Page 10 of Fire's Storm
I find myself sliding to my knees, pressing my face close to the ground where his scent is strongest, inhaling deeply to fill my lungs with it. The primal behavior shocks me back to awareness. What the fuck am I doing? Sniffing the ground like an animal? I jerk upright, mortified at my own behavior.
Not me. Not human.But what?
This should damn well terrify me. Instead, it brings a strange comfort, an explanation for the inexplicable changes happening to my body, my senses, my very being.
The sun begins to set as I follow his scent deeper into the burn zone, golden light giving way to lengthening shadows. With each step, tiny blue-white scales shimmer beneath the skin of my forearms before disappearing again, like heat mirages on summer asphalt. They follow distinct patterns—storm clouds, lightning strikes, swirling vortices that match the weather formations I've been dreaming about.
I find myself touching the spots where they appeared, hoping to catch them manifesting again. The texture fascinates me—smooth yet somehow electric, responsive to my touch in ways that send tiny jolts of pleasure through my fingertips.
What am I becoming?
The air feels different as darkness approaches—heavier, charged with potential. With promise. My skin prickles with awareness, goose bumps racing across my arms despite the warmth of the evening. The pull in my gut intensifies until it's almost painful, drawing me toward the heart of the burn zone where I first saw him.
He's coming. The certainty fills me, not as thought but as instinct. As knowledge buried in my DNA.
As sunset gives way to moonrise, the air pressure drops suddenly. My ears pop with the change, the shift so dramatic, it momentarily disrupts my enhanced hearing. Above me, clouds form directly overhead though the surrounding sky remainsclear—a perfect circle of storm clouds centered exactly above where I stand.
"Not normal," I whisper, staring upward as the clouds darken, swirl, form patterns too deliberate to be natural. The same patterns I saw in the fire. The same patterns in my dreams. The same patterns forming beneath my skin.
Static electricity makes my hair stand on end, copper strands floating around my face as if I were underwater. The sensation intensifies until my entire body tingles with electrical current that doesn't hurt but sends waves of inexplicable pleasure through my system. Every nerve ending comes alive with sensation, each breath drawing more charged air into my lungs.
The first lightning bolt appears in the cloudless sky surrounding the storm directly above me—a physical impossibility that I watch with wide eyes. More follow, encircling the small storm, creating a crown of electricity around the clouds.
Then a bolt arcs toward me in what should be a fatal strike—only to divert at the last second, splitting into a perfect cage of electricity around me without making contact. The lightning dances around me, close enough that I should feel searing heat, should smell burned air, should fear for my life.
But I feel only wonder as the electricity caresses me without burning, without harming, responding to me as the fire had. Recognizing me as kindred rather than prey.
And beneath the wonder, a primal satisfaction. A sense of rightness that transcends conscious thought. This power recognizes me. Belongs to me. Is part of me in ways I'm only beginning to understand.
Without conscious decision, I reach toward the lightning cage surrounding me. Electricity jumps to my fingertips, dancing across my skin in blue-white patterns that match the scales trying to emerge beneath. The power courses through me,filling my veins with liquid energy that heightens every sense, every sensation.
"I knew I'd find you again."
The voice sends a shock through my system more powerful than the lightning surrounding me. Deep, rough, rumbling with undertones that no human voice could produce. The sound vibrates through my body, making the electrical energy beneath my skin surge in response.
I turn slowly, already knowing what I'll see. Who I'll see.
The man from the fire steps from the trees, eyes glowing electric blue in the darkness, visible from twenty feet away. Vulcan. The name forms in my mind, never forgotten, though I've tried to convince myself it was just a stress-induced hallucination.
Up close, I notice details I missed in our first encounter—faint blue-silver scales shimmering beneath his skin when emotions cross his face, following distinct patterns like lightning strikes. His pupils aren't round but slightly vertical, reptilian. The air around him charges with potential energy that makes my hair float further, my skin tingle more intensely.
He's even larger than I remembered—towering over my average frame. His shoulders twice the width of mine, arms corded with strength visible even through his simple black T-shirt. His thighs strain against worn jeans, powerful and thick. His hands could easily span my waist, control my movements, hold me in place while he?—
I cut off the thought before it can fully form, shocked at the explicit direction my mind immediately takes. But not before another electrical surge crackles across my skin, visible sparks dancing between my fingers.
Power radiates from him, primal and undeniable, making me feel simultaneously vulnerable and drawn to him. Something about his sheer physical presence, the way he could engulf mecompletely with his larger frame, triggers both wariness and fascination—contradictory responses that make no logical sense yet feel entirely right.
Not human. My body recognizes what my mind still struggles to accept.
Dragon, the primal part of me whispers.Storm-bringer.
His nostrils flare as he scents the air—scents me—his eyes darkening as he detects the changes in my body chemistry. A low rumble builds in his chest, not quite a growl but something equally primal, equally intense.
I notice his movements now—the way he angles his body to keep me in his direct line of sight, the way he's positioned himself between me and the forest path, the way his shoulders have expanded slightly as if preparing to shield me from danger. He's already protecting me, though no threat is visible.
"You came back," he says. The sound vibrates through the air between us, setting up sympathetic vibrations along my nerve endings, making the electrical energy beneath my skin pulse in response.
"I had to," I admit, surprising myself with the honesty. "I couldn't stay away."
