Amber Flame Read online

  “Sharon?”

  Yes?

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  She heard a ghostly laugh that sounded like wind through the trees. So, you’ve got some grit. Good. You’re going to need it.

  Mary glanced in Sharon’s direction, ready to start yelling at her, but nothing was there. She could feel that the woman had left.

  Had she offended her? Somehow, that seemed impossible since Sharon clearly had a pretty thick skin.

  But why on earth was she even in her home?

  She enjoyed the rest of her shower in peace as she washed her hair. Twice. She toweled off, then took her time drying her hair before she left the bathroom.

  She wrapped herself up in another towel just in case Sharon was still hanging around. Sure enough, when she moved back into the bedroom, Sharon floated as though sitting on top of the headboard, her leather-clad legs crossed.

  I changed when I became a wolf. I didn’t used to be so crude or even so mean. When I look back, I can see that I was arrogant during my human and later my alter life. I didn’t appreciate what I had. Not even a little. Fergus put up with a lot.

  Mary sensed the shift in the woman’s attitude and for that reason stopped to listen to what she had to say.

  Sharon met her gaze but she remained on top of the tall, upholstered headboard. She shook her head, sighed a ghostly sound and turned her gaze toward the window. I hated becoming an alter wolf. I mean I loathed it. I wished I’d become anything else, but turning into an animal? It still sickens me, and I think you might have felt the same way if it had happened to you. I can sense your disgust of wolves generally and that has to be hard on Fergus.

  “You’re right. I am disgusted. But I’m not happy about being an alter fae either. I miss being human. I think everyone who lands here feels that way.”

  Sharon turned to meet Mary’s gaze. I disagree. Fergus took to life here pretty easily. And I think men like Sydon are thrilled to be whatever kind of beast they want to be. By the way, that man won’t rest until he’s secured the Gordion Pack.”

  Mary frowned. “Haven’t you heard? He’s alpha right now.”

  Sharon floated off the headboard and dropped to stand in front of Mary. I know what’s going on and what Fergus intends to do. But one of the reasons I’m here is to tell you that Fergus won’t succeed in reversing Sydon’s rule without you. He needs your help, badly.

  At that, Mary laughed. “You’re kidding. But what can I do? I’m a fae woman that likes taking caring of small animals. Which reminds me, I need to buy more bird seed.”

  Sharon made a disgusted, ghostly sound. Wake up, Mary. Your life has changed forever, but you’re not owning up to it. Listen to me. Fergus needs you and no, I don’t get why that is. But he does. You’ve already saved his life once, and you may have to do it again. And again.

  Mary felt Sharon’s sincerity, but she found it hard to process what she was saying. “It sounds like I’m supposed to be his bodyguard or something.”

  Yeah. Sharon nodded several times which caused the mist to float around and blur her features for a moment. When she pulled her ghostliness back together, once again she looked almost real. I think that’s exactly what I’m saying. Fergus is damn powerful, as you know. But Sydon will do everything he can to secure the pack. Gordion is his point-of-entrance for his larger plans to rule Savage. Fergus, thinking like a man of honor, won’t be able to see the treachery Sydon intends to throw at him tonight.

  What treachery? Do you know what Sydon will do?

  Sorry. I don’t have the specifics.

  Mary turned around and moved slowly to her dresser and pulled out fresh underwear.

  No, not that. Sharon said. When Mary glanced at her over her shoulder, Sharon added, This. She then whipped across the room and with a profound show of kinetic ability for a ghost, pulled a long negligee from Mary’s closet. It flew through the air, landing at Mary’s feet.

  “I don’t get it. You want me to seduce Fergus?”

  Sharon laughed, another windy sound. Tell me you’ve been thinking anything else since you fed him a couple of ham steaks.

  Mary picked up the fairly sheer nightgown. It had a small leaf-pattern on a cream background. She’d bought it on impulse a couple of weeks ago. “How did you know?” She lifted the nightgown up. “About this, I mean. About how I’m feeling.”

