Seared by Desire (24 page)

“
I don’t see any reason for me to have changed. My principals
are still the same, it’s yours that are in need of
modification.”

“
If I didn’t know better I’d think you didn’t care
Lucian.”

“
I don’t,” he answered coldly.

“
You wound me,” he laughed.

So this is William,
Sara mused,
letting her eyes wander over the man’s frame. A surge of anger
filled her at the mere sight of him and she felt overwhelmed by the
urge to hurt him. It was his fault that Lucian was suffering and it
was because of him that they weren’t together right now. Her skin
didn’t warm as anger filled her and she was shocked to realise that
she felt cold. There would be no attacking William tonight if she
let herself remain so weak. Never once in her life had she been
cold so the way her body shivered was a new experience, one that
she didn’t particularly like she quickly decided. Her eyes scanned
the room, a smile creeping onto her lips when she saw the roaring
fire on the other side of the room. She stood, waving a hand
dismissively to those who were urging her to sit down. The
vampires’ concern for her well-being was kind but unnecessary at
the moment. She flashed Lucian a reassuring smile from behind
William, telling him that all was well before she moved to sit
beside the fire.

The heat from the flames flitted over her skin when she sat
on the stool right in front of the fire but it wasn’t enough to
warm her. Holding her hands out to the orange flames also proved an
exercise in futility and it was on an annoyed groan that Sara sunk
her hands directly into the flames.
That’s
it,
she purred. Heat was slowly but surely
returning to her even as the flames dwindled as she absorbed them
into herself.

“
Well what do we have here?” William asked. His voice was too
close for Sara’s liking and she spun to face him, pulling her hands
from the flames as she stood, feeling slightly
rejuvenated.

Her eyes narrowed in disgust at the predatory way his eyes
were roaming over her especially when they continued to watch the
rise and fall of her chest. “When you ask someone a question, it’s
customary to look at their face not other parts of their body if
you want an answer.”

William lifted his head to stare directly at her. “You’re a
feisty one aren’t you?” He sounded pleased by that fact. “I like my
women feisty and I would be delighted if you told me who you are.”
His voice when he spoke was low; almost as though he was trying to
purr the words and Sara got the distinct impression that he was
trying to sound appealing to her. She shivered now for an all
together different reason. Revulsion.

“
Firstly, I’m not your woman.”
I’m
Lucian's.
“And secondly, what does it
matter who I am?” she asked, relieved when she saw Lucian walking
towards them. “You should be talking to Lucian, discussing the
terms of your peace treaty. I’m not important in that
respect.”

William moved closer. “But my dear you are very important.
Nothing much has changed about Lucian since I last saw him, nothing
but you. You are clearly a fire elemental and yet you travel alone
with a group of vampires. It is strange. Strange but delightful.
You’ve captured my interest; I want to know more about you. Won’t
you tell me?” He wrapped one of her curls around a beefy finger,
gently stroking her hair.

His body was beginning to make her feel crowded. She pulled
her hair free from his grasp, cursing at the pain coming from her
scalp. “Don’t come any closer,” she hissed angrily.
I have to stay calm. I can’t hurt him. Lucian
wants peace.
The power of her recovering
flame was useless before William; she couldn’t hurt him without
jeopardising Lucian's peace. “I don’t want to talk to you. I want
you to go back to Lucian and talk with him like you said you wanted
to do in your letter.”

“
Ah but things are different now. When I wrote that letter I
had no idea that Lucian would bring such a delightful little morsel
with him.”

“
Seeing as you drink people to death I’d rather you not think
of me as something you can sink your teeth into.”

“
It’s true that I have drunk humans to death but you’re not a
mere human. You’re a fire elemental, I’m sure you could have me
checked if I began to take too much. I wonder what you taste like.
From here your blood smells delicious, won’t you let me have a
little taste?” William’s hand shot out to grab her own, his eyes
widening as he took in her exposed palm.

“
William,” Lucian growled, prying his thick fingers away from
Sara’s wrist and silently wishing he could break each and every
one. He’d let Sara leave him to warm herself and let an
increasingly inebriated William stagger away thinking he was
returning to the bar to fill up on his ale. When he’d seen the two
of them together, he’d seen red, wanting nothing more than to let
the monster beneath his skin lose to tear William's head from his
shoulders. “You’re drunk. Leave her be.”

“
The comet,” William gasped, ignoring Lucian's words. “You’re
the Quicksilver.” His eyes wandered assessingly over her frame,
this time in disbelief. “It can’t be. You can’t be the sword
maker.”

Her spine stiffened at his words and her shoulders shot back
defiantly. “And why exactly is that?”

It was becoming increasingly apparent to Sara that she was an
anomaly in the outside world when it came to crafting swords. She
had been the only sword maker in her village and because she’d
never been allowed to leave it she had no idea what other sword
makers were like but apparently none of them looked like
her.

“
You’re a woman.”

“
That much is obvious.”

“
Yes it is,” William leered, his eyes lingering on her
breasts.

“
Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t make
swords.”

“
But you’re weak. Your arms don’t look strong enough to carry
a sword let alone make one.”

She was getting tired of hearing him speak. “My name is Sara
Quicksilver and I
am
a sword smith. You don’t have to believe me, the proof of my
words will be found if you decide to continue this war.” She turned
her eyes to Lucian a silent question in the blue depths and he
nodded in confirmation. “I’m making swords for Lucian now. Every
member of his army will carry my swords into battle. It’s a good
thing you decided to talk peace when you did otherwise you would
have been massacred.”

“
Come work for me,” he purred, once again trying to sound
seductive. “I know how to please a woman. You’ll enjoy working for
me I know it.”

