Elemental Fae Academy: Book One Page 16

  “I can feel the bond,” I marveled, finally sensing it for the first time. “It makes me want more.”

  “I know.” He kissed me softly while Titus slowly drew his hand from between my legs, the dampness of my arousal creating a wet path across my skin. It left me quivering, stirring a desire for another round. I felt insatiable, needy, and undeniably smitten.

  “We’ll take it slow,” Titus spoke against my ear. “Teach you about our world, our customs, our powers. To make sure it’s what you really want, Claire.”

  “Handling both of us won’t be easy,” Exos agreed, his lips moving against mine. “That’s what the courtship is about—learning about the other and deciding if it’s what both parties want. For that, you need a stronger comprehension of your abilities and this world. But we have time. And we’ll start training immediately.”

  Titus kissed my shoulder. “He means after a shower.”

  Exos’s lips twitched. “No, I meant now.” He kissed me again, his aura calling to mine on an intimate level that left me shaking against him. “Create something with me, princess.”

  “Like what?” I breathed, captivated by the swirling blue of his irises.

  “Anything.” He lifted his hand from my leg, holding it between us.

  I pressed my palm to his and marveled at the stimulating connection. “More flowers?”

  “If you want.” An electrical charge caressed the air, causing Titus to shift at my back. He didn’t leave but gave me space, allowing me to focus on the energy breathing life into my being.

  The energy of Exos.

  His spirit enticing mine.

  “Think about something you want,” he encouraged. “And show me with your hand.”

  “Anything?”

  He grinned. “Within reason.”

  “Okay.” I fell into the ocean of his gaze, drowning in all things Exos. Every inhale belonged to him. Every heartbeat. Every thought. He wanted me to create life. What would he enjoy? A pixie like Elana’s?

  Or maybe something from my home.

  Like a butterfly.

  I pictured a winged creature, giving it pink wings with my mind, and felt my heart warm at the idea as my fingertips tingled.

  Exos smiled in approval as a butterfly fluttered above our joined hands.

  “What is that?” he asked softly. “Your version of a fairy?”

  “It’s a butterfly.” I urged it to fly around the room, its wings glistening with life. “It likes flowers.”

  “It’s beautiful.” He released me to tuck my hair behind my ears. “Just like you.” He pressed his lips to mine once more, the kiss a possession and a promise wrapped up in one. “See how long you can keep it flying around. My record for a conjured spirit is three months, if you want a goal.”

  My lips parted. “Three months?”

  He waggled his brows. “Consider it your first assignment, princess.” He nuzzled my nose and glanced over my shoulder at Titus. “I think I might enjoy playing professor for a few weeks.”

  “We can teach her all sorts of things,” Titus agreed, drawing a finger down my spine. “But I do want a shower first.”

  “You and me both,” Exos said, some sort of understanding passing between them.

  I gasped, understanding dawning. They’re still turned on. “Wait, are you—”

  Exos silenced me with his mouth, his tongue a familiar presence that scattered my thoughts. “Pleasuring you in the presence of another, I can handle. Watching you return that pleasure to a man who isn’t me? Absolutely not.”

  “I agree,” Titus said. “And I can’t just leave the room, either.”

  Exos nodded. “We’ll come up with a way to handle this. For now, I’ll settle on a shower.”

  “There’s only one here,” I pointed out.

  “Titus will go first while you show me what your butterfly can do. Then I’ll shower.”

  “And me?” I asked, raising a brow. “When do I shower?”

  Exos nodded. “You’re right. You should shower first while we watch, then Titus can go after you, and I’ll go last.”

  I slapped his shoulder. “That’s not funny.”

  “I didn’t say I was joking.”

  “For once, I actually like your demand,” Titus added. “Up you go, Claire.”

  I scowled over my shoulder. “No.”

  “You can’t turn down a royal,” he said, smiling. “And he wants you to shower first.”

