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Alaric turned away, but I pulled him back, leaving Tiernan’s question unanswered for the moment. Alaric growled at the force I used to draw his lips to my own. I kissed him. He kissed me back with a hunger bordering on pain. The fire at my core stirred, the flames building into a wild-fire. I only remembered Tiernan was there when he swept my hair from my neck and laid a trail of slow,hardkisses down the back of my neck.
I wanted them.Bothof them—right there in the clearing.
The gratifying sound of tearing fabric preceded a gentle breeze and warm hands on my bare back. I moaned and both males tensed in response to the sound. Alaric moved his hand down the curve of my neck, between my breasts, and lower still. My breathing hitched. The fire burned hotter, brighter, blinding me.
“Is this what you want?” Alaric asked me, his breathy voice caressing my cheek—his hands hurriedly unfastening the belt at my waist.
I couldn’t speak through the waves of desire and flame coursing through me. I was drunk on their touch. It wasn’t only my own desire, I could feel Alaric’s too, as he unconsciously pushed his own emotions into me. It was so much.Toomuch.
It was a raging storm, building to a precipice within me. I couldn’t contain it—the fire. It was so strong. I had to let it out. It was taking every ounce of my concentration to keep from burning them where they touched my skin.
“Liana,” Alaric murmured, his fingertips hesitating on the top button of my pants, waiting for my permission.
Tiernan gripped my waist, his fingers digging into my skin. I shuddered, opening my eyes to find Alaric gazing into them, his expression changing from one of passion, to one of fear.
It wouldn’t be held in any longer. It hurt—like a pressure from within, my bones felt near breaking. My breaths came quickly, and gooseflesh rose on my skin. I cried out at the force of the Grace within me, begging to be released. “Get back!” I shouted and burst into flame.
Chapter Five
It engulfed me in a torrent of fire. It was all I could see. It licked up my arms and down my legs, turning my clothes to ashes at my feet. It didn’t hurt, but still I screamed as though burning. My tears evaporated to steam on my cheeks before they could fall. I couldn’t see them through the wall of fire, couldn’t hear them over its roar.
Tiernan.Alaric.Did they move back in time? How far did the fire spread? It was everywhere. There was no end to it. I had to make it stop.
Ice, I needed Finn’s ice. I tried to calm myself, drawing on my fear to form the frost at my core.
But it turned to steam before I could get it past my fingertips.No.
Strong hands gripped my shoulders, and I spun, met with a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Kade.
“Liana,” he said calmly, his own clothes falling away from his body in burning swaths and patches until he stood before me, naked, and in flames, “You can control this. Quiet your mind. Focus.”
“Where’s Alaric? Tiernan?” I cried, my body shaking.
“Don’t think about that. They’ll be fine… but you have to stop this.”
“I can’t.”
He gripped my shoulders tighter, shaking me, “You have to. The forest is burning faster than Finn can save it. Close your eyes and listen to me.”
I did as he told me.
Kade pulled me against him, wincing. Could my fire hurt him? His chest rose and fell steadily, “Breathe with me, that’s it. Slow. In… and out.” He rubbed soothing circles into my back, “Nothing matters except this. You and me, here. We’re alone. Safe. You’re safe, Liana.”
My breaths evened out, matching the rhythm of Kade’s bare chest pressed against my own. The tension broke and my body sagged against him.
“Good,” Kade said, “Now pull it back.”
I clenched my jaw and heaved, calling the fire. It came crashing back in a great wave.
“You are its master. Control it.”
The fire rebelled against me, fighting for another chance at escape, but I wouldn’t let it. I pulled and pulled—feeling the ball of flame at my core grow smaller and smaller. The searing orange light behind my eyelids lessened, until finally it was gone, and I stomped out what remained of it within myself.
Kade cupped the back of my head, “I knew you could do it,” I heard him say before my knees buckled and the world tilted. I slid from the edge and into the abyss.
No one spokeof what happened in the clearing. I had awoken in my bed, clothed, with my four males around me. It was night, and I had the distinct feeling none of them had left my side since our return to the palace.
“I’m sorry,” I said, relief flooding me at seeing all of them well and unscathed. My hands were clenched fists beneath the covers. I could still feel it, the power within me. Though it no longer begged for release, it was there, simmering beneath the surface of my skin.
