Caution to the Wind: Book One of the Elementals Series

by F. R. Southerland

  A lump formed in Loren’s throat. Even if she knew what to say, the words wouldn’t have come out. She stepped to him and placed a comforting hand on his arm. It was enough for the moment that he thought she was someone.

  Avery pulled her into his arms again and Loren exhaled a gentle breath. Her voice was soft when she spoke.

  “I stopped talking too.”

  Avery’s hands moved along his back before he brought one up to brush the hair back from her shoulder. “Is it your turn to share now?”

  “Sharing is caring.”

  That earned a brief, quiet chuckle. “What happened?”

  “It’s uh a very long story. I never thought I mattered much at all. Ever. It’s difficult for me to have any sort of um confidence.”

  “I’ve noticed.”

  Loren nodded and resisted the urge to bite her lip. Instead, she continued. “When people tell me I’m important, I tend not to believe it. It wasn’t always like that.” She paused to take in a small breath. “Shortly after I got my powers, after that brief visit from Castle—when I thought maybe having superpowers made me special—my parents died.”

  Avery’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry.”

  She dismissed the apology. “A car accident. I don’t remember much about it. I went to psychiatrists. Doctors after doctors. My uh anxiety came from post-traumatic stress. And it went downhill from there.”

  “And your powers? Did they know?”

  “They uh studied me. When they couldn’t find an explanation for it, they said it was a coincidence. They told me I was delusional.” She dropped her gaze. “I was living in a fantasy world to cope.

  “I learned how to hide what I could do, or I tried at least. There were always accidents. Sometimes, people noticed. I tried to be careful.”

  “Did you ever willingly show anyone?”

  “A few times,” she said quietly. “To mixed reviews.” She finally lifted her head and searched his face. “Mostly bad reviews. So, I stopped talking about it. I stopped showing anyone. I didn’t use my powers often at all. It was uh easy to start thinking I wasn’t as important as I thought I was—with or without superpowers.”

  Avery remained quiet as he processed it all. He gave Loren a soft smile. “I sometimes feet the same way, especially when I was younger. My mom was a big help.” The smile turned sad.

  “It’s still painful, huh?”

  “It’s been fifteen years. It hurts every day.”

  Loren wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest again. “I didn’t realize you were close to her.”

  “I was. I was the baby, after all. I was spoiled.” His hand gently stroked her hair. “We might’ve shared enough for one day.”

  She nodded and her cheek rubbed against his shirt. “I don’t want to share anything else. Not tonight.” Emotions were tiresome. “I want to stay here, like this. I don’t even want to think.”

  “You can, if you want—though we may get tired standing here.”

  She nuzzled against his chest again. “We need a couch.”

  “Or a bed.”

  Her face warmed at the suggestion. “Maybe. Maybe not so fast.”

  Avery’s chest rumbled with a chuckle. “We can stand.”

  “Okay.” She closed her eyes when he lightly kissed the top of her head. He continued to touch her hair. Given the opportunity, she could’ve stayed there forever. He made her feel like someone. He made her feel important.

  She tightened her arms around him and surrendered herself to that feeling. She never wanted to let go of it or him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Loren spent the majority of the next few days in the training room. Her control improved. It was shaky in the beginning and she lost focus more than a couple times. Luckily, she had to rely on the inhibitor only twice to quell her powers. The effects lasted for a few hours and halted any progress. She used the downtime to get to know the others.

  She learned Eva had an immense love for ballet and had studied it as a young girl. With her delicate bone structure and general gracefulness, Loren could see her performing on stage. She wished she had the talent.

  Levi liked electronics. She was already aware of that, but the full depth of it surprised her. He’d gone to one of the most prestigious colleges in the country and had graduated at the top of his class. Along with his insightfulness, Levi was skilled in creating gadgets. It all went over Loren’s head, but that was fine with her. She kept her interactions with him as limited as possible. Intelligent and brilliant as he was, she was still apprehensive.

