Page 52 of The Mating Fire
“Yes and no. I have the power to do so in limited fashion. It drains me, so I use that magick sparingly, as a last resort.”
He did look paler. A barely perceptible tremor affected his hands as he rested them upon his knees. Harper didn’t get it. “Then why do that now?”
“Because you needed the practice. Smashing rocks and throwing coldfire isn’t enough, not when demons can catch you unaware.”
Her heart melted a little at his consideration. Knowing he needed the rest, she suggested they sit for a few minutes. Jared seemed relieved at the notion.
Harper summoned coldfire to her hands, delighting in the soft blue glow. “All this and it doesn’t even ruin my manicure.”
“You don’t have a manicure.” Jared reached over and touched her right hand.
Right through the haze of coldfire. As his fingers made contact, she felt a warm glow, twined with a surge of pure desire.
Her female parts sat up and took notice. Oh yeah, they sang out. This could be fun.
Jared stared at his fingers touching hers. Then he rested his palm atop hers. The coldfire flared a deeper blue, glowing fiercely.
“I’m not burning you?”
“No. It feels good, touching you like this,” he murmured.
“Why doesn’t it hurt you?”
Jared looked equally surprised. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe it only hurts others when I’m feeling threatened.” Though she’d been terrified and confused when awakening at Jared’s castle, he didn’t elicit those emotions now.
No, I feel comfortable around him, and nervous, but the good kind of nervous you have when you’re with someone whose bones you’d jump instantly.
Turning her hand around so their palms touched, she lifted her hand as he did the same. Their gazes locked. His dark eyes, oh so dark and mysterious, smoldered with sexual awareness. Jared’s lips parted as his gaze dropped to her mouth. She moistened her lips, anticipating what his kiss would feel like – firm and warm, and dragging her down to the depths of a passion she’d go to hell and back to experience…
Suddenly his palm flamed red, and the fire reached over and seemed to caress the blue coldfire, teasing, a dance oftwo powerful elements. Then the fire from his hands wrapped around her blue flames, like a man wrapping his arms around his lover.
“What’s happening?” she said, awestruck, feeling an arousal she hadn’t experienced since that disastrous night in the bar.
He actually looked flushed. “That’s my incubus magick, the tendrils of power I send out when I wish to seduce a woman. But I didn’t summon it. It’s as if…it has a mind of its own.”
His gaze met hers. “As if my body is responding to you naturally.”
Harper swallowed hard. “Mine as well.”
He drew his hand back, studying it as if it held answers. “I don’t know why this happened now. It hasn’t happened in a long time, perhaps months. Years, since I’ve been able to use my sexual incubus magick.”
Feeling heat suffuse her face, she cleared her throat. “Can I use the coldfire against dangerous Skins? Like those zombies you mentioned?”
“I don’t know about zombies, but you can use it to melt bullets, if someone is shooting at you.”
A wisp of memory surfaced… a woman striding through a field, a man she loved…a bullet fired…
The coldfire disappeared from her fingers as her temple ached again. Harper rubbed her head.
Fire vanished from his fingers as well. Jared’s expression turned concerned. “What’s wrong? You’re in pain again.”
“I don’t know…this recurring dream I’ve had… every time I remember bits and pieces, it makes my head hurt.”
Jared reached over and touched her head. His fingers massaged her temple gently. Harper closed her eyes and made a hum of satisfaction.
“Feels so good. Oh, please, don’t stop.”
