by Casey Lane
“Apparently, it’s a lack of coffee,” Sunny said with a grin.
Why wasn’t she upset with him? Hell, she didn’t even look perturbed.
Nonplussed, he reached toward the middle of the table for the pitcher of orange juice. Sunny, who had reached out at the same time, closed her hand on the handle of the pitcher at the exact second his did.
The contact between them was electric. Literally. He vaguely remembered touching the end of a battery to his tongue once on a dare and the buzz and hum that had traveled through him. It felt like a line of cartoon sparks running up his arm. His dick stiffened in his pants and, amazingly, he realized he was only seconds away from coming.
Almost instantly, the sensation changed. It was as if his magic had become magnetized, and it immediately reached for Sunny’s magic.
He yanked his hand back, knocking the jug over and causing the bright orange juice to spread across the pristine white tablecloth.
“What’s the matter?” Raven asked sharply.
Sloan was about to say something sarcastic, or at least nasty, but one look at Sunny’s face told him she’d been as affected by their accidental touch. There was no way he could play this off as his usual morning attitude. “Our magics reacted when our hands brushed against each other’s,” he said gruffly.
Raven nodded even as Sunny started rubbing her hand. “It’s okay,” the leader said to Sunny. “I’ve been told handler magic responds fairly strongly when it comes into contact with another handler’s.”
Sloan would have left it there but Sunny was already shaking her head. “I didn’t feel like this when I touched Anna for the first time.”
Raven raised his eyebrow and looked at them both. “Was it the same with you, Sloan?”
There was no point in lying. Everyone had seen his reaction. “Yes. It was a fair bit stronger than anything I’ve experienced with any other handler.”
This time, Leith spoke to him. “Explain.”
Sloan rolled his eyes at Leith’s terse command but answered nonetheless. “My magic reached for hers with an intensity I’ve never felt before.”
“Interesting,” Leith said, tapping his finger against his lips. “I’ve never heard of that before. Normally, handler magic either repels another hander’s power or feeds it. I’ve not run across a case where magics are reaching for each other, especially when those powers aren’t being used.”
“That wasn’t exactly helpful,” Sunny said bluntly. “You’re something like one thousand years old. You should know something.”
The silence which fell over the table was deafening. No one had ever dared to speak so frankly to Leith. Even Leith looked a little surprised.
“What?” Sunny said with a sheepish smile. “You were all thinking it.”
Every gaze at the table was fastened to Leith, waiting to see what the blond giant would do. Instead of growling about showing him the respect he deserved, which Sloan had expected him to do, Leith burst out laughing. “You are so much like my daughter,” he said when he finally stopped laughing. “Thank you for not treating me like an old man who can’t handle a little humor once in a while.”
Sunny’s blinding smile was back in full force. “I figured you out as soon as we met,” she admitted.
Leith’s smile remained for the rest of breakfast, but Sloan was more focused on the affect the new handler had on him.
It terrified him.
As the morning meal came to an end, Raven cleared his throat. “Leith has informed me that Sunny’s magic is quite strong and neither he nor I will be able to train her. So, I think it’s best if Anna and Sloan train her right from the get go.”
Shit.Sloan had forgotten the tiny detail about how he would be training Sunny. If his magic reacted this strongly to hers now, what would it be like when they were actually using their powers? Hell, what would it be like when they had to merge their magics? “Absolutely not,” he said firmly.
“And why not?” Raven asked.
He said the first thing that came to him. “Because our magics are opposite. You know, fire and water. I’ll only make things harder for her to control.”
Raven narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and Sloan got the idea the leader saw right through his excuse. “Fine,” Raven said. “Stay out of her training for now. But when Sunny has enough control, you’re going to have to work with her.”
Sloan nodded, relieved he had a little time, at least, to work out how he felt.
In the meantime, all he had to do was find a way to completely avoid the new fire handler.
Sunny sat, staring at Sloan, well aware her mouth hung slightly open. His excuse not to train her was complete and utter bullshit. There was no way their magics would repel each other, not when every fiber of her being was somehow yanking her toward him.
The man was returning to his jerky self, his true self he’d shown last night. She couldn’t believe she’d masturbated to his image the evening before, much less had the orgasm of her life.
There was going to be no way she’d let Sloan know how much his refusal to train her bothered her. “It’s okay,” she said with another grin, hoping no one could tell it was fake. “Anna’s probably a better teacher than Mr. Cranky Pants anyway.”
She kept a pleasant expression plastered to her face until enough time had passed that she could escape to her room. Fake until you make it. That had been her motto for as long as she could remember. Pretend to be happy with your life and maybe, just maybe, you can fool everyone.
Faking it didn’t help the pain though. It never did. And for some reason, Sloan’s rejection hurt worse than anything else had in recent memory. Maybe it was because of the actual conversation they’d had on the way down to breakfast, when he hadn’t been a dick. Or maybe it was the way her magic responded to him.
That had to be it. She had come to realize her magic was almost like a living thing existing inside her. It wanted Sloan’s magic badly, and it still roiled around in her veins, trying desperately to connect again with the man sitting next to her.
