Page 40 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

Aston turned Rory away from the sensuous sight and opened a portal to the Devil's Heart. He took the book from her hands and dropped it on the couch. “We’ll be in contact,” he said.

“Aston,” Elias called out.

The historian turned to look at his brother.

“Take this.” He tossed Aston a cell phone. “Call us as soon as you know something.”

He nodded and then tugged Rory’s hand, leading her through the portal.

“That was interesting,” she said slowly, turning to face him.

“It was.” Aston slipped the phone into his back pocket. “But I think we have even more interesting things to discuss.”

Rory’s voice caught, and Aston knew she heard the desire in his words.

He took a step toward her, his heart pounding in his chest as his eyes took her in hungrily. “You’re my soul bonded, Rory.”

“Yes.”

“There’s been very little bonding done between us lately.” He took another step. “I intend to rectify that so that youneverquestion again that we belong to one another.”

She swallowed hard, looking nervous as her hands fidgeted with her shirt. But Aston could feel her own desire through the bond they shared. “I thought we had things to discuss.”

Two more steps and he stood close enough that he could feel her breath against his neck where she looked up at him. He could smell smoke from the house explosion. Under the smoke, he picked up something sweet that made him think of succulent fruit. His hand lifted, and he ran his finger down her cheek. “We do, but communication can happen in other ways besides words.”

She sucked in a quick breath and then bit her bottom lip before asking, “What about the dragons, hell, Ra, and Shelly?” The words rushed out with the air from her lungs.

Aston wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her body tightly to his. “You’re my number one priority. Always. Now hush and let my body talk to you.”

“Bossy,” she said. He felt the nervousness in their bond change to hunger, though not for food.

“I should have been bossy when we were in the dragon realm. Maybe then we wouldn’t have put each other through such torture.” He didn’t let her respond. The control he’d been holding onto slipped. Aston pressed his lips to hers and devoured her. Theydidhave a lot to talk about. But first, they needed to reconnect on an intimate level. Their souls needed to reunite and be as one. Frankly, he needed her.

ChapterNine

“I’ve always known there was something a little off about me. I mean, who stalks a person until they’re forced to either call the police or accept you as their best friend? This girl. Who hands her soul over to the devil for a guy she’s known all of twenty-four hours? This girl. And who finds herself once again trapped in hell, separated from the guy she’s fallen in love with? This girl. But worst of all, who is battling feelings of desire that sheknowscannot be real? You guessed it folks. Life seriously sucks bouncy, rubber objects sometimes. Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, I’m trying to give up cursing again. Most people here have come for reasons other than the lord of the underworld wanting to get into their knickers. If I behave better than them, perhaps I won’t be tempted by the wickedness surrounding me. I can feel it pressing in on me. Throw me a bone, people. This girl is running out of options.” ~Shelly

“Ido not want him,” Shelly bit out through teeth clenched so tightly she feared she might break them. “There is no way in hell, heaven, earth, and any other realm that I want Osiris. No, I take that back. I do want him, but only a piece—his head. I want Osiris’s head on a spike. I want it planted at the gates of hell so everyone that passes into this realm can see who used to rule here and no longer be afraid of him.” Bile rose in Shelly’s throat. The feelings had been coming to her unbidden every time she was around Osiris longer than a few minutes. She tried and failed to push the thoughts from her mind, then she nearly retched.

Never in her life had Shelly felt so guilty and dirty as she did now. When the lord of the underworld appeared, all thoughts of Ra fled. The debilitating pain, which had once been her constant companion, abated. And Shelly found herself actuallyinterestedin what the damn devil had to say. Then she’d return to her room, and all the emotions came flooding back, knocking her on her butt, literally. The ache for Ra was so intense that Shelly felt as if she might die because she couldn’t get enough oxygen into her tight lungs. She didn’t understand what was happening. At first, she’d assumed the pain came from being separated from Ra. She shared a soul with him after all, not to mention she was head over heels in love with him. But this new thing with Osiris … these feelings… Shelly had no freaking clue what was up with that. But she knew it needed to stop, like yesterday.

She stomped, yes, literally stomped, from one side of the room to the other and wrung her hands repeatedly. She was a caged animal. “Arabidcaged animal,” she amended out loud. Shelly had never in her life seriously contemplated killing anyone, but she’d never been in a situation like this before. “I’m going mad.” She made an about-face and stomped toward the other side of the room. “Ra, dammit, where are you?” She shouldn’t be mad at Ra. It wasn’t his fault she was Osiris’s prisoner. And it sure as hell wasn’t his fault that she felt the tiniest sliver of attraction toward the lord of the underworld. A thought made Shelly freeze, her foot held in mid-air. Had Ra found someone else while she’d been in hell? Washehaving feelings for some chick that had slid into Shelly’s spot since she’d been imprisoned? Ra was hot. She had no delusions that there weren’t other females at the school who would be interested in him. And now she wasn’t there to give them stabby looks. “That’s ridiculous. He wouldn’t move on after just a month,” she said into the empty room. At least she thought it was a month. There were no clocks, so tracking time was impossible, but Ra had told her time moved differently here, anyway.“Surelyhe’s thinking about me and not putting his hands on some random chick. And double surely, his heartache over losing me hasn’t driven him into the arms of the first woman that has offered him a soft shoulder to cry on.” Shelly let out an animalistic growl. “I will cut a female dog if one goes near my Ra.” Her fist came down hard on her thigh. “I will rip her arms from her ridiculously fit body and beat her unfairly beautiful face until she looks like hamburger meat.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Shelly wanted to take them back. She was threatening some nameless, faceless female that probably didn’t even exist. And she was promising some seriously sickening acts. “What is wrong with me?” Shelly bellowed. She grabbed fistfuls of her hair and pulled. “Please, Ra,” she said through tears. “Please come get me.” She doubled over when pain ripped through her. But instead of attempting to block it out, Shelly reveled in it. The pain meant the connection between her and Ra still existed. Her body still needed his soul. She was still his, and he was hers.

A knock on the door quickly brought Shelly into an upright position. She wouldn’t let Osiris see her weakness. It was bad enough he seemed able to somehow sense the weird feelings that were growing for him for some insane reason. The little smirks and knowing look in his eyes made her want to stab him with a rusty nail and then carve Ra’s name all over Osiris’s skin so he had a constant visual reminder of who her heart belonged to.

“You’ve been in here for nearly twenty-four hours.” Osiris opened the door without waiting for her permission. It was an improvement from just materializing in her room from out of nowhere. “I think you need some fresh air.”

Shelly snorted. “Hate to break it to you, but sulfurous fumes are only considered fresh air to demons.”

He rolled his eyes as if her statement was being ridiculous. Had he forgottenhewas the one who’d abducted her and trapped her in the underworld? She didn’t want to be here. “I wasn’t talking about the underworld. I’m going to take you to the upworld.”

Shelly’s chin rose, and her back straightened. He was taking her out of this hellhole? Could she use this opportunity as a means to escape? Maybe she could simply scream for help when they saw people. She could yell for someone to call the cops. She could scream rape or kidnapper or pedophile. Anything to attract attention. But what in Hades were the cops going to do to Osiris?

“I see I’ve piqued your interest.” He stepped farther into the room and extended a hand. “Join me, please. Let me show you the world.”

“Have you been watching Disney movies?” Shelly stared at the offered hand as if it was a poisonous snake. Symbolically, it sort of was.

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