She kissed him, teasing his lips, tasting a sweet blend of herself and him. “Trust me to tell you if it’s too much.” She smiled against his mouth. “You won’t break me.” She squeezed her muscles around him, ready to see him let go.
He groaned, breathy and low, and thrust. Found his rhythm, his abs tense as he grunted. Goddess, he was strong, his hips moving faster.
Her foot kicked the table. Something fell. The saltshaker, maybe. She didn’t care. He took her orderly, pristine world and messed it up, mussed her up, made what she’d missed in life oh so clear. He managed to hit a sweet spot inside her, over and over. Her body tightened, the low coil twisting and tensing, and—
Her eyes rolled back. His hands fisted in her hair, and she came apart, straining and gasping and calling his name.
He jerked hard, her name a hoarse, harsh shout. He fell against her, pinning her to the floor, their world nothing but breath and sweat and heat.
She opened her eyes, staring blankly at the stove, her senses focused on the lock of her ankles at his back. She sensed a strange line had been crossed, one that would forever change their futures. For the first time since that disastrous night when she and those closest to her had discovered she would have no power in her lifetime, she felt…seen. Whole. Wanted.
“I…you’re…incredible,” he huffed into the hollow of her neck as her fingers toyed with the damp waves of his hair along the back of his neck.
A wave of exhaustion swept over her. After that, he no doubt—
“Stop thinking, baby. My Air can’t sense your exact thoughts, but I get the gist of what’s going through that pretty head.” He gently pulled out of her and helped her up, tugging her against him. “You’ve only unwrapped the first present. You’re going to receive many, many gifts at this private birthday party.” He took her hands and pulled her toward the hallway. “Let’s grab a shower, and then I’ll feed you cake properly.”
She loved this teasing side of him, this lightness between them they’d not experienced before.
“What if I want more cake improperly? It’s my birthday.” She poked at his chest, and he caught her finger in his fist.
“This day’ll be filled with improper things.” He pulled her toward her bedroom and into the bath. “I aim to keep a sated smile on your pretty face.”
No, he’d aimed for her heart and had stolen it.
She turned on the shower.
“You aim to please, do you? Then I’m giving you all the party favors.”
His playful smile was one she hadn’t seen but made him look younger and even more handsome. Ten minutes passed, maybe ten hours, as he gently washed her from head to toe, taking the time to point out and pay attention to his current favorite spots. Before they threatened to exhaust the city’s water supply, he turned off the taps and reached outside for a fluffy towel.
He wrapped her in the oversized sheet and tugged her toward him, nipping at the spot right below her ear.
A laugh escaped her. Goddess, when was the last time she’d laughed? “I don’t need this anymore.” She tugged at the edge of the terrycloth, letting it fall to the floor, and raced for the bed.
He was on her in seconds, scooping her up and turning to absorb their fall onto the mattress.
“I’m getting the cake. Be right back.”
She watched his mighty fine ass as he strode from her bedroom, the man a masterpiece of muscular art, and realized the problem. He’d ruined her for anyone else. What they’d experienced, what he’d done for her, to her… She’d seen the man beneath the armor, the one she’d bet he’d never shown anyone else.
And she wanted that man. More than anything.
He came back in, holding the box and a fork. The bed jostled as he climbed in and settled beside her. He sliced a perfect bite with a little lemon on the frosting and held it near her mouth. “Happy birthday, Elspeth.”
She slid the cake from the tines with her lips.
“Good Goddess of fruit, that’s delicious.” She reached for his hand and the fork. “Your turn.” The game started, and they took turns feeding each other bite after bite of
perfect lemon.
He finally put the box aside, lying down beside her, his nose near hers on the pillow.
“I’m hungry again for something better than citrus.” He teased a finger down her cheek, his expression serious but serene.
“Then let’s make sure you’re fed until you’re full. It would break my heart for you to go hungry on my birthday.” Or on any day, she didn’t add, wanting to take this, take him, one glorious day at a time.
