4. Alfie

Ididn't mean to stare but the fire spirit was absolutely stunningly gorgeous.

I'd never seen anyone like him. His hair was long, hanging past his shoulders in waves and even when he took his human form, strands of hair floated out from his body like they were riding heat waves. And the colour of his hair? It was impossible to describe. All the hues of red and orange and gold, blended together into the most fascinating fire colour.

I really, really wanted to touch his hair and see if it burned but I figured that would be rude. We'd only just met, after all.

He looked at me expectantly and I could hardly think what to say to him.

"Oh yeah! I was taking you somewhere safe, right? Come on."

I set off, walking through the woods. I wasn't wearing the best shoes for it and I slipped and slid on the damp soil but at least I didn't fall over. That would have been embarrassing.

As I walked, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he was following me. I looked over my shoulder more than I looked where I was going, until he suddenly reached out and said, "Look out!"

His hand touched my arm and even through my shirt sleeve I felt his touch burn me like a brand. It didn't hurt, but I felt it linger there long after he pulled his hand away. It was so warm and it made me feel all funny.

I wanted him to do it again.

"You were going to walk into that tree," he said, when I kept looking at him, hoping he'd touch me again.

"Oh."

That was disappointing. I'd have preferred him to touch me just because he wanted to. It made my body feel hot and, you know, aroused. Perhaps it was a good thing he was following me because it meant he didn't see the way my, um, dick was starting to press against my fly.

"We're nearly there," I said, trying to cheer back up. I desperately wanted to impress him but I wasn't sure how to do it. Then it occurred to me that I didn't even know his name. "I'm Alfie, by the way. Well, my real name is Alphonse, but I don't like anyone to call me that. I'd much prefer you call me Alfie like everyone else. Nearly everyone else. Father never calls me that. What's your name?"

"Blaze," he said.

"Blaze," I repeated, rolling the name round my tongue. I liked it. "Do you have a surname?"

"Fire. Blaze Fire. Spirits are always named after their element. It's our parent."

"Oh, okay, that's weird. In a nice way, though, not in a horrible way. Do you know any other spirits?"

"Not any more," he said, and something about the final way he said it made me stop asking about it, which was basically a miracle.

We walked through the woods together, me just in front and glancing over my shoulder to check he was still behind me. He always was, and I always had a moment of surprise when I looked at him. Just a second, but I was stunned by his beauty every single time.

Blaze was slim and small, even smaller than me and uasal weren't really known for being big. We left brute strength and muscles to the curaidh, who had no magic and needed physical size in order to fight.

Blaze, though, looked delicate and pretty, as insubstantial as fire, and I wanted to grasp him to make sure he was there and wouldn't simply vanish. Everything inside me longed to reach out to him, to hold him and make love to him. I had to force myself to focus on other things or I'd have got very distracted by my naughty thoughts.

We reached the den before I even realised. I was standing at the front of it when I finally thought to say, "Oh yes, here we are. This is my den. Well, it's mine and Morgan's but Morgan isn't here at the moment. Nobody else knows about it so you'll be really safe here."

Blaze gave me a strange look and ducked inside.

Suddenly, I saw the den for what it really was. It was shabby and not very well built. Morgan and I had tried our best but we'd made it a few years ago, and we weren't exactly expert carpenters. It had a few rough edges and it wasn't pretty.

Feeling my face heat up, I ducked inside after Blaze. The den was one room, big enough for us to stand up in but not exactly a mansion. We had only needed it to play here. Now, it was somewhere we could go to be alone, where nobody would find us and make us do something boring.

"It's not much," I said, "But there are chairs and a table over there and I've brought quite a few of the good books out here and there's a blanket if you get cold and I can make it better for—"

Blaze turned to me with a smile and my words fizzled out like he'd dried them up. That hardly ever happened to me, but my throat didn't work while he smiled like that.

"It's perfect."

"Really?"

I sounded incredulous, even to my own ears.

"Yes, it is! It's dry in here and I really hate being wet."

"I think it's going to rain later but you should stay dry. Morgan insisted that we make the roof properly and it took ages but it never lets water in."

"I love it!"

Blaze actually spun in a circle in the centre of the den, encompassing everything inside, and I grinned hard. Pride reared up inside me that I'd been able to help him.

"Oh, here, you can have your bananas back, too. Is that going to be enough? I can try to get you some more food."

He looked at me and his eyes were amber, with gold flecks in them. They were the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. I nearly didn't hear what he said.

"I would like some more food, if you can get it. I'm a bit hungry."

"Okay, I can do that. Oh. Actually, I might get caught. It depends whether everyone knows Father told me not to leave the castle tonight. Oh, shit, Father told me not to leave the castle tonight."

My stomach dropped like it was weighed down with a rock and guilt swept over me.

Blaze, bless him, looked worried.

"Why aren't you allowed to leave?"

"Because there was an intruder and we don't know if they're a danger or not. I was meant to wait inside until Glimmer found them."

"You don't think I'm dangerous, do you?" asked Blaze.

And that was when it occurred to me that Blaze was the intruder.

Somehow, I'd forgotten that. He just didn't seem to be a threat and I liked him and he liked my den and all he wanted was somewhere to sleep and some food, so it didn't seem bad to let him stay.

Slowly, I said, "No, you don't seem like a threat. You could be, though."

Blaze walked up to me, and I looked down into those stunning amber eyes and was captivated. When he spoke, I could feel his breath against me, but only just. I wanted to lean closer and feel him against me but I restrained myself. That would probably be weird. I didn't normally have such a hard time keeping my hands to myself. The Somervilles weren't a family that had much physical touch, so I don't know why I was suddenly craving it now after nineteen years of being fine without it.

"Thank you, Alfie. I promise I won't hurt anyone in your clan."

I believed him. Even though I knew it was probably foolish, I believed him.

The bond I'd felt, the one I'd followed as he hid in the pantry and ran into the woods, glowed bright like a flame and flickered. It wasn't solid like the others I had, the ones I'd had since birth, but it was there and it felt warm and special. I believed him.