Elemental Shadowed by Helen Scott

8

Tessa

"Griff!" I squeaked as my warrior appeared through the grove of trees. I'd wandered off after he'd been gone for so long, and I knew he'd be angry when he found me, but the scowl on his face spoke more of fear than anger, and that warmed my heart more than I cared to admit. I knew I should feel bad for worrying him, but I'd also told him that I wanted to go with him repeatedly and he'd ignored me so that counterbalanced it.

In my wandering I'd found a lake, or rather a large tide pool, and decided to go for a swim. It was the best choice I've made in the last few days. The water that lapped at my shoulders and collarbones was warm and relaxing as he growled, "Didn't you hear me yelling for you?"

"I'm sorry. If I would have heard, you know I'd have responded," I said gently, not moving from where I was treading water.

"Come on, you wanted to get to the temple before everyone else, so let's go."

"We still have time, don't we? You could come for a quick swim with me?" I asked. I wanted him to relax, to be the flirty, teasing man I'd first met instead of this gruff warrior that was standing before me. Although, I couldn't say that his attitude and fight-ready stance wasn't doing it for me because it definitely was.

I felt like the guys were still so much of a mystery to me in so many ways, and yet I trusted them implicitly. I had since I'd first met them. It was like I was a magnet being drawn to them, and I couldn't resist, hell, I didn't want to.

My suggestion seemed to throw him for a loop, as though he couldn't quite make sense of the situation or what I was asking of him. "A swim?" he repeated as the confusion left his face and his eyes went wide. "Shit, I'm sorry," he mumbled as he turned around.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked with a smile, as though I didn't already know.

"I didn't realize you were naked." He sighed and gestured to my small pile of folded clothes that was sitting at the bottom of the tree next to him.

"It's just a body, Griff," I said, trying to quell the anxiety I had about my scarred hand. If I kept it under the water, then neither of us would have to see it, and that would be for the best.

"It's not just a body. It's your body."

"I didn't realize that my body was so horrible," I replied, trying to get a rise out of him.

When he spun on his heels to face me, I dipped further into the water to hide my smile. The scowl on his face was enough to have me trying not to laugh. What I didn't expect was for him to start stripping. My eyes went as big as saucers as his leather top came off revealing the sinful ripples of muscle underneath, and when his hands went to his belt buckle, I turned.

“It's just a body, Tessa." He sighed dramatically as he threw my words back in my face.

It was a dare, that much was clear. If I expected him to be able to look at me naked without jumping me, then I had better be able to do the same.

As his belt slid through the loops on his pants, I couldn't help but relish the feeling of anticipation that settled low in my belly. His fingers deftly unbuttoned his fly and as his pants slid lower.

I knew I was blushing. I couldn't help it though; the man was wearing what amounted to a very small jockstrap under his pants and that was it. The tiny slice of material was having trouble containing his cock, especially as it seemed to be growing as I looked at it.

I jerked my eyes to his face and saw a satisfied smirk resting there. Part of me wanted to slap him upside the head while the rest of me wanted to ride him into tomorrow and forget about everything that was going on around us. I didn't let my gaze drift from his face. Even as I saw him get completely naked in my peripheral vision, I kept my eyes locked with his.

It was only once he was in the water up to his waist that I allowed my gaze to move. His chest and abs were perfectly defined, with only one thing marring them, and that was a large scar right over where his heart should be. I'd never seen it before, and from the placement and angle, I was willing to bet that it was something to do with the scar being right where his leather harness sat.

The closer he got to me the more my anticipation grew. I felt that magnet sensation again of being pulled to my other half, except I had more than one half. I was more like a lock that was able to be opened with multiple keys, so to speak.

I could swear that the water was getting warmer, or maybe that was just me and the proximity to Griff. The man ran hotter than a furnace most days.

"How'd you get the scar?" I breathed, trying to be cool and collected as we swam naked together. I was failing, but at least I was trying.

"Training." It was all Griff said as he got close enough to reach out and touch me. He gently pushed some strands of hair out of my face, the connection between us flaring to life as he did so. I didn't know if he felt it too, or if it was just something I was imagining, but my blood seemed to turn to lava in my veins, hot and languid as it rolled through my body, warming me from the inside out.

"Training?" I asked, a few moments later, finally breaking through the stupor that his touch put me in.

Just like that his hand dropped, sliding silently into the water as he backed away from me slightly. I wanted to chase after him, to demand answers or attention, I wasn't sure which I wanted more. I held my ground though, and eventually he spoke.

