Essentially, I had no idea how to access it properly or wield it.

And since I felt safe and content at Shrouding Estate with Wyatt and Squad Three around me, the strange power inside didn’t want to come out to play. I hadn’t been able to stop time again or blast anything to bits. Not once.

“So much for being a quick learner,” I grumbled.

Charlotte slung an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t beat yourself up. You have no memories, you have no idea where this power came from, and you’ve only had it for two days. The fact that you’ve been able to use it at all is impressive.”

I made a face when I thought about how I’d created the dome, stopped time at the inn, and then shot the sprites. “But that’s the problem. I didn’t really use it. It erupted on its own as a reaction to something frightening and stressful that was happening around me. I was barely able to dismantle that dome I’d created around myself. It was only by thinking about happy things and feeling safe that did it. It wasn’t because I’d directly ordered it to disappear.”

She cocked her head as we crossed the arched bridge to the estate’s front doors. “Maybe I need to scare you or stress you out more. I’m sure something can be arranged.” She waggled her eyebrows.

I laughed, just imagining the schemes she would come up with. “Don’t you dare. I’d probably accidentally raze this castle if you pulled some terrifying prank.”

She dropped her arm from around my shoulders when we entered the castle. “You’re probably right, but don’t worry. We’ll try again tomorrow and will come up with a plan B. Whatever plan B is.”

We joined everyone in the dining room. After a supper of braised meats, rich wine, soft bread rolls, and a plethora of cooked fae vegetables, everyone stood to leave the impressive dining room with its dropdown chandeliers, a table that could seat thirty, and strategically arranged bouquets of beautiful fae flowers.

Meestry bowed deeply to all of us as we left the room. I could tell the head of Bavar’s staff was very pleased that all the guests had enjoyed the evening meal so much.

Everyone headed toward the main stairs which led to the second floor—well, all except for Heidi and Bishop. They were on patrol duty tonight.

Twice I caught Marnee watching me as the rest of us sidled down the hall. Her expression was indecipherable, but both times she looked away when we made eye contact. I tried to brush it off, but something about her put me on edge.

When we reached the second floor, Wyatt prowled behind me. My skin tingled at the feel of him. We hadn’t spent time alone together since our nap earlier, and my stomach was somersaulting with a vengeance at the thought of sleeping in the same room with him.

One by one, everybody retreated to their chambers, which meant that once again I was alone with the SF commander.

Moonlight bathed our room in silver when we stepped inside it, and the wash of something prickled my skin when I crossed the threshold.

“What was that?” I shivered as the feel of it slowly died away.

“The cloaking spell that guards our room.” Wyatt’s eyes glowed dimly. “It’ll keep all . . . sounds . . . contained to this room.”

A flush burned my cheeks when I realized exactly what sounds he was referring to.

He stood by the door, watching me intently. I’d felt his gaze repeatedly on me during dinner, and a flipping sensation had set me on edge ever since.

“I see that we have a second bed.” I waved toward it, anything to take that heated look off me.

The second bed, which the servants must have brought to our room during the meal, was tiny compared to the colossal four-poster that dominated an entire corner of the room.

“We do.” His gaze on me didn’t waver.

I squeezed my hands together, suddenly feeling incredibly unsure. I knew we’d slept in the same bed earlier today, but now we had two beds . . .

“You must still be tired. You should take the bigger bed. I’ll sleep in the smaller one.”

His jaw clicked when he snapped it shut. “I’ll take the smaller bed.”

“But you’re bigger than me. You should take the larger one.”

“The larger one looks more comfortable. You take it.”

I rolled my eyes. Oh for fuck’s sake. Were we seriously arguing about a bed? “I’m just being logical.”

“Fine.” He stalked past me, and I suddenly wondered if I’d done something to upset him.

I balled my hands into fists as a flare of anger rose in me. Surely he wasn’t mad because I wouldn’t share the same bed with him?

Even though Wyatt and I had a rather passionate encounter this morning, I was still getting to know him. And even though he and I obviously had a shared history—a history that I still annoyingly couldn’t remember—everything about us was still new to me. What was so wrong with not wanting to jump into an intimate relationship right away?

