In spite of Aiden’s moans about the possibility of being late, they were the first to arrive. They took a table. Aira rolled her eyes at Aiden’s scoff when the waiter suggested they were there together on a date.
“Just friends, waiting for our dates, actually,” she said, giving the man a bright, charming smile. The lust, coiled tightly inside of her, hadn’t failed to notice the waiter was attractive; tall and lean, with dark eyes and collar-length black hair, he visibly warmed to her attention. He took their drink orders and lingered, exchanging pleasantries with Aira until Aiden brusquely reminded him there were other tables that needed his attention. Aira shifted and squirmed in her seat, feeling the heat in her body banking and rising, her eyes scanning the crowd of pedestrians beyond the outside terrace for any indication of Alex or Dolores. What if they stand us up? She bit her lip and then checked to make sure she hadn’t marred her makeup. She told herself firmly the two cousins wouldn’t; they were just as interested in meeting as she and Aiden were.
Just when Aira’s anxiety was reaching fever pitch, she spotted Dolores’ brilliant red hair and shifted her gaze to find Alex standing next to her, speaking with the hostess. The woman at the desk smiled at the two charming elementals and gestured for them to follow her.
“They’re here,” Aira told Aiden, whose back was to the hostess. She fought the urge to stand, sitting on her hands as she impatiently waited for them to make their way to the table. Words were pressing at the front of her mind, crowding her lips, and she took a deep breath to push down the excitement she felt. As they approached the table, Aira noticed Alex was even more attractive than his pictures; his dark hair was mussed, his bright eyes a deeper, almost blueberry shade, and a ready smile curving his lips. He wore a pair of jeans that looked as though they had seen better days and barely clung to his lean hips, giving Aira the impression she could easily pull them off of him. With the jeans he wore a black tee shirt with text she couldn’t quite read, too distracted in her gaze to focus. Over the tee, he wore a red jacket with a gray scarf topping it off. A deep tingle swept through her at the sight of him, and blood rushed to her face when his gaze fell on her, his smile deepening.
She stood, more to give herself something to do, an outlet for the excess energy she felt, than a conscious gesture of manners. Alex approached her quickly, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek and give her a friendly hug. He smelled of cloves and something pleasingly woody and green, mingled with a faint cigarette smoke smell that Aira had to admit was alluring. Dolores had been claimed by Aiden, who was hugging her tightly, but Aira barely noticed as she and Aiden switched; her mind was still full of Alex as she embraced Dolores, pressing her cheek against the other woman’s.
“It’s so good to finally meet you,” Dolores said, her low, sultry voice softened further by her accent. She and Alex took their seats next to their respective dates, and Aira felt her heart fluttering, her throat going dry. Her head was spinning, completely unable to process what was happening.
“My god, Aira, you should have warned me,” Alex commented lowly, giving Aira a not-quite-lewd look from head to toe. “You must be used to her,” he said to Aiden, “after knowing her so long. But I can’t seem to take my eyes off of her.”
Aiden nodded absently, looking at Dolores with definite attraction in his eyes, smiling a faintly drunken grin. Aira felt a moment of jealousy at the other woman’s obvious beauty and the way Aiden was responding to it—it helped her to get over her momentary shock of absolute attraction to Alex.
“Sure you can take your eyes off me,” she said with a slight drawl, “I wouldn’t want you to strain yourself.”
Alex laughed, and Aira felt the warm glow of his charm once more. The waiter approached and was immediately bowled over by the charged atmosphere; Aira could feel the power inside of her swelling, and the wind around them began to pick up. She suppressed it, carefully focusing her intentions. She had never been around two powerful air elementals at the same time—it was like light shining on a deprived plant, the first warm rays of sunlight through snow. She felt the cousins’ energy pushing through the deep block Dylan had put on her to help her get through the power surge. The spell was fading away, eroded by the high energy the two cousins brought with them.
“I’ve been told I should avoid southern girls, you know,” Alex commented after the waiter left, taking their drink orders in a daze. “Dolores’ brother kindly informed me you’re all wild heathens who rip good English boys to shreds.”
Aira laughed, almost gasping as Alex’s hand came to rest on her knee. He didn’t move it upward, which would have immediately alerted Aira, but casually left it where it was, the warmth of his skin sinking into hers.
“We get such a bad reputation. I happen to think it’s good for English boys to court southern girls. You guys need some loosening up.” Dolores was asking Aiden about his life, about how he had come to be friends with Aira’s family. Aiden, almost visibly responding to the energy around him, his blue eyes flickering with a light Aira both admired and resented, explained their grandmothers knew each other. He was close to admitting he was protection—a bodyguard—when Aira kicked him underneath the table, using the leg that Alex’s hand hadn’t claimed. He came out of his reverie, coughing and saying he had met Aira as children, and they were roommates out of convenience.
