Elemental Awakened by Helen Scott

19

Tessa

A sound startled me awake. Pain radiated up my hand through my wrist and seemed to connect with my head in a way I never thought possible. I tried to gasp as I moved my hand, but my mouth and throat were so dry, it was amazing that I could even open them and they hadn’t become somehow permanently stuck together.

As I pushed myself up in bed, the pounding in my head only got worse. I wasn’t in my bed though. It was only after a brief moment of panic, and a glance at my finger, that I remembered what had happened and where I was. I looked around for any sign of the guys, but there was nothing around except my bags and the blanket they’d thrown over me. I was still in the leggings and sleep shirt I’d been wearing when I came over, which was a relief. As much as I was attracted to the guys, the thought of them changing my clothes while I was unconscious was a little weird.

I paused and made sure my head was okay before I rummaged through one of my bags and dug out a bottle of pain killers. Taking them dry wasn’t an option, even though my grandmother had tried to convince me many times that it was the best way if I was trying to hide that I was taking medication. It made sense at the time, since my dad thought they made my visions of demons and dragons worse somehow. That idea made me want to snort, seeing as how I was now being chased by them and wasn’t sure how I was going to survive. I couldn’t stay with the guys forever.

Gently, I picked myself up off the bed and made my way into the hall. I was able to orient myself because the living room was right next to the room they’d put me in. As I made my way to the kitchen, I expected to find someone up and about, given that it was almost six in the morning, according to my phone. The whole house was quiet though.

My feet were silent on the hard wood floor that led into the kitchen. I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it from the tap. Leaning against the counter, I swallowed the pills and sipped the water as I looked out the window. Hairs crept up the back of my neck, and I knew I was being watched. What I didn’t know was by whom.

It was the flash of silvery blue on the other side of the street that made my blood turn cold. Did the demons know I was here? Could they get through whatever Kai had done the night before? My heart thumped as I swore, the reflective colors locked on to me through the kitchen window. Should I run? Hold my ground? Should I get one of the guys? Knowing my luck, I’d stumble into Kai’s room before anyone else’s.

Before I had any more time to debate it, the backdoor slammed open and a sweaty, shirtless Kai walked in, using the T-shirt he’d obviously been wearing as a towel to mop up his face. It was like my thoughts had summoned him in the sexiest way possible. I knew I should’ve been startled. Hell, any other time with any other person, and I’d have probably screamed bloody murder, but there was something about these guys that made me feel safe. So, instead of screaming, I just stared, my glass of water paused halfway to my mouth.

Sweat glistened on Kai’s chest, abs, and upper arms. My pulse sped, thrumming throughout my body just at the sight of him. He wasn’t overly muscular either, just lean and cut. His muscles were most definitely there, boy howdy were they, but they weren’t the best feature about him. The best feature, at least that I knew of right now, was the smile he was sporting. I didn’t know why he was smiling, all I knew was that I wanted to see it more often and I wanted to be the cause of it, at least occasionally.

He hadn’t seen me yet, maybe because I was standing off to one side, or maybe just because he was lost in his own thoughts, but as I tried to bring my glass to my mouth to take a drink, I failed. The cold water fell down my front, soaking my T-shirt and making me gasp as my gaze was drawn away from Kai and to the wet fabric.

I felt a slight breeze, and when I looked up, Kai was standing with his fist barely two inches from my face. As he lowered his hand, he exclaimed, “Queen’s blood, I didn’t see you there!” Before I could even respond, he added in a frustrated growl, “What the hell are you doing out of bed?”

“What the hell is your problem with me?” I countered, all my own anger and frustrations from the past twenty-four hours bubbling to the surface. It didn’t matter that he was sexy or smelled divine, right now, he was pissing me off. I wanted to know what his issue was, and I wasn’t going to back down until he told me.

* * *

Kai

“My problem with you?” I had been nothing but nice to her. Could my tone be a little sharp sometimes? Probably. But I’d shared my beer with her. That was about the nicest thing I could do, other than walking in front of her scattering flower petals or something equally pandering. She was a grown woman, she could take care of herself.

