And she would be Emory Aria. She said it out loud just to feel it on her tongue, to test the sound of it.
Ajax put his palms on the tile above her head and pressed his forehead against hers. “Yes. God, yes. I love my name on your lips.”
He then kissed her as if the words were a flavor he could taste, a flavor he craved. Before too long, he had her legs around his waist and the cooling shower air was swirling around them again.
“I love you,” he whispered, but his emotions put power behind the words until it seemed to reverberate around the shower stall fifty times.
She couldn’t do the fancy air effects, but she wanted him to know she loved him with the same depth. She pulled back, stared him in the eyes, and breathed his words back to him with every ounce of feeling she had inside her.
They kissed again, their hair rising upward from the spinning force of their love.
<<<<
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Turn the page for an exclusive look at Book 3, CRUSH, Micah’s story!
COMING SOON: CRUSH, Book 3 in the Elemental Hearts Series!
She’s going to crush his resistance…
Micah prefers solitude. For an Earth Elemental, there is too much noise, too much chaos down in the mortal world. This mission guarding the Chaos portal is perfect for him, until a lovely human prospector shows up. Now he must guard the enemy portal while trying to keep her safe. And trying to keep his hands off her, because each encounter, each touch, awakens urges he’s been denying for decades. But she knows nothing of his kind, the enemy that threatens to destroy the world, or the powers in her own blood.
He’s going to rock her world…
Jade McNally will never fall for a mining partner again, especially not while she’s working herself to the bone trying to mine enough gemstones to pay for her mother’s care. She doesn’t have time to notice the huge muscles, sexy tattoos, or tender heart of the quiet man she’s hired to keep away claim jumpers. And she certainly doesn’t have time to notice the way he looks at her, like she’s testing his iron self-control. But she notices anyway, and the more she gets to know her security guard, the more she realizes he has secrets. Big ones.
But it turns out, the most earth-shattering secret could be inside herself.
Lurking in the shadows of the mountain are nightmarish forces trying to rip the world apart. Can Micah keep Jade safe and do his duty? Can Jade trust her instincts long enough to claim an extraordinary love? Or maybe they will both be crushed by Chaos.
CHAPTER TWENTY
One can hear the Earth in the absence of human noise.
Here, high in the jagged mountains, the valley far below and the empty sky above, Micah heard it whispering to him.
Sometimes it whispered memories of a different mountain, a lush volcanic one surrounded by the sea.
Sometimes he sang for the Earth. When those memories wouldn’t leave him alone, he would sing and every crystal in the earth below him would vibrate with the same frequency of his song, until the whole mountain sang back to him.
He was not singing today, however. He was listening, with his ears and his powers, to what the Earth was saying.
Today, the Earth whispered, you are no longer alone.
Someone was coming up the mountain.
And even though the Earth wasn’t alive in the same sense he was, for just a moment, he felt the presence of another Elemental in those words.
Micah spread out his power like roots, into the ground below his feet, looking for confirmation of what tingled at the edge of his senses. Searching for any signs of danger.
No Chaolt had come out of the portal he guarded, so keeping the enemy on this side from going into it was his other goal. And to keep humans from finding it, though that seemed the easier job. No humans had set foot on this peak since he’d found the portal here.
A convenient rock slide had taken care of that, closing the trail. Too bad he couldn’t drown the portal in rock as well, but it drained his power the closer he got. The best he could do was block anyone from coming or going down the path.
All the Elemental Warriors originally took turns guarding this portal to the Chaotic plane, but he, with his Earth powers, was the natural choice because of the location. High, dangerous, isolated. Surrounded by rock and snow, though the desert started not too far from here. And unlike the others, he’d rather be alone. He much preferred the isolation of the peaks to any other place. There was too much noise down below, too much Chaos.
Though he and the other warriors were here to fight it, to fight Chaos and its hold on the world, they would never rid it completely from this place.
Which made their war futile in Micah’s opinion. But like the rest of the Warriors, he couldn’t just sit back and watch it happen. He had to fight it.
It just hurt to see how useless it all was.
And maybe Chaos inhabited the Elementals blood now, too. So much had changed since they first came to Topaz Ridge, Nevada.
But he couldn’t worry about that right now.
Micah opened his eyes and stood, stretching stiff muscles, rotating his neck and shoulders until they felt loose. A fan of dust followed a red truck coming up the dirt road below him.
He made his way down the mountain quickly, using his powers to see any dangers or obstacles before he set foot on them.
