Consumed by fire, p.3
Consumed by Fire, page 3
My mind is racing. I keep going back to the same thought over and over.
No one is coming for me. Octane spoke of a mate yesterday, but I don’t have a mate. The father of my baby is dead. It’s just me…just us. I touch my belly softly through the fabric of the towel.
No one even knows where I am. That I am on Draig. That I am being held captive. I will have to escape on my own steam.
If I returned to Mistveil right now, no one would be the wiser, but if I remain missing for any significant length of time, questions will be asked. I’m not supposed to even be here. I should never have come.
I messed up. Why was it so important that I figured out where they were going? It was so stupid.
It doesn’t matter. I need to get away. I need to bide my time and escape. It needs to happen long before my precious baby is born. I will never let Octane take my child to raise as his own. It’s clear that he has a chip on his shoulder. That he is plagued by demons. He would be the worst person to raise a child. Let alone my precious baby. I love him or her, and I’m already fiercely protective of them. I have been since I first found out that I was pregnant. Falling pregnant was a mistake, but my baby isn’t. My child is the most precious thing to me. Octane can go and get screwed.
I sigh as I brush my teeth. Then I walk into the bedroom. Octane is dressed in fresh jeans and nothing else. His hair is still wet. He’s formidable. So incredibly tall and strong. I hate to admit it, but he’s attractive, exuding all kinds of power. He’s the kind of male I would normally be attracted to. Only, he isn’t one of my kind. He’s the enemy. His goal is to hurt my people, whereas mine is to protect them. We are opposites in every way.
He hands me a T-shirt that is miles too big. Another one of his garments. I take it, dropping the towel to the ground. I note how he turns away. I think he might be affected by my nudity, which is ludicrous since we’re shifters and, moreover, since I am pregnant with another male’s child. My body is swelling with life. I look down. My breasts are much heavier. Even my nipples are bigger and darker. Shifters are possessive and territorial. They protect what is theirs and are repelled when something or someone belongs to someone else. Only, I don’t belong to anyone. But Octane doesn’t know that. He must never find out, either.
I quickly pull the shirt over my head. I’ve been standing here for too long already.
Octane gives a small sigh and walks over to a nearby table, sliding a plate of food my way. “Eat while it’s still warm. I gave you ribs and the steak.”
“Be careful,” I tell him. “Someone might think you actually care,” I joke, not meaning it.
He smiles. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I can’t get answers from a corpse. I won’t get to keep your baby if you lose it. Eat, female!”
I want to argue with him. I want to shout and scream. I want to run. To escape, but I know it won’t happen if I don’t have any strength.
I feel a soft thump inside me. My baby. I put a hand on my belly and pull in a deep breath. Then I sit, and I eat everything on my plate.
5
Trinity
Two days later…
My shirt is riding up. His hand is splayed on my belly. My back is to his front. Octane has a leg slung over me. His erection is digging into my back.
I try to pry myself out of his grip, but he holds on tighter. I plant an elbow in his midriff, but it’s like hitting stone.
Octane groans softly, gripping me tighter and rubbing his cock against my ass as he rocks his pelvis. He groans again, deeper this time, his hand moving down my belly on its way to… I grab his fingers and elbow him again…harder this time.
His whole body tenses, and he sucks in a breath. I know he’s awake.
Good!
I’m about to give him a piece of my mind when the door to the bungalow swings open.
“I’m going in there. I will hurt anyone who tries to stop me.” It’s the human I helped – Kim. She storms into the bungalow.
Octane jumps out of bed as I pull down my T-shirt and sit up.
His hair is mussed, but my eyes are quickly drawn down to his enormous erection. It’s impossible to miss since it juts from his body. His balls are big but pulled up tightly against him, making him look that much larger. Holy hell, but he is quite beautiful, even if he is a gigantic prick of epic proportions.
Kim’s mouth drops open as her gaze moves down his body. Octane doesn’t bother covering up.
