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Alma rolled her eyes. “In case you don’t recall, I didn’t meet you willingly.” She fastened the other earring and looked at Finn; he had taken the same approach she had—fitted jeans, a pair of comfortable but well-maintained shoes, and a button-down shirt in a deep red that contrasted his bright eyes. “That’s a subtle piece of psychology,” she said, pointing to his shirt, “matching your clothes to Dolores’s hair.” She gave him a smirk, throwing a lip color into her purse along with her powder compact. She hadn’t gone overboard with the makeup, just enough to enhance her bone structure and give her eyes depth—certainly not what she would wear the next night to go out.
Finn rolled his eyes at her. “Let’s hit the road. You don’t want to be late to meet your mate, do you?”
Alma scowled at the sarcasm in Finn’s voice. “I am NOT meeting my mate. I’m meeting…a very interesting and charming elemental who I might want to have sex with sometime.”
Finn snorted at her characterization, gesturing for Alma to precede him down the stairs. She had chosen a soft, slightly floral perfume; an old-fashioned scent she had long ago decided was perfect for such occasions.
Dylan was waiting downstairs, dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, and he echoed his brother’s commendation. “Just so you know,” he told her with a grin, “if Alex is too much of an idiot to sweep you off your feet, it won’t take much to convince me.”
Alma blushed slightly, biting her bottom lip. “I will keep that in mind,” she said, giving him a flirty smile.
Finn brushed past her, making every inch of her skin feel electrified, heading for the door.
“Come on, guys. We’re going to be late.”
Alma’s anxiety mounted as they arrived at the café where she and Finn planned to meet Dolores and Alex. She felt her hands shaking, echoing the vibration she felt moving through her bones—an intensely electric feeling she knew was the power working its way through her, changing her. She fidgeted in the passenger seat, wondering how she had somehow been convinced to let Finn drive. As she shifted around, feeling an almost itching sensation, she thought it was for the best. Dylan followed behind in the car he and Finn had bought during the time they were staying with her. Dylan intended to hang out and wait for the meeting to be over, to make sure they were safe. He and Finn had also equipped Alma with one of the contact buttons they each had. Failing that, Dylan’s water-aligned intuition would enable him to track them.
Alma couldn’t imagine Alex and Dolores would go to such an extreme as kidnapping or attacking them in public. It would be bad for elementals as a whole, and they’d face a dire punishment—potentially even death—if they attempted such. She considered that she hadn’t thought she would be abducted, or that one of her clients would have allowed her abductors near her. She understood the need to be cautious, but as power buzzed through her veins and along her nerves, she couldn’t help feeling as though she could handle anything Alex or Dolores could throw at her and Finn. She also couldn’t help entertaining lust-filled thoughts about the man she had been talking to, her mind rejecting the possibility he might attack her. At least, she thought, if he was unsafe—if he had ulterior motives—his air alignment would ensure that he wouldn’t move directly. It would be something sneakier. She reminded herself, charmed as she was by him, she had to remember he well could be her enemy.
In spite of Finn’s moans about the possibility of being late, they were the first to arrive. They took a table. Alma rolled her eyes at Finn’s scoff when the waiter suggested they were there together on a date.
“Just friends, waiting for our dates, actually,” she said, giving the man a bright, charming smile. The lust, coiled tightly inside of her, hadn’t failed to notice the waiter was attractive; tall and lean, with dark eyes and collar length black hair, he visibly warmed to her attention. He took their drink orders and lingered, exchanging pleasantries with Alma until Finn brusquely reminded him there were other tables that needed his attention. Alma shifted and squirmed in her seat, feeling the heat in her body banking and rising, her eyes scanning the crowd of pedestrians beyond the outside terrace for any sign of Alex or Dolores.What if they stand us up?She bit her lip and then checked to make sure she hadn’t marred her makeup. She told herself firmly the two cousins wouldn’t; they were just as interested in meeting as she and Finn were.
Just when Alma’s anxiety was reaching fever pitch, she spotted Dolores’s brilliant red hair and shifted her gaze to find Alex standing next to her, speaking with the hostess. The woman at the desk smiled at the two charming elementals and gestured for them to follow her.
“They’re here,” Alma told Finn, whose back was to the hostess. She fought the urge to stand, sitting on her hands as she impatiently waited for them to make their way to the table. Words were pressing at the front of her mind, crowding her lips, and she took a deep breath to push down the excitement she felt. As they approached the table, Alma noticed Alex was even more attractive than his pictures; his dark hair was mussed, his bright eyes a deeper, almost blueberry shade, and a ready smile curving his lips. He wore a pair of jeans that looked as though they had seen better days and barely clung to his lean hips, giving Alma the impression she could easily pull them off of him. With the jeans he wore a black T-shirt with text she couldn’t quite read, too distracted in her gaze to focus. Over the tee, he wore a red jacket with a gray scarf topping it off. A deep tingle swept through her at the sight of him, and blood rushed to her face when his gaze fell on her, his smile deepening.
