by Lexi C. Foss
“My Claire,” he whispered, his lips soft against mine, his tongue an addiction inside my mouth that I would never get enough of. He kissed me tenderly, adoringly, lovingly. His palms stroked up and down my sides, his cock an inferno inside me, and so damn hard despite our shared orgasm.
“I’ll never get enough of this,” I said, drawing my nails down his back and scoring his skin with fire, claiming him as mine.
He chuckled, his mouth falling to my ear. “Claiming me, Claire?”
“Yes,” I hissed, arching into him once more. “You’re mine.”
“And you’re mine,” he murmured, nibbling my pulse. “We have time for another round before class. Unless you still want me to eat?”
“You can eat on the way to class,” I decided, no longer caring about my omelet. I’d make him another tomorrow. “Fuck me again, Titus.”
“As you wish, my Claire.”
Titus
I ran my fingers through my hair, a strange sensation churning my gut. If I didn’t know better, I’d call myself nervous. But I was never nervous. Not even for my Powerless Champion matches.
Yet sitting here, beside Claire, and knowing I was the only guardian in her presence for class, did something to me. It put me on high alert, inspecting everyone in the room with a regard I never considered before.
I almost missed Exos and his constant vigilance.
Not that I would ever admit it.
I needed a distraction, and the lecture at the front of the room was not cutting it. Although, Claire seemed to be enjoying it. She sat on her little stone pedestal in the middle of the cement yard, her fingers clasped over the desk before us.
An angel dressed in a sinfully perfect uniform. I’d never noticed it before, having not cared that everyone wore the same outfit. But Claire, mmm, her legs looked amazing in that skirt.
Providing me with the perfect idea for a distraction.
I sent a heat wave to the beautiful apex between her thighs—a part of her I was never going to grow tired of, even if I did fuck her twice this morning.
Her eyes widened, as she clenched her legs together and shot me a glare. I grinned and pointed at Professor Vulcan, who was droning on about how to use fire in controlled bursts.
Pay attention, I mouthed.
She thrust her middle finger up at me in response. I frowned, unsure of what that meant. I would have to ask River about human gestures.
The class itself was mind-numbingly boring, at least to me. Neat piles of straw dotted the outdoor arena with a marker for difficulty. I could set them all ablaze in two seconds flat, but the goal of the exercise was to burn a particular target without igniting the surrounding ones.
Control Concentration was my least favorite course.
Hmm, but how would Claire perform with the task? Would she be able to do it while distracted?
I smiled, intrigued by my own wickedness.
Normally, this would be a good exercise for her—without the distraction. But if she really needed to conjure a controlled flame, it wouldn’t be in an environment of complete silence where she could focus. Someone had taken Exos and was powerful enough to keep him sedated, and if they came after her, she would need to be ready for them.
I’d been training with Claire for weeks. Power came easily to her, but control? Not so much. And while I loved to make her lose control, it was time she learned how to master her powers.
“Claire,” Professor Vulcan said, making her flinch. “Why don’t you and your guardian take point and make the first attempt.”
Claire’s face paled as she glanced at me. I knew that look. She definitely didn’t want to be in the spotlight, much less go first in an exercise she’d never done before.
The rest of the class had been curiously watching us the entire time, a sea of Fire Fae who were edges and hardness against Claire’s delicate form. She surveyed the group, most of them with tattoos or spiked hair that might come off as intimidating to a human. I liked my people; they were blunt, real, and passionate. Claire would learn more about them, and they’d get to know her and love her like I did. All she needed to do was be her beautiful self.
I took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ll show you the exercise. It’ll be fun.”
Professor Vulcan glowered at us. He resembled a flame himself, his hair standing straight up with a red streak down the middle. He stepped aside and crossed his muscular arms. “Only one demonstration, Titus. I need to assess the Halfling’s control before I place her in more classes.”
Claire swallowed hard. “So, this is a test?”
I sent a trickle of flame behind her ear, and she swatted at it.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You can’t fail a test here. This is about embracing your fire.” I kissed her on the cheek and she stiffened, her eyes darting to our audience.
Everyone was staring.
Most of the students had done this exercise before, but they wanted to see what Claire could do. She suffered from a bad reputation born of her mother’s doing and was then framed for stirring elemental chaos on campus. But she was innocent, proved to be a victim herself, and she’d survived. What she didn’t realize was the respect that came with her survival. I saw it in the eyes of our fellow fae. They wanted to admire her for coming through the firestorm alive.
I needed to give Claire all the courage to feel accepted here. All she had to do was believe in herself.
I pointed at a distant patch of straw with a red flag poking out the center of it. “See that middle marker? I’m going to ignite it without touching any of the other piles nearby. The goal here is control, Claire.” I teased her skin with a caress of heat, causing her to arch an eyebrow at me.
“You? Control?” She glanced pointedly at the goose bumps creeping across her arm. “Uh-huh.”
I responded with another brush of warmth, stirring a shiver from her. “Doubting my ability already, sweetheart?”
Her eyes narrowed, her focus falling to me instead of our audience. “Show me what you can do.”
“We both know what I can do,” I said, flexing my mental muscles and locating the marked pile. “Ready?”
