Choosing to say out of the Alliance, the Cinders are isolated in their own conflicts, and when Helia Cinder reaches to the void for answers, she inadvertently draws a creature out. Expecting to be eaten alive, she is instead left with a man with no...
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"How is this?" Down in an old store room for books and some of her brother's extra things, Helia lifted a mirror for Stone.
Once he'd grabbed hold of her fingers, he'd refused let go for fear that he'd fall back into the void. Helia soothed him as best she knew how, which was poorly, and he only agreed to release her if she stayed close. She couldn't get any closer than cutting his hair. It had grown into something ungainly during his stay in the void, and she thought she'd done a good job cleaning him up.
"I have a tail," Stone said, fiddling with the small end of his hair that she'd tied up in the back. It hadn't seemed right to cut it all off, so she'd left just a bit for him to work with whenever he regained his memories. That also left enough in front that he pushed it with his other hand and frowned when it fell back in his face.
"Do you want me to shave you bald, or what?"
"No. This is nice. It feels right." Stone smiled as he turned in the chair toward her.
"You have to stop doing that," Helia begged, shaking her head and trying to get him out of her mind.
It wasn't fair that when Stone smiled, it lit him up like a foster puppy that had finally found a home. That level of adoration was like a weapon and very unfair when she should be keeping a foreign vampire at a distance. It gave her mixed feelings as he stood and hugged so closely to her body that he might as well get some hoody sleeves and call himself a jacket.
"And that," Helia added with an agonized groan. No man had ever ventured into her personal space bubble, let alone near enough to feel the aura of her magic as it clung to her skin. That seemed to be where Stone gravitated, so close that her flame magic tread against his skin but just far enough that they weren't touching. Vampires should hate the feeling of light magic, yet he just parked himself in her breathing space like it was no big deal. Helia had no idea what to do with him.
"I'm sorry," Stone said, but he didn't move away. "I feel as if it's normal for me to stand this close to someone. I like the roll of powerful flame magic up against my body. It's warm and–"
Helia covered his mouth before he said anything else that could be misconstrued as lewd. This guy had no filter. Memories served to teach people what to say and not say, and this guy had none. If he said one more time how much he liked her up against his body, she was going to steam from her ears.
"I make you uncomfortable," Stone said for the hundredth time this afternoon.
"Yes," Helia said, silencing any further words with a finger. "It's mostly you crowding me in that." Helia dropped her hand to indicate his muscle-defining bodysuit that shaped his groin so well that she felt like she was living a porno. One that was half a nightmare because a vampire was starring in it.
"Is this not suitable attire? It feels so comfortable," Stone smiled so wide his fangs flashed in the light, and Helia got the feeling that he knew it made him look naked but just didn't give a damn.
