My first theory had worked.
Jubilation and hope raced through me as I returned to the training room, readying to try the next one.
To no avail, I’d tried to conjure the vase of flowers from an adjacent room to join me. I could sense my magic wrapping around it, but no matter what I tried, how hard I pressed, it didn’t work.
Eventually, I yielded to defeat, tired from the day’s efforts. It always surprised me how much more magic took out of me than physical training ever had.
Laying in the center of the room, I stared at the ceiling, taking in the small arches spanning across it from all six corners. They converged as one in an intricate pattern above me, and I idly pondered if that beautiful detail was what fortified this room.
I conjured glistening embers and freed them from gravity’s grasp, wanting to see for myself. They fluttered upward, unhurried, and as they reached the converging peaks, they were absorbed into the crisscrossed beams themselves. Interestingly, it worked the same as the pillars at the training facility, only these features were more delicate. I wondered if this room could handle the same amount of power as the training facility, or if that waswhy the pillars were unnecessarily large for the partial roof it held up.
“There you are,” Thaddeus said as his footsteps softly padded toward me. I tilted my head in his direction and gave him a smile.
He took me in, then looked up as if to try to understand what I was staring at, then returned his gaze to mine with a raised brow, evidently gaining no clarity on what I was fixated on moments before.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said. “Why are you in here?”
“Practicing,” I said simply, not wanting to divulge what I’d been up to until I had something more substantive to show. “No luck today?” I asked, already knowing the answer, his lack of triumph having given it away.
“No, not today.” His words were calm but tight.
Staying where I was, I reached into my pocket. “I found your pen,” I said, handing it to him.
A brightness entered his eyes as he plucked it from my hand. “So you did!” His fingers traced its details, and a wistful look filled his eyes. “It was my father’s.” His voice was low, barely a whisper.
Propping myself up on my elbows, I watched as he got lost in a memory. He’d never mentioned it was his father’s pen before—in fact, we’d almost never discussed his family. Then again, we never really discussed mine either.
I held out a hand, inviting him to join me. A half-smile tugged at the corner of his lips before he pocketed the pen, then knelt between my legs.
Bunching the fabric of his shirt in my hand, I pulled him toward me. He braced himself on either side of me and obliged my silent request. Holding his gaze, I lifted a fraction and kissed him. The connection was tentative, questioning, assessing, wanting to suss out the truth of last night’s fleeting kiss, feel what intimacy remained between the two of us. Understand where we truly stood.
Seeing the vulnerability on his face, the admission that it was hisfather’s pen made me ache to reconnect with him, have him close to me.
The way he kissed me back was equally tentative, as if he was trying to discern the same truths for himself.
Evidently finding what he was looking for, he leaned into me, pressing me down off my elbows, and deepening our kiss as he transferred more of his weight onto me. I slid my fingers under his shirt, running them up his torso, over the curves I knew oh so well. He shuddered at the touch and tilted his readiness against me. I let out a soft moan, and he took my bottom lip between his teeth, tugging softly.
Shifting his weight, his freed hand found its way under my skirt and traced its way up to my inner thigh. A guttural sound of approval slipped from him into my ear as he found warm readiness for him on the other side of my undergarment. He sucked in the flesh on my neck, and I bit my lip as he made taunting passes across that part of me that craved friction.
Breathing heavily, I blindly traced his pant line and unbuttoned it.
“Hey, Thaddeus, did you get lost? We’ve been wait—” Tarrin’s voice trailed off as Thaddeus and I froze in place, his hand halted where, a breath before, it had been poised to plunge into me. Blushing, I looked away, not wanting to see Tarrin’s face. “I…umm… By the stars, you two, really?”
Thaddeus lifted his mouth off my skin just enough to address Tarrin. “We’ll join you in a minute.” His deep, calm words tickled my neck, and seconds later, the door clicked closed.
Thaddeus bit down where his lips hovered, and he pressed the flat of his palm against my center and held it there. “We’ll finish this later,” he rumbled. A sound escaped me that was half moan, half plea, and his palm slid up and down in a wicked promise, almost making that same sound slip out of me again.
He kissed me, then shifted some of his weight off, pulling away his teasing hand.
“Damn it.” I sighed.
Thaddeus chuckled as he lifted himself from me, and I instantly missed his weighted warmth—and deft hand.
As I stood, he tucked my stray hair behind my ears. “Let’s go eat.”
Food wasn’t what I was hungry for, and Thaddeus gave me a knowing smile as he pressed his hardness into me once more and nipped at my earlobe, letting me know he wasn’t happy about it either.
I moaned in protest, and his chuckle caressed my neck, but with great self-control, we went to dinner.
