Spring Rain (23 page)

Everything, but her heart.

“I have school,” she whispered. “Whatever
this is … no. Just no, Noah.” She started away, unable to
comprehend how he was Light. It had to be a trick of some kind.

“Morgan did it,” he called after her. “She
has the ability to burn Dark out of a witchling. I let her torch
me. Thought it’d give me a shot with you. A very painful one.”

She stopped.

“I walked through fire to get here, Biji.
One cup of coffee.”

Was she scared or exhilarated by the
romantic notion of him doing this for her? Biji didn’t know for
certain and stood indecisively for a moment. “I have a fiancé,
Noah.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

She faced him.

“Do you?” he challenged. His smile seared
through her. “C’mon. I got my bike.”

The bad boy of her dreams had walked through
fire to return to the Light and wanted to take her on a motorcycle
ride.

Why was this not the best day of her
life?

She suspected it had something to do with
Sanjay and Dawn.

“Did you say Morgan?” Lanky, dark-haired
Connor McCloud approached from the direction of the boys’ dorms,
gaze on Noah.

“Yeah.”

“My dead sister.”

Noah faced him. “She’s not dead,
Connor.”

“You conniving Dark bastard!” Connor
flushed, his eyes glittering, and he clenched his fists. “How dare
you –”

“No!” Biji snapped and approached, pushing
her air magick between the two. “Don’t you pick a fight, Connor.
She’s alive. Summer told me.”

Connor stared at her, wild emotions flashing
across his face. “Biji … you would never lie to me.”

“I wouldn’t,” she confirmed. “Morgan is
alive. Go find Beck and talk to him about it.”

“Beck knows?” The words were a growl.

“Yep. Go get ‘im,” Biji said, aware the
Master of Light could take care of himself. If he hadn’t told
Connor yet that his sister was alive, he deserved an angry water
witchling showing up on his doorstep anyway. “Try their cabin.”

Connor bolted towards the parking lot.

“Coffee?” Noah asked her once more.

“Did you really let Morgan burn you up so
you could ask me out on a date?” she asked skeptically.

“We needed to test it out first before we
try it on my sister, too,” Noah replied. “But … you are one of the
reasons I let her.”

“And she really did set you on fire?”

Noah flinched. “Yeah. Melted me into a
puddle.”

The admittance he’d suffered even a small
amount like she had over the past few months soothed some of her
anger. Biji’s arms dropped, and she searched his gaze. The sense of
danger, of great depths of emotion, remained, and she sought some
reason why she was attracted to someone she shouldn’t be and bored
with Sanjay, the ideal man.

He held out a motorcycle helmet. “I dare
you, Biji.”

Being with Noah was a thrill, an adrenaline
rush like nothing else, and kissing him had sent her air magick
soaring into the sky. It was the reason she hadn’t been able to
look at any other guy without comparing them to Noah.

“I have a fiancé,” she said aloud to remind
herself as well as him.

“And I think you should make your own choice
about your life.”

“Why? Because you think you’ll win?” she
retorted.

“I already have,” he replied without
hesitation.

Biji was speechless.

“Look, things aren’t ideal. I know this,” he
continued, a troubled expression crossing his features. “There are
a lot of issues with Dawn, my family, money. I probably shouldn’t
even be here asking you out, but … I’ve liked you for a while,
Biji. Things are rough, but you’re one of the few good parts of my
life. I don’t want to lose that.”

She did her best not to sigh wistfully.

“Please? Give me a shot?” He held the helmet
up higher.

This is not going to be
easy.
She gazed at him one moment longer
before snatching the helmet and marching past him towards the
parking area.
But he’ll be worth every
minute of grief my parents give me.

Noah trailed, close enough for her to feel
his heat and smell him. Her insides were fluttering, her attempt
not to squeal replaced by the steely determination to make him beg
for her to give him the time of day.

Storm clouds were moving in, black
thunderheads that lined the western sky. Her air magick tingled at
the approaching storm, but she paid it little heed, too aware of
Noah’s presence and everything he’d said. Adrenaline was racing
through her, too, and she sensed it was as much because of the fact
she was defying her parents as because of Noah’s affect on her.

