Licked by the Flame Read Free

dredging up the history Kyne would much rather ignore.
    “You want me to go find my father again, don’t you?”
    “I think we’re going to have to. I don’t know what the Fairy Council has been plotting, or really what that strange machine we found at the base of the mountain is for, but it seems that your father is involved in all of it. I’m afraid if we want to learn anything, we have to start there.”
    “You keep saying ‘we.’”
    “That’s because we’re in this together, Kyne.”
    “No. I’m in this. It has nothing to do with you.”
    “Nothing to do with me? I’m sorry, did I miss something? Who were you with when the council sent Swift to take you into custody? And then who came sneaking into the Meeting Hall to break you out of confinement? I had to seduce you while I was invisible, if you recall! And who has been climbing all over you like a raging wild animal ever since? Me, Kyne. It’s me. You’re not alone anymore, and neither am I.”
    His amber eyes searched hers, and she could see the concern that filled him. She loved that he worried for her, but she worried for him, too. Someone back in their Fairyrealm had been plotting against him, and she wanted to know why. Fairies and humans were in league and that could only spell trouble. Somehow she and Kyne had to uncover the truth.
    “Please, Raea,” he said, laying his hand over hers. “Don’t make me drag you into more danger. Let me keep you safe. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you. I need you to be safe.”
    “You think I’d feel the least bit safe if you went off and left me here alone?”
    “I’d rather have you alone than dead,” he declared.
    The words rattled inside her. Did he really think things were quite that serious? Of course certain members of the council had been behaving mysteriously, and those two fairies they’d seen in the forest several days ago had clearly been up to no good…but was this truly a matter of life and death?
    “You think it might come to that?” she asked softly, stroking his cheek and letting the warmth of his skin seep into her fingertips.
    “I won’t take any chances, Raea. I have to go look into this alone. I just couldn’t live if I let something happen to you.”
    “Then you know exactly how I feel. I can’t let you go, Kyne, not now. Whatever you do, I’m doing it with you.”
    “I can see we’re going to have an argument over this,” he said, clutching her hand to his lips and kissing it gently.
    “I’ll win it, of course. You know I have my ways.”
    “Don’t be so sure of yourself. I’ve got a few persuasive tricks of my own.”
    “Then I guess I’ll have to be especially convincing, won’t I?”
    “I’m not going down without a fight,” he said with a crooked little smile that assured her they weren’t talking about investigating the council right now.
    “You’re not going down?” she asked, flashing him her own wicked grin and letting the glittery aura emanating from her speak for itself. “Then you know I will.”
    She fluttered up off the railing and hovered before him, raking her fingertips over his solid form and slowly sinking lower, lower until her lips were perfectly positioned. Oh yes, he was going down, all right. And she was going to take him there.
    Their argument might be on hold for right now, but one thing was certain. They were going to need more Sizing Dust again very soon.
    *  *  *
    Fairy Dust glittered in the air around them, and Kyne ran his hand over the soft, silky strands of Raea’s tousled hair. Her pink aura glowed with satisfaction and a contented smile touched the corners of her lips. He touched those lips, tracing their contour and feeling the heat of reaction course through his veins. He wanted her again, already.
    They’d spent the morning making love, as they’d done every day since they’d left their lives behind and come to hide here, safe in this strange, enchanted cottage on the top of a forested