Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (32 page)

“I
don’t think we should ask each other any personal questions, either.”  She
announced as if he’d been interrogating her.  “I think we’ve learned everything
that we need to know.”

Sullivan
snorted.  “Wanna sign a contract promising not to exchange Christmas gifts
next?”

“I
don’t require presents.”  Teja said quickly.  Her eyes went to the cardigan
still clutched in her hand.  “They take too much in return.”

“Right.” 
Sullivan murmured.  “Look, are you sure that you want to do this?  Maybe we
should just call it a night…”

“No!” 
She quickly lowered her voice.  “No, I’m sure I want to do this.”

Damn
it, he couldn’t back out now.  The plan had worked!  They’d just agreed on all
the groundwork of their relationship.  What had made him pull away?  The gift
thing?  Was that important to humans?

She
tried to backtrack.  “We can exchange Christmas presents if you’d like.  When
is it and what should I give you?”

“Never
mind.”  Sullivan sighed.  “So no personal questions and no Christmas.  Oh, and
no emotional crap.  I feel like I should be writing all this down.  Like I’ll
be tested afterwards.”

Teja
was having a hard time concentrating.  Sullivan’s energy was different from a normal
Phase’s.  He wasn’t doing anything to try and harness it, so it was
everywhere
. 
She felt it brushing against her own powers, rubbing against places that no one
else could ever touch.  Whatever dormant Wood Phase energy he possessed, it was
like a freight train.  So much raw, surging power barreling along like an
unstoppable force… God, Teja could feel it all over her body.

And
Sullivan didn’t seem to even know that he was doing it.

She
exhaled a long breath.  “Don’t worry, human.  I grade on a curve.”

Sullivan’s
mouth kicked up at one corner.  “I really hate being called ‘human,’ ya know. 
‘Sullivan’ is bad enough.”

“What’s
wrong with ‘Sullivan?’”  It sounded fine to her.  All human names were a little
odd, but “Sullivan” fit him.  It seemed… right.

Sullivan
lifted a shoulder.  “Nothing’s wrong with it, I guess.  I just would’ve gone
with something more normal, like ‘Ted’ or ‘Mike,’ if I’d been given a vote. 
You have to know what I mean.  I’ve never heard of anyone called ‘Teja’
before.  It must’ve been hard to find those little vanity license plates for
your bike when you were a kid.”

“‘Teja’
is a fairly common name, actually.”  Or at least it had been before the Fall
wiped out all the other ‘Tejas’ in the Elemental realm.

He
made a skeptical sound.  “Well, ‘Sullivan’ isn’t.  Trust me.  It’s tough being
the only second grader named after some famous Civil War solider.”

“You
were named for a warrior?”  Teja’s eyebrows shot-up.

That
was impressive, even though she suspected that they were only on this topic
because Sullivan was still debating whether or not to go through with the
Phazing.  No one except children destined for lives of service and protection
were given the names of great warriors.  It was a deep honor.  Of course, the Wood
Phases were always dedicated to helping people weaker than themselves.  No
wonder Sullivan became a law keeper.

“Your
parents must have known that you’d be the town sheriff, then.”

“I’m
the chief of police.  That’s not a sheriff.”  His voice went toneless.  “And my
parents are a personal topic.  I’m not answering any questions about them.”

Teja
hadn’t been expecting that.

She
blinked.  “Alright.”  She said simply because she couldn’t think of a better
response.

Sullivan
clearly grasped all the rules of their relationship, so that was… good.  All
part of the plan.  It was
good
that he didn’t want to do a lot of
sharing and bonding with her.  That was the whole point of this preamble.

But,
honestly, a Match should
want
to share and bond.  Did Sullivan not get
that?

Crazy,
mistrustful human.

If
Teja still
had
feelings, they would have been hurt by his attitude. 
Mostly just to show him that she was completely fine with his verbal “Do Not
Enter” sign postage, she busied herself by headed into his living room.  “Your
house is very… neutral.”

Every
wall was painted beige and it looked like it had been furnished with the
leftovers from the former owners’ yard sale.  To her eye, it desperately needed
some gargoyles and maybe a few bats.  And where did he keep his battleaxes?

