Which meant I couldn’t touch her. Not like that. Not yet. Not until we all came to a mutual agreement, because it was very clear that Claire would require more than one mate. Perhaps up to five.
She entered the courtyard twirling a baton I’d given her last week. The way she handled it now showed her improvement. The tips bled with tiny flames as she gave me a seductive, mischievous grin.
“If you keep glaring up at Exos like that, he’s going to jump down here and join our sparring session. And something tells me it’ll be your face he uses for a physical demonstration.” Her words were a bit too matter-of-fact for my liking.
I rolled my shoulders back and cracked
my neck, making a show of it. “I’m not afraid of the scrawny royal.”
I slipped my arm around her waist as she stepped within my reach, and brought her hips against mine so she could feel how hard she’d made me just by standing there showing off the fire that connected us.
Her eyes widened. “I thought you, uh, just took a shower.”
As if a hand job could possibly reduce the excruciating need that screamed in me. I let my voice drop, and I didn’t care if the demanding huskiness of my tone came off too rough. “I’m tired of showers. Of this place. Of Exos spying on our training.” I shot him a look while I said it, which earned me a smirk in response. This was supposed to be my time with Claire, and the bastard knew it.
But he clearly didn’t trust me not to take this to the next level. Which I couldn’t truly blame him for, as I felt the same way about him.
Claire pouted, her adorable bottom lip plumping out. She thumped her baton against my leg, causing the flames to lick up my sides. “You don’t really mean that, right?”
Ah, she didn’t understand.
“I would never leave you, Claire. It’s just… hard.” I nuzzled into the groove of her neck.
“Oh,” she said, breathless. She arched against me, pressing her breasts into my chest as my teeth grazed her pulse. Her resulting groan caused my cock to throb between us.
“Fuck, Claire,” I whispered, my body on fire—literally.
She twisted in my grip to glance to where Exos tracked our every movement. “Exos is watching.”
I know. I can feel his presence.
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with that last night,” I said instead, grinning when flames erupted around us. She sucked in a breath, the memory of her naked and crying out for more, painting her cheeks a delicious pink. That’d become our nightly routine. And sometimes a morning activity as well.
Claire dropped the baton and gripped my shoulders, her strength surprising me as she pushed me away. The echo of flames burned in her eyes, slowly overtaking the blue that marked her as a Spirit Fae.
Yes, give me your fire, sweetheart.
“I know what you’re doing,” she said as she narrowed her eyes. “You’re trying to distract me, but I’m ready.” She retrieved her baton and twirled it before crouching into the battle stance I’d taught her. “I’m going to prove to all the fae that I am not my mother.”
A grin stretched across my face as I took a defensive position. Pride swelled in my chest. Yes, Claire was definitely ready to face the Academy.
But was I ready to let her face them without me by her side? Her first class would be on Air Quad—with Exos.
A fireball caught me on the chin, causing me to grunt before stumbling to my knee. I snapped my head back just in time to see Claire’s baton coming straight for my face. She’d caught me off guard, but that was because I wasn’t accustomed to elements being used against me in a fight. The one handicap of being a Powerless Champion was, well, real fae fought with their powers.
I caught the baton in my grip with ease and smiled at Claire’s surprised expression. “Well done, sweetheart, but you’ll have to do better than that to beat me.”
I intended to yank Claire closer and seduce her some more, when she twisted from my grip in a maneuver I hadn’t taught her. One glance up at a smug Exos told me I wasn’t the only one who’d helped Claire grow.
My gaze dropped down to Claire, who held her palms together, her brows knitted with concentration as she summoned a new fireball—but it wasn’t quite a fireball.
“Claire,” I cautioned, hoping she wasn’t attempting to combine her elements. She wasn’t ready, even if Exos encouraged her. He didn’t understand how raw and explosive her emotions were or how they impacted her powers.
Her jaw flexed as she worked on the ball of power. Its gleaming red flames licked around the edges of her fingertips before the other elements came into play in tufts of living color. A magical breeze kicked up and sent her hair flinging over her face, but she didn’t move to push the strands away.
A sizzle of water fought against the flames, winning and morphing into something dangerous as an external, circular vortex crashed at her feet and wound circles up her body. It seemed to be climbing an invisible wall, threatening to cut her off from me. Permanently.
“Claire,” I tried again, readying myself to intervene.