Page 40 of Sealed By Fire (The Nature Hunters Academy 2)

Tara gasped at the sensation of warm water being poured over her head and down her body, then she felt him. Elias’s power was running through her veins, and she could feel his love, desire, and devotion for her.

“I feel you, too.”His voice was a gentle breeze in her mind.

“Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because our magic and souls are connected.” There was complete awe in his voice.

Tara felt his hands in her hair, on her back, and down her thighs, but there was no way he could be touching her in all of those places unless he had four hands.

“It’s my magic,” he explained. “It loves the way you feel.”

She didn’t understand how he could talk about his magic as if it was a separate entity. Tara didn’t know how it was possible for their souls to be joined, but she could feel it. She took a deep breath and felt Elias take one as well. She could feel his heart beat in tandem with hers.

“I could stay like this forever,” he said, speaking out loud this time.

Tara wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she pictured herself enveloping him in the love she felt for him. She imagined bolts of electricity flowing from her body and into his because she didn’t know how else to picture the magic she could feel inside of her.

“Bloody hell,”he groaned in her mind.

Suddenly the warmth and pulse of electricity that flowed between them was gone, and Tara was once again alone in her body. She felt cold on the inside despite still feeling his body heat. “Whoa,” she said as his gaze held her. “Intense.” She took several deep breaths and then asked, “So is that it? Are we bonded? I mean, I don’t feel different.ShouldI feel different?” Tara tried to clear her thoughts from the haze of lust and desire. But her heart pounded, and her hormones screamed at her to shut up and get physical. And now she was using 80’s song lyrics to describe her needs. WTH? Then her mouth opened and just kept saying things against her will. “You said we were joined, but there wasn’t like, joining, joining, right?”

“Bloody hell, man.” Liam’s voice boomed through the door. “If she has to ask you if there was any joining then you definitely weren’t doing it right.”

“Oy,” Elias yelled. “Get the hell away from the damn door, you arse!”

“I’m just saying,” Liam continued because, clearly, he wanted to die. “I told you we should talk about the birds and the bees. I even brought a banana to show you how to put on the…”

“LEAVE!” Elias roared so loudly that Tara’s hands flew up to cover her ears.

After several heartbeats, Tara couldn’t keep her laughter in check any longer. “I swear he’s just asking for an engraved invitation for you to kill him.” When Elias didn’t respond, Tara forced herself to get over her embarrassment and pulled back so she could look at him. His eyes swirled with emotion, and his jaw was clenched tight.

“Elias?”

“You asked if that was it,” he said. His voice was rough and full of the same hunger that had been in it when he’d first brought her into his room.

She nodded, unable to speak because she was once again caught up in the desires she could feel through the strange bond they had.

“Do you feel the cold?” he asked.

She nodded.

“When we joined our magic and our souls there was no cold.”

“It was warm,” she said breathlessly as she remembered the way it had felt.

“It was, well…”Elias didn’t know exactly how to explain what it was, but he knew that bond wasn’t complete. He also knew that he didn’t like the feeling of being suddenly separated from her. He’d never felt anything so powerful, nor had he ever felt so complete.For a moment, the only thing he thought about was becoming completely joined with Tara. Not just his soul and magic but their bodies as well.

“Elias?”

He hated that she suddenly sounded unsure. Elias never wanted her to be uncertain of him, ofthem. He wanted Tara to always know where she stood with him. He needed her to know he would never leave her or abandon her. If he looked like a nutter, then so be it. For her, he would dance the jig, naked, wearing a fruit hat on his head in front of the entire world. He would do anything to make her feel secure in what they were building together.

“I don’t want to freak you out or make you uncomfortable,” he said as he ran a finger down her cheek. The need to touch her, to feel her skin against his, created a physical ache.

“I’ve found out that elemental spirits are real things that exist. My best friend was sent to the underworld. I have some sort of supernatural bond to another human being. Yet, I haven’t run screaming like a banshee. Have a little faith in me.”

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