Blazing Glory (8 page)

When Heath didn’t answer him, Blaze
continued. “Doesn’t Havoc dump a shitload of paperwork on you this time of the
morning?”

Heath nervously chewed on his lip,
making Blaze suspicious. Eyes narrowed, Blaze gripped Heath’s shoulder. The kid
had always been a poor liar, both then and now.

“What aren’t you telling me,
Heath?” Blaze demanded. “Come to think of it, you seemed overeager to help me,
when you never really liked me.”

“I actually rather like the new
you.” Heath winced when Blaze tightened his hold on his shoulder.

“Don’t make me lose my temper,
Heath.”

“Okay, I take it all back. You’re
still hotheaded,” Heath muttered. When Blaze applied a bit more of pressure,
the kid broke. “Havoc told me to keep you busy. He wanted to talk to Levi
alone.”

“What the fuck for?” Blaze snarled,
retracing his steps to the car. He could hear Heath trying to keep up with his
hurried steps, but he ignored Heath. Damn Havoc for interfering with his life.
Did Havoc think he was still a kid? Come to think of it, didn’t Havoc give his
address to Levi in the first place?

“Blaze, wait up!” Heath said,
sounding breathless.

Blaze could feel the currents in
the air shifting, but he crooked a threatening finger at Heath. “If you think
you can take me, kid, go ahead and try. You still have years to go.”

Heath put down his hands and called
back the wind he was attempting to manipulate. “Havoc just wanted to have a
chat with your mate, Blaze.”

“Fuck off, kid. Do me a favor and
try to get the agent to give me a discount.” Blaze slid into Volt’s car and
slammed the door shut.

“What? You’ve decided to buy the
place? You haven’t even seen the inside.”

“Yeah, I’m sold. Now bug off. I’ll
tell Havoc I’ve knocked you unconscious or something.” Without waiting for his
reply, Blaze drove back to the office.

Blaze didn’t know the exact
details, but he and the others knew Havoc didn’t like shifters much due to some
bad shit that went down in his past. They never pushed the issue. Havoc was
frightening when he was angry, a true force of nature to be reckoned with.
Still, Havoc had no say when it came to his personal relationships.

His mood foul, Blaze shoved the
door of the office opened.

Gale was at the receptionist’s
desk, the paperwork unattended. He had his feet up and was busy reading the
morning paper.
“Blaze?
Thought you
were finding a new place with the kid.”

“You’re in this too?
The old man in his office?”
Blaze demanded.

“Yes,” Gale said carefully. “Look,
Blaze he just—”

Ignoring him, Blaze pushed his way
past the receptionist’s desk and their cubicles. Havoc’s outfit was a small
one, and it only held four other cubicles aside from Havoc’s private office,
but Blaze and his brothers were seldom in the office because they were always
on cases. They never lacked for clients who wanted large-scale demolition
services at moderate prices, and they worked efficiently and without fuss.

He caught Levi just leaving Havoc’s
office with Havoc following behind. To be fair, Blaze couldn’t really call his
boss and foster father an old man. Havoc was in his early forties, but he
looked buffed and lethal as any of them.

“Old man, what’s
the meaning of this?”

The pair looked at him with
surprise. Levi looked like he’d been run through the grinder, but he still
managed to grin back affectionately at Blaze.

Idiot bear.
What’s he grinning about?

“Ah, Blaze, what
a pleasant surprise.
I was just having a nice little chat with your mate
here.”

“If you were just having a nice
little chat, then why’d you have to bribe Heath into steering me away?”

Havoc let out a tired sigh.
“Because out of my kids, you’re the most temperamental one, just
like your name.”

Remembering Heath’s words and how
he’d worried everyone to death, Blaze tried to cull his temper. “Havoc, you and
everyone else can relax now. I’m not going to self-combust
or
do anything reckless. I’m fine now.”

Havoc’s dark blue eyes were almost
black when they searched Blaze’s. Whatever he saw there seemed to satisfy him.
“I think you’re better than fine, Blaze.
Makes an old man
happy to see his kids settled.”
He smiled and retreated back to his
office.

“So how’s the apartment hunting
going?” Levi asked as they headed to the car.

