Turning Tides (Elements, Book 3)

by Mia Marshall

  He raised an eyebrow, wondering where I was going with this.

  I leaned toward him, letting every wicked impulse show on my face. “Want to release some energy?”

  Our eyes locked across the small space. We let the awareness build, the knowledge that it was just the two of us, alone in a room with a double bed. His nostrils flared, and I knew his shifter nose picked up my desire. We were barely touching, and already it was building, electricity humming across my skin.

  “What are you up to, Aidan?” His voice was low, with more than a hint of a growl.

  I’d said all the words I had to say, and I didn’t want to talk anymore. What was the point in dating a strong, silent type if he didn’t know when it was time to shut up? Instead of answering, I placed my hands against the headboard, on either side of his shoulders, and pulled myself onto the bed, straddling his legs with mine. I drew my thigh muscles toward each other, gripping his body. It was a promise of what was to come.

  Mac’s breath caught, and I watched the expressions dance across his face, lust and uncertainty and something so warm I dared not name it. His brown eyes heated, but they stayed locked on my face, and we held the gaze as I reached forward, running my hands from his broad shoulders down his arms.

  I threaded our fingers together and stretched my legs behind me, leaning forward to balance on top of him. I aligned my body against his.

  I paused, almost afraid to move. Already, I was flooded with sensations that were distinctly Mac. He was the strongest man I’d ever known, his body offering a safe harbor. There was little give in his chest muscles, his abs and thighs, but his skin was soft and warm. I took a deep breath and imagined I could scent his need. Not that I needed to imagine much, with some mighty compelling evidence pressing against me.

  “What are you doing, Aidan?” Mac asked again, his voice thin and strangled.

  “I’d think that was obvious.” I unwound our hands and reached up, gripping the thick muscles of his shoulders. I pulled myself along his body, one slow inch after another, until our faces met. I smiled then, a smile as full of promise and hunger as any I’d ever allowed him to see. He strained toward me, but I pulled back, dropping my face into the curve of his neck.

  I inhaled the warmth, the scent that belonged to Mac alone, and skimmed my lips across the skin. My tongue darted out, tasting, but it wasn’t enough. It was too slow, too deliberate for the hunger claiming me. One nip, then another, then I sank my teeth into his skin. He gasped, a mix of surprise and pleasure, and I fought the voice telling me to deepen the bite. To mark him.

  Reluctantly, I released his neck, soothing the teeth marks with my tongue. I lowered my head until my lips met the neckline of his white t-shirt, and I tugged it with my teeth. I wanted nothing between us. I needed to feel his skin, warm and sweaty, pressed against mine.

  “Take it off,” I said.

  His voice was strained. “I don’t want you to think I’m complaining, but what brought this on? Are we done waiting?”

  “Fuck waiting,” I told him. “Off.”

  I watched the smile spread across his face, the slow grin I sometimes hoped would be the last thing I saw before I died. He placed one enormous hand high on my chest and pressed gently, lifting me off his body.

  I reached out to him, resenting the distance. The whole time, Mac watched me, his gaze intent, loaded with thoughts I could only begin to guess.

  “Aidan, I’m not sure this is the best idea.”

  “I am.” I tugged at his shirt again, wondering why it was still on his body. “I’m tired of thinking, Mac. I’m tired of waiting for some perfect moment that seems unlikely to ever come. I know this isn’t it. I know I still need to undo the magic. But that’s in the future, and I’m so tired of waiting for the future. We only get so many chances in life. Can we stop screwing this up?”

  I had no warning. One moment I was straddling him, my hands sneaking underneath his t-shirt to feel the heated flesh. The next I was on my back, my wrists held in one of his hands and pinned above my head. He braced himself on his other forearm and his knees, sparing me most of his weight, but I still felt the press of his body, a welcome heaviness pushing me into the mattress.

  “I don’t plan on screwing anything up,” he said, lowering his head to my neck and speaking the words against my skin. I squirmed, trying to get even closer to him. If I could have climbed inside him, I might have tried.

