Monthly Bonus Content #1—'Lightning's got nothing on you…' (Farah Spring Scenario Special) (Patreon)

A slight click causes a smile to instantly spread across my face. “There!”

Farah steps up beside me, staring down at my work with an inspecting frown before grinning towards me. “And in less than an hour. I think that’s a record.”

“I aim to please,” I reply, setting down the crystal-tipped tool in my hand on top of the makeshift workbench we cobbled together from an old seat. I finger at the delicate, magically-infused object which sits atop the splintered wood. “What does it do anyway?”

“I have no idea actually.” She shrugs. “I think it’s just to get trainees used to magical objects and how they work.”

Disappointment cuts through my previous triumph. “…Oh.”

“Aw, don’t worry, babe,” she coos, wrapping her arm around my middle and settling her head against my shoulder at my side. “You still did it way quicker than most agents I’ve seen do it.”

Her words don’t comfort me much, but her close presence at my side instantly sends a thrill through me to perk me up. “At least that’s something, I suppose.”

The small object I’d been working on glints in the dappled sun that manages to filter through the thick canopy of the oak tree we’re stood beneath. A small dark orb sits in the centre, cupped by a silver half-dome, small piercings punched through the metal.

But the sparkling silver of it soon dulls when the light is cast over in a murky gloom.

We both turn to look out past the ceiling of leaves.

Above us, the sky has turned murky grey, not even small patches of sunlight able to filter through the barrier of threatening cloud.

“It’s totally gonna rain,” Farah comments, staring up at the gloominess.

“Seems like it,” I reply. “We should pack up and get inside before that happens.”

A sparkle of mischief glimmers in her eyes as she waggles her brows at me. “Scared of getting a little wet?”

I chuckle and gesture at the quickly darkening sky, a deep shade pooling around us so deep you’d think nighttime was approaching. “I think we’ll be getting more than a little wet with how much rain is up there.”

A warning rumble of thunder echoes as though in agreement of my assessment…before rain lashes onto the ground around us.

The surprise at the sudden deluge has us both jumping back under the relative safe dryness of the tree’s canopy.

“I suppose we’ll have to stay here…or risk getting a little wet,” I suggest with a half-smile.

“Oh dear, how awful,” she coos, drawing herself closer. “Being trapped out here with you for who knows how long? How will I manage?”

Lightning cracks across the dark sky in a streak of vicious white, making her flinch.

“You all right?” I ask with a soft laugh, running my hand down her cheek.

She clears her throat and nestles against me. “Sure. It was just—”

“A shock?” I finish.

Her mood instantly brightens back to a grin at my joke. “I was going to say it was electrifying.”

I let out a groan as I roll my eyes.

“You started it.” Her laugh vibrates against my chest as our bodies press against each other’s in our embrace, trying to keep out of the wet as fat drops of rain begin to plop down through gaps in the leaves, splashing onto the grass near our feet.

“Only to cheer you up after your fright,” I admit.

“I wasn’t frightened. It was more…” She pauses to look up in thought for a moment. “More that I could feel it, and I always forget how intense it is to feel lightning.”

I step back to look over her in inspection. “You felt it?”

“Sure.” She holds up her arm to show where all the hairs are stood to attention. “A vampire’s skin is seriously sensitive.” She leans even further against me as she bites at her lower lip. “Just a little fact you might want to retain.” She finishes with a wink.

I do mentally take note of that before meeting her eyes again. “So you can feel the atmospherics of the storm?”

“Pretty much.”

I trace my fingertips up her forearms in amazement and goosebumps ghost across her skin.

“More atmospherics?” I ask with a tilt of my head.

She smiles. “No. That’s all you, babe.”

I stand straighter and lay my hands on her arms. “Are you saying you’re more sensitive to me than a storm?”

She cups my face, gazing into my eyes with a captivation that steals my breath. “Lightning has nothing on you.”

Our lips brush across each other’s in a gentle whisper before she nips at my lower one gently to ask for more. I eagerly oblige.

The dampness that had seeped into my clothing seems to steam with the sudden heat between us, and I tug her even closer as though any gap between us is too much to bear in that second.

When I’m forced to pull away for breath, her body arches against mine.

A heavy breath washes out of her. “I could get struck by lightning right now and die a very happy woman.”

“Well, I’d prefer that didn’t happen,” I say, rubbing my thumb over her moistened lips. “So maybe we should head inside?”

She gives a disappointed moan. “Fine, fine. Though I doubt lightning would actually kill me.”

I kiss her cheek. “Let’s not stick around to find out.”

Slipping her hand into mine, I snatch up my jacket and do my best to hold it over us as we make a line straight for the warehouse, noticing with a smile that she still has goosebumps.