A male follows close behind her. His eyes dance with humor as he takes us in. “I told you that barging in was a bad idea.”
Kim narrows her eyes, and her jaw tightens. She also quickly averts her gaze, looking at Octane’s face and turning blood red. “You weren’t supposed to hurt her,” she yells at him.
“I didn’t…I won’t…” Octane lifts both his hands. “She’s fine. You can see for yourself.” He glances at me.
“She does look fine, babe,” the male says, smiling.
“What the hell is that?” Kim points at Octane’s cock, then she steps past him, looking at me. “Are you okay? Has he forced himself on you?” Her voice softens. “You can tell me. Be honest.”
“Forced myself…?” Octane splutters, looking flustered for the first time. “What the hell are you talking about, human?”
“You have an erection.” Kim covers her face. “Put that thing away,” she mutters against her hand. “I don’t want to see it, and I’m sure that poor Trinity must feel the same way.”
“It’s morning wood. Perfectly normal since it’s still morning, and I just woke up.” He stretches, lifting his arms above his head and arching his back. Then he yawns, covering his mouth for the worst of it. “I won’t put anything away because this is my house. You were not invited.” He folds his arms.
“See, I told you, sweetheart. Trinity is fine.”
“She’s not fine,” the human splutters, uncovering her face but looking away. “How can she be? He’s…he’s…” She makes a noise of frustration. “He’s insufferable. A complete asshole.”
“Octane isn’t a bad person. He is a male of honor. He won’t hurt the Red.” Blaze puts his arms around Kim, who shrugs him off.
“Don’t patronize me. This isn’t right, and you know it. I’m so sorry, Trinity.” Her voice softens.
“It isn’t your fault,” I tell her, getting up off the bed. I sigh. “As much as I hate to admit it, aside from keeping me here against my will, he hasn’t touched or hurt me. I’m fine.”
“Why are you letting him sleep with you? Surely the two of you aren’t…you know?” She widens her eyes.
“Heavens, no!” I shake my head. “I wouldn’t go there with him, even if he were the last male alive.” I glare at Octane, who looks at me with indifference.
“She has a mate.” Octane shrugs. “I won’t have her trying to escape, hence insisting that we sleep in the same bed. That’s where it ends. Trinity is my enemy. I don’t fuck the enemy.” He snorts.
“He’s forcing her to sleep in the same bed with him, Blaze. He refuses to wear clothes.” She sounds frustrated and irritated. Her face is still bright red.
“It’s normal for our kind. You’re thinking too much like a human. Nudity isn’t as much of a big deal as with humans. Unless two people are attracted to each other, of course, and I don’t think we need to worry about that.” Blaze snorts.
“How can you say that? Look at him. I think he’s plenty attracted to her.”
“I wake up every morning with a hard cock,” Octane rasps. “It has nothing to do with the Red. In fact, I’m shocked she hasn’t had the opposite effect on me. I should have a shriveled-up dick.”
“See,” the male tries to placate the human. “It’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Still, it’s not right. You need to let her go and right now,” Kim tells Octane; her eyes are wide. I admire her tenacity and appreciate what she is trying to do for me, but I know that it is useless. She’s wasting her time.
Octane sighs, rolling his eyes dramatically. “I’m sick of hearing those words. The only time I will let her go is when she tells me what I need to know. Not a second sooner. You need to control your female,” he tells the other male.
Kim’s mouth falls open. “I do not need controlling. Were you born in the Dark Ages? You do realize that men and women are equals nowadays, don’t you?”
“You don’t need controlling because you’re a woman; you need controlling because you’re out of line.”
“You are out of line.” She points at Octane. “What are you going to do? Are you going to keep her locked up in here with you forever?”
“No, I’m not. I’ll keep her for as long as it takes to get the info I need or until her child is born.”
“What does her child have to do with anything?” Kim flaps her hands while she speaks.
“I’m keeping it if she doesn’t give me the answers I need.” Octane folds his arms across his massive chest.
