She'd half been wishing for some juicy gossip, but instead got a discussion about garbage pickup. How scintillating.

Carefully, she unhooked the tendrils of her magick and withdrew. Their voices faded as Mira gradually came back into her body. She let her eyes slowly open and found Jack sitting on the floor, his legs and arms around her. She'd been so involved with her project, so out of her body, she hadn't even noticed him settle in behind her.

Mira snuggled back against his warm chest. Now this was what she'd been wanting all day long. "Well, that was boring.”

"Good. What did you hear?" He slid his hand under her sweater and rubbed his thumb back and form over her lower stomach. It made it hard to think.

"I overheard Ingrid and an unknown person discussing the entertaining topic of arranging new garbage pickup for the Coven.”

"Fascinating. If you can remember specific details, we'll verify them later.”

"I can.”

"Good." He held his free hand in front of her, palm up. "One more task for the day," he said, his deep voice rumbling through her back. A spark ignited in the palm of his hand. "Make it brighter. Make it flare.”

Her magick responded to his instantly, growing warmer and tingling in the center of her, wanting to be free, wanting to play with his magick. She pulled a thread, molded it into the shape she wanted and let it slide sinuously around the flame, like a cat rubbing up against a person's leg, silky and soft.

Behind her, Jack shivered, and she wondered if he could somehow feel what she did. Obviously, he couldn't see the tiny air current. She teased the flame over and over, making it flare in the center of his hand.

Finally, she fed her magick into his fully, causing the fire to grow bigger and brighter until she was able to pull it completely from his hand and allow it to hang before them. Their combined magick danced, suspended in the air, in shimmering colors of red, orange, yellow, and blue. It looked like a fiery version of the northern lights.

Jack pushed his hands under the hem of her sweater, and Mira faltered in her control of the magick. "Don't lose it," he breathed into her ear. "Don't let me break your concentration." He nipped at her ear gently, making gooseflesh erupt over her body.

"You're evil," she murmured, trying to maintain her grip on the light show in front of them. "But I don't really mind this particular lesson.”

"Mmm," he purred as he dragged his hands up her abdomen. "Who said training couldn't be fun?" Her front-hooking bra came undone.

Jack cupped her breasts in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over her nipples. She moaned deep in her throat, keeping her gaze on the fire in front of them. The heat she felt from the flames was nothing like what came from Jack.