Page 21 of Fight Fire With Fire
“That’s right, baby. Give me another one. Together this time.” He lifted my hips, and the new angle had his dick hitting me in just the right spot to send me flying over the edge again. After a few more thrusts, his release followed mine, and he roared my name before collapsing on top of me.
“Whoa.” I melted against the mattress.
He grinned down at me. “Just think, we have a lifetime of whoas ahead of us.”
I appreciated the bounty the goddess had blessed me with and planned to enjoy each and every one of them to the fullest.
13
Dawson
In the two weeks following our claiming ceremony, I’d been sent out on three missions for the shifter council. Ember accompanied me on the one that took the most time, and her experience with magic had been a big help in hunting a dark practitioner who had tried to kidnap a young tiger shifter from their backyard. Working together had brought us even closer and made our bond stronger than most were after such a short time together.
My gorgeous mate had blossomed under my family’s attention, embracing them with her sweet heart as though she’d known them forever. And she’d put her stamp on our home, changing out some of the furniture and adding feminine touches throughout the house. But where she’d made the most impact was in the garden, claiming a large plot of land near the tree line and turning it into several different plots. There was one for fruits, another for vegetables, and a third for herbs she used in cooking. The last was for plants she used in spells, and she’d sectioned it away from the others and asked me to put a fence around it so Decker wouldn’t accidentally wander inside and taste something he shouldn’t.
She spent a few hours a day puttering in the garden—tilling the soil, planting, and weeding—and her efforts had already paid off. If I hadn’t known about her affinity for fire magic, I would have assumed she was an earth witch instead with how quickly the plants were growing.
She had a habit of staying out there too long in the hot sun, and as I glanced at the clock, I realized it was past time for her to come inside. I was headed into the kitchen to grab her a cold bottle of water when I felt a stirring of panic through my mating bond. My inner beast shoved against my skin to get free and fly to my mate.
Rushing out of the house, I jumped down the steps and ran across the yard. “Ember!” I roared.
Ozul was on the other side of the garden from my mate, the plants she so lovingly tended the only barrier between her and the demon. When our eyes met, her shoulders slumped in relief. I quickly scanned her body for any sign of injury, only turning my attention to Ozul when I confirmed that he hadn’t had the chance to hurt her yet.
It took a lot to scar a demon. Judging by the marks on his face that hadn’t been there when everything had gone down at The Abyss, the asshole had been to hell and back since then.
“What are you doing here?” The man must have a death wish to trespass on Veles land. Dragon shifters protected their territory almost as fiercely as they did their fated mates. “You’ll never make it out of here alive.”
My threat didn’t seem to worry the demon. He merely shrugged and muttered, “At least I’ll take her with me.”
“You’re not going to harm a hair on her head.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with killing you. Witches don’t do well with the loss of their consorts.” He tilted his head to the side, a vicious gleam in his black eyes. “I wonder if her pain will be double since you’ve claimed her as your mate.”
“You won’t find me easy to kill.”
“And I sure as heck am not going to just stand by and let you hurt my consort.” Ember stretched her arms out before bringing her hands together in front of her body, a ball of flame hovering over her open palms. “I’m not afraid to fight fire with fire.”
My gorgeous mate was so damn hot, and not just because she could control fire with her magic. I knew she was scared, but she didn’t let that detract from her determination to do whatever it took to make sure we both came out of this confrontation alive.
“I’m not afraid of your paltry magic, little bitch.” The demon scoffed and called upon his hellfire, the flames scorching the ground around him. “I have plenty of my own.”
My dragon roared his fury at the audacity of this intruder who dared to threaten my mate right in front of me. Ozul looked rattled by the sound, but he quickly masked his reaction and glared at me.
“Even if you are successful in killing me—which will never fucking happen—you’ll be hunted for the rest of your days,” I warned, shifting to my left so I was closer to Ember. “The dragons of the Veles hold won’t stop until they find and destroy you. And if they somehow fail—which again, will never fucking happen—I’m the head enforcer for the shifter council. You’ll have every kind of shifter that roams this planet looking for you.”
“And the witches, too.” Ember glared at the demon. “The Aldebrand and Ainsley covens are two of the most powerful in the world. You don’t want to make enemies of them.”
“It doesn’t matter who I’ll piss off.” Ozul pointed at his wrecked face. “I’ve already suffered a fate worse than death. Nothing they can do to me will compare to the torture Adan inflicted upon me. And it was all your fault!”
“I didn’t force you to accost me,” Ember protested.
“And neither of us had any say in how Adan chose to punish you,” I added.
“I didn’t even break one of his rules, but that didn’t stop the bastard from keeping me in a cell for days longer than you were forced to stay in The Abyss.” Hatred gleamed in his black orbs. “It wasn’t one of those cushy suites that he put you in either, and he didn’t serve me gourmet meals during my stay. The gruel I got was barely edible and only made my healing more difficult.”
I made a mental note to let Adan know that someone on his staff had loose lips. Since I was banned from his property, I couldn’t get to the person who had riled Ozul. But I sure as fuck could let the powerful demon know that his team wasn’t as loyal as he thought so he could do the punishing for me.
“Your treatment at The Abyss was not our fault. Take it up with Adan,” I insisted.
