Chapter 24 Rosie #2
“Any time, Rosie. Any time.” Then he shifts back again and turns to our adventure. “Ready to make some sushi?”
Later that night, long after we’ve gone through each country and my stomach is perfectly full with amazing food (for reference, I was able to make a pretty decent sushi roll while Jack opted for what he called a “free form” version after his fell apart), Jack’s fingers graze along my arm as we lie on his couch.
Some movie is playing, but I couldn’t tell you what it’s about or if it was a part of the travel date.
Night, I remind myself. Travel night. This was not a date.
While Jack called it a grand gesture, it wasn’t actually a date.
Just a reminder that if someone wants to give you an experience, they will.
A friendly little push, a reminder for when this curse is broken and I’m able to find my Mr. Right for good.
Though, as of late, I haven’t even really thought much about finding my soulmate, something that is so far from my normalcy. I’ve been far too consumed with breaking the curse and finding the ingredients Phillip needs to pass to the other side. Right? Right.
After a few minutes, his hands move to my neck, looping a finger on the chain there and shifting it back and forth, a soothing and slow pattern that has my busy mind slowing.
He moves in a way similar to how I do when I’m nervous, playing with the amulet to distract myself.
It feels right, though, his fingers tugging at it, the tips grazing along my skin.
“You’re still wearing this,” he murmurs low, and my eyes open before shifting to look at him.
“Yeah. I always wear it.”
“Except at the club.”
I nod. “It holds magic: you can’t bring anything into that club that contains or wields magic. It’s against the rules.”
“So when you’re wearing it, you can’t kiss-bond people?”
I nod, though I’m confused by his line of questions, since we already went through this.
“Yeah. It blocks it from taking hold. My sisters and I all got them when we were preteens. When it’s off, any nonmagical person I kiss is bonded to me temporarily.
” My breath catches when his fingers move up and around my neck, before his fingers are at the clasp, undoing it.
Gently, reverently, he removes it, clasps it again, and sets it on his coffee table.
“Let’s do it again,” he says, voice low once his eyes are back on mine. My brows furrow as I take him in, tipping my head to the side.
“Again?” My brain is working down lower with his hands on me, with his body so close, so it takes a minute to realize what he’s proposing. “You want me to bond you?”
He nods. “Just… just for the next couple of weeks. Until the curse is broken. It was a rush, you know?” I nod because I do.
Bonding with Jack was unlike anything I had ever felt before.
But I can’t help but recoil at his words, at him calling it a rush.
Despite everything preceding our own bond, it’s supposed to be intimate and special, not something you do for the fun of it.
His brows furrow; he’s clearly reading something on my face.
“What? What did I say wrong?”
I shake my head, then try to shift away.
“No, tell me. I said something wrong.” He tries to move over his thoughts before landing on something.
I realize quickly that it is the right thing.
“Shit, I didn’t mean your magic was a rush.
Well, it is, of course. God, I’m fucking this up.
” One of his hands comes up, rubbing over his face as he takes in a deep breath, his other hand still holding me tight so I can’t escape.
“The magic was a rush. But that feeling… the intimacy of it. The closeness. The… need. Fuck. I want to experience it once more with you. Before this is all… you know.” The dread curls in my stomach, the same way it has every day this week, as I thought of ending our time together.
It’s just the uncertainty of it, that’s all, I remind myself for the thousandth time. It has nothing to do with Jack. It’s the fear that, if my love life is still in shambles when there’s no curse to blame, I have no option but to realize I am the problem.
And despite it all, I want to feel that too: the intimacy, the need that filled my veins for Jack. In fact, it would be smart to know what it felt like before I did it with my one true love. What if it’s too much? Or not good? Or ruins something? I should know that, after all.
“Oh,” I say, finally. “That makes sense. I think it would be… very satisfying.” Those are the only words I can think of to describe how I think being with Jack while bonded would feel.
Or at least, the only ones I’m comfortable with saying out loud.
He smiles then, like he sees right through me and my hesitation.
“Have you ever had sex with someone while on the bond?”
My gut turns and churns, and I realize I have never told him the truth.
“I uh,” I start. “I’ve never done that with anyone.”
“Had sex while bonded?”
I shake my head. “None of it. The kiss bond? I’ve never done that.
Never, uh, had the opportunity.” He stares at me for long, long moments before I start to word-vomit an explanation.
“My mom gave me my locket. She warned me of the impacts, that it would undoubtedly expose my magic to anyone I bonded with, and I needed to trust that person fully. She basically talked the fear of god into me, so I told myself I wouldn’t do it unless I were in love. And, well, with the curse…”
“You never did it with anyone,” he says, understanding, and I nod before we fall into a silence. It’s not uncomfortable, but also not… great. Finally, he breaks it, staring at my lips.
“Can I kiss you, Rosie?” It’s sweet and soft, and I know he’s saying so much with it beyond can I kiss you.
Can I ignite the bond?
Can I be the first?
Do you trust me?
The answer to each of those three questions is the same, though, so I whisper it aloud.
“Yes.”