I’d wanted to take this further. Maybe this was my chance to let him know that, while still letting him lead.
“You should see if they do,” I whispered boldly, feeling heat rise to my cheeks as I spoke.
Immediately, Bastian’s head dipped as his lips melded against mine in a hard, intense kiss that had my entire body turning to a puddle. My hands slid up and into his hair, causing both of us to deepen the kiss before he suddenly rolled us. The weight of his body pressed down on me and I whimpered, legs falling open to allow him to settle between them. The sensation of his hard length pressing between the apex of my thighs caused me to tremble.
A deep rumble left his chest as I locked my legs around him—but all too soon, he broke away from our kiss. Both of us were breathing unevenly and fast, and there was a wild look inhis eyes as he stared at me in a way I was unsure of. Perhaps adoration? The intensity of it heightened the heat of the blush in my cheeks as I fought the urge to lean up to steal another kiss.
“Bash, that was?—”
“A hell of a first kiss,” he admitted roughly, before leaning down to brush his lips against mine once more. “And for the record, your lipsareas sweet as your blood, Darling. I’m utterly addicted to every part of you, it seems. I suppose I’ll have to stay around forever, just to get my daily dose.”
A whimsical sigh left him as a smile spread my lips into a full grin. He was so dramatic, and somine.
After a long moment of comfortable silence, he rolled us back over to the side, and I allowed myself to soak in the deep affection I could feel expressed through his reverent touch. He may not have realized it himself yet, but when he cared for someone, it was so palpable that you could feel it with every part of your being. I swore my toes were tingling in delight right now. How was that even possible?
“If today wasn’t important, I would suggest we stay in bed,” he murmured, twirling a piece of my hair around his finger in thought. While I absolutely loved the idea of that, it did remind me ofwhytoday was so important…
“How are you feeling about meeting with Noah?”
His expression turned thoughtful, his gaze going distant momentarily as he tilted his head in consideration of my words. “I’m not sure. I mean his theory doesn’t surprise me at all. Not that I understand what an Archimage is, but I do know that my magic has never existed within the realm of ’normal.’ So the concept that I could have a dead affinity isn’t very surprising to me. It would explain why Alfemir was so obsessed with figuring out what made me tick.”
I nodded in understanding as he continued, “But it does make me wonder what else I’ve been able to do that I have yetto try. The prospect of having unlimited magic is appealing, but somehow, this theory makes me feel like I understand my magic even less than I did before.”
“I feel similarly,” I expressed, my concerns about training with Noah coming to the forefront of my mind. “I don’t even know, or can’t begin to fathom, what my training will include. I mean, how will he train either of us if he doesn’t have experience with our affinities? At least you’re already actively using magic, so that should help to an extent, but I’m at a complete loss on how he’ll conduct my training.”
“Noah wouldn’t offer if he didn’t have at least some information,” Bastian assured me before sighing. “Well, at least I would hope that’s the case.”
“We need to go see him,” I said as I closed my eyes, accepting that we were in fact going to have to get out of bed.
“Come on, Darling.” Bastian brushed his lips against mine once more before rolling off the bed, causing a scowl to start to slip onto my lips. A chuckle filled the space as I watched him walk to the bedroom door.
When he turned back to look at me, his smile had my own appearing. “The faster you get up, the faster you can have coffee.”
Well, now getting up felt at least a bit more appealing…As my door clicked shut with his departure, I rolled out of bed, standing up and stretching my arms above my head.Moving into the bathroom, I quickly tugged my hair into a high ponytail before washing my face and brushing my teeth. I applied the lightest amount of mascara to my light lashes and brushed on some chapstick before going to my wardrobe. I slipped on a pair of dark leggings and a cropped shirt over my sports bra. Once I laced up my sneakers, I called it good enough.
Before leaving the room to join the others downstairs, I walked toward the bedroom windows and pushed open thecurtains, revealing the cloudy morning sky. While it wasn’t raining yet, I couldn’t help but want to light a candle and curl up in bed for the day, the weather creating a cozy and perfect atmosphere for relaxing. I couldn’t remember the last time that was even an option.
One day I would. One day weallwould have the option to do whatever we wanted, without a cloud of dread hampering us and the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
As I strode out the door, I ran into Gabe. He pulled to a hard stop and caught me by the waist as I stumbled back from hitting my face on his hard, muscular chest.
“Shit, hello to you too,” I murmured under my breath.
“Sorry, Little Star, I didn’t mean to almost knock you on your ass.” He looked over my frame with concern, his brows furrowing as I narrowed my eyes playfully.
“Alright, come on now, I’m a bit stronger than that.” I scowled, causing amusement to tug at his lips.
“Of course, I would never claim otherwise,” he agreed a little too easily, tugging on my ponytail playfully in the process.
Offering him a small huff, I walked past him and down the steps, but his chuckle followed me down onto the main floor.Knocked me on my ass?Maybe I needed to show him some of the training that had been drilled into me—we would see who’d be on their ass then. The picture of me straddling him, with him flat on his back, had my legs rubbing a little too closely together with each step. I was still a little worked up from that kiss with Bastian and needed to find a way to expel this pent up sexual energy.
“I’ll grab you coffee,” Gabe mused in passing while going toward the kitchen, drawing Ronan’s attention to the two of us. The Beast Tamer stood over the cooktop, folding an egg in a skillet with an assembly line on the counter next to him for whatever he was creating.
“Morning, Beauty,” he greeted me as I neared the island. His large hands reached over to the far left to hand me a wrapped object. I took it happily, realizing it was a homemade breakfast sandwich.
“Thanks, Ronan.” I offered him a small smile that he returned. The sound of laughter tugged my attention toward the sectional in the living room, and my brows shot up.
“Niz?” My voice was louder than I intended, imbued with surprise as I found his gaze already trained on me. Bastian, who had clearly just said something to make him laugh, sat in his normal spot eating his breakfast.
