Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Red for the roses, white for the veil, one to remember, one to betray.
Knock.
I lightly knocked and Theo looked up from some papers he was studying.
“Are you still working now?” I asked and entered the room.
He sighed. “I don’t think I can sleep, so I thought I’d better be productive. What about you?”
I held up the box in response and he smiled.
“I am glad you like them.”
I walked across to the other side of his office and sat down on one of the sofas there.
“You were right about there being too much at stake,” I said and looked down at my hands, examining the lines on my palms. “I rarely form a connection with anyone and I am not as good at hiding my emotions as you are.”
I heard him exhale sharply and looked up, surprised to see anger flashing across his face.
“Is that what you think of me?” He ground out. “I am doing my job, Mae. It’s called being responsible! I am sorry that I can not act on every little bit of attraction that comes my way.”
His words cut deeper than I expected. I knew he wasright, nothing had ever happened between us, and nothing ever would. Even if the prophecy were lifted, he was a god, destined to outlive me by centuries. I blinked back the tears.
“I am sorry, again, for angering you. Maybe it’s best for us to take some time apart.” I sniffed and got up to leave.
“Please don’t cry,” he said softer now. “You don’t know how hard it is to see you hurting and not being able to comfort you.”
I sniffed again and looked at his face, worry and yearning written all over it.
“Would it truly be that bad to hug, Theo?” I asked, wiping away at my tears with the sleeve of my dress.
He blew out a breath.
“I don’t know, how strict the prophecy is about physical intimacy. But I know that I could never just hug you. It would never be enough, I would never be able to stop there.”
I slowly lifted my eyes up to meet his gaze. His eyes were burning with emotion and something else I couldn’t quite define.
“Oh,” was all I could say.
Chapter 20
We stared at each other until I cleared my throat.
“To be clear, I don’t think I’d want you to stop,” I whispered.
His nostrils flared and the pupils in his eyes widened.
“Stop it, we have been over this. You can’t keep saying those things.”
His words were firm, but the tone of his voice betrayed him.
The heat in his gaze emboldened me.
“What if I walked across the room toward you and kneeled in front of you? Like you did that day at the library? If I was begging you to touch me, just once?” I asked.
He growled low in his throat.
