The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) (10 page)

I flicked my eyes up to his face. He was so sincere and I suddenly felt incredibly bad. Despite his misgivings he
was
helping me. Despite the cost to him, the risk, he kept doing it. I nodded my head, then dipped my face to walk past.

Just as I came abreast of him I whispered, "Thank you." His hand came up, hovered over my cheek for a moment, and then rested on my shoulder instead.

"It is a pleasure,
Oraia
. Please know that."

I wanted to believe him, and in a way I could. He was certainly getting something out of keeping me around. If half of what he had admitted earlier was true, he enjoyed
feeding
off me to some degree. So, I
was
paying for this arrangement. But I should never, ever forget that was what it is.

An arrangement and nothing more.

I found my dinner waiting on a small table by the window, where I could sit and look out over the trees in his front yard. There were so many. Why did he surround himself with plants when his
Stoicheio
was Fire? He didn't need them, so why? It was another piece to the puzzle that was Theo Peters. Or what had his father called him? Theodoros. I smiled at that. So old world. So Greek.

I ate what I could stomach and then forced myself to have a bath in the attached ensuite room. That had a lock so, at least, my heart rate wasn't galloping. Just at trot for now. Aktor had laid out nightwear on a stand to the side. He must have sourced it while we were at the King's. I slipped the nightdress over my head and noted it came to mid-thigh. My guess, Aktor had been given strict instructions on what to purchase. This flimsy number hardly left anything to the imagination at all.

I slipped my underwear reluctantly back on. No way was I traipsing about the place, with an open door to Theo and a bare arse sticking out. I opened the bathroom door and glanced across the room. The dinner plates had been removed. How the hell did he know I was finished? I shook my head and noted the lights had been dimmed, to just one bedside lamp, and the covers had been pulled down.

Oh, I could get used to this. I ran across the soft carpet, my feet making no sounds at all, and launched myself onto the high mattress of the bed. I sank into the feathered comfort letting out a small whimper of delight. I heard Theo chuckle through the opening of the door and cringed. Fire coursed up my cheeks and I prayed he couldn't feed from where he was right now. I ducked under the covers and pulled them up to my ears. Then waited for sleep.

Two hours later I was still staring at the shadows of branches dancing along the walls of my room. So many unanswered questions filled my head. So many fears made my heart too fast for me to ever hope to sleep again. This world was so strange, yet I felt comforted by it. I'd always loved plants, maybe my grandfather was right, and that's why I was a
Gi
and not a
Pyrkagia
. Maybe my predilection for nature was the impetus for what
Stoicheio
I could command. But
why
had this happened?

Did it really matter how, if I still didn't know why?

Something told me that was the crux of the matter. Because I was not born, like Theo was obviously born, into this life. I became this creature I now am from spending two days in a dirt covered pit. Who put me there? And why did they do it?

So many questions. So few answers. And with only four weeks grace from the
Rigas
, so little time. I curled up in a small ball and prayed that Theo could in fact help me find the answers. He was my only hope. He was my only chance to make any sense of this world.

With thoughts of him on my mind, when sleep finally claimed me, I assumed I'd dream about Theo. But at some stage in the night my nightmares returned. It seemed strange to me that I still had them, because I'd come to feel safe and protected by all the plant life in the city, and the scent of Earth soothed like nothing else could. So why did a pit full of dirt make me break out in sweat, tangle the sheets, and cry out in my sleep?

I woke abruptly to Theo's softly murmured words in my ear. To the realisation that I was wrapped up in his arms, still in my bed, still in my room. And that Theo was, indeed, shirtless when he slept.

Heat rushed through my entire body, setting it alight with flames. It was all mine. It wasn't Theo's. But one muttered Greek curse from his mouth and I knew he hadn't missed it.

And, of course, his lips crushing mine kind of gave it away too.

The taste of Theo met my tongue. It was delicious. Sweet, yet spicy. A combination of flavours I was sure existed somewhere exotic and warm and full of sunshine. I moaned into his mouth, felt his body shudder above me and his lips press firmer into mine.

This had to be a dream. A beautiful dream come to chase the nightmare away. If I had to endure being buried alive every single night simply to experience the delight of this dream afterwards, I would gladly. I would give anything to taste Theo in the wake of such panic and fear. Like the Earth, he soothed me. Like feeding from the trees, he fuelled me. My body arched, my nerves ignited, and flames licked up my centre burning brighter and brighter, and hotter and hotter. I thought I might just explode.

I was sure I might just explode.

And then his thigh pressed between my legs, forcing his way closer to the hottest part of me. Oh dear freaking God, I was dying here. This... sensation, could not be real. Could not exist in actuality. It was a figment of my mind, that's all. Something my subconscious dreamed up to chase away the fear.

I had a very clever subconscious.

"Theo," I murmured and received a husky, "
Oraia
," murmured back.

For some reason I hadn't expected my dream to be so realistic. Actually, I would have preferred Theo didn't talk at all, then I couldn't associate this fantasy with reality. Theo talking felt too real.

