Instantly, my eyes flashed back to hers.
“I love you, Peytor. That has not, nor will it change. Not unless you continue to belittle me and my feelings. I understand you have your own . . . reservations. But you cannot take your own trauma out on me. That’s just not fair.”
I grunted in agreement, shuffling uncomfortably in the chair.
“I don’t know what is going to happen. I don’t know if I’m going to Bond Lex. If that’s something that I want to happen thenof courseyou’ll be part of the conversation, Peytor. Ultimately, it is my decision, but I would never exclude you from something that directly involves you.”
My shoulders sagged as I held my head in my hands, letting Folami’s words and reassurance wash over me even as her words stripped me bare.
“I’ve been spending more time with Lex and Ilyas, getting to know them, and I plan to continue doing so. You should as well,” she commanded not unkindly.
“I don’t know if I want to get to know them, Fo,” I mumbled into my palms.
“And why is that? If we are to join their Bonded group?—”
“But it wouldn’t be me joining, would it?” I raised my head from my hands to stare at her, sadness etched into the lines on my face and hanging heavy in my voice. “Yes, you and I could—would—still be together, if you would have me. But I could never join that Bonded group. Lex is a Pain and Pleasure Mage. I am an Air Vessel. The compatibility is just not . . . there.”
Realization widened Folami’s eyes before they softened.
“You’re worried I would leave you.”
“Yes,” I confirmed bluntly. “I’m worried that you’ll get to know both of them, that whatever is happening in your soul right now will only pull you closer to them and away from me. It’s selfish, I know that. You and him have a chance at a connection that Mages and Vessels pray for, but it’s something I will never experience. Not with the woman I love, anyway.”
Folami pressed her lips together, her brows drawing down over her eyes in thought. At last, she sank into the armchair opposite me and crossed one leg over the other.
“What a pair we make,” she mused, and I laughed humorlessly.
“Perhaps, in time, we could all grow to love each other,” Folami said offhandedly, her long, dark fingers tracing abstract patterns in the chair’s fabric. I couldn’t help but hear the hope in her voice.
I sighed deeply, running a hand through my hair in an attempt to wrangle it into submission.
“Perhaps,” I relented, thinking of my immediate attraction to both men. You need to get to know both men in order to make an informed decision and I will do what I can, if that is what you want.”
Folami nodded once, her expression guarded yet hesitantly hopeful.
I slapped my hands against the armrests before pushing to a stand with a slight groan.
“Then that is what will happen. For now, let’s go bathe then rest. Tomorrow will undoubtedly be another busy and . . . filled day.”
I held my hand out to Folami, breathing a quiet sigh of relief when she immediately placed her palm on top of mine. We walked hand in hand to the bathroom, both of us silent as we filled the tub and undressed. The silence continued while we bathed and even when she sank wordlessly onto my cock after I coaxed every ounce of pleasure from her flesh.
Folami fell asleep easily in my arms that night, her breaths even and peaceful, but through it all I couldn’t shake the feeling of the Pleasure Mage’s eyes on me and what all of it meant.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Folami
“To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit,ayaba?” Ilyas’ deep voice rumbled through his and Lex’s room, inadvertently making goosebumps erupt on my exposed skin. It was difficult enough that Lex elicited this bodily reaction, but for his Pleasure Vessel to do the same was dangerous.
“I thought we could spend some time together.” My words came out harsher than I intended in an effort to disguise how much his presence affected me, and I internally winced. Luckily, the affable Pleasure Vessel didn’t so much as blink.
A slow smile spread across his face, crinkling the skin around his ocean-blue eyes as he leaned back against the wall. His tunic was still untucked, the neck open, likely from bathing moments earlier, and I was utterly transfixed by a drop of water leaking from his hair to fall down the side of his face.
My cheeks heated as I made eye contact with Ilyas, my slow perusal of his body not unnoticed.
“Getting to know us, hmm?” Ilyas teased, his voice full of dark promises. “In what way would you like to know us?”
I opened my mouth and shut it again, floundering in the sea of desire that suddenly engulfed the room. I gripped my hands behind my back, not wanting him to see my fingers as they twisted together.