Surely, he understood that just because he could play my body like a symphony, it didn’t mean that we were a couple who shared a bed together. Sleeping nightly beside one another was much more intimate than a make-out session and a daytime nap.

Energy emanated from Wyatt. Without a word, he stalked over to his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts.

That was all he pulled out.

His chin angled in my direction, his nostrils flaring.

I hastily looked away and hurried over to the opposite wardrobe which contained my clothes. That curling feeling began in my stomach again, and I knew that if I didn’t get a hold of myself I would do something embarrassing—like throw myself at him, or salivate when I fantasized about what his shorts concealed.

“I’m going to wash up unless you need the bathroom first?”

“No,” I squeaked. Seriously, what was it about this guy? It was like simply being in the same room with him made my body come alive and caused tingles to shoot along my nerves. It was such an extreme reaction. Surely that wasn’t normal?

When he retreated to the bathroom, I slipped into a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. Since the clothing that had been retrieved from the inn was minimal, I didn’t have dedicated sleeping attire. This would have to do.

The door to the bathroom cracked open just as I finished dressing, and I dove under the sheets in the smaller bed. I still had to pee and brush my teeth, but that could wait. Once Wyatt was asleep, I would get settled.

He came out and clicked the light off, plunging the room into darkness. The only light sources offering some kind of illumination were from the three moons in the sky outside. I glanced out the window, the glowing orbs barely visible through the trees’ canopy.

But something about those orbs felt . . . familiar.

“What is it?” Wyatt asked as he pulled back the covers to the larger bed.

I shook my head, the spell breaking. “The moons. I feel like I’ve seen them before.”

He settled back on his bed, making a loud thump when his head hit the pillow. “You have. This isn’t your first time in the fae lands.”

I rearranged myself, not feeling overly tired given our long nap earlier, but I knew I needed to sleep. “Except I don’t think it’s that. There’s something about the sky and the light from them that—” I shook my head again. “I don’t know. Never mind. Once again, I don’t even know my own mind.”

For a long moment he didn’t say anything, and I wondered if he’d fallen asleep, but then he murmured quietly, “You died under a night sky like this.”

Shivers raced along my arms and legs.

“It was the worst night of my life. It’s one that will haunt me for the rest of my days.”

A thick feeling clogged my throat. “I was somebody very special to you, wasn’t I?”

“You say that in past tense.”

I shrugged. “Because it’s different now, isn’t it? I’m not the same person I was when you knew me before. Surely the way you feel for me now isn’t the same?”

His eyes glowed when he looked at me, then he said fiercely, “I will always feel the same for you—now, back then, and in the future. That will never change.”

My lips parted at the boldness of his declaration, but my breath felt so trapped that I didn’t reply.

He settled back on his bed, and eventually I did the same. I turned on my side to look at the three moons. A few more minutes passed, and Wyatt’s breathing fell into a steady rise and fall. I knew he was sleeping and that I should try to do the same.

Huffing, I threw off the covers and got up to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. I still didn’t entirely understand what had passed between Wyatt and me tonight. He seemed upset that I wouldn’t share a bed with him, and then grouchy when I brought up how things were different now.

That niggling sense that there was so much about Wyatt that I didn’t fully understand still clung to me.

What had he and I once been?

∞     ∞     ∞

A large fire rose from a pit in the earth. A group of men stood around it, their hands joined. Robes draped from their shoulders, the hems swaying softly as they chanted and swayed.

But it was the tallest one whose presence demanded my attention. He stood completely still, yet his power washed over me.

He joined the other men in the chanting, his voice low and deep. Lyrical words drifted from his mouth making my body rise and flow.

No!

But his magic had ensnared my soul, forcing me to glide higher and higher above them.

In my spectral form, I hovered above the ground, their power all-consuming, owning me. It was the end. I knew it was. I couldn’t fight them, not like this.

I screamed again, kicking and clawing and fighting as mightily as I could against their power, but they were too strong—he was too strong.

