Free Steam by Lynn Tyler Page A

but Sunny was already shaking her head. “I didn’t feel like this when I touched Anna for the first time.”
    Raven raised his eyebrow and looked at them both. “Was it the same with you, Sloan?”
    There was no point in lying. Everyone had seen his reaction. “Yes. It was a fair bit stronger than anything I’ve experienced with any other handler.”
    This time, Leith spoke to him. “Explain.”
    Sloan rolled his eyes at Leith’s terse command but answered nonetheless. “My magic reached for hers with an intensity I’ve never felt before.”
    “Interesting,” Leith said, tapping his finger against his lips. “I’ve never heard of that before. Normally, handler magic either repels another handler’s power or feeds it. I’ve not run across a case where magics are reaching for each other, especially when those powers aren’t being used.”
    “That wasn’t exactly helpful,” Sunny said bluntly. “You’re something like one thousand years old. You should know something.”
    The silence which fell over the table was deafening. No one had ever dared to speak so frankly to Leith. Even Leith looked a little surprised.
    “What?” Sunny said with a sheepish smile. “You were all thinking it.”
    Every gaze at the table was fastened to Leith, waiting to see what the blond giant would do. Instead of growling about showing him the respect he deserved, which Sloan had expected him to do, Leith burst out laughing. “You are so much like my daughter,” he said when he finally stopped laughing. “Thank you for not treating me like an old man who can’t handle a little humor once in a while.”
    Sunny’s blinding smile was back in full force. “I figured you out as soon as we met,” she admitted.
    Leith’s smile remained for the rest of breakfast, but Sloan was more focused on the effect the new handler had on him.
    It terrified him.
    As the morning meal came to an end, Raven cleared his throat. “Leith has informed me that Sunny’s magic is quite strong and neither he nor I will be able to train her. So, I think it’s best if Anna and Sloan train her right from the get go.”
    Shit . Sloan had forgotten the tiny detail about how he would be training Sunny. If his magic reacted this strongly to hers now, what would it be like when they were actually using their powers? Hell, what would it be like when they had to merge their magics? “Absolutely not,” he said firmly.
    “And why not?” Raven asked.
    He said the first thing that came to him. “Because our magics are opposite. You know, fire and water. I’ll only make things harder for her to control.”
    Raven narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and Sloan got the idea the leader saw right through his excuse. “Fine,” Raven said. “Stay out of her training for now. But when Sunny has enough control, you’re going to have to work with her.”
    Sloan nodded, relieved he had a little time, at least, to work out how he felt.
    In the meantime, all he had to do was find a way to completely avoid the new fire handler.
    * * * *
    Sunny sat, staring at Sloan, well aware her mouth hung slightly open. His excuse not to train her was complete and utter bullshit. There was no way their magics would repel each other, not when every fiber of her being was somehow yanking her toward him.
    The man was returning to his jerky self, his true self he’d shown last night. She couldn’t believe she’d masturbated to his image the evening before, much less had the orgasm of her life.
    There was going to be no way she’d let Sloan know how much his refusal to train her bothered her. “It’s okay,” she said with another grin, hoping no one could tell it was fake. “Anna’s probably a better teacher than Mr. Cranky Pants anyway.”
    She kept a pleasant expression plastered to her face until enough time had passed that she could escape to her room. Fake it until you make it. That had been her motto for as long as she could remember. Pretend to be happy with your life and