He smiled, part angel, part devil, and rolled on top of her, kissing her and making love to her for hours.
When night finally fell, and she lay wrapped in his arms, his body pressed against her back, his soft snore rustling her hair, she closed her eyes, her last thought that she wanted this man with a fury she didn’t recognize.
And she vowed to find a way to keep him.
Aleron opened his eyes and stared straight into a mass of long brown hair. Elspeth’s rose scent invaded his senses, the perfume pushing through him, the aroma strong in the heated space they shared. He carefully extracted his legs intertwined with hers, his body heavy with a strange, sated energy, and rolled to his back. She couldn’t refuel him, but as he stared at the ceiling, he chalked up the boost to just being with her.
She stirred, turning toward him as if searching for him in her sleep. Her chest rose in a long, slow swell, releasing more easily, eyes turned up ever so slightly as if she were laughing in her dreams.
The tops of her breasts peeked from the comforter lying loose across her body, toying with him, calling to his hands, his fingertips, his tongue. He studied her smooth forehead, the straight line of her nose ending in a cute button, the curve of her mouth that had damn near destroyed him last night. Her expression was so relaxed, so coy, he almost thought she was awake and playing with him.
He’d never woken beside a woman. Never spent the night or more than an hour, tops, with one to regen. He couldn’t call last night sex. Sure, in the textbook sense, maybe, but even a hint, a whiff of the physicality of what they’d done sent a bolt of lust through him. What they’d shared, what she’d given him… Goddess, his pulse accelerated at the memory of the blissful strain on her face as she came undone around him and the look of unbridled sin in her green eyes as she described, in great detail, what she was going to do to him.
He eased back the covers, his morning wood now log-straight, and slipped out of bed. He’d better get away from her, or he was going to kiss her awake and start her day with him worshipping her with his mouth between her legs.
He looked at the clock on her side table. Ten a.m.? What the hell? Sleeping so late was a first since his teen years.
He studied the sweep of her dark eyelashes against her pale skin and the sliver of white through the tiny parting of her full mouth. Her hand pushed into the space where he’d been, and a deep exhale rushed from her, the peace of her expression returning at finding his lingering warmth.
She looked like she’d found forever. With him.
And he’d seen it with her in the horizon of her eyes.
She felt like a home, a place he wanted to live, a place he didn’t want to leave. She was so…lovely. Not pretty or smart or funny, but all three. Lovely encompassed all three. Lovely was something he’d never tasted before, and he didn’t know what to do with the feelings flickering inside him. She wasn’t marrying the Russian, so how could he find a way to stay with her?
He headed for the kitchen, his brain empty of ideas, but his heart full. He imagined the moment he told Seanair.
I quit, you disgraceful cockbag. I’m taking Elspeth far away so you can’t ruin her. She’s mine. I love her. And you can bend over and take it straight to your throat if you—
Yeah, he’d be ash right after the word quit.
He walked to the counter, found the coffee, and got a pot started without really thinking about it.
It was a good thing the ritual was hardwired, because all his brainpower was focused on her. He couldn’t give her up. He wouldn’t. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t refuel him. Goddess, his power might go to shit, because he didn’t want to regen, ever again, by sleeping with someone else. She was all he wanted, all he needed, damn his elements to the far corners of the polluted earth.
He recognized the slow squeeze of his heart. The pang he still felt for his mother and his brothers ever since they’d all stopped speaking to him.
His father had been right. His gut had given him the heads-up the moment Elspeth had opened her front door. That poke in the instinct had signaled a hard left for his life.
He loved her. Was in flaming, burning, pure-as-Fire and Air love with her.
The coffeemaker sputtered and steamed. He toyed with the rings hanging around his neck, something other than bitterness stirring inside him. His Fire energy stretched from a flicker to a steady flame. He felt…good. Damn great, actually. His insides tingled, all smoldery and warm, like he’d tossed back a couple fingers of whisky.
