Sacred Revelations Read Free Page B

Fyre on the porch.
    The sun was blinding bright, the day turned into a brilliant, clear day with a deep blue sky and white puffy clouds. My favorite kind of day. It promised to be hot. For a moment, I was distracted by the sheer beauty surrounding my porch. My massive perennial gardens had come out in full glorious bloom while I was away, hummingbirds ducking in and out of the overhanging wisteria, monarchs flitting amongst the daisies, honey bees a symphony of their own, darting gluttonously from fragrant bloom to fragrant bloom. I dallied, trying to get my bearings on which way he may have gone, without seeming too obvious.
    “I’m here,” he called and I walked along the painted wood porch to reach the side stairs leading to the lawn. Joining him, I kept my eyes lowered, stepping back just a little when I saw his hand reach for me.
    Reflex. Not ducking, not exactly, but defensive. The reaction was met by a heavy sigh, “Who hurt you?
    Who made you lose your trust?” He shook his head. “Not Garrett.”
    Then his hand was near my face, not touching, reaching for me in what seemed like slow motion, trying not to spook me, as one trained might approach a new horse, or an unknown dog, but maybe my mind was just having a hard time accepting that he was going to touch me. His fingers were light on my jaw, lifting my face with an easy pressure, forcing my gaze up to his. I directed my gaze away.
    “Look at me.” His voice was smooth and easy, but not like warm brandy, more like summer thunder, soft, rolling, non-threatening. Our gazes collided when I finally brought myself to lift my eyes to his and the force of will coming from his was a scary thing that I quickly looked away from a second time.
    “Keep your eyes on mine.”
    Swallowing, I looked at him and forced myself to keep looking long after my bravado faded. A slow trembling started in my shoulders, uncontrollable. I feared him for no other reason than once he’d kissed me and once he’d entranced me. Both times, in my mind, I thought of him as Lucifer, the great deceiver; but standing before him, I forced myself to remember that he was a man, just a man. His scent came to me on the breeze, exotic, unknown, like incense, frankincense, and myrrh, a hint of cinnamon and warm leather.
    I wanted to look away but took him all in, his jaw darkened with a hint of five o’clock shadow, adding ruggedness to his well-trimmed mustache and goatee. Lashes, longer and thicker than any I’d ever seen on a man, surrounded his dark brown eyes. Just a man, I told myself again, not a God, not a demon, and still I trembled.
    “Are you going to be able to go through with this?” he asked.
    “Yes,” I whispered. “I want this, I truly do.”
    His eyes narrowed and I felt him assess the truth of my words. “Go inside. Spend the evening with Garrett and Jackie. Eat a good meal—God knows you need one by the look of you. Tonight, you and Garrett are going to make up for the misunderstanding, for the deceit, for the betrayal.”
    I jerked with each accusation—deceit, betrayal—knowing how much pain I’d caused Garrett, wishing I’d been honest from the start, the regret trapped in my chest begging for release, but my gaze never left Lord Fyre’s.
    “Tonight he will make love to you and I want you to embrace that love, fill yourself with it, saturate every pore of your being in that love, enough to carry you through three months of not seeing him, because once I collar you, you will be mine, solely mine, for ninety days. Do you understand?”
    I nodded, not really understanding what he was saying, hearing only that he wanted me to make love to Garrett, hearing that he wanted me to say good-bye to him.
    Emotion caught in my throat, preventing me from speaking.
    He repeated, “Do you understand?”
    “Yes,” I whispered, not able to find my voice.
    “Tomorrow you will meet me at noon beside the swings at the park around the block. Do you know where I’m talking