  I arched my neck, giving him better access. “Do you plan on screwing anything else?”

  I felt the rumble of laughter that started deep in his chest and moved outward, ending on the lips now pressed against my collarbone. “Classy.”

  My wrists were still pinned, and I fought against him, wanting his skin beneath my hands. His grip didn’t lessen, but the effort raised both our shirts, pressing an inch of my bare skin against his.

  “You know me. I’m classy lady.” I undulated, urging our bodies closer together, the heat from that small contact moving through me.

  Mac’s lips slid upwards along the column of my throat. He grabbed my jaw between his teeth, holding my face in a soft bite. At last, he released my hands, running his own down the length of my arms, a slow caress from wrist to shoulder.

  One hand moved to my face, cupping my cheek, while the other slid along my ribs, When he reached my waist, I fought for breath, unsure how much lower he’d send that hand. Instead, he slid it underneath me and lifted me toward him, fitting me tighter against his body.

  He stared at me the way only Mac did, as if he saw things no one else ever would. I refused to look away. Whatever he saw, it was his, if he wanted it. I wouldn’t hide from him.

  “This isn’t…”

  I didn’t let him finish. Whatever protest he was about to make, I had no interest in hearing it. I covered his mouth with my own, silencing all doubts.

  The kiss radiated through my entire body until all I knew was Mac. I met his tongue and rocked my hips against his, wanting him more than I’d ever wanted food or warmth or air. His body and his touch, his lips and tongue and breath, they were everything. Absolutely everything.

  When he pulled back, I chased his lips, a whimper escaping as my head rose off the pillow. Again, he captured my wrists, preventing me from touching him.

  His breathing was ragged, his body as desperate as mine, but he fought to regain control. I writhed against him, reminding him how overrated control was in this particular situation.

  He groaned, a low sound of pain and regret, and rolled off me in a single motion. He leaned against the closed door, putting painful distance between us.

  I sat up. Frustration coursed through me, and it gave my words a sharper bite than I intended. “What? Seriously, what the hell is it this time?”

  He didn’t look offended by my anger. If anything, he seemed to share it. “I think you’ve forgotten something,” he said. He shut his eyes tightly, as if even the sight of me was too much.

  “Condoms? You know full-blooded elementals aren’t that fertile.” It wasn’t the most compelling argument, I had to admit. Teenage boys in the back seats of their cars had come up with more convincing excuses. “But if you’re worried, there are plenty of other things we can do.” I let my eyes drop to the front of his jeans, where there was still evidence that part of his body was open to hearing arguments.

  Teenage boys had nothing on me.

  His face contorted at my words, the battle for control still being waged. “No, not condoms,” he said. “We’re on a boat. Rather close quarters.”

  “I can be quiet,” I said, lying through my teeth.

  “Well, I can’t be. And even if we could, that’s not the problem. We’d still have to deal with, you know.” He jerked his head toward the door.

  “With what?”

  “Shifter ears,” said Simon, as clearly as if he were in the room with us.

  No cold shower had ever been so effective. I flopped backwards on the bed and pulled a pillow over my face, hoping that would hid
e my humiliation. “They heard everything?” I whispered.

  “Yep.” Miriam sounded far too amused by my pain and suffering.

  That was it. I didn’t want much in life. A pony, sure. World peace, okay. But right then, more than anything in the world, I wanted some quality naked time with Mac before the madness consumed me, and this was one obstacle too many. I jumped to my feet and flung the door open, glaring at the two friends I kind of hated at that moment.

  “Can you please leave us alone for an hour?” Mac muttered something behind me. I was underestimating his prowess. “Two hours?”

  Simon looked at me, expression wry. “Let me be sure I understand this. You are asking me and Miriam to take the rowboat out in orca-infested waters just so you and Mac can finally consummate your relationship? This despite the fact that the two of you spent weeks actively not having sex when you could have done so in relative privacy?”

  I nodded. “Exactly.”

  Simon gave me the look I probably deserved. “No.”