  Despite the tension now between them, Loren learned about Callum too. He’d been studious in his youth. She mostly picked up what she could from his conversations with his sister. They’d discussion literature, current events, and politics while Loren drank her tea and listened. He was smart, cultured. Her love of books ended at the occasional cheesy romance. She would’ve liked to contribute to the conversation, but found nothing to add. She learned much from listening.

  While Loren spent her days with the others, her nights were with Avery. She treasured the time they shared, enjoying the heart-to-heart conversations they had as they prepared for the training.

  The physical training was more arduous than she had expected, but she was determined now not to give up. Avery encouraged her and made her feel confident she could do it. She didn’t want to waste any of that.

  “Close quarters is what we’re doing. It’s when your assailant is close to you, like this.” Avery demonstrated by standing behind her. His hands lightly rested on her hips.

  She glanced back over her shoulder at him. His hands slid up her sides then along her arms, lifting one of them.

  “When someone is close like this—if you don’t want them close that is,” Avery said close to her ear and she could hear his smirk, “then you bring your elbow up. Aim for the nose, if you can. With enough force, you can disable someone and make a break for it.”

  “Yeah?” It was difficult to concentrate with his breath against her hair. She pursed her lips and leaned back against him.

  “That would be the exact opposite of making a break for it.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to escape.”

  Avery’s arms slipped around her.

  She smiled. “I think maybe you don’t want to let go either.”

  “Not even for half a second.” He leaned down and his lips brushed across her cheek. She kept her back against his chest.

  “I guess I shouldn’t hit you in the face then.”

  Avery laughed. “Please don’t. That always hurts.”

  She twisted in his arms to look up at him. “Thank you. For doing this.”

  “You’ve thanked me every day for the past week. You probably can stop. I get it. You’re grateful.”

  “I really am.” It was difficult, but Loren managed to draw back from his embrace. Her hand lingered on his arm for a moment longer. “I’m actually starting to get muscles.” She flexed an arm.

  He laughed again and reached over to feel. “Oh yeah.”

  She smiled as she dropped her arm. “Do you think I could defend myself now?”

  Avery rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?”

  “You’ve been training for a week. I’ve had years. I think you have the basics, but if you were to get into a fight—”

  “I’m not looking for a fight. But if someone were to grab me, do you think I could fight them off?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you’re not ready.”

  She frowned. “Oh.” She hoped she didn’t sound disappointed. “I mean, I guess I can’t expect to get really good right away.”

  “No. But you are getting there.” Avery picked up a water bottle and took a deep drink from it. He offered it to her, but Loren declined with a shake of her head.

  “It’s a start.” She wiped her hand over her forehead. “Let’s keep going.”

  “Whenever you’re ready.”

&nb
sp; “Okay. What do you want me to do this time?”

  “Defend yourself. I’ll come at you.”

  “Okay.” She puffed out her cheeks and shook out her hands to prepare. She placed her feet apart and got into her ready stance. “Okay. Go.”

  Avery moved behind her. Loren waited for him to grab her, sensing some hesitation when he didn’t move right away. She swallowed and when she heard his shoes scuff along the mat, she pivoted to meet him. His strong arms closed around her, pinning both of hers to her side. She wriggled as she tried to free an arm for an elbow strike. His hold was tight.

  She shifted her stance and brought her heel down on his toe instead. He grunted but didn’t release her. Loren shoved her hip back into him in an attempt to throw off his balance. It didn’t work. His arms held her securely.

  Each attempt she made to free herself and attack him failed. Panic began to swell. She couldn’t breathe. He was too strong. “Avery…” She gasped and closed her eyes.

  She focused on her breathing and took a big gulp of air. She exhaled. It didn’t help. She was on the verge of losing control. She continued to breathe and went still in Avery’s arms.

