Amber Flame Read online

  She felt both connected to him yet distant in a way she didn’t understand, perhaps because they weren’t bonded.

  Her needs felt paramount as though what would happen tonight would be deeply important to her life. “I won’t be long.”

  With one hand gripping the black wrought iron of the headboard, he inclined his head with an almost imperceptible movement. He looked as solemn as she felt.

  She moved into the bathroom and took her time showering. She felt caught up in something sacred and which felt extremely alter wolf.

  She washed using a black tar soap. It had a clean, rock smell that seemed fitting. She used the same soap on her hair and between her legs.

  As she looked down at her ankles, she noticed more fur had appeared similar to what rimmed her wrists. She marveled at the physical changes, wondering how it was possible for a fae to produce fur.

  She knew in her bones she couldn’t truly transform into a wolf as Fergus could. She’d never be able to shift and become a creature that pounded the dirt roads of Savage on all fours. But she was definitely part wolf now with no going back.

  When she dried off, she used a blow dryer to take most of the moisture out of her long thick hair. She glanced in the mirror and saw that the same dusting of fur now encircled her neck as well as each nipple. Her cheekbones looked sharper and as she stared into the mirror, she saw a narrow amber ring of light glowing in her brown eyes. Incredible.

  Very wolf.

  Like Fergus.

  This time was hers, in her wolf-fae form.

  It belonged to her.

  Whatever this hybrid-creature was, the wolf would enjoy Fergus’s body and the fae part of her would take him within the dreamglide. She would open herself up to what they’d been doing together for the past few weeks. She wanted to know everything.

  Even now, she let the blocks fall away. The memories slid toward her as though falling from the sky and dropping into her mind.

  She gasped.

  She’d been so wild with Fergus in the dreamglide, nothing held back. He’d ridden her hard, and she’d loved it. With no one to hear, he’d howled in a dozen resonances and pitches. The sounds had become a music that had eased her soul.

  She turned the light out and left the bathroom.

  She walked as if in a dream. The memories blew through her like an exotic wind from distant worlds. Fergus lay where she’d left him but now he was fully erect as he waited for her.

  His deep voice rolled toward her. “I could smell you, your desire, your need.” He wrapped his hand around his cock and stroked slowly, his hips arching. A thick V of fur angled from his shoulders well past his navel, almost to his trimmed pubic hair.

  The light from the lamp cast shadows on his muscles, showing off their size, ripples and veined cords. She’d spent at least one time in the dreamglide licking and sucking on every muscle he possessed. The memory sent pleasure flowing between her legs.

  She moved to the side of the bed and stared down at him. “I’m remembering.”

  His gaze fell to her breasts, then her wrists. “You’re displaying like a female wolf.”

  “Not as much as a real wolf, but yes, I am.” He had thick black bands of fur around his ankles. She leaned down and rubbed her nose along the line of fur, flaring her nostrils to capture the depth of his scent. She rubbed her hands over his legs, taking her time to feel the muscles along the way. His skin had a golden hue and the earthy layers of his scent floated in the air above him, beckoning her on, of stone, musk and grass.

  He took deep breaths as though in pain. She understood. Whatever scent he released that had her sex swollen and ready, she was doing the same for him. It was a magical kind of agony.

  She rubbed his thighs and spread his legs. His testicles were cloaked in thickly ribbed protective skin. She felt them, caressing and savoring. His seed would come from this place and she wanted his essence inside her, causing the ripples he’d created before, the strange sensation that had added so much extraordinary pleasure during the peak of ecstasy.

  A new line of black fur formed suddenly on the insides of his thighs, drawing her close. She bent and nuzzled the fur, then his testicles and finally licked a long line up his cock all the way to the dip in the crown.

  He groaned heavily, a low almost grunting sound.

  She placed her hands on his abdomen and traced the deep lines that angled away from his cock, leading to his pelvic bones. He was pure animal and so beautiful she felt turned inside out.

