Crush (Elemental Hearts, #3)

by Morgan, Jayelle

  “Rowan—” she started, but he was gone. The only thing that remained was the scent of cedar quickly being drowned out by tomato sauce.

  What had just happened? Why had he left so quickly?

  She sat the cucumber back on the counter and sighed. A burned spoon and clumpy pasta and a saucy stove and a weird interaction with the Plant Warrior—

  Oh god.

  He was a Plant Elemental, and she was cooking plants. Her eyes traveled from the decapitated-looking head of cabbage to the carrots and potatoes with their skin peeled away, to a dozen other things in various stages of torture and murder. Not to mention the pot of tomato blood and guts simmering on the stove.

  She bent over and rested her forehead against her folded arms on the island, shaking her head back and forth.

  No wonder he looked at her like she was insane. No wonder he avoided her. No wonder he didn’t want to eat her food.

  His power was creating plants, giving them life, and here she was torturing and butchering them to death. Literally.

  It would be funny... if it wasn’t.

  Rowan was the only person she really had anything in common with here. They came from the same base, and while she’d never seen him from her post in the kitchen, that was still something. But he’d seemed to avoid her, avoid conversation with her. She still didn’t know him any better than she had the day she’d arrived and met all the Warriors and the families of those with one. Even then, she’d been struck by the clarity of his hazel eyes, his accent. To have him here in her kitchen in just a towel was a chance she hadn’t wanted to waste, but she’d chased him off in spectacular fashion.

  But oh well. At least she had her kitchen and her job and the satisfaction of cooking almost anything she wanted for other people. And that was enough, right?

  Right.

  ROWAN RUSHED BACK TO his suite before he embarrassed himself more. Not only were there no Chaolt, but he’d popped a hard-on in the middle of the kitchen while talking to Tansy. Then he’d damned near hacked his dick off trying to keep the strained towel from falling while holding his hatchets.

  But the way she’d been holding that cucumber, her lips wet and her eyes earnest... He was not a strong enough man or Warrior to keep from reacting the way he had.

  He only hoped that she hadn’t noticed and he could get back to his room before—

  “Hey! Dickweed!”

  Rowan ground his teeth and tried to open his door with two weapons in his right hand hand, and his towel and other weapon in his left.

  Maybe Ajax would go away if he ignored him. The guy was a dick, plain and simple. Either he didn’t remember his name or he did, but he still chose to use insults to address him instead. The last thing he wanted to do was give him any more ammunition to aggravate him.

  But dammit, it was either drop his weapons or drop his towel to get the door open... which meant he must stand here and see what Ajax wanted.

  He turned to the blond man as he swaggered up.

  “Where’s the fight, buddy?” Ajax asked, motioning to his hatchets.

  Rowan answered through clenched teeth. “I thought I detected Chaolt stench, so I went to go check it out. Just to make sure everything was okay.” He shrugged, keeping his face and his posture as casual as possible. It was no big deal. “The new cook burned a utensil on the stove.”

  “So you jumped out of the shower to go protect the pretty little chef from the enemy, is that it?”

  Heat crept up his neck. Why did everything Ajax say sound so scornful? Of course he went to check out the situation. That was their job, their mission. He’d thought Chaolt were in the base and hadn’t waited around to make absolutely sure first. It wasn’t unheard of, as Ajax very well knew from them attacking his mate and child last year. And of course, she was pretty, with her sandalwood skin and mahogany eyes... but that wasn’t the reason he’d run to protect her. Everyone else here had someone to look out for them, save her.

  But rather than engage, Rowan just shrugged again. It wasn’t worth it. You couldn’t win people who didn’t like you over with logic.

  And for some reason, Ajax hadn’t liked him since they met over a Chaolt fight on the side of the road.

  Ajax’s chuckle was soft, and he didn’t say anything further as he went past, but Rowan still wanted to trip him. However, he’d promised his commander, Walker, he’d try to be civil.

  The only good thing about this was that his chub had gone down enough that he could be reasonably sure his towel wouldn’t fall when he opened his door.

  He was wrong.

  The cool breeze he felt as he pushed it open had him scrambling to catch it. A cackling “Nice ass!” confirmed that Ajax saw all of it. And it was probably too much to hope that he wouldn’t tell everyone. And they’d laugh about it behind his back.

  Rowan slammed the door shut with his foot and stood there, steaming, the towel pressed to his crotch.

  With a curse, he strode into the bathroom and dropped the towel. Inside the shower, he turned the water on and waited for it to warm. He was freezing after his wet jaunt to the kitchen, and probably still had a little shampoo in his hair.

  Leaning his head back into the spray, he closed his eyes. And popped them open again when a doe-eyed Tansy, on her knees in front of him and hands busy, materialized behind his eyelids.

  He turned and tipped his head forward, hand on the wall, water running off the hair in front of his face. He closed his eyes, and the vision returned. For one hot minute, he let it play.

  But this would never do.

  He opened his eyes and scrubbed himself, avoiding the hard-on his daydream brought back.

  He couldn’t ever let it get to Ajax that he had the hots for Tansy, an Auxiliary. If Ajax turned his scorn on her, he’d have to break his promise to Walker and kill the guy.

  And he couldn’t let that happen, because he had to prove that he possessed what it took to be a Warrior, that he could handle whatever came his way—even if it was his smartass Elemental peer.

  Or, the beautiful cook stroking vegetables in the kitchen.

  Can’t wait to read the rest of Rowan and Tansy’s story?

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  Jayelle’s Advance Reader Team

  THANK YOU!

  Your reviews matter!

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Special thanks to, in no particular order:

  My critique partner and friend Jinx, for being “my person”, and listening and giving feedback.

  Joseph, the Hippoplotamus, for his early input and advice on the direction of this story.

  My sister RB, for reading and loving the story. Sorry about the tears!

  My beta readers Scarlett and Liza, for helping me make this a much better book.

  TC and CY, as usual, for their wonderful support.

  Lastly, to you, my reader, whose comments, excitement, and love for my heroes keeps me going!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  JAYELLE MORGAN HAS enjoyed reading romances since the very first box of classics her aunt sent her. After a few fits and starts as a non-fiction freelancer, she finally started writing them. She fuels her creativity with three writer staples: coffee, chocolate, and daydreams.

  Though she'll always be a Texan at heart, she now lives in frigid Michigan with her husband and two children. If she's not working on her latest romance, you'll find her reading one, binge watching Netflix ,or enjoying the great outdoors... if it's warm enough.

  Visit her on Facebook or at JayelleMorgan.com!

  Jayelle Morgan

 

 
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