“Oh, you’re awake,” he said. He walked to me. “I thought maybe you got too hot or something and passed out, so I brought you in here and placed a fan on you.”
Relief and curiosity along with disbelief filled me the closer he got. The heat of my magick grew more and more intense with every step he took. I watched him as he adjusted the fan and plugged it in. His arm muscles bulged and flexed with each movement. My eyes trailed over the length of him, noticing that in the time since I’d passed out, he still hadn’t grabbed a shirt to cover himself.
Thank goodness for small favors.
“It wasn’t that… It was just everything, I guess,” I said, rubbing my forehead with my fingers. “The realization that the tether wasn’t broken like I thought it would be, your emotions, my emotions, no breakfast…it was all too much.”
Theo’s face scrunched up in sympathy. He adjusted the fan once more, and I got the impression he was avoiding looking at me.
“It was a shock to me as well,” he said, “but there was no guarantee it would work, just like with everything else we’d tried.”
He seemed too passive about the entire situation. It irked me.
“It should have worked though. Admer said it would,” I insisted, pressing a hand to the side of my head where a pulsating pain had begun dully pounding. “I needed it to work.”
Theo’s eyes grew intense as they sought out mine. “You’re not the only one.”
Sitting up all the way, I fought not to topple back over onto the couch from the sudden head rush I got.
“I know that, but still. I mean, what now?” I asked, my voice sounding severely defeated even to my own ears. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“We wait,” he answered. “It’s all we can do. There are things set in motion for this. Something bigger is about to happen.”
“Like?” I pressed. He kept saying that.
Theo moved to sit on the couch beside me, causing the magick in my blood to sing at his nearness.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Theo admitted. His large hands came up to rub against his shaved head. “My grandmother knows something, but she refuses to discuss it with me. All I know is that the Spirits have been talking with her.”
“Spirits?” I gaped. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Theo cocked his head to the side and glared at me. “I thought I already told you, I’m not one for kidding.”
Rolling my eyes, I scooted back against the couch.
“You did,” I said. I slipped my sandals off and pulled my legs up to sit cross-legged. “So, explain to me what these Spirits are.”
My words sounded rough and almost as though I was humoring him, which I wasn’t, at least not entirely. I blamed my tone on a side effect of passing out.
“They’re who my grandmother listens to,” he said. “I’m not sure about everything they told her involving the tether and the two of us, but I do know they informed her to not interfere any longer with your being here in Soul Harbor or with this tether between us. She said they assured her a balance was about to be set in place, one that would benefit us all.”
“So, now we’re supposed to sit around and wait for whatever the Spirits have planned to happen?” I asked.
“Right.”
This was not what I wanted to hear. I was done with sitting and waiting.
“I don’t like that idea. I’m sorry, but I can’t continue to sit here and wait for this tether to go away.”
I stood up to leave, unsure of where exactly I would go. All I knew was that I was not sitting on Theo’s couch any longer.
“You have no choice.” Theo’s voice boomed through the little living room. He reached out and gripped my wrist with his hand, immobilizing me with his touch. Flickers of warmth licked where his hand was fastened to me, and my eyes widened at the sensation.
You have to accept whatever the Sprits have in store. His voice echoed through my mind.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t. I don’t even believe in that stuff.”
Theo stood, his hand still tightly gripping my wrist, and chuckled, obviously amused by my outburst. “And why is that? You believe in everything else,” he said. He motioned toward the shelf crammed with all of his Hoodoo ingredients.
“That’s different,” I said.
“How?”
My eyes darted to the shelf and then back to him. “Because I can see it…I can’t see Spirits.”
His eyes darkened at my words. “You can’t see the tether either, but you believe in that.”
“Yeah, because I can feel it,” I said, the truth of the statement coursed through my blood as the words left my lips.
Theo’s hands brushed against my arms. As they trailed along my bare skin, the magick always flowing through my veins heated to a near boiling point. I didn’t know which burned me more in the moment—the feel of my magick attempting to mingle with his, or the extreme urge to kiss him clouding my mind.
An image of Kace and our conversation about my last kiss with Theo fluttered through my mind and pulled my hormones in a tad bit as I remembered how I’d told him it would never happen again.
“I told Kace about our kiss…and I can’t, I won’t…” I fumbled for words. “I said I wouldn’t let it happen again,” I finally managed to choke out as I gazed into Theo’s mesmerizing caramel-colored eyes.
I’d spoken the words aloud, not only to tell him where I stood, but also as a reminder to myself of my promise to Kace.
“I understand,” he whispered. “We shouldn’t have done that anyway. It was a mistake.”
“I agree,” I said.
I licked my lips, which caused my stare to fall to his as if pulled there by a magnet. I remembered how his lips had tasted during that mistake of a kiss. How his hands had felt across my skin in that moment, the warmth that had slid through me from the mere brush of his tongue against mine.
Before I knew what was happening, I had risen up on the tips of my toes and pressed my lips to his.
My magick exploded through me as soon as we made contact, and I closed my eyes to deepen the kiss. Theo’s hands found their way to my hips, and I pressed myself into him more, enjoying the feel of his hard body against mine way more than I should. What the hell was wrong with me? I shouldn’t be doing this right now; the tether should be gone. I’d told Kace I wouldn’t kiss Theo again, and now it seemed like I couldn’t stop.
