Anya Bast - Witch Heart

It wasn't ego that made the words spill from her lips, it was truth speaking. For better or for worse.

Adam only stared down at her, apparently at a loss for a response.

She pushed up and faced him, holding his steady gaze. It hit her all at once. Her confidence, recently shaken by events, had returned. The heat of him, his scent, his proximity — all of it excited her. It made her body quicken, become lush and alive in a way she had not allowed in many years.

"I hold the magicks all of four elements within me, Adam. All those years with Rue, that's what he did. He experimented with the power inside me, my earth magick. He drew in the other three elements and changed my base earth power in a way that has never been done before. I don't have to store charms like a regular earth witch. I can draw from all four elements, sometimes two at a time — but never all four at once."

He stared at her for a long moment before speaking. "Claire, that makes you more powerful than any other witch on this planet."

Her mouth quirked. "Kind of a change of pace since on Eudae I was one of the weakest individuals."

"One of? There were demons weaker than you?"

"Some of the Syari class are fairly weak. Some in the Mandan. The rest… not." She grinned. "But don't worry, I can kick daaeman ass when I want to. Just ask Thomas. He watched me do it at his side on Eudae."

"I can feel the air magick." He shook his head. "You know about the draw, right? Air and fire, water and earth? I mean, I was attracted to you before, but now it's more… intense." His gaze flared hot.

Yes, she felt it, too. Fire and air held a natural attraction. Now that all her elements were unmuddied by the elium, she could sense the flicker and spark of her air and his fire meeting, checking each other out, rubbing up against each other.

The powers would find balance soon and the artificial attraction would ease, but she'd been drawn to him sexually before the elium had relented so it made the whole thing more extreme.

And, by his own admission, he'd been attracted to her, too.

Wow.

She lifted her gaze to meet his smoldering expression with interest. With her heavy-lidded gaze, she showed him exactly what she was thinking about. Sweaty things. Carnal things. Skin-on-skin things.

He cleared his throat. "Listen, if you're all right, I should leave. Thomas would kick my butt into next week for acting out any of the things currently going through my head."

Adam moved to rise and she put a hand on his forearm, stopping him. "Don't leave." "I really should, hate that word, should. It's ugly in any language."

He hesitated, and then settled back. After a moment, he reached out and touched her cheek. "Wow. Beautiful, intelligent, strong, and a powerful witch. You've got it all, baby."

She blinked, her smile fading. "You think I'm beautiful?" "You're kidding right? I think you're gorgeous." Her cheeks heated. "It's been a long time since anyone told me I was pretty."

"What wrong with those demons?" She smiled. "They're demons."

"Oh, yeah." His head dipped toward hers and the heat of him chased the chill from her bones a bit. "This is such a bad idea," he murmured. His gaze centered on her mouth.

"IT'S THE WORST IDEA EVER," SHE AGREED. HER breath had a little hitch in it and her heart sped its pace. Her hands found his upper arms and clenched there, feeling the bunch and flex of his muscles. Strength. Power leashed for the moment.

He repositioned himself over her, pressing her down against the mattress. His gaze still searched her face, lust flickering in the depths of his dark blue eyes — lust for her. At the moment Claire felt like the most beautiful, most desired woman on the face of the planet — both of them.

"I shouldn't kiss you," he murmured.

"There's that stupid word again."

He grinned for a fleeting moment. Adam's head dipped and his mouth came nearer hers. "If it were up to me I'd tell you you were beautiful every day." The words came out a whisper and Claire sensed they were sincere. His lips brushed hers, just barely, sending a wave of pleasurable shock through her.

Claire wanted.

Oh, how she wanted with every molecule of her being. She wanted him to pull away the blankets between them, undress her slowly, and make love to her. She wanted to know what his bare chest was like under her fingers and tongue. How would his thighs feel pushing her legs wide open? How would his cock feel tunneling deep inside her? She could barely remember the experience.

Oh, now she remembered. Ty. She jerked and stiffened.

Luckily, there were blankets and clothes between them. Luckily, she had all those years of practice locking away her sexuality.

Before he had a chance to do anything more than barely brush her lips, she pushed him back, but with effort. "Wait. Rue would kill you, and I don't mean that figuratively."

Adam leaned in again. "Rue doesn't have jurisdiction here." He jerked. "Or… are you and Rue…"

"No!" She shook her head. "He would never consider me in that way. I mean, he thought of me as a woman, but I was more like his protected ward or magick experiment than anything else. He never saw me sexually and I never thought of him that way either."

He grinned again. "Then I'm not seeing the problem."

"But—"

His mouth caught hers, slid over it. Ah, Houses.

She melted against him, her lips parting of their own accord against the flick of his velvet tongue that promised beauty and pleasure. His teeth gently grasped her lower lip and rasped the sensitive flesh. Much farther down, her sex noticed and reacted, growing warm.

With one kiss he'd awoken her completely. Like the fairy tale her mother used to tell her when she was a child.

Mustering up every ounce of willpower, she pushed at him again. This time she also swung her legs down and bolted from the bed to the middle of the room, away from his devilish mouth and hooded, lust-filled eyes.

"I want to," she gasped, "but this is not a good idea. Rue will—"

"Rue will what?" Adam stood and walked to her, an amused smile playing over his lips. A smile like a man confident in his ability to seduce her. "Anyway, I thought you said I was expendable."

"I lied."

"Rue isn't here, Claire. He's off in another dimension. He could even be dead. Rue isn't going to do anything, but I might."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

He moved close to her and she couldn't make herself dart away. "As far as this being a bad idea, well, honey, you couldn't be more right about that." He grinned and dimples popped out on each cheek. Adam dipped his head and his warm, sweet breath caressed her lips. "I love to be bad."

His mouth dropped to hers once more and he pulled her up against his chest. The heat of him bled through the fabric of her clothes and made her nipples hard. If this continued any longer, she'd be completely lost. She couldn't let that happen.

But then… disaster.

His hand slipped under her shirt and found the small of her back, touching bare skin. His fingers caressed the tense muscles there. And then his other hand slipped up her back to the nape of her neck and cupped it as he tilted her head to the side and deepened their kiss.

Adam Tyrell was a man who could make a woman feel like the most desirable, beautiful person on the planet. Right now, that's how Claire wanted to feel. Facing death, she wanted to celebrate life. She wanted to throw all her concerns to the wind and escape into the sexual oblivion that he offered. Fighting against that powerful escape just dangling in front of her was nearly impossible.

His tongue swiped against hers, sending a jolt through her. Then he settled in to lazily kiss her as his wicked fingers massaged and caressed, dipping lower and lower.