The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1)

by Claire, Nicola

"Oh, I assure you, Nico deserved my wrath too."

  His eyebrow quirked. "Really? And what did Nico do that was so treacherous?"

  "Spoke the truth."

  Theo stared at me for a very long time, then surprised me by saying abruptly, "He saw your eyes." I nodded slowly. "I don't want anyone else but me to see that green. Do you understand, Oraia?" I nodded, slower still. "How long will you leave him there?"

  And I think that was the most surprising revelation of all. Theo had just demanded I not flash green eyes at anyone but him. A very imperious command. But he wasn't going to tell me to release his cousin, he was leaving that decision up to me.

  "I was about to retrieve him when you arrived," I admitted. "You distracted me."

  His face softened, it was incredible to watch. All of a sudden tension eased from his frame at those words; a small glimpse inside of me. I was thinking Theo believed I wouldn't be distracted by him ever again. I got the impression he thought tonight had caused irreparable harm. I wasn't over it, not by a long shot. But Nico had been telling me the truth, and I needed to accept that. I was a passing interest in Theo's life, but then so was Isadora. Although she was a little more recurring than I would be. Still, after taking my anger out on Nico and seeing the incredible force of Pyrkagia Stoicheio, I realised more than ever that there were worse things to fear than losing my heart to this man.

  It was a harsh lesson. I felt bruised and battered and exhausted from it all. But I had my priorities right now. Learn everything I could about what I was, then find a way to live with it, preferably here in Auckland. I still had no intention of being bullied from my city, but I did understand the dangers better now. I understood the risks. And they did not revolve around my heart and Theo Peters.

  "Would you like some company?" Theo asked. "I'd be interested to see how my cousin fared."

  "Certainly," I replied, standing up and taking Theo's arm as though it was quite a natural thing to do.

  We walked out of the parlour and down the front steps towards the forest. Theo's gold tinged eyes taking in the devastation as we came closer to the centre of the fight. A small frown appeared on his lips, a crease across his forehead. But he didn't say anything, he just took it all in.

  "I might need blood for this," I warned Theo. He turned, releasing my arm and looked down at me.

  "How did you know to use blood?" he asked carefully.

  "The night I came here," I explained, "the vines pierced my skin. The moment my blood hit the soil the paving stones and gravel around your house erupted from beneath. I put two and two together. When I touch the Earth, it feels stronger. But when my blood touches the Earth, it is invincible."

  A strange look crossed Theo's face. A mixture of wonder and surprise... and an aching sense of sadness.

  "Cassandra," he said on a sigh, his eyes closed slowly as though in pain. But if there was an explanation for his sudden sorrow, he didn't divulge it.

  When his eyelids lifted, I held his gaze for so long I think I got lost in there. It was worse than the look he has when he wishes I was born Pyrkagia. This one felt like he was letting me go.

  I couldn't handle the level of loss I felt at that strange expression on Theo's face, so I turned, like a coward, and instead looked out over the blackened mark where my trees had died. There was no end to this roller-coaster of emotion. No depth deep enough that it couldn't reach. I felt like I had been flayed, stripped bare of all defences. And there was no amount of mental preparedness that could shield me now.

  This was a sweet hell. I longed to stay here. I wanted out. Being close to Theo was like feeling alive. But I was beginning to wonder if he was poison to my heart and soul. Because how could I desire him so much and know it was so very, very wrong?

  I think a tear escaped, because his finger gently brushed my cheek and left wetness behind. He moved around me until we were face to face. His hands came up and cupped my cheeks, tilted my head backwards, lifting my face to the stars, to his gaze.

  "Time is but a fleeting thing, Oraia. It is over in the blink of an eye. One month to an Athanatos is nothing. But to our hearts it can mean eternity."

  How was I meant to take that?

  I said the first thing I could think of, that wouldn't show him how his softly spoken words had cleaved my heart. "Why did you leave me to go home with Nico?"

  He took a deep breath in and let it slowly out. I felt the heat of it wash my face, my lips. They tingled, as though he'd kissed them.

