Keeper of the Flame Read online

  Finally spent, together they collapsed on the couch, her legs sliding down to cradle his still quivering hips. He roused himself enough to roll from her, causing lingering spasms, no less precious or beautiful, to rack their bodies.

  “Don’t leave me,” she breathed into his ear.

  “Never, Kendall.” She was asking for more than this moment. He understood.

  He rolled them so that she was gently sandwiched between the back of the couch and his warm, damp body. He brushed his tangle silken hair from her face, where it seemed to want to bind her to him. Feeling comfortable and secure, she slept. All through the night he held her close but those gray eyes remained open, his mind lost in thought.

  He had to face the danger that threatened his new family and end it once and for all. That was the only way that he would feel worthy of his Kendall and earn a chance to capture her heart.

  * * * * *

  As the sky began to lighten in the east, Flame rose and eased from his Kendall’s arms. She still lay asleep in the couch, so delicate and fragile-looking, that he instantly began to regret his harsh treatment of her.

  Sighing deeply to himself, he walked towards the kitchen, intent on finding some dedication to ease what surely had to be sore muscles on her part, when he remembered the hot tub.

  It was a simple device, not as efficient as a vaporbath, but just as effective.

  Walking out of the back door and onto the wooden floor called a deck, he eyed the large oval shaped tub, a wondering look on his face.

  Walking over, he knelt down and he reached in and found the water warm to the touch.

  “Why is it a hot tub?” he mused out loud as he ran his hand along the rim, searching for the heat mechanism.

  As he searched, his hand accidentally brushed against a trigger that caused the water to bubble and churn.

  Jumping back, he eyed the tub dubiously.

  What were these humans thinking? Bubbling water was not....

  What made the water bubble?

  Garnering his nerve, he stepped inside the water and felt the blast of air as it propelled the water.

  Suddenly, he was taken back to a time when his father had shown him some new device for the pleasure of women.

  “A water spray?” Flame asked, raising his eyebrow in direct imitation of his father.

  “It stimulates the clitoral region, my son,” Alonzid said as the female who volunteered for this experiment stepped forward.

  Shrugging his shoulders and prepared for another lesson, Flame eased out of his baggy tunic and pants, retaining his modestly draped loin cloth, and stepped into the water that lay a few inches deep.

  He settled himself comfortably as his father directed and the female made her way into the shallow pit.

  At his father’s nod, and gaining the Mistress’ permission, he gently wrapped his arms around her, supporting her as he took the long tube in one had.

  “Where will it be most effective?” Alonzid asked as he checked again to make sure the machine was set up properly.

  Flame looked at the tube in his hand, then at the woman, then came to a decision.

  While he held the tube, he gently grazed the woman’s nipples, bringing them to life as he discovered she enjoyed a light touch.

  So delicately, he tugged at her, rolling her hard flesh between his fingers, eliciting a gasp of pure pleasure before he let his hand trail down to the neatly clipped hair of her mound.

  “May I spread your legs?” he asked and received an affirmative from the woman and an approving glance from his father.

  Easing her legs apart, he touched her clit, noticing she flinched a bit. He eased off and ran his fingers along her pulsing opening. She enjoyed that immensely so he massaged her softly...before he sharply pulled upright, mashing her lower lips against his palm and making her scream out her pleasure.

  “Alonzid!” she gasped. “He is as good as the rumors say! He is truly your son!”

  Saying nothing, Flame brought the tube into play, pressing the trigger and feeling the vibrating shaft of water that exploded from its tip.

  Slowly, he brought the spray teasingly up over her inner thighs making her quiver like a wild thing in his grasp. Teasingly, he circled her, coming closer to her clit even as he shielded her from direct contact with his hand.

  Then suddenly he parted his fingers and let the pulsating spray though, granting her contact, listening quietly as her screams began to fill the room.

  Would his Kendall like this as much as the other woman? He recalled the scratches she left upon his arms and neck and smiled.

  Kendall awoke as a pair of strong arms lifted her from the couch.

  “Flame? What...?”

  “Shh, Kendall! Enjoy what I offer you.”

  Smiling, she nuzzled into his warm chest, content to allow him to lead this time. Sex with Flame was beginning to mellow her out a bit! She sighed as she heard him open the kitchen screen doors and felt the warmth of the dawning day envelope them.

  She found herself being lowered into the hot tub and stifled a giggle. Flame had picked up a few tricks apparently. “What are we doing out here?”

  “I am preparing to ease the soreness from you limbs, Kendall. I do not wish you sore or stiff.”

  “That’s nice, Flame.” She kept her eyes closed; all the better to relish the massage she was sure to get from this glorious man.

  He settled himself on a ledge in the tub, placing her in his lap comfortably, the jets at his back.

  “Your skin is like silk,” he breathed as he rubbed her thighs, spreading them so that the warm waters could reach her ravaged female opening.

  “Mmm” she snuggled deeper into his embrace.

  “I have injured you in my passion, Kendall. This I did not wish!”

  “I'm not complaining, Flame,” she said as she reached back to caress his cheek with her hand, loving the feel of his smooth skin. “This is a good ache, a healthy ache.”