  “I thought you wanted a shower?” Exos gripped my chin to pull me back to him, a smile in his eyes. “Or was that you being difficult?” He kissed me before I could retort, causing Titus to chuckle as he rolled out of the bed.

  “I’ll let you know when I’m done,” he said on his way out of the room.

  Exos ignored him and continued kissing me, the moment intensifying now that we were alone. He pushed me to my back, his hips settling between mine. “I’m going to kiss you until he returns, Claire.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  “And I’m going to make you come again.” The dark promise sent my heart into overdrive. “With my tongue.” He nipped my jaw on his way down, his gaze oozing sin as he looked up at me. “Consider it an introduction to the courtship bond, princess. And you have two of us vying for your attention.”

  Oh God…

  I might not survive this.

  Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to worry, not with Exos drawing a hot path with his tongue through my slick folds.

  This is my new life.

  Best to just embrace it.

  And I did.

  Twice.

  Part II

  Titus

  Two weeks.

  Two... fucking... weeks... well, not fucking.

  I was about to lose my damn mind.

  Claire moved beyond the thin veil of the opaque windows as she dressed for our training session. I coveted our lessons together because it provided us with alone time—just us and our fire.

  Watching her as she slipped the tight-fitting fireproof garments over her head made the embers in me burn hotter. A feat, considering they were constantly smoldering in her presence.

  She glanced in my direction, likely feeling my eyes on her, memorizing every inch of her body. Then she disappeared from view, leaving my fingers curling into fists as the raw need in me demanded an outlet.

  As if on cue, Exos appeared at the other window that overlooked the training courtyard just outside the Spirit Quad. He arched a brow as if to remind me that I wasn’t the only one with a claim on Claire’s body.

  Yeah, yeah.

  Neither of us could stand the idea of Claire fucking the other, so we’d come to a painful truce. Giving her pleasure took the bite out of our need, but it wasn’t enough anymore. And I knew he felt it, too.

  Exos’s eyes narrowed as though he suspected I might take Claire right here in the courtyard—while he watched.

  Not a bad idea, I thought darkly.

  A part of me didn’t care anymore, but I also knew it would cause a divide that would echo throughout all the kingdoms. I couldn’t have Claire—not yet—not until we’d established an understanding of how to make this work.

  Sex wasn’t necessarily a trigger to deepening a bond, but something told me if either of us fucked Claire, it would deepen our connection to something far more permanent.

  Which meant I couldn’t touch her. Not like that. Not yet. Not until we all came to a mutual agreement, because it was very clear that Claire would require more than one mate. Perhaps up to five.

  She entered the courtyard twirling a baton I’d given her last week. The way she handled it now showed her improvement. The tips bled with tiny flames as she gave me a seductive, mischievous grin.

  “If you keep glaring up at Exos like that, he’s going to jump down here and join our sparring session. And something tells me it’ll be your face he uses for a physical demonstration.” Her words were a bit too matter-of-fact for my liking.

  I rolled my shoulders back and cracked
my neck, making a show of it. “I’m not afraid of the scrawny royal.”

  I slipped my arm around her waist as she stepped within my reach, and brought her hips against mine so she could feel how hard she’d made me just by standing there showing off the fire that connected us.

  Her eyes widened. “I thought you, uh, just took a shower.”

  As if a hand job could possibly reduce the excruciating need that screamed in me. I let my voice drop, and I didn’t care if the demanding huskiness of my tone came off too rough. “I’m tired of showers. Of this place. Of Exos spying on our training.” I shot him a look while I said it, which earned me a smirk in response. This was supposed to be my time with Claire, and the bastard knew it.

  But he clearly didn’t trust me not to take this to the next level. Which I couldn’t truly blame him for, as I felt the same way about him.

  Claire pouted, her adorable bottom lip plumping out. She thumped her baton against my leg, causing the flames to lick up my sides. “You don’t really mean that, right?”

  Ah, she didn’t understand.

