Seared by Desire (20 page)

Sara rose from the water like a goddess, throwing her head
back as she shook the water droplets from the long length of her
hair. She smiled as she swam lazy circles near the water’s surface,
constantly tempting him as she showed him fleeting glimpses of her
rosy nipples. Her almost naked body had pushed his control to its
limits but this destroyed it completely. He raced towards her,
lifting her from the water and flying her towards the bank. She
struggled against him, which only served to further inflame his
desires. He wanted her, no, he needed her and he was going to take
what was rightfully his. All thoughts of the war, his people, flew
from his mind until there was only Sara.

“
Let me go!” she shrieked, trying to summon her flame. The
fire spluttered out and died before it had ever truly been and her
heart calmed. “Lucian,” she sighed.

He landed on the soft earth of the bank and turned her to
face him, kissing her before she had even realised what was going
on. His lips were demanding and insistent against hers, his tongue
pushing past her lips to draw her tongue into his mouth. He moved
against her as though he would never be able to kiss her again, his
intensity drawing a corresponding response from her. Her hands
tangled into his hair, keeping him close as their tongues strove
for dominance. The kiss was wild and frantic. The sensations
pulsating throughout her body were making her nipples tighten
against his chest and her core throb with desperate
need.

Groaning, Lucian pulled away just far enough to tear his
shirt from his body before pulling her close again. Her naked skin
now blissfully close to his own, he lowered them to the ground, his
lips never leaving hers. He couldn’t get enough of her. Her taste
was in his mouth but he needed more. Sensing the distress his kiss
was imposing on her lungs, he pulled away. Kissing down her jaw, he
licked down her neck, unwilling to place his lips against the
tempting skin for fear that his sharp fangs would sink into her
neck and drink her blood.

Sara moaned as he continued his journey down her body,
kissing along her collarbone before he moved to her breasts. Her
heart was racing. Fear and trepidation at her actions drowned out
by her own thundering heartbeat. Her eyes were drawn to his bare
chest and her mouth went dry at the sight. His pale skin was tinged
pink in excitement, his muscular chest so hard that it could have
been chiselled from stone. Her hands reached out to touch him,
rubbing over every inch of skin she came into contact with. She
should have been nervous. She’d never been this close to a half
naked man before, especially not one with such clearly lusty
intentions, but all she felt was a burning need to press herself
closer to him, to crush her breasts against the wall of his chest,
to dig her nails into his flesh and keep him close. His hands
fastened around her arms preventing her from doing any such thing
as he continued to look his fill of her.

Her breasts fascinated him, the way her nipples had tightened
to hard nubs and how her soft skin quivered the longer he continued
to simply stare at her exposed body. His lips moved again, kissing
all around her breasts but deliberately avoiding her painfully hard
nipples. Her short nails dug into his back, desperately trying to
get him to touch her as she needed to be touched.

“
Please Lucian,” she begged. “Please Lucian.” She called his
name as though it were a prayer, her hands moving over his back,
keeping him close to her.

His long fingers crept down the length of her thigh as he
spelt his name against her skin, wishing he could mark her so that
the entire world knew she was his. Her keening pleas moved him and
he fell upon her ravenous, licking and sucking the small bud into
his mouth, switching quickly between her breasts never leaving one
unattended for long. She moaned again, her back arching from the
ground as his tongue swept over her sensitive flesh. In all the
centuries of his existence Lucian couldn’t remember ever being so
hard, ever needing to connect intimately with another so
desperately. His shaft ached with need and seemed to pulsate in
time with Sara’s breathy moans. He ground himself against her hip,
his hand edging ever closer to her core. He could smell how wet she
was for him, how ready her body was to receive his.

Not yet,
he instructed himself. He
pulled away from her breasts the instant his fingers met her wet
heat. She gasped in shock as his fingers moved about in lazy
circles over the engorged nub that seemed to be directly connected
to the pleasure sensors in her brain. “Tell me how much you want
me,” he instructed, moving his fingers quicker.

She moaned loudly confused as to how he expected her to form
a coherent sentence when she could barely remember her own name
when he was touching her like that. His talented fingers stopped
when she didn’t say anything. “I want you Lucian,” she breathed,
sighing in relief when his fingers returned to her.

“
How much?” he purred, licking her still hard nipple. “More
than anything?”

“
Yes.”

“
Tell me how much you need me,” he demanded.

His fingers moved over her core teasing her as they almost
entered her before they retreated, leaving Sara sighing in
frustration. She wasn’t sure what it was she needed but his clever
fingers were offering her a glimpse of something she was sure would
rock her to the very foundations of her being.

“
I need you Lucian. I need you more than anything. More than
my next breath. Please Lucian.”

He sunk a finger deep into her core making her cry out as
pleasure began radiating throughout her body. She writhed beneath
him, desperately seeking something she’d never known but he was
more than happy to show her. He added a second finger, stretching
her gently while his thumb made unhurried circles over her
throbbing clitoris. Her sensuous movements brought his attention to
her flaming red hair as he prepared her body to receive him and he
smiled as the strands caught the sunlight, glittering brighter than
the rarest ruby.

“
Your hair really does outshine any jewel in the
sunlight.”

His words brought her out of the haze of lust he’d pulled her
into and Sara opened her eyes finally noting the rising sun on the
horizon. “Lucian!” she cried out. His fingers moved faster in
response to her words. She moaned, long and loud feeling her body
approach the pinnacle of something resplendent. “Lucian,” she
groaned, covering his hand with her own to still his
movements.

“
What?” he demanded, his fingers struggling to move, to give
her release so that his throbbing shaft would be able to slip into
her small body with ease.