  “But an ache I do not wish you to have.” He lowered his hands between her thighs and began to rub her lower lips intimately.

  “That is not exactly relaxing,” Kendall breathed as her eyes popped open to watch through the bubbling water as Flame caressed her, aroused her, brought back her banked desires for him.

  Kendall let her head rest again his shoulders as a low groan filled the steamy air surrounding the tub. She breathed in deeply, loving how the fresh scent was now mixed with the scent of her arousal and of Flame.

  She felt herself start to leak her juices and purred as Flame lovingly mingled her essence with the water, soothing where she was sore and bringing her body alive once more.

  “Oh Flame! This is so hot!” she gasped as he increased the pressure of his fingers and let his other hand rise up to cup her breasts as his tongue invaded her ear. “Oh don’t stop! Give me more!”

  “As you desire,” he breathed, his heated breath caressing her ear and sending electricity shooting through her neck, a moment before his lips clamped onto the sensitive skin there. “Anything you desire!” He tightened his arms around her body, lifting her, turning her, pressing her body against the shooting jets of water.

  “Ohhhh shit!” Kendall gasped as the hot water hit her dead center on her clitoris as Flame held her exposed to his pleasurable torture. “What are you doing?”

  “Release, Kendall! It will soothe you.”

  But then she could say nothing as he adjusted their positioning and the pulsating water hit her clitoris dead on, giving her the direct contact that she needed to send her senses reeling!

  Kendall felt the hot sweet caress of the water, felt the hard rough flesh of Flame’s hand adding stimulation, and let her senses take over. Wave after wave of heat trailed through her body, tingling her legs, making knees weak.

  Her arms flew backwards around his neck, holding on tightly as her back arched into this new stimuli even as her mind screamed that it was too much.

  Flame and his solid frame became the center of her world as
lights began to explode behind her eyes. Her breath came in raspy bursts, struggling to pull oxygen into her lungs as the cool air caressed her already turgid nipples, bringing her more delight.

  “Flame....”

  “Release for me,” he growled as his hands began to move in tight circles, using the hard tendons of his hands, manipulating her to an explosive end.

  Kendall writhed within his grasp, fighting to get nearer, fighting to get away, struggling to find a release of the tension that had grabbed hold of her body and soul. “Please!”

  “Then let go!”

  Forcefully, Flame slammed one long finger within her wet walls, groaning as they quivered and clenched around his probing finger.

  “Yes!” he hissed as he began to thrust inside of her, feeling for the magic button that would send her screaming into climax.

  Kendall turned her head to his shoulder and bit down as the coil of tension that grew within her exploded, sending her body into spasms of joy.

  The only thing holding her upright was Flame as he supported her. Even as her inner muscles grabbed at his finger, he gentled her with whispered words of praise as he softened his caresses to bring her down off of her climatic high.

  “You are so beautiful when you fly apart for me,” he purred as she whimpered and went boneless in his arms. She remained catatonic as he lifted her from the tub and carried her into the house. She clutched at him as he dried her body and placed her into the bed that they would share this coming night.

  “I would give anything for you, Mistress Kendall,” he promised as he ignored his own raging need, and thought of how her release almost triggered his own. “We are petals from the same flower, my Kendall,” he breathed, “only you complete me, your pleasure is my own, your happiness paramount in my mind.”

  Then feeling as if he had lifted a small part of his burden from his shoulders, he placed his erection comfortably against her rear and snuggled in to claim a few hours rest.

  Chapter Nine

  The sun shining through the bedroom window woke Kendall. She rose up from layers of slumber to find herself lying in the bed Flame insisted she sleep in after he had recovered from the disintegration of his alteration. Did she do what she thought she did last night? The evidence was right there before her, sore thighs, aching back, weak knees, and parts of her were definitely sore from stretching to accommodate a large presence. But not as sore as things could have been. Thank God for hot tubs!

  She sighed as she lay back amid the tangled covers that carried his unforgettable scent. She had never realized that sex could be like that. It was too intense a feeling to be just lust. Even Doctor Dick at his best had never made her feel that way. Maybe Doctor Dick was too good a name for the old boy. Maybe Little Boy Dickey was better!

  But thoughts of the good doctor made her think of her sister and the bomb that they dropped on her. Then she realized that it didn’t matter to her at all. One tall redheaded man now adequately filled the blank space in her life that she thought Richard could ease.

  She smiled and turned to face her lover, only to find an empty space beside her. She sat up, concerned for a moment. What they did wouldn’t hurt him, would it? Then she relaxed at the sound of gentle murmuring coming from the kitchen. Flame had risen to take care of his children. He wouldn’t run out on her after what they both experienced. Suddenly filled with boundless energy, Kendall sprang from the bed and rushed to the shower. The day was ripe with possibilities.

  Kendall padded barefoot into the kitchen wearing a sundress with a long flowing skirt, the color of ripe peaches. Not that she was jealous or anything, but if Caress could work a dress, then so could she.

  The light color made her face and skin glow with health and vitality. Her full lips were faintly swollen by last night’s passionate kisses and her eyes were deep brown pools of remembered passion that cold easily be aroused again.