  Sharon pinched her nose. Like I told you earlier, you reek of wolf-lust. Her gaze fell to the nightgown. Fergus will love you in it.

  “I can’t do this, Sharon. I’m not going to seduce Fergus, and I can’t be his bodyguard.”

  Yes, you can and you have to. Otherwise, he’ll be dead for real by morning.

  Mary stared at her. “You’re serious.”

  As hell. And now the ball’s in your court. But don’t take my word for it. Access your fae sense of the future and you’ll know exactly what needs to be done.

  She snapped her fingers and with a quirky smile disappeared.

  Mary didn’t move even an inch as she held the gown in both hands, her heart pounding in her ears. She could feel that the ghost was gone. A few minutes ago, she’d been planning her night, ready to take care of some sick pets and get on with her life. Maybe make a trip to the store to buy bird seed.

  The problem was that the things Sharon had told her made way too much sense. Already her faeness was speaking to her, pointing her toward Savage and toward a very different immediate future.

  Mary crossed the room to sit down on the far side of the bed, the negligee in hand. Glancing out the window, she saw that the sun still hovered in the west and wouldn’t set for at least another forty minutes or so, which meant Fergus would be under her roof during that time. Wolves were as sensitive to sunlight as everyone else in Five Bridges. It was a terrible pay-off for a long life.

  She could hear him in the guest room talking to someone. When Warren had dropped off the satchel with a change of clothes for Fergus, he’d included a cell phone.

  Mary thought back to her fae friend, Juliet, and how she’d recently gotten swept up into a vampire’s life. Brannick was a good, honorable man, just like Fergus and Juliet was a powerful fae woman who fell hard for the man. Fergus was right. The couple had definitely shared powers and still did. They were also deeply in love. In fact, Mary felt certain she’d learn of an engagement any day now.

  Was this to be Mary’s path as well, to hunger for a man outside her species, maybe to even be with him permanently?

  She shuddered and shook her head. She’d shunned Savage because of how her sister had died and because there were more murders and uprisings in Savage than any other territory in Five Bridges. Wolves were violent.

  Yet, she couldn’t turn her back on Fergus. She would do what needed to be done, at least for right now. Sydon had a reputation as a man full of perverse, evil intentions. He ran a rogue pack, serving as their alpha, and had set his sights on taking over another pack.

  Sydon had already tried to kill Fergus by puncturing his heart with a skewer. He’d do whatever he had to do until he accomplished all his goals.

  Mary knew how the packs worked. Sydon, having defeated Fergus in the dominance battle, had a right to become the pack alpha. Even the Savage Pack Council would be forced to uphold his claim, regardless how many of his wolves he hurt in the process.

  She cringed at the thought of any of the female wolves being forced to work the Savage Strip sex clubs. They’d be pumped full of amber flame first, of course, a drug that would make them more than willing to do what they were told.

  Drawing a deep breath, Mary closed her eyes and took Sharon’s suggestion. She used her fae senses to reach into the future. What came to her was a sensation of profound movement all around her. That’s when she understood she was experiencing a wolf reaction, not fae at all. She stayed with it, holding the wolf energy close as she focused on the immediate future.

  After a moment, images of Fergus came forward. She sensed that at least for the next night, she’d be hea
ding into Savage, a place she’d never wanted to be. But her life right now appeared to be entwined with his, much like the intricate three braids he wore.

  Opening her eyes, she glanced down at the nightgown in her hands. Maybe it was a fae instinct, or perhaps just a womanly one, but Sharon was right, Fergus would love her in it. She felt something else as well, that she would love wearing the silky gown for him.

  He’d been her lover in the dreamglide. She could feel it now, how close they’d been and why she’d raced across the room and hugged him, why he’d called her ‘Sweetheart’.

  Knowing he would need her over the next few hours, and that she intended to accompany Fergus back to Savage whether he liked it or not, she stood up and let the towel fall to the floor. She knew this wouldn’t just be about the pleasure of sex but about connection. In that sense, she was taking a huge forward step.

  Slowly, she slipped the nightgown on.

