Discovering Aether

by Emily James Taylor

  Kevin’s mouth trails kisses down my stomach. He reaches the barrier of my underwear and grips them with his teeth. He pulls down one side then kisses his way to the other side and pulls it down with his teeth as well. When they go as far as he can get them, Kevin sits up and grabs them with his hands. He pulls them down my legs and flings them across the room.

  Kevin freezes at the sight of my lips bared to his eyes. Slowly, his eyes find mine. He smirks at me and swiftly brings his thumb down on my clit and flicks it. I suck in a breath as pleasure spikes through me. His thumb rubs me in small circles. The pressure I felt during our kiss builds again. His mouth descends on my wet, throbbing clit.

  “Oh shit,” I moan. While his tongue dances on my clit, he plunges two fingers into my folds. Kevin pumps his fingers in and out of me slowly and the pressure builds until I feel like I’m about to explode. My hand finds his hair and I push my hips up into his mouth. The pace of his fingers pumping in and out of me quickens and he sucks hard on my clit.

  “Fuck!” My voice is hoarse as I almost scream. My orgasm rushes through me, blindsiding me. As I finally achieve my release, my hand pulls on his hair.

  I throw my head back and moan loudly. My breath comes in pants and gasps. Oh, god. That was so much better than when I masturbated in the past. We may have not gone all the way, but it turns out, head can be pretty amazing just by itself.

  When I open my eyes, I find Kevin standing over me with a pleased look on his face. He bends down and kisses me softly, sliding his arms under my neck and legs. He lifts me with ease, tucking me into his chest.

  “I’m spent, Adi. How does a nap together sound?” he asks, walking down the hallway. I brush my hand across his cheek and smile up at him. Yes, a nap snuggled with Kevin is exactly what I need.

  “Okay Lincoln, you can manipulate water because I can’t hear any power coming from you.” Naomi’s boys are in a half circle in front of me in Kevin and Nolan’s living room. I want to try and figure out what each of their gifts are. Thankfully, Kevin wrote down a list for me of how to tell who has what. Since Naomi is Fire, that only leaves Air and Earth. Air is a little harder to tell; you can only hear it and feel it. Earth you can hear, touch, see, taste, and smell. I guess you really can’t hide if you have Earth, there are too many giveaways.

  As Lincoln steps away, Parker and Copper step forward. Plaid must be Parker’s thing because today he’s wearing another flannel shirt, this one is blue and orange. Cooper thankfully doesn’t look like a frat boy today. He has on blue jeans and a black shirt, but he’s still wearing those flip flops.

  As they move closer, my instinct is to smell, to see if any of them have an earthy scent. I try to dig deep into the powers they hold. Last night when I was in bed with a sleeping Nolan and Kevin, I was trying to catch Nolan’s Earth scent. Thankfully, it wasn’t his normal soap scent I caught. It was the smell of salt and clean sand, of the ocean and filled my senses. After smelling that, it’s hard not to admit that we’re soulmates. Why else would he smell like the place I always dreamed of going?

  Focusing back on Naomi’s remaining boys, I relax and let their power fill me. One is giving off an oaky smell along with the scent of fresh water. It reminds me of a low lying stream clear enough to see the moss covered rocks, flowing through a forest. I lock onto that scent and close my eyes to clear my head, and try to trace where it’s coming from. It’s the person on my right. I open my eyes to Cooper. Of course it would be Cooper, he and Nolan gravitate to each other whenever they’re in a room, that their powers are the same must have something to do with that.

  I fail to suppress a smirk and I make my announcement to the room. “Parker is Air and Cooper is Earth.” Naomi bounces over to me with a proud smile.

  “You’re correct, good job Adaline,” Nolan says as he reaches out to Cooper with his palm out. “Pay up. I told you she wouldn’t make a mistake.” Cooper pulls a twenty out of his pockets and laughs as he hands it over.

  “Seriously, you two made a bet on how good I would do?” I ask incredulously.