  Because he fisted the wrought iron of the headboard, his abs were taut. She spent time slowly palming each rise and fall. She buried her nose in the erotic V of fur as well.

  Her nipples were hard and she was wet between her legs. Everything about Fergus turned her on.

  She shifted slightly and played with his pecs, taking his left nipple in her mouth. She sucked heavily, wanting him to release a wolf flavor into her mouth.

  When he did, she drew away from his nipple, arched her back and a low, sexy howl left her throat. It was punctuated with three successive, but very soft, barks.

  Fergus groaned and growled deep in his throat, adding to her arousal.

  She did the same with his other nipple, sucking hard. He continued to growl the entire time and made wolf huffing noises with his throat. When he once more released the flavor she needed, she howled again, and kept howling.

  She couldn’t move. She was so full of need, she felt frozen, yet waiting, her throat open, her voice singing.

  Her eyes were closed as she felt the bed move slightly. A moment later, his warm palm caressed her stomach just below her navel. Slowly, he slid his hand up her abdomen and fondled her breasts. She remained in the same position, her back arched.

  As he leaned close and suckled her breasts in turn, her howls finally ceased. This was what she’d been calling for. She needed Fergus touching and using her body.

  She felt as though she was floating when he picked her up in his arms and laid her out on the bed beneath him.

  Using his hands, he stroked her arms, her chest, her fingers, her hips. Lower he went, caressing her between her legs. She felt lost in a place of bliss more profound than she’d ever known.

  “Fergus.” She spoke his name, but only to warn him she intended to move things along. Without saying anything else, she gave shape to her dreamglide and pulled him inside.

  Within the identical space, though hovering above the real-time bed, he stopped touching her and looked at her.

  The memories of all their times together once more flowed through her.

  She looked at him, then down at the bed beneath the dreamglide. He lay stretched out beside her in real-time.

  She felt Fergus’s power begin to move and something magical happened as she watched him become one with the Fergus on the bed. “Fergus, do you see that? This is all happening at the same time. And we’re fully conscious in both places.”

  “You’re right, I can feel you in real-time and in the dream-glide.” His movements were in tandem. He touched her on the bed and in the dreamy state of the glide at the same time.

  “The air feels charged.” His power radiated over her body. Something locked into place and she knew she was one with herself on the bed in real-time as well. She didn’t know something like this could happen, but she sensed it was because of how they were together, the power they created between them.

  It was an extraordinary doubling of sensations as he leaned down to her and took her breast in his mouth once more. The suckling arched her back all over again.

  What she knew to be a dreamglide wind began to blow, moving her and rolling her yet keeping her in one position at the same time. Pleasure grew as she tumbled through time and space, as he suckled harder. Using his fingers, he pierced her between her legs and began a strong, erotic thrust.

  She began to howl again, a high, keening sound that prompted him to move his fingers more swiftly. The ripples returned, intensifying every sensation.

  Sudd
enly, the orgasm barreled down on her, throwing her around in the dreamglide until ecstasy peaked. Her howl sounded like a cry in the wild. On and on the orgasm rolled, pleasure flooding her abdomen, her chest, her mind.

  The tugging sensation in her abdomen returned, pushing low as though trying to reach the internal part of her sex.

  She flew over the pinnacle, howling, then began the slow delicious slide down the other side. As the wind of the dreamglide ceased, her arms slid away from him to rest outstretched on either side of her. In both realities, she was barely able to move. He withdrew his fingers and his lips.

  This is incredible, he said, reclining on his elbow next to her. Combining the dreamglide with real-time.

  It is. She lifted an arm and using her hand caressed his shoulders, one of her favorite parts of his body. He placed gentle kisses on her breasts, nuzzling the small circlets of fur around her nipples. At the same time, he stretched out on top of her, then kissed her.

  As she spread her legs for him, he planted himself firmly between her knees. He rubbed his cock over her sex, then kissed her on the lips. When she parted, he drove his tongue inside and began to pulse within her mouth.

