Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (19 page)

But
then, Mara had never gotten mad at him before.  She’d occasionally become
irritated and then promptly apologized as if her brief flash of temper was a
lapse in manners.  But this woman was flat out furious and ready to battle him
to the death over a song.

To
his eternal shame, he found that incredibly arousing.

“What
do you want from me?”  He got out, hating himself for desiring her so much.  The
first time he’d touched her in the Smoke Phase jail, his body had screamed for
her.  Last night in the darkness, he’d been hypnotized by the feel of her hand
in his.  But, this was in the bright light of day and still wanted her.

If
fact, he wanted her even more.

She
glared up at him, her amazing eyes glowing.  Not a polite
‘I’d-rather-be-in-the-Light-Kingdom-but-I-have-to-make-the-best-of-this’ smile
or a look of well-mannered interest as they discussed pleasant topics over dinner. 
All the aloofness was gone, burned away and replaced with life.  This woman was
really
pissed off and scowling at him as if she wanted to punch him in
the stomach.

Chason’s
body leapt to attention as she jabbed a finger at his chest.

“What
do I
want
from you?” Genuine passion roiled under her normally serene
surface, flushing her cheeks.  “I want the same thing I’ve wanted for the past
sixty some years. 
I want you to be my fucking Match!
  If you find that
it’s just too tough a job for you –If you’d prefer to pine for the perfect,
enshrined, dead me--
fine
.”  She gestured towards the fortress.  “Go sit
in our dirty, decimated home and sulk because my survival has screwed-up your
plans to make it even
more
dirty and decimated.”

She
had never been more stunning than she was in that moment.  Like someone had
taken Mara and lit her up from the inside.  She looked so alive.  So vibrant
and bright.  And all of it was aimed at him.

She
looked
“real.”

And
she’d called the Magnet Fortress “
our
home.”  His emotions were still in
turmoil, but that alone calmed him.

Chason
stepped even closer to her, his blood thickening in his veins.  “You’re swearing
at me.”  He pointed out.

“No
shit, I’m swearing at you.”  She glowered up at him, standing her ground.  “I
was raised by Kahn, of the Light House.  You have no
idea
the words I
know.  And if I’m not Mara, anymore, then I don’t
need
to be a proper
Magnet House queen, do I?  I can say and do whatever the hell I want!”

What
did
that
mean?  “You could always say and do whatever you wanted.”  Who
would dare to try and stop her?

His
words seemed to make her even angrier.  “Could I, Chason?  Really?  Because it
seems to me that all I was
ever
supposed to do was be perfect.  The
perfect Match to the perfect officer and king.  And I’m not perfect.  And I’m
tired of pretending.”

Now
they were getting somewhere.  “Alright.”

“Alright
what?”

“Alright,
so stop pretending!”  All that he wanted was for the woman to drop this act and
stop being so much like his Match.  “The other Chason –the officer and king--
is dead.”  He’d never even existed, in the first place.  No matter how hard
Chason tried, he’d never been perfect, either.  “All that’s left is this
shell.”

“Well,
the Mara who would’ve
put
up with
you being a shell is dead,
too
.
 I don’t care how pretty that epitaph is or if you let me sleep in your bed, I
won’t tolerate this kind of attitude from
any
you.  You and I are in
this for the long haul, so you might as well get used to it.  Either that or
just renounce me.”

This
time when she went to jab his chest, Chason was ready.  He grabbed hold of her
wrist and yanked her forward.  She gave a surprise gasp as he pinned her hand
behind her back and pulled her up against his body.  She automatically tried to
jerk free, but he didn’t release her.

“What
are you doing?”  She gaped up at him, breathing hard.

The
old Chason would have loosened his grip and apologized.  Hell, the old Chason never
would have treated her like this, at all.  The new Chason kept her wrist
shackled in his grip.  “Do you really think I’d let you go?”

“A
gentleman would.”  She blurted out as if she really thought he might have
forgotten.

“Do
I look like a fucking gentleman?”  His arousal was pushing against her and he
didn’t care.  In fact, he liked it.

“No.” 
It was a breathless whisper.  “You look like Chason.”

He
leaned down, so his face was inches from hers.  “And
Chason
is
completely insane, with obsessive tendencies and shit load of time on his hands.
 Which means there is
nowhere
you could go that I wouldn’t find you. 
For better or worse, yeah… we’re stuck with each other, princess.”

It
took him a moment to realize she wasn’t struggling against his hold.  Mara
would have.  She never would have allowed him to manhandle her like this.  She
would have been horrified if he touched her with anything more than apologetic
courtesy.

This
woman just stared at him wide eyed.  “You want me even though you don’t think
I’m your Match?”

“Yes.”

Her
body relaxed, somehow shifting tighter against his.  “Because, I look like Mara?”

“Because…
I need you.”

She
gave beautiful smile and Chason lost the capacity for thought.

“I
need you, too.”  She whispered.  Her slid her free hand up the back of his neck
and dragged his mouth down to hers.

And
Chason’s mind went blank.

She
tasted familiar and yet different.  The feminine sweetness of his Match mixed
with a new wellspring of power.  The combination was like nothing he’d ever
felt before.  Light and heat and connection.  It was like Phazing energy only deeper.

Better.

The
woman felt it, too.  She gave a low moan and went up on tiptoe, her lips
parting beneath his.  The top of Chason’s head nearly blew off at her
responsiveness.  She was kissing him
back
.  That was all it took to send
him over the edge.  His mouth plundered, taking without asking further
permission.  He needed all of her.

Now
.

Chason
let go of her wrist, so he could tug at her clothes.  He was being too rough
and she didn’t seem to mind.  Her lips never left his, even as he peeled off
her coat.  That wasn’t the way to behave with a lady.  In some distant part of
himself, he knew that, but he didn’t stop.  He couldn’t.  He was on fire for
this woman.

