When he rested his head back on the mattress, he never took his eyes off me.
“Are you my witch now?” he asked, gruff.
I stared at him, somehow more thrown by that question than I was by what we’d just done. Some darker, more twisted part of me wanted to laugh, but I knew that was just a nervous reaction, and probably a version of me running away, and nothing at all to do with how I actually felt. I also knew he likely wouldn’t react well if I did.
“I don’t know.” I fingered his long, platinum hair out of his eyes, and traced his jaw. “What are you really asking me, Caelum?”
He shivered at my touch, and maybe what I’d called him.
Then he leaned closer and kissed me, using his tongue. When he paused the kiss, a few seconds later, I felt him thinking about what I’d asked. His magic still sparked and swam over my skin, making me feel light-headed. One of his hands cupped my breast, stroking the skin around my areola with his thumb.
“I don’t want you doing this with anyone but me,” he said, his eyes hard, direct. “I don’t want you touching anyone else. I don’t want anyone touching you. I don’t want you kissing anyone else. Or going on dates with anyone else. Or fucking anyone but me.” His gold eyes rippled with heat as they studied mine.“Is that clear enough?”
I thought about that, then nodded slowly, biting my lip.
“And you?” I asked. “What about your revolving door, Bones?”
He let out a scoffing sound, but never stopped stroking my hair, or my breast.
“You think I’d ask for exclusivity from you, without being willing to do the same?” he asked drily. “Bloody hell, Shadow. You really do think I’m a prick, don’t you?”
I flushed, but genuinely thought about the question.
Slowly, I shook my head. “No. That’s not why.” I rested my head on my arm, watching him look at me. “I just don’t know what’s considered normal here. Especially for royals.”
“It’s not that,” he grunted. “Not for me, at least.”
I nodded. My heart was back to slamming in my chest.
“Okay.” I met his gaze. “Then, yes. I guess I am your witch.”
His eyes flinched. Then he smiled, tugging on one of my curls. “Good.”
Something about that smile brought a sharp pain to my chest.
I’d never seen him smile like that before. It looked and felt completely guileless, without any hint of a smirk or indifference or calculation or even humor. I’d never seen him do it with any of his friends, in any context, in the entire year and a half I’d known him.
33
Caelum: Fifteen Years Old
Yule Night
Seven Years Ago
Gorgon College Dormitory
Briarwood Wyrm Middle Academy
Control. Control. Boxes. Walls. Control. Chimaera. Thoughts in boxes. Everything in boxes. Put them all in the boxes…
Images. Pieces. Remembering.
Smash it. Snuff it out.
Anything that hurts. But he can’t smash it. He can’t make it disappear, or reverse anything, or fix anything. He can only hide it from himself.
Shielding. Chimaeras. Spells he’d memorized backwards and forwards.