Theo’s full lips felt cool against my skin as they left my lips to slip along the length of my neck for the briefest of moments, before coming back up to meet with my lips once more. My body seemed to be giving off more heat than normal, as if I were close to boiling. My skin dampened with sweat, making my tank top stick to the small of my back. An electric pulse flitted through me as Theo’s tongue slipped between my lips and met with mine.
We should stop.
The words fluttered through my mind in Theo’s sultry voice, but I wasn’t willing to listen to them. Apparently, neither was he, because seconds after he’d said them, he peeled my tank top off and tossed it to the floor.
His lips slid along my throat once more, before dipping down to the hollow area between my breasts. I gripped either side of his head, marveling in the feeling of his shaved hair pressed against my palms and the erotic sensation of his tongue against my cleavage. A sudden warm breeze flittered across my damp skin, cooling me and calling to my magick all at the same time. Tiny sparks of warmth danced around where his lips continued to kiss and lick between my breasts.
I opened my eyes as his hands came up to slip the straps of my bra off my shoulders. Theo had it unclasped and at my feet seconds later. His mouth descended on my right breast, and closing my eyes, I melted against him. A fever like nothing I’d ever felt before rushed through me, and I suddenly felt Theo jerk back. I didn’t understand why, until I opened my eyes and noticed the cause of his alarm.
I was on fire. Literally.
Tiny orange-red flames licked away at my skin. I watched them,
captivated by their dancing little sways.
“What’s happening?” I asked. My voice was thick with a mixture of panic and awe.
“Your magick,” Theo replied, sounding nearly as astounded as me.
My eyes zeroed in on the small flames slipping along the surface of my skin. In my mind, I knew this shouldn’t be possible, but it was. The proof was right in front of me. I focused on how it felt to have actual flames flickering over my body. Surprisingly, there was no pain. Instead, it was a bearable heat brushing not only across the surface of my skin, but coming from within me as well.
This was my magick, my element, my Fire…and somehow it had finally been set free.
“But how? I don’t understand what this is. I’m not doing any spells with the others right now,” I said without moving my eyes from the flames.
“The tether, combined with you becoming initiated last night, must have altered you somehow.” His voice was stuck in a tone I’d never heard before—in a place of awe.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” I said, taking note of how he’d made me sound like a mutated freak of some sort.
Theo moved closer and extended a hand to touch me. I wanted to flinch back in case I burned him, but once I saw his fingertips touch my arm, and become engulfed in orange flames without him crying out, I relaxed a little.
“You’re part Conjurer now,” Theo said, his voice still low.
The words rang through my mind on repeat as I watched him ease his hand along my inferno-covered arm.
“That’s not even possible,” I breathed. “Is it?”
“Apparently.”
The flames along my body grew and flickered. Theo took a step back. My vision swirled for a second as my stomach clenched, and saliva pooled in my mouth.
“Great, I’m sure Kace will just love this news,” I muttered.
Kace. The thought of him made guilt swell in my throat, choking me.
“Let me point out a silver lining,” Theo said. “At least your clothes don’t singe off your body when your magick is turned on.” He pointed to my shorts.
I looked down at the length of my body and realized that, while I may have shorts on, I did not have on a bra or a shirt. Finding both on the floor near my feet, I bent to retrieve my bra and watched it go up in flames as soon as I touched it. Dropping the burnt material immediately, I stared open-mouthed as it continued to melt and smolder against the wood floor, before it finally snuffed itself out.
“What the hell?” I shouted, crossing my arms over my chest for coverage. “I just burned my favorite bra!”
Theo chuckled and reached for my wrist. “Calm down…that’s what you need to do.”
“First off, that wasn’t funny. You have no idea how hard it is to find a good-fitting bra, and second, how the fuck am I supposed to calm down? I’m on flipping fire!”
“I know, but it’s fueled by your emotions,” he reasoned. “If you would just calm down, then the fire would dissipate. The reason your bra caught on fire was because you focused on it directly.”
His thumb began to move in gentle motions back and forth against the inside of my wrist as he spoke. It had a lulling effect on me, the same way his smooth voice did.
“Focus on the heat; tame it. It’s a part of you, Addison,” Theo said in a hushed voice, his fingers still massaging the inside of my wrist.
He was right. This Fire was mine. This was the missing piece of me, the piece Kace had awakened and Theo had freed. I was whole now. Reveling in that realization and the feel of Theo’s soft touch, I felt little trickles of cooling relief begin to slip through me.
“Close your eyes and focus on your breathing,” Theo instructed. “Sometimes that helps.”
I did as I was told. Pulling in steady, measured breaths, I controlled my breathing until it became in sync with Theo’s. My pulse slowed, and the heat I felt flickering along my body slowly diminished to nothing.
“There,” he said.
Opening my eyes, I found I was no longer on fire—just naked from the waist up. I met Theo’s eyes as I bent to retrieve my tank top from the floor; they were dark and full of want. Two emotions—desire and pride—blurred together in me, and I couldn’t be sure whose was whose.
