Page 4 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

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Aston suckedin a sharp breath when his chest contracted. The pain was constant when Rory wasn’t around. And while Aston had grown somewhat accustomed to it, occasional waves would still catch him off guard.

Of course he knew what the pain was. Elias had told him all about the discomfort he felt when he and his soul mate, Tara, were separated. Soul-bonded elementalists needed to stay in close proximity. Their souls longed for closeness, and when they weren’t together, the souls themselves rebelled against the bodies. For Aston, the pain seemed to worsen every day. He gritted his teeth as his heart ached for Rory, the woman his soul cried out for.

Aston had never wished so badly in his life that his brothers were with him. He was growing restless in the dragon realm. At first, it had been fascinating, and all the new experiences helped distract him from the torment of being separated from Rory. She spent most of the day away from him, and he desperately needed a distraction.

Now, the enchantment of an entirely new realm was wearing off, and Aston was ready to go home. He’d fooled Rory into thinking he was fine because he didn’t want to pressure her or make her feel bad. But inside, Aston was confused. He needed Ra’s strength and ability to stay in control, Liam’s humor, and Elias’s levelheadedness. For the first time in a long time, Aston felt he had no plan, no clear direction he could follow. He was used to meticulously planning his next move, putting the pieces on the board in such a way as to get the best possible result. At the moment, Aston simply existed.

He lived day-to-day in a monotonous cycle with his soul bonded—a woman he’d only known two weeks. He didn’t have a clue how to handle her. Rory wasn’t sure of herself like Tara, playful like Shelly, or badass like Gabby. Okay, that’s a lie. Rory was totally badass, but her badass-ness felt … dark. It was something sinister and violent. Aston could feel her emotions through their bond, and they scared him. He could tell Rory was barely hanging on, and it seemed she might lose control at any moment. When they touched, which she allowed very little of, Aston saw in his mind’s eye something horrible. He could see Rory’s soul, or rather what was left of it. It looked like a broken vase. Pieces lay in shambles, strewn across the floor. The sight broke his heart. She neededhim. He knew that was the whole point of a soul bonded, to be a source of strength when the other was weak. But he didn’t know exactlywhatRory needed and how to be that something. At times, Aston wasn’t sure she even wanted him to be that for her. Did she feel the pain he felt when she was away? He wanted to ask her but feared her answer.What if the desire to be close was only one-sided?

Aston sighed, his warm breath causing steam to flow out into the cold air. Rory had given him a marvelous jacket made from dragon scales. But beyond being beautiful, it also completely blocked the cold, which was just as amazing. So walking out in the dragon realm’s winter wasn’t nearly as cold as it would be without it. He leaned down and picked up a round, flat rock and tossed it with a flick of his wrist, sending it skipping across the frozen lake in front of him. The dragon realm was stunning even in winter. There were evergreens dotting the land, interrupting the trees that looked like glass from the ice surrounding the limbs. The snow covering the rolling hills was the purest white, with no sign of the dinginess that often appeared in the cold substance on earth. There wasn’t any pollution here. It honestly looked like a winter wonderland drawing from a fantastical storybook. The sky was a deep blue, and the sun, even in winter, shone with a bright beaming yellow casting rainbows off of the bright snowy ground. But it wasn’t home. There were no computers to hack, bad guys to fight, or supernatural schools to attend. Aside from talking to a couple of the dragons, there was only Rory. And other than the night they’d completed the bond, she seemed to want little to do with him. As lame as it felt to admit it, Aston was lonely.

“Bloody hell, man,” he growled to himself, using his best British accent and imagining it was Elias talking to him. “Pull yourself together and get your arse in gear.” It wasn’t the first time he’d given himself a pep talk. He’d even done it in Ra’s voiceandLiam’s. Maybe he was going mad. But then Rory would come back to their cave, and he would see the despair that filled her eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to give her an ultimatum—come with him or stay. How could he leave her?

After skipping several more rocks across the frozen lake and watching the sun start to descend from the sky, Aston turned and headed back to the cave. He didn’t hurry. Rory wouldn’t be there. She rarely showed until much later in the evening, and he had no desire to sit alone in a damn cave, aching for her to come to him, to touch him, and to let him touch her.

