AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So…” He carefully controlled his voice, considering she looked ready to banish him to hell. “It’s a different piece of furniture, but it’s part of the matching set.”
Her eyes once again narrowed. “Go on, laugh. I know you want to.”
As he stared at her, he swallowed, his insides quivering, but when he glanced down at the furniture, it was game over. “Forgive me.” He keeled over, bending at the hip and resting his hands on his knees, barking a loud shout of laughter. “I’m not laughing at you.”
She snorted. “You’re laughing with me, right?”
Taking a few deep breaths to send the laughter away, he straightened and instantly grabbed her hand, tugging her toward him. “You can’t blame me. It’s funny, Bryanna.”
“No, it really isn’t!” she snapped against his chest.
Moving a little away from her, he found her avoiding his gaze, so he tucked a finger under her chin. “It’s not you, it’s the items themselves. They are quite original.” The second the words passed through his lips, an idea struck him hard in the chest.
Her gaze became curious, head tilting. “What?”
Had he discovered the answer to fix her? He’d swear he had on the Devil himself. “Conjure more.”
* * * * *
An hour—a very long, treacherous hour—had passed and Bryanna gazed over all the items surrounding her. She had produced everything and anything. From furniture to candles to bath oils and even odd jewelry, which were all things that had nothing to do with the earth element. She turned toward the demon, who continued to grin at her. “Happy?”
“Incredibly.” His gaze drifted over each item in a slow sweep. “I’ve never seen quite so many quirky thingamajigs, as you’ve called them.”
Oh, by the elements, this was mortifying. She couldn’t produce a single leaf, flower or create an earthquake. Instead, she conjured items that were entirely useless—even a damn silk scarf. “We’re done here, right?”
“We’re done.” Dropping down onto the ridiculous high-heeled chair, he patted the cushion and smiled up at her. “It’s very comfortable.”
She rolled her eyes, but at least she didn’t produce something that hurt to sit on. Flopping down on the edge of the chair between his thighs, she grumbled, “Now you know why using my magic is pointless. It gets me nothing.”
“I disagree.” He smacked the heel on the chair and smirked. “I’d say it gets you a chair.”
Before she could help herself, she laughed. She didn’t want to see the amusement in her magic, but his playful expression made her only able to smile with him. “Perhaps my tagline should be—hate flowers? Come to Bryanna and she’ll give you a weird chair.”
He wrapped a hand around her waist and dragged her tight between his thighs. “Perfect slogan.”
“Nonetheless, pointless,” she repeated.
Running his finger down her shoulder, he followed the move with his gaze and the side of his mouth curved. “Must feel nice to use your magic, hmm?”
Nice?
No, that didn’t describe the sensation. Not using her element had been the hardest part of her old life. When she conjured her magic, it was as if her shattered heart had mended. “It felt wonderful.” She hesitated. “No, wait, it was…” It’d been so much more than wonderful, considering she’d conjured magic for an entire hour. “Exhilarating.”
At Zeke’s nod and soft smile, she added, “Maybe I could come back and play with my magic a little. It’s safe enough, I suppose.”
“Bryanna.” He shook his head in clear frustration. “You couldn’t hurt a flower that lay in this field. Stop thinking of yourself as broken.”
She was broken. Not that she’d admit that aloud to him. “I don’t. Really, I’m fine.”
He backed away, giving her a long look. “Stop that too.”
She blinked. “Pardon me?”
“Don’t give me the answer you think I want.” His eyebrow arched. “Tell me the truth.”
She stared at him, totally shocked, since no one had ever said anything like that to her before. Perhaps because no one had ever cared enough to want to hear her opinions or wondered as to how she felt. “Okay, maybe I do think of myself as a little broken.”
The sternness in his eyes faded. “Why?” He continued to trail his finger over her shoulder and down her arm. “Because others have told you so?”