“
Lucian, the sun…”

“
I don’t care about the sun Sara, I want to finish this. I
need to finish this. Spread your thighs wider.”

Her tone was desperate as she pleaded with him. Now that her
mind wasn’t so clouded with desire she could feel the sun’s heat
increasing as it made its way higher into the sky. The trees above
them were letting small rays of light through but soon the sun
would be out entirely, its rays strong and deadly to Lucian. “No
Lucian. The sun’s rising, you’re in danger. Please, listen to
me.”

Her words managed to reach him, the desperation in her
normally confident voice making him pay attention to what she was
saying and it was then that he felt the burning pain in his back
where the sun’s rays had reached him.

“
Please Lucian,” she begged, close to tears.

Even with the sun at his back, he was torn between trying to
finish what he’d started before common sense returned and saving
himself from the sun. It was the sight of unshed tears in his
bride’s eyes that had him standing, pulling her to her feet as he
rose.
There will be another, better, time
to finish this. I shouldn’t even have done this much. Heavens above
she drives me insane!
He moved further
into the shade trying to protect his sensitive skin. “Get dressed
Sara and then we’ll go back to camp.”

“
Lucian, go ahead without me. Get safe.”

“
No,” he answered stubbornly.

“
Please Lucian hurry, the sun is rising, your burns will only
get worse.”

“
I’m not going to leave without you. I want you to know where
I’m sleeping so that if something happens you know where to find
me. We can’t be together as I sleep this time. Seraphina may creep
up on you. We can’t take that risk. Hurry.”

Though her body thrummed with thwarted desire, she threw on
her dirty clothes in record time, unwilling to waste time searching
for clean clothes in the three bags she’d brought with her. “I’m
dressed now let’s hurry. You’re burning.” There were blisters on
his shoulders from where the sun had touched him, his torn shirt
providing no protection.

“
I’ll be fine,” he reassured her, lifting her into his arms
and racing back to camp. With his superhuman speed, they quickly
reached camp. The sun was brighter now and Lucian's eyes watered as
Sara slid down his body.

“
Get in the ground,” she ordered, terrified for his well
being.

The ground beneath her feet moved, parting to create a large
hole in the ground, easily big enough for Lucian to fit
inside.

“
Sara,” he breathed, caressing her cheek lightly.
I suppose it’s true then, I’m a vampire and she’s
not, we really can only be together by the night and they seem to
slip by in the blink of an eye.

Her hands caressed his bare chest, hovering over the burnt
blisters on his skin. Tears began to well in her eyes as she
realised the pain he must be in, pain he was suffering because of
her. “Oh Lucian…”

“
I’ll heal Sara. I fed last night, there’s still fresh blood
in my veins, when I rise, it will be as if I was never hurt in the
first place.”

“
I’ll miss you Lucian, but…” She shoved him hard, the
unexpected movement causing him to fall off balance and tumble into
the hole. “But I’ll miss you even more if you died because you were
being stupid.”

He laughed, the sound dying as the earth moved again,
covering him completely and taking him from her. She caressed the
earth lightly, missing him already. Sara stood, quickly noting that
the very much normal humans around her were once again staring at
her. Her eyes however, weren’t focused on them for long, her gaze
returning to the earth under which slept.

“
He’s fine,” she mumbled to herself very much hoping that the
words meant to reassure her were in fact true.

She had become accustomed to terrified stares being direct at
her during her time in Pentonville while playing the part of a true
fire elemental and so she didn’t let the intense stares faze her as
she walked calmly back to the lake to collect her bags. The exposed
skin was beginning to wear on her now that Lucian wasn’t around to
appreciate it. Confident that no one had followed her, Sara changed
into a simple green dress, drawn from the depths of one of her
bags.

Now appropriately dressed, she couldn’t help but remember her
heated encounter with Lucian on the bank of this very lake. She
moaned at the memory, her breasts tingling, her core throbbing. She
could still feel his lips moving over her body, the glorious
sensation of his bare chest pressing against her breasts, how his
hands had moved within her body. She wrapped her arms around
herself, trying to stop her body’s reaction to such a powerful
memory. Her arms were covered in goose bumps though she wasn’t cold
and she was beginning to shiver slightly. Her eyes were drawn
irresistibly to the exact location they’d touched each other so
intimately and had intended to do more.

“
Lucian,” she whispered longingly, wishing desperately to feel
his arms around her once more, to hold his body close. She sighed,
forcing herself to move away from the lake and its
memories.

She walked back to the encampment, noting that most people
were preparing to go to sleep even though the day had only just
begun. Tents were being erected, fires extinguished and belongings
gathered close.
It makes sense I suppose.
They spend most of their nights awake, when else would they get a
chance to sleep?

She strolled further into the makeshift camp, wanting to be
near Lucian again when a small voice called out to her.

“
Lady Sara, Lady Sara.”

She turned towards the voice as the much taller woman hurried
towards her. For someone so much taller than herself, the woman’s
small voice seemed strange but she shrugged her concerns off
easily. Her short stay in Acton had opened her eyes to just how
peculiar the world could be.

“
Yes?”

“
Lady Sara, we have something for you.”

Her eyebrow arched in disbelief. “We?”

A small hand waved from behind the woman’s skirt and a young
boy came into view, his cheeks well rounded with care though his
blonde hair was dirty and his cheeks streaked with grime. Sara bent
down so that she wasn’t towering over him, smiling warmly at
him.

“
What’s your name?” she asked gently.

“
Matthew,” he answered proudly. “And this is my
mother.”

“
I remember you from when I first came. Your name is…” Her
brows drew together in thought as she struggled to remember the
woman’s name. “Your name is Laura.”