She stepped up into my face and pointed at my chest, her finger poking me right over my heart. “Yeah, your problem with me. Clearly, you’ve got one, ever since you saw me sitting at the table eating. Now you almost hit me. So spill—what’s your issue with me?”

“My problem is…” She looked like a spitfire, like the warrior queen she could be in my realm. No one would dare argue with her, they’d fall at her feet and beg for her forgiveness or for her to mete out justice. And she would, because she was fair and compassionate. I knew that, could sense it in what the earth knew about her. She would blaze in all her glory before the court and put them all in their place.

I didn’t even deserve to be in her line of sight, let alone have her touching me, especially if the others were right and she was the key. If that was true, then I should be bowing before her, scraping my nose on the floor with the amount of respect I was showing her. But she was right in front of me with those eyes and those lips, that, even though they were pursed, were still full. I should do the right thing and turn away, take myself out of her presence, but looking at her now, I felt like the same desire that was a storm in my heart was stirring within her.

Heat seemed to shimmer around her, and the scent of the earth from my home realm filled my nose.

Just like that, I couldn’t stand it anymore. My lips crashed onto hers, the luscious feel of them only enticing me even more. I barely gave either of us a chance to come up for air. The sensation of tectonic plates drawn together filled me, and I knew I couldn’t have stopped this moment even if I’d wanted to, not that I did.

We moved together like lava—slow, hot, and intense. The kiss had her gasping, and small noises escaped her that I didn’t even think she knew she was making. When her hands wound into my hair, I almost lost it. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I knew she didn’t know what she was signaling to me, but to my people, playing with each other’s hair, especially when being intimate, was a sign of great affection. The idea that she might feel that way about me was intoxicating.

I walked her back until she was pressed against the cabinets, and then I took a step closer so we were lined up completely, every inch of our bodies touching wherever they could. I swept my tongue into her mouth and tasted the sweetness of her as she gasped.

Tessa gripped my hair again and pulled my hair back, something that was only done between the most devoted of lovers, a show of trust and devotion. She nipped at my lower lip with sharp little teeth, and I couldn’t take it. The longer her hands were in my hair, the crazier she was driving me. I gripped one of her wrists and raised it above her head before I removed the glass of water from the other hand and did the same thing.

I easily held her in place with one of my hands wrapped around both of her wrists, and I let my free hand explore. Touching her like this, I should be whipped for it, but I couldn’t stop myself. If I was punished when I made it back to my realm, so be it. At least I’d have the memory of this to go off of.

The thought was an uncomfortable one, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin the moment. I pushed it away and grabbed her ass, pulling her up so she was pinned against the cabinets by my body. She eagerly wrapped her legs around my hips, and I rolled them against her, letting her know exactly what she was doing to me. My cock pressed against the hot core of her, and she moaned in my ear. The low, sultry sound seemed to wind its way into my brain, and I hoped I’d never forget it.

As she leaned forward and kissed me, claiming my mouth as her own, I let my free hand roam up her side to her breast and squeezed. The silkiness of her skin was so close to my own that it was mouthwatering, only two thin layers of fabric between us. As I squeezed, she moaned again, and it turned into a gasp, the kind of sound I could imagine her making when I pushed inside her for the first time.

She moved forward, thrusting her breast even further into my grip, and her mouth moved over mine once more, a ravenous hunger seeming to take up residence within her.

I pulled back slightly and looked down at her. She was glorious, the heat and lust shining in her eyes along with an inner strength that only the bravest warriors had. The way she looked back at me was unfathomable, like I was the man from her fantasies, the man she wanted to trust and give her body to.

The heat of her core was throbbing through her leggings and my running shorts, until I could almost imagine what it would feel like to be inside her. Without breaking eye contact, I slid my free hand under the hem of her T-shirt and up her side, feeling the satin skin of her belly and chest against my fingers. I wanted her to protest, needed her to stop me before I went too far, but she looked so eager, like she wanted me as badly as I wanted her.

