Page 54 of Flames

“Like Sam,” I mutter.

“No. Not like Sam.” Kole’s grip tightens on my legs. “Like a phoenix. Risen from the ashes. Stronger than before. Strong enough to win.”

I close my eyes and lean back onto his large muscular chest. “I’ll be alone at the end,” I whisper, “won’t I?”

Kole breathes in sharply. The air catches in his throat as if he’s trying to swallow down a clot of emotion. “I believe so, yes. But it will not be the end, Nova.”

As we speak, a calmness settles deep inside me. I don’t know if Kole’s right. I did not see myself rising from the ashes. But I know in my soul that this is what has to happen.

“We should tell the others,” I say, running my hands over Kole’s fingers. “They deserve to know.”

“We will.” He tilts my chin so he can press his lips to mine. “We’ll tell them at sunrise. Until then…” He hooks his fingers under the hem of my sweater and eases it over my head. “Let me make love to you, Little Star.”

I don’t need to say yes; he can see my desire sparkling on my skin.

For the first time since we were captured by Kayla and Ragnor, Kole takes a long time exploring my body. He caresses every inch, every secret place I didn’t even know existed. He kisses the soles of my feet, my ankles, the backs of my knees. His lips and hands work together to soothe and stoke my flames at the same time. I grow hot beneath his touch, but he doesn’t stop. He brings his mouth to my cunt and laps pools of arousal from my core. He watches my face when he eases his fingers into me, performing everything in slow motion—torturously divine slow motion.

When he finally enters me, I am lying on my back. I stare at the stars as he fills me as far as he can. I wrap my legs around him, angling my hips so the head of his cock puts pressure on just the right spot. I kiss his shoulders, his neck, his chest. I stroke his beard, then wind my fingers into his hair and pull his mouth to mine. I steal hungry kisses while he thrusts deeper and harder.

The orgasm that builds inside me is not a tidal wave or an electric shock, it is slow and secretive. When it finally rumbles through me, it lasts an eternity. I watch my sparks flutter up into the night sky until they become stars too, hovering above us.

I am still coming when Kole allows himself to release. He shudders and punches the ground beside my head.

“Taste me,” I tell him, tilting my neck so it’s close to his teeth.

He doesn’t hesitate; he punctures the same fragile spot he opened for Tanner and starts to suck. The sensation of hot red liquid trickling down my neck, and of Kole lapping at my skin, makes me thrust my hand between us and circle my throbbing clit until another orgasm joins the first.

When Kole stops drinking, he stays inside me. He smooths my hair from my face, and I wipe blood from his lips with my thumb. His eyes darken, but he is still himself.

“You’ll come back to us,” he murmurs. “I have to believe you’ll come back.”

37

NOVA

At sunrise, Kole tells the others I want to speak to them outside. They emerge bleary-eyed and curious. Tanner looks better, brighter, and more like his usual self. Seeing him and Sam next to one another makes me smile.

“What’s going on, Supernova?” Luther asks, stifling a yawn.

I beckon them over and ask them to sit so we are in a circle, facing each other.

Kole is next to me. His hands are folded neatly in his lap, legs crossed, betraying not a flicker of emotion on his face.

“Last night, I had a vision.” I reach for Kole’s hand and squeeze it because I need his strength. “It wasn’t a dream. I wasn’t sleeping. It was the future. I saw what will happen.”

The guys look at one another. “You’re sure?” Mack asks.

“Kole saw it too. When we approached the commune, he saw the same thing I saw last night. He’s been keeping it from us because he had to, but I am not a seer. I can share what I know.” I breathe in slowly and brace myself for what I’m about to tell them. “All this time, we’ve been fighting something we didn’t understand. We didn’t know what it truly was or when it was coming. We didn’t know why I was chosen or why the five of you were fated to help me. But now I know. I know it all because last night the final piece of the puzzle slotted into place.” I put my palm to my chest and press down on the tattoo that Kole inked over my scar—a moon and five planets, surrounded by swirling, intricate patterns. “Thessaly showed us that we are the ancestors of the Original Six. Their pain and their loss lay dormant in our bloodlines for centuries, waiting to be unleashed.”

My five beautiful boyfriends stare at me as I speak, each one trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to say next.

“The Shadow King has been trapped in the underworld—a hell dimension he cannot escape—for thousands of years. Now, he is trying to rise. Which means now is the time for our ancestors’ power to rise and help us fight him.”

“Nova,” Mack says gently. “We knew this already.”

“But we didn’t know how it would happen,” I say. “Since the very beginning, we’ve been reacting instead of getting out ahead of what’s going on. Bad stuff happens and we fight it off, or we run, or we hide. We’ve been three steps behind The King this entire time. Even when Sam went to The Hollow that night to try and stop the ritual—it simply played into their hands. Ragnor and Eve got exactly what they wanted, and we almost lost Sam.”

“What did your vision show you?” Luther meets my eyes across the circle, impatient for an answer.