That she was embarrassed to talk about this after what they had just done, after she had asked him to bind her with his wards, simply wouldn’t do. Nicholas shifted so he was fully on his back, pulling Sadie over him so her legs ended up on eitherside of his hips. “Then I suppose we’ll have to make up for lost time.”
Her eyes went wide, then she smiled, and the sultry confidence he was used to returned. She pushed up until she was straddling him with her hands on his chest. “An excellent idea.”
“I’m full of excellent ideas.” He let a series of images play through his mind, loving the way Sadie’s eyes went dark as she took them all in.
“That one.” She announced suddenly. The stream of fantasies stopped, and she returned one of them to him, this time from her perspective. He was leaning against the headboard, Sadie straddling his lap, riding him as he licked and sucked her breasts. In her version, Sadie’s fingers threaded through his hair, holding him to her, and his hands were on her hips helping her move on him.
Nicholas didn’t waste time. He pushed his upper body upright and claimed Sadie’s mouth in a scorching kiss, then clamped his hands over her hips and slid backward until he hit the headboard. She shifted, and before he was ready—would he ever have truly been ready?—she had his cock pressing against her entrance.
She slid down his length partway and ran her fingers through his hair. “You aren’t sticking to the plan,” she said breathlessly.
“Sorry, got distracted.” Nicholas wasn’t sure he was capable of thinking right then, but he didn’t really have to think, only do what felt good. He leaned in and swirled his tongue around the peak of her breast, and Sadie took him in another inch. He bit gently and tugged, and she moaned and seated herself flush against him.
His mouth busy, Nicholas tried to think loudly and clearly.Ready?
So ready.
They moved as one, lifting until Sadie was almost completely off him, then coming back together in a slow glide. They repeated the movement a few times, until Sadie’s nails pressed into his scalp and her thoughts became a refrain ofMore. Faster.
They moved faster, and Nicholas thrust up every time Sadie sank down, angling himself until her body and thoughts both told him he had hit the perfect spot. He pulled his lips from her breasts, and she was right there, kissing him with the same need he felt, as they both raced toward a cliff of sensation. Sadie leaped into free fall first and pulled him over the edge with her.
There was no crash, though. They floated down and landed in a jumble of limbs and tenderness.
A short time later, Nicholas was lying on his side, his arms around Sadie while her back pressed against his chest, one leg thrust between hers. She pressed her hands over his. “You have quite the imagination.”
“I will gladly share it with you whenever you desire.”
“If I can’t get a handle on my powers, you won’t have a choice.”
“Sadie.” He pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. “From what I understand, you’ve lived your entire life relying on a charm to control your magic. It will take time, but you will master your magic.”
“I don’t know if I can do it,” she admitted softly. “Being around people and not being able to control it is disorienting and dangerous. I start reacting to thoughts instead of words, and then people figure out I’m a telepath, and then I’m searching for a new place to live. Again.”
Nicholas tightened his hold on her. He’d been so caught up in making sure she didn’t run away earlier he hadn’t really thought about why she would run when her secret came out. Clearly, his attitude toward her power wasn’t the prevalent one.
He understood that. If Sadie weren’t Sadie, he might have hesitated upon learning she could read his mind. But even if she were a stranger, he wouldn’t have shunned her or tried to run her off. It simply would have taken longer for him to be comfortable, and he’d probably have devoted some time to figuring out how to ward his thoughts first.
Acceptance wasn’t a reaction Sadie could even imagine getting, though, which made him wonder just how many times she’d been hurt. “How often have you needed to move?”
???
Sadie was gratefulshe was facing away from Nicholas. She wasn’t sure she could handle this conversation while looking at him. At the same time, having his arms around her gave her the courage to start talking.
“Since leaving the village where I grew up when I was seventeen, I’ve had to move eight times. I lasted the longest in the first town I went to, because the charm still had power back then. But about a year and a half into living there, I told my closest friend at the time about my magic, thinking she’d understand.”
Instead of saying anything, Nicholas pulled a blanket over them both and pressed a kiss to her head. He understood that she wouldn’t be able to keep talking if he interrupted.
So, Sadie continued. “The charm died about six months after I made my way to a new village, and I was so unprepared my secret was out within a day. I wandered for a bit after that, but it was a struggle, and eventually I settled in another village. Since then, I’ve lasted one to two years in each place before I messed up. I’ve only been in Lamsdel eight months.”
She fell silent, and though she couldn’t actually hear Nicholas’s thoughts right that moment, she could sense theywere intense as he sorted through what she had and hadn’t said and decided on a response.
“You left home at seventeen?” he finally asked.
“I’d have left sooner if it hadn’t been for my grandmother.” Her hand moved toward her throat, but her amulet was lying on the floor in the other room. “Everyone there knew about my power. I was an outcast.”
“And the rest of your family?”
“My parents and brother couldn’t wait to see me leave. They couldn’t avoid me like everyone else.”