“Stop teasing and do it,” she said, her feistiness coming through.
I waggled my brows and ignited the straw with barely a thought.
She eyed the field and nodded. “Not bad. So I’m supposed to light another on fire?”
“Yep,” I said, withdrawing my flames. “Any pile you want, just make sure it’s one of the marked ones and nothing else.”
She sucked her lip between her teeth, her gaze wandering the field and the various targets.
I wondered which one she would pick. She should be conservative and choose the closest marker for her first try, but of course, that wasn’t my Claire.
She extended her hands, and flames licked at her fingertips. Stripes of blue wound through her fire like an elemental rope, sizzling with barely contained power.
That’s new, I thought.
The other fae murmured in reaction to the display. I leaned in closer to Claire and pressed my lips to her ear. “Is that water?”
She glanced at the flicker and frowned. “Yeah.”
“Can you rein it in and use just your fire?”
Her lips twisted to the side. “I don’t know.”
That was the problem—Claire’s powers controlled her, not the other way around. Which created an issue when she engaged non-fiery elements while surrounded by Fire Fae. If her water magic grew out of hand, I couldn’t help. And it would likely take the entire class to restrain her if she unleashed whatever was dwelling inside.
Which meant I’d have to speak to Cyrus about it since the element taking control of her now appeared to be water.
Great.
If only he hadn’t dismissed River…
Except we all knew that was the right move. Cyrus’s renowned familial ties to the Water Fae King made him exceptionally powerful and proficient in the element. Even if it wasn’t the sid
e of his nature he chose to acknowledge most. He was too busy serving as the Spirit King.
Alas, he’d volunteered to take on her water mentorship, and given the strengthening blue swirl around her fire, he’d better get started sooner rather than later.
“It’s all right,” Claire murmured, her voice low and taut with renewed concentration. The winding strands of water extended over her flame, making a sort of tunnel for her to aim with.
Is that supposed to be an elemental gun?
Well, shit.
She pointed to the final marker in the distance, one even I would have had trouble hitting, much less without burning anything around it.
“That one,” she said, marking her target, and then heat emanated from her in a building storm that made my eyes widen and very inappropriate sensations run straight down to my groin. Damn, she was hot. Literally.
The inferno built until she was satisfied with her aim, and an explosion rocked the ground, sending a ball of fire directly at her target. It streaked across the arena, bypassing all of the other piles of straw without harming them. The tight collection of flames hit the final target, making the straws explode in a vertical strike that lit up the sky.
A hush fell over the Fire Fae students.
Then they roared their approval, making my chest swell with pride.
“Holy shit!”
“Did you see that?”
“She’s fucking amazing!”
Claire beamed and lowered her hands, her powers retreating inside of her with a measure of control I hadn’t expected. “I did it,” she breathed with relief as if she hadn’t anticipated a positive outcome. She shook her head as a low chuckle escaped her. “Every time I used my powers in public before, it felt like they always swept out of my control, but that wasn’t really my fault, was it? It was Ignis and the other girls messing with me.” Her blue eyes glimmered with a hope I hadn’t seen in her before. “Maybe I can do this.”
I gripped both sides of her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Hovering my mouth over hers, I tasted her embers and licked my lips in anticipation. “You can do anything, Claire. Anything you want, and I’ll be right by your side admiring every inch of you.”
I no longer cared who was watching. I crushed my mouth to hers, and she parted for me, allowing my tongue to slide inside and taste the lingering effects of her power and her elation.
When I released her, the Fire Fae had gotten even more out of control. They loved passion and clapped their hands, cheering us on for more.
“All right, that’s enough,” Professor Vulcan griped, even though I could see a gleam of approval in his eyes. “Claire, I’ll discuss a schedule with Elana in the morning. You need advanced training, not intermediate. Well done.”
Vox
Bacon came from pigs.
Pigs.
Fuck. That.
Why would anyone want to eat a pig?
River had assured me it was a delicacy in the Human Realm after I asked him about it, but I would not be entertaining that in our shared kitchen, no matter how adorable Claire may have looked earlier in those little shorts and tiny tank top.
Or the way I’d felt after she used magic on Cyrus.
The feeling of her element brushing against mine had stuck with me all day. Not only did we share magic, but she seemed to like cooking, too. I had to admit sharing a joy of cooking—even if her tastes were questionable—made me want to like her.
But yeah, nope, not going there.
I only went to River to ask about bacon because Sol wanted to try a proper egg pie in the morning. Not because I wanted to please Claire. And fortunately, we didn’t have pigs. But we did have fatty meat from the hide of a troll, something River assured me would be similar. Although, he also suggested I not tell Claire what it was and just call it bacon.
It’s an innocent lie, he’d promised.
Well, we’d see tomorrow morning when she cooked another monstrosity for breakfast.
Sol’s eyes lit up when I stumbled into the Spirit Dorm. “You brought food!” he cheered, sending the floor cracking as he stormed over to me and snatched up the weight as effortlessly as if I’d been carrying feathers.
“Careful with that,” I grumbled as he threatened to rip the bags and send the ingredients scattering.
