On the other hand, she needed to know what she was capable of so she could defend herself. The thought of someone hurting Mira was unbearable to him, even more now that he knew her personally. She was no longer merely a responsibility to him, a way to make amends for standing there passively and watching her mother die. He'd come to know Mira to be a warm, intelligent, and caring person over the past week.

He'd learned she had a deep appreciation for classic literature like himself, had a unnatural love for Braeburn apples and Colby cheese, and, despite her faithfulness to the Wiccan religion, was a skeptical person when it came to all things magickal.

She was uncertain of her abilities and definitely lacking in self-confidence, but Jack felt once she mastered her magick, she would also find her true self. Jack already knew she was incredibly powerful.

Now Mira had to come to that understanding.

He set his glass down, stood, and moved some furniture to the side, well out of the way of his anticipated trajectory, and then walked to Mira. "Stand. This is your first lesson in defensive magick.”

He offered her a hand up. She took it and stood, looking doubtful and a little nervous.

"Don't be afraid." He took her by the shoulders and turned her so her back was to him, his own back to the area he'd cleared, and pressed his body to hers. "I'm the one who should be scared," he murmured.

She jerked a little and tried to turn, but he held her in place. The heat of her body warmed him, and the light scent of her rose perfume caught in her hair teased his nostrils.

Damn. This was why he'd avoided training her.

He closed his eyes for a moment at the delicious feel of her against him. A muscle worked in his jaw as he gritted his teeth, fighting to control his cock, which wanted to rise and harden at her near proximity. Baseball, he needed to think about baseball.

"Since I'm a fire witch, of all the elements I'm best equipped to defend myself or to cause physical harm," he said softly near her ear. "But we each have the ability to use our magick in a fight. I'm going to show you one way to use yours.”

What he had to do now required intimate physical contact. The magick didn't care if it killed him to touch her and not really touch her. It was necessary he have contact with the seat of her magick to be better able to help her control it, should it get out of hand.

He eased his arms around her. She shivered against him and her breathing hitched as they felt the undeniable response of her magick to his. The magick receded after that initial brush, but the attraction remained.