“I have no idea. The books describe how different magic is supposed to feel to a caster, but it’s confusing the fuck out of me. I must not understand it properly, because I feel a jumble of what the books describe and not just one specific thing.”
They all nod their heads in understanding, which makes me feel a little better. The books make it sound so easy to figure out what your magic is, and I’ve been feeling like an idiot.
“For most of us calling our magic and directing it is a visual thing. We picture what we want to accomplish, and we weave that intent with the magic itself and then send it out to do what we want. All the branches have limitations and possibilities, and you learn what they are over time,” Valen explains.
“Spell magic, however, works very differently than the other branches,” Knox tells me. “I have to know about the potential and the properties for anything in the world that could be used as an ingredient. I have to know how to combine those things to get what I want, and I shape the intent of the spell through words and processes, not visualization. Kind of like baking, you have to add things in a specific order to get the end result that you want. With Spell magic the words you speak into a spell matter, too.”
“That sounds real fucking complicated,” I tell Knox, and he laughs.
“Yeah I was a little freaked out when I found out I had Spell magic, but what can you do.”
He shrugs, and I smile. I don’t know if I’ll be as laid back as he is if I have Spell magic.
“So, Ryker heals, and Knox spells, what do you guys have?”
“I have elemental magic,” Sabin tells me.
Valen raises his hand slightly. “I have offensive magic.”
“And I have defensive magic,” Bastien finishes with a wink.
I rest my head back against Ryker’s shoulder and think about what Valen said about visualization and weaving that with magic in order to direct it. That’s kind of what I do with my runes, I suppose. I think about which weapon I want and the runes that create that weapon. Then I feed magic into those images, and the weapon I want pops into my hand. I smile feeling like I finally understand that part of things.
Lila calls down to us for dinner, and everyone but Ryker and me rush out at the promise of food. I’m slow to get moving, due to the hypnotic state I’m in from Ryker playing with my hair while I’m lost in my thoughts. I head to the door, but when I pass the pool table Ryker tugs on my hips, stopping me and then he turns me around.
He grabs on to my waist and lifts me to sit on the edge of the pool table. I squeak in surprise, and he chuckles. His eyes are filled with laughter, and his smile is devastatingly gorgeous. Ryker cups my face gently in both of his hands and leans into me. His lips are centimeters away, and I close my eyes and feel his breath against my lips.
“Vinna, I’m dying to kiss you.”
He runs the tip of his nose in a circle around the tip of mine but still doesn’t close the distance.
“Then why aren’t you?” I ask wantonly.
In the next breath, he gives me exactly what I want, and I finally feel his mouth against mine. I sneak my hands under the hem of his shirt and run them up his sides. He guides my head back with his hands and deepens the kiss.
His tongue guides mine expertly, fusing us together and coaxing my soul out to dance with his. I swallow his moan when I bring my hands to his chest and run my fingers over his hard nipples. Ryker sucks on my bottom lip flicking it with his tongue, and it sends bolts of yearning straight between my thighs.
He takes hold of my top lip and then returns to my bottom lip, the tips of our tongues teasing and testing, before he breaks away. Ryker tilts my face to the side to give himself better access to my neck. He starts a trail of kisses and gentle nips, from the lobe of my ear to the runes on my shoulder.
He lightly runs his tongue over my runes, and I moan at the sensation it creates. I’m so wet it’s probably visible through my dark shorts, but his tongue on my runes has my magic reacting in that strange way that happens whenever I get intimate with any of them.
Ryker runs the tip of his nose up the side of my neck.
“I just wanted a kiss, but now I don’t want to stop."
He nips my earlobe and then sucks where it connects to my neck. I moan again, and he moves his hands under the hem of my shirt caressing up my back. He brings his face in front of mine, and I lean in for another kiss.
“No one’s asking you to stop," I surprise myself by saying.
I feel his smile against my mouth, and it coaxes the corners of mine up too. He steps back from me, doing the exact opposite of what his words and eyes are telling me he wants to do. His strong hands and arms leave my skin, and I groan at the loss.
“Don’t tempt me more than you already are, Vinna,” he chuckles.
“Why not?” I whine.
Ryker laughs and threads his fingers with mine. He pulls me from the edge of the pool table, and I look back, surprised that I haven’t left a puddle behind. I climb achingly up the stairs and find the other guys waiting for us.
No one, including Sabin, says anything. Bastien gives me a quick wink, and that’s the only acknowledgment I get from any of them about what Ryker and I were obviously doing downstairs. Their lack of reaction feels natural and complicated all at the same time.
