I’m not going to be able to resist him any longer. Taking him when he is not ripe is going to play havoc with his magic and delay him settling into a rhythm. But I don’t think I’ve ever cared about anything less. I’m already looking forward to tonight.
I need to stop that train of thought before I end up spending the journey home with a boner. Or by ravishing Colby. The latter doesn’t even seem like a bad idea at all. Which just goes to show how addled I am.
I need to think about something else. Anything else. An image flashes across my mind, of Baxby with his grubby hands on Colby. I frown. I don’t want to think about that, but it is too late. I can already feel an echo of the rage that burned through me at the sight.
How dare Baxby touch what is mine.
Colby is precious and does not deserve to be sullied by the likes of him. I’m going to keep Colby safe, if it is the last thing I do.
A soft snore echoes around the car. Colby is asleep? He feels safe enough with me to not only fall asleep in my presence, but actually leaning on me? How can one person be so utterly adorable?
An uncomfortable feeling settles in my gut. The familiar weight of responsibility. Colby is sweet, naive and innocent. That makes him so very vulnerable. Unable to defend himself. Which means it is all on me. And it feels different than looking after Jem. For one thing my brother is more vicious than an alley cat. For another, this feeling I have for my husband feels far more intense than my feelings for my brother.
That thought makes me want to squirm, but I hold still. I don’t want to disturb Colby. I did work him hard last night, it’s only fair that I let him rest. Not moving a muscle for the entire journey is going to get uncomfortable, but I don’t mind. Having a gorgeous young man snuggled up to me is hardly a hardship.
I let my mind drift as I savor the experience of Colby sleeping on me. By the time we arrive home, I am indeed very stiff. Colby stirs and his beautiful brown eyes regard me in sleepy confusion for a moment, before they widen in alarm.
“Oh gosh! Did I fall asleep on you?”
He looks horrified, as if it’s the worst thing he has ever done. Knowing him, it could well be in his top five of most terrible acts. I can’t fight the grin that stretches across my face.
“Please tell me I didn’t drool on you! Or snore!” he exclaims.
I shake my head. He did a little of both, but I don’t mind at all. It was incredibly endearing.
He bolts out of the car and I’m hit with a ridiculous amount of regret that I didn’t get to open the door for him. What on earth has come over me?
It takes an embarrassing amount of time to climb out of the car and once I’m standing, I have to crick my neck. Colby is staring at me wide eyed. Clearly figuring out how stiff I am from being his personal mattress for hours.
“Do you want to come to my rooms? I can give you a massage?” He pauses and flushes a gorgeous shade of pink. “A normal, chaste massage.”
I’m grinning again. I really hope that one day he offers me an abnormal, unchaste massage. That sounds delightful.
“I’m fine, besides, I’m sure you have things to do,” I say.
He smiles at me and shrugs. “Not really. I was just going to catch up on the latest episode of The Last Of Us.”
I ignore my pang of guilt at how empty his life is, now that he is wed to me and forced to fulfill a vessel’s duty of lying around until he is ripe enough to surrender his magic to me. It’s cruel and unfair. I’m sure Colby still has hopes, dreams and ambitions like everyone else. But I don’t want to think about that right now.
“The one that came out last night?” I hazard a guess.
His eyes light up. “You’ve been watching it too?”
I nod, and he beams at me. It feels good to make him happy. It’s a feeling that could become addictive. I’ve never even heard of this show he is talking about, but what is one little white lie to a prince of lies like me? It’s worth it to make him happy.
He gives me a shy look and my heart beats faster.
“You, um could come to my rooms and we can watch it while I give you that massage?” he offers tentatively.
I’m nodding my agreement before I have even thought about it. I want to spend more time with him. There are things I need to do. But nothing that can’t wait. I have a sinking feeling that even if they were urgent, I’d still neglect them in favor of basking in Colby’s presence for a little longer.
The smile he gives me is truly dazzling. Its light reaches the darkest corners of my soul. I give him a grin in return and follow him to his rooms. I wonder if he knows that I would follow him to the ends of the earth?
Chapter twenty-two
Colby
Awideyawnovertakesme and a quick glance at the time shows me that I really need to stop falling down this rabbit hole of true crime videos on YouTube and go to sleep.