  Miriam shrugged. “Sorry, Brook. I hate to cock block you, but the cat has a point.”

  I grumbled, loudly. I could accept their reasoning, but that didn’t mean I had to be gracious about it.

  “We can take off for a bit tomorrow,” Miriam volunteered. I resisted giving her a grateful kiss. Just.

  My joy was short lived as reality came crashing down. “We can’t. Tomorrow night, I have to try to cure Mac. This has gone on long enough. And during the day I should probably try to clear my father.” I was surprised to discover I meant that, too. Our relationship was complicated, to say the least, but Josiah had saved me today. I needed to try to repay that gift.

  “Care to fill us in on just what happened today?” Miriam looked at me a little too closely, as if wondering which parts of the story I’d omitted.

  They deserved to know. They should know, for their own safety and for mine. I needed people I trusted watching my back.

  I didn’t want to tell them. I didn’t want Simon to decide it was safer to permanently live with Carmen. I didn’t want Miriam, my newest friend, to figure out I was more bother than I was worth. More than anything, I couldn’t stand for Mac to put distance between us again.

  But those were my worries, my insecurities, and I couldn’t let them make the decision for me. I opened my mouth to tell them what I’d almost done to Rachel.

  I didn’t get one word out before the three shifters covered their sensitive ears. Even I winced at the noise.

  It took me a second to understand what I was hearing. I’d only heard such a sound once before, the day of my trial. The day Edith was killed.

  Horror flooded me as another explosion assaulted our ears. The deafening noise came from the island.

  Chapter 19

  I didn’t wait to see how the others reacted. I dove into the sea and called every bit of magic I possessed to push me toward the shore. I didn’t need to guess where the explosions originated. Despite the distance between the houseboat and the beach, my fire instinctively knew, and it urged me toward the western side of the island.

  When the shore was in sight, a third blast, even louder than the first two, fueled my panic. My ears rang, but I refused to spare any magic to speed their healing. I needed to reach the house. I needed to reach Sera.

  I didn’t beat the crowd drawn to the western side of the island by the explosion. I dragged myself from the sea and stumbled across the shore, feet churning in sand that seemed determined to trap me.

  Fire, Sera could survive. It only made her stronger. It’s what fueled her, what defined her. She could stand in a bonfire and only have a healthy glow to show for her troubles.

  An explosion, however, would have an entirely different effect. Sera couldn’t repair her body if it was blown into hundreds of tiny pieces.

  I crossed the hundred feet or so to the small cottage. It was even smaller, now that everything except the back wall lay in pieces on the beach.

  The house was completely obliterated. Wood and plaster were strewn across the ground, along with chunks of furniture and broken glass. Stubborn flames clung to the wreckage, and black smoke rose against the darkening sky.

  My fire reached toward it, curious and greedy, and I didn’t try to stop it.

  I studied the debris with panicked eyes, looking for any sign of Sera or Josiah buried beneath the rubble. A single shoe rested near the gathered waters, a beat-up old boot Sera had worn the day before. I froze, unable to move any closer lest I discover the shoe still held a foot.

  Though the others could have easily put out the flames, they chose to stand quietly, murmuring amongst themselves as they watched the house burn.

  “What happened?” I demanded of no one in particular. “Where’s Sera?”

  Many chose not to meet my eyes, and those who did looked at me with pity. No one answered, until Grams stepped out of the crowd.

  “I haven’t seen her. We only arrived a minute ago.”

  I inched toward the burning remains that had once been a house, dreading what I might find. There were no steps to climb, but I grabbed onto the scarred floor and prepared to boost myself up. Strong arms grasped my arms, Grams and my mother pulling me back.

  “Think, Aidan.” My mother spoke in a whisper no one else could hear. “You can’t go in there. The fire would kill you.”

  It wouldn’t, of course, but it was a necessary reminder that the others would be mighty surprised to see me walk unharmed through the flames.