"I'm from El Dorado, the lost city of gold. It's not gold as you or any origin realm inhabitants imagine though. It's fire. The flames that surround the city burn a bright yellow-gold color. When I was young, I displayed an aptitude for physical strength and combat skills, so I was taken and placed into the training academy for candidates that could go to the origin realm. A professor gave me this when I first arrived as a reminder that just because we were training didn't mean that the situations and weapons that we were using weren't real."

"A teacher hurt you when you were a child?" I asked, incredulous.

He nodded tightly. "I'm a warrior, the finest that El Dorado has to offer, and as such, I had to start somewhere. I thought I was hot shit when I got to the academy. This," he gestured to the scar, "was just a gentle reminder that I was as vulnerable and green as all the other students there. And believe me, it was only my skills with weapons and movement that kept me safe from many more scars. There were students there who ended up much worse than I did."

This time I did swim over to him, sensing that he hated the memories that I'd brought to the surface with my questions. When I reached him his back was to me, and I slid my arms around his waist pressing myself against him. "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry."

“It's okay, dove," he said, his voice just above a whisper. "I haven't been home in a long time, that's all."

Gently, Griffin pulled my hands just far enough away from his waist so he could turn and face me. I felt his muscles pull and move under my fingertips, his skin sliding against my own in the delicious way that only water can provide. His arms looped around my back, and for a moment we just held each other like that as warmth and contentment spread through me in a way I hadn't felt in such a long time.

His hands came forward and took my own from around his waist, bringing them up to his mouth and kissing my knuckles. I tensed at the contact on my scar. I wasn't used to people touching it, or even knowing about it really. The tenderness he showed as he kissed it melted my heart even further and made me wonder what I'd done to deserve such a touching display.

When he lowered my hands into the water and pulled me against him once more, I was trembling. Not from fear or from being overwhelmed, but because I was having trouble restraining myself. I wanted to climb him like a tree, but I also recognized that he might not want to go that fast or do anything at all. What if he could only have sex in his own realm like Finn?

The thought of the other man cooled the fire that was burning within me. What was wrong with me? How could I want both of them?

No, that was a lie.

How could I want all three of them?

Still a lie.

Heaven help me, but I wanted Kai as well. That kiss in the kitchen haunted my dreams.

I wanted all four of them.

There, I said it. Maybe not out loud, but at least I admitted it to myself, and that was step one, right? Now I just had to figure out what the hell I was going to do about it.

I glanced up at Griff only to find him watching me with curiosity sparking in his eyes. "Don't ever play poker," he said with a laugh. "Watching your thoughts fly across your face is like reading a book."

"You're not as cryptic as you think either, mister," I huffed.

"Oh no? Then what am I thinking now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a small grin

"Probably something to do with us being naked," I blurted out, when really that's what my mind had reverted to.

"Actually, I was doing a math problem."

"A math problem?" I frowned. How could he be doing math at a time like this?

"Yep. If I take one woman and add four men, then that makes five people, but if my bed is only designed for three people, can all five actually fit?"

"Your bed is designed for three?" I squeaked.

"Mhummm," he rumbled as he scooped me up and kissed my neck. "I'm the adventurous sort."

"I see," I panted as he rained kisses all the way from the hypersensitive part of my collar bone all the way up to my ear and then along to my jaw.

My body was screaming with desire by the time he reached my mouth. As soon as we connected, I seemed to bend to his will, giving in to his dominant side with abandon as I let him position me as he wanted and just enjoyed the sensations.

His tongue wound around mine, flicking and licking me between him nipping at my lower lip. As his hands grabbed my ass and held me in place, I wrapped my legs around his body, feeling his hardness exactly where I wanted to.

When he pulled away, I whimpered at the loss of contact, and when my eyes flickered open I asked, "Why did you kiss me?"

"Because I wanted to." He paused, studying me. "I want you, Tessa, and I'm willing to share if that's what you want. All I know is that I want to make you happy. These last few months training you and spending time with you have been some of my favorite. I don't want that to end."

"Who said it has to?" I asked, concerned at someone trying to dictate my life.

"No one, I'm just trying... I'm doing a shitty job at this. I'm trying to tell you how I feel. That I want more between us than friendship or a casual fuck."

"I want that as well," I breathed. When his mouth descended on my own once more there was a hunger there, but it was tempered with tenderness, which I didn't expect. As we kissed, Griff moved us over to the edge of the lake, until both of our feet were touching the bottom of the small lake that I'd been paddling around in. I broke the kiss briefly. "I want you, Griff. I don't want to wait unless you want to."

"Dove, you know I can't resist you," he growled, before picking me up and claiming my mouth again as he walked us both ashore.