Page 68 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Yes, Ally...You can read me.” My heart hitched in its cage, and my breathing sped up. Finally. After all this time, and anticipation, he would be mine to understand, to read, to feel...to have?
There was this certainty, hanging in my gut, that there would be answers in his mind I could never find without a reading. Answers a trigger would never properly bring up, as they hadn’t over the last months in his nearly constant companionship. And then he smiled at me, about to undo my resolve, until he opened his mouth.
“Hang on though—if we’re getting inside each other, we should set the mood.” He winked at me and my mouth fell open. But then he walked to the fridge and pulled out an expensive-looking bottle of chilled Moscato. I laughed, shaking my head.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’ve never had anyone dig through all the shadows of my subconscious before. Or tell me about my many past lives. Is it wrong that I’m a tad nervous?”
“I suppose not.”
He poured us both proper wine glasses, and I downed mine in three straight gulps. August’s eyes were wide and amused when I set it back down on the counter with a soft clink. He refilled my glass, a bit more heavy-handed the second time around, and slid it across the counter to me with a soft scrape.
“Afraid of what you’ll find in there?” He mused, tapping his temple. When I only smirked and eyed my cup, he filled the silence. “You know, I tended bar in college. They knew me for August-sized pours. Of pretty much everything. I didn’t go through a huge party phase, but I’ve never exactly played anything small, either.” He took a slow sip and then ran his fingers through his hair.
“So...uh...how does this work?” He asked when we’d both downed our second pour.
“Youwantto know your past lives?”
He nodded. “I mean, I don’t remember many—and we dredged all of those up through Alec’s meditations—so I guess this would be the easiest way of digging them up. The Great Commander, and all that nonsense?”
I took a deep breath. Or two. Steadying myself as the first glass of wine slowly crept into my mind, its warmth tingling in my neck. “If we’re going for a full regression, it can take some time. The last time The Great Commander ascended was hundreds of years before Aren woke. There were two Commanders between them.”
“So, we might be in for a long night?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes, it rushes out all at once, and sometimes, I have to do some digging. If we share many lives, it can takedays, so why don’t we get somewhere comfy, so it’s not hard to sit for a while if I dive all the way back to the beginning? I think that’s our best bet for really understanding.”
“I know this is going to sound wimpy, but will it hurt?”
I laughed. “No more than reading my mind does. If something is really buried in there, you might have a bit of a headache, but you already thought of that.” I slid my finger around the rim of my glass and smiled as it sang. The feel of crystal was hard to miss, and I again found myself marveling at the man that was August.
“Good enough for me.” He stood, the air between us quickly growing static, like he was barely holding his electric field within his chest. Anticipation ached in my heart, and my fingers began to hum as I stood and followed him over onto a decadent Italian Leather couch, tufted with bronze pins. He shifted the pillows aside, muttering something about an interior designer, and sat down. I climbed onto the cushion next to him, heart frantic, mind buzzing a bit with the wine. Crossing my legs, I sat to face him.
“It helps if I can see your eyes. But it’s not necessary.”
He immediately mimicked my position, turning so we were face to face. I should’ve poured another glass. My nerves were absolutely electric, buzzing in my mind, and my body succumbed to a wave of warmth.
“Ally,” his voice was warm as he continued, “I trust you.”
I nodded and took a few cleansing breaths.
You can do this Ally. Focus.
I yanked the hair tie from my wrist and pulled my insane mane of hair up into a bun on top of my head, tucking the loose strands behind my ears.
“Oh shit, she’s getting serious.” His smirk was that of a child mouthing off to a superior. I rolled my eyes.
“Shush you. I’m…nervous. I’m not usually nervous?”
“Too much wine?”
“Maybe.”
“We can wait.”
“I don’t think that I can, actually.” I released a breathy laugh more akin to a schoolgirl than the second in command. “You’ve been driving me crazy. Like a puzzle just dying to be solved.”
“I’m a puzzle?”