Lucian growled angrily but Sara spoke before he could
threaten William’s life. “Lucian has something that you will never
ever have and that is why I work for him. I will do anything to see
him win this war. Anything. And considering the motivation behind
this meeting do you really think it’s wise to be trying to take
Lucian's sword smith from him? Some might consider that a sign of
aggression.”

A dangerous glint came into William’s already wild eyes and
he ran his beefy hand up the length of Sara’s exposed arm. The
delicate silk had been burnt away when she’d thrust her hands into
the fire and she now regretted trying to warm herself more than
anything in the world.
Stay calm,
she chanted.
I’ve got to
stay calm for Lucian to have peace. Stay calm.

“
Yes, some might see it that way but I don’t. Even if we were
all united under one leader, vampires would still be divided.
There’s no reason for me not to want my men to have the best.
Lucian isn’t the only adversary in the world.” His grip on her skin
tightened. “Now by anything do you really mean
anything?
” His lecherous leer made
the meaning behind his words abundantly clear.

Lucian's dark eyes glowed a dangerously wild red and he
ripped William's hand from Sara’s skin. The aggressive change in
Lucian's normally calm demeanour seemed to pull William back from
his drunken stupor. He’d faced Lucian in combat several times and
it was only in the heat of battle that he let this side of himself
be seen, only when he was surrounded by the bodies of the dead and
dying that the monster was unleashed. For him to let it out now had
to mean something.

Lucian pulled Sara close to his body, wrapping his arms
around her in a show of possession. “She’s mine William and if you
touch my bride again I’ll kill you.”

Grey eyes widened in understanding. “Your bride?”

“
Yes. She’s mine, all mine.”

“
I see what you meant now by Lucian having something I’ll
never have,” he said to Sara seemingly unaware of the look of
bewildered shock on her face.

“
I think we’ve spoken enough William. We’ll talk peace
tomorrow night.” He didn’t even wait for William to respond,
pulling Sara towards the bar. “I want your best room,” he told the
tavern owner. His men could fend for themselves. The tavern owner
led them up a flight of stairs showing them inside their room for
the night before being unceremoniously pushed out by Lucian. He and
his bride had important matters to discuss.

Chapter Thirteen –
Possession

Sara’s mind was reeling at Lucian's words, hope for their
future welled within her but she squashed it ruthlessly. It
couldn’t be true; he must have said it simply to make William leave
her alone. Her mouth was moving, the words spilling from her lips
in no way in line within what her mind had just decided. “Your
bride?” she gasped before she began to pace the length of the small
room.

“
Yes Sara, my bride.”

“
But you said…”

He’d been watching her unmoving, confused as to what to say
to her. In the face of William's blatant attempt at seduction he’d
confessed his biggest secret and given his enemy potential
ammunition to use against him. The implications of his actions on
the war should have been his main concern but instead all he was
thinking about was the consequences for his relationship with Sara.
His mind was replaying their passionate encounter that morning in
excruciating detail and he was suddenly struck with the realisation
that they were alone, in a room with a bed. He moved then, drawing
the thick curtains shut before returning to her and stopping her
pacing by gripping her shoulders firmly and forcing her to look at
him. “I know what I said Sara but it doesn’t change the fact that
you’re my bride.”

“
You said the odds of finding your bride were slim to
none.”

“
Well I was lucky. You stumbled into my life and saved me the
trouble of having to go looking for you. I was being honest with
you this morning Sara. I have you, why would I want anything else?
You drive me crazy. I should be thinking about the war, I should be
holding a strategy meeting right now, planning our next move but I
can’t seem to think straight anymore. I want you to the exclusion
of everything else.”

Her eyes were beginning to water. His words were touching,
touching but false. “I can’t be your bride Lucian. I can’t
be.”

“
Sara, trust me there’s no one else for me. I knew it the
moment I laid eyes on you that first night when you crashed into
me, collapsing at my feet. The smell of your blood told me
everything I needed to know.”

She shook her head fervently. “I’m sorry Lucian but I’m not
your bride.”

“
Yes Sara,” he growled angrily, “you are.” Her rejection of
him was frustrating. She’d been more than happy to lay with him
that morning but she was balking at the idea of something
permanent? It made no sense. “I’m not going to let you leave me
Sara.”

“
But that’s the point Lucian!” she screamed in aggravation.
“I’m going to leave you one day and there’s nothing either one of
us can do about it. I’m mortal Lucian. One day I’m going to die.
I’ve made my peace with that fact, I accepted that right around the
time I realised that I could never be your bride. I’m really sorry
but that’s the way it is.” Tears were beginning to well in her eyes
as she spoke. “I wish it were different, I would give anything for
things to be different, for us to have a chance to be what you’re
saying we are but the sad truth is that our time together will be
brief. I’m going to die in what to you will be the blink of an
eye.”

“
No Sara, I’m not wrong about this. You’re the one; it’s
always been you. It will only ever be you.”

“
But I’m going to DIE Lucian! There’s nothing you can do to
change that fact. I might not know much but I know that we are what
we are in this world. You’re a vampire and even though I’m an
elemental I’m still mortal. It isn’t as though I can just decide
that I want to be a vampire and change. It’s impossible. We’re
impossible. You have to accept that I’m going to grow old and
you’re not and then one day I’m going to die. The only way this
could end differently is if I were like you, a vampire.”

“
I can’t turn you into a vampire Sara. There’s something about
the blood of fire elementals that makes them reject the change. If
I tried to make you like me, I’d end up killing you. Even if I
could make you a vampire, I wouldn’t want to. I want you exactly as
you are.”