  "You will be mad," he said, and I just raised my eyebrows at him. Angrier than I had been? Impossible.

  "You went after her," I concluded, before the stretch of silence was too long.

  "Yes," he admitted softly. "But not for the reason you believe."

  "She's an old friend, Theo. You can have feelings for her, I'd understand." I'd want to claw her eyes out, but I was trying to move past that visceral reaction now. Yeah, right. "Nico explained everything," I added, so he didn't feel he had to as well.

  "I can see that," he replied, purposefully glancing around the destruction. "And I must say, I rather like this jealous side you've displayed." His eyes returned to mine, gold hinted in the corners.

  I huffed a breath out. "This wasn't because I was jealous. This was because I was sick of not being able to defend myself and strike back. I asked Nico to a challenge, he accepted. And I kicked his arse."

  Theo's lips tipped up into a glorious smile. "Oh, Cassandra. You do please."

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  "I had a suspicion," he said softly, wrapping his palm around the nape of my neck. His thumb started stroking tenderly under my hair. "That what Isadora had uncovered on her latest mission would involve you."

  "Oh?"

  "Her reaction was too strong. I have had other women in the time I have known her," he pointed out and I crossed my arms over my chest to show how I felt about that little piece of information. He chuckled, leaned his face forward and rested his forehead against mine. "She is also a very calm person for a Pyrkagia, that's probably why I have entertained her for so long." I started frowning. His smile widened. "She has never reacted to any Ekmetalleftis like that before, regardless of branch. Her behaviour, despite the awkward situation, was out of character. So, I followed her and cornered her and demanded to know what was wrong."

  "And?" I was holding my breath again.

  "She wouldn't tell me. She is loyal to the Rigas and Pyrkagia. So, I went to my father."

  The air I was holding rushed out and my heart began to hammer in my chest. His thumb swirled in amongst my hair at the back of my head, his other hand wrapped around my back, splayed flat on the rise of my rear, and pulled me flush against him.

  "Theo?" I breathed out.

  "You were too far away," he explained.

  Oh, OK.

  "My father has consented for me to attend the council meeting tomorrow. At least we'll have an understanding then of where Isadora has been and why she reacted so bizarrely to a Gi being in Pyrkagia territory."

  "Do you think she's been wherever the Gi are? Where are they, anyway?"

  "The Gi territory is in Brazil. They moved to the Amazon when we separated branches. Prior to that we all lived in and around Athens. And yes, I suspect she has been spying there. She is our top agent. Similar to what my father believes you to be. Ironic, no?"

  "I don't find it very amusing," I said, shoving against his chest. He just held me tighter, pulled me closer, and started to lay kisses down my face, across my jaw and around to my ear.

  "I would rather you were an agent of the Gi than..." he bit his words off and moved away. A frustrated hand ran through his hair.

  "What aren't you telling me?" I asked.

  "Nothing, but I do find myself rambling when you distract me so. How about we bring Nico back to the land of the living?" He clapped his hands together enthusiastically.

  I recrossed my arms over my chest and started tapping my foot.

  "How about you finish your last sentenc
e, and then I release your cousin."

  He turned and stared at me, a small smattering of gold in his eyes. Then he shrugged.

  "He deserves to stay there overnight, how about we just leave him and I ease that stiffness in your shoulders with a massage?" He stalked towards me and I took an uncertain step backwards, my arms coming undone and instead lifting up between us to ward him off. He looked immensely pleased with himself.

  "That's unfair," I complained, taking another step back as he stalked closer. "You know I can't fight those sorts of battles."

  "Oh, but Cassandra. Think of the joy we would both have while I teach you how."

  "Theo, behave!" I instructed, but it came out breathless instead.

  He shook his head at me. "No, no, that warning has done its dash. Time to switch it up a bit."

  He was still stalking me, we'd practically done the circumference of the scorched mark. I lost my footing on a charred stump, and when I righted myself, my back was against bark. And Theo was pressed into my front. He looked incredibly wild and untamed and... beautiful.