Sol whistled as I sent a wave of magic to brush the pebbles of the broken floor he’d left behind over the threshold. I was used to cleaning up after the Earth Fae, and I knew how to keep him happy.
There were five mouths to feed now, and no one else seemed to know how to cook. Except maybe Claire. But all I’d seen in the kitchen were ingredients for quick meals like shakes and finger patties. Sol would become intolerable without a real meal, and I needed him to cooperate when it was time to teach Claire some earth magic.
Proving my decision to buy some real food a good one, Sol began plucking out the ingredients, stopping when he saw the troll fat. He gave me a raised brow.
I put it in the icebox. “It’s for the Halfling’s experiment tomorrow,” I offered with a shrug. “River said it was like bacon.” I pointed at him. “But don’t tell her what it is.”
Sol hummed and went back to rummaging through the groceries. “More egg pie sounds good to me.” He held up a salted red weed most fae hated. “Oh, good, you bought some scurbuttle snacks!”
“Do I want to know what that is?” Claire asked, sweeping into the kitchen with a smile on her face. Titus trailed in after her, both of them looking pleased.
Seeing their shared glance of satisfaction reminded me of my interaction with Claire this morning, how we’d shared a moment of air magic, whispers, and then…
Then I’d heard the way Titus had made her scream.
“You definitely don’t want to know what that is,” Titus informed her, slipping his arm around her waist.
She leaned into him just enough that her body formed to his. I wondered if she was aware of how sensual she was in the subtle movement.
Claire’s bright gaze found mine, and then her smile dimmed. “Everything okay, Vox?”
Shit, I sucked at hiding my emotions. I cast my gaze down and continued to unpack the groceries as I tried to think of a response. Every time she opened her mouth, all I could hear were those delicious sounds she’d sent filtering through the air currents just for me. I knew she hadn’t done it on purpose; it was her air magic reacting to mine. It was natural. We were compatible, at least in our elements, but that didn’t mean I had to give in to my primal instincts like some kind of animal.
“I think he heard us this morning,” Titus supplied, his smug grin saying he was damn proud of that. “You weren’t exactly quiet.”
Claire turned as red as the scurbuttle weed. “Oh God,” she said, covering her full lips with her hand. “I’m so sorry, Vox. I didn’t even think—”
Titus cut her off with a kiss and sent a lingering flame running down her shirt, making Claire squeak with surprise. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”
“You’re not helping,” she whispered loudly.
“I’m not ashamed, sweetheart,” Titus replied. “And neither are they.”
“Oh God…”
“Hey, why don’t you help me cook dinner,” I offered, trying to put her at ease and to prove I was fine. That everything was fine. That this whole fucked-up situation was, well, fine.
Besides, Claire and I were going to be spending a lot of time together—Titus included. I knew better than to try to dampen a Fire Fae’s passion, and by the look on Claire’s face when she’d walked in those doors, he was what she needed right now with Exos missing and his asshat of a brother coming in and ruining all of our lives.
Oh, fuck, I hope he doesn’t join us for dinner.
Claire brightened, the light in her eyes returning. “Okay, that sounds fun.” She looked to Titus and he laughed.
“Don’t need my permission, sweetheart.” He stretched, making a show of putting his arm around her shoulder. “I’ll go shower before dinn
er and leave you all to it.” He grinned at me with a knowing glance. “Didn’t get a chance to this morning.”
Right, because Sol had been in our shared bathroom, so in a moment of desperation, I’d stolen Titus’s shower in order to take off the edge Claire’s screams had given me. The Fire Fae had warned me there would be a lot of cold showers included with this job…
Fuck.
If Claire had put two and two together, she didn’t comment.
“So, what’s for dinner?” she asked.
I was grateful for change the subject. I pulled out the largest item from the sacks and used my air magic to lift it up.
“Dragon steak,” I announced with a grin. River had said this would impress Claire, and after the way Cyrus had treated her, I wanted to do something to take her mind off things.
Her eyes went wide. “Dragon?”
I nodded. “It’s supposed to taste like something you call beef,” I said, sending a wave of air to settle the slab onto the cutting board on the counter.
“Are you going to add eggs and cheese to it?” Sol asked around a mouthful of his snack.
Claire smiled. “I think we can save that for breakfast.”
I gave her simple tasks of cutting vegetables and grinding fresh spices. She seemed to enjoy the job, and I felt a pang of regret for her. All of this was so new and different for the Halfling, but I was able to give her something that maybe made her feel like she was back home, doing monotonous things she used to do as a human, such as chopping up ingredients in a kitchen. I supposed it didn’t matter what world or race one was a part of—food still needed preparing.
It wasn’t until I had closed the oven door on a decorated pan of dragon steak and gotten to work on a patty salad that I felt Claire’s magic testing mine. I stopped folding the leaves over strips of filling to glance at her.
“I understand if you don’t want to be here,” she said, her words soft and for my ears alone. Her bright eyes fixated on me, rooting me to the spot. “I didn’t mean to uproot you and Sol, and I’m sure when Exos comes back, I can explain that Cyrus made a mistake.” Something in her gaze said she hoped I would disagree with her, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.