“It’s fine, but never
mind
the apartment.” Blaze punched his shoulder, making Levi
frown at him. “What did you and Havoc talk about?”

He shrugged.
“The
usual parent stuff.
Like how he’s going to make sure there won’t be
anything left of me if I hurt you.”

Blaze halted in his steps and
stared at him. “What?”

“I told him he shouldn’t worry.
Bears mate for life, and besides, we’ve survived an army of zombies, didn’t we?
Surviving each other should be easy.”

“Yeah, right,” Blaze muttered.

“He and my boss, Dorn, also dealt
with the City Council. Apparently we’re absolved of our crimes against the city
after we laid the Biter and its minions to rest.”

Blaze snorted. He wasn’t a stranger
to politics, and like most members of the supernatural community, he didn’t
trust the ruling members of the city. He knew Havoc used to be part of the City
Council but had a falling out with one of its members in the past. Blaze was
just glad to be off the Council’s radar.

“I think he rather likes me,” Levi
said thoughtfully.

“Oh does he? Havoc usually hates
shifters.”

“Must be my
charm.
You fell for it too, remember?”

Blaze grunted. He was a changed
man, but it didn’t mean expressing his emotions came easy to him. Levi was
right, though. Without Levi, Blaze wasn’t sure where he’d be.
Dead, probably.

“Blaze, you all
right?
You’re awfully silent.”

“Better than all
right.”

****

“I must say, this is rather nice.”
Levi surveyed their new apartment with approval.

It took a few weeks to sort out all
the paperwork, but it was worth it. Besides, he and Blaze made a lot of noise
when they fucked, and he had a feeling Volt wasn’t kidding when he threatened
to fry them extra crispy if they didn’t leave his apartment soon.

“It’s still rather empty, though.
We have to shop for some furniture.” Blaze gestured at the bare space. “All we
have is a mattress and some mismatched furniture from your place.”

Levi rather liked the spacious
room. There was a garden right outside too. He had a feeling Blaze remembered
shifters liked being close to the outdoors, and it touched him immensely.

Sarah, the kid they’ve saved and
adopted from the apartment fire, was going to be living with them. Levi didn’t
mind, especially when Blaze was against having the girl go back to the foster
system. They had discussed it at length and decided she could stay with them
until she was old enough to decide for herself.

Blaze probably remembered his
unhappy childhood before Havoc found him and the other
elementalists
.
Sarah seemed to be adjusting to their world of wizards and bears, considering
she lost everything the week before.

Levi rather liked having children
around, even if Sarah was already a teenager. Maybe Blaze would consider
adopting a kid or two in the future.

Still, having the space all to
themselves
was a rarity. Levi approached Blaze, and Blaze
crocked one eyebrow at him, his arms crossed.

“What?” Levi asked.

Blaze frowned. “I know that look,
Levi. We were talking about the furniture we have to buy. You can romance me
later, with a proper dinner and some flowers.”

“Screw the furniture, expensive
dinner, and the flowers. I want to fuck my mate right here and right now, so
take off your damn clothes.”

Levi expected some resistance at
least, but Blaze was undoing the buttons of his denim shirt.

Blaze’s gaze never left him as his
shirt revealed his inked, scarred, but no less perfect, lean body. Blaze’s
confidence pleased Levi a good deal. Levi couldn’t forget the way Blaze
flinched from him the first time. Blaze was no longer broken, hesitant, or
frightened.

He knew Levi found him hot and
handsome, even with his scars, and Levi liked the new, confident Blaze a good
deal.

“Keep looking at me like a prime
piece of meat, and you’re not getting any, bear.”

“Can’t help
myself when my mate’s doing me a favor by giving me a strip tease.”
Levi
was rewarded with a seductive smile.

Blaze’s shirt fell off, but he
still had his pants and shoes on.

“Pants off too, pyromancer, or I’ll
yank them off you.”

“Start stripping too,
bear
. I want to see all of you.”

Levi had no complaints. He stripped
out of his clothes. Once or twice he nearly tripped over his jeans. Hearing
muffled laughter, Levi glowered at Blaze. “You find something funny,
pyromancer?” Shaking off his pants, Levi caught the appreciation in Blaze’s
eyes. Although Blaze wasn’t a shifter, his eyes possessed the same animalistic
hunger Levi’s had.

