Page 81 of A Kiss of Flame
“I do love you,” she told Barith again, letting it expand to every inch of her heart.
Barith pulled her in tightly. The dragon was her best friend, a lover unlike any other, and the creature that had somehow managed to capture her ironclad heart.
In a quick motion, Barith scooped Levian up into his arms. She squeaked, and he chuckled. “What are you doing?” she snarled as he turned to walk away from the pool, back down the rough little path.
“Ye’ve got to return to Council, aye?” he guessed.
“In the morning,” she confirmed with a smirk.
Barith grunted at the short amount of time they had. “I dinnae mind strippin’ ye down here in the grass, but I’d prefer to lay you out over a warm bed,” he growled with wicked intent.
Levian huffed a laugh, her inside twisting with anticipation. “How do you feel about a little redecorating in the cottage?” she asked.
The dragon rolled his eyes, though Levian could tell he wasn’t in the least bit surprised by her proposition. “Not fancy enough for you?”
She shrugged innocently as he trudged along the field at a clipped pace, carrying her in his arms. “It’s rustic,” shecomplimented, “but if we’re to spend much time there together, I could do with a bit more space.”
The dragon looked down at her knowingly. “My sisters are gonna enjoy havin’ you around to enchant everythin’,” he groaned.
Levian smiled warmly up at him. “Don’t grumble,” she purred, rubbing her hand through his trimmed auburn hair. “And don’t pretend you wouldn’t enjoy a much bigger bed.”
Barith pulled her close to press a kiss just above her ear. “An’ dinnae pretend like ye dinnae want a bigger bed for me to enjoy you in,” he growled darkly in return.
Her insides began to turn molten, her heart brimming with happiness. “I had no plans of pretending anything, darling,” Levian whispered back seductively. “I would’ve thought that part was obvious.”
Epilogue
London
six months of blissful chaos later
Levian lay sated over Barith’s bare chest, her fingers running through his thick, damp hair as his tail slid along her exposed thigh. When it slid further up she swatted him. The dragon chuckled and hugged her tighter as he dozed with satisfaction beneath her.
Summer was in full swing as the sun shone over London. Birds chirped, and flowers bloomed, beckoning them to escape the cozy confines of Ember Hall. So far, they’d ignored the call with rather stubborn determination.
“We really should get out of the house and enjoy the fine weather,” Levian grumbled, her cheek pressed against his mounded bicep. Neither of them budged.
Levian had barely seen Barith in weeks, and they only had the luxury of three days to share before the dragon had to return to the island to deal with tribe business and she had to report her most recent findings on the Order of Penumbra to the Wizen Council. The pair were two days in and had barely left the plushlove nest she’d made for them before the library fire on their first night.
Barith yawned and stretched beneath her, dislodging Levian’s face from her comfortable spot and rousing her from the nap that tempted her. “Should we have a picnic in the park?” he proposed to her surprise. “I could go for some fresh chocolate biscuits.”
Levian couldn’t help but chuckle softly. If anything were going to draw Barith away from their lovemaking marathon, it would be the temptation of food. She lifted herself and popped her elbows on his chest. He only had one eye open as he reached up and pushed several of her stray purple curls back behind her ear.
“I could be coaxed into a picnic,” she told him before laying soft kisses over his chest. Barith grumbled with satisfaction. In a whirl of movement, Levian suddenly found herself on her back against the plush linens, the dragon looming over her. He planted her with a rough kiss, growling into her mouth.
Levian wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed softly, ready to have him again. Barith nipped at her jaw, and she smiled up to the ceiling. His kisses drifted lower. She wasn’t sure why then, of all moments, it caught her eye, but she noticed Beatrice hovering above the mantle. The gilded egg sitting exactly where Barith had left her months before.
The dragon sensed her little intake of breath and pulled back to see what had caused it. When he caught her fixed gaze beyond his shoulder, he turned to see what had been so essential to draw her away from his attention.
Barith chuckled when he realized it was Beatrice. “That bloody egg,” he grumbled, flopping onto his side. He spread a wing over her possessively, and she stroked the edge like she knew he liked. The dragon grumbled happily, closing his eyes.
Levian wasn’t sure how she’d managed to forget about Beatrice. Actually. that wasn’t at all true. A lot had happened in the six months since they’d last been to Ember Hall. She’d continued her duties as Ambassador to King Thurin, who’d been pleased that she’d recovered his ring but irritated that the mages wouldn’t let him have it back. Levian had spent months in countless meetings with Council amongst other Folk as she continued her investigations into the mysterious and elusive Order of Penumbra.
The Order were like ghosts—every trace of them vanishing the moment she got close. There had been no more thefts from her Black Masks but a few strange murders that Levian was sure were related to the Order. Overall, a thousand more questions arose for each answer she thought she’d uncover. She’d even been desperate enough to seek Merlin’s council, and he’d had the gal to send her to the Eldreth. Hugh and Artie weren’t allowed to help her directly thanks to Merlin’s binding agreement, but the pixies were clever and willing to help where they could, keen to take advantage of Levian’s open line with Merlin.
During all of this Barith had been consumed with his own work. He’d even arranged for his horde to host several other dragon leaders to discuss the terms of their new tribe, and Levian had come to stand by his side in support.
She’d been distracted by a million things in her life, and she’d just forgotten that Beatrice remained perched atop the vase on the mantle.