  “I would never leave you, Claire. It’s just… hard.” I nuzzled into the groove of her neck.

  “Oh,” she said, breathless. She arched against me, pressing her breasts into my chest as my teeth grazed her pulse. Her resulting groan caused my cock to throb between us.

  “Fuck, Claire,” I whispered, my body on fire—literally.

  She twisted in my grip to glance to where Exos tracked our every movement. “Exos is watching.”

  I know. I can feel his presence.

  “You didn’t seem to have a problem with that last night,” I said instead, grinning when flames erupted around us. She sucked in a breath, the memory of her naked and crying out for more, painting her cheeks a delicious pink. That’d become our nightly routine. And sometimes a morning activity as well.

  Claire dropped the baton and gripped my shoulders, her strength surprising me as she pushed me away. The echo of flames burned in her eyes, slowly overtaking the blue that marked her as a Spirit Fae.

  Yes, give me your fire, sweetheart.

  “I know what you’re doing,” she said as she narrowed her eyes. “You’re trying to distract me, but I’m ready.” She retrieved her baton and twirled it before crouching into the battle stance I’d taught her. “I’m going to prove to all the fae that I am not my mother.”

  A grin stretched across my face as I took a defensive position. Pride swelled in my chest. Yes, Claire was definitely ready to face the Academy.

  But was I ready to let her face them without me by her side? Her first class would be on Air Quad—with Exos.

  A fireball caught me on the chin, causing me to grunt before stumbling to my knee. I snapped my head back just in time to see Claire’s baton coming straight for my face. She’d caught me off guard, but that was because I wasn’t accustomed to elements being used against me in a fight. The one handicap of being a Powerless Champion was, well, real fae fought with their powers.

  I caught the baton in my grip with ease and smiled at Claire’s surprised expression. “Well done, sweetheart, but you’ll have to do better than that to beat me.”

  I intended to yank Claire closer and seduce her some more, when she twisted from my grip in a maneuver I hadn’t taught her. One glance up at a smug Exos told me I wasn’t the only one who’d helped Claire grow.

  My gaze dropped down to Claire, who held her palms together, her brows knitted with concentration as she summoned a new fireball—but it wasn’t quite a fireball.

  “Claire,” I cautioned, hoping she wasn’t attempting to combine her elements. She wasn’t ready, even if Exos encouraged her. He didn’t understand how raw and explosive her emotions were or how they impacted her powers.

  Her jaw flexed as she worked on the ball of power. Its gleaming red flames licked around the edges of her fingertips before the other elements came into play in tufts of living color. A magical breeze kicked up and sent her hair flinging over her face, but she didn’t move to push the strands away.

  A sizzle of water fought against the flames, winning and morphing into something dangerous as an external, circular vortex crashed at her feet and wound circles up her body. It seemed to be climbing an invisible wall, threatening to cut her off from me. Permanently.

  “Claire,” I tried again, readying myself to intervene.

  Except tight roots had bound my ankles to the spot.

  Claire had used her spirit to create life, causing the ground to shift beneath us to secure her new creations.

  “I’m okay,” she said through gritted teeth, her voice distorted by the heavy magic weaving its way up her arms. “I can control it.”

  No. You can’t.

  I glowered up at Exos, who merely shrugged, clearly at ease with this display.

  Jackass, I growled in my mind. Not that he could hear me. Not that he even mattered.

  I refocused on Claire. I wanted to yell at her, strangle her, crash my mouth against hers and distract her from this nonsense, but I knew better. She possessed a fire that rivaled my own, and a passionate ambition that no one could take away from her. I would be a hypocrite to try.

  My fingers curled into fists as she worked the fireball and tried to rein in the elements. A small smile played on her plump lips. “I think I’m doing it.”

  Exos joined us, his blue eyes glimmering in triumph. “That’s beautiful, Claire.”

  Of course he approved.