It only took a few purposeful steps
for Levi to reach out for Blaze. His hands gripped Blaze’s shoulders and
his lips latched on to Blaze’s
waiting mouth.

No matter how many times Levi
claimed Blaze’s
mouth,
the heat waiting there always
overwhelmed him. It flooded and triggered the lust brewing inside Levi, making
him incredibly hot and horny.

His hands greedily skimmed over the
firm lines of Blaze’s lean body, and he could feel Blaze touching and caressing
him. The clash of their flesh made the bear inside him growl with unconcealed
eagerness, wanting to fuck and claim its mate, as was its right.

Levi put his mouth to work. He
sucked, licked, and nibbled on Blaze’s bottom lip, making Blaze moan. Their
tongues met, caressed, and tangled with each other. Between his legs, his
throbbing cock was growing harder by the second. It didn’t help that he could
feel Blaze’s erect cock pressed insistently against his belly.

Patience.
Take your time and enjoy your mate.
His bear growled in
disagreement.

Levi dislodged his mouth, and his
tongue found the scar beneath Blaze’s left earlobe. He licked at the raised
skin, tracing it all the way down to Blaze’s collarbones and chest. Blaze
sighed against him when his mouth zoned in on one of his nipples. Levi took the
hardening bud into his mouth and applied suction before sinking his teeth into
it.

Hearing Blaze cry out in a mixture
of pain and pleasure drove desire right into him. He could feel his bear
underneath his skin, wanting to taste their mate over and over again.

After withdrawing his mouth, Levi
asked, “Do you want me inside you, Blaze?” He took Blaze’s other nipple before
Blaze could answer him.

Blaze whimpered, “Oh yes. Fuck me,
Levi.”

Levi ran his tongue, lips, and
occasional teeth across the crimson ink and old scars crisscrossing Blaze’s
body. Blaze was a living, breathing work of art, and Levi intended to show
Blaze just how much he appreciated him.

Hearing the moans and groans he
managed to coax from Blaze only spurred him forward. He could feel Blaze’s cock
hardening with every kiss and touch, and his own cock demanded attention.

Levi felt a tug on his hair. He
looked at Blaze, pausing from his task.

“Enough. I’m going to get you
ready, bear.” There was a determined look in Blaze’s eyes that Levi wasn’t sure
if he should be wary of.

Before Levi could recover, Blaze
was going down on him. Blaze knelt in front of him, and he could feel Blaze’s
fingers curling around the base of his cock. The sight of Blaze below him,
eager to please him and give him pleasure, made him groan with appreciation.

“How does it feel to have your own
little cocksucker, Levi?”

“Feels damn amazing,” Levi managed
to answer.

Levi watched Blaze tongue the
precum
gathered on the tip of his cock and spread it across
his length. Fisting Blaze’s hair, Levi gently pressed him forward. He could
feel Blaze using his fingers to work his base and applying just the right
amount of pressure to his balls.

When Blaze took his aching cock in
his mouth, Levi nearly exploded. It took all of him to let Blaze do his work.

Watching Blaze take his thickening
length inch by inch, Levi said in staggered breaths, “Fuck, Blaze, you’re
amazing.”

Levi could feel the pressure
gathering inside of him like a storm waiting to be unleashed. When he knew he
was about to reach climax, Blaze’s delicious, heated mouth and talented fingers
left his shaft.

He let out a frustrated growl.

“You’re all ready for me,” Blaze
declared. The mischievous glint in his eyes was still there.

“Oh yeah, I am.
On
all fours, Blaze.”
Levi fumbled for the lube he kept in the pocket of
his jeans for occasions like these. The sight of Blaze on all fours with his
ass offered eagerly for Levi to claim only heightened his desire.

“Why do you always seem to have
lube with you all the time?”

Levi palmed Blaze’s ass. Blaze
squirmed a little when he thumbed the thick ring of muscles of his asshole.
“Like I said before, it always comes in handy in my opinion, especially in
situations when I want to take you.”

Too bad Blaze wasn’t facing him.
Levi would’ve thoroughly enjoyed the
embarrassed
expression on his face.

Levi continued. “And from experience,
you should know I just can’t enough of your fine ass, cock, and lips.”