Born of Fire

“Do you need anything?” His delicious voice whispers in my ear. You, my mind replies and I feel his lips smile against my neck.

“Ice cream.” I reply teasingly. His head snaps up as a crooked smile forms on his lips. He’s up like a shot from the couch and in the kitchen and before I can blink, he’s back. He opens the pint of ice cream and brings the spoon to my lips. I smile seductively as I take the spoon into my mouth and let the cold sensation of creamy chocolate ice cream invade my mouth and throat.

Lips pressing to mine break my silent reverie of the ice cream. A warm tongue makes its way into my mouth lapping up any trace of the cold sensation replacing it with warm embers. I open my eyes and smile at him as he breaks the kiss. He shrugs unapologetically. “You looked like you were enjoying that too much, I had to know what you were feeling.”

“I’ll show you.” I tease taking the spoon from him and scooping up the ice cream and bringing it to his lips. He crooks his eyebrow for a second in a challenge before taking the mouthful of ice cream. I gently run my hands over his eyelids to close his eyes to let him absorb the sensation. I get up onto my knees to kneel beside him on the couch as I plant a light kiss at the corner of his mouth.

I let my tongue dart out teasingly licking up the trace amount of chocolate ice cream from the corner of his lips. I move my mouth in a slow brush across his letting my tongue trace the seam of his lips begging for entry. He finally permits it with the parting of his lips and I deftly explore his mouth taking back as much of the chocolate as I can. I smile against his lips as his tongue entwines with mine.

I lean back as my hands start to travel down his chest unbuttoning his shirt. He looks at me curiously as I smile playfully at him. All worries about this being a bad idea are swallowed by the darkness of the night. The night has always offered more freedom from inhibitions than the harsh light of day. I let go of each inhibition one by one letting them drown in the anonymity of the night as I surrender to him completely.

As I lay in his arms the warm sensation in my belly has spread to a full fledge forest fire threatening to burn me up from the inside. I wouldn’t even care if it did right now, never have I experienced so much pleasure in such a short space of time. Our night went too fast as I cleave my body to his desperate for it not to end.

Every nerve in my body is alive and tingling with anticipation for his caresses. My heart is dancing to a deep soulful rhythm in time with his. My lips are raw from being ravaged so harshly yet still yearning to be possessed by him. My head is a drugged haze of bliss and rapture being replayed over and over again.

Something in the back of mind is trying to break through, a truth or knowledge I just can’t get a grasp on. I’m too strung out on the being wrapped around my body to really try to grasp onto anything right now. It’s more than just physical pleasure, my body and soul are utterly spent from being completely exercised. I breathe out a sigh of contentment as his strong arms snake tightly around me from behind.

I feel like I’m floating outside of my body above my bed until his embrace brings me back down to Earth. I smile indulgently as I try to stretch out my body in my bed. His secure hold makes that task a little difficult. I chuckle lightly and open my eyes to look at him. His piercing blue eyes are startling and I gasp at the sight of them in the morning light. Then my smile fades as I acknowledge the new day reflecting in his eyes back at me.

His brow furrows. “I won’t let anything harm you. Not even the daylight.” He whispers solemnly and I crush my lips to his to absorb that beautiful promise. I break away from his kiss and his embrace. He looks abandoned and I smile down at him as I climb out of the bed. He looks at me curiously before I walk away towards the bathroom.

I close the door between us gently, the action causing my heart to seize in my chest. I had to do it, if I had to look at the God sprawled out naked in my bed much longer I would lose any resolve I have left to face the day. I turn on the shower and wait for the water to heat up. I turn to look at myself in the mirror for a moment and I’m startled by my own reflection.

My skin looks like it has an iridescent shimmer underneath the surface. It’s glowing. All traces of bruises and blemishes are completely gone. My hair looks healthy and alive, each violet streak like a burst of color shooting through a midnight sky. My hazel eyes look brighter, like the morning light I dreaded so much is caught behind them.

I gently run my hands caressingly over my body and it practically hums from the attention. A blush stains my cheeks as I think about the one who has caused my entire being to come alive. As if he heard me call his name Maximus opens the bathroom door and steps inside the tiny space. I’ve never considered the space small before, not until Vulcan himself stepped into the room.

I smile shyly at him in the reflection of the mirror as it starts to fog around the edges from the steam filling the room. Max smiles a heart stopping smile back at me as he takes one step to close the distance between us. I drop my gaze towards my stomach as the warm fire inside sparks into a flame again. He’s so close I can feel his breathing behind me and I hold mine in anticipation from his touch. I close my eyes letting the feeling of pure contentment flow into me.

His hand reaches around my hip but as his skin connects with mine that pleasant warmth in my belly becomes a searing pain of pure flame inside me and I drop to my knees as I scream out in pain. “Kenna.” His voice exclaims as he drops to his knees behind me. His hands reach out to touch me again and I cry out from the agony scorching me internally.

I look down horrified through my tears of pain as his hand print appears on my hip like his hand was made of pure fire then touched me. He jumps up away from me and backs himself against the door as I try to get my breathing under control. I pull myself to my feet and lean against the counter top slightly to steady myself.