  Want slammed into Flame’s stomach and tightened his resolve to close the last door to his past. This was something he had become sure of since his time with Kendall—he would be free of the threat to his family or would die in the trying.

  “Good morning.” Kendall dropped a light kiss to each baby who also eyed her entrance into the kitchen with some interest. They seemed to share in the joy that enveloped her like a cloak. The twins exchanged telling glances before returning their gaze to Kendall.

  Flame stood at her approach, but she waved him back to his seat. She smiled at the light blush that tinted his face as she walked over to his side.

  “Are you feeling well?” she asked, still unsure if she had done him any harm. He looked fit as he sat there in his black jeans and a kelly green T-shirt, but she still didn’t know enough about Testrios physiology to be sure.

  “I am fine, Mistress,” he replied eyeing the curve of her breasts before dragging his eyes up to her face. “I took no harm from the wonderful experience you have introduced me to.”

  A violent blush stained his cheeks at her not-so-subtle reminder of the past night. Flame had almost expected her to treat him like yesterday’s trash, just like Devo said, but he should have known better. His Mistress inquired about his health and honestly treated him like he was something special. He wished he could find a way to tell Devo how wrong he was.

  “Can’t you call me Kendall, after all that we’ve been through?” she asked, a little tired of hearing herself addressed formally. As much as she liked the respectful title, she liked the sound of her name as it rolled off of his tongue more. Plus she didn’t want to be compared to the women on the world that he left behind.

  “Have I earned the right?” he asked.

  “More than you’ll ever know,” she replied earnestly. “I’ve never met anyone as amazing as you...and look at the babies! They grow so fast. Is that natural?” She was feeling a little uncomfortable with the questions in his gray eyes and was not ready to answer them yet.

  “Yes it is natural,” he replied catching on to her plan to change the subject and understanding her reasons. He too felt raw with the new emotions that he was experiencing. “I gladly wear the marks produced while carrying my children.”

  “What marks? I’ve seen every inch of your body and I never noticed any marks on you.” She smiled as his blush blossomed in full force and threatened to rival his hair in sheer color.

  “They are there, on my side, Mistr...Kendall.” He still seemed a little uncomfortable uttering her given name. At her questioning look, he took a deep breath, pulled up the side of his shirt and pointed to a tiny silver line with some finality. “There it is.”

  “That’s it? Man-oh-man, what did you use for a skin cream? The women here would sell their souls for some of it if that is the extent of your stretch marks!” The tiny line was hardly worth mentioning.

  “The cream is a recipe from the Brotherhood. Only we know which combination of ingredients will make it viable. It is one of the many secrets that the Brotherhood uses to ensure its continuing existence.”

  “What is the Brotherhood exactly, Flame?” Kendall took a seat beside him and patiently waited for an answer. “You’ve often spoke of it, but never truly explained what it was.” Now she was going to hear something good about the people who had sheltered her man. She didn’t know them, but she was grateful to them.

  “The Brotherhood was once an elite fighting force left over from ancient days when war threatened our existence. If a group had enough money to pay the fees, the Brotherhood would go to the area and crush the oppression.”

  He thought back to the pictures that covered one of the many secret chambers at the main house of the Brotherhood. Depicted in their carved marble depths were large muscular men yielding large intricately carved swords. Fierce pride and confidence permeated every line of their being. These men were free and they delighted in their freedom.

  “They were mercenaries?” What an auspicious beginning for a group of men who now were used as a collection place for the undesirables on a planet. “I thought they were
healers?”

  “In a way, Kendall. After the dissidence was crushed, they nursed the victims to health. What good is ruling a land where the people are all dead? The early Matriarchs knew that to show kindness was the best way to gain the trust of a conquered people. The Brotherhood provided for that need as well.”

  “They were a full-service band of warriors for hire. I get it. So why aren’t they in power now?”

  Flame pauses for a moment to think of the ruin of the old practice fields and the battered and broken swords that littered the old armories. When he first arrived at the great house, he spent hours staring at the empty fields where once great mock battles were fought. The desolate wastelands seemed like a tragic loss to the child that he was and seemed like the voice of the past mocking him as an adult.

  “The five ruling houses united to become The Matriarch. The Matriarch felt that the Brotherhood was a threat to their existence. If someone assembled an army and had the funds to hire the Brotherhood, they would almost be a match for the five ruling houses. In their desire to prevent this occurrence, the Brotherhood never stood a chance. The Matriarch held power over the very elements on Testrios. What good are swords against giant windstorms and spears of ice? The earlier Keepers were determined to hold onto their power at any cost, and the price was the original Brotherhood.”

  Flame recalled tales of futile battles fought against that first body of determined women. He could not help but admire their strategy. Attack where the enemy is most vulnerable. Who could battle when the battlegrounds were slick with ice? How could a solider march when the heat directed at them was so oppressive they could hardly stand?

  “The original Brothers were spared because of their healing knowledge, but were forbade upon threat of total destruction to pick up arms ever again. So now we accept all men who are as you say, misfits and in need of healing, and give them a place to live their lives in peace. We also practice some of the old ways in secret.”