“Are you freaking insane?” Kim shouts. “This is all kinds of wrong.”
“It is a little…much,” Blaze stammers. “You don’t mean it, do you, Octane?”
“A little much? It’s disgusting even to say such a thing, let alone to go through with it!” Kim yells.
Blaze cups his mate’s jaw. “He won’t go through with it, babe.” His voice is soft and caressing. “It’s a scare tactic. Tell her, Octane.” His eyes are pleading.
“Of course I mean it. It’s not a scare tactic. I will give the Red every opportunity to tell us some very basic information, but if she doesn’t oblige, then her child is mine as payment.” He glances at me. “We’ve had this little chat. The Red knows the score. She knows I am very fucking serious.” He winks at me, and I glower at him.
Asshole!
“He doesn’t mean it,” Blaze insists.
“He does mean it. You can see he means it. You’re insane, do you know that?” Kim tells Octane.
“You can call me whatever you like; just do it somewhere else,” he tells her.
Kim tries to launch herself at him, but Blaze holds her back. “No, Kim. Don’t! It won’t do any good.”
“You might break a nail…or your hand. I wouldn’t feel a thing,” Octane says.
“You are the biggest prick I have ever met!” Kim shouts.
“Geeeeeee, thanks.” He palms his cock. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He winks at Kim, who starts screaming in an incoherent fashion.
“Stop being such an asshole!” Blaze growls at Octane. Then he picks up his mate and walks her out of the bungalow. Kim keeps shouting obscenities at Octane all the while. We can still hear her long after the door has shut.
“She’s annoying.”
“I think she’s nice,” I tell him. “She’s also right. Anyone who even threatens to steal another person’s baby is insane.”
“All you have to do is talk to me, and this all goes away. You can go back to your mate and live your life, raise your kid. Play happy fucking families.”
“I’m not telling you anything.”
“Suit yourself.” He shrugs. “I’m going to shower. Don’t try anything stupid, or you’ll be joining me in there tomorrow.” He points at the bathroom door. “I can make this so much worse on you without hurting you.” He levels me with a stare. I know he means it, too.
“I won’t try anything,” I mumble, feeling annoyed.
Then he turns and walks away, leaving the bathroom door open just a crack.
I’m breathing hard. My face feels hot. I look around the bungalow. I’m so tempted to run, but that would never work. I try to think of all the scenarios. I rack my brain, trying to come up with something, anything that wouldn’t involve putting my unborn child at risk. I keep hitting blanks. There’s always someone posted outside our bungalow. They patrol around the unit. They would hear me and chase after me. Even if I shifted, I wouldn’t get very far before I was outrun and forced to return. I know that there are others patrolling the whole camp as well. I wouldn’t get far at all.
I sigh. I suppose it could be worse. I could be tied up in a jail cell. Octane could be starving and beating me. I flop back down on the chair and pick up my book. I start reading, not really taking anything in.
Then I hear it. A low groan. It’s coming from the bathroom. It has all of my nerve endings firing off. It has my skin tightening and my heart racing. It’s a groan of pure pleasure. It’s Octane. He is touching himself right now. I know it. The groan is deep and low, but I hear it clear as day.
My body responds, even though I don’t want it to. My nipples tighten. I feel something low in my belly. Something that feels too much like need for my liking.
Octane is an asshole. He has me locked up against my will and has threatened to steal my child from me, and here I am, getting turned on by the sound of him coming. I know that’s what it is. His groan deepens, and I feel a zing between my legs. I want to touch myself, too. What’s wrong with me? There has to be something wrong for me to be reacting to him.
I need to get out of here, and as soon as I can.
6
Octane
There is a brisk knock at the door. I check my watch, but it isn’t dinner time yet.
“What?” I growl, switching off the television. I wasn’t really watching, just passing the time. I glance over at Trinity, who doesn’t look up from the book she is reading. She’s curled up on the wingback chair in the corner, as far away from me as she can get.
