Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (31 page)

Mara
moaned, dazzled by the passion he’d unleashed.  She’d tried everything she
could think of to ignite their love life and make it –well-- better.  Less tidy
and more fun.  She’d thought it was just her who wanted a level of informality
that they never quite reached.  Something a little… dirtier.  Clearly, she’d
been wrong.  Chason’s hand tangled in her hair, holding her still as he took
without asking.  It was messy and scorching and perfectly imperfect.

A
second later they were jumping out of the Cold Kingdom.

Man is always more or less at the
mercy of nature and the elements

Kenneth Grahame- “Of Smoking”

Sullivan
Pryce lived in a cardboard box.

At
least, he might as well have, given the security of his home.

The
windows were at ground level, with no bars or spikes to protect against
invasion.  The residences on either side were close enough to easily act as
staging points for a siege.  Palm trees grew close beside the roofline, so
anyone could set them on fire and engulf Sullivan’s bungalow, too.  Or, hell,
they could just set the bungalow on fire to begin with, since there was no moat
to stop them.

Teja,
of the Fire and Cold Houses looked at Sullivan’s orderly house, neatly outlined
in white twinkle lights, and saw nothing but her Match’s certain death.

What
was she doing getting mixed up with this human?  He was a goddamn child.  A
fragile being who was centuries younger than herself and who didn’t even have
the sense not to piss off people who could crush him like a bug.

Crush
him even
easier
than a bug, actually.

Bugs
at least had the instinct to skidder away.  Compared to the Elementals,
Sullivan was like cute little puppy who was about to be smashed with a hammer and
was too dim to even notice.

He
refused to stop being a police officer.  He kept arresting the Phases Teja sent
to watch over him.  He was deliberately inciting her family.  It was like he
was
trying
to die horribly.

And
yet this stubborn, frustrating, too handsome human was her Match.

Teja
had known it from the first moment she saw him.

He
was her responsibility, whether or not either of them liked it.  Teja had to
look after him, because their paths were linked.  The Fire House believed in
destiny and Sullivan Pryce was hers.  So, there was really only one thing a
caring Match could do when faced with Sullivan’s suicidal tendencies.

Well,
really, there were
two
.

She
could
lock him up until he saw reason.  Dungeons were always a reliable
problem solver for Fire Phases.  But then she’d have to deal with Sullivan
every day, for feedings and whatnot, and that just seemed like a bad idea. 
Teja didn’t want to get close to the human.  She didn’t want to grow attached
to him.

The
Fall had taught her that growing attached just led to pain.

But
biology itself wouldn’t let her just walk away from Sullivan, either.  All her
instincts screamed that she needed to be with him.  Ignoring him wasn’t working
and he was determined to get himself killed.  So,
fine
.

Time
for option B.

Teja
stalked up the walkway of Sullivan’s house and rang the bell.  Jesus, there was
a
glass window
in the door.  She looked up at the porch’s ceiling and
prayed for patience.  Why didn’t he just invite serial killers in for cake?  They
needed to have a
very
serious discussion about security here.

She
leaned against the doorbell in aggravation, so it chimed in an annoying loop of
sound.

“
Alright
.” 
Sullivan shouted from inside.  “Hold on, I’m coming.”  His eyes narrowed when
he spotted her through the glass partition.  “Teja.”  He wrenched the
(unlocked) door open.  “Finally decided to show up and face me, huh?”

For
a moment, Teja just stared at him and wondered why in the world she’d been
given this man as her Match.  Damn it, he was just stunningly,
stunningly
beautiful.  Especially the warrior’s mark on his cheek.  It took a lot for an
Elemental to scar, so they were always an exotic turn on.  How did he get it? 
It must have been a glorious battle.

Sullivan
tilted his face to the side, so his scarred cheek wasn’t as visible.  He seemed
annoyed and uncomfortable with her attention, which was probably to be
expected.  A guy who looked like Sullivan was no doubt sick of women ogling
him.