He stood at the window over the sink, not giving a damn he was buck-ass naked. He’d check in with Command in a bit, but he wasn’t about to cover up. In fact, he planned to play human today, go biblical, and Adam-and-Eve it in the garden of her apartment all day long. Maybe she’d be up for a test of which was better, cake sex or bacon sex?
Hell, why choose? Both…with long, long showers in between where he’d use up bottles of that froufrou bodywash, playing bubbles with every single inch of her. He could see doing that for the rest of his days.
A breath of worry whispered over the back of his neck.
How could he think of abandoning his plan? How had the idea even formed? Twelve years. Twelve years of dreams, every detail specific and gory. How he’d do it. What he’d say. How he’d feel at the wide-eyed, oh-shit rounding of Seanair’s eyes when the tyrannical leader realized it was game over.
Revenge had saved him, fed him, fueled him through every Elite One assignment.
He owed his brothers and his sweet mother. His parents had been so in love.
But he’d fallen for a smart, sexy, sweatpants-and-hoodie woman trapped in a ballgown life. Even though Seanair was a cruel, flaming asshole, Elspeth still cared about him. No matter how much her grandfather cut her with his words and put her down, she still held some smoldering candle of affection for the old ball bag.
A terrible, traitorous tug at his heart unearthed a truth he couldn’t deny.
He could not kill Seanair and also have Elspeth.
No analysis needed. It was either love Elspeth or kill her grandfather. Standing there, her scent baked into his skin, the decision… Well, there wasn’t one. His instincts flared anew, the flame steady and sure.
It had to be her.
He grabbed a glass from the cabinet, turned on the faucet, and availed himself of Manhattan’s surprisingly tasty tap water. He waited for the rebuttal, for his brain to go hell no and for his heart to harden and recommit to revenge.
It didn’t come. No argument. No guilt. Nothing.
Nothing but sweet warmth washed over him, and a fragrant peace laced the air.
He swallowed the last gulp, put the glass in the sink, and felt it. A disturbance in the Fire seal. Power teased through his hair and over his face. He jerked at the flood of sensation, looking around the kitchen.
Power struck him in a full-body press, pushing him into the counter. A strange new zing twirled with the Fire inside him, a burst of…Air? Not hair-dryer level, but a hurricane.
He searched deep inside himself, going still at the element count.
Two. Not just Fire, but a fully formed Air. No more halfsies—the gift from his mother was no longer latent, but a tornado fueling the flames.
How had his Air gone from faint to a roar, and why now?
He went still. Energy lashed his insides, the Air stirring and whipping and chasing his Fire. He marveled at the sharp increase in power, how his inferno of power now had afterburners. Static crackled over his hands, the normally orange light now tipped with white.
How on the Goddess’s great earth had this happened? How—
A breeze shot through the room, ruffling the roll of paper towels, sliding the spoon rest into a stove burner, knocking over the saltshaker.
Not buying what he was feeling, he closed his eyes and ripped open the figurative door to where his energy resided. There was Fire, shacked up next to…
Impossible.
Naturas didn’t just gain extra power. As if insulted, the Air energy inside him seemed to stand and fist-bump his Fire. His hand slapped the counter at the kick to his lungs. A cyclonic whirl of wind surrounded him then calmed, like his Fire had shepherded the Air.
He was a Dual, a Goddess-blessed Dual, and a damned strong one too.
How in the blazing fuck had that happened?
Power brushed him. Just a stroke. A tease. A test? He glanced behind him. That energy was different. Unease yanked his instincts. He checked the apartment’s shields again. No fractures. The sensation increased, its force building, like he was being sandwiched between two large, invisible masses. He shoved back against the power. Earth. Where was it coming from? A breeze smacked his face. Air that didn’t belong to him.
Confusion still ruled the moment, but a heightened awareness jerked his head toward the bedroom.
Power glided over his bare feet. Up his legs. To his middle and over his arms and neck and face.
Not one energy. Not two.
Four.
And not his.
