Marked by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #4)(22)

“Well, I’m done with waiting. I want you,” Iannis said, his voice rough with need. He bent his head so that his dark, cherry-wood hair formed a curtain around his face, blocking out the world. Warm breath fanned across my cheeks as he spoke. “I’ve almost lost you more times than I’d like to consider, and after I heard about the fire…” He closed his eyes, a pained look crossing his handsome, oblong face. And when he opened them again, they burned with iridescent flames. “I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep taking you for granted, as if you’ll always be here, waiting until I’m ready, when you could be taken from me at any time.”

“W-what are you saying?” I was trembling now with the effort of beating back the hope rising in my chest. I wanted so much to believe he was ready to accept me, but I couldn’t, not until the actual words came out of his mouth.

“I’m saying that I love you, Sunaya. And I want you to be mine, and only mine.”

He kissed me then, a tender, passionate claiming that completely shredded my control. Hunger clawed at me, making me ravenous as I kissed him back, nipping at his lower lip and snarling at his restraint. He only laughed, a low, teasing sound as he pinned me to the ground, his hands still wrapped around my wrists. I could have bucked him off, could have broken his grip, but strangely, I didn’t want to. I was okay with him having some control.

Maybe I’m not a total animal after all.

His tongue slid into my mouth, deepening the kiss, and he shifted his hips, nudging my legs apart so he could rest between them. I clamped my legs around his lean waist, pulling him tighter to me, and moaned as his arousal pressed against me, right where I needed it. He groaned low in his throat as he rocked himself into me, once, then twice, and then, suddenly, his hands were no longer wrapped around my wrists. He was moving lower, trailing kisses along my jaw, down my neck, to my collarbone…

“Yes,” I moaned when he nipped the sensitive spot where my neck and shoulder met. His tongue laved across the tiny wound, sending another flash of heat through me. “Iannis…” I trailed off, forgetting what I was going to say as his hands slid beneath my shirt, pushing the fabric up as he trailed kisses along my abdomen.

An explosion shook the air, and we shot upright, twisting in the direction of the sound. My eyes widened in horror at a plume of smoke rising in the northern half of the city, far too close to the Palace.

“Bloody hell!” Iannis jumped to his feet, fury etched into the lines of his face. “Do they never stop?”

“Fuck,” I muttered, pulling my shirt down as I got to my feet as well. I was starting to see flames too, licking at the night air as smoke continued to billow. What was the Resistance up to now?

“I need to go.” Iannis turned back to me, and the regret in his eyes was clear as he reached for my hand. “They’ll pay dearly for interrupting us – I wish there were more time.”

“Go.” I squeezed his hand, then grabbed his face and pulled him to me for one more kiss. It felt so good to be able to do that, to be able to reach for him without the fear of rejection shadowing me at every turn. “There are more important things to deal with right now,” I added, my voice a little ragged. Inside, I felt like howling.

“Indeed.” His eyes glowed with desire and frustration as he pulled away. “We’re not finished here, Sunaya. I promise you that.”

And then, he was gone in a rush of wind, his feet taking him faster than even I could hope to follow, as he went to save a people who seemed determined to hate him.





10





Ditching the bike completely, I shifted into beast form, then ran down the hill to catch up with Iannis and find out what was behind the explosion. It felt good to run free, my paws pounding against the pavement on the Firegate Bridge as the wind ruffled my black fur, which helped hide me under the cover of darkness.

Nevertheless, as soon as I was close to the site of the explosion, I shifted back into human form, cloaking myself in the disguise of my pimply teenage boy. Standing near the airship yard with other gawkers, I watched a group of mages fight a monstrous-looking conflagration that appeared to have already destroyed a number of airships. The fire had spread to the neighborhoods on either side of the yard, and I suspected that the explosion must have been large enough to jettison flaming debris into those sections of Maintown.

Even through the smoke and gloom stinging my eyes, I managed to pick out Iannis amongst the group of mages fighting the fire. His hands were lifted skyward, eyes closed, face tight with concentration. Though I couldn’t be certain, it looked like Iannis and the two mages next to him were standing in some kind of circle.

The air shifted, becoming thick with moisture, and I glanced up as lightning flashed across the sky. To my surprise, huge black clouds had gathered out of nowhere, blocking out the moonlight completely. Thunder boomed just a moment later, then the clouds opened up, sending down a deluge of rain.

“Shit,” I muttered, ducking for cover beneath a tree planted on the sidewalk that had miraculously managed not to catch fire. But it didn’t help much – I was soaked in seconds, the rain so intense I could barely see through it. Beneath the roar of the downpour, I heard the hiss of steam as the water snuffed out the fire, and shouts from the mages as well. Something about treating the wounded and canvassing the neighborhood to assess damage.