Dark Currents: Elementals, Book 1

by Mima

  “Your track record is impressive.” But every time a morphi was subsumed it was a roll of the dice, and the odds were just slightly better than seventy-five percent.

  “I got them back, without sex by the way, and I’ll get you back. People don’t get that it isn’t brute force. That’s fire’s way. It’s about persistence and alternate thinking. That’s water’s way.”

  Xia sank off of her knees, sitting with her legs folded to the side. She fixed the gaping lapels at her robe and stared at Adam’s back. “I…understand. Intellectually. I never thought of it that way. The teachers who mentor new anchors must have many ways to model how to counter the elements. You should think about sharing your experience.”

  “Intellectually. No one thing will work for any two people. Not in this.” He took a swig from his bottle.

  She could smell the fear on herself. “I’m scared. I told myself last time, never again.”

  Adam nodded. He stood and set the bottle on her dresser. Took her iced tea and did the same. Crawling on the bed, he came toward her and drew her down in his embrace. Her heart beat and it was hard to breathe. His arms were long and solid, his scent so very…nice. It smelled good and right, and she licked her lips.

  The room’s light was still on. His hand soothed down her back and she wished her robe to Timbuktu.

  “You’re going to meet me, get to know me better. Inside and out. You’re going to remember I’m experienced, and you’re going to rest and focus. You’ll do what you can, but in the end, Xia, you’ll still be scared. There is no preparation morphi can truly make before they give into the ghosting, and there is no proof I can offer as an anchor.”

  Her mind was still stuck on “inside and out”. She concentrated on breathing and her brain caught up to his words. She’d asked him to do this, but the other hoops—tests—he’d already passed had been so unpredictable in their outcomes. Somehow she knew that with Adam, the integration she’d demanded as a reassurance wasn’t going to be what she expected. Maybe the ghosting into Terra would be different than she feared as well.

  “I can do this. I’ve come back before. I’ll be fine.”

  “You won’t be fine. You’ll be new. You’ll be Xia-touched-by-Terra.”

  Her heart ballooned into her throat.

  “And I’ll be here to meet the new you. I will help you.”

  Her heart beat and sank back to where it belonged. She believed him. “I know.” She reached out and touched the dimple in his chin. It was powerful to hear him admit what everyone danced around and tried to euphemize. Sure most morphi came back alive, functioning. But the experience changed your life, and rarely in positive ways. That was the cost of looking into the heart of one of the elements and teasing out their secrets from the inside. There was no falseness around Adam. Suddenly the confidence and sheer gratitude she felt having him as her anchor settled her. “We can do this.”

  “We will do this.” Cupping her hand in his big, rough one, he kissed the back of her fingers and pulled it down to his chest. “Let me in, Morphi.”

  Her lids fluttered closed, and Adam eased in. She knew well how to allow another psychic to float into her thoughts and settle there. She watched him come in, but not too deep. Then Adam opened his own gate, and Xia joined him, threading them together. Adam was not a dreamer witch. It was not his nature or his skill to shepherd someone in his mind. He had no control over where she went.

  Xia hovered at the edges of the selkie’s mind. So easy to forget he wasn’t a man when she admired his strong human form. Not in here. He was wild. Everything about him worked in rhythm to the ocean. He swayed, he sank, he swelled with the waves. He sang to the moon. He hunted.

  Swallowing, Xia suddenly understood. He wasn’t a morphi, he wasn’t a human. Adam was a water elemental. He would never be anything other. She knew after her subsumation into Aqua with Ry that Aqua was much, much more terrifying than the other elements. And Adam was part of water. He scared the shit out of her. She was frozen with memories of violence and power. Both of those attributes were part of him.

  Adam’s awareness found her, furred and curious and oh-so-dangerous. “Xia.” His mental self accepted her without hesitation. He wasn’t nervous to have her so close. He had no reservations about showing her anything at all. He liked her, wanted her. She was powerful, which turned him on, and fascinating despite his caution toward relationships. He considered her his. Swimming into her, twining through her thoughts, he twisted them together.