How could he leave her like this? It made her physically uncomfortable not to be touching him.
But he’d made his intentions to stay away from her more than clear.
She took a deep breath and hardened her heart against Sloan. Why would she set herself up for more heartache than she was already feeling?
Finally, she pushed her plate away and stood up. “When do you want to start, Anna?”
Anna gestured to her glass of juice. “As soon as I finish my drink, we can get started.”
Sunny nodded. It would give her a little time to pull herself together. “I’m going to change into something more comfortable.”
Without waiting for an answer, she hightailed it out of the dining room and found her way to the stairs. She bounded up them but stopped when she realized she had no idea how to get back to her room.
Cursing herself for not paying more attention when she’d gone downstairs, she peered up and down the hall, hoping that at least one way would look familiar. Of course, both ways looked the same.
Why had she thought living in a castle was a good thing?
“Lost?”
The voice was the last one she wanted to hear. Why couldn’t it have been Matthew who found her?
“Can you show me the way back to my room, or are you too much of a jerk?” she snapped.
Sloan drew even with her and tilted his head. “Not so sunny, Sunny? And to think, you had everyone thinking your personality matched your name.”
She propped her hands on her hips and leveled a glare at him. She was so damn sick of hearing that joke. “Didn’t you know? The sun can burn you too.”
“Oh,” said Sloan, motioning for her to follow him as he started down the hall. “So you’re also a little fireball? Fitting.”
“Listen here, you,” she just about shouted. “What the hell is your problem? First thing this morning, you were all smiles, and now you’re the most sarcastic bastard in Scotland.”
“You know many men in Scotland?” he said.
Something about the way he said it, the possessive way he looked at her, made her grit her teeth.
Without even stopping to think about the consequence, Sunny raised her finger and poked him in the exact center of his chest.
Whatever she had been about to say flew out of her mind the second she touched him. Her power rose and seemed to latch on to Sloan. She couldn’t have pulled her finger away, even if she wanted to. The feeling was entirely sexual and she desperately wanted Sloan to bend her over the nearest flat surface and slide into her.
It was Sloan who broke the contact when he stepped back and pushed her hand back to her side. There was no expression on his face at all. “Did you really not feel that?” she asked.
Sloan’s mouth tipped up in a slight sneer, but she didn’t miss the way his eyes focused on her face for a moment. “What I felt was similar to what I feel whenever I accidentally touch Anna, or another handler.”
“Liar,” she said. “At the table, you said it wasn’t like anything you’d ever encountered before.”
“It did feel like that at first,” he admitted. “But the feeling has faded.”
She didn’t believe a word of what he said, but she didn’t have a chance to accuse him of lying again. Anna came up behind them and squeezed in between them. She shook her head at Sloan and took Sunny by the elbow. “Come on, Sunny. I’ll show you the way back to your room. Sloan? Don’t you have some practicing to do?”
Sloan nodded curtly and turned on his heel, stalking away without another word.
Still irritated, Sunny stuck her tongue out at his back. She knew it was childish but at this point, she didn’t care.
“Thanks,” Sunny said to Anna.
“No problem. But he’s not all bad. Before his wife, Dara, was killed, he was really fun to be around.”
Against her will, her heart softened when she heard about Sloan’s wife. How much pain must the man be in?
Not that it was any excuse to be a jerk, she told herself harshly. Don’t let your guard down. You’ll only end up hurt.
Chapter Ten
The water in the pond swirled as Sloan made it ripple lazily. He wasn’t really trying to do too much with it right then. He was working off some of the magical pressure that built up in the last few days. Besides, if he did anything too drastic with it, he wouldn’t be able to see Anna training Sunny.
It had been three weeks since Sunny had come to the castle. Three weeks since Sloan had first felt a buzz of sexual thrill awakening in his body after a quarter of a century.
He’d tried hard to avoid her at all costs. He’d been rude and mean. He’d stopped coming to meals until Raven had threatened to lock down his magic if he didn’t eat. He had taken to isolating himself in his room― not very different from before. No, the only difference was that now, something in him desperately wanted to be out of the confines of the four walls and close to one person in particular.
Of course, he hadn’t been able to avoid Sunny completely. Fate seemed to be working against him. He always seemed to open his suite door just as she passed by and he either had to walk down to breakfast with her or look like a fool.
All the accidental body contact didn’t help. At least three times a day, he would find himself touching Sunny, whether their shoulders brushed against each other in the hall to reaching for the same platter at exactly the same moment.
If his magic was a separate entity, he would have thought it was angry with him. It had taken to zapping him every once in a while. And the tugging of his magic towards Sunny’s was getting almost unbearable. He would have to figure out what to do but since it required he talk to Raven or Leith about his attraction to Sunny, he had yet to say anything.
And, God, he was like a horny teenager again. He had wet dreams at night, always featuring a very naked Sunny. He required multiple cold showers a day just to deal with the constant erections that seemed to spring up every time he encountered her.
