Read Online elemental 05 - inferno by Larissa Ladd - Free Book Online Page A

remembered the sound of her faint moans, and how she had moved underneath him. Aiden shuddered, coming into the kitchen and shaking his head. It was too tempting to run back upstairs and try her door, knock if needed, and do whatever it would take to convince her to fall into his embrace once more. 
    Dylan was in the kitchen setting up the coffee maker. 
    “Oh man, you have no idea how much I need that,” Aiden said, sitting down on a bar stool heavily. 
    Dylan glanced over his shoulder and smiled slightly.
    “I’m feeling kind of bad about last night,” Dylan admitted, pressing the button to start the coffee. 
    Aiden nodded. “It was kind of a dick move,” Aiden said, resting his chin on his hand. “I have a problem, also.” 
    Dylan leaned against the counter, looking at him intently. “You bonded with her,” Dylan said quietly. 
    Aiden nodded. 
    Dylan shook his head and sighed.
    “I didn’t mean to, but it was… you know, a heat of the moment kind of thing.” 
    Dylan nodded, waving his understanding.
    “I heard the lightning and thunder. And smelled the smoke. Are you sure nothing went up in flames?” 
    Aiden smirked slightly. “Nothing went up in flames, but I was about five seconds away from going down in flames.” 
    Dylan snorted. “You didn’t have sex with her though, right?” 
    Aiden nodded slowly. 
    “Then you’ll be able to keep it suppressed.” 
    Aiden wasn’t so certain of that. They were already very close—their energies intertwining twice—if he succumbed to the temptation to try and have Aira again, even if they didn’t get to the sex, Aiden knew that he was a goner. There would be nothing, absolutely nothing he could do to fight the need to be around her, to merge his energy with hers completely. He’d have to convince her to be his mate. The bond grew stronger every time they connected on that level.
    Aira came down the stairs, looking at them with an expression that Aiden realized was not quite as angry as the one she had worn last night, but was still resentful. “I have a wine hangover,” she told them, coming to sit a few places down from Aiden. “Thanks, by the way,” she said to Dylan, not looking at Aiden at all. 
    “For what?” Dylan asked her, and Aiden shared his confusion. 
    “Apparently the plan you and your asshole brother came up with pretty much cured me. I can kind of control the wind—though not fully.” She glanced out through one of the windows and Aiden could see her eyes losing focus as she brought her will to bear on her element. The wind decreased slightly, but not fully.
    “I’m sorry for how it went down, Aira,” Dylan said. 
    Aiden was trying to fight the compulsion that Aira’s proximity to him set off, and he saw her squirming, fidgeting as if she was struggling against one equally strong. “We should have told you. But you might have resisted if you were expecting it, and we didn’t know if it would even work.” Aira glanced at Aiden—barely—and he felt his heart beating faster with a mixture of anxiety and desire.
    “You’re still jerks for doing it that way,” she said quietly. 
    Dylan poured her a cup of coffee and doctored it the way Aiden knew she preferred—lots of milk, only a little bit of sugar—and handed it to her before serving him.
    “What’s next on the agenda?” Aiden asked, taking a long sip of coffee and wishing it would work faster to dispel the pain in his head.
    “We need to get Aira up to normal strength, and I know how.” Dylan smiled brightly, and Aiden felt grateful that his younger brother was able to turn the situation—any situation—so cleanly away from uncomfortable topics. 
    They discussed what Dylan wanted to do in detail; there was still a residual amount of the poison in Aira’s system, even after the purge and purification Aiden had done, thanks to the lingering water energy her grandmother had given her. Dylan had found a potion and spell that, when combined, should