Free Born Into Fire by KyAnn Waters, Tarah Scott Page A

real, alive. Working with glass was her attempt to bring those dreams to life. Now, only moments after wakening as a woman, the dreamlike quality of having shared consciousness with Erion warred with the reality that was the shambles of her workshop.
    She and Erion—fire, wind, whatever they were—had merged.
    Shock rippled through her anew. Air—his wind—now softly whistled through the chambers of her heart. Kenna tentatively tuned into the rhythm of the intimate song, then was shocked at sensing the hunger that lay beyond the quiet of his protective embrace. In her mind’s eye, she stretched out a hand to touch his need. Pain lashed out. She stifled a cry and snatched her hand back. Guilt flooded her…his guilt.
    Airiana . Kenna startled. Another being like Erion…like her, lived inside him. Airiana, a female gust of wind. She had been a part of their merging . Tears welled in Kenna’s eyes, only they weren’t hers. They were Airiana’s.
    “Water,” she croaked.
    Erion hesitated, then released her. He turned and headed toward the utility sink at the far corner of the garage. She inhaled sharply at sight of his muscled buttocks. Fever heated her blood. Every muscle burned in exhaustion, but she wanted more—more fire, more air…more of the merging.
    At the sink, Erion picked up the ceramic coffee cup she’d left there that morning and filled it with water. When he faced her, his gaze dropped to her breasts. A thrill jolted through her. Even after the fire, the destruction, the all-consuming lust, he still wanted her. Evidence of how much was revealed in the growing length and thickening girth of his cock.
    Erion returned. Wordlessly, he slipped a hand around her nape and brought the cup to her lips. She closed her eyes and sipped. Guilt seeped from him. Why? She opened her eyes as he set the cup on the marver. He pulled her into his arms, then gently blew into her face. Heat radiated from her center. Desire warred with confusion. Airiana.
    No. She must first understand the confusing yet comforting presence of this other woman . A woman like her and Erion. She looked up at Erion. “Who is she?”
    “An Air Element, like me.”
    “I feel her.” Kenna touched his chest.
    He tensed beneath her fingers. “I’m sorry. I never meant for her to merge with you. I didn’t know she could.”
    Confusion coiled in her stomach, along with what she knew to be true. Kenna shuddered. “Aiden meant to kill you and enslave me.”
    Erion gently squeezed her arm. She startled at the tremble in his fingers, then gasped at the realization conveyed in his touch.
    “You intended to…to die for me.” The room reeled. What was this insanity?
    Garbled whispers rose in Kenna’s mind. She shook her head in an effort to clear the choking fog. Airiana —too many thoughts. Strength, determination. An eddy of wind with Airiana at the center. The female Air Element existed within Erion. And now, somehow, within Kenna as well.
    “Why am I hearing her?” Kenna demanded in a voice she knew was near to hysteria. “How the fuck did this happen—how did we happen?”
    Erion didn’t immediately answer but finally said, “Like you, her element called to mine.”
    “Like me?” Kenna recalled how, ten seconds after meeting him in the art store, she had wanted to rip off his clothes. That had been a first. Even now, a thread of heat ran from her breasts to pussy. She wanted his cock inside her—wanted to merge. As if reading her mind, he trailed fingers up her arm and across her collarbone.
    “Tell me about her,” Kenna demanded. “And…I want to know about the rest. Look at me. I’m scared. I’m hot. I feel this incredibly overwhelming connection to you, and her , and I know this isn’t normal. This is fucking crazy, and I feel like I’m going crazy. We need to talk.” She glanced around and swallowed. “But not here. Let’s go into the house.”
    Erion took a step back as if she’d sprouted horns.
    His thoughts slipped