Page 65 of Gift from the Wing

“Well, that was a pleasant surprise. Looks like we’ll need to reinforce the gym,” Roye says and when I turn to him, apology ready on the tongue, his wide, prideful smile halts me.

He’s not looking at me, though. He’s beaming at Corentin and the aura around my man is blinding. This is not the reaction I expected to destroying a whole wall, but if it makes Corentin this happy seeing his dad proud of him, I sure as shit am not about to ruin the moment.

“Don’t fret about the wall, Willow. Roye, you and Tillme go patch that up and reinforce it for now while I walk them through what happened,” Aurora says.

Tillme…

Tillman’s face colors pink and he refuses to make eye contact with me, but he does give my forehead a kiss as he walks past me. I have to bite my mental tongue from asking about it and I force my gift not to reach out to his mind.

“You knew that would happen, Mom?” Corentin asks.

“I didn’t know she’d send the ball all the way through the wall, but yes, I knew that first time her element would take over.”

“Why didn’t you tell us that?” I ask.

“I didn’t want to put any pressure on either of you to get it. It’s incredibly frustrating to try over and over and never see the results. I wanted you to just focus on getting your elements to mingle first. Next, you can work on sending that extra kick back to him. That starts before you even command your element out. You have to zero in on him, his element, andwith strict intentions to go to him. It gets even more complicated when you start mixing elements they don’t possess,” she explains gently.

I blow out a subtle breath because when she puts it like that, it feels complicated. Just now, my element was solely focused on me and pulling from him. That was harder than I honestly thought it was going to be, and now it seems even more difficult.

“It’s okay, princess. We’re not meant to master this in a day. Let’s try one more time, then you can practice with one of the others,” Corentin says, tilting my chin up and laying a sweet kiss to my lips.

That’s rich coming from Mr. Controlling himself. He knows as well as I do, I want to master this now. Anything new, I want to figure it out immediately. He’s the same way about absolutely everything and the only reason he isn’t currently is because he doesn’t want to upset me.

We’re getting this shit right. Right now.

“If he’s Mr. Controlling, you’re Mrs. Impatience,”Tillman chuckles, and I glare at him as he winks at me.

Exhaling and shaking my body out, I clear my mind of all things but Corentin.

Chocolate and allspice fill my senses as I lean more into him. The sweet but dominant scent fits him so perfectly. His dirty-blond hair, styled without a strand out of place, would look wrong on anyone else dressed in workout clothes but not him. It’s a delightful mix between his normal controlled routine and this new attempt at wearing something other than suits all the time.

His sharp whiskey eyes see everything. They remember everything, plan for everything. I’m sure even now, he’s taken in the liberty of thinking through every scenario that can go right or wrong for us on this next attempt, and he’s ready for however it’ll go.

There’s a warm breeze, like lying in a hammock on a beach, that always surrounds him. It’s the perfect blend of cool air and the heat his light puts off. I fixate on the small glow to his skin now, knowing, feeling his beautiful gift just waiting under the surface for my touch.

“One more go, princess. Ready?”

“Ready, yourhighness.”

“Three…two…one.”

“Obey.”

“Mingle.”

My element flows out of me, wrapping itself around his, and I push, commanding it to follow my orders and move through him. There’s only the slightest bit of resistance before it does just that. I hear the gasps and quiet murmurs behind us, but my attention is solely on Corentin.

He grunts as the combination of my air and his flows through his limbs and he latches onto its strength like the commander he is. His light is shining bright in a halo around him, and it’s breathtaking, exhilarating.

I’m so in love with this man.

As he raises his hand to command the air out, the reality of what has everyone behind me whispering about slaps me in the face.

There’re six Corentins.

“Core…”

“Yeah, princess?”he asks excitedly. There’s almost an otherworldly note to his deep voice. Like power is lacing even his mental tone.

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