  Nolan walks over to me and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me into a kiss. Ever since he came in the apartment and saw mine and Kevin’s clothes strewn all over the place as well as Kevin and I cuddled together in bed, he’s been kissing me senseless. I guess he’s done waiting on me to make a move on him and I can’t seem to find a reason to not let him.

  “He said he would be surprised if you didn’t at least make one mistake and I told him we could bet on it because there’s no way you would do that. You’re powerful Adaline and people need to remember that,” Nolan explains with a knowing grin, with his arms still wrapped around me. “Besides, I bet on you.”

  I guess it’s sweet that he has so much faith in me. I lean against him, resting my head on his chest. He winks down at me when I look up and tilts his head towards everyone else. I guess now’s not the time to start anything but I can always shoo everyone away after lunch. I reluctantly lean away from him and grin at Naomi who’s watching us with a smirk on her face. She seems to love how close we are getting. I grab Nolan’s hand from around my waist and intertwine our fingers.

  We make our way over to the crowded bar where Kevin has whipped up some hot pastrami sandwiches for us. As I sit down on my stool, a cacophony of ringtones sounds throughout the room, their phones going off at the same time. Nolan pulls his out of the back pocket of his jeans and his face falls instantly. I’m about to ask him what’s wrong when Naomi squeals. I look up and everyone is staring at their phones while Naomi is bouncing around with even more exuberance than normal.

  “Okay, what’s going on, guys?” I ask, confused.

  Kevin plops down beside me and pulls some of my brown curls out of my face.

  “That was a message from the council, they’re having a formal dance, and they want every Alchemist, eighteen and above, to attend, even the ones who are not bonded.” Wow a dance, I can finally meet Thomas.

  Naomi stops right across the bar from me. “The black dress we got the other day shopping will be perfect for you to wear!” she exclaims on a squeal.

  Oh, I really want to show the boys that dress.

  “She’s not going,” Nolan states with such finality my head snaps in his direction. “We can’t risk it, it will be too soon for her.”

  Instead of explaining himself he just bites into his sandwich, like what he said wasn’t rude.

  My cheeks warm as embarrassment and anger fill me. Rubbing my tongue against the inside of my cheek, I try to get a handle on my emotions but I can’t stop the rage that’s building. Who the hell does he think he is? Finally, my control breaks.

  “What? You can’t just order me around. Besides they said even ones who aren’t bonded are invited. You told me that we need to find our other partners for us to be safer. Well, here’s our chance to do that,” I all but seethe.

  He swallows the food he stuffed in his mouth and the glare he gives me makes me almost want to shrink into myself but I’m not going to let him control the situation… and me. I decide what I’m going to do and no one else is going to do that for me. Not anymore.

  “Look Adaline, I’m not trying to order you around. I’m trying to protect you, all those Alchemists in a room are too much of a variable. Anything can happen. I know we need to start getting out so we can finish making up our quint but it could be dangerous for the whole community to know what powers you have. I was thinking smaller outings to start with.” Seriously. they all act like Horus is the good group, why are they trying to hide me from them? I mean they have an Aether in charge, obviously, he’s fine.

  I cross my arms across my chest as I try to digest everything. “I don’t get it. If Horus is so good, why are we hiding the knowledge of my existence? Plus, I could meet someone who has the power to help me.” Nolan lets out a sigh as he rubs the back of his neck looking like he's trying to come up with the right words. He shoots Kevin a look I can’t decipher, which just causes Kevin to shake his head encour
agingly at Nolan. What in the world?

  “Look, I didn’t tell you, but Thomas is my father. His full name is Nolan Rami Thomas. I was named after him. I grew up with him and even though he may come off as a great guy, I know the real guy and he is not someone to look up to. He likes power and if he finds out about you, he’s going to use you.” My resolve wavers as Nolan’s words hit me.

  Well, why didn’t he start off with that? I was excited about meeting his father but he should have trusted me with that information.