Sullivan
glanced around like he’d never noticed his own house before.  “It came this way.” 
He didn’t follow her towards the sofa as if he was still expecting some kind of
trap to spring.

Teja
tried throwing out some new bait to inspire him to get naked at a faster clip. 
“I should tell you that after Phazing with me, some of your own powers might be
unleashed.”

“Wow,
that’s way better than a radioactive spider bite.”  Sullivan rolled his eyes
clearly not believing her.  “Teja, why are you really here?  I mean, you have to
have some kind of Cult-y reason.  I get that.  But, is it worth it?”  He
pointed to the scar on his cheek.  “What do you want from me?”

“I’m
just here for,” Teja shrugged, “
you
.  That’s the only reason.  You’re
you and I’m me and the Phazing energy is… strong.”  She licked her lower lip. 
“I know that you’re very attractive, but I’m not
so
hideous.  I looked
better before the Fall, but…”

“What?” 
Sullivan demanded, cutting her off.

“What
what
?”

“What
the hell are you talking about?”

“That’s
what I’m asking you, ya idiot!”  Teja gave up trying to reason with him. 
Sullivan was so high-strung.  “Forget it.”  She was just going to have to take
matters into her own hands.  Stalking forward, she covered the distance
separating them, again.

Sullivan
eyed her warily, but he didn’t retreat.

Teja
took it as progress.  She moved close enough for her body to brush against
his.  He was so big.  It made her feel oddly feminine just standing next to
him.  “You think way too much, human.  I swear to Gaia, it’s impossible to keep
up with the way your mind works.”

Sullivan
closed his eyes briefly.  “You smell really,
really
good.”  He
murmured.  “And you’ve got a point about the chemistry thing.  I feel it, too. 
But, I
know
that something else is going on here, so…”

Teja
stood on tiptoe so she could press her lips against his damaged cheek.  Sullivan
stiffened as if he wasn’t sure what to expect, even as Teja’s mouth traced over
the raised edges of the mark.  God, that scar was attractive.

“Strip.” 
She ordered huskily.

That
earned her a snort.  “Careful.  That was so romantic it might have been a
violation of your ‘no emotional stuff’ rule.”

Teja
smiled.  She couldn’t help it.  Sullivan’s sarcasm might just beat out the scar
as her favorite feature.  For a human, he was actually pretty clever.

Sullivan
groaned as he took in her small grin.  “You are just.
so
. beautiful.”

He
lowered his head to kiss her.

His
lips were
strong and soft and it all felt exactly the way
fairytales said kissing
should
feel.  Granted, in the Fire House
versions of the stories, the kissing was usually between the courageous wicked
witch and some vanquished knight she’d enslaved to be her sex toy, but the
principle
was the same.  Teja’s breath caught on a gasp as Sullivan’s mouth met hers.

For
one heartbeat of time, everything was magical.

After
so many centuries, she’d really and truly found her Match.  She’d known it and
believed it, but to experience the
rightness
of him was amazing.  A
miracle.

Teja
melted upward, her arms going around Sullivan’s neck with a moan.  Her powers automatically
reached for his, wanting to touch him everywhere.  Sullivan’s energy didn’t
grab for hers, but she felt it stirring.  If he let go of his power, the
Phazing could happen.

It
would happen.

She’d
make
it happen.

God,
he was so
warm
.  Teja’s skin felt like it was burning and she loved it. 
Her family had been right.  She
had
to claim this man before anyone else
got their hands on him.  If other women discovered how good he tasted, they
would do
anything
to steal him away.  Then, Teja would have to spend the
next few decades hunting the skanks down and butchering them.  As much as the
Fire House liked a good battle, killing her rivals seemed like
such
a
waste of time compared to kissing her Match.

Sullivan’s
kiss grew more insistent and hot and Teja realized that she was a
fucking
genius!
 Coming here tonight had been the greatest plan in history!

She
shifted closer to Sullivan, her frozen emotions thawing ever so slightly at the
heat of his body.  The ice cracked juuuuust enough for Teja to see how Phazing
with him would be… magical.  How this man would make her so happy.

