Page 24 of Sun's Roar

Sol pulled her close, his body solid against hers. “Yes, you can. Feel the fire, Helena. It’s a part of you. Command it.”

Their eyes locked, green meeting hazel. Sol could feel her rapid heartbeat and smell the cinnamon and vanilla of her skin mixed with the smoky scent of her awakened powers. It was completely intoxicating.

“I...” Helena’s voice faltered.

“Trust yourself,” Sol murmured, his lips inches from hers. “Trust me.”

For a moment, the world stood still.

NINE

HELENA

The fire danced along the fabric of the curtains with hungry intensity, seeming to multiply and grow with each passing second. Helena’s heart hammered against her ribs as the flames spread across the wall. How could Sol believe this was coming from her? Yet the evidence burned bright before her eyes.

His chest was firm against hers, radiating heat that rivaled the growing inferno around them. The scent of him—earth and spice with something wild underneath—flooded her senses.

Their eyes locked, and Helena felt something electric pass between them. His gaze held such certainty that for a moment, she almost believed him. His rapid heartbeat pulsed against her, matching her own frantic rhythm. The intensity in those forest-green eyes was completely intoxicating.

“I...” Helena’s voice faltered. Words failed her as she stood trapped between the man who claimed to be her fated mate and the fire that supposedly came from within her.

“Trust yourself,” Sol murmured softly, his full lips inches from hers. His breath warm against her face. “Trust me.”

For a brief moment, the world stood completely still. Helena couldn’t look away from him. She couldn’t process thedual shock of the flames erupting from her hand and the overwhelming proximity of his body. His lips hovered so close to hers that the smallest movement would bring them together.

He must have sensed she had no control—not over her newly awakened powers or her body’s response to him. Without breaking eye contact, Sol raised his right hand toward the flames while still holding her wrist with his left.

What happened next stole Helena’s breath.

With precise, fluid gestures of his fingers, Sol directed each tendril of fire. The flames peeled away from the curtains, stretching and curling through the air like living ribbons. They danced and wavered, then streamed across the room in a graceful arc, joining the flames already burning in the dining room fireplace.

The display was mesmerizing—beautiful in a primal way that stirred something deep inside her. Each flame obeyed his silent command, flowing like water but burning bright. Not a single ember strayed from the path he created.

She watched, transfixed, as the last of the fire left the curtains and settled into the fireplace. The fabric was singed black along the edges but no longer burning. The room quieted, the crackling of flames now contained to where they belonged.

“How did you...” she finally whispered, unable to finish the thought.

His mouth curved into a half-smile. “The same way you’ll soon learn to. The Sunflare pack has always had a kinship with fire.” His thumb traced small circles on the inside of her wrist. “It’s in our blood.”

“Our blood,” she repeated, the words strange on her tongue. Her mind raced, trying to reconcile what she’d just witnessed with everything she thought she knew about reality.

“Yes,” he said, his voice dropping lower. “Yours and mine.”

The fireplace flames suddenly flared higher as if responding to his words—or perhaps to the quickening of her pulse.

“I’m not one of you,” Helena protested, though the conviction in her voice wavered. “I’m a chef. I’m a normal human being.”

His eyes glinted. “No, Helena, you’re extraordinary. You always have been. Now your true nature is awakening.”

His certainty was both terrifying and thrilling. The flames in the fireplace danced higher again, matching the rhythm of her increasingly unsteady heart. Her thoughts spun in dizzying circles. She stared at the charred curtains, then back at the impossibly sexy man still gripping her wrist. His touch sent waves of heat rippling through her body that had nothing to do with fire.

“So, you’re saying I created that fire with my awakened powers? My true nature?” She pulled back slightly, but Sol maintained his hold. “No. You must have done something to make me do it. Some trick or?—“

“Impossible.” Sol’s voice cut through her protests with casual authority. “I cannot create fire, Helena. Only you can. I can merely control your fire.” His thumb caressed the inside of her wrist, sending shivers up her arm. “I am a complement to your power. Together, our abilities are stronger and more controlled than apart.”

The absolute certainty in his voice left no room for argument, yet Helena couldn’t wrap her mind around what he was saying. Her? Creating fire? It defied everything she understood about herself and reality.

“So let’s say, hypothetically, that I believe you.” She swallowed hard. “And I’m starting these fires. Does that mean only you can control them? That I’m just some... walking fire hazard needing a handler?”

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