  "Now," he breathed across my lips, then ducked down and licked the bottom one. "First lesson." I was panting for breath now; excited and scared and out of my mind right then. "Never run from a predator, Cassandra. Stand your ground, call their bluff, if you must. The 'behave' worked on me once, because I wasn't expecting it. This time you'll have to dig deeper to make me stop."

  What?

  "Think," he instructed, his tongue swiping across my top lip and then his mouth suckled on the bottom.

  Think? He wants me to think now?

  "You can do it. Surprise me. Scare the predator off."

  His hips rocked seductively against me, evidence of his arousal obvious as it pressed against my lower belly. I stifled a groan.

  His face nestled into my neck next, I felt him inhale, taking the smell of me in. I wondered what he scented. I wondered if he liked it. Then his hand slipped under my T-shirt and stroked up my bare skin to just below the curve of my breast. And all thought was lost, replaced by a nonsensical whimper slipping out between my lips before I could stop it.

  "Come, Cassandra. I do believe you're not even trying."

  His thigh pressed firmly between my legs until they gave and he wedged himself against me, snug in the V there. He let a sound out, it was distinctly male. Even though I had never heard it before, I knew only a man could make it. It called to me, green flashed against his skin when I opened my eyes.

  "Oh, you are making this too easy, sweet, little Gi. Try," he whispered across my lips. "Try," he whispered against the soft skin beneath my ear. "Try."

  My fingers were simply fluttering on top of his shoulders, needing to do something, anything, to feel his skin, like he was wantonly feeling mine. All manner of strange sounds were slipping out of my mouth now. My body ached for more, but I couldn't exactly identify what. He licked and nibbled around my face and neck and ears. He sucked and lavished attention everywhere. Each touch of his tongue, his lips, his fingers sent electricity shooting through my veins.

  I knew he was playing me, I knew he was trying to get me to respond. And I was responding, but not the way he wanted me to. And despite all that he hadn't used his Stoicheio. I could tell. And I couldn't imagine what I'd be like if he did. I was so lost to these sensations he was creating. I was floating on a cloud of bliss already. Would I simply disappear in a puff of exquisiteness should his Fire envelope me now?

  God I wanted it to. I wanted it so much. Please. Please.

  My mouth opened on a sigh and his lips found mine, his tongue delved in with a fervour that seemed to match what I was feeling. I gripped his shoulders, opened up a little more of myself for him to taste, and sank into the ecstasy he was creating.

  It was Theo who pulled back, not me. No miraculous words from my lips to stop him. No command that caught him off guard and halted proceedings from advancing. I wanted more. I didn't want him to stop. I hadn't even been thinking of getting him to, so how could I have thought up a surprise or shock to make things stop?

  He placed his hands on the bark of the tree beside my face and hung his head in front of me, forehead pressing against mine. He was panting. His big chest rising and falling at an alarming rate. I wondered if he'd hurt himself.

  "Are you OK?" I breathed out.

  He let a strangled laugh out and fisted his hands next to my face.

  "I guess you win after all, Oraia," he whispered.

  "How?" I asked, genuinely intrigued to hear his reasoning.

  "I am so lost to you, I refuse to take you here like this, against a tree." His voice sounded pained. A shaking hand slowly eased out of the tight clench it was in and lifted to cup my cheek. "The first time I bed you, it will be with fine linens at your back, a soft cushion to cradle your head, and all the time in the world at our disposal to discover each other's bodies."

  Oh, that sounded good. Still crimson washed my neck and cheeks. But I did smile, I couldn't help it, and I think it was probably blinding in its sheer happiness. Theo let a small chuckle out and traced his thumb across my jaw.

  "And, sweet Cassandra, it will not be with my little cousin using his Stoicheio beneath our feet."

  I made a squeaking sound, pushing past Theo and suddenly realised how hot the soles of my shoes actually were.

  "How long has he been doing that?" I demanded, jumping around the clearing as though I was dancing on hot coals.

  "Ever since I started using mine to shield your response to my touch from prying ears," Theo admitted.

