Page 31 of Her Silent Knight

Chapter Nine

LOCATING HER CLOTHINGwas easy.

He found her coat and scarf hanging in the hall closet. Her boots were seated on the floor of the closet. Her gloves were inside the pockets of her coat. Putting her coat, gloves and scarf on her was no problem.

Putting her boots on her wouldn’t have been a problem, if she hadn’t awakened while he was almost done lacing them up. He finished tying up one set of bootstrings then grabbed her other foot, preparing to tie that set up also.

That’s when he noticed a shift in the room temp. The temp had been warm, cozy. In a split second, it became hot as hell. Squatting at the end of the couch with her foot on his lap, he raised his eyes to her.

He found her staring at him. His beautiful treasure. He’d spend the rest of his existence cherishing and protecting this female. Her beauty almost caused him not to notice the ball of fire she had in her hand.

“Treasure, put that down before...”

She hurled the ball of fire at him. Shit. He quickly shrugged out of his coat. It dropped to the floor just as her flames engulfed him. Within seconds, the blaze covered every inch of him, burning away his clothing.

He inhaled deeply and allowed his body to absorb the fire. His dragon roared, enjoying the feel of the heat. Naked once again, he eyed his mate. Her shocked expression let him know she was surprised he was still alive.

“Did you really just try to kill me? Again?” Kaede asked, pissed off.

“Fuck you.” She raised her hand and conjured another ball of fire and began chanting.

“Don’t...”

She hurled it his way. Through the fire, he watched her seize up. Her screams tore through him, paining him just as much as her actions were paining her. He rushed to her side and wrapped his arms around her.

All he could do was hold her as she convulsed. Inhaling deeply, he absorbed the fire that had now engulfed them both. Thankfully, her body was similar to his. Fire didn’t harm her. It did, however, burn away her clothes.

He attempted to pat away the remaining flames, ignoring the feel of her breasts as he tried to stop the flames from burning away her shirt. With her convulsing, it was hard for him to keep the fire from spreading.

Like him, her body was a fire magnet. It wasn’t long before the flames were growing once more, enflaming them both. Ignoring the growls of his beast, Kaede placed his hand against her stomach.

Inhaling deeply, he absorbed the fire flaming around them and continued to do so until he’d consumed it all. He could feel her body trying to restart the fire. When he lifted his hand, flames erupted from her flesh, leaping toward him.

Shit. It had to be the spell she’d chanted before her body seized up that was causing this. He didn’t know what type of spell she’d used. Each time he put the fire out, as soon as he removed his hand from her, her body erupted into more flames that came hurtling toward him.

He had no choice but to wrap his arms around her and call on his beast for help. Her body continued to shudder as he held her close. His beast’s growls of anger filled him. Kaede was pissed off with himself also. This was his fault.

Finally, her shaking ceased and she passed out again. Only then did the fire inside her stop roaring and reaching out for him. He released her and laid her back onto the couch that her flames hadn’t touched. Weird. Apparently, they only wanted to harm him.

His beast’s growls rose. Kaede checked her pulse. It was slow but at least she had a pulse. What worried him was her body temp. The room was warm. Yet, his treasure was cold. He placed his hand over her mouth to check her breathing.

Shallow. At least she was breathing. They couldn’t continue like this, with her trying to hurt him only to hurt herself. He had to figure something out, soon. He also needed more fucking clothes and shoes.

He knew he wouldn’t find what he needed here. Kaede wiped the sweat from her brow. She was sweating but she was cold. She was going to end up being sick. It was rare for creatures on this plane to get sick.

Her trying to hurt him repeatedly was causing her so much damage. He couldn’t be angry with her. She didn’t know they were mates. That meant she didn’t know that trying to hurt him would only bring pain to herself.

Scratch that, it brought pain to him. Just not the kind she was trying to inflict. It hurt him to see her hurting. No, he wasn’t pissed off because of her. He was angry with himself for placing his treasure in this situation.

Because of him, she was unconscious. Because of him, she’d experienced pain. Because of him, she was... naked. Kaede stood up and stepped away from the couch. She was naked.

The fire had burned away her clothing, leaving behind tattered remnants of fabric, hiding nothing from his hungry gaze. His beast’s growled louder. This was why his animal had been growling. Not because he was angry.

That too. Mainly, because of this. Because of her. She looks delicious.

Kaede licked his lips. His gaze slowly roamed over his treasure’s flesh. Growls vibrated through him as he took in what belonged to him. And only him. His witch was sexy as fuck.

That feeling of hunger intensified with each second that ticked away. The need to be closer to her clawed at him. Or was that his dragon clawing to be free? Neither he nor his beast had ever craved anyone, anything, the way they were craving her.