  If the speed with which Adam had flung Xia into her body had been a shock earlier, it was nothing compared to the mental whiplash Xia gave herself as she ran from the black depths of Adam. She shuddered against his warm body, closing her own mental doors, closing him out. But that didn’t silence the knowledge reverberating through her. Xia was absolutely shocked to discover that she craved danger. She lusted after it. She’d been so drawn, so inexplicably and irritably drawn to him, and she now understood why. Pitting herself against the elements was a thrill ride that would pale in comparison to the challenge of taking Adam as a lover. She was insane.

  His arms pulled her tight, his chin rubbing over her head as he soothed her.

  “’Mokay. ’Sokay.” She clenched her teeth so they wouldn’t chatter.

  One of his hands went down to his pants. She heard a zipper and squeezed her eyes shut. Oh Lady. Oh Lord.

  Moving his hand to her ass, he squeezed the generous mound just to the point of pain, then rubbed over the sting of his grip. Her breath was coming in near gasps now, but she stayed pressed tight to him. Adam, golden and beautiful and strong. Deep and wild and relentless. His other hand wrapped around her back and settled against her rib cage, encircling her. His fingers burned through the robe’s flannel softness, brushing the edge of her breast.

  “Xia, do you see me now?”

  “Y-y-yes.” It wasn’t nerves, she told herself, or terror. She didn’t know why she stuttered or what she agreed to. Her brain was frozen, understanding nothing but his hand on her ass, his arm compressing her tight. That Adam was a wild creature of the sea, and he wanted her.

  He shifted her and they rolled. Xia felt her hair catch under her head, keeping her jaw tipped up, pulling at her scalp. His hand moved from beneath her and his knees shoved hers apart.

  “Xia,” he ordered, low and steady.

  She drew up her knees, tipping her hips, and a round knob of hot skin set against her. She cried out, grabbing his upper arms tightly. He lapped at her offered throat, nipped along her jaw. His weight crushed her down, and his jeans were rough against her legs. He pushed against her. He pushed his whole body on that single point, and her body gave, as it was designed to.

  His tip was in the clutch of her open channel, and it had been long enough that the pleasure shocked her. A sound left her throat, desperate and grateful.

  “Shhhh. Look at me, storm cloud.”

  Her eyes barely focused before she began to drown in his black depths. The sound squeaked a bit higher. She tried to swirl her hips farther onto his hard length, but he threw a thigh over hers, stilling her. The change in pressure made her mew again.

  “Fuck.” He lost whatever point he was trying to make, a shudder racing down his body, and then he was in her, with one smooth, decisive stroke.

  The mew grew into a short, hoarse call as Xia tossed under him, her fingers scrabbling at his muscled arms.

  “I can’t hold back, Xia, but I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

  The waves began to pound her, rising up and tossing her high, then setting her spinning and dragging her down. His flesh was like silk inside her. She couldn’t grip him tight enough, he was too strong and she too slippery. He flowed in and out of her body, drowning her. Literally. She couldn’t breathe but it didn’t matter, because it felt so good, and the light was so beautiful. It was the stuff of her nightmares when she relived her mission with Ry. It was the nightmare that left her longing and aching, but now it was real, and it was Adam.

&nbs
p; The man who had drawn her to the edge of her nightmare when she barely knew him as a taciturn puzzle was the man who took her to the edge of sanity now, deep in her body. His thick length pushed her open, the cream from her desire spattering her thighs with every strike. His body worked over her, and all she could do was roll underneath, tightening, reaching. Her gut twisted, her thighs cramped, toes and fingers curled, her scalp smarting from the pull of her hair under her shoulders.

  “I’ve.” Gasp. “Got.” Shove. “You.” Drag.

  The overpowering sensations at the center of her body spilled over. He was just as terrifying as water, because he was water’s. But he was Adam. Adam had her, so she was safe. She was free. She dove into the maelstrom and he never let her go, diving right along with her. His head crushed the pillow next to her face, his roar rattling her ribs as she crested the pleasure. Liquid shock blackened her vision.

  “Lord, Lord, Lord,” she chanted. “Good gracious me.”

