Dark Flame (Flame 3)

Brannick drew closer to the bed, his shoulders hunched as he glared at her. “I woke up with you straddling me in a dreamglide. What man in his right mind would refuse a beautiful woman, with his cock already driving inside her?”

Having her actions spelled out so blatantly, increased the heat on her face.

“Finally, you’re exhibiting a normal reaction. You should be embarrassed. You should be ashamed. What you did was wrong. Don’t you get it? I could have you prosecuted in one of the Tribunal courts. You know I could.”

She thought about all the things they’d shared in the dreamglide, the level of intimacy they’d enjoyed both physically and in their conversations for the past five months.

She realized something important. “You know what, Brann, I don’t give a fuck about that. What I care about is you. You’ve lived a shadow life in Crescent, holding to your rules and your ideals. And I get why.

“But it’s time to let all that go. I’m here. I’m real. And I’m what you need and you know it. So you can leave if you want to or you can be with me, in the same way Vaughn is with Emma.

“It’s your choice, but I’m not apologizing. I thought I would. I thought I’d fall to my knees and beg you to forgive me for this terrible thing I’ve done. But I’m not going to. We’ve shared something amazing and real despite that most of it occurred in the dreamglide.”

He shook his head, his lips and cheeks drawn back in disgust. “You keep thinking that if you want, but I’m outta here.”

She watched as he moved past her and started down the stairs. She knew better than to call him back. He’d have to spend some time thinking about everything that had happened between them. Only he could decide if she was worth having in his life despite her illegal seduction of him.

She did, however, need to remind him of Agnes’s security system. With the sheet still wrapped around her, she moved to the top of the stairs. “Brannick, don’t levitate out of the compound, even if you use your disguise. Agnes has a sensor field set up that would reveal your position.”

He’d stopped at the bottom of the stairs to listen, but didn’t look up. “Call me if you get into trouble. You might even have enough power to reach me telepathically. I’ll be at my home in Crescent, but you should be okay here. Agnes knows what she’s doing.” He slapped the bottom post of the rail, then moved out of sight as he headed up the hall.

When she heard the front door slam shut, she hurried to the window overlooking the courtyard.

To her re

lief, he didn’t try to levitate, but headed in the direction of the well-guarded entrance.

She placed her fingers on the cool glass. Her cheeks felt hot and her head dizzy. Was he really walking away? Would it be for good despite all that they’d shared?

When he disappeared from sight, she dropped to sit on the floor and leaned her head against the wall.

What she’d feared from the beginning swamped her; he’d learned the truth and left.

The tears flowed. Fortunately, she had the sheet to wipe her eyes and cheeks over and over.

She understood exactly what she was losing, all the conversations she’d never get to have again, the intimacy, the physical touch, everything that had been so real in her marriage, and almost real in the dreamglide with Brannick.

She sat on the floor for a long time, regretting what she’d done one moment, then not regretting it the next. If she never saw Brannick again, she honestly couldn’t feel bad about having spent five months in his arms.

Over the next few nights, Juliet stayed in Agnes’s compound for security reasons. She split her time between supporting Mary during her withdrawal and with Agnes. The sage fae had been an important part of Juliet’s life from the time she’d entered Five Bridges, and she considered her a good friend.

As for Brannick, she’d spoken with him once on her cell. He’d been withdrawn to the point of being curt, though her faeness detected just how sad he was as well. Unfortunately, he was being damn stubborn, holding to his principles, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Though she’d confessed the truth to Agnes, the older woman had steadfastly refused to comment on Juliet’s law-breaking seduction of Brannick. Juliet had hoped to be either chastised for her unworthy use of her gifts or supported for taking such a bold risk. But Agnes had merely shrugged her shoulders. “Interesting choice.”

That was it. Interesting choice.

Her ‘choice’ didn’t feel interesting at all. Losing her relationship with Brannick felt like she’d lost both her best friend and her lover.

Mary was recovering slowly. She had dark shadows beneath her eyes and no appetite. She was on two different kinds of intravenous fluids intended to heal her and to suppress some of the withdrawal symptoms.

Each of the alter species could self-heal. But an addiction to any of the flame drugs created a new set of problems that took time to counteract, especially given the quantity used on Mary. Her body had been saturated with dark flame to keep her unconscious. Juliet wasn’t sure of everything that had happened to Mary during her captivity, but a loss of consciousness would have meant she hadn’t been used sexually.

On the fifth night after Brannick’s departure, Juliet sat in a chair chatting with Mary about nothing and everything. During their time together working in Brannick’s rescue organization, she and Mary had become friends.

As she sat beside Mary’s bed, Mary slid both hands prayer-like beneath her cheek. “A very faint memory of leaving my cell at Roche’s sex club keeps circling back to me, even though I was unconscious. I have an impression of being held by powerful arms, but they don’t feel vampire in nature. Did Brannick carry me out?”

Juliet shook her head slowly. She knew how Mary felt about the wolves of Savage. “Fergus was with us. He’s the one who took charge of you and flew you back to my home.”