He couldn’t risk getting too close to the young woman, so he continued refusing to help with Sunny’s training.
Raven hadn’t been too pleased when Sloan had refused to work with them, but he hadn’t had much choice in the matter once Sloan explained how his magic didn’t respond well to Sunny’s. The excuse wasn’t exactly true. Of course, water and fire normally didn’t mix well, but he was experienced enough to help Sunny learn to control her magic. He didn’t want to get any closer to her than necessary.
Was it selfish? Sure. But he didn’t know how to tell Raven the real reason behind his refusal to help train the new fire handler. The man had a never ending line of girlfriends and hadn’t once found someone who kept his interest for longer than a few months. How could he possibly understand Sloan’s fear of getting hurt again?
Still, it was impossible for him to stay completely away from Sunny. Her personality totally matched her name, and everyone had to smile when they were around her. Sloan felt happier just being in the same room as her.
Right then, Sunny was trying to summon a small ball of fire and manipulate its size. She’d managed to create the flame but it was either getting too big to hold or it was snuffing out entirely.
Anna instructed Sunny how to concentrate properly and, curious to know how the air handler controlled her own power, Sloan wandered to the other side of the pond so he was closer to the women.
“Calm down and clear your mind. Concentrate on the flames,” Anna said. “Breathe from your diaphragm.” She pressed her hand to Sunny’s abdomen.
Sunny tried again but still wasn’t successful. Sloan could read the frustration on her face and he ached to intervene. He had a feeling that even though air and fire magic matched well, each element would be controlled totally differently.
Over in the field, Anna spoke again and the brisk breeze carried her words clearly. Sloan wondered if she had created the breeze so he could hear her words. Was this her way of involving him in the training? “Once you’ve created the flames, concentrate on what you’re trying to do with them. Like this.”
Anna stilled and held out her hand. A tiny tornado formed instantly, dancing on her palm. “Now that I have the wind, I’m going to forget about creating it. Instead, I’m going to focus on the size and power.”
The air handler was completely frozen even as the tornado grew in size. It hopped out of her palm and continued to grow until it was massive. She sent it off through the field toward the forest.
Sloan couldn’t help but be awed by Anna’s display. The tornado was huge, easily big enough to rip the castle apart stone by stone, and yet there was only a slight breeze. The air handler was manipulating the size of the tornado while keeping its power low.
Impressed, Sloan stopped playing with the water and watched the tornado’s progress. Not even a stray leaf fell from the trees as it hit the woods.
Anna called it back, shrinking the funnel’s size until it would fit inside a bottle. All of a sudden, it started ripping up the ground, chewing through it as if it had teeth. Once again, Anna had manipulated its size and strength, making the tiny funnel as destructive as a full-sized tornado.
After the little funnel had drilled a three-foot hole in the hard ground, Anna held out her hand and the tornado jumped back on to it, as harmless as a kitten, before making it disappear entirely.
Sloan grimaced as Sunny burst into applause. An unpleasant feeling churned in his stomach, and Sloan was man enough to admit it was jealousy. He wanted her to look at him with the same admiration. He briefly thought about lifting the entire contents of the pond into the air and fashioning it into a floating waterfall but then both women would probably figure out he was showing off.
Instead, he sent the pond into a series of waves, each high enough for a professional surfer to ride.
Glancing over his shoulder at the women again, he frowned to see Sunny wasn’t paying to attention to him at all. Anna grinned at him, and sent him a knowing look. “
Watch how Sloan can control the water in the pond,” Anna said to Sunny.
Sloan tried hard not to puff up like a peacock when the redheaded fire handler turned around. He let more magic slip from him and the waves coalesced into one giant wall of water, big enough to sweep a house off its foundation. He let it hover at the edge of the pond for a second before sending it crashing down.
Instead of clapping for him, Sunny looked confused. “How does the pond have that much water? Is it really that deep?” she asked.
So much for impressing her. “I drew the water up from the soil, too,” he said. “If there had been an underground spring, I would have been able to make the wave much bigger.”
Sunny nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Can you create water?” she asked.
Sloan shook his head. “No, not the way you can create flame. Actually, I think you’re the only one who can simply create your element. The rest of us use what we have on hand.”
Anna nodded her agreement. “Yes. I don’t create the wind so much as I manipulate the air currents to my liking.”
“Hmm. So once you have the element shaped the way you want, you concentrate on manipulating it.”
Anna nodded again, looking like a proud mother whose baby had just taken her first steps. “Exactly.”
“So…” Sunny created a tiny flame in her palm and held it up for them to see. “If I stop concentrating so much on keeping the fire lit, I could better control it.”
Sloan held his breath as Sunny narrowed her eyes and stared at the flame. It flared to life, growing and taking shape until it was the size of a dinner plate. Sloan backed away from the ball of fire as his face started to warm. “Try controlling the temperature,” he suggested.
So much for not getting involved.
Sunny narrowed her eyes even more and he couldn’t help but smile at the way her nose scrunched. She was far too cute for her own good. She let out a breath and the fire cooled. “Like this?”
“Exactly,” Anna praised.