Page 53 of Flames

“He can hold his breath for a really long time,” Nova whispers, curling her fingers in a way that makes shockwaves of pleasure course through me.

As Tanner licks and sucks my shaft, and Nova continues to torment my ass, waves of electricity shake my body. I spill hot cum into Tanner’s mouth. I have no idea if he swallows it or lets it drift away in the water, but when he comes up for air, I kiss him hard.

Tanner grins and ruffles my hair. “Next time, it won’t just be my fingers in your ass,” he whispers, as he moves around me and grabs Nova. Scooping her into his arms, he carries her into the shallows, then lays her down in the sand. Water laps their bodies, and I watch as he holds her arms above her head, hooks her legs around his waist, and thrusts into her.

She closes her eyes, then looks up to see Kole, Luther, and Mack watching from the shore. They don’t interrupt, and they don’t jerk off, but they are transfixed by her.

When Tanner flips her over and pulls her up onto all fours, I expect one of them to give in. But they don’t, they just lock eyes with her and watch as she strums her clit while Tanner pounds into her from behind.

When she’s close to her climax, she bites her lower lip and her knees start to wobble. Tanner holds her up with one arm and braces the other on her shoulder then, almost at the same time, they release cries of pleasure and collapse into a heap.

Watching from nearby, Mack gives them a moment to lie in each other’s arms then helps Nova to her feet and offers her a blanket. She leans into his embrace, and Luther throws Tanner a blanket too.

I watch as the four of them settle around the fire. Nova is in Mack’s lap, giggling as he tells her she’s fucking beautiful when she comes. Kole is flipping packet-mix pancakes in a small frying pan, and Luther is lacing six mugs of coffee with the dregs from the whiskey bottle.

“Sam?” Nova calls, waving at me. “Are you coming for food?”

A lump forms in the back of my throat. No matter what happens next, in this moment I am truly happy. And I will never forget it.

36

NOVA

We are back in the caves, and I am in the middle of Sam and Tanner struggling to sleep. They are both curled around me, Tanner’s head on my stomach, Sam’s is on my chest. I stroke Tanner’s hair as he breathes deeply. Then I look down at Sam’s face.

I can’t believe he came back to me. It might have been a trick, but the trick backfired. I got Sam back. I have my fated five, which means we still stand a chance at stopping The King from returning.

Outside, the sound of the falls intensifies and I realize it’s raining. Sliding from between Tanner and Sam, I pull my sweater on and pad barefoot outside.

The reflection of the moon—round and bright—shimmers on the surface of the lake. Rain punctuates it, making satisfying sounds as it meets the water. I sit just inside the first cave, peering out from a sheltered pocket at the side of the falls so I can see the lake and the trees.

I rub my arms as a shiver snakes down them. The rain intensifies. It reminds me of the sudden shower that pummeled the street the first night I arrived in Phoenix Falls. I close my eyes and remember seeing Kole through the rain. His broad Viking frame, his dark hair, his hypnotizing tattoos.

The vision I saw then—hands, lips, bodies, heat—returns to me and I sigh as it fills my thoughts. I still can’t tell if it was Kole I saw or the others too, but I know how it felt; like I suddenly knew myself and knew I was capable of feeling so much more than I ever had before.

As I lean back against the cool rock behind me, the vision changes. I feel my forehead crease into a frown, and my eyes twitch beneath their lids. I am seeing something else now.

The hellhounds. Flames. Teeth. Jaws. Screaming. Flames. Ash. Phoenix.

My eyes fly open. My heart is beating so fast I can barely breathe. I stagger to my feet, my legs trembling, and run from the cave. An invisible thread pulls me up the cliff toward Kole. When I find him, he is standing in the moonlight waiting for me.

You saw it? he asks silently.

“I saw,” I breathe.

Without speaking, Kole pulls me to him and kisses me with a passion unlike anything I’ve felt before. His kiss is slow, and deep, and searching. When he stops, he presses his forehead to mine and whispers, “I’m sorry.”

I stand back and look up at him. “You already knew, didn’t you?” I ask, searching his face. “That’s what you saw—in the woods near the commune. You saw—”

“Yes,” he says. “I saw you dying.”

* * *

We sit side by side for a long time, then Kole moves behind me, so I’m sitting between his legs. He nudges my sweater to one side and kisses my exposed skin, then he runs his hands over my thighs.

“When?” I ask. “Do you know when?”

“I know what you know,” he says. “I know it has to happen, and I know you will return.”