“Two.” He narrowed his gaze and squared his shoulders. When he licked his lips, it pulled my attention. I stared at his delicious mouth, licking my lips in response. We lost ourselves in the heated moment. His expression fell as he closed the gap between us, his mouth seeking mine.
“Three.” Leo Jackson, my crystal-blue-eyed water elemental, hit us both with air, sending us tumbling before we connected. I rolled to my feet and hit him with his primary. I had the stronger call and stole his when he countered, drenching him and plastering his shirt and shorts to his fit frame. His wispy blond curls always in need of a comb bounced around his baby face as he shook his head, sending droplets flying. “Nice.”
“Thank you.” I bowed. My hair fell forward into my face, forcing me to blow it out of my eyes. Again. Stupid hair. I’d contemplated shaving my head Britney style, but my guys liked it long. And, honestly, so did I.
“Dude, what’d I say about calling water inside? The professor is going to lose her shit if she sees this.” Rob Emmett used fire to dry up the mess we’d made. As the leader of the quad squad, he took every opportunity to reprimand us. With his short dark hair and perpetual five-o’clock shadow dusting his square jaw, even darker eyes shadowed by a brooding brow, he definitely gave off the I’m-in-charge vibe despite the fact he rarely dressed the part. He’d ditched the tank top he normally wore, showing off his solid mass of muscles and well-carved, well, everything. My fire elemental ran hot, passionate, and kept me in a continual state of heated need. In fact, all my guys kept me there and made my skin hum in eager anticipation of their touch.
Focus, Reed.
I re-centered and hit Rob with a fireball, snorting when it singed his eyebrows. I did enjoy challenging authority. He gave me a look, daring me to do that again.
So I did.
He caught the fireball and hovered it over his palm, a wicked glimmer darkening his gaze. When he hurled the ball at me, Clay jumped into the line of fire—literally—and intercepted it. Rob called again, conjuring up two more, and sent them flying. Clay caught those as well and juggled the three balls. I kept trying to take one, but he sent the balls dancing high above my head. It sucked that I was so much shorter than any of them.
Well, fine. I lured the fireballs with my own fire call. They obeyed and came to me, dancing eagerly. I snuffed them out and blew on my knuckles. “I win.”
“That’s cheating.” Clay pouted, though not convincingly. Frankly, I was surprised he’d made an appearance at this week’s sparring session. He tended to disappear when we had work to do, like train. But when he did show up, he was all in and kept me laughing as he stole my heart every time he captured me in that emerald gaze.
“I thought we all agreed to use air during our sparring.” Bryan grabbed a towel off the rack and wiped his face before draping it over his magnificent shoulders. Of course, he’d point out a rule we broke. As one of only a handful of Gundersons that hadn’t gone dark, he followed every rule to the letter so as not to be marked. He carried that philosophy over to his element. The nature lover of the group—naturally, considering his primary—he was the first to lecture us on keeping the universe in balance. He definitely kept me balanced, grounded, when I lost my way. Bryan was my rock. “It’s the one element we all share.”
“You know I don’t like being around fire,” Leo added, keeping his distance. Ever since nearly dying last year when the darkest of dark elementals set him on fire, he went out of his way to avoid the element. Getting hit by a rogue fireball would not be good for a water elemental.
I walked over and kissed his cheek. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay, babe.” He held me in his endless blue gaze, calming me. He had that effect on everyone.
“Element up, you big baby.”
Everyone, that was, but Rob.
His insult earned him a glare. As opposites, Leo and Rob butted heads as much as Clay and Bryan. It was understandable. Fire and water went together about as well as earth and air. Rob ran hot—in every sense of the word—and had a short fuse. He loved to egg on the others in the hopes they’d challenge him right back. I always took the bait. Our battles started innocent enough, but when we really got going, we usually ended up losing all control and wrapped in each other’s arms, which was why I always challenged him. He, in turn, always let me win.
Multiple wins, if you catch my drift.
Leo shook his head and turned away, taking the path of least resistance, just like his element. “I thought we were working on air today.”
Did I mention he always stated the obvious and seemed genuinely surprised when we laughed?
Rob’s phone buzzed. He checked the screen and groaned. “Fun’s over, boys. We got an extraction in Portland.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed me, poking me with his whiskers and curling my toes. He was slippery with sweat, and I drew in a deep breath, loving his heady scent. “Sorry, Reed. Duty calls.”
“You’d think we’d at least get the summer off.” Clay wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm before doing the head flip to send his hair off his face. “We did save the world.”
“We didn’t,” Bryan fired back and dabbed at the sweat that’d collected on his strong brow. “Katy did when she fulfilled the prophecy. The elemental world as we knew it definitely ceased to exist.”
“I say good riddance.” Clay grabbed waters and tossed