Slipping the tank top on, I felt Theo’s eyes taking in the sight of my bare skin one last time, and it sent a shiver along my spine. Once I was dressed, I hesitated to meet his stare.
“Well, that was unexpected,” I said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“To say the least.” He walked over to the couch and sat.
Placing his elbows on his knees, he brought his fingertips together in a steeple and pressed them to his lips in thought. I didn’t feel right to sit beside him, but my legs felt like Jell-O beneath me. Spotting a single chair off to the side, I walked to it. Spinning it around to face him, I sat. Even though I’d figured out what I’d come here to learn—that we were still in fact tethered—I found that I still wasn’t ready to leave.
Not after a moment like that.
“How do I keep that from happening again the next time I...?” I trailed off. There was no way I was finishing that sentence. The embarrassment I felt was enough; I didn’t need to add to it any. The only reason I’d spoken at all was because I was curious, frazzled, and someone needed to say something to fill the awkward silence between us.
Theo raised his eyes to mine. Amusement filled me, and I knew it came from him. The thought that I’d amused him with my words sent a little chuckle free from my mouth.
“I guess you’ll just have to learn to control it.”
“And how do you suppose I do that?”
His lips twisted into a small smile. “By letting Kyra teach you.”
Kyra. I thought of the mischievous gleam in her eyes when she’d opened the front door and nearly startled me to death earlier. Getting help from her in this department would be fun, for lack of a better word.
“Great, this should be interesting,” I said with heavy sarcasm dripping from my words. “By the way, what is she doing here anyway?”
“The Spirits told her to come,” he said. Theo stood up and started toward his front door. “Come on. Let's go talk to her.” He paused and turned back to look at me. “Unless you think you can master this all on your own and not melt a bed when you go back home to lover boy.”
Irritation coated my throat and stung as it floated through my veins. This was another one of those emotions that was hard to pinpoint who it came from. I was feeling irritated by his boldness, and I was one hundred percent positive he was irritated at the thought of Kace and me in bed together. I could sense it.
“No, it would be best to learn some sort of pointers before I leave…I guess.” I stood to follow him without looking at him directly.
We exited his house and started down the tree-covered pathway leading to the main house. Kyra was sitting in the backyard, sipping on what looked like a tall glass of lemonade, while reading a paperback. She set the book down on the little glass table in front of her and glared at us as we approached.
“You two don’t look so happy,” she said, glancing between the two of us before her eyes locked directly on mine. “What’s the matter…didn’t like seeing each other so early in the morning?”
“No, more like…didn’t like finding out the tether is still in place and that she’s now part Conjurer too,” Theo chimed in.
Kyra’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding!”
“No, actually he’s not,” I muttered.
“How did you find that out?” Kyra asked. An excited gleam shifted through her caramel eyes.
Images of exactly how we’d figured it out flashed through my mind in vivid clarity. My cheeks heated, and I wondered if either of them would be able to notice the color that had appeared in my face.
“How isn’t what matters. What matters is that she needs to learn to control it before she gets out of hand and becomes some sort of fire starter all over town,” Theo said, never once tu
rning his attention my way. “I can’t teach her how to control an element I don’t share with her, and we don’t have time for her to learn control like the rest of us did. She’s grown. It’s already at its peak. There’s no easing into it like with us while we were growing up.”
“So this is where I come into play, right?” Kyra asked, her eyes narrowing at Theo.
“Exactly,” he muttered.
“And how do you think your mother or Grandma Twila will like that?” Kyra asked.
“Who says they have to know?” I asked. I’d been getting crafty at keeping secrets lately, why stop now?
Kyra raised an eyebrow at me. “Ha, nothing gets by them. I’m surprised you haven’t figured that out by now.”
“Well, everything happens for a reason too,” Theo started. “Do you honestly believe you being here and being the only one in town who can teach her to tame it quickly is a coincidence?”
I watched Kyra as she took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. He had a point and she knew it.
“You’re right, dear cousin.” A wicked smile twisted her plump lips, and her eyes shifted to bore into me. “When should we begin?”
“Now.” I didn’t hesitate when I answered.
There was no way I was walking around like a freaking ticking time bomb or a ready-to-erupt-any-minute volcano. The sooner I learned how to control this heightened magick of mine, the better.
Kyra remained where she sat, staring at me. Her eyes narrowed, and she brought a finger up to her ruby red lips as though she were lost in thought. While I waited for her to speak, I took in her beauty as a whole. I’d been right about her being close to my age. She had cocoa-colored skin that appeared to be flawless and smooth to the touch. Long dark lashes framed her caramel eyes, and her hair—an ebony color—was pulled back into a sleek, high bun at the crown of her head.
I knew nothing about the element of Fire, but I did know this: Fire suited her in every embodiment of the element. Kyra was fierce, sexy, and fascinating. I wondered for a moment about those qualities and whether I possessed any of them.
“First we need to discuss what being a Fire Elemental means—the things associated with our element and some characteristics of our personalities,” she said as she stood, glaring at me. “This is going to be a crash course of Fire Elemental 101 for you. I hope you’re ready.”
Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) Page 10