“Whoa, this one has a mouth on her,” the first Asshole said.
Yep, Claire thought. Definitely an asshole.
“I’m sure we can tame the little she-lion,” Asshole Two said.
Oh, she wanted to make these idiots spontaneously combust. Sadly, only Carmen could do such a thing. Sometimes it sucked to be an earth witch.
“Maybe we should teach her some tricks of the trade,” Asshole One said. “Show her how warlocks keep witches in check.”
Claire did her best to ignore her gag reflex, but they were making it harder with each word that came out of their mouths. Carmen was right. Assholes aplenty.
“Try it, and I’ll make you one with the earth,” she said, smiling as big as she could.
“Mason, Baxter,” a stern voice said.
The two imbeciles straightened up as a man wearing a bright red cloak came into view. The firelight seemed to move with him.
Claire immediately recognized his symbol and cloak belonging to the Master of Fire.
“You two don’t seem to remember the rules of Firewick,” Master of Fire said. “You’re only meant to pursue those who want to join with you.”
“Yes, Master of Fire,” both men said.
“Do you wish to be pursued by these warlocks, Miss…?”
“Brixton. Claire Brixton.” Claire took a breath, happy someone intervened, but as soon as she said her name, she felt a bad feeling wash over her. It seemed to be coming from the Master of Fire as he stared at her. She ignored it and answered his question. “And no. I do not want to be pursued by them.”
Master of Fire remained silent for a bit before answering. “Then I suggest you two find another potential.”
The biggest talker of the two stared at him. “But…”
“Now, Mason,” Master of Fire said, “or you’ll see more than the bonfire flames tonight.”
Claire thought she saw tiny sparks in the Master of Fire’s eyes. She so didn’t want to be on his bad side.
“Yes, Master of Fire,” Mason said.
Claire figured the unspoken one was Baxter. Maybe he at least had some sense in him since he didn’t interrupt the Master of Fire.
Both men turned and hurried away without another word.
Claire had never been more grateful to anyone for intervening. “Thank you, Master of—”
“Another Brixton witch invited, I see,” Master of Fire said, cutting her off. “How many of you are there?”
She was grateful too soon. “Three of us,” Claire said. “My sisters, Charice and Carmen.”
“Your sister Charice was bonded yesterday, so I’m guessing we’ll be seeing Carmen at the next Firewick,” he said. His voice was cold and distant. “How good for the entire community to have three of you.”
Claire wasn’t going to rat out her sister or stay in front of the powerful warlock until he coerced it out of her. He was just as annoying as the warlocks he saved her from. She needed to get away from him as soon as possible.
“Maybe,” Claire said with a forced smile. “Have a wonderful evening, Master of Fire.” Master Ass-Hat Warlock was more like it. She was getting some weird vibes from the guy, the kind of eeriness that made your skin crawled and kick-started the fight-or-flight instinct. She almost preferred dealing with Mason and Baxter. Almost.
Her mama always said, “If you can’t say something nice, leave before you punch them out.”
She silently thanked her mother for her, violent but sensible, words of wisdom before bowing her head and turning away from the jerk with a deity complex.
She made her way through the crowd of unpaired witches and warlocks. Some, she noticed, had found their triad and looked like they were in their own world away from the festival. A few were showing too much PDA for Claire’s taste. Although some public displays of affection were cute, these random couples were one step away from lying down in the sand and replacing it for a bed.
Claire wondered what that felt like, being utterly consumed by not one but two men who wanted her just as much as she desired them. Not the one-sided relationship she had with Matthew that almost ripped her heart into two.
She hoped she even had enough left to give to the men who could possibly be hers. Was she even capable of loving again?
She’d been asked out by a few men over the years, especially while hanging out with Carmen. Most were humans who’d made their way into the shop or men they saw at the beach. Only a couple of them were warlocks, but she turned them all down as politely as she could. She wasn’t ready then, and she didn’t know if she was ready now.
Yeah, it had been six years since her chaotic relationship, but the wounds still felt freshly cut.
Maybe she wouldn’t see the warlocks El-Board wanted her to find. Right. Like that happened often. They usually knew which triads would bond, although they left it up to the witches and warlocks to find each other. Sometimes it didn’t work out, but that was rare. Rare as in winning the lottery without using magic rare.
There had to be balance in a Perfect Triad though. You’d never find a triad with three fire elements or three air elements or any of the others all the same. At most, two could share the same elemental control. Usually, this happened with the witch being the different element to restore balance between the linked warlocks with similar elemental affinities.
Claire wondered if one of hers would be an earth warlock. They were rare, since fertility rested primarily with witches, but every once in a while, a warlock would develop an earth affinity.
She hoped she’d find at least one of her warlocks soon or she was going to be bored out of her damn mind. She hated parties. Anything with large groups of people bugged her and made her uncomfortable. When she didn’t know anyone, it made socializing a nightmare.
Claire walked outside of the clustered groups to get some personal space. She moved closer to the waves hitting the sand.
An urge to dip her feet in the water filled her. She wanted to connect with earth badly, so she could be comforted by her element.
