Chapter 36 A LESSON IN FLAMES
"You have to focus, little flame. Your magic will answer to you, but you must be focused.”
They were currently in the courtyard. It was dark outside, a small fire had been lit, and for the past two hours, Auren had been trying to teach Haven how to control the fire.
" Now take a deep breath, close your eyes,” Auren began again. Haven did as told. She inhaled sharply, and took a deep breath. " Raise your hands towards the flame. Imagine your body becoming one with it, your essence blending with the fire. Only then will you be able to bend it to your will.”
Haven tried her best to focus on the sound of the flames eating up the wood slowly.
She inhaled slowly, her chest rising and falling as she tried to steady her heartbeat. The courtyard had quiet except for the crackle of the fire and the whisper of night air moving through the ancient stone columns.
Auren’s presence hovered behind her, warm, steady, and maddeningly distracting. She felt him even with her eyes closed, felt the weight of his gaze sliding down her spine like a touch.
“Focus,” he murmured, low and coaxing. “Feel the fire the way you feel your own pulse.”
Haven lifted her hands toward the small flame, palms open, breath trembling.
The heat brushed her fingertips first, not burning, but curious, like the fire itself leaned toward her.
She drew in another breath, the world faded, and the crackling fire grew louder, brighter, deeper.
There was a moment — a single suspended heartbeat — where she felt something slip inside her chest.
A pull.
A tether.
A whisper of warmth curling under her skin.
Her heartbeat synced with the rhythm of the flame.Thump, crackle, thump, crackle.
The heat no longer pressed against her. No, it answered her.
Auren’s voice came to her then, just above a whisper. “Don’t fight it, Haven. Let it in.”
She exhaled, and the flame exhaled with her, rising higher. She inhaled, and the fire bent toward her hands like a living creature obeying its master.
Haven’s fingers tingled as warmth spread through her arms, up her neck, down her spine. The world dissolved into red-gold light. She saw nothing but the flame… and herself within it.
For a split second, she felt weightless — as though her body was no longer flesh and bone but ember and heat.
A memory that wasn’t hers flickered across her vision, Athalia raising her hands to a fire just like this, her expression soft and serene.
Haven swallowed hard as the fire surged.
“Good,” Auren whispered, stepping close enough that she felt his breath on her shoulder. “Now anchor yourself. Don’t let the flame overwhelm you. You are the master of it. Not the other way around.”
But the fire wasn’t attacking.It was welcoming her, recognizing her, becoming one with her.
Her hands glowed with soft crimson light. Sparks danced between her fingers, weaving through her hair like fireflies. Her pulse quickened, matching the fire’s rhythm until it was impossible to tell where her heartbeat ended and the flame began.
She parted her lips in wonder.
“Auren… I can feel it,” she whispered.
Auren exhaled sharply — the sound of a man witnessing something he’d only ever read about in ancient texts.
“You’re merging with it,” he murmured. “You’re becoming the flame, Haven.”
A strand of fire lifted from the pit, swirling around her wrist like a ribbon, tracing her skin without burning. Her breath hitched as warmth flooded her entire body, sinking deep into her bones.
Auren stepped even closer, his chest nearly against her back.His voice was a low vow. “Look at you…” he whispered. “The fire chooses you so easily.”
Her glowing eyes flickered open.
The flame didn’t fall away, it rose with her, surrounding her hands like molten silk.
She wasn’t controlling the fire. She was one with it.
For the first time, she didn’t feel afraid. She felt powerful, alive and dangerous.
Auren brushed a hand down her arm — slow, reverent, careful — as if she were something sacred.
“Little Flame,” he breathed, “you’re magnificent.”
And the fire, swirling and pulsing with her heartbeat, seemed to agree.
He stepped close to her, his left hand reaching out, grabbing her waist and pulling her flush against him. She gasped but he swallowed it with a toe curling kiss.
He raised his other hand to cup her face, angling her head so that he could have better access to her mouth.
“A…Auren!” She gasped when he pulled away. “We are outside. People could see."
“Well let them." His thumb slowly began stroking her pulse point. Her breath hitched and the familiar throbbing between her legs sprang to life. “I want them to see how obsessed I am with you. I want them to witness what you do to me, how you can easily turn a man full of restraint to one with no self control. I want them to see how crazy you make me whenever you smile. I want them to see how obsessed I am with you that I can't even think straight anymore. So yes, Little Flame, let them fucking see."
With that, he captured her lips in another kiss. This one was filled with lust and hunger. He kissed her like he couldn't get enough of her, and gods, he couldn't. Every smile, every breath he had to witness had him going crazy over her.
She was an enigma he wouldn't quite understand.
As he deepened the kiss, Haven slowly brought her hands up to his chest and the moment her palms came in contact with his skin, her fingers seemed to develop a mind of their own. They moved of their own accord, exploring the hard ridges of his muscular torso. His shirt was unbuttoned, giving her access to his bare skin. His skin felt warm beneath her palms and she couldn't stop herself from running her hands further across his skin.
Her hands slid around his neck and she rose up to her tiptoes , responding to the kiss.
She was done fighting. Her destiny, and the fact that she wanted this man.
As from this moment on, she was going to embrace them fully