  “You should have told me when I first learned of him. I came back from that shopping trip with Naomi and I talked about how awesome it was to learn about someone who had the same power as me. I’m smart, you know. I can meet someone and not fall under their spell. I know I got close to you quickly but I never let anyone in before you guys. I know how to read fake people. You need to trust that I can handle this, Nolan.” I search his eyes as a small tear falls from mine. How am I ever supposed to trust them if they can’t trust me to learn how to handle everything?

  He rises from his seat, pulls me into a hug and kisses my neck trying to calm me. With me in his embrace, he breathes in my ear, “I’m sorry Adaline, I know you’re capable. I just can’t stand the idea of putting you in danger.” He kisses my temple and pulls back, searching my eyes. “We’ll go if you want but I need you stick close to one of us at all times. Just because we like the ideas of Horus, doesn't mean we trust all the people involved. It will be a good idea, though, for you to see if you can make the other connections. I would be surprised if someone unbound doesn’t show up, we don’t get invited to many events.”

  I nod in response and sit back down on my stool. Kevin winks at me and Naomi starts naming off all the things we’re going to need for the event since it’s coming up quickly. In three days. I’m finally going to be able to immerse myself into the Alchemist community.

  “Too bad they don’t think you’re ready to portal places. Looks like we’re going to be driving to New York. I’m going to go reserve a suite at the Center so we can get ready there.” Naomi claps her hands and skips out the door with her boys following behind her. When I hear the door shut, I go back to eating my all but forgotten sandwich, which is cold now.

  Kevin stands up, grabs my plate and sandwich from my hands, “Let’s see what’s on TV,” he says and places my plate on the coffee table, so I can eat in front of the television.

  “Nolan and I are going to go figure out what we need. Since you already know what you’re wearing, why don’t you relax?” he suggests.

  I give him a peck on the cheek and flop down on the couch. I know that they just want to talk about how they’re going to handle the party with me and not talk about what they’re going to wear, but I let them be. Let them have this macho time to feel better about things.

  Maybe if they get any frustrations and ideas out that they have now, with each other, I won’t have two cavemen at the party with me. Instead, I focus on relaxing and search the guide looking for any sitcoms that might be on television right now. Yes! Seinfeld.

  Ignoring Nolan’s pacing I ask, “It’s odd that they’re inviting us out, do you think they know about Adaline already?” I question him as I look through his closet for the suit. He only had one he wore when we attended school and I’m hoping it still fits him. He stops pacing the floor and leans against the door frame of the closet.

  “I don’t know how they would know already, but something’s up. If it’s not about Adaline then something else is going on. Our whole community has been invited. If we’re going to do this, we need to keep an eye on the exits at all times,” he growls. He must think something else is going on with the sudden invite.

  I shake my head at him as I pull his white suit out. He will always have issues with his family. But with the whole council involved in this party, I don’t believe that Adaline will actually be in any danger.

  “Put this on, make sure it still fits or you can look forward to a shopping trip with Naomi.” He grabs the hanger holding the suit, walks towards the bathroom and slams the door behind him. I get out of his closet and lean against the wall closest to the bathroom door so I can still talk to him.

  “My parents are involved with these invites. You know them, and they wouldn’t bring any harm to anyone.” He swings the door open and is only wearing his boxers and the collared shirt to his suit.

  “Your parents think the sun shines out of Thomas’s ass, they’re probably just excited that everyone is invited for once. They’re not going to be questioning his motives. If Thomas knows about Adaline before we tell him, then we’re not going to be staying here with Naomi and them anymore because I guarantee you, someone has let it slip.” His face is full of venom as his hands form into fists. He’s ready to unleash his wrath on his friends without any evidence. I have to stop his train of thought before he gets deeper into his head.

  “Have you gone mental, Nolan?” I exclaim. “You know they’re all trustworthy. They’re your friends. They have always had our backs, don’t let your feelings for Thomas cloud your judgement.” I run my fingers through my hair and let out a sigh. He can’t hide from everybody. Nolan covers his face with his hands and lets out a snarl.