…Which
was the
last
thing she wanted.

Teja’s
eyes snapped open.

Wait.

No.

This
was all too much.  She couldn’t be
happy!
  Not again.  It was too hard. 
It would destroy her.  If she let him, Sullivan would rip apart the protective
walls she’d spent the last two years building.  He would leave her vulnerable
in ways she couldn’t even imagine.  She couldn’t recover from the pain a second
time.

Sullivan
Pryce would take
everything
from her.

For
the first time since the Fall, Teja was filled with a huge and undeniable
emotion:

Terror.

Sing on!
sing on! let the dull world grow young,

Let elemental
things take form again

Oscar
Wilde- “The Burden of Itys”

Of
all the places she imagined Chason taking her in the middle of their reunion, a
human video store was probably the very last.  Mara wasn’t even aware there
were
human video stores, anymore.  A gum chewing clerk in a blue smock goggled at
them as they appeared out of thin air at the end of aisle three.

Chason
didn’t seem to notice.  He quickly scanned the shelves of movies, searching for
something.  He ruthlessly knocked other films out of the way in his haste to
find it, scattering them to the floor.

Mara
blinked at him in confusion, wanting to get back to kissing.  “Chason, what in
the world…?”

“Here.” 
He grabbed a disc and handed it to her, his expression beseeching.  “I will
watch every
second
with you.  I promise.  I am so sorry.  I can be a
better Match to you, if you just let me.”

Mara
glanced down at the title and could’ve cried.

Singin’
in the Rain
.

“We
can
both
be better Matches this time.”  She looked back up at him.  “It’s
our second chance, Chason.  A chance to be what we should’ve been all along.  I
don’t want to be perfect.  I just want to be
us
.”

His
hand went back to her hair, his thumb curling around her House designation and
giving it an erotic tug.  “No matter
who
you are --Match or not-- I
would still be completely in love with you, Mara.”  He met her eyes steadily. 
“You are my light.”

“I
feel the exact same way…”  She began happily, only to give a small gasp as he
lifted her straight off the ground.  “Chason, wait.  You’re still hurt.  You
can’t…”  She trailed off with a whimper as
he kissed her like
something out of a dirty movie.  Mouth and tongue and teeth.

He
tore at her clothes.  Material ripped.  Buttons popped free.  Chason backed her
into the rack of musicals, the discs falling to the floor as he pinned her
against the shelves.  Mara all but purred as the robe was yanked off her body
and tossed aside.  All she was wearing underneath was hospital scrubs.

The
store clerk kept gaping.  His jaw was hanging so low that the wad of strawberry
tumbled out of his mouth and onto the linoleum.

Mara
was past caring.  Her eyelids drifted closed in pleasure as Chason devoured
her.  “Now, Chason.”  She panted
.
 Her fingers dug into his shoulders, holding
tight.  “I’m in need of my Match.”

She
wasn’t aware she’d said the pleading words aloud, until he gave an answering snarl
and jumped them out of the human realm, again.

This
time they landed in the Light Kingdom.  Mara recognized the gigantic trees
looming overhead and heard the sounds of the endless forest all around them. 
She had no idea why Chason had brought them there, but it hardly mattered when
she was so on fire for him.  This was what she’d always fantasized about.  Messy
and chaotic and frantic.  No control or rules of decorum.

To
just have Chason take her, body and soul.

“Keep
your eyes open.”  Chason ordered.  “I want to see the sparks.”

Mara’s
body clenched at the harsh demand.  Her breasts tighten, her breath coming
faster.  It was so hard to think.  “This is still a bad idea.  You were just in
the hospital.  You could injure yourself.”

“This
is the best idea I ever fucking had.”  He corrected, pulling her clothes off. 
“Christ.”  He stared down at her bare breasts.  “I have missed seeing those.”

Her
whole body clenched at his intent expression.  He’d never sounded so desperate
for her before.  Demanding, where he’d once asked.  Reveling, where he’d once
apologized.  Mara stared up at him, breathing hard.

“Why
Chason, of the Magnet House, you really aren’t a gentleman.”  She whispered
seductively.