  “Yes, let’s encourage her to work with elements we have no power over.” Claire’s fire might be mine, but the rest of her did not belong to me. If she lost control now, I would be useless to help her.

  I did not like to feel useless.

  “What’s going on?” an approaching voice asked from the edge of the courtyard.

  Exos frowned, eyeing the monstrosity growing around Claire. “Prepare yourself, River. We may require your affinity for water in just a moment.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at a gaping River, having forgotten about Exos inviting him over today. Claire was steadily gaining control over her powers, and while River couldn’t reach her elements the same way Exos and I could—thanks to our bonds—he could still help guide her when it came to water.

  Good thing, too, because that was the first element to rip free from Claire’s careful grasp.

  Her smile faded as the churning water around her intensified, spiraling up into the sky like the ground had erupted in a geyser.

  “Claire!” I shouted, straining against the vines, which only dug deeper into my skin in response. I winced as the prick of thorns threatened to make my imprisonment even worse.

  Of course, I was a stubborn son of a bitch, so instead of obeying Claire’s magic, I sent my fire writhing over the vines.

  “Don’t,” Exos bit off.

  A single word—a command, one that needed to be obeyed.

  My teeth grated together in defiance, but I dispelled the flames only because Exos had an edge to his voice. One I wasn’t used to hearing—panic.

  Claire had stumbled backward, her body blurring behind a waterspout mingling with violent gusts of air that would soon turn into a full-fledged tornado if not brought under control.

  “Now, River,” Exos said.

  River grunted as he thrust his arms out. An invisible force shifted, twisting the geyser the wrong way to make it lose momentum. A sound of pain came from inside the vortex, making me jerk against my restraints.

  “Claire!”

  The vortex thinned enough for us to finally see her, causing the blood to drain from my face. Her skin glowed with a silver hue while white flowers came to life and died over and over again at her feet in a panicked cycle of renewal.

  Exos stepped inside, braving the whirlwind of power, and gently took hold of Claire’s arms. I couldn’t hear what he said to her, but her eyes flashed up to him, full of silver and blue power that swirled with distress. He calmed her, then she looked at me and the fireball still in her hand grew.
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  She let out a long breath before she set the vortex on fire. It was a terrifying sight as the very air around her burst into a swirling inferno, but I immediately understood what Exos had told her to do. By allowing fire—the power she maintained the most control over—to engulf the other elements, she could mingle everything together and draw the energy back into herself.

  Clever.

  I watched, both with pride and unease at her raw, barely trained strength as she closed her eyes and calmed the storm. The elements slowly drained away and drifted like ash to the ground, sprouting up more white flowers in their wake.

  By the time she finished, the entire courtyard was covered in the beautiful blooms.

  River let out a long breath. “By the Elements, I almost wasn’t able to break through her vortex.” He glanced at me, a shaky smile mixed with worry on his face. “I don’t know if I’m cut out to be her water mentor, Titus. I’m not able to help her, not like you.” His gaze returned to Claire, mesmerized with her just as all the fae should be. “Your bonds are strengthening her far more than I ever could.”

  Hmm, no, River was definitely not suited to mentor Claire. Nor did they possess a bond-mate compatibility like Claire had with me and Exos. Which, unfortunately, implied she would eventually need a water mate.

  Exos already speculated she’d need one for each element.

  I sort of hated that he was right.

  Claire sank to her knees, her smile indicating it to be from exhaustion, not emotions. Her gaze danced with delight. “I did it. I brought it under control with minimal help.”

  Just barely. But yes, she did. “Please don’t attempt that again, Claire. Not until we’ve found more mentors to help sharpen your elements.”

  “Hmm, yes, on this I agree with Titus. We need to find you an air mentor. Fortunately, I have someone in mind.” Exos flicked a wrist at me, sending the vines binding my legs unwinding.

  My eyes went wide. “Don’t tell me you could have done that this whole time.”

  His resulting smirk said it all.