  He laughed and choked, his breath so hot in her ear. His body shuddered, hips grinding against hers. The pressure sent ripples down her legs, as if she’d been running for hours. Or swimming.

  Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! rang out in her head. She shook her brain, dislodging the odd song. Peeling her hands off Adam’s biceps, she lifted them and struggled to get her hair free, relieving her neck. Sighing with contentment, she settled her hands on his sweaty hair and cradled his skull. He kissed her breastbone, but his body was arched between their sealed hips, so he rose up. Xia trailed her nails down over his collarbone and across the front of his T-shirted chest.

  “I think I already asked you this question tonight, but what was that?”

  Adam eased his body from hers, and her pelvis swayed with a wash of residual pleasure. She mewed.

  He darted in and kissed her lips quickly, gently. “That was some alternative thinking.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I hated you to be scared of me. Never. Never, Xia. In the end, at the final moment, you weren’t.”

  She wouldn’t meet his eyes, but he pressed another kiss to her mouth, lingering this time, grazing on the swell of her lower lip.

  “Plus, having us blended together like that was beautiful and made me hard.”

  Rising up, he left the bed and went to the bathroom. The water ran, and then he came in with a washcloth. Xia finally became aware that she was lying splayed open on the bunched folds of her robe. She went to close her thighs and reach for the cloth, but he merely twined his fingers with hers and jockeyed back between her legs. He wiped her folds with firm strokes, knowing that gentle would be too much sensation. She noted with disappointment his jeans were closed.

  “Will we get pregnant?” His words were carefully empty, but the question was high-damage anyway.

  “Oh. My. Lord.”

  Xia used a condom, always, unless she had a regular lover and used a spell. Magicals couldn’t get diseases, but the interspecies mix of eggs and sperm were not always quantifiable. A story she’d heard as a teen of a fawn getting pregnant four years after she’d had sex with a centaur had freaked her right the Hel out. Her fingers tightened on Adam’s as she closed her eyes and counted.

  “It’s the wrong time for me, but…” Who knew what would happen between a powerful witch and a selkie. Selkies were notorious for their lustful ways. In the lore, the more lustful, usually the more fertile.

  “Then you are safe.” Oh, that empty, flat voice. “Our sperm has no special longevity.”

  She jerked up with a quick, crunch-like movement and shoved at his shoulder. “What was that?”

  He grabbed her wrist in a firm but gentle grip. His eyes glowed amethyst. “Stop hitting me. You are much more violent than I would have guessed.”

  “Adam! I always use a condom or a spell. Always.” Except for that one time when Markos had incinerated the one she’d tossed at him during an argument and he’d taken her anyway. He’d made sure it was the wrong time of the month, but still, it had pissed her off. After she’d come down from the gasping orgasm.

  “You have no children.” He stated it like a robot. Was it some kind of indictment?

  She sat up, not bothering to pull the robe closed. It was a little late for that. “I want no children, not as an active-duty morphi. Maybe in a few dozen years, when I’m older and ready to retire.” She wasn’t too sure about that, though. Most years, it was hard enough to take care of herself, her aunt, her sister, and Markos.

  “I regret that I swept you up before we were sure we would not have an ill-timed child, but I do not regret sharing with you.”

  She studied him, heaving a gusty sigh. “You don’t know what that was either, do you.”

  “I know it was good. I know you no longer fear me.”

  Averting her gaze, she nodded. “You are a beautiful selkie inside, Adam.” There was no deception in him. None. His focus was simple: the sea, food, shelter, community. His narrow world was actually very calming. She thought of Markos’s constant emotional upheavals, how they were always so tempestuous together. She was often exhausted after Markos, even without sex. As advocate to a group of morphi, he was involved in so much politics and bureaucracy. Adam would never be like that, not because he didn’t want the responsibility, but because he had no subtle social skills and needed to be near water, always. Things would always be simpler with Adam. And more brutal.

  “Thank you.” He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The gentle, possessive motion sent a zing of warmth to her center. “You should rest. Tomorrow, when the sun is on its rise, we’ll take our journey into Terra, to try to gain insight.”

