Claiming His Fire Read Online Free

grabbed my drink and took a sip, still moving to the beat of the DJ, keeping my eyes on the people around us. Gyrating bodies crowded the floor, sensual movements between singles and couples, writhing and stroking and giving it all up to the music. The temperature in the press of bodies rose with every beat, crept up with every refrain. Heat and lust and desire pulsed with the beat of the music, sexy lyrics making people brave. Making them wanton. And Doug, darling dull Doug with the big dick and the sense of entitlement when it came to my affection, was looking at me as if I was some kind of wet dream.
    Ninety-eight percent.
    Brushing off my unease, I let him move closer, let him press himself against me once more. I held my ground even as some instinct made me want to flinch away from his touch. His cheeks flushed, his eyes darkened, and he gave me a look that played out every little dirty detail racing through his mind. I knew what he wanted before he made his move, before he spoke a word. Felt the storm between us brew before the first rumble of thunder. Knew that, to him, it was time to get a little sweaty and a lot naked.
    Doug yanked me closer, his touch a little rougher than I would have preferred. “C’mon, baby. Let’s go to my place and get away from this crowd.”
    And there it was…the non-question. The order to do what he wanted instead of what I did. The demand. I shook my head and backed away, untangling myself from his arms. He followed, both hands reaching for my hips, my ass, my thighs. Grabby.
    “Doug, stop.” I put my hand against his chest, calling upon the power of my sacred element, upon the fire magick that always lived within me, to be ready. Just in case. “I don’t want to leave right now.”
    He rolled his eyes and drank his beer, looking over the crowd. I sighed and tried to focus on the music, on the beat, but it was no use. My mood had sunk straight past ballbuster to Lorena Bobbitt. Why did he have to try to order me around? Did he think he owned me because I let him buy me dinner after three weeks of him chasing me every chance he could? He’d gone from Dull Doug to Dull Dictator Doug in a single sentence, and I didn’t like that transition.
    I’d spent enough time dealing with people trying to tell me what to do.
    “I think maybe we should call it a night.” I stepped back, pissed off, sparks firing under my skin. Fuck, my magick was all kinds of screwed up. Had been for months, since we’d driven away from the coven who’d claimed to be family. Since I’d refused to do anything more than handle my elemental fire and had lost the balance powers like mine needed.
    “If we have to dance, then I’ll dance.” Doug grabbed my arm again and pulled, this time making me lose my balance. Smirking as if he liked showing me how easily he could boss me around. “I’m not really into this kind of music, Scarlett, so let’s get this over with.”
    The glass I’d been holding shattered on the dance floor, barely audible over the music, hardly a whisper, but it screamed in my head. The memories of someone else saying Doug’s words stealing my breath.
    “Let’s get this over with. I hereby ask the coven to initiate a shunning.”
    Someone who’d been demanding and drunk on her power. Someone I’d grown up with, who’d betrayed me and my sisters.
    “Our coven is being hunted, and yet she goes to the ones who would kill us all. She cavorts with them. She spreads her legs for them.”
    Someone who’d kicked us out of our own coven, our home, and left us to dangle in the wind.
    “Hey, what’s wrong?” Doug asked as I took two steps back.
    “I need to go home.” My voice came out as a croak, pictures from the night Bethesda Marrin banished my sister from our coven, our home, flooding my mind and bringing back all those emotions. The pain, the heartbreak, the sense of desolation. The rage.
    The complete and utter lack of control over my own life.
    Doug’s eyebrows dropped and he