Conversation ebbed and flowed. Aira had to keep a tight grip on her abilities as the lunch progressed; she considered that she should have consulted her grandmother before agreeing to the date. It was clear to her Alex and Dolores were both potent elementals in their own right, radiating charm and playful intelligence, inciting a lively debate about authors and music. Aira felt her power growing in the presence of the two elementals, and it became increasingly difficult to keep her power under control. It bubbled, flowed, and surged through her. In spite of her intense attraction to Alex, she could see the two cousins were probing for information. She maintained the conversation but wondered whether they were gathering intelligence for someone who might have less than friendly intentions towards her. She felt her mind picking up pace, her thoughts gaining speed to a point she almost felt as though she were on a potent stimulant. She asked for another drink to suppress it, almost trembling with the excess of energy she was experiencing.
Dolores was clearly feeding into Aiden’s fiery energy, using all of the powers at her disposal to charm and pique. Aira found herself momentarily distracted time and again, almost resenting Aiden’s ready response to the woman. She was torn away from her disgust each time by Alex, without any trace of confusion or irritation.
“You mentioned traveling,” he said, calling her attention back to him. Aira noticed absently that his hand had shifted on her knee and he was kneading and caressing it slightly—though he kept his touch respectful, not trying to work his way up her thigh. “Where all have you been?”
Aira plunged into a discussion of different parts of the world and found that, while Alex picked up languages quickly, he was not the linguistic savant she was. He praised her ready translations of random praises into a variety of languages, countering with the handful he knew, and before long they were exchanging flirtatious pleasantries in esoteric languages, Alex’s comments becoming more and more suggestive at each turn.
Aira lost track of time completely. They were enjoying coffee and dessert, Dolores prodding and cajoling Aiden into sampling her fruit and zabaglione, when Aira finally had enough presence of mind to realize they had been enjoying each other’s company for more than an hour. “Shit! Aiden, we have that appointment we have to get to.”
Aiden gave her a confused look, clearly reluctant to end his conversation with Dolores.
“Remember? Dylan was going to meet us at the office?”
The mention of his brother’s name sobered Aiden, and he nodded quickly, his eyes losing some of the fire Dolores’ stoking had inspired.
“That is such a shame!” Alex said, his hand tightening playfully on her knee. Aira looked
at him, blushing slightly at the intent gaze he turned on her. “It must be an important meeting for you to disrupt such a good time,” his voice softened. “If it’s not important, you could reschedule.” There was something in Alex’s manner, the compelling look in his eyes that made Aira briefly dizzy. She was on the point of agreeing with him—after all, Dylan could wait a little longer—when some native instinct stopped her short. She felt a slight shudder work through her body, and she gave him a regret-filled smile.
“I’m afraid it’s very important,” she replied, letting her voice take on a rueful tone. “Legal things, you understand. I’m on the lawyer’s time—he won’t reschedule.” She gave Aiden another undetectable kick to the shins beneath the table to prevent his protest. “As it is, I suspect we’ve kept him waiting already.” She gave Alex a charming smile. She felt something stirring inside of her—not lust, but a cunning, a kind of inarticulate knowledge of her own power. “I’m sure you can understand.” The words left her lips without conscious thought, and she felt something inside of her pushing outward, a kind of persuasiveness she had never known she possessed. Alex looked briefly confused, but then nodded slowly.
“I understand. It’s a shame, but I’ll have to hope we can see both of you again soon.”
Aira felt odd and gave herself a little shake. The waiter brought the bill, and Alex would hear nothing of either her or Aiden contributing to the total. He insisted on paying for the entire bill and tip. Aira gave in, smiling to herself in spite of the strange feelings. She felt herself smiling as Alex handed her a scrap of receipt with his phone number on the back. She allowed him to walk her to the car, feeling a little outside of herself. Something was different in that moment she had persuaded Alex, some ability she had never used before. She saw Dolores chatting with Aiden as she accompanied him to the car, and Aira stopped at the passenger side, at a loss for what to do.
Alex leaned in and gave her a hungry kiss. Aira’s confusion and introspection dissolved, her lust spiked as he rested his hands on her waist, holding her tightly but respectfully. She let out a soft moan as Alex deepened the kiss, nipping at her bottom lip playfully. In that moment she would have gladly remained there indefinitely, overwhelmed by the sweetness of Alex’s tongue and the way his body vibrated against hers, taut with energy and desire. She lost ability to even care what happened next or that Dylan was still waiting for the all-clear, as Alex pressed her against the door of the car. He moaned softly against her lips, his grip on her waist tightening. Aira melted against him, swept up in the combination of his attractiveness and the steady pulse of lust in her veins. Her mind consumed with need, her body kindled with desire, she felt her hands trembling and her heart pounding. She would have let him do anything to her without complaint, but Alex remained moderately respectful, more mindful of the public venue than Aira. She was on the verge of moving further to increase the tension between them when she was interrupted by a chirp from her phone.
The sound divided the thick fog consuming Aira, and she broke away from the kiss, gasping and panting for breath. She hadn’t experienced anything so intense since kissing Aiden. Aira pushed the thought down, shaking her head and reaching for her phone. “That’s Dylan,” she called to Aiden, who was kissing Dolores with similar fervor Aira had experienced just a moment before. “We need to get going, Andy.” She used the nickname to break through the almost palpable haze of desire surrounding the other two; she knew Aiden hated it. He broke away from Dolores, confused for a moment before realization set in.