She’d hear him out, then decide what to do
and whether or not he could be forgiven for the three-month
absence.

Before they reached his bike, he took her
arm. “Do you feel that?” he asked, eyes on the clouds closing
in.

“What?” She shook off her addled senses to
focus.

“That’s a really weird storm.”

Biji looked up once more at the clouds. They
appeared normal to her, like a fast moving spring thunderstorm
approaching the town. Noah’s arm went around her instinctively, and
she did everything possible not to melt against him, to feel his
solid strength wrapped around her the way she had in December.

“We’ll stay close,” Noah said and moved with
her towards the motorcycle.

Their sides brushed together, and her breath
caught audibly. Biji sneaked a look at him to see if he’d
heard.

He was smiling.

She cursed herself quietly.

They reached his bike. She stood back while
he straddled it and lifted the kickstand. Biji texted Summer first
letting her know where she was going then tugged on the helmet and
climbed on behind Noah. After a moment of silent panic about where
to hang on, she slid her arms around him and almost sighed.

Noah felt good. Too good for her not to hear
him out if he wanted more than a cup of coffee.

Despite her intention to be gone by morning,
Morgan didn’t wake up until ten. She pushed red curls out of her
face and rolled onto her back, taking a moment to recall where she
was. She breathed in deeply – and flushed so red, her fire leapt to
life across her skin. Beck’s scent, their combined scent, was
everywhere. She was naked beneath the sheets and sorer than she
expected. The muscles of her thighs and abs were spent while her
lips felt puffy. She felt like she’d had a killer ab and hip
workout.

Beck had been beyond gentle. Passionate,
consuming, and so sweet, she sighed. It was nothing like what had
been done to her before. There was no pain, only desire and
pleasure.

“Figured I’d let you sleep in.” His low
voice was gravelly from sleep.

Morgan twisted her head to see Beck stand
from his position beside the fire. He wore jeans and was bare
chested, the faded pair of pants hanging low on his slender hips to
display his flat abs. She watched him walk, amazed by how his
muscles moved beneath the skin while recalling what it had felt
like to be pressed beneath his hard, athletic frame, to skim her
palms and lips across the smooth, warm skin of his chest … to feel
him slide between her thighs …

A little dazed, if not
disbelieving, that she had spent the night with
him,
she couldn’t figure out how to
respond. Beck glowed brighter than she had ever seen him, his Light
forming a mist of fog on the floor of the bedroom. Any doubt she
ever had about who he was, the Master of Light, was
gone.

He knelt beside the bed and rested his arms
on the mattress beside her, smiling. His teal eyes glittered.
“Morning,” he whispered. He cupped her cheek with his broad palm,
sending a spiral of earthy warmth through her.

This is real.
Morgan shifted onto her side then propped herself
up on one elbow. She was on fire already and tucked the sheet
around her to keep it from falling off. Of all the thoughts she
thought she should be thinking, wanting Beck to climb in bed with
her didn’t seem like the right one, but she already missed his heat
and strength pressed against her.

She had unleashed all her magick, let go of
her fear and inhibitions and fallen into him. Not only had he
caught her with tenderness and passion that made her blood ignite
just thinking about it, but he’d taken her to climactic highs she
never expected either.

“Morning,” she said finally, realizing she
had been staring at him like an idiot for several moments.

He traced the pad of his thumb across her
swollen lips, the light of desire in his gaze once more. Her face
grew warmer.

“You feel it?” he asked. “We’re stronger
today.”

Grateful for the distraction, Morgan tested
her magic. The equinox rendered her fire magic faster to respond,
more powerful. “I still can’t control it,” she said with a
frown.

“That’s what I’m for, remember?”

She flushed after the first-hand
demonstration the night before of how well he could wield her
fire.

“You okay?”

She nodded with a half smile. “Was that …
how you thought it would be?” she asked awkwardly, self-conscious
of his reputation for sleeping around when she had never willingly
slept with anyone. “I mean, are you …” She cleared her throat,
embarrassed.

