by Lynn Tyler
The sound of the water starting caught his attention and his head swung around. She was in the shower. Naked and wet.
Oh, good God, he’d never gotten hard so fast before. He couldn’t help but picture what she would look like standing under the cascade of water. Her wet hair would be plastered around her shoulders and down her back, clinging to her body like wet silk. Her fair skin would glow and her small breasts would fit perfectly into his palms. Were her nipples pink or tan? Did she shave her pussy or was she natural?
Adjusting his dick in his pants so it wouldn’t snap off, Sloan backed toward the door to leave. He was pretty sure being caught in Sunny’s room would not win him any brownie points with anyone. And he was in enough hot water with Anna and Raven as it was.
He’d almost made it to the door when a soft moan caught his attention. His gaze snapped back to the bathroom door and he froze. He would bet every last bit of his magic that those were not moans of distress. His wife may have passed away twenty-five years ago, but he still remembered what a woman’s pleasure sounded like.
Every drop of blood in his body drained into his dick and he actually had to press down on it to stop the orgasm poised at the tip. Shit, he needed to get out of here and fast. Tiptoeing awkwardly, he gripped the doorway just as another moan floated on the air. “Sloan…”
He managed to slip out of the room and close the door almost silently before he sprinted down the hall. He burst through the door to his own room and slammed it hard behind him before unzipping his pants and plunging his hand inside.
Not even two steps into his room, and still fully dressed, Sloan gripped his cock with one hand, using the other to prop himself up against the wall. He set a fast pace, stroking his thumb over the top of his dick with each pass.
Sweat dripped off his forehead and onto the floor, mixing with the pre-come already pearling at the tip of his cock. The sound of his name from Sunny’s lips was still echoing in his ears and he closed his eyes, a picture of a nude Sunny in the throes of orgasm forming on his closed lids.
“Fuck,” he grunted as every muscle in his body contracted. The pleasure started at the base of his spine and spread rapidly through his entire body until he was sure he was going to pass out. He increased the pace of his stroking until his entire being was focused on the sensations between his legs.
He came violently, spurting all over his hand and clothes. He continued rubbing his dick until he was too sensitive to stand it anymore.
His legs were barely strong enough to support him as he stumbled over to his bed before sagging onto the mattress. He stared at the mess he’d made, another wave of confusion washing over him. Logically, he knew Dara wouldn’t have wanted him to live the rest of his life alone. In fact, she’d probably be thrilled another woman had finally caught his attention. And in truth, it wasn’t really guilt that made him so reluctant to get to know Sunny.
No, it wasn’t guilt. It was fear. He had a feeling that falling for Sunny would be one of the easiest things he’d ever do. But as much as he sneered at Raven and the rest of them for believing in the prophecy about a war to end all wars, he’d seen the evidence of it himself. His magic seemed to be doubling in power every few days, almost as if in preparation for the coming war. All of it meant he could very well have finally found his soul mate. But then what had Dara been?
God, he was so confused. He’d loved Dara with all his heart. If she wasn’t his soul mate, it meant someone else was. And according to the prophecy, he and his soul mate would be fighting side by side in the coming war.
An image of Sunny popped up, unbidden, in his mind’s eye, but he pushed it away.
He’d already lost someone he’d loved dearly in the last war and it had nearly killed him. He wasn’t sure if he could survive that again.
Chapter 9
Sloan pressed his hand against his aching head and stumbled into the hall. He had hardly slept at all, and his sleepless night was starting to take its toll on him. He needed coffee to stop the pounding in his head. To top it all off, his body hummed with extra magic, and he desperately needed to release some of the buildup.
A door opened a little ways up the hall. The only occupied room that far down the corridor was the new fire handler’s.
Crap. Sunny was the last person he needed to see right now, especially when he was in such poor control of his magic.
He thought briefly about ducking back into his room but at that second, she looked right at him. “Good morning,” she said brightly.
God, she was beautiful. Her full lips were tilted upward in a grin, and he instantly wondered what they would look like wrapped around his dick.
Shaking the thought from his head, he nodded at her. “Morning,” he grunted, hoping she didn’t notice the slight bulge his half-hard dick was leaving in his pants.
Her smile widened as she stopped next to him. “Not much of a morning person?” she asked.
He cleared his throat and shook his head. “No. It usually takes at least a vat of coffee before Raven deems me fit for conversation.”
“Mmm, coffee,” Sunny crooned. “I love coffee. It’s like liquid gold. But Matthew and Leith told me caffeine made it harder for me to control my magic.”
