“Okay,” I say, composing myself and focusing on the ring in my palm. “Watch closely this time. And no distracting the tutor.”
“I’m not doing anything,” Aric protests, but his voice holds an edge of teasing.
I ignore him and focus on the spell. This time, I attune myself carefully to the ring’s enchantment, feeling the steady pulse of the magic running through it, making it glow softly. I match its resonance, then gradually amplify it. The ring brightens, glowing more intensely, the magic strengthening without destabilizing. Aric’s eyes widen in the light the ring puts off.
“See?” I say, holding it up triumphantly. “Like that. The enchantment is now about twice as strong as it was, and it’ll hold that strength for several hours before gradually returning to its baseline.” The ring’s glow flickers slightly in my hand before I set it down on the table. When I look up, Aric has his head propped in one hand and is looking at me—no,staring. Blatantly.
My breath catches.
“You’re doing it again,” I say weakly.
“Doing what?”
“Being distracting.”
With a chuckle, he stands from his chair and comes around to my side of the table, leaning against it beside me. “Can’t help it. You’re very distractible.”
He reaches out and gently adjusts my glasses, pushing them up from where they slipped down my nose. His fingers linger for a moment against my cheek, and I forget how to breathe when he trails them down my neck, sending goose bumps dancing across my skin.
“Aric,” I say quietly. “We’re in the library.”
“I know.” But he doesn’t move away. “We’re in the corner though. No one can see us.”
“The librarian has eyes like a hawk—”
“Then I’ll be quick.” He braces one hand on the table and then leans down and kisses me, hard and fast, his free hand coming around the back of my head to cradle me against him. My body reacts immediately, leaning toward him, like it doesn’t realize we’re inpublic.
As Aric’s mouth moves against mine, I think of how it felt when he slipped his hand inside my panties, and I squirm in my chair, wishing we had a private room we could escape to right now.
When Aric pulls back, he’s smiling.
Dazed, I blink up at him. “You’re going to make me fail as a tutor.”
“Impossible. You’re the best tutor I’ve ever had.” He sits back down across from me, picking up his quill like nothing happened. The smile he gives me is all innocence, and he keeps that smile plastered on as the librarian walks by a moment later, helping a student find a book.
“We could’ve been caught,” I whisper when they’re gone.
“Caught doing what, Miss Waverly? Studying?”
I stare at him for a moment, trying to gather my scattered thoughts, then shake my head with a laugh.
We spend the next hour actually studying—mostly. There are still moments where our hands brush as we reach for the same book, or where I catch him staring at me instead of his notes, or where he makes me laugh so hard I have to cover my mouth to keep from disturbing the other students and getting shushed by the librarian.
By the time we pack up our things, the sun is starting to set, casting long shadows through the library windows.
“Walk you back to your tower?” Aric asks, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
“You always do,” I point out.
He flashes me a sideways smile. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop asking.”
We make our way through the library, past shelves of books and the stern portraits of librarians past. The castle corridors are crisp and cool, tinged with the scent of woodsmoke from the many burning fires trying to chase away the chill of autumn.
Aric takes my hand as we walk, threading his fingers through mine like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and I get a burst of warmth in my chest at the realization that he’s not embarrassed of me, like I thought he might be. I’m not pretty and popular like the girls I’ve seen him with in the past, but he still wants me, and he’s happyfor everyone to see.
“You know,” he says as we cross the entrance hall together, our shoes clicking on the marble floor, “I was thinking about something.”
“Uh-oh,” I tease.
