elemental 02 - blaze by Larissa Ladd Read Free Book Online Page B

along with her powder compact. She hadn’t gone overboard with the makeup; just enough to enhance her bone structure and give her eyes depth—certainly not what she would wear the next night to go out.
    Aiden rolled his eyes at her. “Let’s hit the road. You don’t want to be late to meet your mate, do you?”
    Aira scowled at the sarcasm in Aiden’s voice. “I am NOT meeting my mate. I’m meeting…a very interesting and charming elemental who I might want to have sex with sometime.”
    Aiden snorted at her characterization, gesturing for Aira to precede him down the stairs. She had chosen a soft, slightly floral perfume; an old fashioned scent she had long ago decided was perfect for such occasions.
    Dylan was waiting downstairs, dressed casually in jeans and a tee shirt, and he echoed his brother’s commendation. “Just so you know,” he told her with a grin, “If Alex is too much of an idiot to sweep you off your feet, it won’t take much to convince me.”
    Aira blushed slightly, biting her bottom lip. “I will keep that in mind,” she said, giving him a flirty smile.
    Aiden brushed past her, making every inch of her skin feel electrified, heading for the door.
    “Come on, guys. We’re going to be late.”
    Aira’s anxiety mounted as they arrived at the café where she and Aiden planned to meet Dolores and Alex. She felt her hands shaking, echoing the vibration she felt moving through her bones – an intensely electric feeling she knew was the power working its way through her, changing her. She fidgeted in the passenger seat, wondering how she had somehow been convinced to let Aiden drive. As she shifted around, feeling almost an almost itching sensation, she thought it was for the best. Dylan followed behind in the car he and Aiden had bought for the duration of the time they were staying with her. Dylan intended to hang out and wait for the meeting to be over, to make sure they were safe. He and Aiden had also equipped Aira with one of the contact buttons they each had. Failing that, Dylan’s water-aligned intuition would enable him to track them.
    Aira couldn’t imagine Alex and Dolores would go to such an extreme as kidnapping or attacking them in public. It would be bad for elementals as a whole, and they’d face a dire punishment—potentially even death—if they attempted such. She considered that she hadn’t thought she would be abducted, or that one of her clients would have allowed her abductors near her. She understood the need to be cautious, but as power buzzed through her veins and along her nerves, she couldn’t help feeling as though she could handle anything Alex or Dolores could throw at her and Aiden. She also couldn’t help entertaining lust-filled thoughts about the man she had been talking to, her mind rejecting the possibility that he might attack her. At least, she thought, if he was unsafe—if he had ulterior motives—his air alignment would ensure that he wouldn’t move directly. It would be something sneakier. She reminded herself, charmed as she was by him, she had to keep in mind he very well could be her enemy.
    In spite of Aiden’s moans about the possibility of being late, they were the first to arrive. They took a table. Aira rolled her eyes at Aiden’s scoff when the waiter suggested they were there together on a date.
    “Just friends, waiting for our dates, actually,” she said, giving the man a bright, charming smile. The lust, coiled tightly inside of her, hadn’t failed to notice the waiter was attractive; tall and lean, with dark eyes and collar-length black hair, he visibly warmed to her attention. He took their drink orders and lingered, exchanging pleasantries with Aira until Aiden brusquely reminded him there were other tables that needed his attention. Aira shifted and squirmed in her seat, feeling the heat in her body banking and rising, her eyes scanning the crowd of pedestrians beyond the outside terrace for any indication of Alex or