Chapter 43
Rohak
The door clicked softly shut behind Lex and Ilyas, the momentary brightness from the Mage Orbs in the hall creating stark shadows before it was cut off once more, leaving the fire in the hearth as the only light source.
There were additional orbs in my office, affixed to the walls and ceiling, but something about the fire was intimate.
Especially with Faylinn seated in a chair across from the massive hearth, a black blanket I’d nabbed from my room covering her from neck to feet.
On second thought, maybe I should turn a light on . . .
Maybe it would help alleviate these feelings that stirred deep within my soul whenever she was around.
“Rohak?” Faylinn called quietly, pulling me from my thoughts.
Her hesitancy and quietness shot a pang of worry through my body—Faylinn was not a reserved woman.
Brash and excitable, intelligent and confident, yes.
But hesitant? Maybe even nervous? Those were emotions I had no idea how to handle with her.
I sighed heavily, finally turning from the closed door to face her, only to have my breath catch in my throat again.
She was beautiful.
Her face was softly lit by the warm orange hue of the flames that crackled and popped in front of her chair.
She chewed her lip softly, an unspoken question hovering in her hazel eyes that gently searched my face for an answer.
There was something soft and unguarded about her expression this morning, and I felt my heart plummet to my feet.
A gruff Faylinn was easy to compartmentalize.
But this version?
She was showing me a side of her I’d never been privileged to see before. I felt my heart beat erratically and face soften at the thought of something more with her.
But she’s not a Destruction Vessel. She cannot be yours.
“What happened just there?” she asked, a bit of her normal pep lacing her tone, though I could tell it was forced. Whatever happened as she tried to enter the Academy today rattled her, the experience taking its toll on her countenance.
“What?” I grunted, moving to stand next to her chair.
I towered over her while she was sitting, my crotch even with her mouth as the shadow of my body fell across her lap.
Faylinn craned her neck back slightly so she could still see my face, and I suddenly had a flash of a vision of Faylinn at this level for a completely different reason.
Her looking up at me with those intelligent eyes, dancing with lust and mirth.
Of her slowly unbuttoning my pants and freeing my hard cock.
Of her wrapping her long fingers around my length, guiding it to her open, wet mouth.
Great. And now I’m hard.
I felt my erection grow rapidly beneath the confines of my pants, and was grateful they were relatively loose. It still wasn’t something I wanted her to see, though. She was already uncomfortable in the Academy, and I didn’t need my lust and desire making the situation any worse for her.
I quickly stepped away, turning my back for a moment so I could subtly adjust myself before sinking into the other armchair that framed the fireplace.
They were nice chairs—large enough for Faylinn to curl into, like she was already doing, and made of extremely soft black leather.
I’d never had armchairs in my office before, but this side of the room seemed empty.
And I wanted Faylinn to feel comfortable while she was here using the library.
Deep inside, I was hoping she would use my office as her home base again as she researched.
Maybe we could recapture some semblance of what we were before everything—before the Life Bonds and Ben, before I pushed her away and insulted her.
We’d both apologized, but I couldn’t help but feel there was a little hesitancy on her part.
Or maybe that was me projecting my own feelings onto her.
“You’re acting . . . strange,” Faylinn observed as I turned to face her.
I tried to lounge, tried to relax in the chair, but I was on edge.
My body was constantly tense, muscles ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.
An aftereffect of my time in Hestin, I was sure, though it was only exacerbated by my workaholic nature.
So I tried to release the tension in my muscles.
Attempted to assume a posture that resembled cool, unaffectedness.
But the result was some weird in between where my back slumped against the chair while my legs spread obscenely wide.
I still held my head high and alert, and the weirdness of the position caused a zing of pain to shoot down my spine.
Faylinn’s eyes only grew comically wide the more I wiggled uncomfortably in my seat, and I thought for sure I heard a suppressed giggle. When I looked, her face was as blank as ever, though her gaze danced with mirth.
“Never sat in a chair before?” she chided, humor lacing her question.
I grumbled something unintelligible before sitting rigidly straight, my ass perched at the end of the cushion.
I’d definitely sat in armchairs before, even in Faylinn’s presence, but there was always someone else there with us.
When we worked in my office together, I took residence behind my desk, head often bent to read whatever was placed in front of me.
This was not normal.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, my tone as stiff as my body.
Faylinn sighed as she stretched, the thick blanket falling away from her shoulders to land on her lap.
The black tunic she took to wearing popped from the waistband of her pants to expose a sliver of brown skin and a hint of the curves she kept hidden beneath her clothes.
My hands flexed at her movements before I curled them into fists lest I do something really abnormal and reach out to touch her. I was certain her skin would feel creamy and soft, the muscles beneath hard and taught.
I squeezed until my knuckles turned white, desperately thinking of anything else.