His
eyes gleamed.  “Just noticing that?”  He agreed, pressing her backwards onto
the grass. “But you’re a hell of a lot more than just some tedious lady,
yourself.  In fact, I’m starting to think you’ve been trying to lead me astray
right from the beginning.  Who instigated that kiss when you were ninety-one
and then left me with a crippling hard-on for weeks?”

Mara
leaned into his touch as he rasped his thumb across her nipple.  “Well, I
was
trying to seduce you.”  She admitted readily.  “I didn’t leave, though.  You
sent me away.  I was perfectly willing to Phaze with you right then, but you
wanted to be all moral.”

“I
was an idiot.”  Chason’s tongue traced the valley between breasts.  “But you
knew that Kahn was coming to get you before I could do anything
too
irreparable to your sweet little body.  You were just being a vixen.”

A
vixen.

Mara
liked the sound of that.  “Alright, you win.  We’re doing this.”  Even though
it was absolutely
not
in his best interest, she found herself grasping
the waistband of his doctors’ scrubs and jerking them down.  “But, if you reinjure
yourself, I’m going to be pissed.”

He
grinned at her.  She never remembered Chason ever
grinning
before.

It
was beautiful. 
He
was beautiful.  His body was thinner and harder than
he’d been before… but somehow even sexier.

Mara
found herself smiling back at him as she helped him get her pants off.  “You
really are a crazy man, you know that?”

“I
know.  I’m okay with that, though.”  Once they were both naked, his body moved
over hers.  He paused, tilting his head.  “Did I tell you I had another memory
sharing?”

“So
did I.”  Did they have to discuss it right
now
, though?  “I saw my
funeral and that horrible Lansing threaten you and that you felt left out from
my birthday party.  I’m sorry.  I never meant to exclude…”  Mara bit back a
moan as he started kissing his way down her body.

His
lips sealed over her nipple and she lost all coherent thought.

“Oh!” 
Her hands came up to twist in his hair, trying to keep him there.  The deep
pulls of his mouth caused every nerve ending in her body to go up in flames.  “Chason…” 
It was a sigh of total bliss.

He
liked that reaction.

Purple
eyes flashed up to hers and then he was sliding downward, again.  Across her
stomach, her navel, kissing her… everywhere.

“Oh
yes
.”  Mara shifted her legs so he could drop his head between them. 
She bit down on her lower lip as his tongue swirled out and touched her aching
flesh.  How absolutely decadently
bad
he’d become.  “I love you so much.” 
She whispered.

The
words were all the encouragement he needed.  Strong hands gripped her hips,
dragging her closer, opening her to his kiss.  Mara’s whole body bowed in his
grasp.  She automatically tried to shift free, overwhelmed by the sensations,
but he was holding her still.  She was completely at the mercy of the Magnet
King.  All she could do was feel.

“Oh,
Gaia.”  Mara stared up at the trees and tried to hold on.  She wasn’t going to
last.  He was so damn talented.  It felt so good.  She was
so
close. 
“Chason, I’m going to,” she swallowed, “I’m going to come if you don’t stop.”

He
didn’t stop.

If
anything, his mouth grew more insistent.  He’d been a soldier for centuries and
he didn’t intend to surrender his new territory.  His tongue plunged deeper, a
low growl vibrating through him.

Mara’s
fingers left Chason’s hair to grip the ground, trying to anchor herself. 
“Chason, I’ve never come this way.”  She’d never come without him inside of
her.  It felt very, very wicked to be out in the open with his head between her
thighs and on the verge of a huge orgasm.  So huge it frightened her.  Her
energy was going crazy.

He
knew it, too.  His teeth scrapped over her throbbing knot of nerve endings,
deliberately sending her over the edge.

“
Chason.
” 
Her eyes closed in bliss as spasms shook her body.  It felt better than
anything she’d ever experienced.  It was all she could do to hold onto her
screaming powers before they escaped her completely.  She automatically pulled
back on them as they tried to reach Chason, even as she rocked against him.

Chason
lifted his head, looking very determined.  “You’re going to let go.”  It was a
vow.

