Flare of Promise (Asylums for Magical Threats #3) (11 page)

He waited to see what Leyna would do. He more than expected her to bat away his hand and punch him in the groin. Yet with each stroke of his finger, she leaned a fraction more toward him.

Leyna murmured, “Attraction means trouble.”

“Perhaps.” He moved his finger a little more until it made contact with her taut nipple. “But can I tell you a secret?”

Holding his breath, Will waited for Leyna’s response. How she reacted to his current actions would determine if he had any sort of chance with her or not.

Leyna cleared her throat, but didn’t move away. “What? That you’ve turned into an exhibitionist?”

He let out his breath and chuckled. “What would you say if I had?”

Leyna tilted her head. “Then I’d say there’s no way in hell I’m allowing it to happen here. Millie would never let me live it down.”

Strumming her nipple, he answered, “While intriguing, it’s not what I was going to say.”

She sighed. “Will, we’re not going to die. The operation is pretty standard and we have the element of surprise. Don’t say things just because you want to clean your slate. You might regret it afterward.”

He stilled his fingers and met her eyes. “The only regret I have is not telling you every day we were together how much I loved you. And I have another secret.”

Her voice cracked as she asked, “What?”

His heart beat double-time, but this might be the only chance he had to speak the truth before he talked himself out of it. “I still do.”

She shook her head. “I call bullshit. You clearly hated me when we reunited yesterday. Don’t deny it.”

He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, to ensure Leyna couldn’t look away. He growled out, “Did you ever think it wasn’t because of my hatred of you but rather toward myself? For years, I imagined what it must’ve been like for you, alone on that fateful night, being burned alive. If only I hadn’t put my work above the love of my life and best friend, I might still have her. Seeing you was like seeing a ghost, and at first, I was angry, but mostly because of lost time. The two years between losing you and finding you were the two longest and loneliest years of my life.”

Leyna searched his eyes and he wished he had the ability to read minds.
 

Finally, her eyes turned wet and he’d bet his life it was the first time Leyna had shown even a flicker of true emotions in months if not years. He gently pushed, “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

He could barely hear her when she answered, “I can’t. It will risk your life, Will.”

He cupped her cheek. “I can take care of myself. Besides, if I’m injured, I can just heal myself and continue to fight at your side.”

She gave a weak smile. “So now you’re happy about your magical abilities?”

He laid his forehead against hers. “If it ensures a second chance with you, Leyna, then I will proudly show it to the world if you let me kiss you right now.”

“But the others.”

He raised his brows. “Now you’re going to be shy?” He smiled. “How about you just go along with my exhibitionist desires?”

She snorted. “I’m afraid to do that. It’ll bite me in the ass later on.”

He moved his hand to the side of her neck. “Woman, I’ve waited two years for this chance. And I’m tired of waiting.”

Before Leyna could reply, he kissed her.

She could’ve pushed him away, but instead, she parted her lips in invitation. Slipping his tongue inside, he groaned at her taste. He would never get enough of it.

Someone whistled in the background, but he ignored it and took the kiss deeper. Each stroke or flick of his tongue was another claim on his woman.