  She rocked beneath him and surrounded his hips with her legs, drawing his cock toward her opening.

  I need you Fergus. All of you.

  He used his hand to position the head of his cock. She whimpered, but it was a hoarse wolf sound.

  He began to push, easing his way inside, deeper and deeper.

  The more he pushed, the stronger the internal tug became as though a hand inside her was reaching for his cock. She couldn’t explain it. Yet in a burst of fae insight, she knew this was the alpha-bonding mechanism by which she could become his alpha-mate.

  The idea thrilled her yet repelled her at the same time. She was fae, and he belonged in the most violent territory in Five Bridges.

  But her body responded against her will, with a flow of shivers and chills that traveled from her shoulders, down her torso and all the way to her toes. She trembled with pleasure and need.

  She’d never felt anything like it.

  He kissed her again, driving his tongue and matching his movements between her legs.

  She arched with each thrust, pushing back into him, pulling away, then returning. He kissed her cheeks and drifted his lips down her neck until he was licking her throat repeatedly and huffing against her skin.

  She took her breaths in long slow crawls of air. She knew what he wanted and her sex tightened in anticipation. Do it, Fergus. Take hold and don’t let go.

  She felt him open his mouth. She sensed that the wolf part of him had elongated his jaw. He gripped her throat in a clamp of his teeth that sent a drive of pleasure straight through her body and into her sex. She couldn’t move, except to rock her pelvis against his. Yet in no way did he injure her throat. She was safe, but he kept her firmly in his control. He thrust heavily now, curling his hips and slamming against her sex.

  In that moment, the dreamglide began to move once more, only this time it raced through Savage Territory. In the dream-world, she shifted fully and became a wolf as did Fergus and suddenly she was running beside him, all four paws hitting the dreamglide streets and dirt roads of his land.

  In real-time, she felt Fergus as he made love to her as a man, alive and dynamic, his hips pumping into her, his cock thrusting in and out. Ecstasy began to build. He released her throat in real-time and rose up howling.

  Yet in the dreamglide she ran beside him as her climax roared through her. Pleasure cascaded in a series of intense waves as their wolves ran and ran.

  She joined her voice with his and howled.

  But the pleasure didn’t stop. Instead, the sound of Fergus’s wolf-cries, so beautifully loud in the small room, drove her quickly toward the pinnacle all over again. He pumped into her hard and fast. The bonding sensation pushed on her sex again, driving her into another profound orgasm so that she howled with him once more.

  The sounds blended and became a thrill that added to the pleasure now pouring in hot waves over her sex.

  Fergus’s voice pierced her mind. Look at me, Mary.

  When she met his gaze, she could feel him release into her. He slowed his rhythm but angled his hips in hard, exquisite thrusts. He continued to pump until every drop had pulsed through his cock, filling her full of his seed. The whole time, he stared into her eyes until finally he slowed his hips, then stopped.

  She howled softly and appreciatively in response.

  Within the dreamglide, she shifted from wolf to woman as did Fergus. Gradually, she let the dreamglide go and felt herself sinking back into herself as it vanished.

  It would take some time before she caught her breath completely.

  He breathed heavily, too, but he’d closed his eyes. His back was arched, his hands planted next to her shoulders, his arms stiff. He was still connected low and his cock felt firm inside her. A soft wolf sound, very guttural, came out of his throat in small jabs, fading and slowing until at last he fell silent.

  Mary lay beneath him, waiting for him to come down from the heights completely. She felt as though Fergus somehow held the moment with his body and the force of his wolfness. She couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to.

  Finally, his hips relaxed against hers, then his eyes opened, and he looked down at her. He searched her face and lowered himself enough to kiss her right cheek, her forehead, then her other cheek.

  He placed more kisses on her lips.

  The tenderness of these actions made her eyes burn.

  She’d never known a man like Fergus before, so strong and powerful, yet careful with her at the same time.

