Page 12 of His Greatest Treasure

Alfie loitered a while longer. “Okay then, I’ll see you tomorrow. I don’t know when I’ll be able to come out and see you but I’ll try to bring you something. I don’t want you getting hungry. If Glimmer finds you, just tell him I let you stay here. Nobody should find you out here but, you know,just in case. Glimmer’s really nice so he won’t hurt you.”

I smiled tightly. I was sure that his own clan were utterly charming to Alfie but I wasn’t so sure that the same courtesy would be applied to random fire spirits who snuck into their territory. Probably I should have stayed outside and asked permission from the clan elder before entering, but I’d been desperate to hide from those witches. They’d never think to look for me in here.

“Good night, Alfie.”

“Um, sleep well.”

Alfie ducked out of the hut and I was left alone with my borrowed coat and the little table and chairs at the side of the room. At least I had a roof over my head.

Chapter 6

Alfie

Idid not sleep at all that night. My mind was very awake as I thought about Blaze over and over again, and my body was misbehaving. I felt a lot of different things at once and it was hard to sort through them all.

When I eventually did doze off for just a few minutes, I dreamed about Blaze eating and I was just as fixated on his lips in my dream as I was in real life. They were soft and plump. The way he’d wrapped them around the spoon as he’d eaten had been, um, more erotic than I think he meant for it to be. I didn’t normally find people eating that interesting. Only when Blaze did it, I’d been absolutely captivated. My dream played thosemoments over and over again until I woke up, so hard I couldn’t bear it.

I tried not to touch myself but, somewhere around three o’clock in the morning, I gave in and stroked my dick to the memory of Blaze’s lips and his face and his body and his scent. I could just about smell him, even now, and it seemed to permeate my entire body, making me feel alive and, um, hot.

Around four o’clock, I got up and dressed, and waited until it was a reasonable time for me to go back outside to Blaze. I didn’t like leaving him out there all alone.

It wasn’t that I thought he was in danger, since he was inside our territory and we were safe here. And Glimmer wouldn’t hurt him if he found him, because it was obvious to anybody who looked that Blaze was a super sweet, kind person. The bond we had formed over one night was a dark golden colour, richer than any of the others I had.

That had to mean he was a good person. I could always tell a lot about a person by their bonds.

Just before five o’clock, I was outside again.

I had raided the kitchen, grabbing as much food as I could carry in a big basket, and I hurriedthrough the woods, feeling like Little Red Riding Hood.

The bond flickered before me as I got nearer to Blaze, rising in my consciousness. I was outside the door of our den before I realised we still hadn’t worked out a password. I hesitated, reluctant to knock in case I disturbed him, and reluctant to barge in and frighten him.

It meant I dithered for ages, until I saw the bond moving around, even though I couldn’t hear anything. If Blaze was moving, he was awake.

I knocked softly and called, “Blaze, it’s me. Um, Alfie, that is.

The door opened and I gaped at him, stunned. I’d completely forgotten how beautiful he was. I could remember what he looked like – I’d been remembering all night – but something about the real, live Blaze standing before me was just so much better than my dreams. His hair shone with golds and reds in the early dawn light and my fingers itched to stroke through those locks.

His smell, too, wafted out from the confined space, all woodsmoke and ash. It didn’t sound like the sexiest smell but it really, really was. Deep andmasculine, but with a tang to it that stopped it being too one-note.

I took a deep breath and held it, wanting to absorb that scent right into me.

Blaze frowned. “Are you okay, Alfie?”

I let my breath out in one long sigh and then breathed normally again, hoping Blaze wouldn’t notice I’d done anything weird.

“Um, yes, I’m fine. How are you? Did you sleep well?”

He shuffled round a bit so I could step inside as he answered.

“I don’t really sleep like other beings.”

“Do you get tired?”

“Yes, sometimes. Normally I have to be exhausted before I sleep in my human form. Mostly, I just become flame and burn somewhere for a while. It’s very restful and it revives me.”

“Can, um, can I see you in your flame form?”

He smiled at me, almost as if he were indulging a prying kid who wanted to see something cool. I didn’t like that smile. I didn’t want him to pity-shift in front of me.

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