As he walked along the side of the lake, the evening air blew across the tall, dead grass and the last leaves from fall that seemed determined to hold on to the limbs, rustled, sounding as if they were applauding the beautiful winter sunset. He wanted to enjoy it, but after two weeks of isolation, it was no longer a serene sanctuary. It was a prison. One partially of his own making. He hadn’t even tried to leave. Aston’s thoughts were interrupted, and his footsteps faltered when he heard a soft voice. Moving forward slowly, stepping carefully, he edged farther down the lake and took cover behind a large tree. He leaned around the tree and saw the source of the voice. The air whooshed from his lungs, and his heartbeat picked up speed. The pain he’d endured from being away from Rory lessened immediately. But now he couldn’t breathe for an entirely different reason.

Rory, his soul bonded, was bathing in one of the many hot springs the dragons maintained. Naked. Why was she naked?Because she’s taking a bath, moron,he snapped at himself. The only reason he didn’t turn away was because her back was to him, and the water covered her from the waist down. Rory’s olive skin glistened with droplets. As they rolled down her body, Aston forced his eyes from tracing the water’s path. Rory’s movements were unhurried. She cupped the water in her hands and poured it over her shoulder. She looked the most relaxed he’d seen her since their first night together. The sorrow she seemed to wear like a cloak was momentarily gone, as if the cloak had been folded and tucked away. She hummed a song while she bathed.

Aston wanted to go to her. His hands itched to touch her, and he realized he was shaking like a junky needing his next fix. He longed to hold her and ask her what she needed from him. It was tearing him up inside that he couldn’t figure out what to say or do. Aston had never thought of himself as a failure, but he was definitely failing at being a suitable mate to his soul bonded.

“You can join me if you’d like.” Rory’s voice startled him from his thoughts. “Kimba heated the water to almost scalding. It’s quite nice.”

Aston whipped himself back behind the tree. Shame filled him, and he sucked in several quick breaths. His pulse pounded in his ears. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the image of her, though he knew it would be burned in his brain for the rest of his life. His beautiful, soul-bonded female, with her hair tied up on top of her head, wispy escaped tendrils swirling about her neck, the last bit of sunlight kissing her skin as if to bid her goodnight.

“Why are you hiding, Aston?” she asked. “Am I that hideous to you?”

The shock of her words hit him like a ton of bricks. How could she ask him such a question? When they were together, he thought she could plainly see the desire in his eyes. He wondered if perhaps that was what scared her enough to leave him so often. Did she seriously believe he thought her anything less than beautiful? Before he could think about what he was doing, he lunged from behind the tree. “What?” His voice came out harsher than intended. He clenched his jaw as his eyes bore into hers. And yes, he had to fight himself to stay focused on her eyes. “Why the hell would you ask me that?”

“Because I’m your soul bonded, naked, in a lake, and you haven’t jumped at the opportunity to come to me.” She spread her arms as she spoke, as if offering him a smorgasbord. Aston’s eyes dropped now, and he took in her glorious body displayed before him. His eyes snapped back up to her face.

“Even now you won’t look at me. What am I supposed to think?” Rory lowered her arms and crossed them over her chest. “You’ve barely touched me in the two weeks you’ve been here. You don’t ask to join me when I go out in the morning. You barely talk to me. What conclusion am I supposed to draw?”

Aston hadn’t thought his heart could ache any more than it had been. Hearing that she felt rejected by him, that he’d caused her to feel unwanted, practically shattered the organ that beat only for her. But that wasn’t the only emotion he felt. Anger simmered just below it. Perhaps he could have tried harder, but a relationship went two ways.

“We need to talk,” he practically growled. “Get out, get dressed, and meet me back at the cave.” He turned, but then paused. “Please.” The last word should have sounded softer, but it came out just as harsh as his previous commands. Of all Aston’s brothers, he was the calmest. He didn’t blow up or get offended or worry about something he couldn’t change. But when he finally came to the end of his rope, he found it very difficult to reel himself back in. The walk back to the cave would give him time to think, to calm down, and to formulate the words he would say—words he should have communicated weeks ago. Instead, he’d been a docile male, leaving his female to guess where she stood with him.

They’d wasted enough time tiptoeing around one another. It was time to get everything on the table. Expectations needed to be set and compromises would have to be made. And it was time for him to step up and be the leader Rory needed him to be. She’d been held in darkness’s embrace for far too long. It was Aston’s job to pull her from that terrible place and wrap her in light.

Rory stood in the water,watching Aston’s retreating form. She wanted to call him back because she knew that just being near him would soothe the tumult of emotions raging within her. But she couldn’t. Words, if she could even formulate them in her mind, would not escape her throat.What the heck had just happened?And where had her quiet mate gone? The man who had just commanded her to get out and follow him couldn’t be the same guy who’d been waiting so patiently over the last two weeks. Why he’d bothered to throw the “please” in at the end she couldn’t guess. Maybe that’s the way his mother had raised him? Wouldn’t she be proud to see him now, mated to a dragon tamer so broken she couldn’t even trust him?

