“But they knew you had the charm blocking your power?”
Sadie shrugged. “They didn’t trust it. Besides, the damage was done before Nana discovered the glyph for my amulet.”
“I’m sorry, Sadie. I’m sorry your family feared your power instead of helping you learn to control it. I’m sorry that people taught you over and over that your magic made you unloveable, for it isn’t true.”
She twisted in his arms, needing to face him now. “I’m sorry I assumed you would shun me the moment you figured it out.”
“You’ve learned to expect the worst. I can hardly blame you after what you’ve told me.”
“But you aren’t like anyone else I’ve encountered. I should have known you’d be different. No, I did know. I was going to tell you, to ask you to help me control my power. I expected my admission to drive a wedge between us, but I knew you would still help. But then you figured it out when I had decided to give myself one last evening to enjoy your company before changing everything, and I panicked.”
“We aren’t limited to one evening of enjoyment.”
“I realize that now, but I couldn’t conceive of that outcome before.” She’d thought, at best, it would be like with her grandmother. He’d want to help her, even as he was wary of herpower. She’d never even dreamed that he’d not only accept her power but revel in having her use it with him.
She was almost positive she hadn’t shared that thought with him, but he read her mind, anyway. “Sadie, I don’t think you fully accept yet how alluring it is to have your very thoughts in my head. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
Though her cheeks were warm, Sadie forced herself to be as open. “I liked when you used your power, too.”
He traced a finger over her cheek. “You know, given the way you reacted at the spring—and especially after what happened in the kitchen—your shyness at this point is a bit of a surprise.”
“At the spring, I didn’t even know you were there until it was already too late. Throwing a fit then would have been pointless.”
“And in the kitchen? You weren’t shy there.”
“I thought I’d be in control.”
He laughed. “You were. You didn’t even have to put your mouth on me before I was in your thrall.”
She patted his chest. “Good to know, but that’s not what I meant. I was the one giving pleasure then. I thought I could control myself, but it was still too much for me. I projected at one point. You were too distracted to notice, but I knew I had overestimated my ability to lock down my power.”
“Pleasure in particular activates your power, then?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.” Nicholas placed a hand on her bottom. “You know how I told you before that the best way to learn to control your power is to use it more in order to get a feel for it?”
Sadie nodded cautiously, not sure exactly where he was going with this.
“And you want me to help you learn to control your power?”
Another nod.
“Then clearly what we need to do is bring you as much pleasure as possible, if that makes you use your powerinstinctively.” He rolled onto his back and had her straddling him in moments. Then the hand on her ass pushed gently, urging her higher. And higher.
“Nick, what are you—”
He maneuvered her the last bit, and she was straddling his face, the faint stubble on his chin rubbing against her thigh with delicious friction. “We’re having a magic lesson, Sadie. I’m going to pleasure you, and since my mouth will be otherwise occupied, you’ll have to rely on your power to listen to my directions.”
“D-directions?”
“Mmhmm,” he hummed into the crease at the top of her thigh.Palms flat on the headboard, Sadie.
She flattened her palms against the headboard. Not obeying that mental order was not even a possibility.
Nicholas grabbed her thighs and tugged.Lower.
She was too aroused to be embarrassed. Too aware of the desire pulsing at the edge of Nicholas’s every thought. She shifted her hips lower and was rewarded for every mental direction she followed. Every thought she projected.