I get one last look at the fading burned imprint of a hand on my hip and on my arms before they disappear completely before my eyes. I can feel the deep furrow of my brow as I study my skin intently. The warm feeling in my belly is back to low burning embers in a fireplace and I breathe out a deep exhale.

I look at Max who still has himself placed as far away from me as possible in the tiny room but he didn’t leave me alone. He looks completely stricken and my heart feels like it weighs a ton in my chest suddenly. His eyes are misted but a solid black color now. I shake my head at him as I take a step towards him. “I’m okay.” I reassure him.

He tries to hold his hands out towards me to stop my progression. He’s shaking his vehemently as if he still can’t believe what just happened. I try to smile at him reassuringly as I reach my hand out towards him. He inhales sharply and tries to move further away from me like he’s trapped in a cage with a wild animal. I try to remember the feeling before he touched me. The fire was already inside of me and his touch was just a catalyst for what resulted, but it wasn’t the cause.

“Please. It wasn’t your fault.” I plead. He just looks incredulous as he looks between his hands and my body. “Your hands have hardly left my body for two days Max. Don’t you think if you were the cause that would’ve happened before now?” I try to pacify him. He looks like he still doesn’t believe me.

I recall the other time that happened in the club when his touch caused such an intense pain. I had fobbed it off as a coincidence but after that, I’m not sure. I still don’t want him to feel guilty for something I don’t entirely understand. I smile at him reassuringly as I reach out my hand again. He turns his face away from me looking guilt ridden and wretched.

I can feel my body starting to hum in excitement at touching him again and I smile shyly as I take a step closer to bring myself as close to him as possible without touching him. I gently caress his jaw letting my fingertips run along it soothingly trying to encourage him to breathe again. When he finally exhales I do as well as I let my hand trail down his arm to take his hand in mine.

I bring his hand slowly and carefully to my lips—despite the warning in his eyes—and I place a feather light kiss to the inside of his palm. It’s warm to the touch and I look at him curiously. The touch didn’t just burn me, it burned him as well. Yet it didn’t make a sound, his only concern was for me. He pulls his hand back away from me keeping himself against the wall firmly.

It’s like he believed that was just a fluke. I tip my head to the side sympathetically. He shakes his head at me defiantly. “I can’t risk burning you gain.” He pleads urgently.

“I’ve been burned before Max.” I explain gently. His pleading eyes lock onto mine.

“McKenna, I could kill you.” He chokes out the words that seem to break his heart. A single tear slips from my eye at the feeling of pure concern coming from him.

“If you never touch me again, I’ll die anyway.” I whisper my confession before I’m engulfed possessively by a strong pair of arms as his mouth claims mine with a series of unspoken promises. He pulls me up against his body as he walks us into the shower together without once breaking our kiss.

Max still seems sad as I wrap the towel around my body after a very long and thorough shower. I smile at him sweetly as I caress his face again. His hand locks over mine pinning it to him. “I never want to hurt you McKenna. I couldn’t stand it.” He pleads desperately. I secure the towel as I lead him back out to take a seat on the edge of the bed.

I try carefully to explain the feeling I had both times before he touched me that actually caused the pain. He looks perplexed and I shake my head at him as I run my finger gently across his brow to release the frown. “So you see. It really wasn’t your fault. Something happened inside of me, I just have to pay better attention to that feeling.”

“Why didn’t you notice that feeling before if it’s so painful?” He asks sternly. I blush and turn my face away from his. He gently takes a hold of my chin to turn my head back to face him. His piercing eyes filled with concern break me so I explain the feeling I’ve have around him since I first met him and how it flares up when he’s close to me.

He looks like I slapped him. “It’s not a bad feeling. I promise.” I confess shyly. “It doesn’t hurt; it just lets me know when you’re near.” I explain weakly. His concern turns into a crooked smile that makes my knees go weak.

“Do you have that feeling now?” He asks with a seductive lilt to his voice. I bite my bottom lip hard and nod at him in response. “Perhaps it’s like the way my eyes change color when I experience different emotions.” He offers pulling us back to lay down on the bed together. I smile brightly at him. Then my smile turns sad. I look at him pleadingly as I sit back up. I turn my head back over my shoulder to look at him.

“As much as I would love to stay lost with you all day, I have to go.” I tell him solemnly. He sits up quickly and brings his lips to the back of my shoulder.

“Can I come with you?” He asks sweetly. I crook an incredulous eyebrow up at him.

“Won’t you just follow me anyway if I say no?”

He nods unashamed. “Yes. But I want you to admit that you want me with you.”

“I do want you with me.” I admit ruefully. “But I’m not just going out to get milk. I going to break my heart into a million pieces, it’s going to devastating. I don’t want you to have to deal with the aftermath of that.” I plead sadly as I lose another stray tear down my cheek. His lips come quickly to my cheek to stop it in its tracks. I lean my head against his shoulder as he holds me in silence for a few moments before telling me that he would bare all my suffering if he could.