  CHAPTER THREE

  SITTING ON THE side of the bed, Fergus stared at the cell Warren had provided for him. He’d just spoken to his fellow alpha and had learned the horrific state of his pack.

  His ribs felt crushed all over again.

  He had to challenge Sydon, the sooner the better. The bastard was planning on shipping off several of his female wolves to the Savage Strip sex clubs tonight.

  Fergus knew Sydon. He wouldn’t wait. It was clear he had big plans to rule the territory probably with the help of the cartels and the Gordion Pack was his jumping off point.

  He sat on the edge of a wing chair, his towel still wrapped around his waist, damp hair down his back. He glanced out the window. Time was not on his side. He couldn’t leave until full-dark. But as soon as he was able, he’d fly to Warren’s compound. He and Warren would work together to oust Sydon.

  Mary’s voice entered his mind. Fergus, I’m coming with you tonight.

  Fergus frowned. Her words made no sense and her voice, even telepathically, carried an edge. What do you mean, you’re coming with me? To Savage? His territory was the last place Mary ever wanted to be.

  You’ll need me tonight. So, as soon as the sun drops below the horizon, you can fly me over. I assume you’ll be meeting up with Warren and laying out your strategy for retaking the Gordion Pack.

  Fergus stood up. He was thoroughly confused. What the hell had gotten into Mary that she was insisting on joining him? And why was she telling him what she planned to do instead of asking?

  He left the guest room, headed down the hall and found the door to the master bedroom open. He moved straight in and laid out his thoughts. “You’re not going to Savage. I’m planning on a coup and you’d be … in the … way.” His voice trailed off as Mary emerged from the bathroom. She wore a sexy nightgown so sheer in places he could see her nipples. They were peaked, a sight that aroused him, to say the least.

  His eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing?” He lifted his arm, gesturing to her nightgown. “I mean, what is all this?”

  Mary’s eyes glinted. “I’m supposed to be with you. I don’t understand why and remember, you’re the one who found me in your dreamglide so don’t pretend for a second that you’re an injured party here.” Her lips quirked.

  “I’m not injured, I’m confused. What’s changed? I don’t get it.”

  She moved a few steps closer to him, her scent riding him hard. He loved the way she smelled, her fae femaleness with a hint of rose and yarrow beneath. He could see that she was offering sex, but he needed to know what she meant by it. He didn’t want any misunderstandings between them.

  “Are you remembering our time together right now?” He asked.

  She shook her head, her long blond hair floating around her shoulders. “No, well, maybe a little. A few memories have started leaking through. But I’m definitely sensing all that we did together. It’s a fae thing.”

  “I don’t want to take advantage of you. You saved me and maybe you’re feeling something that’s not real.”

  She put a fist to her chest. “What I feel is a powerful connection to you that I can’t explain. I don’t want it to be there, but it is. And I’ll tell you something else. Though I’d blocked my dreamglide memories, each afternoon when I would wake up, I knew I’d been with you. I could smell your musky wolfness on my skin even though it was only a dreamgliding experience. I just never wanted to own the truth of what we’d been doing. Your territory represents what I hate most about the alter experience, that we live in such a violent place.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m confused.”

  She took a few more steps so that she was only five feet away from him. Her brows were drawn tightly together. “Fergus, I don’t want to hold back from you right now. I may not understand what’s going on, but I’m relinquishing at least some of my fears about what your territory is like, what it would be like to truly be with you. But this isn’t easy for me.”

  Fergus was stunned. “You know I’ve been wanting to date you, but you’ve refused and I’ve understood. You don’t have to do this, Mary, not any of it. When I first came to you in the dreamglide, I promised myself I would never ask you to come to Savage. Even I knew it was too much. You’re a sensitive fae woman. You have a right to despise my territory.

  “But with that said, I know that you weren’t having these thoughts even a half hour ago, so what changed?” He watched her swallow hard, but she remained silent as though debating what she should tell him.