When Rory could no longer see him, she carefully climbed from the water. The lake bottom was lined with rocks that were all too happy to slice a foot if she carelessly shifted wrong. As her feet reached the soft grass of the forest, Rory shook off as much of the water as she could and then pulled her clothes on over her damp skin. She shivered as the cold air caressed her skin and wished she had the luxury of a heated bathroom instead of an outdoor lagoon in the middle of winter. As much solace as she had found in the dragon realm, there were some modern conveniences in the human world she missed. Indoor plumbing, four walls and a roof, and, oddly enough, a towel to dry off with so her clothes didn’t stick to her after bathing.

Even though everything within her was screaming for her to hurry—to run to Aston—Rory moved slowly, slipping her socks and shoes on with deliberate care, taking much longer than the task required. She was stalling, which was ridiculous, considering she was on the point of shivering from the chill. But the emotions she saw in Aston’s eyes and heard in his voice had shaken her. She scrunched up her face, trying to process what she’d seen and heard. There was anger, that was obvious, but there was also pain.

When Rory had spoken with Kimba about Rory’s feelings, she hadn’t told the dragon thewholetruth. Though Astonhadbeen interested in learning about the dragon realm, Rory knew he had no interest in staying. Despite his repeated assurances to Rory, she heard the lie in his voice. She knew little about the soul bonded, but she knew they couldn’t lie to one another. This was why she had spoken so sparingly to him. It wasn’t fair to accuse him of ignoring her when she’d done the same. Nor was it fair of her to expect him to make the first move. Yet that’s exactly what she wanted. No, if she was honest with herself, Rory would understand that deep down sheneededAston to make the first move, to pursue her, to show her she was worth it and that he was actually someone she could trust. Apparently her plan of giving the silent treatment to force Aston’s actions—even if she hadn’t known consciously that’s what she was doing—had worked a little better than she thought it would. He’d made his move, and it had been entirely unexpected. Now she had no choice but to face him on the emotional battleground she’d pushed him on to.

She walked toward the cave, her steps slow and reluctant, thinking about Aston’s reaction. His words hurt. After all, she hadn’t deliberately set up the scenario for him to come upon her while she bathed. But never in her wildest imagination did she think he would pass up an opportunity to be naked with her. Especially since he hadn’t seen her in such a state since the night they’d made love. Should Rory really have anticipated anything different? She honestly didn’t know, but she knew she hadn’t exactly given him a reason to want to be with her.

She’d hoped Aston would simply be happy in the dragon realm. And shouldn’t he be? Shouldn’t her presence be enough for him to want to stay? They could leave the human realm—and all its problems—far behind. But instead of being happy, Aston seemed more and more distant with each passing day. Rory didn’t know what to do. She’d never been in a relationship before. And even her unromantic relationships weren’t healthy. Well, she’d only actually had one relationship—the one with her mother. Andthatrelationship was anything but healthy. Rory didn’t have any friends, what with growing up in a coven of witches and all. The witches were selfish and bloodthirsty, not exactly the most positive of role models. And even though she despised them, Rory realized the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. She was just as wicked and self-absorbed as Danni had been. That kind of behavior was all she knew. It was all she’d ever been shown. And like a spoiled brat, Rory wanted to stomp her foot and demand that Aston stay with her and be happy, even if it killed him. “Wow,” she muttered under her breath as she pushed the tall grass and bushes out of the way, “Iama catch.”

Much too soon, the mouth of the cave came into view. It sat atop a rocky rise, accessible by a smooth, worn path easily climbed. Dread filled her. She did not know what Aston would say, what he would do. And even less of a clue what she might say or do. Maybe she could seduce him and make him forget his ire? Rory shook her head at the idea. Aston was too astute for that to work. He’d see through the ploy in less than a minute. After all, if he could so easily refrain from skinny-dipping with her, he must have willpower in spades.

She reached the entrance and saw Aston standing, facing her with his arms folded across his chest, feet firmly planted apart. He made no movement toward her; he only stared. Aston had started a fire. The flames caused his shadow to dance across the cave walls, somehow making him seem bigger, more imposing. He pulled his shoulders back, and his chin rose, his only acknowledgment of her presence.

Rory swallowed hard past a lump that had formed in her throat. She stepped farther into the cave—a tentative step, a testing step. She watched him closely, searching his face and his body for some sign—anything that might tip his hand as to what Rory was in for.

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