Screw it. She wasn’t going to get through this without finding her center. She kicked off her sandals, scooped them up, and strode over to the water’s foamy edge.
Claire dug her toes into the wet sand and instantly felt better.
The water crashed over her feet and made her toes sink deeper into the sand. This was nice. This felt like home.
She would have stayed in her tranquil serenity if she’d kept her eyes closed, but something made her want to open them.
At first, there was nothing to focus on. Then, further out, she saw a ripple between the waves. Someone was swimming out there, but she couldn’t see who.
“There you are, sweet thing,” a man said behind her.
Wonderful. It was Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber, the crazies who were hitting on her earlier.
“Can’t you boys take a hint?” Claire said. She centered herself so she could summon her power up if need be because she was almost certain these two were back to start something.
She noticed the water was quickly building with the current. The small waves had risen to her calves. She had to get out soon before the waves got too big and knocked her over, but the water seemed safer than being on dry land with two warlock jerks.
Claire still had a good connection with the earth as sand and water merged under her feet and aided her, giving a boost to her element. She closed her eyes and allowed her power to surface, not too much, but just enough.
If she was going to escape she had to be quick, and she could only sense where one warlock stood.
“Hey! We’re talking to you,” the first one said. It was Mason, the big talker.
Although Claire had never fought anyone with her magic before, her two fathers taught her and her sisters how to defend themselves if they had to. They didn’t like violence, but they knew sometimes the magical and non-magical world called for force.
“We just came to ask you to apologize,” Baxter said. “We don’t want any troub
le.”
He had to be joking, right? Maybe he didn’t want trouble, but his buddy was another matter.
“Are you wimping out on me, Bax? Speak for yourself. I want this witch to beg us to reconsider her for our triad.”
Surprise, surprise. Not just an asshole warlock. An asshole warlock with an ego too big for his brain.
“Hey, witch!” Mason said before touching her shoulder.
She brought all of her magic to the surface and pushed it through Mason.
His skin brightened with multiple shades of green from her element. Then he flew up in the air and far back from her until he landed onto the cluster of giant rocks at the beach’s edge. He grunted after hitting the ground with a loud thump.
Claire knew that had to hurt, and she hoped it did. Hoped it hurt badly enough for him to learn that “no” had no other meaning. Teach his sorry-excuse-for-a-warlock ass to mess with her.
Baxter stared at his partner, open mouthed, before turning his shocked expression back to Claire.
“Do you want to go next?” she asked, gearing up for another attack.
Baxter shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’m good.”
“Then get away from me before you join your jerk friend.”
Baxter backed away from her, keeping his eyes on her the entire time.
Good. Better he was afraid than stupid.
Before Claire could see him disappear, a large wave crashed into her, taking her down to the bottom of the current and underneath the waves. She tried to summon her magic again, but she couldn’t focus. Not this time.
It felt like she was under the water for a long time before two hands grabbed her roughly by her shirt. Water got in her mouth, eyes, ears, and every single opening along with the rough sand.
She tried to focus on the person who pulled her up.
“You’re going to pay for that, crazy bitch!” Mason said. His face was bloody from his earlier crash and scowled up in anger. He held onto her with one hand as he pulled the other back, aiming it to punch her.
Claire closed her eyes, hoping to either blind herself from the impact or focus enough to get him off of her magically. Either way, closing her eyes seemed like a good idea.
She waited and waited, but neither the punch nor magic came to her. The grip on her shoulders let go before she opened her eyes.
“It’s not polite to hurt women,” a familiar voice said. A cloud had hidden the large, bulbous moon, so she couldn’t see her rescuer’s face. What she did see was the air lifting Mason up and shaking him like a rag doll.
The stranger brought Mason closer to his face. “If you do something like this again, my partner and I will hunt you down like the savage dog you are, and we’ll make you plead for death. Got it?”
Mason shook his head frantically.
“I can’t hear you, imbecile.”
“Got it. I won’t do it again.” His voice trembled as he stumbled out the words.
“Apologize to the witch.”
When he was silent, the stranger shook him more violently than before and turned him upside down with his magic.
“I’m sorry, okay. I’m sorry.”
“Like you mean it, ass-lock.”
“I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
“Thank you,” Claire said. “I’ll be fine. No thanks to you.” She couldn’t help smiling and was on the brink of laughing at the idiot as he squirmed in her rescuer’s grip.
The streaks of a blue essence outlined her helper’s frame, so she could tell the warlock was an air sign. A weird sensation filled her as she watched him teach Mason a lesson. It was deep and intense, and the inner pang was something she’d never felt before, and she couldn’t help but think the odd man was the reason for it.
“That’s a start. Now, get out of here before I kill you myself. Better yet, I’ll give the lady the honor of doing it.”
Claire had nothing on this warlock, who threw Mason so far that she couldn’t see where he landed. That was some strength, and she felt her body tighten in hidden places at the thought of him using that strength on her in more intimate endeavors.
“Can you get out of the water okay?” he asked.
He didn’t wait for her response. The strange man simply scooped her up and walked her out of the water himself.
