Page 77 of Wrath of the Dragons (Fear the Flames #2)
He steps back and threads our fingers together to help me out of the pool, but the distance between us doesn’t lessen the lure to him.
The drenched hem of my skirt sticks to my legs as we cross the arched bridge, and with each footfall amplifying the draw to the moonstone temple dedicated to the Goddess of Flames, Life, and Stars, my senses are pulled in two different directions.
“Do you think they formed an alliance because they share the night?” I ask.
“It seems possible.”
“You’ve never read anything about the relationship between them?”
“No,” he answers with a slight shake to his head, drawing my attention to the red scar on his cheek. “I don’t think it was transcribed anywhere. Gods aren’t allowed to fall in love with each other, so even if they did have a relationship, it would’ve been forbidden.”
To live for eternity seems more like a punishment than a blessing if you must do it alone.
I’d rather live a mortal life with a full heart than spend eons walking the earth, becoming numb to my surroundings and losing my humanity.
The dragons screech as I press a sandal into the first step of the temple, and a chill snakes up my spine.
Similar to the temple dedicated to the God of Death, Water, and the Moon, the Goddess of Flames, Life, and Stars has an altar, but instead of a pool, it’s an empty space.
I release Cayden’s hand, and blue veins dance throughout the floor as I walk toward the moonstone slab, bypassing a fallen pillar and brushing the palm fronds and dust from the surface.
Sweat coats my hands and I read the words aloud.
“To endure fire is to walk within the flames and not fear burning,” I translate the Ravarian aloud.
The temple rumbles, like a great crackling fire overtaking a forest as logs split into embers.
Two rows of light blue flames shoot forward and curve around the perimeter of the temple as three within the center carve circles into the floor, creating the triple flame symbol associated with the goddess.
It’s starfire. Perhaps this is why I felt drawn here, to this element.
I remember the man I bought the perfume from telling me starfire in its purest form doesn’t exist in Ravaryn anymore, but it still does, and it was awakened by my presence.
My dragons swarm above the ruins, shooting dragonfire into the center of their circle, cocooning me in flames as vibrant as their scales as I step around the altar, submerging myself in the sparkling flames streaked with silver.
It reaches for me but doesn’t burn when it touches my skin and begins crawling up my arms. The starfire around me grows until the flames are as tall as the pillars and mingle with the dragons’.
I understand.
Fire can be chaos but can also be peace. Warmth is something all humans search for, but similar to love, too much of it can be deadly. There must always be balance in the elements, and balance in the way you regard them.
I sit at the center, watching the fire arch above my head and shoot around me like fireflies.
The fire parts briefly to let Cayden enter, the only person who has never looked upon my power with fear.
He strides through the flames to reach me, far more confident than anyone should be while walking through something that could kill them.
He drops to his knees as the blue storm rages around us and cups my face, dragging his thumbs over my cheeks as his chest heaves.
“My love,” he murmurs a second before pressing his lips to mine.
The kiss is feverish, dominating, and gentle all at once.
The power I began feeling in the God of Death’s temple amplifies, and I claw at Cayden’s shoulders.
I didn’t know such a powerful love could be delicate until I met him.
He lays me back on the cool stone floor amid the flames and pushes my skirt up my legs.
If I thought his gaze was dark before, it’s nothing compared to how he looks now.
He yanks my hips off the ground and dips his head between my thighs.
My lips part in a prayer as if the temple is dedicated to him.
Starfire shoots through my veins as he crests my pleasure, murmuring his devotion against my skin.
I wrap my legs around his waist once he sets me down, needing him closer. He pins my arms on either side of me, and the fire shifts to accommodate his grip. His hips grind into mine, and I moan into his mouth.
“You are more radiant than any goddess who has ever lived,” he whispers against my neck, dragging his tongue across the swells of my breasts pushed together by my top. “I’m convinced there is no Goddess of Beauty because your existence would put her to shame.”
I arch into him as he reaches down to untie his pants and rubs his cock against my wet center.
The fire surging through me becomes stronger, hotter, more chaotic as he thrusts into me.
I clamp one hand onto his shoulder and the other on the hilt of his sword still resting across his back as he takes me.
Nothing has ever felt more perfect than being with him.
The power thrumming inside my bones calls out to his as he looks into my eyes and presses our foreheads together.
Cayden may not understand it, but I do. I see him.
He covers my lips with his again and doesn’t stop until the fire has burned out and the stars splatter the sky.