He tilted his head up, and I swear he could see me, actually see me. He chuckled. “Ah, there you are. I knew I would find you. You can’t hide from me.”

A scream tore from my throat, and I bolted upright in bed. Sweat dripped down my temples, and my fingers dug into the sheets. He’d found me? That evil man had found me in my dream, here at Shrouding Estate?

I shook my head. No, that wasn’t possible. It was just a dream. Nobody could find somebody in a dream.

Still, my power hummed and swelled, waves of purple energy flaring off me.

“Avery?” Wyatt knelt beside the bed, his eyes glowing as bright as the three moons outside. “Avery, it’s okay. It was just a dream. You’re okay.” He dodged to the left when my power shot at him.

I sucked in a breath, only then realizing that the power inside me was erupting and shooting out. I still panted, barely able to gasp in breaths as I shuddered and heaved at the terror which clawed up my throat.

But it was just a dream.

It wasn’t real.

Those robed men hadn’t found me. That wasn’t possible.

“Avery, it was a nightmare,” Wyatt said soothingly. “You’re safe.”

I took a deep breath, trying to ease my panic. “I know. It just . . . it felt so real. And I think I’ve had these dreams before. They’re of them.”

Memories of the attack at the inn resurfaced making fresh terror slice through me.

In a flash, Wyatt was on the bed beside me, hauling me into his arms. He gritted his teeth as my power continued to swell and zap him.

I pushed him away. “No, I don’t want to hurt you. I can’t control it.”

But he didn’t budge. “I’ve dealt with worse. I’m fine.” He flinched when a rush of magic singed his skin, but he still didn’t let go.

I choked out a humorless laugh at his refusal to leave.

He continued holding me close, his soothing hands rubbing up and down my back. He had a way about him—his presence eased my panic, his looming bulk acted like a shield.

As the minutes ticked by, the power inside me calmed. Eventually, it stopped pulsing off me completely and retreated inside. Throughout it all, Wyatt never let go.

“Always so noble,” I whispered tersely.

He stiffened. “Does that bother you?”

No. But for some reason I didn’t say that out loud. But it was true, he was noble. He’d always been there for me, ever since I’d woken up. Waiting. Watching. Protecting. It seemed that no matter what I did, he was steadfast.

And while a part of me liked that, adored it even, the other part of me hated it. It made me feel unworthy. What had I done to deserve this kind of devotion from him? I had no idea of the woman I’d once been. But I’d obviously loved him, and he was expecting me to eventually love him in return. And even though my body ached for him, what if my mind never did?

His hand stilled from where he’d been rubbing up and down my back. “Care to share what you’re thinking about?”

I knew he couldn’t read my mind, but I could tell that he’d sensed my shift in emotions. I snorted inwardly. Of course he had. He could scent my emotions.

“Nothing,” I lied. “It’s just the aftereffects of the dream.”

But I knew I wasn’t fooling him. Still, he resumed his gentle touches, and my body once again betrayed me. That fluttery feeling began in my stomach, and that aching need clenched my core.

Without warning, he picked me up and carried me to the larger bed. My breath caught at how quickly and easily he did it.

“Relax,” he said after laying me down. “I’m not forcing myself on you, but your bed is a mess of tangled sheets. Why don’t you go back to sleep in this bed, and I’ll take the smaller one after I fix it.” His hands roamed over my back again. “I could give you a massage to help you get back to sleep if you like.”

I tensed, waiting for his hands to dip lower than my waist.

But they stayed firmly north and only in safe areas. Well, as safe as any area on my body was around him.

Needing to gauge his expression, I turned in his arms. “Why are you always so nice to me?”

For a moment, he was silent, and then instead of answering my question he asked, “Would you rather I be mean to you?”

Yes. But I knew I didn’t mean that. Of course, I didn’t want him to be mean to me, although that would be easier to deal with. If he was an asshole, I would have no qualms about pushing him away and denying my attraction to him.

“Talk to me, Avery.”

I covered my eyes. “I don’t know. There’s just so much I still don’t know. Even though I’ve gotten a few niggling feelings about my past, I still don’t remember the experiences. I don’t remember being with you, and I don’t remember loving you.”

