Page 103 of Born in Fire
When I finally move, we both gasp. The connection is electric, transcendent—like nothing we’ve ever shared before. Her heat meets mine, building between us until I’m sure we’ll combust. Each thrust draws sounds from her I’ve never heard—deeper, rawer, almost animal.
Her eyes meet mine, wide with wonder. In their depths, something flickers—recognition, revelation. For a heartbeat, I think she remembers everything.
“I know you,” she whispers, fingers tracing the line of my jaw. “I don’t know how, but Iknowyou.”
“You do,” I agree, voice rough with emotion. “You have since the beginning.”
I shift, changing the angle, driving deeper. Her breath hitches, her nails scoring my back. The pain is sweet, grounding me when everything else feels dreamlike.
“You’re mine,” I tell her, the words dragged from some deep place in me. The dragon in me surfaces, my eyes burning hotter. “You’re mine, and I won’t lose you again.”
“Yours,” she agrees, the word a vow. “Show me.”
I lose myself then, setting a rhythm that has her crying out with each thrust. She meets me move for move, her body archingto take me deeper. We fit together perfectly, two pieces of the same whole.
The heat between us builds, impossibly hot. Her skin glows with that strange inner fire, the sheets beneath us steaming slightly. I should be concerned, but I’m too far gone. Too consumed by her.
“Dorian,” she gasps, her inner muscles clenching around me. “Something’s happening—”
I feel it too—a gathering power, an approaching storm. Heat builds between us, literal and figurative. Her skin grows hotter beneath my hands. The glow intensifies. Her hair lifts slightly as if in a breeze, though the air is still. Power crackles between us, something beyond normal passion.
Then it happens. As she comes, light explodes from her skin—brilliant, golden, filling the room with impossible radiance. I follow her over the edge, my cry mingling with hers as pleasure tears through me. And I feel myself falling, falling, falling….
Chapter 32
Juno
Light explodes behind my eyes—blinding, golden, transcendent. For one perfect moment, I’m suspended in ecstasy, every nerve ending alive with sensation, Dorian’s body still joined with mine.
Then I’m falling.
The bedroom dissolves. Wind rushes past my face. I’m soaring above Seattle, but not in my body. Something carries me—massive wings beating on either side. Below, the city sprawls like a circuit board of light.
The perspective shifts violently. I’m diving toward Craven Towers, its glass facade gleaming in the moonlight. In the darkness, I see figures moving—shadowy, urgent. Then I’m watching as scaled creatures with human features surround a man.
Dorian.
He’s bleeding, on his knees, arms wrenched behind him. His eyes blaze with fury, but he can’t break free. One of the creatures steps forward—taller than the others, face half-transformed between human and reptile. It speaks words I can’t hear, then raises a glowing object.
A shard of crystal pulsing with inner light.
Dorian screams, his body contorting. I try to reach him, but I have no form, no substance. I can only watch as they drag him away, his blood leaving a trail across the floor.
“Juno! Juno, come back to me!”
Reality snaps back like a rubber band. I’m gasping, trembling, my skin clammy with cold sweat. Dorian hovers above me, his face tight with concern, hands gripping my shoulders.
“What happened?” he demands. “You were here, then you just… went somewhere else.”
I struggle to sit up, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“I saw you,” I gasp. “They had you—creatures with scales. In Craven Towers. They were hurting you.”
His expression shifts from concern to sharp focus. “What else did you see?”
“A crystal shard. Glowing.” My teeth chatter despite the warmth of the room. “They were using it against you.”
Dorian pulls away slightly, studying my face. After a moment, he reaches for the blanket, drawing it around my shoulders.