Teja
cleared her throat.  “Of course I showed up.  You’ve abducted my nephew.  And
not in a fun way.  You did it just to piss me off.”  Fire Phases enjoyed a good
kidnapping, but Sullivan was taking it too far.

“I
arrested Alder because he’s stalking me.”  Sullivan shot back.  “And I know
you’re the one who sent him here, so don’t bother to deny it.”

“I
sent him.”  Teja agreed.

“Why?” 
Sullivan demanded.  “What do you want from me?”

Teja
sighed.  Letting him go free would be the right thing to do.  Too bad for
Sullivan, Fire Phases were genetically incapable of acting selfless.

“I
think we should have sex.”  She told him instead.  “Right now.”

Sullivan’s
jaw dropped.  “
What?
”

“Sex.” 
Teja could’ve explained all about Phazing, but he wouldn’t understand it
anyway.  Better just to put the basic idea in his language.  “It’s the only
logical way to deal with this.”

After
they Phazed, maybe she’d have some peace and quiet at home.  Sullivan would
belong to her under Elemental law and sex was undoubtedly how humans got “married,”
so he couldn’t escape her under that set of customs, either.  The other Fire
Phases would relax about Teja somehow letting him get away and Sullivan would
have
to accept her family’s protection.  Phazing would solve everything and also be…
pleasant.

All
in all, it was perfect plan, even by Teja’s own high standards.

She
looked at Sullivan expectantly.

Sullivan
stared at her for a long beat.

“Right.” 
He finally said… and stepped back from the door.  “Come in.”

Teja
came as close to feeling triumph as someone with no emotions could.  Sullivan
was resigning himself to the inevitable faster than she’d expected.  That was
good.  She wasn’t in the mood for a lot of human-y reticence, so his easy
capitulation to her orders was a positive sign that their relationship could
work.

Such
a perfect plan.

“We
need to get some stuff cleared up before we go too far, though.”  Teja warned,
marching into his house.  Instantly, she spotted at least five defensive
weaknesses she’d need to rectify.  How had he not been picked off by assassins
long ago?  She’d definitely need to rip out some walls and install a tiger pit.

First
they had to establish the ground rules, though.

She’d
already made up her mind how this Phase-Match would work.  That was part of the
plan, too.  No hearts and flowers.  None of the Fire House’s passion and
sentiment; just the bald, firm facts of life.  Teja didn’t have emotions
anymore and she liked it that way.  She was tapping into her practical Cold
Phase genes and laying out all the rules of the Phase-Match, impassively and
inflexibly.

It
was the only way that Teja could risk Phazing with Sullivan.

“Stuff
to clear up.  Right.”  Sullivan repeated.  “If you’re going to start listing
some kind of weird rituals where we sacrifice to the Mayan gods…”  He trailed
off as Teja started unbuttoning her letterman style cardigan.  “Right.”  He
said, again.  “Sure.  Let’s clear up the stuff.”

“Number
one.”  Teja held up a finger.  “We’re not about emotions.  This is just,” she
made a back and forth gesture between them with her palm, “energy.”

“Chemistry.” 
Sullivan supplied.  “Right.  And possibly hallucinogenics slipped into my
coffee.  And for you, I’m betting some kind of initiation rite.”

“I
didn’t drug you.”  Teja was getting a little sick of his fixation on this cult
idea.  Standing so close to him, the Phazing energy was getting stronger,
though, so she wasn’t about to get sidetracked.  “Just… Do you understand what
I’m saying about the emotions?”

“Yeah.” 
Sullivan nodded, looking baffled.  “I get it.”

Teja
wasn’t sure that he did.  No Match would take news like that so calmly if they
really understood.  “I can’t love anybody.  I can’t love
you
.  I don’t
wanna be close or get involved with anyone.  Not ever again.  I
can’t
. 
So…”  She trailed off because there really was nothing more she could say.

Teja
waited for him to reject her.

She
was going into this broken.  No Match would ever accept half of a bond.  Teja
sure wouldn’t have accepted it if the situations were reversed.  Phazing was
more than just physical.  It bonded two people’s energies together to create
one symbiotic whole.

Without
emotions it was going to be… wrong.

