Page 28 of Elemental Becoming

Thane stands there, breathing heavily, his entire body coiled with frustration. His fists clench at his sides. Then—without a word—he slams the door. Hard.

“Oh, he’s mad.” Rowena’s muffled cackle comes from the other side.

“I genuinely feared for my life,” Garrick mutters.

“Oh, you should,” Thane calls back, his voice deadly.

I snort from under the blanket.

Rowena knocks—again. “Thane, come on. You can’t avoid us forever.”

I finally peek at him from under the blanket.

Thane braces both hands on the door, fingers flexing like he might rip it off the hinges if he so much as breathes.

“Watch me,” he grits out.

From the other side, Rowena snorts.

“You sound mad,” Rowena sing-songs. “I’d say you need to relax, but . . . judging by the situation, you were already working on that.”

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Thane does not share my amusement.

“Rowena,” he growls, voice low, deadly, full of warning.

There’s a shuffle—the sound of boots scuffing against the floor, then Rowena cackling as Garrick drags her away.

Thane exhales sharply, fingers pressing into the door as if sheer force of will is the only thing keeping him from making very bad decisions.

Unable to stop myself, I make an obvious observation. “You look tense, Warlord.”

Thane turns his eyes dark, unreadable for a breath. Then his gaze drops. To my lips. To my throat. To the way my sleeping gown falls off one shoulder . . . evidence of everything that just happened.

And as he moves, the light silhouettes him—I see it. The hard, thick press of him, straining against the confines of his leathers, tension coiled in every line of his body.

My want for him sparks, then pools, deep and hot.

When he speaks, his voice is low. “This isn’t over.”

My pulse skips.

He takes a step towards me. “Not even close.”

I forget how to breathe.

He closes the distance, each measured step heavier than the last. When he reaches the bed, he doesn’t ask. He just sits, close enough to burn.

“Next time,” he murmurs, leaning in just enough that I can feel his breath ghost across my cheek, “I’m warding the entire floor.”

Before I can even process what just happened, before I can throw myself at him and make absolutely sure he follows through on that promise, Thane exhales. He tilts his head back like a man silently cursing fate.

Then, through clenched teeth—“But not now.”

The words snap me out of it. “What?”

“I have to go.”

“Go where?!” I ask, squeezing my thighs together. Gods almighty, what am I going to do with this buildup?