“Right! Yes. I’m so sorry, Dolly,” he murmured to the other woman, giving her a brief kiss before breaking away. “We’ll get together again soon.”
The two cousins seemed disappointed, but Alex gave Aira a last, lingering glance full of promise and desire before she got into the passenger seat.
“Are you okay to drive?” Aira asked Aiden tartly as she fastened her seat belt.
Aiden rolled his eyes. “You had more to drink than I did.” He started the car and sent Dylan a text advising that they were clear. Aira stared out the window and attempted to conquer her tense desire, telling herself that since she had Alex’s phone number, she could see him again whenever she wanted. She added his number to her contacts, thinking of inviting him to her birthday.
As they drove back to the apartment, Aira’s intense lustful sensations and almost brutal power began to ebb, and she turned her thoughts to the less-than-normal events of the lunch. She remembered Alex’s persuasive comment suggesting she reschedule and how she had almost found herself submitting and giving into his will before something deep inside of her rebelled. She had turned the same tactic—whatever it was—back on him. Reviewing the events of the meeting without the rose-colored glasses of intense attraction, Aira knew something was certainly going on with Dolores and Alex.
“Did anything about that lunch seem odd to you?” she asked Aiden, shifting in her seat.
Aiden glanced at her skeptically, shrugging. “Not really,” he said quickly.
Aira raised an eyebrow, wondering how much charm Dolores had been radiating at the fire elemental while Aira had been distracted by Alex’s overtures.
Aiden started to say something, then hesitated. “There was something a little strange about it, now that you mention it.” He made a turn, his brow furrowing. “It was like they didn’t want us to leave their presence.”
Aira nodded slowly. “They were determined to keep us talking to them, to keep our attention on each of them.” Aira licked her lips. She was more than willing at the time to give Alex all of her attention, the part of her mind reeling with lust and power had taken over. “Whenever we tried to talk to each other, one or the other of them would interrupt and reel us back in.”
Aiden nodded. “What do you think?” he asked her, for once deferring to her opinion.
Aira shrugged. “It could be nothing. It could be that…” she bit her bottom lip in thought. “They’re air elementals. We’re all very good at intelligence gathering. They could be spies.”
Aiden snorted. “Well, whoever hired them made a mistake then. You are clearly a better counter-intelligence agent than they are spies. Thanks for kicking me—I think my legs will be black and blue for a week though.”
Aira grinned. “You were about to give us away! You’re like… a highly less effective James Bond. Jeez.”
“Hey! I could be every bit as effective as James Bond. I could seduce Dolores and find out exactly what’s going on.” Aiden scowled. Aira rolled her eyes, laughing again. “You were calling her Dolly. She had you wrapped around her little finger, Andy.”
Aiden’s scowl deepened. “She did not! She’s just…a very charming and attractive woman. Now that I know, I can totally keep out of her clutches.”
Aira shook her head in disbelief. She had to admit, in spite of her suspicions about Alex, she was barely able to restrain herself from sending him a text message and continuing their flirtation. She decided to talk to Dylan first, but she had almost come to the conclusion that, spy or not, she wanted Alex at her birthday party. He was too flattering, too deliciously attractive, and too attentive for her to forego his presence, even if it was not the best idea to invite a potential spy to witness a moment that could be very vulnerable for her.
Chapter 6
Aira could tell Dylan was disturbed by the possible reason for Alex’s and Dolores’ interest in her and Aiden. “We kept to the story,” she told him quietly, sipping at a beer in the late afternoon light of the balcony. “But I think they were trying to shake it up, trying to get us to admit the truth.”
He nodded slowly, accepting her theory. “The key would be to find out who they’re working for, then,” he said matter-of-factly, taking a sip of his own beer.
Aira shrugged. “You and Aiden are the investigators. I’m just a lowly translator.”
Dylan rolled his eyes. “We’d put you on the payroll if we could. Between your language skills and the presence of mind you showed at lunch ear
lier…”
She had told him about the strange moments that had passed, where she had felt Alex’s will pressing against hers, and had returned the courtesy. Dylan pointed out that air elementals had their own kind of intuition and their own psychic strengths. While water elementals in full possession of their abilities could “read” other people to an uncanny degree, air elementals tended towards being able to project their thoughts and wishes onto others. It was a magic Aira’s grandmother hadn’t introduced her to, but which made sense. She had always been proud of her persuasion skills, and persuasiveness was definitely an air-aligned trait, but she had never felt something as direct as what she had experienced with Alex.
“The thing is, I’m kind of going crazy,” Aira admitted. She felt as though she had an itch she couldn’t scratch, some tingle she couldn’t reach on her own. Something was driving her to maintain the connection with Alex. “Even knowing he could be a spy, I want him at my birthday party.”
Dylan nodded slowly, thinking about what she had said. “I think, if you can keep your keen sense of survival, it might not be a bad idea.”
Aira was surprised by Dylan’s statement.
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