Devil puts his head around the jamb. “Sorry to intrude, but Shadow wants to speak to you; she says it can’t wait.”
What now?
If my leader thinks she’s going to dissuade me from my plan, she’s mistaken.
I nod once, put the remote control on the table, and stand.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I tell Trinity, who locks eyes with me for a moment before looking back down at her book. She’s gone back to giving me the silent treatment.
“Don’t tr—” I start to say to her.
“Yeah, yeah, you can save it. I know the drill. Don’t try anything stupid. There are guards posted not only outside the bungalow but all around the camp. I get it.” She sounds bored, which is great. I’m hoping she’ll talk sooner if she can’t shift, or go outside, or any of that stuff. I’ll keep her holed up until she spills the beans. It’s a day I can’t wait for because at least she’ll be out of my hair.
“We’re on the same page, then.” I leave the bungalow, not even giving it a backward glance.
Goliath nods as I pass him.
“Keep a close eye on her,” I tell him.
“No problemo!” he says, continuing his patrol.
“And?” Devil asks, falling into step with me. “What is she like?” He grins at me.
“What do you mean?” I frown.
“Is she much different from our females? Has she talked yet?” He seems excited, and I’m not sure why.
“Just because she’s a Red doesn’t mean that she’s different. She’s a pregnant female.” I shrug. “And no, she’s still refusing to talk, but it’s still early days.”
“I have to say that she’s very pretty,” Devil says. “Does she have a mate?”
I stop walking and level him with a cold, hard stare. “Come again?”
“Just an observation.” He holds his hands up. “I noted that she was quite beautiful, and I was wondering if she was mated. Do you know?”
I narrow my eyes. “Of course she’s mated. She’s with child.”
“Just because she is with child does not mean that she is mated. My mother had me before she and my father mated. I know it’s unusual for shifters, but it can happen.”
“I never knew that about you.”
“Yep.” He shrugs. “It isn’t a big deal. They did end up mating in the end. I was just wondering… She’s just so darned pretty. You must have noticed that about her.”
“She’s also very much the enemy.”
“You were the one who pointed out that she isn’t all that much different from our own females. We are all dragon shifters, after all. We all lived in harmony once. Once upon a time, there was no divide among our kind.”
“Those days are far behind us, Devil. You would do well to remember that. Trinity is very much mated. You can stop checking her out already.”
“You make it sound like you didn’t notice how beautiful she is.”
“I didn’t!” I snarl. “We’re going to drop this. I don’t want to hear of it again.” I bite out each word as I am reminded of how I woke up this morning. I need to stop giving myself a hard time about it. I was asleep. It was a dream. These things happen. Morning wood is normal for any male. It wasn’t her. It fucking wasn’t!
“You don’t have to get so angry. It was merely an observation,” Devil says, sounding put out.
“This is not a dating agency. I think it’s bad enough that dragons are dating and mating their damned riders. First Dagger, then Fang, and now Blaze. It’s wrong! But this, looking at a Red, let alone anything else, would be so much worse. A Draiger with a Red!” I shake my head. “I don’t want to hear such talk again. Not from you or anyone else. Am I clear?”
He nods once, looking downtrodden. I don’t care if I rained on his parade. I mean every damned word.
“I think I can take it from here,” I tell him. “You keep your eyes open for anything unusual and stop gawking at the Red.”
“Okay,” he mumbles. “I’ll walk the perimeter, and I won’t look at the female again. I mean, she’s mated so…”
“And a Red!”
“Yes…yes, there’s that, too. I’ll keep my eyes open for any trouble…don’t you worry.”
“You do that,” I say unnecessarily as I push open the door that leads to the offices.
It doesn’t take me long to get to Shadow’s door, which is open. I knock once, anyway.
“Come in,” she says, her eyes on her computer. She looks up almost as soon as I enter. “Take a seat.”
I do as she says.
“What is this I hear about you taking Trinity’s baby as soon as it’s born?” She links her fingers under her chin, giving me a death stare.
