Braving the Elements (Darkness #2)(45)

“You’ve known how to play poker for, literally, forty-eight hours. How would you know about poker face? And what is a pa-zazz face?”

Stefan laughed again. “I’ve been beating you at poker for, literally, the last twenty-four hours,” he mocked. “I like that we upped the stakes. The sexual benefits make it much more fun.”

Being without much money of my own my whole life, I’d always played poker with friends for tokens. Stefan didn’t really get the point of the card game using peanuts, though, so I switched it to strip poker. That got his attention. Then he got the idea to bet sexual favors.

He got really good shortly thereafter. I found myself in some pretty kinky poses with other…paraphernalia that turned out to be quite a lot of fun—for special occasions.

“Beginner?s luck,” I commented sourly. “And that was only one game.”

“Several hands in one game, yes. With lots of breaks for touching. I’m one-for-two. After the end of tonight, I’ll be two-for-three. And pleasured often.”

“Okay, Texas Hold ‘Em, focus for one second. Why can’t I make you bleed?” I got back in my ready stance: hands out, knees slightly bent, balls of my feet.

“I’m the best.”

“And modest to boot.”

He shrugged, waiting patiently for me to try and kill him.

I lunged without warning, jabbing for his heart. He stepped right lazily, flicking my dagger away with his sword, the tattoos on his arms glowing gently.

“You aren’t connecting with your magic. That’s the problem.” He focused on my red blade. “You need to use all your power, not just your safety zone.”

“I don’t want to blow you up, Stefan,” I answered seriously, jogging to a stop three paces beyond him. “Red at least is manageable if something goes wrong. If I use black, who knows, you know?”

His smile dwindled. His black eyes regarded me softly. “We have help coming. They’ll know how to train you. They’ll know what to do.”

What he was too kind to say was, “They’ll know why your magic doesn’t work like everyone else’s.” His hope, and mine, was that they could explain why I was different.

All I wanted was to fit in. But Fate continually wanted me the butt of every joke. We were at war, Fate and me. And guess what, Fate was winning.

And an asshole.

“Okay, more power, coming up.” I breathed deeply, opening to the world around me.

Instantly a gush of power flooded my body, raging and flowing, pushing in to fill up every inch. I sent Stefan a panicked look.

Immediately he was there, through the link between us, using his special ability to smooth it all out. Temper it. Balance it.

Elation tingled as the magic swirled and pooled, stretching my skin, making me high. When he was within me, balancing it all out, God I felt good. Masterful. Freaking fantastic!

“Hee yaw, waaka waaka.” I bounced like a boxer and shook out my limbs. “Feeling good. Feeling really good.”

Stefan nodded slowly, his beautiful onyx eyes twinkling. “It gives the feeling of ecstasy if it's balanced right. The blood link—the tie to me—boosts it tenfold, though. It never felt as good to hold max capacity before we developed the blood link.”

His love for me, pulsing through the link, warmed my insides. I smiled like a fool before reality came crashing down. “It seems like it’s getting worse, though. I give a soft tug on the elements and I get a flood, whereas before, I had to actively pull before the avalanche came down.”

All remnants of a smile vanished. “Starting after puberty, we get stronger the more we work with the elements. It’s a steady climb until we reach maximum potential, which happens in everyone at different times. Maybe it’s similar with you.”

“The more I work with the elements, the more open I am to receive them?” I frowned at him. It kind of made sense. “Except I’m already at full power.”

“You’ve had a rough control over your magic for years without knowing it. You’ve had more than enough time to reach max potential, but maybe now, being more open with the elements, it’ll come easier.”

“But why is it such a struggle to contain it all?” I asked sullenly, punctuating the question by stabbing the air.

Stefan minutely shook his head as he studied my mood. “But you do have a lot of power, and with me to balance it out within you, you are learning control. With some better instruction, and your intuition, you’ll be dynamite.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Dyn-o-mite.”

I got a quirked head in response.

“Never mind. There’s no use in us trying to figure this out. Let’s just hope the guy that’s coming has a clue.”

Stefan dropped his sword and stepped forward so fast I got a nervous flutter he was attacking me. Only, I was still too slow to jab him. He flicked away my dagger and laid a palm on my cheek. “He will. We’ll figure this out, you and me. You aren’t in this alone. I’ve pledged my life to you—I’m in this with you, whatever it turns out to be.”

My eyes misted over with the sentiment. His soft lips brushed mine, the kiss slow and ardent. Expressing his love. Speeding up my heart.

I slid my hand down his defined chest and let it rest on his bumpy abs. “I can’t figure out control over my magic, but I can figure out how to poke things, so I guess I’ll get good at that until these mysterious helpers roll through.”