Not because his shift was over, no.
Because whoever approached was not one of his fellow Elementals, wasn’t one of their mates. It was no one he recognized, so that could only mean one thing.
Trouble.
The big man standing in the clearing when Jade pulled up in her truck and camper to her usual campsite made her nervous and uncertain. As did the huge tent and fire pit in the spot where she normally parked her camper.
It meant, whoever he was, he was staying here for a while. With the old, small mining town of Topaz Ridge further on, no other nearby campgrounds, and the hiking trails closed, it meant he was here for her mountain.
And that didn’t mean legally.
Jade palmed her cell phone, thumb over the connect button. If he was a claim jumper, she would dial the sheriff before he knew what happened. And if he came after her or her claim, she would use the pistol under her seat.
Not to kill hopefully, but to defend herself or her property, absolutely. She’d been claim-jumped once, from the most unexpected place. It would never happen again. No one would get her benefit of the doubt.
Not even this fellow here, whose expression said she had invaded his territory, instead of the other way around. This had been her mountain since she was six.
She pulled into the clearing and turned off the ignition. With a casualness she didn’t exactly feel, she tucked the pistol in its holster into her backpack.
She’d just locked up and put the straps of her pack on when he strode over, stopping only a little short of invading her personal bubble with his massive frame.
“Mountain’s closed.”
“No, the hiking trail is closed. The mountain is never closed.” She had a legal claim, and no one would keep her from it.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t be here.”
She turned to him, looked up to meet his piercing gaze. Way, way up. His eyes were a striking brown, with all the depth and clarity of root-beer. “Sure I can,” she said, buckling the chest strap on her pack for extra support. “I have legal paperwork for a mining claim that says so.” But what did he have? “Do you have a legal right to be here?”
If he had the right to question her purpose here, she had the right to question his. She was all about equal treatment. Like any woman in a male-dominated field, she had to assert herself, make sure he knew t
hat she was prepared, and wouldn’t back down from intimidation.
Not that he was trying to intimidate her. With that big body and all those tattoos, the braids on his head, he could be a lot more threatening if he wanted.
Instead, he was careful not to crowd her. Authoritative, but not aggressive or loud… She could respect that. But he wasn’t going to stop her.
“Yes.”
“And that is?” She raised an eyebrow, waiting.
He didn’t look like your typical mine claim jumper, he was too clean, too courteous. In fact, he looked kind of surprised that she had questioned him. A claim jumper would be expecting the question and thinking of excuses before she got that far.
And they might act surprised, but it was always over-done. The smiles never reached their eyes.
But even if this guy wasn’t a claim jumper, there were still plenty of wrong reasons to be here. And he looked like he didn’t want to share his.
“I’m… security.”
His grudging reply got her attention, made her take a closer look.
Security. Yeah, he looked like it. Big muscles, few words, and the steely glint in his eyes that said he knew how to use the weapons, and muscles, under his shirt. He had dark tattoos ending at his wrists. Could he be ex-military? But ex-military usually had a coldness, a cockiness to them. This guy had a demeanor that said he wouldn’t use his weapons, or muscles, if he didn’t have to.
Still, someone had hired him to use them if necessary. She hiked her pack up higher on her back.
“What are you securing?”
He crossed his arms, a sharpness entering his eyes. “The mountain.”
She almost grinned, because his gruff, obvious answer told her just what she needed to know. This was the year, she could feel it.
“It’s dangerous up there.”
“It can be,” she conceded, “If you’re not careful and don’t know what you’re doing.”
People only paid money for security to protect property, valuables, or lives. So the danger he hinted at must be to one of those things.
There were no other cars or campsites here besides theirs. Lives didn’t need protecting if there wasn’t anyone else here. And the property, the claims, didn’t need protecting unless they were productive ones.
Security like him meant there were valuables to guard on that mountain, and her pulse quickened. The only thing of value on the mountain were the things under the mountain, the minerals and gems. She wanted her portion. Not all of it, just whatever she found on her patch of claimed land. Just enough to take care of her mother.
But security like this guy also meant someone else was trying to take what was valuable, too, and probably not in a legal way.
The gun felt like it weighed more in her pack than even the hefty tools she carried to mine. Her pick, her shovel, water. Water was very heavy. The gun was heavier. The thought of ever having to use it, to be in any situation where she might need to, made her break out in a cold sweat. Never mind that she’d thought about it so casually moments before.
Sticking her hand out to him, she waited for him to take it. He left his arms crossed, staring at it.