“Morgan it was the most incredible night of
my life.”

His words drew a smile from her. “Swear
it?”

“Swear. In fact, I want to spend every night
like that. If you’re interested.”

She gave a nervous laugh, too aware of being
naked so close to him. She had the urge to throw off the sheet and
invite him back into her body but didn’t know if that was the right
thing to do or not.

“So … you interested?” His grin was big, but
she sensed the casual question was much deeper than if she wanted
to spend the night with him. “Did I convince you to stay?”

“Is that what that was?” she asked, raising
her eyebrows.

“That was what sex between two people
destined to be together feels like,” he replied just as
quickly.

She rolled her eyes, heart fluttering. The
sudden urge to scream out of joy filled her, and she swallowed it.
“But …” Her gaze went to the soul stone on the nightstand beside
her phone, and her joy began to fade.

“No.” Beck took her chin and shifted her
focus back to him. “We’ll handle it together.”

Trusting someone else to help her was harder
than trusting the man she took to bed. Morgan didn’t know what to
think. “Beck, I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you.”

“You won’t. You just need to stay away from
the Light source. Today, we’ll go to the forest, and Sam can teach
you how to bind the soul stone with your magick. It won’t be a
danger to me then.”

“He can do that?” she asked hopefully.

“He said he can. Morgan, I’m serious about
you staying. With me. Pretty much forever.”

Overwhelmed by the sentiment and her
emotions, she resisted the need to cover her head and hide for a
moment. “Forever,” she repeated and held his gaze.

It felt like the best day of her life.

“Yes,” he whispered. “If that’s … uh … cool.
You can get back to me if you want.” For the first time since they
had been reunited, his cheeks turned pink, and he appeared
nervous.

Morgan smiled, always touched when her
valiant, confident Master of Light showed his vulnerable side. It
made her want to wrap her arms around him and burn anyone who came
near. She took his face in her hands instead and kissed him. Surer
of herself today, she opened to him without prodding, and he kissed
her long, deep, and tender. Her fire crept over his skin while his
earth magick floated through her. He was no longer trying to
suppress her, instead exploring her body while she did his.

Beck withdrew and rested his head against
hers. “Is that a yes?” he asked hoarsely. “Because I’m about to
climb back in bed with you.”

A thrill went through her. “I think you
should,” she said with boldness born of the fire magick coursing
through her. “And yes.”

He stood and eased into bed beside her, his
kisses growing more intense while one of his hands pushed the sheet
down her body.

Suddenly, he stiffened, his head lifting.
Morgan felt the change in him, in his magick.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered, shivering at
the sensation of his bare chest touching hers. She ran her
fingertips down his jaw and neck, once more awed by his raw beauty
and how natural it felt to be naked with him.

“Something’s happening at the school. I
haven’t quite figured out yet what this feeling means, but I’m
pretty sure it’s a warning,” he admitted, blinking the alarm from
his features. “I need to go, Morgan.” He gazed down at her warmly.
“To be continued?”

She nodded. “I can come with you. I’ll
protect you.”

He hesitated. She didn’t have to ask why.
The moment she spoke, she knew it was wrong.

“Never mind. I’m sorry. I know I can’t,” she
said hastily, afraid of his rejection.

“We’ll figure it out, Morgan. I swear it.”
Beck kissed her gently then eased off her.

She tugged the sheet up and sat, watching
him get dressed. She thrummed with need and ecstasy at the idea of
forever with Beck.

When he had left, she stretched for the soul
stone. This was the reason she couldn’t help him now. Maybe
never.

What good was she to him, if she couldn’t
protect him from someone like Dawn? If she couldn’t help the Light?
If she always had to stay away?

A sliver of her uncertainty returned, along
with the fear one day Beck would tire of the fact he couldn’t have
her and the Light at the same time. Last night was beyond
incredible for her, the mixing of their magicks and bodies, his
electric touch and how tenderly he’d treated her. She no longer
doubted his feelings for her, but if his choice was to his duty or
her, then she also knew she’d never let him make it.