  She exhaled one last time and threw her arms out. Avery’s hold broke and the force of her power sent him flying back. The table slid across the floor and crashed into the wall. The junker car groaned as the shockwave moved it. Everything that surrounded her blew away.

  Loren opened her eyes. Avery was on the floor, a few feet from her. He looked up at her in shock. Blood dripped down his forehead from a small cut at his hairline.

  “Oh. Oh god. Avery. I’m so sorry. I didn’t—I wasn’t trying to use my powers. I was just—I don’t—” She clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle her stammers.

  Avery wiped at his forehead as he stood. The blood smeared across his forehead. His brow furrowed at the sight of red on his hand. “It’s okay.” He grabbed a towel from the floor.

  She stepped back and surveyed the damage. Everything was in disarray. She’d never created a blast like this. And she’d hurt Avery. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

  Avery dabbed at the cut and winced. “I told you to defend yourself and you did. It doesn’t matter exactly how you did it. You succeeded.”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “It’s a cut. And a few bruises. This is definitely not the worst I’ve ever had.” He twisted the towel in his grasp as he looked to her. “That was powerful though.”

  “I uh realized.” She stared at the destruction around her. “I had no idea I could do this. I mean, I guess I could. I never have.”

  “Come here.” Avery held out his arm to her. There was a moment’s hesitation before Loren stepped to him. Once closer to his body, he put his arm around her.

  “Maybe you should focus on training with Callum and Eva for a while,” Avery suggested.

  Clearly, her control was questionable. Her power was much stronger than she’d thought. She needed the training. “You’re right.”

  “Let’s call it quits for the night and get some rest.”

  She didn’t make any move to step away from him.

  He drew back after a moment and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Do you want me to walk you to your room?”

  She didn’t want to be alone right now. She didn’t trust herself to be alone. That was when the overthinking started. She nodded.

  “What do we do about the mess?” she murmured.

  “I’ll clean it all up tomorrow. It’s not that bad.”

  “Okay.”

  Avery led her out of the garage. It was late, but there were still lights on in the manor. Loren glanced up at a window as they crossed the darkened backyard together. A figure stood there, silhouetted against the light. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew those broad shoulders.

  It was Callum.

  Loren ducked her head, looking at Avery from the corner of her eye. He hadn’t noticed and moved ahead of her to open the terrace door.

  “Avery.” Her voice was hushed as she stepped inside. “I think Callum saw us.”

  He paused, his back to her. She could see his shoulders tense. “Are you sure?”

  “I don’t know. Someone was standing in the window. A male someone. And it wasn’t Levi.”

  “Great.” Avery smoothed a hand over his hair. “Forget it for now. He’ll yell at me about it later. This sneaking around has to stop anyway. He probably already knows about the training. I don’t care anymore.”

  Wordlessly, she felt for his hand.

  He sighed and took her hand. He gave it a tight squeeze before he started to lead her through the quiet manor.

  When they reached her room, he stopped outside her door. “Get some sleep, Loren.” Hands still held, he ran his thumb along the back of hers.

  Loren nodded. “I will. You get some sleep too.” She leaned up, brushing a faint kiss against the side of his mouth.

  She expected his return kiss, but she didn’t anticipate his arm to go around her and crush her against his body. His lips met hers, pliable and soft. She parted hers to welcome him.

  The kiss was long, far more passionate than ones they’d shared before. His hands swept down her back. His tongue touched her lip. Hesitantly, she met it with her own. Her arms snaked around his neck.

  When he lifted her up against his body, Loren didn’t protest. His lips left hers and traveled down her neck. A small sigh left her and her head fell back at the attention he gave to her throat.

  It had been so long since she’d felt something like this, since desire had fueled her actions. Years.

  He pulled her into the room with him. The door slammed shut a little too loudly when he pushed her against it, but the sound was lost when she moaned. His mouth found the sweet spot on her neck once more.

  Her fingers tangled in his ponytail. His touch seared into the bare flesh of her back.