As soon as her skin touched his, she felt like she was melting from the inside out. Her tongue longed to taste him and lick the lingering salt water off his gorgeous skin.
Claire felt wetness spread between her legs and chastised herself for her wantonness. She didn’t know this man, and already she was geared up to jump him.
Then the cloud slipped past the moon and lit up the face of the man who carried her in his arms like it was the most natural thing in the universe.
She couldn’t breathe.
“Axel?” she asked.
He paused just at the water’s edge and turned to her.
Axel looked down at her as if she was a ghost, and he wondered how she remained solid in his arms.
“Claire,” he said. “It is you. I hoped, but you’re here.”
He sat her down on the dry sand, so she stood up on her own, but he didn’t let go of her.
“I’m here? What are you doing here?” she asked.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he used his thumb to trace her lower lip.
Oh, his skin was lovely, and his thumb was absolutely divine.
Without thinking, she opened her mouth and took his thumb into her mouth and sucked on it.
A groan escaped his lips followed by a satisfying grunt.
The sounds were making her wetter. She had questions for him, didn’t she? But for the life of her, she couldn’t think of one thing to ask him.
He removed his thumb so quickly that she barely had time to balance herself on his wet chest. A very naked chest. Droplets of water still clung to his muscular body.
She looked down and saw that wasn’t the only bare part of him. Axel was naked from head to toe, and, if that wasn’t enough, he was hard as a brick.
Claire glanced back up and saw a shimmer of blue the color of day skies lining his irises.
He was filled with magic, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he was turned on by her. His chest rose and fell with difficulty, as if he had just ran a marathon, and Claire’s face was close enough to kiss that powerful chest.
Before she could say anything else, he guided his arm around her back, lifted her slightly on her tiptoes, and brought her lips to his.
He tasted like sweet vapor and mint, and it was a flavor she could get drunk on. He kissed her and claimed her mouth like an expert who had yet to find his match. Until now. She kept up with his pacing and pushed back all odd questions that tried to pop into her head.
Instead, she went with the moment and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him down closer to her.
She’d always had a crush on Axel, and seeing him here, so raw and primal, and divinely nude, she thought he looked yummy and irresistible.
He made her think of glorious nature, trees and tall blades of grass blowing in the wind to a silent tune of life. He brought out images of ocean waves, stirred by wind, crashing into itself and cascading onto the sandy shore. Axel made her entire earth magic spring to life with his kiss and caress.
This man, who she hadn’t seen in years, turned every kiss before this one into irrelevant child’s play. All except for the one she had earlier with a handsome stranger.
It was odd thinking of that strange man while she kissed another, but she couldn’t shake either image. It was like the two belonged together. Unless...
Oh, no, she thought. There was no way. No freaking way.
She pulled back.
“Axel? Are you here for me? Are you one of my warlocks?”
“Yes,” he said without stalling. “I think I am.”
Well, weren’t the god and goddess of witches jesting at her tonight? The best friend of her ex-boyfriend was possibly her warlock. She hoped they
were getting a good laugh up in the skies because she didn’t think it was funny. Not funny at all.
Chapter Seven
Axel felt something pulling him ashore as he swam through the moon-lit water. In the distance, bonfires roared to life and lit up the night sky, but he was at peace in his solitude.
He was finally relaxing as the waves washed over him, sinking him deeper into their warm and dark depths. It was all consuming and just what he needed to free his mind.
Then his magic stirred eagerly, and it wasn’t from his air element. It wanted him to find the source of the magic that stirred his back. It had to mean his witch had arrived.
Good. He would find her himself, alone if he had to. Jett was not ruining this for him.
That’s when he noticed three people not too far away. At first he thought it was a potential triad moving away from the crowd to be alone. Then he saw one person fly back into the rocks.
He swam over quickly hoping a fight wasn’t breaking out. Where was his partner when he needed him?
Jett should’ve made an appearance by now, but the angry warlock was nowhere in sight. Axel couldn’t even feel him nearby.
Maybe he made his choice and left town, but as angry as the warlock got, he couldn’t see Jett doing that without telling him first. The guy had anger management issues, sure, but he wasn’t a complete jackass. Most of the time he wasn’t a complete jackass.
It didn’t matter. He could handle a small witch and warlock dispute on his own.
As he got closer, the pull tightened, making him eager to swim faster. He finally got to the two images as he saw one man running away. The one who had been thrown had gone back into the water and began dragging a girl out.
When Axel saw the man gearing up for a punch on the woman, he reached into his magic and tossed his power at the idiot, sending him airborne.
After his sorry excuse for an apology, Axel tossed the warlock as far as he could. He didn’t care where he landed as long as it was away from there. Cowards who punched women deserved a special place in hell, and he would not allow anything as idiotic as abuse in their community.
After he picked the woman up, he realized who she was. Claire Brixton, there and in the flesh, and he was holding her in his arms as if he did it every day.
The Alpha Warlocks' Desire: An Alpha Warlocks of Kala West Story #2 (A BWWM and BBW Paranormal Erotic Ménage Romance) Page 5