  They’d have no idea if I accessed that part of my magic, however. I turned away, hiding my expression as I ceded control to my other half, and I sent the fire across the island.

  I moved it in a radius, one hundred feet in every direction, looking for any sign someone else was accessing their magic. When I found nothing, I moved further down the beach and tried again, and then again, until at last I felt it. It was weak and fading, but it was undoubtedly a fire elemental.

  I felt no anger right now. Shock and fear and horror, but no anger, so when it was time to release the fire and call my water back to me, it didn’t fight. I sent my magic into the ocean, where I’d picked up the signal, and asked it to grab hold. One thick wave after another fell across the shore, dousing the fire and sweeping the pieces that had once been a house out to sea. Even when the flames were extinguished, I kept going, ordering the ocean to the beach time and again.

  The eighth wave I called returned a water-logged computer to the land along with two fire elementals.

  “Sera!” I ran toward her limp body. She looked awful. Her clothes were torn and blackened, and while she appeared to have four limbs and a head, she wasn’t moving.

  She wasn’t breathing, either. I thought I’d been panicked before, but that had only been a teaser. It was like the sand and my own body conspired to keep me from her, every movement pained and sluggish.

  Josiah lay next to her, flat on his back and staring at the stars.

  After what felt like a small eternity, I reached Sera and roughly pulled her upright. “Hold on,” I told her. With no other warning, I launched my magic into her lungs, grabbing hold of the water she’d inhaled and forcing it upwards, out of her body.

  It wasn’t enough. I repeated the action, expelling every last drop until her lungs were empty. She was alive, damn it. She just needed to breathe.

  I knew I couldn’t bring a second person back to life without ruining myself. I also knew, if it came to that, I would do it anyway. This was Sera.

  I didn’t look behind me, but I sensed my family circling us. While their silent support was better than nothing, it still wasn’t enough.

  I focused inward, trying to recreate the anger and desperation and clarity of the night I healed Mac. Maybe I would have found it, had my mother not grabbed my hair and yanked my head backwards, distracting me. Her message was clear: whatever the cost, she would not let me destroy myself.

  That day, at least, it didn’t prove necessary.

  There was no space bet
ween death and life. One moment she was limp and still. The next, her eyes flew open and her body convulsed, retching and coughing, attempting to reject the intrusion of the water and my magic.

  “Oh, thank you. Thank you.” The words came out in a sob, gratitude and relief battling the slow anger I allowed myself to feel, now that I knew she would live.

  “Serafina.” A hand reached out to grab hers. Josiah, looking weaker than I’d ever seen him, stared at his daughter. When he met my eyes, I saw the same potent mix of emotions that coursed through me.

  If someone didn’t die for this explosion, it wouldn’t be for lack of trying on his part.

  Even so, our priority was still Sera, and we watched her closely, needing confirmation that she was unharmed.

  She looked between us. I was used to seeing her black eyes glowing with intelligence and energy, but at that moment she only looked tired. Tired, and a tiny bit amused. “This is what it takes to make you stop fighting? You two are hard work.”

  Somehow, I found a way to smile around the sobs that threatened to burst from me. “Still more pleasant than a group therapy session, right?”

  She started to laugh, which turned into a cough. Josiah patted her back, ignoring her dark glare and mutters about not needing to be burped.

  At last, she sat up on her own. Color returned to her face, and I thought she was reaching out to the few small flames I hadn’t succeeded in putting out, feeding on them as best she could.

  Josiah stood. Though he was unsteady on his feet, he already appeared mostly healed. The waters all took several steps back as he moved around the shore. He paid them no attention. They meant nothing to him.

  Instead, he picked up the largest piece of wood he could find and fed the flame, building it into a respectable bonfire and placing it next to Sera.

  I closed my eyes, hoping “out of sight, out of mind” applied to magic, as well. I could still feel the fire’s warmth, even feel Sera’s magic reaching toward it. Several deep breaths later, I was as controlled as I was likely to be, and I opened my eyes to see Josiah, Sera, my mother, and Grams all staring at me in concern.