Page 294 of House Ignis

My magic had been so much more potent, so much more alive since he’d returned.

The familiar flare that usually followed heavy magic use hadn't reared its head yet, though the secret of it sat heavy in my gut.

I still hadn't told Asher about the toll my magic took on my body—but that was tomorrow’s problem. Right now, I wanted to be hunted.

I grinned wickedly into the twilight, but then something cold and slick snagged at my ankle.

My gaze snapped down to see a shadow tendril coiled around my leg, caressing my flames with an ethereal touch.

“Gods, they love your magic,” he whispered.

The shadows continued their slow, agonizing crawl up my legs, licking at the fire dancing on my skin.

I moaned out loud, the sound unbidden and raw.

A few passing students stopped to gape, but I didn't give a flying fuck. Their stares only turned me on more, fueling the exhibitionist streak that Asher always managed to set ablaze.

“Mine,” his pleasure poured through the bond in a thick, intoxicating wave. He was getting off somewhere nearby, watching me unravel from the shadows.

I didn't wait for him to reveal himself.

I followed the tether, my feet pounding against the gravel paths of the gardens.

"Warmer," he purred into my mind. I could feel the friction of his own touch through the bond—he was getting himself off, and the sensation was bleeding into my own nerves. I needed him inside me, right fucking now.

"Ah," he moaned, the sound vibrating through our mental link.

I literally whimpered at the sound, my knees buckling for a split second.

"Hotter," he groaned again, and I could feel his heart beating as fast as mine. Then, the sensation vanished, the tether stretching thin.

"Hmmm, colder," he murmured.

"You're teasing me," I whispered back, my voice thick with a mix of frustration and hunger.

"But you love the chase," he chuckled.

I did. Gods, I fucking did.

I reveled in this dark side of myself, a side I never even knew existed before him. Jeremy would have tried to control this, to contain the fire and the shadow, but Asher? He wanted to see it.

He wanted me to delve into the depths of it and bring it out into the world.

He loved every single jagged part of me, just as I loved his.

I followed the bond toward the outskirts of the academy grounds. "Warmer."

I smiled, finally knowing exactly where he was. Our place. The moonlit baths.

I followed the hidden path, the air growing thick with the scent of sulfur and minerals.

As I stepped into the clearing, the heat spiked.

"Hot, hot, hot," he purred.

There he was. Steam curled from the surface of the baths—the Academy mages made them hotter as the winter chill set in, creating a hazy, ethereal world of white mist.

Asher stood near the edge, his body sculpted to absolute perfection. His back was toward me as he swept the water from his dark hair, the muscles of his shoulders rippling with the movement.