Page 46 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

There was some muffled noise, and then Elias’s voice came through loud and clear. He’d apparently taken Tara’s challenge seriously. “Look, I’ve known Aston a long time. He’s usually quite laid back. From what I can gather, he’s not behaving that way, yeah? You’re his female. He wants you. His soul wants you. And yes, his body wants you. In order for the soul bond to be complete, you have to physically bind your souls through sex. But the act alone isn’t what binds you. It’s when you both open yourselves up and release the restraints on your magic and push it into the other.”

“Holy witch crap, just when I thought this couldn’t get any more awkward,” Rory muttered.

Elias ignored her remark and kept right on making things weirder. “He won’t hurt you because he can’t. His obsession with you could become a tad alarming until you’ve joined your souls. Until then, he will definitely become a stalker. My advice to you is to work out your issues. Do it quickly. And, yes, I mean that as a double entendre. He won’t be able to focus on shite if he is continually fighting his natural instincts. Aston only wants to make you his so he can keep you from succumbing to the darkness. All right?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Perfect. Off you go.” Then the line went dead.

Rory pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it as if it had just sprouted legs and done the jig in her hand.

“He’s wrong.” Aston’s voice pulled her eyes from the phone.

“What?” She frowned.

“I can resist the pull and still do what we need to do.” His voice sounded confident, but his clenched hands and rigid stance said something different.

Rory took a deep breath and blew it out, making her cheeks puff. “We fought and said things that, from what I understand, soul bonded shouldn’t be able to say to one another because of their overwhelming need to not hurt one another. Did you feel something?” She set the phone down on one of her makeshift rock chairs and then ran a hand down her arm. “Something…”

“Evil?” he offered.

“Sort of, I guess.” She nodded. “It was like I couldn’t control what I said. Even though I told myself to stop, I literally couldn’t. I wanted to hurt you.”

The muscle in Aston’s jaw tightened, and he gave a stiff nod. “I felt the same. It was wrong. Off.”

“Tara said when we were together,together”—Rory’s face reddened at the meaning of her words—“we should have felt something more.”

“I felt plenty,” Aston rumbled. “I realize I wasn’t experienced, so—”

“No.” She held up her hand. “Gah, why is this so hard? I’m not talking about whether we enjoyed it. I thought it was pretty obvious we did.” She ran her sweaty palms down her jean-clad thighs. “Tara said we should have felt our souls join. Elias said for the bond to be complete, we have to open our magic to one another while being intimate.” Rory realized she was still rubbing her hands up and down her thighs and stopped the motion. She stood, straightened, and then crossed them in front of her. “There’s more than one problem with this.”

“You don’t desire me after what I said to you,” Aston said. It wasn’t a question.

“No, that’s not one of them.”

“Things are incredibly dicey now because it feels less like a choice and more like something we need to check off a list?”

Rory’s hackles rose. “Is that how you feel?”

“No,” he said immediately. “I’m just trying to figure out how you feel.”

She placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. “How about asking me instead of putting thoughts in my head and words in my mouth?”

“Fair enough.” He nodded and then motioned with his hand for her to continue. “What are the problems?”

Dropping her hands, she held up a finger. “One, I have no idea how toopenmy magic. I don’t even know if I have any other magic than witch magic, which we both know isn’t exactly warm, fuzzy, and full of light. Two”—she added another finger—“it seems a little indulgent to be getting all carnal when there’s a chick in hell who needs to be rescued. And three, well, yes, it’s a little dicey, but not in the way you think. I don’t feel like it’s something on a checklist. And even if it was, that sounds like a fun checklist.” She closed her eyes and slapped her forehead, groaning. “Sometimes I really wish my filter worked at the right moment.”

“My wild Rory.” Aston’s voice came from directly beside her ear. She hadn’t even heard him move. His hand cupped her cheek so gently she found herself leaning into his skin’s warmth. “After the way I acted before I left, I don’t deserve this, but I’m asking anyway. Will you trust me?”

She felt the pull inside of her that linked them together. And in her mind’s eye, she still saw the darkness that seemed to enfold around the strands of their bond. Despite that darkness, she felt his sincerity. “Yes,” she whispered. She took in a sharp breath when his other arm wrapped around her, and his hand slipped up under her shirt, pressing her closer to him. Electricity flowed through her at every spot their bodies touched, and she leaned closer until their mouths nearly touched. She breathed the warm air from his lungs.

“Let me make this right,” he said, his lips rubbing against hers as he spoke. “Do I want you? How could I not? You’re stunning, inside and out. Do I need you? Yes, like any other necessity to live. I understand we have been joined because of the pain you’ve endured and the fractured soul that lives inside you, but that is not why I want to be with you.”

“It isn’t?” Rory’s heart beat painfully in her chest, and her lungs screamed for air.

He shook his head and pressed his forehead to hers. “I want to be with you because I’m choosing you.” His eyes swirled like a violent storm, and his chest moved rapidly against her own. “We both have a choice. This isn’t forced upon us. And I hope you will choose me.”

Aston waited.Knots formed in his stomach, and his muscles tightened to the point of pain.Why wouldn’t she say something, anything?He’d just laid it out there for Rory; his heart, his soul, and his love. She had the power to tear him down and leave him a pile of rubble, or she could make him feel like a victorious warrior worthy of everything she would give him.

He knew the timing was horrible. The place they stood wasn’t ideal or the least bit romantic for making such an indescribably precious covenant. And that’s exactly what it was—a covenant. A promise, an unbreakable commitment to be together always. Aston was promising to support her, no matter what, and asking for that in return. They were vowing to hold each other when anger might make them want to distance themselves. They were deciding every day to choose one another above all others.

After what felt like an eternity, she nodded, and her beautiful lips turned up in a small, shy smile. “I choose you, too.”

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