Humans
didn’t have Matches, but that might work in their favor.  Sullivan might be
able to Phaze with
anyone
.  Any one of the dozens of beautiful women
vying for his attention might be able to love him.  Why would he accept what
Teja couldn’t give when he might have a chance to Phaze with a woman who could
provide him with everything he deserved?

“That’s
it?”  Sullivan watched her like he was braced for something more.  “Well, don’t
worry.  I’m not expecting you to propose or anything.”

Teja
frowned.  “What?”  Wasn’t he listening to the plan?  She was
already
proposing something.

“Look,
is there anything else you want to clear up?”  Sullivan asked, sounding
impatient.  His gaze went to the swell of her breasts as she yanked off her
cardigan.  “Because, I’m clear on the fact that you’re just here for sex.  I
promise.”

“You
are?”  Teja hesitated.  “Really?  Because, I’m not going to change my mind.  At
most, I see us as sort of… friends or --I don’t know-- like, people who come
together every once in a while.”  They wouldn’t even have to live together all
the time.  The human would miss his homeland and Teja needed privacy.  “And I
don’t want kids.”

She
held her breath on that one, because not many Matches would go for it.  Since
the Fall, they needed every Elemental they could get.

“Kids?” 
Sullivan echoed.

Teja
nodded.  A Match was bad enough, but she
really
couldn’t take a child. 
Her frozen emotions weren’t enough for a baby.  Hell, they weren’t even enough
for Sullivan and he was going into this willingly.  A child wouldn’t have a
choice.

“Right.” 
Sullivan’s eyebrows drew together as if was running that through a mental
translator.  “You wanna use protection?  Is that what you’re saying?  Sure. 
Obviously.”

Teja
blinked.  “And you’re still…
okay
, with Phazing?  With me?”

“Yeeeaaah.” 
Sullivan drew out the word like he was still waiting for another shoe to drop. 
“Kind of pathetic of me to be so
very
okay with anything that I can get,
but I’m not worried about my reputation.”

“What?”

Had
Sullivan just called Phazing with her pathetic?  That was insulting.  In fact,
his easy acceptance of Teja
not
being able to love him was sort of
insulting, too.  And what was that shit about his reputation?  She had to be
misunderstanding something in that sentence, because there was no missing the
desire on Sullivan’s face was he looked at her.

Communicating
with humans clearly went beyond learning their language.

Sullivan
looked more focused on watching the buttons of her blouse, then on her important
confessions.  “I said, yes.  Absolutely.  If we “Phaze” or whatever you call
it, we’ll use protection.  Very safe.  And then we’ll part as friends, no
questions asked.  Clearly, that’s what you’d want.  I’m not an idiot.”

Sullivan
didn’t want to love her, either.

It
was the only explanation Teja could think of as to why this part of the plan
was going so unnervingly well.  She’d expected him to object.  To argue.  But, Sullivan
wasn’t even upset.  He clearly wanted the exact same arrangement that she did.

Usually,
Phase-Matches fell in love almost instantly.  Teja
couldn’t
because her
emotions were gone and apparently Sullivan didn’t feel anything for her,
either.  At least, beyond the sexual pull.  Maybe it was deliberate on his
part.  Or maybe all humans were like that.  Or maybe his emotions had frozen up
on him, too.  Whatever the reason, it was good news.

Very…
good.

Right.

The
best thing for both of them, really.

He
was lucky she’d found him, though, because any of the
other
Phase women
would have expected him to give them some emotional feedback.  Of course, he
might have been
able
to give more to them.  Maybe it was just
Teja
that he didn’t care about loving.

“Did
you ever try Phazing with any of the
other
Elementals who asked you?” 
She demanded before she could stop herself.

Sullivan
looked confused.  “No.”

Thank
God.  Teja relaxed slightly, even as she mentally cringed.  It was a major
relief that he hadn’t been seduced by any other Phases.  But, she’d been
out-of-line to press him for an answer like that.  It wasn’t any of her
business.  Getting to know each other was a bad idea.  It would just lead to…
intimacy.