Despite the mountain of issues still between them, Leyna Grunwald was his once more. No matter what happened, he would be there for her when she needed him and he was never going to let her go again. Life had given him a second chance. Will wasn’t about to take it for granted.

~~~

Petra could barely think as Will stroked and licked as he tried to dominate her mouth. She fought back, meeting and tangling with his tongue. While their kiss back in the shady hotel had been good, this one was mind-blowing. Will wasn’t just kissing her, he was claiming her.

And she was determined to claim him back. She wanted to keep her sexy warrior scientist and learn everything about him all over again.

Hell, together, they might even achieve her dream of normalcy and safety. Will was the only one who might be able to bridge her old life and new.

Threading her fingers through his hair, she dug in her nails. Will’s groan sent a rush through her body that ended between her thighs.

Someone cheered, but Petra didn’t care. After so many years of loneliness and surviving on her old memories, she wanted to make new ones. Who knew when a chance like this one would crop up again.

Yet as Will maneuvered her onto his lap, something niggled at the back of her mind about why she needed to stop. Then he grabbed her ass and pressed her against his erection, and she forgot about everything but the hardness of his cock pressing against her.

Everything about William Evans just felt...right. How she’d convinced herself she’d be better off without him, she had no idea.

All Petra knew is that she wanted to give him a chance.

Someone poked her back and yelled, “We’re getting close. Save it for later, Petra.”

Millie.
 

With a growl, Petra broke the kiss and glared at the other woman. “Mind your own business, Ward.”

Millie placed her hands on her hips. “No. Friends don’t let friends have sex in a crowded helicopter. Especially when my brother just happens to be here too.” Millie leaned down and whispered loudly, “But I can help you get some later. I have plans and connections. Your own private lovefest will be worth waiting for.”

It took a second for Petra to absorb that Millie called her a friend.

Luckily, Will answered so she didn’t have to. “How much time do we have?”

Leave it to Will to regain his head and focus on the details. That aspect of his personality hadn’t changed.

Millie answered, “Five minutes. Enough time for you to think of grannies and get rid of your hard-on.”

Petra narrowed her eyes. “Don’t think of his erection.”

Will sighed. “Could we not discuss my cock in front of company?”

Millie pretended he hadn’t spoken. “Then don’t dry hump him. Any straight guy, regardless of the woman on his lap, will react to a little friction.”

Will growled out, “She’s not just any woman.”

Millie shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat. Just get ahold of yourself.”

She walked away and Petra looked to Will again. Smoothing his frown, she murmured, “Forget about her. If I’m honest, we should be thanking her.”

Will’s gaze shot to hers. “Why? Do you have regrets?”

“I mentioned nothing about regrets.”

“But do you?” he asked softly.

Petra paused as she stroked the whiskers of his cheek. If there was ever a time to close off her heart and back away, there was no time like the present.

However, the thought of losing Will a second time twisted her heart. Kissing him had released a flood of emotions and memories that she didn’t want to wall back up.

Petra wanted a future with Will Evans.

She finally murmured, “No. But I’m concerned about you focusing once we step off this helicopter.”

He smiled and lightly slapped her hip. “Keeping me on the helicopter will drive me crazy. The second my feet touch the ground, I’ll be ready.” She raised her eyebrows. “Just maybe don’t bend over in front of me, if you can help it.”

Petra snorted. “At least you’re honest.”

Will gripped the back of her neck. “From here on out, we both need to be honest for this to work. There are still mountains of secrets and two whole years of separate lives between us. We can’t afford to add more to the pile.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of only telling the truth. Keeping secrets was the reason she was still alive.

Yet as she stared into Will’s brown eyes, no deceit lurked there. Only open anticipation and longing.

Nodding, she leaned down to his ear and whispered, “I agree if you agree. But I also have one more promise to extract from you.”

She felt the rumbling in his chest as he asked, “What?”

“I want you to stop loathing your gift and keep an open mind.”

Placing his fingers on her cheek, he steered her head toward him until he could see her eyes. “I’ve despised magic for so long that it’s going to take some time.”

“I can live with that.”

He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Then I’ll try. Any last pointers before we land?”

She frowned. “Don’t get yourself killed.”

With a snort, he finally released his grip on her and Petra moved back to her seat. She expected Kiarra, Jaxton, and Millie to be studying their nails or looking the other way. Instead, Kiarra and Millie were smiling at them; even one corner of Jaxton’s mouth was turned up. Petra narrowed her eyes. “What?”