He checked his shields again. Walls, windows, vents, wires. Covered in Fire energy and holding. Had that nasty-ass Earth Astrux come back and brought friends?
A scream came from the bedroom.
He stepped into the hallway, and a tidal wave of elements pinned him to the wall like he was a bug on a board, the energy a blitz of assassin-level strength. He clenched his fists.
Her name clawed up his throat in a roar. He called upon his Fire, pulling, sucking, wrenching every molecule of heat within reach. Like an engine revved, his element flooded him, and he leaned into the tornado of Air and flames and fury.
He broke free and lunged into the bedroom, razor-sharp control and temper ablaze in brutal fury, primed for total annihilation. If anything happened to her. If anyone dared to touch her…
He stopped dead.
He jerked and doubled over, the violent retreat of his Fire and sloppy retraction of his Air smashing inside him like two crashed cars. He fell against the bed, slid to a knee, and grunted against the sword slice of pain.
Bands of colored light circled Elspeth. Green. Blue. White. Red. Like some miniature aurora borealis having a festival over her skin.
Eyes wide, her chin trembling, she was on her knees on the bed, her fingers fanned over the sheets as she braced, her naked body shaking and seemingly pinned by magnificent power. Her scent, the one that had invaded his every pore, permeated the room, the provocative blend smoldering with Fire essence and stroking his element.
“What’s happening to me?” she cried, her voice shaky and high.
Red and white threads circled her hips, bathing her in a radiant fountain of color, the bright ribbons changing to green and blue.
Not trusting his eyes, he scanned the room.
Elspeth and him. Alone. No one else. No thing else.
He counted the colors. Fire’s red vapor clung to her skin. Air’s white outlined her body. Earth’s green and Water’s blue chased each other from top to toe.
It couldn’t be. That hadn’t happened in—no.
The phenomenon transpiring before him supposedly existed only in legend. Every family longed for such luck, the winning ticket in the Natura genetic lottery.
That wasn’t real.
But the evidence didn’t lie.
He inhaled the plethora of aromas from the elements dancing around her, ripe and thick in the room. Smoke. Dirt. A spring breeze.
The salt of the sea. Mother Nature’s finest and purest gifts.
The arrival of one’s element was a private moment, the recollection of that fateful day an intimate agony of pleasure and pain.
“Aleron,” she gasped. “Help me.”
He raced to the bed, realizing the champagne-like bubbles of power fizzing over her were now seeping into her.
“What’s happening?” She tried to straighten but fell forward onto her hands, gasping. “I woke up, and they were there. It’s too much.” She shoved a fist over her mouth, leaped off the bed, and rushed into the bathroom.
He followed and took her hair in his hands as she dry-heaved. He sensed power, not danger, but he barely had a finger on her, and his hand trembled.
“You’re a Nexus.”
A swath of Fire cut through the room, and the towel beside the sink went up in flames. Shit. He yanked the cloth off the wall, rack and all, and threw it into the tub. Twisted open the tap. Good Goddess, she had no idea what she was doing. For a split second, he thought he’d set the damned thing aflame, then knew instantly how wrong he was.
He’d had six years of training to learn how to control one element.
She’d had no training at all on all four of them.
Holy elemental wrecking ball.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.” He went to the floor beside her, pulled her into his arms, and circled his Fire and Air around her.
“What’s wrong with me?” she moaned, curling into him. “And why do I feel like I drank a bottle of vodka and then went toe-to-toe with a steamroller?”
In the bedroom, his cellphone went off, song blasting and phone vibrating on the bedside table. Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.” Kazumi.
Not now, damn it. Not now.
“What’s a Nexus?” Elspeth gasped out.
“Short story is, you got power-jacked by all four elements and are hemorrhaging energy. Goddess, you’re buzzing like a kid hopped up on Mountain Dew and Pop Rocks. Come here.” He guided her toward the rug and pulled her onto his lap.
“My head hurts so bad.” She winced. “What…how…”
The Call of Fire: A Natura Elementals Novel Page 21