There
was freedom in their passion that he’d never felt before. 
This
is what
he’d fantasized about in cold showers ever since he met Mara.  Taking her, with
no thought to what was appropriate.  Just possessing her perfect body and making
her respond just as wildly.  Making her beg.

The
kiss wasn’t practiced or neat.  Any genteel Magnet Phase would have been
appalled at the chaos of it.  Chason had always managed the strength to fight
against his deviant urges with Mara, so she wouldn’t see how much he wanted to
take her.  Not “Phaze with” or “make love to.”  He’d always wanted to
take
the Queen of the Magnetland in every goddamn position there was; hard and dirty
and without restraint.

It
had always been a secret shame of his.  A Magnet House lady endured a man’s
touch because it was her duty.  His responsibility was to make everything as quick,
respectful and hygienic as possible.  Everyone said so.  What kind of man would
even
think
of doing the things he imagined in his bed at night?

Not
a man Mara would have wanted.

But
this woman was a Magnet Phase and her freed arm wrapped around his neck,
arching against him like she wanted to crawl right through his body.  Chason’s
hair became disheveled as she threaded her fingers through it and he let out a
growl of pure lust.  One of her shoes fell free as he lifted her off the ground.
 All he could think of was having her right there on the ground, in an
explosion of tangled limbs and warm flesh.

Chason’s
Magnet powers howled for release.  His energy wanted to connect with hers,
straining the bounds of his control.  Everything beyond this woman ceased to
exist.  It was just her and the throbbing jumbled heat of their passion.  His
tongue dueled with hers, his arms supporting all her supple undulating weight. 
He’d
never
felt anything this good.

…Not
even with Mara.

The
thought was like being plunged into ice water.

Chason
jerked back.  Oh Gaia, what was he
doing?

He’d
never kissed anyone but Mara.  Not ever.  Chason
belonged
to Mara.  He
always had, even before he met her.  His Match was
everything
to him. 
This woman wasn’t Mara and he
knew
that and he’d still kissed her.  Touched
her.  What was wrong with him that he’d let himself be taken in by her lies?

That
he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted his own Match?

He
dropped the woman, scrabbling away from her.

She
stumbled back from him, her clothes in a tempting disarray.  “Chason…”

“No. 
No.  No.  No. 
No
.”  His vision swam and he pressed the heels of his
hands against his eyes.  “Oh
fuck
.”

“Chason,
it’s alright…”

“
No,
it’s not!
  You’re
not
Mara!”

“Who
am I, then?”  She demanded, panting for breath.  “Who am I, if I’m not her?!” 
Black eyes flashed with a different kind of passion, now.  “
Who am I,
Chason?
”

“I
don’t know, but you’re
not
my Match!  Kissing you is…”
more
. 
Chason stopped short, unwilling to say the damning word out loud.  He glared
over at the woman, blaming her for making him feel this way.  “Your energy is
not
the same.”

“My
energy’s the same.”  She crouched down to gather up her coat and lost shoe.  “
Yours
is different.”

He
didn’t believe that.

Like
most Phases, Chason had seen his powers grow since the Fall.  With fewer Phases
to share the Elements, all the survivors got stronger.  That combined with his
spiraling madness
had
increased his Magnet energy.  He’d had to practice
far more control since he went nuts.  It took concentration to keep his powers
contained and that build up his sensitivity towards them.

That
wouldn’t
change
his energy, though.

Chason
knew that he and Mara hadn’t had a conventional Match.  They’d Phazed and he’d
felt their energies combine, but it had never been… enough.  Their powers
should have formed one perfect whole, but there had always been some small
piece that didn’t quite come together.

He’d
accepted that.

But,
the small separation between him and Mara was nothing compared to the gulf he
felt, now.  If this woman was Mara, they shouldn’t have any jagged edges were
their energies didn’t meet properly.  There shouldn’t be a distance.  The only
logical, rational,
sane
explanation was this woman was an imposter.

“The
difference in our powers isn’t coming from me.”  He said with absolute
certainty.  “Maybe my energy grew, but that wouldn’t alter a Phazing.  If
anything, I’d feel
more
, not less.  Right now, all I feel now is you
holding back.”

She
paused for a small telling moment before busying herself by putting her shoe
on.  “Holding back?”

In
that second, she looked more like his Match than she ever had.  There had been
a mysterious part of Mara that he could never touch and he’d fucking
hated
when she slipped behind it.  Now, this woman looked at him with the exact same
tepid, guarded
pleasantness
.  It fell over her face like a mask and her
eyes stopped sparking.

Chason
nearly bellowed in frustration.

His
teeth ground together at the loss and at her deceit.  “Holding
back
.” 
He snarled.  “You know
exactly
what I mean.”

She
clearly wasn’t accustomed to being confronted.  Her eyes narrowed a fraction of
an inch.  “I don’t appreciate the tone.”

“You’re
lying.”

She
yanked her coat back into place, buttoning it with more force than necessary.
“About your tone?  No, I’m really not…”

He
interrupted her.  “You’re fucking
lying
to me.  You’re holding back.”

“Really,
Chason, there’s no call to be rude.”

“Mara
would never have lied.”

“Oh
for God’s sake! 
Everyone
lies!  Even your precious pristine Match.”

“If
you knew Mara…”

This
time she cut him off with a sound of sheer aggravation.  “If I
knew
her?  I a
m
her!  The first time I ever kissed you, I was ninety-two.  We
were over there!”  She pointed towards the side of the fortress with an
emphatic gesture.  “It was the end of my visit here for that year.  The next
time I saw you, it was a month or so later, on our Phazing Day.  And on the
morning I was supposed to leave, I kissed you.  You stopped me, but that was
the
first
time we kissed.”