  "But I couldn't see any gold in your eyes," I said, shocked that he'd used his Stoicheio and I hadn't realised.

  "I am of royal blood, Casey," Theo explained. "I can do simple acts without disclosing what I am doing with the colour of my eyes."

  I stared at him, I think my mouth was open. But my mild horror at Theo using his element when I was not aware, was nothing compared to my response to his next words.

  "And so can you."

  Chapter 14

  This Was It

  Theo regretted saying it immediately. An angry look crossed his face, then he shut it down. I was picking the anger was at himself, not me. He turned away and started pacing. That aggravated hand ran through his hair again. I watched him, stunned at his admission, equally stunned at his obvious faux pas, and also entirely stupefied that I think he slipped up because of me.

  If Theo distracted me, I also distracted him something fierce too.

  "Explain," I demanded softly, finally finding at least one word to voice right then.

  He stopped pacing, just stared blindly at the charred remains of a bush near his feet.

  "I started noticing things." His voice was low and soft. "At first, I think I only suspected subconsciously. I hadn't really connected all the dots. Then at the event tonight, it just came out. What my mind had been trying to tell me. What I'd seen but not comprehended."

  His eyes came up and he stared at me. I tried to decipher the expression on his face. He looked at me as though seeing me for the very first time. There was no hint of familiarity, no remembered or lingering look of tenderness. It wasn't harsh and judgemental like the Pyrkagia at that restaurant tonight, but it wasn't my Theo either.

  "Your control is phenomenal. No plant has denied you once." How did he know that? And why was it important? He must have seen the puzzled look on my face, because he clarified his statement further. His hand waved out around the clearing. "They died willingly to follow your command. And since we arrived here those that survived have offered only welcome. There is no sense of residual anger."

  I blinked slowly, taking that all in.

  "It wouldn't surprise me, with your level of control, if you could channel essence as well," he added.

  "Channel essence?"

  "A Gi's ability to use aspects of a plant's toxin. Only a select few Gi can master the skill required." He studied me for a moment, then asked, "Can you?"

  "I don't even have a clue what that
would do," I admitted, chewing on the inside of my lip. Another Ekmetalleftis power I would rather not know about.

  "There's several different plant toxins the Gi can channel," Theo started to explain. "Strychnos Toxifera; a paralysing poison derived from South American plants. Humans know it as Curare. Anaisthetikos; removes the sentience of a victim, by hindering their perception of the environment. Hederin; an hallucinogenic..."

  I held up my hand to stop him. There were obviously many, too many plant essences the Gi could channel. It was making me feel a little sick. I rubbed my stomach and swallowed to clear the bad taste that had accumulated in my mouth. I think Theo realised that was an ability I hadn't yet mastered. He looked as upset by the conversation as me.

  "Well, anyway, your control is one thing," Theo went on, thankfully dropping the topic. "But it is your strength which truly proves the point. You made the Earth assault my house. My house, Casey. Most Gi can command plants to do impressive things, but the Earth itself? Only those born of direct descent of an elder."

  "An elder?" I asked, feeling a little numbed and entirely too confused. All of this was stretching the practical side of my brain to its limit. I was teetering on the ledge of a mental overload ravine.

  "One of the original created by Aetheros. My father is an elder. All four current Rigas are elders. Your strength matches mine and in some regards, even surpasses it."

  I shook my head. He took a step closer and then stopped, eyes still trained on mine.

  "Control, strength, but then there is also the fact that you constantly commune with your Stoicheio without affecting a colour change in your eyes at all. When I shielded the sounds you were making just now" - and oh, did those words compound the tumult of emotions inside me right then - "I was communing with my Stoicheio, asking it to distract those who could hear you with lustful thoughts instead. I did not affect a colour change, because the action is a simple one, for me; a prince of Pyrkagia."

  And one I do constantly when I talk to the Earth.

  "How do you know I am talking to my Stoicheio if my eyes don't change colour?" I asked, trying not to let these new developments drown me. The water was rising though, in my mind it was lapping at my chin.