Burning Violet (Lick of Fire) by Kallysten

Author:Kallysten [Kallysten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Idris let Ladybird go ahead to the kitchen while he stopped by the bathroom. In there, he washed his hands and splashed water over his face. He needed to cool down. He didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t been with a woman in so long, or because Ladybird was different from anyone he’d ever known, but everything felt heightened suddenly.

When he touched her, the fire within him roared and struggled to get free, the way it used to do, back when he was too young to be able to control it. Back then, strong emotions had often meant accidental fires, or inflicting burns on people he touched. The first girl he’d ever loved had received second degree burns to the face during their first kiss, and he could still hear her shouts in his mind whenever he thought of her.

In time, he’d learned to control the fire—learned to control his emotions, and keep himself on a tight leash. His relationships with women had been shallow, based on sex and little else, simply because he couldn’t allow it to be anything else.

The last time he’d had a girlfriend, his feelings had grown deep enough that his control had started to slip. On the last night they’d spent together, he’d left red marks on her thighs where he was touching her. She’d laughed it off, saying she’d been sunburned worse than that while on the beach and that her shifter abilities would take care of it within a couple of days. Wolves healed fast. Everyone knew that; they were the paras whose abilities were best known—they’d been the first ones to be ‘discovered’ and studied. But Idris hadn’t wanted to risk it. He’d broken up with her the next day. And he’d been taken in by UIPP forces before he could even leave town.

Suddenly realizing he’d been staring at the cold water running into his cupped hands for at least a couple of minutes, Idris shook himself off. He’d known Ivy for two years before he’d started losing control. Surely it wouldn’t happen the first time he took Ladybird to bed. And he did intend to take her tonight. Why hesitate when she seemed more than willing? He was just being silly, thinking back about the past like that.

His thoughts calmer now, he followed the delicious smell of food all the way to the kitchen, finding Ladybird and her aunt seated at a rustic wooden table. Behind them, a window opened onto a courtyard bathed in the golden evening light. A pot of steaming soup was set in the center of the table, a round loaf of bread nestled in a kitchen towel in a basket next to it.

His stomach rumbled loudly at the sight, and Ladybird threw him a smile. She was back to wearing jeans and t-shirt, and he suddenly realized what he’d known unconsciously for a while: she was, for all intents and purposes, naked. Every stitch of clothing she wore was actually her feathers—part of her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.