He continued massaging me. “Just give it time. It may come back.”

“But what if it doesn’t? What if this is how it stays? What if for the rest of my life I get glimpses and hints of the past, but it never fully returns? How would you deal with that?”

His body tightened, his hands pausing, but then he resumed his light touches. “Then I guess we would start over. We would have to get to know one another from this day forward.”

“And if I never felt again what I once felt for you?”

He stiffened. Even his massages didn’t resume. “Then I’d let you go, if that’s what you wanted.”

His quiet statement was filled with so much raw pain that it cut through my soul. I hung my head. “I don’t deserve your devotion. Maybe I once did, but now? I don’t think so.”

He scoffed. “If anyone is undeserving here, it’s me. I’m the one who fucked up a few months ago, not you. Perhaps this is my punishment. Perhaps you not remembering me is karma’s way of paying me back for how I treated you.”

Since our conversation had moved completely away from the terror I’d felt from the dream, I suddenly became more cognizant of how closely we lay beside one another. His warmth, his scent, and the feel of him pressed against me made my toes curl. I liked it. I liked it too much. “It scares me, the depth of what I think I once felt for you.”

He swallowed, the sound audible. “The way I feel about you scares the shit out of me if that makes you feel any better.”

“Why does it scare you?”

“Because you have complete control over me, Avery.” He brushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. And do you know how vulnerable that makes me feel? Do you know how uneasy I feel on a regular basis that the possibility of you rejecting me and pushing me away still exists? I can try my damnedest to win you back, but ultimately, you’re the one who gets to decide. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here wanting you, waiting for you, and hoping that you’ll decide that I’m the one for you. But I can’t make you want me. I can only hope that you do.”

That dipping motion began roiling my stomach over and over again. “You do things to my insides,” I whispered. “You have since the minute I woke up. I think that’s why I was so distrustful of you when I came around in the field. I didn’t understand the way you made me feel. I still don’t.”

“Who says you have to understand it? Since when has love been anything anybody can understand?”

Love. My heart clenched. I’d once loved this man. I could feel it. I could feel it to the depth of my bones that I’d once felt such a soul-searing love for him that it had all but consumed me.

But I also knew that love came from shared experiences and years of growth. It hadn’t developed in two days. And right now, all I had with him was two days.

“Why don’t you try to sleep? This is a rather heavy conversation for the middle of the night.”

Since he’d probably scented the turmoil that had seeped into my being, I did as he said and rolled so my back was to him.

He shifted, and the mattress sank under his weight, but he was careful to keep his body from touching mine.

I closed my eyes when his warm hands began kneading my back. I relished the feel of his firm fingers rubbing my muscles and eliciting tingles of pleasure.

“You don’t have to do this,” I told him. “You need more sleep than I do.”

He grunted. “I’m fine. Between the two naps yesterday and the additional five hours I just got, I’d be good to go if I had to get up and start working right now. I’m a werewolf, remember? We’re stronger than most.”

His fingers continued to ease and soothe, making my shoulders relax.

“Have you always been this . . . invincible?”

He chuckled, his fingers never stopping. “What makes you think I’m invincible? I’m far from it.”

I shrugged. “It just seems like nothing fazes you. That you roll with whatever life throws at you.”

“Maybe, but I wasn’t born that way. I was trained to be this way. It’s how all commanders are in the SF. We have to be able to deal with whatever our jobs throw at us. Now, enough talking. Go to sleep. It’s still a few hours until sunrise.”

I closed my eyes again and concentrated on the feel of his warm hands and sure fingers. But instead of his slow massages making me feel sleepy, that achy feeling began to pulse in my core again.

Wyatt sucked in a breath, and I could only imagine what scent I was giving off. But there was something about him, something that called my body to his.

I inched back on the mattress, little by little, scolding myself for doing so but unable to stop.

My ass brushed against Wyatt’s thigh, then his groin. His stiff erection prodded my lower back.

In a gruff voice, he whispered, “Avery, what are you doing?”

I stopped, freezing my movements. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I just do things when I’m around you. It’s like my body wants certain things.”