I blinked my eyes open, aware I was no longer sleeping, I wasn't awake in a delicious dream. I was awake in reality, and reality was the nightmare, not my dreams.

I screamed. It was loud. Theo swore just as loudly and promptly fell backwards off the side of the bed. The swearing intensified when he hit the carpet. I sucked in air as though I'd been suffocating for the past five minutes, not kissing Theo Peters senseless in my bed.

Oh no.

How many times had I daydreamed about exactly this? How much more... disastrous could I have made the experience? My first real kiss with Theo and I blew it. My fingers came up and traced my lips, feeling the sensation of heat he'd left behind. They tingled.

He still hadn't stood up, he wasn't making a sound. So I crept to the side of the bed and tentatively peered over it. He was lying on his back staring at the ceiling, frowning.

"Hi," I croaked out above him.

He blinked and then let a heavy sigh out.

"Are you all right?" he eventually asked. Huh, the first words out of his mouth aren't condemning, but concerned. I nodded.

"Are you?" I asked, softly.

"I think I strained a muscle," he admitted with a shrug. "And burst an eardrum. But it was worth it." He smiled then, it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said, whisper quiet.

His face softened, ever so slightly.

"Casey. It was my fault, not yours. And here I was, just telling you last night, that I have never forced myself on a woman before. It seems, where you are concerned, I lose all reason and control."

Oh, I think I liked that, but I couldn't let him go on believing I was coerced.

"I had a dream. A nightmare," I said, he nodded for me to continue. "I thought you were my reward for getting through the time in the pit again." His mouth opened, but no words came out. "I thought you were a good dream, to wipe away the bad." A blush stole up my cheeks. "I actually liked it."

He let a relieved breath of air out, then ran his hand through his hair. He was still lying on the carpet on his back. It was kind of amusing.

"Well, anyway," I mumbled. "Just didn't want you to think it was all you."

"I appreciate that."

I didn't know what else to say. He just kept looking up at me. His hands now lying across his stomach, fingers laced. He looked perfectly at ease and in no rush to shift positions or leave. Minutes passed. I'd stopped looking at him, instead staring at the carpet to his side. Because to look at him would give too much away. I was aware his eyes were still on me, and that I was half hanging off the side of the bed. But I couldn't find the willpower to move back. To be the first to shift away.

He broke the stand-off first.

"There are four different
Ekmetalleftis
. Four branches of the same. At our birth, when our Creator made the first elders, we lived in harmony. Inter-racial marriages were the norm. Mixes of our
Stoicheio
did not diminish our numbers. Our children are always the same
Ekmetalleftis
branch as their fathers. So, no reason not to follow your heart and marry the one you desired. The only caveat
Aetheros
, our God, placed on us, was not to mix with humans. We could entertain them, but not keep them. To keep them was to waste our chance to procreate. And we do not procreate easily."

I wasn't sure why he was telling me this now, but the steady sound of his deep voice was lulling. It washed away the last of my embarrassment, the last vestiges of panic from the nightmare, and allowed me to relax into the covers on the bed. I lay sprawled across the surface on my stomach, one arm hanging down the side of the bed and tracing a pattern in the carpet beside Theo's hip.

"Then the Alchemists came. Their constant search for further universal knowledge led them to our kind. At first, we allowed them access to some of our history. It only seemed fair. We'd lived amongst the humans for centuries, and for the past several, our God had been silent. Without his guidance decisions were made that perhaps would not have been if we still held his ear. But we wanted to give something back to humans who unwittingly supported us. The
Pyrkagia,
in particular, wished for this, and rightly so. We are the only ones who can feed directly off them.

"This led to arguments and disagreements between all
Ekmetalleftis
. Squabbles broke out, skirmishes erupted. Until finally, the Alchemists seized their chance. We'd given them so much knowledge, but humans are greedy creatures. They always hunger for more. And there can be no more greedier creature than an Alchemist, who is passionate about furthering their kind."

He paused, flexed his fingers and then abruptly moved the hand closest to mine so it brushed against me. I jerked, but didn't pull right back. He took a deep breath and then laced his fingers with mine. I stopped breathing. To feel so connected to him by such a small amount of flesh was miraculous. My eyes lifted to his and he smiled. Then shrugged, as if to apologise.

He pulled my hand across to his chest and lay it gently over where his heart would be, still laced with his fingers. I wondered if the placement was significant, or if it was just a comfortable spot we could both reach easily. I wondered if he'd planned to do it for a while, my tracing next to his hips a temptation he could no longer resist. I wondered how long he'd continue to touch me. I wanted it to last the entire night through. I wondered...

Theo interrupted my thoughts by talking again.

"They stole some vital information. When we were falling apart, they simply walked in and took what they needed. But for one thing. They have the required make-up of the four main
Ekmetalleftis
. Our DNA, if you will. Each branch is significantly different from the next, but only so far as our
Stoicheio
. However,
Aetheros
placed a lock on our DNA, a key that only he can use. The fifth
Stoicheio.
Quintessence, or as we call it,
Aether
, named after the God who wields it. It resides in each of us, but remains dormant until our God calls it forth.

