I gripped his jaw, forcing him to look at me. His eyes flashed with a warning, but I held fast. I tapped his mark. “And my magic didthisfor a reason.” Nothing about what we’d just done felt wrong.
Nothing.
“I don’t give amalthek rhelabout your council or their rules. Whatever happened between us to alter your mark isn’t wrong. It’s amazing.”
Finally Nick smiled, his eyes losing the uncertainty I’d hated seeing there.
“What does that mean?Malthek rhel?”
I smiled back at him, relieved. “I believe Axel said it translates to the same sentiment as flying fuck or rat’s arse.”
His loud laughter filled the air around us and my stomach fluttered with the force of a hundredplahthel.
Oh.
I realised with equal parts elation and concern that this moment reminded me of the first time I stepped through the gateway to come here. I had no idea what was in store for me, but I knew nothing would ever be the same again.
* * *
Nick
Fucked.
I was so totally and utterly fucked.
I had three years left of the conditions set by the council, and I couldn’t see them being overly keen on this new development. But with Dathal lying next to me, traces of his magic lingering on my skin, I couldn’t find the will to care.
I was sure the panic would return later, when he left and took his magic with him, but for now I wanted to bask in the afterglow of both the most mind-blowing orgasm I’d ever had and the feel of magic once more thrumming through my body.
Not that I hadn’t believed Axel at the club, more that he’d exaggerated. But sexwasbetter with Dathal.
So much better. I wasn’t sure I could find the words to describe it.
Intoxicating.
A full-body experience.
Neither of those descriptors did justice to what I’d experienced. He’d given me back my magic for long glorious moments and I’d felt whole for the first time in six years.
I knew it wasn’t permanent. The effects were already fading fast, but he’d reminded me what I was. It’d been so long since I’d felt the electricity of strong magic, I’d forgotten what it felt like to be a witch.
To be myself.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t bittersweet now that the afterglow of orgasm began to wear off. Because he’d reminded me of what I was missing, what I’d lost through no one’s fault but my own, and I wanted it back so badly I ached with it.
But…
And that was a huge fuckingbut. I couldn’t imagine for one second that the witches’ council would see this new development as a good thing.
Dathal’s grip on my jaw loosened, his thumb stroking along my cheekbone. For two people who barely knew each other, intimacy came easy. So easy that I closed my eyes and leant into his touch, needing a moment to get my head around everything.
“What will they do?” He let go of me and reached for my wrist instead, turning it so the mark was on full display.
“I don’t actually know.” I smirked, because explaining how it happened would be…interesting. “I would imaginethisis unprecedented. I don’t know how easy it would be to add the year back on.” I shrugged. “Maybe they can remove this one and give me a new one? I have no idea.”
Dathal closed his fingers around my wrist, covering the mark entirely. “And if you didn’t tell them?”
My gaze shot to his. “I can’t do that.” Even though it was so, so tempting to keep this to myself, keeping something of this magnitude from the council wasn’t the right move. “If this happened after…” I gestured between us. “Would the same happen again?” Not that I wanted to assume Dathal wanted a repeat. I sure as fuck did, but it could just as easily be a one-off thing for him.
