The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) by Nicola Claire

The Norfolk Pine on Theo's property had called me that. Had said I was Theo's Thisavros . I had no idea what it meant, but I would find out. Theo had a hell of a lot to explain after all of this.
    "No, of course not," Theo lied. I worked on keeping my face blank. Theo's eyes darted to mine briefly, as the King turned to pour another drink. He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow in question.
    Yeah, I'd recognised the word, but Theo didn't know I was still confused by it. His lips twitched at the edges, a slight flash of gold seeped into the hazel. I was mesmerized and that's why I didn't see the King move.
    A knife appeared before my eyes, light glinting off the shiny blade, the sharp edge sinking into the flesh of my neck painfully. I screamed, the King's hand wrapped around my hair tightly and he jerked my head back.
    And Theo sent a bolt of fire directly at his monarch's head.
    The fire blasted into a wall of fire from the King. It crackled and expanded around us, I felt the hair on my skin begin to singe. Heat washed my body, threatened to rush down my throat. I firmly held my lips shut, so as not to inhale it. This wasn't the heat Theo could use to evoke such delicious sensations from me though. This heat was designed to kill. It licked the ceiling and curved over the top of us. I was unsure if it was doing the same to Theo on the other side of the wall of flames. I wanted to shout out to him. To make sure he was all right. But it wasn't as though I could stop this. One potted plant in the corner of the room was hardly an arsenal, was it? I just had to trust that Theo had this and considering this was the King he was battling, someone I assumed was all powerful, Theo was impressively holding his own.
    There was no shout of pain or agony from his side of the room. All that sounded out was the crackle of fire, all I could feel was the heat of flames and all I could smell was the scent of burnt carpet as the fires evaporated as quickly as they came.
    "So, my son has fallen for a Gi ," the King said slowly, removing the knife at my neck. My hand came up and wrapped around my throat. I felt the warm trickle of blood seep between my fingers. My eyes raised to look at Theo.
    He looked devastated, crushed and a little scared. He held out his hand to me, and said one word, "Come."
    I didn't need to be asked twice. Stand by the crazy knife wielding Rigas, or next to the Pyrkagia who'd just exposed his feelings towards me by saving my life.
    "This will not end well," the King said, throwing the knife across the room so it landed with a twang, hilt deep in an expensive piece of artwork hanging on the wall. "Mark my words! You have no idea of what you have done."
    "She is mine," Theo whispered, unable to speak at full volume, I was guessing, out of true anger. The earth trembled, but I was the only one who noticed it. Theo's complete attention was on the King, even as his arm wrapped around my shoulder protectively.
    "I could have you exiled for this," the King pointed out, fingering the bottle of Scotch before him. I think he was contemplating drinking from the bottle. Only his upbringing held him back now.
    "I ask for this not as a subject, but as your son," Theo said and I guess that answered that question. Theo Peters was a Prince.
    "Four weeks," the King whispered. "Play with her, feed from her, enjoy her. Then she must go, or you both do."
    With those words Theo's father, the Rigas of Pyrkagia, left the room in the same fashion he had entered. In a storm full of rage.

Chapter 7
Leaving Me Panting For Breath
    I didn't say a word as Theo ushered me outside and helped me into his car. I was too shocked to open my mouth, to form a sentence in my head. To think at all. The King, the Rigas , was scary. And he was Theo's father. How did I get myself into this situation? What had I done in my life to deserve this mess?
    Theo slid behind the steering wheel with fluid grace and started the car. He looked remarkably relaxed. Completely