7. Thorne #2
The constant knot in my chest twists at that.
It seems like a lie to agree. I wouldn’t say I know my own needs, more that I know what’s expected of me.
I could choose to leave and follow any impulse I have, but the coven depends on the four of us.
If one of us were to go, it would be the end of hundreds of years of lineage protection and would sever the connection to the ancestral magic so many depend on.
“Are you okay?” Elsbeth’s hand grips mine and she brings me back from the vast cavern of dread inside of me.
I give my senses a shake and put on a half-hearted smile. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind this week.”
“Exams?”
Scholarly tests would be a much more tolerable stress at the moment.
“Yeah, the work seems endless.”
“Midsemester slump.” She relaxes back in her chair but keeps her eyes intent on me. “You need to have some fun. Where’s your favorite spot to let loose?”
The party scene in the Ivy League tends to be more extravagant.
Trips to Fiji or Spain. Nightclub hopping in Prague.
But in the six years I’ve been attending, my breaks from coursework have been taken up by studying the pages of grimoires and diaries of the legacies of the past. The promise of freedom after graduation was never given to the four of us.
Fox is the only one to choose a different path outside the gates of the Harvard tradition.
But his intelligence and family capital have built him a life and wealth of his own.
“I spend a lot of time with family,” I finally answer.
“I didn’t take you for the sentimental type.”
I perk a brow. “What did you take me for? A playboy type? Slacker?”
A dimple forms on her cheek. “With the way you carry yourself, I thought you were one of the repressed finance-bro types that likes to let your inhibitions go on some remote island.”
“Finance bro?” I laugh. “I hope I don’t look like a pretentious douchebag.”
“A girl can’t be too careful out here. It seems like every guy I meet is more interested in their own voice than what’s happening in the world around us.” She shrugs, brushing off the observation as an expectation for my gender.
“Is that how you see me now?”
Her lips tighten into a line and she narrows her eyes at me like she’s looking for the change in my skin.
“No, you’re much more serious than I thought. Like, you’re actually hard to get to know because you tend to have a lot of walls built around you. But I think if you let someone in, you’d do everything in your power to protect and nurture them.”
Holy shit. I shouldn’t feel so seen by a practical stranger. She picks up her wineglass and drinks the last bit of it. I reach for the bottle, but she shakes her head.
“I shouldn’t have anymore or I won’t be able to drive myself home.”
“I wasn’t planning to let you drive.” It comes out like a line, but I’d rather her think I’m a horny pig than so irresponsible that I’d let her put herself or anyone else at risk by driving home after drinking. “Sorry, that’s not—”
“It’s fine, Hawthorne. I know what you mean.” Her gaze softens, and the vise around my lungs releases. She’s disarming me at every turn and I can feel myself tripping at her feet.
“Not that I wouldn’t want to take you back to my place, but I prefer you get home safely. You’re the best gym buddy I have.”
She laughs and my face burns. The taste of my foot is so deep in my mouth that my throat feels tight.
“Maybe I’ve had a little too much. That semester of poetry is useless right now.”
Her hand reaches over the table to mine. “That explains your finance degree.”
I hide my face in my hands, laughing at her wit. “Okay, my ego can’t take you being funnier than me any longer.”
“Sounds like it’s time to call it a night then.” Her lips break into a playful smile and my chest inflates.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” I offer, internally damning myself for not ordering a second bottle because I want nothing more than to get lost in her for the rest of the night.
“Such a gentleman,” she says, seduction not waning in her words.
I nod and look around for the waiter. After paying, I offer her my arm to escort her outside. The early fall heat of the day has faded to a crisp evening. She tucks in close when a gust of wind meets us around the corner.
“Here.” I shrug off my coat and drape it over her shoulders. “Where did you park?”
The lot is almost empty. A half dozen vehicles dot around the dark pavement.
“Right over there.” She points to a small red hatchback near the line of shrubs that mark off the parking lot and the street.
She easily melds to my side as we walk. The cloud of our breath leads the way.
“You promise you’re okay to drive?” I lean down to open her door for her.
“I don’t live far.” She stops in the angle of the door, between it and the steel frame.
“That doesn’t answer whether it’s safe or not.”
Her hand reaches for my hip, a slight pull to bring me closer.
“Are you offering to take me home, Hawthorne?”
I swallow heavily, my mouth watering at the way her eyes sweep down my face to my groin and back.
Until now, our flirting at the gym has been more competitive than sexual.
Not that I haven’t imagined fucking her in the steam room on multiple occasions.
But she’s being more forward tonight, and I’m struggling to keep my composure.
“Only if you want me to.” I lean down but hover over her lips.
“Are you this polite in bed?”
The answer is a resounding no. I’m ruthless. Especially with the stamina of hundreds of years of magic flowing through my blood. “If you don’t get in your car in the next five seconds, it’s going to be very difficult for me not to show you how polite I can be. Five . . . four . . .”
“Goodnight, Hawthorne Bishop.” She smiles, pushing up to her toes to press her lips to mine. Fireworks ignite. Bells ring. A chorus sings when she wraps her hand around my throat and pulls me closer, deepening our kiss.
Her thumb brushes over my Adam’s apple, and I summon every bit of restraint I have left to not pin her against the hood of her little rally car and kiss her breathless.
I pull away before I step over a line and lose any chance of seeing her again. Not to mention, anyone could see us making out like a couple of teenagers in a restaurant parking lot. The last thing I need is for word to get back to Mariana that I’ve been courting women outside the coven.
“See you tomorrow?” I ask, trying my hardest to convince myself to let go of her.
She looks up at me, lust filling her hooded eyes.
“Cardio Tuesday. My favorite.”
She sinks down into her driver’s seat, and I shut the door, closing all possibilities of getting laid tonight.