‘I’m ready, Knowledge Daddy.’
His strangled laugh echoed in my mind before everything changed.
Chapter 29
Alexander
Ispentmostofmy life dancing with my mental magic, pushing limits, then backing away. Not until I took my castle did I want something beyond myself so badly the ceilidh turned into a shuffle.
But now I wanted something else, and she wanted me back.
The dance floor called to me.
I had no idea what I was doing, but that only made it more exciting.
Adrenaline rushed through me as I shaped a small room with four simple chairs. The less detail, the easier it would be for us to find and then anchor the image into Quinn’s consciousness.
Rowan and Cayden sat on either side of me in the Alun. Our power throbbed around us like a living thing. Their tethers tied them to Quinn, and the magic sweating out of every pore bound the three of us. I didn’t drag this out. With a little push, I prayed my magic did what I wanted, and I entered the room I’d made.
It looked nothing like I expected. I stood in my office—every detail painted into place, as pristine as the day I moved in. The chunky wood of my desk was freshly oiled, and my old leather couch didn’t have a scratch on it. The shelves that now held my baskets of scrawls weren’t even up yet. The vivid memory sent a pleasant shiver down my spine.
“This is your office?” Quinn asked.
I turned at the sound of her voice, and my heart skipped a beat. A slip of a dress barely covered her glowing skin in silky baby blue. My colors. Her thick hair cascaded around her shoulders, and the red glowed where it mixed with the crystal strands. She was breathtaking. My cock twitched in agreement.
But it wasn’t in the right room, and I was alone with her.
“Something must have gone wrong. This isn’t what I built.” I started to back away, but her soft, warm hand settled on my chest, just above my heart.
“I can feel you.” Quinn pressed her palm directly into my chest. “I didn’t think this would be physical.”
My heart thumped faster, and I looked down. I, apparently, wasn’t wearing much clothing either.
“Tethers evolved with the tremors to protect fertility; they aren’t mental magic,” I reasoned. “This must be the tether mixing with our subconscious, pushing what biology already demands.”
Quinn went very still. Her gaze didn’t leave her hand on my chest. “What our biology demands… so it’s not something you want? It’s just another byproduct of magic.”
My heart plummeted. When Quinn tried to pull her hand from my chest, I caught it and pressed it back, like losing her touch would stop my breathing.
“No.” I placed my other hand on her lower back and drew her closer.
She still didn’t look at me. Pain filled her tether and pulled at doubt, still festering inside her.
My next words carried the weight of my future. “‘Want’ doesn’t cover how I burn for you. Your magic called to me the moment you stepped into my castle. Our breakfasts woke a playful side of me I’d forgotten. Your presence disturbed routines that had been killing my soul so slowly I hadn’t even noticed.” My heart thumped under her hand. I cupped her cheek, forcing her to look up at me. “I want you so badly; my subconscious ignored my rational mind to make sure we ended up here.”
The pain in her tether eased. Hope mixed with disbelief and excited expectation. Her disbelief was my fault. Maybe a bit of Ezra’s, too, but mine. I had to fix it.
Quinn’s eyelashes fluttered as she gazed into my eyes, as if desperate for me to do exactly that. “Why are we in your office?”
One of the thin straps holding her dress up slipped off her shoulder. I traced it, quickly losing brain cells to my stiffening cock.
“This office was my first real home. The first place I felt safe. And…” I couldn’t help myself. I leaned down, pushing her hair back so I could kiss her neck and smell the sweet scent of her. “It’s special to me.”
I wanted to blush, but couldn’t. In this room, Ezra showed me how much more sex could be than hand jobs and quickies in The Mile’s tunnels. This was the first place we’d laid each other bare in the light.
And now, I was here with Quinn.
My blood raced, and my dick throbbed. I knew what she was going to ask before she opened her mouth.