  “Look, Kevin, if they know, who else could have told them? Nobody else knows of her existence except us, and them. You looked it up, remember, there's nothing in Horus’s database that shows up for her. We need to face the facts that if Thomas knows, one of them is a rat and I know it isn’t Naomi but can you really say for sure none of the boys would tell? You remember how much of a fit Cooper threw when he found out they would be coming here instead of New York. Or how about Parker, he’s always making trips out there to keep us in contact with the Council, are you so sure he wouldn’t tell anyone?” In his histeria, he’s still able to state facts that cause me to waver.

  He stands in front of me and grabs hold of my shoulders. “I know you love Naomi and want to believe the best in her partners, but we are the only ones who are really going to be looking out for Adaline’s best interest. They are going to be focused on Naomi and what her future could be. I mean, what has she always wanted, Kev? A seat at the table, a chance to help Horus. I don’t think she would do anything to hurt Adaline, but I could see one of her boys taking this as an opportunity to get her to New York.”

  I shake my head, while blowing out a breath, as I try to find the right words to calm him. I can’t believe any of that. I have known them for forever and so has Nolan. I place my hands around both his wrists that are still on my shoulders.

  “Look, don’t go there yet, okay? The council probably doesn’t even know about her. We will broach the subject if it comes up but until then, stop stressing about it. Watch, it’ll be great and maybe we can find our connections. That’s something to look forward to, I mean we could be a complete quint, finally. So let’s just relax okay? At least for now,” I tell Nolan calmly.

  “Right,” he says sarcastically as he lets go of my shoulders, my hands falling away, and he walks back into the bathroom.

  As the door closes, I sit down at the end of his bed and let out a heavy sigh. He has valid points and I can't help but feel like Nolan is right to be suspicious. I don't want to stop trusting people, including my sister and her guys, but what if Nolan is right? Even with doubt in my mind, I'm really hoping that this party goes off without a hitch.

  Otherwise, I'll have to start questioning friendships I've had for years. And my sister... shit.

  Walking into the kitchen, I search for the guys. We leave for the dance tomorrow and I swear they’ve been avoiding me for the past day.

  I find Kevin sitting at the counter, working on his laptop. He’s wearing black gym shorts and a white tee shirt, and I can smell his sweat, his scent, the closer I get to him.

  “Hey, I was wondering where you were,” I tell him, reaching his side and trying to peek at what’s on the screen.

  “Well, looks like you found me,” he chuckles to himself as he closes t
he laptop and turns his body towards me. He rubs his hands up and down my arms, comforting me. “Did you need something, Adi?”

  “What did Nolan mean the other day when he called me his heart’s center?” I ask shyly, the question has been in my thoughts constantly.

  He grins back at me and pulls me forward onto his lap bringing a laugh from me. Normally, the thought of being up close and personal with someone covered in sweat would be an instant turn off for me. But when I’m in Kevin's arms, I imagine all the things we could do to get his skin to glisten with more sweat. My body responds to him, I wet my lips with my tongue and think about what a sweaty Kevin would taste like. I spread my legs out so that I can straddle him as he pulls me closer to him.

  His breath on my neck causes goosebumps to raise on my skin in anticipation. He leaves trails of kisses down my neck and my concentration falters. If he keeps this up, I won't remember why I came down in the first place.

  “Kevin?” I pull away, trying to take back what little control I have left and get him to refocus on the question.

  He laughs as he cups my face and looks into my eyes. “The Nucleus for each partner is their Heart’s Center. We view your other partners as friends and companions, and have love for them. But our most precious love is you. Adaline, you bring our family together and give each of us back a piece of our soul that is missing when we don’t have you. You are the center of our hearts. That’s what that means.”

  He leans back into me, pulling in for a kiss. I let his tongue inside and taste coffee. I’ve never been a big coffee drinker but I still can’t bring myself to pull away. He breaks the kiss for me and plants a quick peck on my cheek.

  “So, if I’m yours and Nolan’s Heart Center, why do I feel like you two have been dodging me since yesterday? I’ve only really hung out with you both when we went to sleep last night.” I raise a brow, daring him to try and deny it.