“I’m Jade by the way. Looks like we’re going to be sharing a campsite.” Which irked her to no end, and she wasn’t able to keep it out of her voice. But she had no right to demand he leave, no matter how much she wanted to.
He stared at her hand a second longer and then reached out his own, slowly wrapping it around hers.
“Micah,” he replied.
His hand was warm, soft. It was more like a hand-hug than a hand-shake. Gentle, despite the engulfing size of his hands.
Their stares lingered, the silence stretched.
She wouldn’t call her hands feminine by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, years of scratching through the dirt and hauling rocks and all the little injuries that went along with that, had kinda given her man-hands.
But his hand, wrapped around hers, made it look and feel small, delicate. Feminine. And for the first time in forever, it made her acutely aware of being a woman.
And him one fine specimen of a man.
Her cheeks heated. She pulled her hand back. “You should know that if you try anything with me, I have a gun.”
His eyebrows raised, and raised higher. The farther up they went, the worse she wanted to get sucked into the ground. He looked a bit appalled. From his side that probably seemed random, and it was. It wasn’t his fault he made her nervous.
Here she was eyeballing all those big muscles and feeling faint, clutching her figurative pearls, and then accusing him of getting ideas. Foot, meet mouth.
But she swallowed and held his gaze despite the sting of embarrassment, because the warmth of his gaze said he’d noticed the interest in her eyes, and she didn’t want him mistaking it for permission. Even if he didn’t seem like the kind of guy to take advantage, even if it was only her noticing him as the opposite sex… you just never really knew who people were underneath.
Experience had taught her that.
If a misguided warning now kept him from getting any ideas later, then good.
“OK, then. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have some mining to do.”
Jade turned toward the trail that led up the mountain, every intention of continuing on with her plan. Quicker than she could have thought, he moved in front of her.
“No.”
She waited for him to elaborate. To explain that he wasn’t actually telling her no about going up to her claim. When he didn’t, she raised her eyebrow.
“No?”
“It’s too dangerous for you.”
“But it’s not dangerous for you?”
He remained silent, arms crossed. Still bristling from his “no”, her temper piqued.
“It’s too dangerous because I’m a woman? Because I don’t have big muscles? Or because you think I don’t know what I’m doing?”
Dark brows knitted together, he said, “Because you’re human.”
Jade went to speak, but closed her mouth, all her anger deflating. He wasn’t being sexist, he was saying there was equal danger to everyone.
Damn, working around a bunch of chauvinists had made her unnecessarily touchy.
“Okay. If you can tell me what kind of danger we’re talking about, then I’ll reconsider,” she said, apology in her tone. “But if you don’t or I don’t agree, then I’m going up there and you aren’t going to stop me, or I’m going to call the authorities.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that,” Jade said, patience fraying. “But that’s not clear enough or good enough.”
He didn’t move, and she took out her cell phone. This would be the only time she had bars anyway, there was no reception up on the mountain unless you had a satellite phone. And even those had spotty reception, too.
“Wait.”
Jade looked up at him, eyebrows raised.
“Let me make a phone call to my… boss.”
“Okay.” That was reasonable. She put her thumbs under her straps and waited as he walked several yards away and dialed his phone. It was almost comical, watching those big hands try to press the little buttons, but she suppressed the urge to laugh. He held the phone up and started talking, one loaded glance in her direction. He only said a few words, though he listened for several minutes.
She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, which was good because his voice was far too low to carry anyway. Dammit.
When he disconnected, he strode back over to her.
His gaze narrowed on her, shining with gold light across all that root-beer brown.
“You may go to your claim.”
“Thank you,” Jade said, tipping her head. As if there had ever been any doubt.
* * * * *
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DEDICATION
To all writers who feel stuck, including my future self. You CAN do it!
And,
My husband, for his continued support and deliciously snarky inspiration.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to, in no particular order:
My friend CY, for all the immeasurable support and listening to me rant about this book for months.
My friend TC, for listening to me rant.
My sister RB, for listening to me rant… I’m sensing a theme here. Anyway, thanks for that and all the brainstorming sessions and suggestions.
My beta readers Jinx, Katrin, Elisha, and Sandra, for helping me make this a much better book.
My former mentor ER, for being a first reader and giving good feedback despite the mess I handed her.
Shannon Mayer, for telling me to make my muse my bitch. It got me past the block.
Lastly, the many Divas that helped and encouraged me in big ways and in small.
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 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.
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