She stood, more to give herself something to do, an outlet for the excess energy she felt, than a conscious gesture of manners. Alex approached her quickly, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek and give her a friendly hug. He smelled of cloves and something pleasingly woody and green, mingled with a faint cigarette smoke smell that Alma had to admit was alluring. Dolores had been claimed by Finn, who was hugging her tightly, but Alma barely noticed as she and Finn switched; her mind was still full of Alex as she embraced Dolores, pressing her cheek against the other woman’s.
“It’s so good to finally meet you,” Dolores said, her low, sultry voice softened further by her accent. She and Alex took their seats next to their respective dates, and Alma felt her heart fluttering, her throat going dry. Her head was spinning, unable to process what was happening.
“My God, Alma, you should have warned me,” Alex commented lowly, giving Alma a not-quite-lewd look from head to toe. “You must be used to her,” he said to Finn, “after knowing her so long. But I can’t seem to take my eyes off of her.”
Finn nodded absently, looking at Dolores with definite attraction in his eyes, smiling a faintly drunken grin. Alma felt a moment of jealousy at the other woman’s obvious beauty and the way Finn was responding to it—it helped her to get over her momentary shock of absolute attraction to Alex.
“Sure you can take your eyes off me,” she said with a slight drawl. “I wouldn’t want you to strain yourself.”
Alex laughed, and Alma felt the warm glow of his charm once more. The waiter approached and was immediately bowled over by the charged atmosphere; Alma could feel the power inside of her swelling, and the wind around them picked up. She suppressed it, carefully focusing her intentions. She had never been around two powerful air elementals simultaneously—it was like light shining on a deprived plant, the first warm rays of sunlight through snow. She felt the cousins’ energy pushing through the deep block Dylan had put on her to help her get through the power surge. The spell was fading away, eroded by the high energy the two cousins brought with them.
“I’ve been told I should avoid southern girls, you know,” Alex commented after the waiter left, taking their drink orders in a daze. “Dolores’s brother kindly informed me you’re all wild heathens who rip good English boys to shreds.”
Alma laughed, almost gasping as Alex’s hand came to rest on her knee. He didn’t move it upward, which would have immediately alerted Alma, but casually left it where it was, the warmth of his skin sinking into hers.
“We get such a bad reputation. I happen to think it’s good for English boys to court southern girls. You guys need some loosening up.” Dolores was asking Finn about his life, about how he had come to be friends with Alma’s family. Finn, almost visibly responding to the energy around him, his blue eyes flickering with a light Alma both admired and resented, explained their grandmothers knew each other. He was close to admitting he was protection—a bodyguard—when Alma kicked him underneath the table, using the leg that Alex’s hand hadn’t claimed. He came out of his reverie, coughing and saying he and Alma had met as children, and they were roommates out of convenience.
Conversation ebbed and flowed. Alma had to keep a tight grip on her abilities as the lunch progressed; she considered that she should have consulted her grandmother before agreeing to the date. It was clear to her Alex and Dolores were both potent elementals in their own right, radiating charm and playful intelligence, inciting a lively debate about authors and music. Alma felt her power growing in the presence of the two elementals, and it became increasingly difficult to keep her power under control. It bubbled, flowed, and surged through her. In spite of her intense attraction to Alex, she could see the two cousins were probing for information. She maintained the conversation but wondered whether they were gathering intelligence for someone who might have less than friendly intentions towards her. She felt her mind picking up pace, her thoughts gaining speed to a point she almost felt as though she were on a potent stimulant. She asked for another drink to suppress it, almost trembling with the excess of energy she was experiencing.
Dolores was clearly feeding into Finn’s fiery energy, using the powers at her disposal to charm and pique. Alma found herself momentarily distracted time and again, almost resenting Finn’s ready response to the woman. She was torn away from her disgust each time by Alex, with no trace of confusion or irritation.
“You mentioned traveling,” he said, calling her attention back to him. Alma noticed absently that his hand had shifted on her knee, and he was kneading and caressing it slightly—though he kept his touch respectful, not trying to work his way up her thigh. “Where all have you been?”
Alma plunged into a discussion of different parts of the world and found that, while Alex picked up languages quickly, he was not the linguistic savant she was. He praised her ready translations of random phrases into a variety of languages, countering with the handful he knew, and soon they were exchanging flirtatious pleasantries in esoteric languages, Alex’s comments becoming more and more suggestive at each turn.
Alma lost track of time completely. They were enjoying coffee and dessert, Dolores prodding and cajoling Finn into sampling her fruit and zabaglione, when Alma finally had enough presence of mind to realize they had been enjoying each other’s company for more than an hour. “Shit! Finn, we have that appointment we have to get to.”
Finn gave her a confused look, clearly reluctant to end his conversation with Dolores.
“Remember? Dylan was going to meet us at the office?”
