NOTE:
Yes, I realize I've been away a long time. Life didn't just get in the way, it steamrolled me. This has not been edited more than my own proofreading, so point out any major glaring mistakes and I'll submit an edit so this reads smooth. I know I switch sometimes between and "I" and a "we" voice, but forgive me. Jezza is still figuring out her control, and sometimes she loses it.
As always, constructive criticism and comments are welcome.
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I sat cross-legged on the patio, my wrists resting on my knees, trying to will my power into the circle I had drawn on the stones. If Bane had been out here guiding me, I could have done it. But it had been a week since my power had come out, and I supposedly needed to learn to do things like this without him holding my hand the whole time. As it was, I could feel him in the house waiting for me to do this. I thought I had it, only to hear the faint chime of the doorbell through the house and lose my concentration. Bane's reassuring touch in my thoughts turned to a faint surprise and I gave up.
Standing, I stretched my arms to the sky, groaning a bit when my back popped. I bent forward slowly to rest my hands on the stones when two upside down legs walked out onto the patio with me. One set I knew was Bane, and the other set turned out to be Larian when I stood from the stretch.
"You almost had it," Bane smiled at me before handing me a bucket to wash the chalk off the patio. My groan was louder when I took it and went to the faucet. This had become a deep rut over the last week. Gaining control meant I should be able to power a protective circle on my own, but since I would have less control than a normal succubus the going was more difficult than it was for others. "Another week and it will be second nature, like the runes have been."
Larian cleared his throat when I dumped the bucket of water over the patio and then grabbed a long scrub brush from the side. I couldn't complain too much since Bane scrubbed out his own chalk lines when he drew them. "Watch your feet," so I was late with the warning.
"The months here have done you well, girl," Larian's low voice sent ripples across the pool of power in my mind and I stifled a shiver. Bane's chuckle didn't help when he felt the effect.
"So you won the coin toss, huh?" I tossed my hair out of my face and looked at him. He wasn't smug and didn't seem to be capable of showing any emotion as I stared at him. He just shrugged and sat in the chair Bane pointed to at the small table in the corner.
"I would like to think it was my experience that swayed the feelings in my favor," Larian rumbled. "But at this point I believe I am the only one Bane thinks can survive you right now."
That got my attention where Bane's less than subtle prods of power hadn't. "Survive me?"
"You haven't even touched Bane in three days, girl," he managed to make that sound like chastisement, and I ducked my head and went back to scrubbing the chalk off the patio. I had gotten the last traces three minutes ago, but I didn't want to sit with them right now. "A new mate-bond should have had the two of you all but inseparable right now. Even I can feel your power pulling at the edges of the world around you."
"We've been working on it," Bane said quietly.
"No," Larian's voice was firm and he looked between the two of us. "You're not. Maybe you are, Bane, but she isn't. The bond between you is stretched beyond all reason. Would you put that brush down and come here, girl?"
I dropped the brush and walked to them, watching the stones pass beneath my feet. The closer to Bane I got, the tighter I could feel the bond getting between us. I yanked my power back close when it tried to reach for him, even as I desperately wanted to touch him. He didn't keep his power from touching me, though, and it almost burned as it poured over me.
"It is true that I won this 'coin toss,' as you called it," Larian said, and I cringed. "But you need to fix this between yourselves before I can touch you, Jezza." He hadn't called me 'girl' this time. "Mates are usually given at least a month before the first contract is taken, and you haven't had that time together. Feed the bond, girl," there it was. "Touch him, fuck him, it doesn't matter how you do it so long as it's done. Forcing yourself to ignore it to this extent is going to drive you insane, and will prove those who believe a second generation succubus is unstable right."
"Who cares if I go insane?" I had hugged my arms around my middle at some point, but I didn't lower them.
"Everybody within a fifty or sixty mile radius will care greatly if you go insane and call them to you and kill them." I stared at him. "Succubi don't just go insane, they turn siren. The more powerful the siren, the farther her call will reach. And the only way to stop a siren is to kill her. I for one would rather not have to kill you since I used so much energy to heal you and get you away from Asher."
I could feel my face heating up, remembering the kisses when he had healed me after the sessions with Asher. Tentatively, I reached out with my power and touched Bane, and the wash of relief almost knocked me on my ass. Bane reached out to grab me when I swayed, and the physical touch was even better. He groaned as he wrapped his arms around my middle and pulled me closer to him, burying his head against the small of my back.
"As I said," Larian said, but he watched the water evaporating from the patio rather than our little display. "I have your first contract, and it is worded in such a way that no other contract can be taken until I have fulfilled mine, or a month passes. So you two have time to get this under better control before you make your decision about taking the contract or not."
With that, he stood and walked back to the house. Bane pulled me down to sit on his lap so he could touch me more completely. His power washed over me, calling my own out and I gave in to the need to just touch him. The bond that had been pulled so tight started to relax, until he took a breath to speak.