When she didn’t utter a sound to stop me, I pulled the T-shirt up and over her head so she was just in a fabric bra. A quick glance down told me it was white with a darker colored lace around the edges, and she filled it to the point that the fabric seemed to be having trouble containing her. Her body was even more incredible than her face, and the fact that the material of the bra was so stretched, so thin, meant that I could see the peaks of her nipples as they strained against it. I’d done that, I’d caused that.

“You should be a queen,” I murmured with such reverence that I surprised myself. I couldn’t think about it though, so I moved my mouth to her nipples, making her moan and writhe against me. I swirled my tongue in different patterns that around the sensitive points of her breasts until I swear, I could almost feel how wet she was for me when I rolled my hips against her again. The angle was awkward, and I knew I had to let her down if I wanted to continue, so I did.

Her legs wouldn’t support her though, so I kept my hold around her wrists and intended to taste the sweetness that was between her legs unless she stopped me. She squirmed under my touch as I slid my free hand slowly down her side to the edge of her leggings. She should be worshipped like the goddess she was. Just the scent of her arousal was making me wild.

I wanted to bend her over and fuck her right here, but that was no way to treat a queen. Especially not by someone like me.

“Please…” she murmured, though she didn’t say what she wanted. The need in her voice told me everything I needed to know.

I straightened and looked her in the eyes, which made a shiver run through her. I hoped it was the good kind and not because she was cold. “Is there something you want?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow at her and grinned.

“I want you,” she murmured.

The words were like a bomb going off in my mind. She didn’t say my name, so did she even realize I was the one doing this to her? Was I just one of her toys to be used when she felt like it? Would she play favorites like the queen did with her lovers, withhold sex and affection when they displeased her and lavish it on others?

Tessa was a queen, like I’d said a few moments ago, and that meant I had no right to touch her.

She reached for me, and I realized how lost to lust I’d become. I was angry with myself for not treating her with the respect she was owed. “You want me to fuck you in the kitchen? Bend you over the counter like you’re nothing more than a casual afternoon dalliance?” I growled.

She pushed me away, and her eyes seemed to refocus, as though she were seeing me for the first time. “What the hell?” she hissed.

I stumbled backward, realizing that she’d been lost to sensation. She hadn’t wanted to be with me because I was me, she’d just wanted someone to make her feel good. If she was the key and we made it back to my realm and they found out what had occurred between us? I’d be flayed alive for daring to touch a woman so far above my station.

“Sorry, Tessa. This… This was a mistake.” I grabbed my T-shirt from the kitchen table and stalked out of the kitchen.

I could feel her eyes on me as I left. Without pausing I headed to my room and shut the door quietly behind myself. I knew I’d upset her. She should be upset, having someone like me pawing at her like an animal. It was because of that that I listened, making sure that she didn’t do anything stupid out of anger, like go off on her own or something.

After a few seconds, I heard her refill her glass of water and move from the kitchen into the spare room. When I heard the door shut and stay that way, I knew that she wasn’t going to be reckless. I only wished I could say the same for myself. What I’d done was stupid, all because I was thinking with my cock.

I was still rock-hard as I leaned against the door, so as I moved toward my bed, I stripped, freeing myself from the confines of my clothes. Without thinking too hard about it, I wrapped my hand around my dick and began stroking up and down. My mind focused on how I’d just felt with Tessa in the kitchen. The thought of peeling those leggings from her body, tasting what I had no doubt was a sweet pussy, of freeing her breasts from their prison and having her sit on my cock, moaning my name in that husky voice of hers, it all had me exploding with my release within moments.

After I caught my breath and cleaned up, I promised myself that was it. No more. Tessa was beyond my reach and always would be. Just because she didn’t know it yet, didn’t mean I could take advantage, and fucking her once wouldn’t be worth the punishment I would receive. If I was going to cross that line, then it would be because she wanted me, not just to be fucked. It would be because she knew what I was risking to be with her and that we’d fight to be together. That was just a dream though, wasn’t it? Why would she fight to be with me when she had Finn, Dresden, and Griffin?