Jaxton shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s go over the plan one more time. Are you two ready?”

Will took her hand in his and nodded. “Ready.”

Jaxton leaned forward. “Right, then here’s what we’re going to do.”

As Petra listened to Jaxton’s voice, she swore a flare of heat shot up her arm from Will’s hand. A quick glance revealed a faint green light emanating from Will and dancing along her arm. The light didn’t hurt; it was just a warm tickle.

Since it looked as if she was going to be working with Millie’s crazy boss and family, Petra would need to dig into the
Feiru
legends and see what she could find. There was so much unknown about latent abilities and she would do anything to make sure Will didn’t accidentally hurt himself or others. Because even though he healed, sometimes magic worked in strange ways. She needed to protect not only herself, but also her man and newish-friend, Millie Ward.

Chapter Nine

Per the plan, Will remained in the middle of their little rescue party as they made slow progress through the trees and undergrowth of the forest. While he had a couple of years of self-defense training under his belt, he’d never actually had to use it in the field like they would be during this rescue. And that made him a slight liability.

One he hoped to rectify in the coming months. Will was damned if he’d let Leyna try to solve the issue of her brother and the drug lord on her own. Especially since they had no idea if Millie or anyone else working with her would help Leyna with that little problem. He might be able to call in his favor from earlier with Millie Ward, but there were no guarantees.

And no matter the cost, Will wanted to make sure Leyna was free to live her life as she wanted. Admitting he still loved her was a huge step, but it was the truth. He could never get back the two years they’d spent apart, but he was going to try his damnedest to make up for lost time.

Well, once they finished the mission.

Jaxton raised his arm and gave the signal to stop. Will listened intently, but he couldn’t make out anything special apart from the wind rustling in the trees. They were in the Outlying Islands of Hong Kong and this particular one was the least inhabited. A few of Will’s colleagues from the Hong Kong research facility had spent some of their holidays and weekends in the more rural Islands District, but he was pretty sure the island under his feet was privately owned.

It was a strange choice for where to stash away and imprison the magic user. Will would’ve expected the researchers to keep E-1655 high above the ground to protect themselves. While no one knew exactly how far away from the earth a magic user could still move it, distance was always used as a precaution.

Maybe when he started the next chapter of his life with Neena’s group, Will could do some tests to better understand the range of elemental abilities. If he believed the legends and a disaster was coming, knowledge could help the Talents and their army.

Trying not to think about how much his world had changed in the last few days, Will waited for Jaxton’s order.

Jaxton finally motioned forward and they continued silently making their way through the forest. The light was growing faint and Will could barely see.

When he bumped into Kiarra’s back, he murmured an apology. She pointed up. He followed her finger and his jaw dropped.

High above them was a large rectangular box hanging in place by wires attached to the top and bottom of the container. The wires ran from the edges of the rectangle to the poles stationed every few feet around the structure. Each pole was topped with faint glowing orbs. Scanning what he could in the dim light, his eyes landed on a raised drawbridge-type structure secured between two of the poles with wire.
 

If that wasn’t enough, another platform stood about halfway between the structure and the ground. Judging by the faint light shining through several jagged holes, the elemental earth user had been taken off the drugs long enough to use her abilities there.

Even though Will had previously had high security clearance at the Hong Kong facility, he had never known of the structure’s existence. He wondered if it was new. If so, they had built it bloody quickly.

Petra was right behind him, and she tugged his shirt until he retreated. Their party continued back the way they had come for ten minutes before Jaxton spoke up again. “We should be beyond their range for any microphones or sensors here. While Neena had mentioned the structure being unique, she never said it was dangling in the bloody sky. We need to alter our plan.”

Will frowned. “To what? If we had an elemental wind user, or even an earth user, it would be easier.”

Kiarra answered, “We’ll have one once we rescue the woman. For now, I say we draw out whoever is inside the structure. If I create a flame on the underside and warm up the floor, they should evacuate.”

Petra jumped in. “And what if they leave her inside? I’m pretty sure your boss doesn’t want a barbecued Talent.”

Kiarra waved a hand. “I can lessen the heat of the flames with Jaxton’s help. More often than not, the illusion is enough to scare away the enemy.”