“Oh, I think that I can.” Rain fell from the sky, dampening the flames enough for Eli to leap over them. He wrapped his arms around Mara, pinning her hands to her sides, and lifted her off the ground, carrying her all the way back to the flagstones just as Farren and Cade came bursting through the door.
“Get your fucking hands off my mate,” Cade growled.
“I just stopped her from leaving the property,” Eli snapped back, though he let go of Mara the moment Cade was close enough to hold her. “She’s not herself.”
“No shit.” Cade kept one arm around Mara’s shoulders and with the other hand, cupped her cheek. “Honey, come back to me. Please.”
Farren stared at Eli, wonder and horror fighting for dominance in her gaze. “Ya’ can call them all. I watched ya’ from the window.”
“Mara? Fight this! Fight for us, for our baby!” Cade moved his hand to her belly, and Mara sucked in a long, shuddering breath before collapsing against him. “Thank fucking God. Say something, honey.”
“The spirit. It’s...here,” she whispered and then passed out.
Chapter Sixteen
Farren
Cade carried Mara back inside, and as soon as the doors closed, Farren whirled on Eli. “What in the feckin’ hell were ya’ doin’? Callin’ all four elements? At once? Do ya’ have a death wish? Or are ya’ just a proper idiot?”
“Pardon me? What did I do? Besides save Mara?”
“Ya’ let loose so much elemental power, ya’ probably lit up the world like a damn beacon! It’s like ya’ weretryin’to bring the Thirteen right to my door.” She took two steps out onto the grass and grimaced. “And ya’ turned the yard into a mud pit.”
Eli’s eyes darkened, and he held out his hand, spreading his fingers until a stiff wind came racing around the trees, and the mud hardened under her feet. “Happy now?”
“I suppose that’s a wee bit better. But that doesn’t get ya’ out of this conversation. Ye’re not alone here, Eli. This is a family, whether ya’ choose to be a part of it or not, and ya’ have to think about the rest of us.”
“That’sallI was thinking about.” He took her by the shoulders and held her still. “If I can control all four elements, maybe I can help Mara. I only had one plan when I came out here. Find some connection with the earth so I could feel like myself again. These blasted marks on my chest started burning and then they started tomove. They’re trying to tell us something, Farren, and if I can’t figure out what it is, I could lose you!”
Lose me?
“Ya’ can’t lose me. I’m yers. How many times do I have to say it?”
She found the answer in his eyes.
One more.
He picked her up, and Farren wrapped her legs around his waist. “Ya’ can’t lose me, Eli. I’m yer mate, whether ya’ accept me or not.”
Her back hit one of the support beams for the patio roof, and she felt his arousal pressing against her mound. She captured his lower lip between her teeth and bit down hard enough he hissed. “Sorry, luv. But ya’ have to know who’s the alpha here.”
“Oh, really?” With only one arm supporting her arse, he had a free hand, and he pinched her nipple with surprising force, enough to make her yelp and send slick heat shooting to her core. “I can give just as good,preciosa.”
“Show me.” She’d take control later. If—or when—they mated. But for now, she could let him have this wee bit of fun.
“Will we...?” He froze, uncertainty in the line of his brows. “This doesn’t seal the mating, does it? Because...shite, Farren. I want this. But forever? You deserve more than a man who couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
She masked the sting by glancing up at the moon. Her wolf could sense it every minute of every day, and she knew instinctually how long she had until she’d have to put physical distance between them. But the gesture allowed her to blink back a tear. “We have time. Almost two days.”
“Outside or in?” He grinned, and fuck. He took her breath away. That square jaw with a hint of stubble, glass green eyes, alight with need, and those lips. Firm. Kissable.
Did she dare? To let this gorgeous man take her under the moon she loved so much? Farren pointed to the center of the expanse of grass.
Eli carried her to the exact spot and sank down to his knees. “What did you call it? Sky clad?”
“Aye. I want to see all of ya’,” she said as she stripped off her dark gray tank to reveal a plain, black bra. She didn’t have time for fancy lingerie. Had never seen a use for it. Under the moonlight, though, she wished she had at least something lacy.
“I’m going to peel those pants off you first.”