  It was all happening so fast. “Avery…” Her words came out in a small sigh. “Avery… can we take it slow?” Her head swam.

  “We are.” His breath was hot against her throat. It sent a small shudder through her.

  She let out a small noise of protest when he drew back from her. It lasted a moment as they both fumbled with her shirt. Once it was off, his hands and lips were on her again.

  When he lifted her again, Loren’s legs locked around his waist. It was no effort for him to bring her back to the bed. He eased her down onto it and broke the kiss.

  Loren was breathless. “I haven’t done this in a while,” she admitted. Her heart pounded. “A long while.”

  “That’s okay.” His fingertips ghosted along her collarbone. His eyes remained on hers. “I’ll do my best to go slow.”

  Biting down on her lip, Loren gave the briefest of nods.

  He leaned down and she sighed into their kiss. Her hands rested on his chest, feeling the muscles through the fabric of his shirt. She slid them beneath his shirt to find his hot, bare skin.

  Avery lifted himself up and drew his shirt over his head. Loren looked at his well-toned torso. Her fingers traced a path along his abdomen before his mouth found her neck again. She sank into the pillows with a sigh.

  Her hips lifted to press against him lightly. As his lips traveled lower and traced over the lacy pattern of her bra, she ground against him more insistently. He found the front closure of her bra and unsnapped it.

  Loren’s breath hitched as he opened her bra. Her self-consciousness returned and she brought her arms up to cover herself.

  Avery took her wrists gently in his grasp. “You don’t need to hide.” He lowered her arms.

  “Just um old habit.”

  He looked her over and his gaze traveled along her naked skin. “Bad habit,” he murmured as he leaned down. He planted soft kisses between her breasts.

  When his lips pressed to her nipple, Loren bit her lip and looked down at him. His mouth closed over the peak and she arched against him.

  She lost herself to him, to his hands
and mouth, to every sensation he gave her. Her jeans unbuttoned and his hand dipped into her panties. She was wet. Ready.

  As his fingers delved into her, she moaned and rocked her hips against him. His palm pressed to her clit and she sought more friction.

  “Avery. Loren.” Accompanying their names was a loud beep.

  She gave a small start. Avery groaned in annoyance and drew back from her. “Goddamn it.”

  She scrambled for her clothes—until she realized Callum wasn’t in the room. It was only the com.

  Static crackled. “You’re both needed in my study.” There was a pause. “Immediately.”

  Avery sighed heavily and retrieved his shirt. “Fucking Cal.”

  Loren put her hands over her heated face. “Oh god… You don’t think he knew? What we were doing?”

  “Yeah, probably.” He pulled on his shirt. He looked over at her. “Sorry. He’ll keep bothering us until we see what he wants.” His lips pulled into a forced smile. “We better not keep him waiting.”

  She sat up and ran her hand through her hair. “Yeah.” She couldn’t begin to describe how she felt right now. She searched for her bra.

  Avery grabbed her shirt and held it out to her. “Whatever this is, it had better be good.”

  Loren couldn’t help but agree.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Callum’s study was quiet. A fire crackled in the fireplace. The room was overly warm, but she didn’t complain.

  Loren wrapped her arms around herself. Avery stood a short distance away from her. His arms were crossed and he looked more than annoyed.

  To be frank, she wasn’t all too happy either.

  Levi sat in the armchair with his laptop balanced on a cushion. His attention drew to the screen. Loren was thankful he paid little attention to her. One look and he’d know exactly what she and Avery had been doing. Her face reddened anyway.

  Eva was absent and they awaited her arrival. Callum sat straight-backed in his chair with his hands folded on the desk. When they arrived in Callum’s study, he and Levi had already been present.

  A heavy silence permeated the room and she shifted awkwardly. Luckily, Eva arrived within minutes. She stepped in quietly. She wore no make-up and her hair was down. Loren suspected she’d been asleep before the summons.