  We. He’d twined himself with her when he spoke of a child as well. Xia didn’t know what to do with him. She felt battered. “You need to rest as well.”

  “Aye. Eight hours for you and four for me, and then we’ll begin.”

  She nodded, her heart jumping once, hard, in her chest. She took the robe off and crawled under the covers. He turned out the light. Cookie Monster smiled his cheerful blue glow. He stood by the bed and she looked up at him.

  “I understand now.”

  He waited.

  “When you say you don’t have to control me, that you can anchor me without force.”

  He crouched on his haunches, the back of his fingers grazing her cheek. “I will flow around you, and if you do not come back in a straight line, I will be able to guide you patiently. I will draw you, not drag you.”

  Her stomach churned.

  “Shhh. I have to go work on the computer to check on the capture of Gavin. I’ll come hold you when I can.”

  She nodded, rubbing her cheek against his touch. “Good night, Adam. Thank you for humoring me with my tests. Thank you for proving yourself for my peace of mind.”

  His thumb brushed the seam of her lips. “Thank you for letting me share this. When I got the call to be your rampart and your anchor, I feared you would not accept me.”

  “Really? I thought I was sadly obvious in my fascination with you.” Lord and Lady, was it really only two days ago she’d thought of him as a hamster to torment? She’d been arrogant. And lonely.

  “You were interested, but deeply suspicious. I couldn’t believe you’d stay, when you arrived. With your shiny purple monstrosity—”

  “Schwinn.”

  “And your Mexican hat and your natural, warm way with the villagers. You were never haughty, but never expected. Such a gorgeous woman, with fire-tinted hair and ice-tinted eyes. And you were alone. Then you stayed on, night after week. I couldn’t believe it when no partner followed you.” His finger delicately traced her lower eye socket. “I would watch the sun set, and I would get so upset thinking of you up here, dreaming alone, I’d go into my fur. I got nothing done at the marina.”

  Xia felt her eyelids droop listening to his steady deep voice with that amazing Scottish inflection. “I go’ nuthin’ done a’ th’ mareeena.” The sea was even in his speech.

  “Tomorrow, y
ou will begin the woman’s spell that will keep us from getting pregnant.”

  She studied him through her lashes. Her heart stayed steady at this pronouncement. “Yes.”

  “Open to me, Morphi.” His low voice soothed.

  She opened her mental gate, and he slipped around her, a strong, solid rampart to guard her sleep. Then she slid into rest, safe.

  Chapter Eight

  Xia woke twice in the night. Once to pee and once from a nightmare. When she woke from it, she was in Adam’s arms, and he crooned a Gaelic lullaby to her. Knowing he’d shared it, knowing he’d suffered it, she wiped a tear on his T-shirt-covered shoulder.

  “All those people, so scared, so cold…” she whispered over his song. Aqua had given her a memory of taking down a ship full of people. Four decks of hundreds of children, women, families, raging men, all gone, to Aqua’s delight.

  Adam sang on and she stopped shaking, and slept. Breakfast the next day was a more modest affair, with only cereal, toast, tea in her new pot, and a half pound of bacon for Adam.

  As they sat on the couch to eat, Adam said, “We found him last night. He was in Miami.”

  “We?”

  “Selkies.”

  “Ah.” The thought of being hunted by a pack of Adams made Xia shiver. She crunched her honey toast. “And?”

  “I wanted him sent to me, but an elf interfered.”

  “Damn elves. Always so persnickety about the rule of law.” She swallowed on the coarse bite of toast, trying to breathe through the memory of Tibor.

  “I was within my rights. There was no doubt to his identity or his evil intent.”

  Xia fought a grin at his indignant voice. Inside, she was relieved she would not have to watch him be part of the ugly business of ripping a confession from a criminal. “So, no Gavin.”

  “That particular witch will not bother you again. They’ve already extracted the name of Gavin’s patron from him. It was a powerful Yoruba witch. He in turn is denying any connection to a greater ritual, but he’s a known worshipper of Olokun, a goddess who summoned a great flood.”