"Without it, the Alchemists cannot replicate us. But they can
borrow
some of what we do. They have made themselves hardier, they live longer lives, and they can manipulate the elements. Not as well as us, but enough to cause damage. They hunger for more. They will always hunger for more."

He squeezed my fingers, maybe to make sure I was still paying attention, I'm not sure. I blinked at him and nodded, letting him know I was fully awake and hanging on every single word.

"Can I come up there?" he asked, sounding way more tentative than I'd heard him sound before.

"Oh, yeah, sure," I said, pulling back my hand reluctantly. He released my fingers too quickly. It made me frown.

I moved back on the bed and sat against the headboard, my legs curled beneath me, ready to hear more. He rolled to his feet and turned and looked at me. Then sucked in a deep breath.

"My turn to ask for a shirt," he muttered and stormed out of the room.

My frown deepened, but then he returned wearing a T-shirt, moulded to his body and sinfully thin. So, he didn't want me drooling over him. I could understand that, we were talking about heavy 
Ekmetalleftis
history here. Suddenly, he threw something soft at my chest. I stared down at it in my hands for a second, trying to puzzle through what it was.

"Put it on," he instructed. "I'm having trouble concentrating," he added, and waved his hand to indicate my clearly ridiculous nightwear.

"You chose it," I said smoothing the T-shirt out - one of his T-shirts - and then pulling it over my head. My arms slipped in as the collar gave way, letting my face emerge from within. Theo looked pained, standing there at the side of the bed.

He swallowed thickly and muttered, "Better." Then climbed on the bed and sat with his back to the headboard beside me. "Where was I?" he asked, immediately taking up my hand into his. Fingers laced as though they'd done it a million times before, not just once.

I found my voice and breathed out, "The Alchemists borrow our elements."

"Yes, that's right." He shifted himself down in the bed, getting comfortable with my pillows behind his back. "The squabbles over our divulging of secrets to the Alchemists led to a fall-out we couldn't repair. It was decided that all four branches of the
Ekmetalleftis
would separate. It caused," he hesitated, a haunted look crossing his face, "immeasurable pain. Families torn asunder. Children taken by their fathers, leaving their mothers bereft. Some chose death. This time in our history was so agonising that it is ingrained in us all to avoid contact with any
Ekmetalleftis
other than our own."

Well, that explained the over-the-top reaction when he found out I was a
Gi
.

"The
Temple of Aetheros
was destroyed, because how could our God abandon us to this?" he murmured.

He looked down at where our hands were intertwined. Staring blindly for a very long moment.

"You're
Gi
," he whispered eventually. "I'm
Pyrkagia,"
he added. The mood had shifted, I wasn't sure why, but instead of fire, I felt ice. "Please don't get attached."

What?

He withdrew his hand and slipped from the bed, taking what little warmth had remained with him. His back was to me, his shoulders rigid. I was stunned and hurt. Why was I so hurt? Because he'd opened up, been nice to me, held my hand. How dare he hold my hand and then bruise my heart.

He cleared his throat.

"You shouldn't dream of me, Casey. This is an arrangement that benefits us both. You need protection and an education. I need," he paused, "to get you out of my system."

Then he was gone.

I couldn't even cry, because the door between our rooms wouldn't shut. I knew he'd hear every pain filled sound. So I held it in. I rolled up in a ball, on top of the covers, so the chill in the air would make me shiver, make me stay on guard and not break down in tears. And I spent the remainder of the night waiting for the first hint of dawn.

I heard him rise and move about his room once the sun had kissed the horizon. I heard his shower turn on. Listened to the water falling and tried not to imagine it against his perfectly tanned skin. I didn't move while he chose his outfit for the day. I hardly breathed as his cologne reached me on the air. I held myself rigid as he crossed the room to my door and stood there for several seconds. Then finally he used his
Stoicheio
to release the lock on his own bedroom door.

I allowed myself a few slow tears then, but couldn't really let go for fear he'd return or Aktor would appear. Forcing myself to dress, I found my yoga gear, cleanly laundered and folded neatly in the wardrobe. I dressed, tied my hair up in a messy knot, then watched through the parted curtains, sure to keep out of sight, as he walked to his car and got in.

He didn't even look my way. Not one glance up to our floor.

As soon as his car turned onto Mountain Road and disappeared I flew down the stairs. Past a stunned and strangely worried Aktor, and tore out of the front door and across the broken paving stones to throw myself into the cocoon of Theo's forest.

I would have gone elsewhere. But it wasn't these trees fault that they lived on a cold hearted bastard's property. Besides, I don't think I would have made it. I barely made it to the protection of their canopy. Falling to my knees, I let the vines wrap around me, let them carry me tenderly further inside the safety of their darkened world, let them envelope me, care for me, and I suppose, feed me.