“Yes, it can. But once you’ve learned to control your power, you should be able to drink as much coffee as you want.” Of course, he didn’t tell her neither he nor Anna had had a drop of the stuff in weeks, as their magics were getting harder and harder to control. He didn’t think Sunny would be particularly reassured by the fact that two seasoned handlers were losing their grip on their magic.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
Sunny nodded and stretched her arms over her head. He was pretty sure she had no idea her shirt had ridden up with her movement and a thin band of her creamy flesh was visible over the waistband of her pants. “I did, thanks,” she said, dropping her arms. Much to Sloan’s disappointment, the shirt settled back into place, hiding her skin from his eyes once again.
She continued talking, seeming completely oblivious to his gaze. “In fact, it was sort of weird. It was kind of like there was something dampening my power…my magic, I guess. I felt like I could sleep without being afraid about setting the place on fire for the first time since my birthday.”
“It’s the wards Raven and Leith put on the castle a few years back. They’re spells which help us control our powers,” he explained when she looked confused.
“Does that mean we can’t use magic in the castle at all?” she asked.
“No. A handler’s magic is exceptionally stronger than anyone else’s in the castle, with the exception of Raven. Even he wouldn’t be able to stop you if you completely lost control. But as the leader, he does have a few advantages. He can lock down our magic if he wants.”
She looked thoughtful. “So, he could take it away for a little while to give us a break from the sensation of needing to jump out of our skin?”
“Not really. He can lock it in our bodies. It doesn’t stop the magic from building up though.”
She made a face. “Well, that’s no fun.” Then she smiled again. “But if I practice, the jittery feeling will go away, right?”
He nodded. “For a short time. It will build up again, but practicing will release it.”
She started speaking, but he’d made the mistake of looking at her mouth again. It was full, pink, and a little moist from where her tongue kept peeking out to lick at her lips.
Sunny’s smile had widened into an outright grin and Sloan blinked, finding himself completely blinded. She practically lit up the whole castle with her expression. Her name matched her personality exactly.
It was almost impossible not to move closer to her warmth, to her vitality, and something which had been dormant inside him for a quarter of a century stretched and reached for her light like a moth flying straight for a flame.
“Wow,” she said. “You weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t a morning person. Are you okay?”
<
br /> He blinked again, this time completely lost. “I’m sorry?”
She laughed and he could have sworn he heard bells. Had he ever been this taken with a woman so early?
“I asked if you would mind walking with me to the dining room. I swear, I need a GPS to find my way around this place.”
“Sure. I was heading down to breakfast myself. And don’t worry, you’ll figure out your way around the castle soon enough.”
Together they walked down the hall in companionable silence. She seemed happy to be there, which he found slightly odd. He would have thought having been forced to leave her home, especially given that she had pretty much been kidnapped, would have been traumatic. He’d expected her to rage against her situation, or at least be a little resentful. “How come you’re not pissed about being here?” he blurted.
Sunny shrugged. “I can’t really explain it. I’ve never really fit in before. I’ve always kind of felt restless, you know? I’ve always had these visions of fire I couldn’t explain. I actually spent time in a psychiatric hospital when they couldn’t figure out if I was a danger.”
She fiddled with the hem of her shirt for a few seconds before looking up at him with a sheepish smile. “There’s something about being here that makes me feel at peace. And something about the people here, especially Matthew, that soothes me.”
Jealousy hit Sloan so hard, he nearly stumbled. She found Matthew soothing? What was it about the little pup she found so comforting?
Just as quickly, he pushed the thought aside. What did it matter to him if she found Matthew comforting? He had Dara’s memory to keep him company. Except, it had been getting harder and harder to remember how she had felt in his arms. He had to look at her photograph now if he wanted to remember her smile.
He’d promised at their wedding to never love anyone else and it was an insult to her memory if he lusted after another woman.
Except he knew Dara wouldn’t have wanted him to live out the rest of his very long life alone.
“Which way do we go from here?” Sunny asked suddenly.
He was really out of it this morning. They’d made it to the bottom of the stairs but he’d apparently stopped walking. “This way,” he said, pointing to the left. The tone of his voice came out a little sharper than he’d intended, and she shot him a weird look.
He wasn’t exactly sure how to apologize for his abrupt change of attitude, or if he even wanted to. All he knew was there were two empty chairs at the dining table and she headed straight for the one next to Matthew.
Which only left one chair vacant. And it happened to be right next to Sunny.
He sighed and headed for the table, knowing if he attempted to skip breakfast again, Raven would probably tie him to the chair and force-feed him.
Matthew looked over at him when Sloan collapsed in his chair. “Having a rough morning?” he asked.
He resisted the urge to drop his face to his hands and grabbed a platter of bacon instead. How could he explain why his mood had gone from fantastic to shit in the matter of a few seconds?
“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 handler’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 effect 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 i
mage 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 it 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.