Chapter 22 #2
As before, he held me closely for the mistphase, and once we materialized, my fingers were gripping him anew.
Warmth from the dying fire brushed us, and Kole gazed down at me, his eyes hooded as our chests hovered only inches away from one another. He was so hard. And so still beneath my grip.
Out of nowhere, his hand ran up my back, caressing me, but his touch was light enough that it could have been unintentional, yet something rose in his aura. Something delicious and inviting, and I could have sworn that the same faint glow pulsed in his eyes as it had outside.
Everything inside me wanted to sink into him, and that strange feeling in my chest returned. I shifted forward, my core beginning to burn with want, but just as fast, Kole blurred away from me to the other side of the cave and gripped his wrist.
The separation from him was so abrupt that a chill seeped through my body. One second, he’d been in front of me, and the next, he was gone.
Brow furrowing, I looked at where he held his arm, but I hadn’t detected that strange magic again on his wrist, yet he was glowering and eyeing it again, almost as if anticipating his magic to rise.
It struck me that whatever that magic was, it was irksome to him, and it seemed likely that such magic came from another Solis affinity that he’d chosen not to share yet.
I ran a shaky hand through my hair. All in all, this struck me as a time when it was best to give Kole his space.
“I, uh, I think I might read before bed.” I kneeled by my bag and shoved my arm down the length of it, and when my fingers landed on my romance novel, I pulled it out.
I’d packed it on a whim, not thinking I would actually have time to read it, but suddenly, I was so grateful that I had.
I was too keyed up to sleep, and since Kole was currently scowling at the fire, and at his wrist, alternating between the two, it appeared he was no longer in the mood to talk.
In other words, reading seemed like the perfect way to wind down.
Turning on my side, I lay down on the bed and thumbed through the pages.
I’d been midway through the book, the romance building and the stakes heightening.
Given all that had happened with my uncle, it’d been over three weeks since I’d picked it up, but I remembered each detail with startling clarity.
Heavy energy pulsed into my back. Kole didn’t say a word, but he dropped down behind me on his side of our makeshift bed, and the covers dipped. He lay as still as a stone, his energy palpable, but at least, he wasn’t glowering at the fire anymore.
Despite his throbbing energy, I began to read, and by using the dying firelight and my sight sensory magic, the words were crisp and bright.
I scanned each page and soon got lost in the story. Amazingly, my ability to completely get enraptured in books took over, and before I knew it, I was living through the eyes of the heroine. The dying fire in the cave melted away, and the rigid warrior at my back fell to the great beyond.
A smile curved my lips when the heroine and hero found themselves on the lawn outside of a banquet they were attending. The hero convinced her to accompany him to the distant gardens, and soon, it was only the two of them, since the rest of the partygoers had stayed in the ballroom.
The entire book, I’d been waiting for this moment. Each of the characters had felt their attraction growing. Their need for one another blossoming.
The hero pinned the heroine against a tree’s trunk and began to kiss her. His hands roamed over her skin, his mouth on her neck, as he—
“His hard rod pulsed against her belly, and the need to have him inside her sang through her soul.”
Kole’s deep timbre jolted me out of the story, and his voice was not only tinged with amusement but something else, something . . . heated.
I snapped the book closed. Mortification burned my cheeks. At my back, I became aware of the warmth from Kole’s chest. Like me, he was on his side, but I had no idea when he’d turned to face me, or for how long he’d been reading over my shoulder.
“I didn’t realize you had such graphic taste in novels.” A slight tease filled his voice, but his undercurrent of want was there too.
“It’s just a bit of light reading before bed,” I breathed, since the shock of how he’d just read that filthy sentence aloud was still barreling through me.
“I thought you were an academic scholar?”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I don’t also read books for pure enjoyment.
” I cocked my head, and I tried to remember if I’d ever told Kole my profession, but then he shifted closer, not touching me, but stars, I was suddenly aware of every particle of his being, and his entire length was only an inch away.
How I’d not realized he’d moved so closely to me while I’d been reading, I didn’t know.
He leaned down and inhaled. I could have sworn that he was drinking in my scent. He inhaled sharply again and shifted even closer, nearly touching me.
“Fuck,” he said so softly under his breath, I almost didn’t hear it.
Panting, I didn’t say more. I couldn’t breathe. I could barely think. My entire body was on the precipice of igniting, both from my book and from Kole’s rising energy, and I had a feeling Kole was on the verge of touching me. Really touching me.
I was about to turn, to let him know that I’d welcome his advances, that I wanted him too, but a crack of magic filled the air, then a hiss of pain from Kole.
Before I could face him, coldness washed over my back, and the blankets tugged and pulled. I didn’t have to move to know that he’d just put distance between us again.
Energy rolled through his aura, but his head thumped against his pillow. “Goodnight, Prim,” he said, his voice sharp. “Sweet dreams.”
Confusion swamped me, and I tentatively rolled over, but the warrior had closed his eyes even though his aura was pounding out of him.
The firelight flickered in our makeshift cave, dimming more as the embers died.
What just happened?
The warrior had been on the verge of touching me, perhaps more than touching—I was certain of that—but Kole had stopped himself just as fast, right after his strange magic had flared.
What in the realm is that magic? I’d never heard of one’s magic causing pain before, but I also didn’t know much about Solis affinities. Maybe the reason he hadn’t told me about his other affinity was because it was more of a curse than a blessing.
Regardless of whatever had just happened, the warrior had made it clear he didn’t plan to act upon any attraction tonight, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause him more pain if his magic was stopping him from doing so.
“Night, Kole,” I finally whispered.
I settled myself onto the covers too, then forced myself to close my eyes while trying to forget my bursting arousal.
But my core throbbed. Between Kole’s allure and my smutty book, I definitely would have taken him up on his offer for release.
It’d been so long since I’d been with a male, and Kole was the epitome of a sexy male.
Sighing, I turned on my side and faced the wall again. Behind me, Kole shifted too, and even though he was once again trying to hide his aura, it pulsed into me in steady, strong waves.
I scrunched my eyes closed even tighter. Uncle Timith. Uncle Timith. Uncle Timith.
Concentrating on my sick family member helped dispel some of my arousal. Besides, I needed to remember why I was here. Even though the warrior elicited responses in me that I’d never felt before, our paths had only temporarily crossed.
And if we did have an affair, if we did find a way to overcome whatever pain his affinity inflicted on him, it would likely be quick and fleeting . . . over before it truly began.