He did.Her fingertips brushed his lower lip as he took the bite.She didn’t pull away immediately.The heat between them thickened.
“This is dangerous,”she murmured.
“Yes.”
They ate like that for several minutes, neither of them acknowledging when the shift had happened, when the meal had stopped being dinner and started being something far more purposeful. Food passed between them by hand instead of utensil, fingertips brushing, lingering half a second too long before retreating.
Each exchange tightened the space between them without either of them moving their chairs. Conversation wove through it in measured threads—questions about nothing that mattered and answers that meant more than they admitted. Everything moved slower now, heavier, edged with awareness neither of them pretended not to feel. The candles burned lower. The air thickened. And every time her skin met his, even in something as simple as passing a bite across the table, Magnus sensed the line between restraint and inevitability strain a little further.
“You asked me something on the phone,” she said. “You asked me what I wanted.”
“I did.”
“And I didn’t answer.”
“No.”
Her fingers traced the rim of her glass. “Does it really matter to you?”
“It does.”Magnus leaned forward slightly. “Because I don’t want compliance. Iwant you to choose.”
Her inhaled sharply.“Youbought my debt.”
“I removed it,” he corrected.
“And now?”
Magnus rose and moved around the table. He didn’t rush. He never rushed.Elia tracked him with her eyes.He stopped beside her chair.“Now you decide who you are here,” hesaid.
Her pulse beat visibly at her throat.“And if I decide I’m still a debt?” she asked.
Magnus bent slightly and slid his fingers into her hair, tilting her face up toward him.“Then I’ll disagree,” hesaid.
“You think this is inevitable.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you look at me like you’ve already chosen.”
Her lips parted. “I haven’t,” she said.
“You have.” His thumb brushed her lip. “You just haven’t admitted it.”
Her hands rose to his chest, not pushing him away.“Magnus…”
He leaned down and kissed her.The contact was gradual at first.Then she made a sound in the back of her throat and his restraint fractured.He pulled her to her feet and into him, her body fitting against his with delicious ease.Her hands slid up his chest and around his neck.He tasted wine and heat and something sweeter beneath it.He lifted her withoutthinking.
She gasped as her feet left the floor, her legs brushing his hips.He carried her from the dining room up the steps, kissing her as he moved. Her fingers tightened in hishair.
“You’re very sure of yourself,” she murmured against his mouth.
“I am.”
“And if I tell you to stop?”
He paused at the bedroom door and looked at her.“Then I stop,” hesaid.