  “You’re beautiful, Mary, every bit of you. Not just your lovely light brown eyes, or your perfect features, but your soul and your thoughts. Thank you for the dreamglide. When I was racing through Savage, I’d never felt so sexual in my life. It was an amazing experience. You’re amazing.”

  She caressed his face and ran her thumb over his lips. “I remember it all now, how many times we had dreamglide sex together. You’re a powerful lover, but so tender. I can recall all the times we talked as well. There’s no one like you in the entire world. I’m sure of it. I want to stay like this with you forever, to remain in this den until the world folds up and disappears.”

  He kissed her again. And again. Until it really did feel as though the world vanished and it was just the two of them.

  ~ ~ ~

  Fergus felt changed in the depth of his soul. He loved Mary’s spirit. She was all in, nothing held back and the dreamglide had been an incredible experience.

  He’d savored all the previous dreamglide sex, but this was a thousand times better because he’d taken her in real-time as well.

  He wanted more and the alpha wolf in him almost felt appeased. He knew then this was the closest he’d come to finally having an alpha-mate since Sharon’s death.

  When at last he pulled out of her, he left the bed, then returned with a washcloth. He’d released so much of his seed inside her that a few tissues wasn’t going to cut it. His wolf loved that he’d covered her so thoroughly.

  He returned to the shower and cleaned up.

  He looked forward to crawling into bed beside her and sleeping for several solid hours. He still wasn’t a hundred percent after his near-death. Rest would be welcome besides the fact he had a dominance battle to face at nightfall.

  As he left the bedroom, he opened the soundproof door to let fresh air flow into the room.

  He turned out the light and finally stretched out next to her.

  When she shifted to lie on her side, her back to him, he spooned her, then settled his arm over her waist and held her tight against him. He felt her sigh deeply and knew she was drifting off to sleep.

  He wasn’t far behind.

  His last thought was a measure of relief that tomorrow night he’d take Sydon down in a legal dominance battle and kick him out of the Gordion Compound for good.

 
He didn’t sleep well, however, and woke up several times throughout the day. His dreams were full of Savage Territory and wolves moving back and forth restlessly from one end to the next, hungry, growling, anxious.

  It wasn’t good for wolves to live outside their packs, ever.

  Each individual community grounded them, gave them purpose and eased the constant unresolved need to run through the forest for tens of miles on end.

  He finally awoke sweating. He’d been running through the Arizona White Mountains, free, his tongue lolling, his heart pounding hard with each stretch of his forearms, reaching for another mile and another and another.

  He leaned up on his elbow and used the pillowcase to wipe his forehead.

  The room was still dark, though a dim light flowed down from the upper ground level living area. He checked his internal clock, that odd gift of a long-lived life, and knew it was late afternoon. He might have awakened from a series of disturbing dreams, but he’d still slept through most of the day—a good thing.

  Though Mary wasn’t in bed, he touched the sheet next to him anyway. His heart swelled. He’d loved sharing a bed with her. He wanted more of this, more of being with her.

  He listened to the house and could hear her moving around upstairs. He could smell coffee brewing.

  He went into the bathroom and pulled out his shaving gear. He lathered up and took care of his stubble. He showered afterward, but as the hot water beat down on his shoulders, his thoughts kept circling back to Savage, and to his dreams of wolves moving restlessly through the pine forest and through all the neighborhoods of his territory.

  He accessed the part of him becoming fae. He extended his senses, reaching beyond himself and into the immediate future. Mary had said something to him recently, about the future in Savage. He could feel it now, as though a dark cloud lay suspended over the entire territory.

  What was coming felt evil as though Savage was in for a world of hurt. If he wasn’t careful, he’d lose not just his pack, but his life and Mary’s as well.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  AFTER HIS SHOWER, Fergus dried his hair and with years of experience created the three-part braid Sharon had once designed for him. He then tied the end with a narrow strip of amber leather. In previous dreamglides, long before last night, Mary had enjoyed taking the braids apart and running her hands through his hair.