Chapter 16: Heat

Madison saw the transformation happen in his eyes. From one moment to the next, Nick was gone and fire took his place instead. His eyes shone of the brightest of flames. Instinct forced Madison to withdraw several steps before her back hit the wardrobe.

Nick stood motionless. Breathing ever so slowly, in and out in rage. His muscles tensed and relaxed, tensed and relaxed again. She could feel his anger, so white and pure she would be scorched before even touching it. For a moment she was terrified to do anything other than listening to growl coming from deep within him.

There must be a fire somewhere, she thought gloomily to herself. Nothing else explained the sudden shift. The thunder she had heard, it must have struck somewhere.

An acrid smell reached Madison's nostrils. It smelled burnt. She realised the smell came from Nick. Nick was burning.

Fear caught her by the throat and Madison gasped in panic. Nick was going to burst into flames! She could already see strings of smoke emerging from his clothes, thicker by the second. And heat, it was getting hotter too . . .

Do something, Maddy!

"Nick . . ." Her voice sounded strained. She coughed and spoke again, "Nick."

His nostrils flared and his gaze found her, spiking her to the wardrobe. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't move.

"Nick, it's me, Maddy."

She heard the growl again, seeping up through his throat like poison. He stared at her, his eyes penetrating her skull. He radiated to so much rage, so much hatred . . . It was unbearable.

"Listen to my voice," she said softly. "Your element is playing tricks on you. Remember? The storm. It is not your rage. Fight it."

Nick growled and took a step towards her. A wave of heat brushed against her face. Madison licked her lips and swallow. This was insane. A moment ago, she had been the one lashing out, now the roles were reversed and unlike Nick who had stood there and let her shower him with her pain, she was more than a little afraid of what would happen if he did the same to her.

"Nick, listen to me. You need to calm down or you'll set the house on fire. You'll hurt me and the others. You don't want that."

Nick took another step towards her and another wave of heat brushed against her skin. Madison bit her lip to not yelp in pain. A little closer and she would burn alive.

"Nick, please!" she pleaded.

But Nick didn't seem to hear her. He came close, each step threating to burn her. Nothing she said or did seemed to reach him. Standing between her and the bedroom door, Madison had nowhere to go.

"Please, Nick . . ."

Madison knew her options were running out. As was her life. She couldn't breathe properly because of the heat. If she didn't do anything soon . . .

In a pang of desperation, Madison did the only thing she could think of. Not wanting to die with the regret of never letting Nick know how she felt, she hurled herself at him, pressing her lips against his.

She waited for the pain to come, the agonising sensation of her body bursting into flames, but the pain never came. Instead . . .

Raw passion surged through her body from their joined lips. Her body tensed, as did Nick's. Like two magnets, they were drawn to each other.

Madison felt life rush through her body. Energy so intense she wanted to laugh. For the first time in her life, she felt whole. A part of her she hadn't known been missing had finally fallen into place. She wanted to sing, she wanted to dance, and she wanted to cry all at the same time. Most of all, she wanted to taste more of Nick.

When she renewed the kiss, Madison tried brush the tip of her tongue across Nick's bottom lip the way she had heard the other girls in her class whispering about in the locker room after gym class. The response was immediate. With a growl, Nick invaded her mouth with his own tongue, claiming her as a hunter claims his prey. And Madison was all too happy to let herself be claimed. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she parted her lips some more, letting him know exactly how she felt.

Only when her back slammed into the wardrobe, Nick had forced her backwards, did they break apart for some much need oxygen. Nick pressed against her with all of his weight, making it difficult to breathe, but Madison found herself not minding it one bit. She finally understood what those romantic novels she had read in secrecy when Vida wasn't home to pester her about it were talking about. This moment could have been ripped right off any of them. The hot guy, the passionate kissing, the sexy nightgown – oh, she was so going to thank Vida for persuading her to wear the nightgown. Flannel was comfortable as hell but it just didn't have the same sexappeal as silk nightgown.

Madison looked up to meet Nick's gaze. The fire was gone but the heat was still there. His heat. Nick.

"Come back to me, Nick," she whispered, her lips only inches apart from his. His hot breath tickling her chin. He was still growling. A soft purr that worked magic on her female parts.

"Always, Maddy, always."

Nick claimed her mouth again, inviting her tongue to a wrestling match. Madison felt so happy she could die right there on the spot. Nick loved her!

Need and wanting kicked decency out of the window. As if having it's on will, Madison felt her right leg slowly slide up to Nick's hip where he secured it with an iron grip around her thigh. Blood pounded in Madison's ears. She was about to surrendering completely to her feminine instincts when suddenly – bright light flickered around them and the room lit up.

Madison and Nick broke apart like two repellent magnets. Two hot and flustered magnets. They tilted their heads to stare dumbfoundedly at the lamp above their head.

"There you are!" a voice said behind them. "Look what I can do!"

Chip stood in the doorway with his hand on the light switch and huge grin across his face.

"My powers are back!"