I began to move away, but his hand clamped onto my hip, anchoring me against him. His chest brushed closer, and then I felt his hard length press entirely against my back as his mouth dipped. He nestled into the crook of my neck.

“I’m not complaining.” His whispered words brushed my ear. “I like it.”

“You do?”

“Oh yes, Little Flower. It’s why I was so grumpy before bed. I’m aching for you in the worst way, and there’s nothing I can do that will blow off this steam. Back at the SF, when I felt like this, I could distance myself from you, go to the gym, or let my wolf out and run through the forest. But I can’t do that here. I’m stuck in close proximity to you with my balls throbbing.”

My breath caught at the rawness of his words.

“But I’m not saying that to pressure you,” he added quickly. “I just want you to understand. If I get moody sometimes, it’s only because I want so desperately what I can’t have. But if you’re happy to lie with me like this, I’ll happily keep you beside me, although I can’t help the hard-on.”

The tip of his erection brushed against me again, and I moaned, unable to help it. Gods, this man. I wanted him so much. Even though my mind was a mess, my body knew exactly what it wanted.

“Is this okay?” His breath made goosebumps sprout across my skin. “To lie beside you like this?”

“Yes,” I breathed.

His erection prodded me again as his hand dipped around my hip, moving slowly toward the juncture of my thighs. “What about this?”

Another breathy moan escaped me when his fingers swept down to my core, between my legs and through the thin shorts. He began moving slowly, just teasing swirls and soft strokes.

I arched back, sensations already coursing through me at just a few mere touches.

“Do you want me to stop?” His fingers rubbed and dipped.

Fire grew inside me. “No.”

He rumbled. “Good.”

His fingers continued to play and tap, swirl and stroke. Within seconds, I was liquid heat beneath his touch.

When another gasp escaped me, he growled again. “So responsive. I will never tire of that.” He kissed my neck, sucking on the skin below my ear while his hand continued its maddening assault.

“Stop!” I abruptly called out. I was already half lost, getting too far gone, but that wasn’t how I wanted this to go.

He pulled his hand away, his body turning rigid. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—” He sighed harshly. “I’ll go back to the other bed.”

But I rolled around and grabbed him before he could leave. “No, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that I want to touch you. It seems unfair if you’re the only one giving me . . . pleasure.”

A deep glow lit his eyes, and his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. “Okay. If that’s what you want?”

“It is. Unless you object?”

“No,” he said instantly. “No objections at all. Do with me as you please.”

I giggled. His words were so desperate they were hoarse. “You can’t judge me, though. I don’t remember what you like.”

His voice grew raspier, as if he struggled to catch his breath when I trailed a finger down his chest. “There’s nothing you can do that I won’t like.”

“But do you have things you prefer?” I bent down and kissed his chest, just to the right of his nipple.

He sucked in a breath. “That’s good.”

“What about this?” I trailed my tongue to the ridge of his abdomen, kissing and sucking as I went.

“Uh-huh, that’s good, too,” he said in a strangled voice.

“And this?” I dipped my hand into his shorts. His thick erection greeted me, and my breath caught. Gods, the man was huge.

“Oh yeah, I definitely like that.”

I encircled his length and began stroking him as I kissed, touched, and fondled his chest, neck, and shoulders.

The heat off him grew with every passing second, and low groans and further strangled sounds regularly tore from his throat.

“Would you object to me tasting you?” I whispered, then nibbled his ear. “Here?” I squeezed his thick shaft.

His entire body shuddered. “Oh Gods, no. Definitely no objections to that.”

I sat up, suddenly feeling entirely awake even though it was hours until sunrise. I slipped my tank top off, my bare breasts visible in the moonlight. My nipples were already peaked, the chill in the room setting them on edge.

Wyatt groaned as his erection speared his shorts, but I paused.

“What is it?” he asked as I stared at him with my tits only inches from his face. He leaned forward, his tongue darting out to taste one taut bud.

I sucked in a breath. “Your size,” I managed. “I just wondered how I had sex with you. It doesn’t look like you’ll fit in me.” A blush crept up my cheeks despite trying to stop it.

He chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, I fit.” He lapped at my breasts again.

That throbbing clench began in my core at the feel of his tongue, his need, and his desire for me. Suddenly I wanted him, needed him.

“What if I want to do more than suck you?”

His hand gripped my waist, then trailed down to my thighs when I inched down. “Babe, you can do anything you want to me.”

He hissed in a breath when I ripped his shorts off in one second and then encircled his pulsing erection in the next. The power in me strummed and flowed, infusing speed into me that I didn’t realize I was capable of.

“Your eyes are glowing again,” he said huskily when I looked up at him with the tip of his dick by my mouth.

“They are? My eyes glow too?”

“Only since the other day. I think it’s the power in you. But we can talk about that another time.” He tilted his hips up, inviting me to suck him.

With a curving smile, I lowered my head and allowed myself to taste him as desperately as I wanted to.

Wyatt’s thighs grew harder and stiffer the more I licked and fondled him. Twice I almost made him come, but then I pulled back at the last minute until he’d retreated from the precipice.

His entire body was shaking with need, although mine was in a similar state. Seeing how much power I had over him, how I could make him shudder and groan with one hard suck or scrape of my teeth, made my core throb.

“Avery,” he growled when I retreated to stroking him slowly again. “If your touch isn’t enough to drive me mad, your scent will. I can smell the wetness between your thighs.”

I released his erection, then crawled up his chest, my breasts trailing along his stomach.

“Fuck, woman.” He reached down to cup them, kneading their flesh.

I slipped my shorts off, my breaths coming so fast and the need inside me so great. “I want more than just touching and sucking.”

He stilled, his eyes whipping to mine. “So do I.”

I straddled him, my naked sex sliding along his abdomen since I was so wet.

He groaned, the tendons in his neck jutting out.

“So you won’t mind if I do this?” I straightened, just enough to reach between us and grip his erection. I shifted lower until his tip prodded my entrance.

“Fuck, no.” His teeth clenched so tightly that his jaw muscles popped.

I tilted my head back, closing my eyes, and slowly, inch by inch, I lowered myself onto him until I’d sheathed him completely inside me.

I moaned in pleasure. The feel of him filling me and stretching me, Gods, it felt so good.

“Oh, Little Flower. You’re as tight and sweet as I remember you.” He moaned when I tilted my hips, his length still completely buried inside me.

“You’re so big,” I breathed, and then I began to move, his hard length sliding in and out of me as I set a tempo that rubbed that ache deep inside me. “Oh Gods!” I whispered. “You feel so good.”

His hands locked onto my hips, lifting and moving me, slamming me back onto his cock as I fucked him harder and harder and rode him faster and faster.

The feel of him pulsing and rubbing inside me made my breath stop, and then he tilted his hips, hitting me deeper and harder and . . . Gods . . . scraping that area inside me.

“It’s happening again,” I moaned. Those sensations were starting again, the ones he’d done to me yesterday. How quickly I was coming to learn what these delicious feelings meant.

“Fuck. Me too, babe.” He growled and gripped me harder, his head arching back as I sank onto him again and again, moving faster with every bounce.

And when his erection rubbed on that deep spot again, I became undone.

I screamed when a flurry of stars and cresting waves pulsed through me. Wyatt’s roar came next, his hips bucking and his hands clenching as the veins in his neck stood on end.

His dick throbbed and convulsed, my inner walls clamping around him as wave after wave of ecstasy rocked through me again and again.

Gods, this man. He gave me unending pleasure and a continual throbbing need. How could I ever escape that?

When I finally collapsed on Wyatt’s chest, so spent and satiated that I couldn’t move, a hint of moonlight revealed elongated canines in his mouth.

I blinked and his mouth closed, erasing what I’d thought I’d seen.

He gathered me in his arms as I used his shoulder as a pillow. A deep rumble of contentment came from him as his scent flowed around me and a warm feeling grew in my heart.

“That was amazing,” I breathed just as my eyes drifted closed.

“Yes, my love.” He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “It was.”