  He continued, “Please tell me. I need to know. You’re talking about coming with me to Savage, that you’re needed there, but we would be heading into a dangerous situation. At the very least, I need you to be honest with me.”

  At that, she drew a deep breath and lowered her shoulders. “I had a ghost come to me just a few minutes ago. She talked to me for some time and was very clear about what I should do.”

  “You’re taking orders from a ghost?”

  A hint of a smile curved her lips and an amused glimmer entered her light brown eyes, the Mary he knew. “When you put it that way, it does sound odd. But she was very persuasive. Besides, are you really going to reject the invitation? Maybe together we can figure out what’s happening between us. It can’t be an accident we’ve found each other or that you can build dreamglides and I can, at times, feel very wolfish.”

  When she put it that way, he didn’t know how he could refuse her. Besides, she stood in front of him in an almost-sheer nightgown. What he wanted most was standing, in real-time, right in front of him. “I’m open.”

  She took another deep breath, this one punctuated with a huffing sound that was definitely more wolf than fae. “I also know that going into Savage I should be well-marked by you. Warren told me what’s going on, about who I am in terms of your wolf-world. He said I was alpha-mate material and all the unbonded alphas would pursue me. If this is true, and I have no reason to doubt Warren, will you? Mark me, I mean?”

  Fergus felt like a sledge-hammer had just hit him between the eyes. He couldn’t think and he was suddenly dizzy with need as well. Mary was offering herself in real-time, Mary, who he’d lusted after so badly he’d somehow fabricated a dreamglide so he could seduce her while she was sleeping. This Mary, this beautiful woman who had saved his life.

  He closed the remaining distance between them and took her arms gently in hand. “I’ve wanted you so much, just like this, in the flesh. You have no idea. I’ve craved being with you and now you’re here and you’re willing. But are you positive you want to do this, because I’m not sure there’s any going back afterward.”

  “This is what I want. But what about you?”

  Fergus felt all male in this moment. He might never understand what was going on with Mary, but right now he didn’t care. He was at the top of his alpha-mate hunting cycle, and she had everything he needed.

  He removed the towel from around his waist, let it fall to the floor, then took her in his arms. She moaned softly as he slanted his lips over hers. She parted immediately, the exact invitatio
n he needed, and he drove his tongue inside with deep thrusts.

  She leaned into him, sliding her arms around his neck. Nothing could have felt better to him than the surrender of these movements. Mary, at last, was his in real-time.

  Thank God he was fully healed, because he would need to be at full-strength to mark Mary the way he needed to.

  When he drew back from her, his jaw trembled. He pulled his lips back and bared his teeth.

  He couldn’t help what he was doing. It was a dominance signal.

  She didn’t seem distressed, either, as she brought her hand forward and rubbed her fingers over his incisors. Her touch sent a thrill straight to his cock. Then she kissed him.

  You’re shaking, Fergus. You need something from me right now, don’t you? How about I stretch out on my belly?

  He drew back and tilted his head, eyes closed. He released a long, low howl, but from years of training kept the volume turned down. He didn’t want the Revel neighborhood to know there was a shifter at large.

  ~ ~ ~

  Mary saw the angle of his throat and with an instinct that was more wolf than fae opened her mouth wide and took the front part of his neck in her mouth. She clamped down hard at the same time.

  Mary, that’s fucking hot.

  She slowly started backing him up to the bed, while retaining her hold on him. She released his throat, but at the same time gave him a hard shove. He fell backward and she took half-a-second to strip out of the silky nightgown.

  Leaping, she quickly straddled him, then settled her sex on his cock. She took her time moving up and back along his hard column so that he could feel how wet she was for him. She knew the marking would get very physical and she needed him to understand she wasn’t afraid.

  His neck arched, and he groaned. “I’ve wanted this with you so bad. The dreamglide was wonderful but this is incredible.”

  She leaned over him and looked into his eyes. The dark brown was lit with a familiar amber glow, very wolf. She loved it. She loved the physicality of his wolfness. His scent had started to rise as well, the deep heavy musk of the alpha that had her nipples tingling and her sex clenching.