“Better,” she admitted with a yawn.
I stared unblinkingly, and Faylinn shook her head slightly, brown curls bouncing around her face.
“You are strange today. I think it’s this place. It made me black out or whatever that was when I crossed the threshold, and now you’re”—she gestured to my inevitably awkward posture—“doing whatever this is. So strange.”
She rose from the chair before bending to fold the blanket and set it on the cushion.
Faylinn propped her hands on her hips before twirling to face me, all previous softness and reticent fear wiped from her expression.
There’s no way she was able to recover that quickly, so I knew she was hiding it for my sake.
Probably because I was acting like a complete idiot.
“So, where is the library? Where am I working?” Her voice carried a hint of excitement, and I knew that part was at least natural.
She wanted normal, I could give her normal.
I think.
I nodded once before rising from my chair and walking swiftly to my desk. I picked up a heavy tome that sat on top and gestured for her to grab it.
Faylinn practically skipped to my side, her long fingers delicately sweeping across the cover before she cracked it open. Her eyes lit with excitement without even knowing what was written inside.
“This monstrosity of a book contains an alphabetical list of all the books, scrolls, and other papers found in the library in the Academy,” I explained, and was inordinately pleased when Faylinn’s gaze ripped from the book in her hands to meet my own.
Her mouth dropped open in a perfect “o,” and I had to will my thoughts away from the path they’d already taken once this morning.
“How did you get one of these? How do they even catalog the books down there? What happens when they acquire new ones?” She rapid-fired questions at me, and I couldn’t help the quirk of my lips. This was so like her—a zest for information and knowledge.
And to know I put that look there? Simply by giving her a book about . . . books?
That made me feel a way that I couldn’t put into words—and not one I wanted to focus on for too long lest I say something embarrassing.
Like, I think I might be falling for you.
“The scholars only accept new admissions twice a year. At that time, they re-catalog everything and rewrite that book.” I nodded to what was in her hands, and she gasped.
“But—but that must take ages!”
Her wonder and exclamation were adorable, and I chuffed a deep laugh. Pink coated Faylinn’s cheeks, and I quickly assured her I wasn’t laughing at her, just roused by her excitement.
“The use of Air and Earth Magic actually makes it a rather quick process,” I continued my explanation at her frown.
“An Earth Mage can date the book down to the month it was constructed, while Air Mages can use their magic to make pens write on their own, and at a rapid pace. They have an alphabetical list of all new books entering the library and just insert them into the library’s catalog once they reach that point in the alphabet. ”
Faylinn nodded her head as she rapidly flipped through the pages of the massive book. It was heavy, and I was rather shocked she could hold it in one hand while thumbing through the pages with the other.
“When was this one published?” she asked as she gently set the tome on my desk again so she could use two hands to flip through the pages.
“Last month,” I said, enthralled by her.
Faylinn didn’t reply, but there was a giddiness to her, almost an urgency as she rapidly flipped through the pages.
“So many books. So much knowledge. Where do I even begin?” she mumbled to herself, a gentle furrow in her forehead as she concentrated. I itched to reach out and smooth it with my thumb but held back at the last minute.
“Before you get too entrenched, why don’t I show you the tunnel I take between the Academy and the manor?
That way you won’t have to see the outside of it every time you leave and come back,” I suggested.
The tunnel was a carefully guarded secret—its existence only known by me, Alois, and the Earth Mage we contracted to build it.
Normally, I’d consult Alois before showing someone the tunnel, but my current frustration with the Lord of Vespera caused me to act impulsively.
It didn’t help that Faylinn’s anxiety surrounding the Academy had the desire to fix coursing through my blood. I wanted her happy and excited to explore all the secrets the Academy library had to offer—gods knew she was the only one in Vespera actually interested in the information stored there.
The scholars are going to love her.
But not too much, I hoped. I still wanted her to use my office as her reading room.
I’ll just have to tell her the tables in the library are for Mages and Vessels in the Academy.
Yes, that would work.
“A tunnel?” she asked quizzically, excitement lacing her tone. “Is it . . . a secret? Like a secret escape tunnel?”
I smiled wide at her exuberance.
“Ooh! It is a super-secret tunnel.” She giggled, closing the book but not before putting a scrap piece of paper between its pages, marking her spot.
“Yes, it is. You are now only the fourth person to know of its existence. And it needs to stay that way,” I said gravely. Faylinn schooled her expression before nodding once.
“Very good, if you’ll follow me?” I gestured for the door, leading her out into the hallway beyond.
“After I show you the tunnel, I’ll take you to the library.
I have a few other things I need to get to today and will have to leave you there.
But I suggest using my office as a workplace.
The tables in the library are generally reserved for students of the Academy,” I said with a little shake to my voice as I locked the door behind us.
Faylinn nodded, thankfully buying the lie.