“I
did…”  She trailed off with a gasp as he dragged her under him.  The hard
length of him brushed her core, his own powers touching her everywhere.  Just
like that she needed him, again.  “Please.”  She undulated against him, trying
to bring him inside of her.

Chason
didn’t allow it.  He dipped his head so he could speak directly into her ear. 
“I saw a movie theater.”  He licked the side of her neck.

Mara
tried to focus through her passion.  “Movie theater?”

“I
saw you going to the theater in the memory-sharing.  Something with ‘Tarzan’ and
‘jiggling’ in the title.”

Uh-oh.

Mara
felt herself turning bright red.  “I can explain about that…
Chason!
” 
His name came out as shriek as he flipped her onto her stomach.

“It
wasn’t a film that needed a lot of explanation, princess.”

Her
whole body throbbed in pleasure as he moved behind her.  They’d never tried
this before, either.  She was shocked and incredibly aroused by it.  “What are
you doing?”  She panted.

“Taking
you.”  His dark voice was so erotic Mara almost came just from the sound of it.

She
reached for him, only to have him somehow capture both her wrists in one hand. 
Chason stretched her arms over her head, holding her still.  Mara automatically
tried to tug free and he didn’t let her go.  The old Chason would’ve released
her.  This Chason just tightened his grip and pinned her against the forest
floor without a hint of reserve.

“You’re
captured, princess.  On your knees.”

She
slowly did as he asked.  It felt hot and dirty and submissive and better than
anything she’d ever seen in a movie.  “I’m not sure kings are supposed to do this
with their captives under Council law.”

“The
Council can go find their own captives.”  His free hand tested her body from
behind, opening her.  Doing whatever bad things he wanted.  He chuckled as she
squirmed in his grasp.  “You like that?”

It
wasn’t ladylike, but she bobbed her head.  “Yes.”  His finger slid even deeper
and she whimpered.  “God, I
really
like this game.”

“Oh,
baby, I’m not playing.”

Mara
gave a sound of pure lust as his body drove into hers with one hard thrust.  Just
that fast she was teetering on the biggest orgasm of her life.  Her body felt like
it was starving for him.  “
More.
”  She threw her hips back to meet him.

“I
should have taken you like this on our Phazing day, or out on the lawn today,
or hundred thousand other times.  You are
mine.
”

“I
know.”  She turned her  head to look at him.  “And you’re mine.”

“I’m
yours.”  His head dipped to kiss the nape of her neck, his voice going stark. 
“Don’t leave me, again.  I’ll die without you.”

“I
won’t.”  She was dying herself.  “I’m so close, Chason.  Just a little more.”

“Beg
me.”

“What?” 
She met his wicked gaze and she swallowed hard.  “Was that in the movie or are
you just being bad?”

“I
have no idea.”  He slowed his strokes.  “I just know I want to hear it.  All my
life I fantasized about you begging me to take you.”

She
stared at him, loving this.  “Please.”

“Louder.”

“
Please
,
take me, darling.”  She smiled at him.  “Take me now and I promise to take
you
later.”

“Fuck,
yes
.”  Chason groaned.  He hit some magical spot and Mara exploded.

Her
hand twisted in his grasp, clenching his fingers as she climaxed.  Holding his
hand, her palm pressed against his.  “
Chason!
”

She
vaguely saw his expression light with triumph and then all she could do was
feel.  Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, her body melting into his. 
Her energy swirled free, more than she’d intended to let loose.  It touched
his, wanting to get closer…

…and
he grabbed it.

His
powers didn’t just brush hers as they usually did when they Phazed.  They
locked onto her energy and didn’t let go.

Mara
gasped in shock as her climax grew even bigger.  More of her energy had been swept
up into their greater whole.  A lot more.  Almost all of it.  It felt
wonderful.

It
terrified her.

She
instinctively tried to pull back and Chason cursed.

“No!” 
His hand tangled in her hair, keeping her eyes on his.  He was the ruthless new
Chason and he wasn’t going to let her escape.  His energy touched every piece
of her, trying to close the last distance between them.  “No, give it to me,
Mara.  Give me all of it.”