Page 3 of Kazmyr: Molten for Her
But even as the sarcasm fell from my lips, I knew it was a lie. My fear was there, yes, any sane person would be terrified… but beneath it pulsed something else. Something reckless and hungry that recognized the fire in him and wanted to burn.
He didn't touch me, but his heat enveloped me like a physical caress. I forced myself to hold my ground as he circled me slowly, examining every inch with that burning gaze. The ship's light pulsed in time with his movements, growing brighter where he passed.
"You fought the flames," he observed, gesturing to my singed clothes and soot-stained skin. "You carry their marks, yet do not yield to them."
For a heartbeat, his expression shifted, revealing something fractured beneath the imposing exterior. His marks flickered unevenly, like a circuit struggling to maintain power. The largest scar… a jagged line that bisected his chest, dimmed momentarily, and pain flashed across his features before he masked it.
He'd been broken by fire too. The realization hit me with unexpected force.
"Why me?" I demanded, forcing steel into my voice. "Of all the humans on Earth, why drag me through a portal?"
Kazmyr's expression hardened again, becoming unreadable. "The registry matched our heat signatures. You carry fire in your blood, resilience in your bones. You survived what should have consumed you." His massive hand lifted, hovering near my face without touching. "As did I."
The ship trembled beneath us, the circular rune pulsing faster. The wall behind me grew warmer, almost comforting against my back.
"Fine," I sighed, squaring my shoulders. "If you think I'm your match, prove it. Otherwise, send me back to Earth before I roast alive in here."
His answering smile was sharp and dangerous, like a blade pulled from the forge. The ember marks across his obsidian skin blazed so bright I had to squint, casting the chamber in living fire. The ship rumbled beneath us, and I realized with a start that the Fire-Seal had registered my heartbeat even without the verbal consent he'd mentioned.
Kazmyr leaned down until his face was inches from mine, close enough that the heat of his breath singed the flyaway strands of my hair. "You chose me, flame-born," he whispered, his voice vibrating through my bones. "When you could have chosen the Voraxx trader. When you could have remained in the fire. You chose me, and now nothing in this galaxy will take you away."
Before I could form a suitably scathing response, a blaring klaxon cut through the chamber. An alien voice intoned urgent words I couldn't understand, and the ship lurched violently to one side.
I lost my footing, crashing into Kazmyr's unyielding chest. His arms closed around me automatically, a cage of living heat that somehow felt more like protection than prison. The marks on his skin flared where my body pressed against his, and a shudder ran through his massive frame.
"The Voraxx," he growled against my hair. "They've tracked us."
"The blue guy?" I gasped, trying to ignore how perfectly I fit against him, how my body betrayed me by melting into his embrace. "What does he want?"
Kazmyr's arms tightened fractionally. "You." His voice dropped to something primal and possessive. "But he cannot have what is mine."
Mine. The word should have enraged me. Instead, it sent an electric current racing down my spine, igniting something deep and dangerous.
The ship jolted again, harder this time. Kazmyr's marks pulsed erratically, and the ship's interior dimmed in response. Something was wrong.
"The Heartforge responds to my heat," he explained, his breath hot against my ear. "The bond is unstable. Without your consent, the reactor struggles to maintain power."
I pulled back just enough to see his face. "What happens if it fails?"
His golden eyes darkened. "We drift. Vulnerable. The Voraxx takes you."
Another alarm blared, more urgent than the first. The floor beneath us trembled.
"What do you need?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Your yes," he rumbled. "Your touch on the Fire-Seal. Not as my mate… that bond requires more, but as co-pilot of the Heartforge."
The ship shuddered again. Warning lights flashed across the walls.
"And if I say yes?"
He pulsed once, powerfully. "Then we fight. Together."
I shouldn't trust him. Shouldn't agree to anything without more information. But the alternative was the blue alien who called me "Asset," and my gut said that was a death sentence, or worse.
I pressed my palm to the circular rune on the floor. It hummed beneath my touch, warming like a living thing.
"Yes," I whispered, the word torn from me by necessity and something deeper I wasn't ready to name.
