Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Red wine?” Brayden asked once they were alone in his room. “I have that or whiskey.”
Scarlett swallowed as she eyed the bed before sitting on the leather couch in front of the crackling fireplace.
“Sure. Red wine would be nice.” Her palms were sweating as she anticipated what would come next.
Part of her wanted to study his bedroom, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him for long enough to look at anything else.
He pulled two glasses and a bottle out of a small cabinet next to his desk and set them on top of a trunk serving as his coffee table.
Their soul lights flitted around each other as he poured the wine.
After handing Scarlett her glass and setting his own on the trunk, he kneeled before her to unlace her boots. “What are you thinking?”
The sweetness of the gesture plucked at her heartstrings.
“So many things. It was such an overwhelming day.” She took a big sip of her wine, anticipation coursing through her.
Their first kiss had been everything she’d dreamed it would be.
But what did it mean? What could it mean, with everything happening in her world?
Brayden sat next to her and took his own boots off. Without warning, he picked Scarlett up and slid her into his lap as he stretched his legs along the length of the couch.
She was completely surrounded by his sturdy body. As she leaned against his chest, the contact relaxed her. Things were complicated, but he wouldn’t be so affectionate if something were wrong.
“Is there anything specific you want to talk about?” he asked.
“I’m curious what’s going to happen between us. Like, in general.” She hated how trite the words sounded, but this was Brayden. She could be honest with him.
He dragged his rough fingertips gently over her forearm. “What do you want to happen?”
If she wanted to keep things simple, she’d ask him for another kiss, but that wasn’t right. Not after the worries he’d expressed and what she’d seen in the mirror. She wanted to address some of the complexity between them. Her chest tightened as she tried to formulate an answer.
“Before my dad died, when I thought I was going to come for a visit, I hoped it’d be the start of something for us.
Then I ended up fleeing here unexpectedly, but I was so damn happy to see you.
I immediately started thinking about what might happen between us even though everything was chaotic.
Of course I want you—you’re my favorite person, and look at you. ”
His chest rumbled with quiet laughter against her, and she smiled too.
“You’re my favorite person too,” he whispered in her ear.
“That’s good.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I guess I’m just saying I get why you were hesitant. The truth is, if my life weren’t such a mess, I’d want everything with you. But my life is a mess. I…” She took another deep breath. “I could come back when things calm down.”
He was silent, but his fingers began kneading her tense shoulders. Something tight eased in her chest.
Scarlett went on. “We both know you belong here and I belong there. Lachlan needs you, and I have such a huge responsibility to Soleil.”
His fingers moved down her spine. “So you’re scared, but you want everything with me?”
She didn’t miss the satisfaction in his voice. “You’re oversimplifying, but yes.”
He pulled her close to his chest once more. “I have something to tell you, but first, will you tell me what it was like when you saw me in the mirror at the Forest Temple? Tell me exactly how it felt.”
“All right.” Her curiosity piqued, she snuggled into him, reveling in the warmth of his chest against her back and his shoulders encasing hers.
Joy filled her as his arms brushed against her and his masculine scent flooded her senses, but the happiness was bittersweet.
In another life, this could have been hers every night.
But right now, all they had was tonight.
“You looked a little bit different. You had a scar on your eyebrow, right here.” She twisted around to touch where the scar had been before settling back in his lap.
“What else?” he asked, leaning forward to rest his chin on her shoulder, his hair brushing her cheek.
The mirror room came back to her in a rush, and her voice was laced with longing as she went on. “It felt like you were mine. There was this depth to it… I’ve never experienced anything like it before. I wanted to climb into the mirror with you. I was desperate to touch you.”
He placed a soft kiss on her neck, and Scarlett shivered. His lips on her skin… She was heartbeats away from turning her face toward his.
“What did you say when you saw me?”
“I asked why I was seeing you. The Brayden in the mirror said it was because we’re meant to be.”
“That’s not intense at all, is it?” he said with a chuckle.
She laughed. “No, it was casual.”
“Did it scare you, seeing me like that?”
“No. Does it scare you?”
“It excites me,” he said without hesitation.
“You don’t worry about how hard it could be? There are so many obstacles.”
“Forget the obstacles for a moment. Do you want what you saw in the mirror?”
“I want it,” she whispered, even as her mind screamed at her that this was a selfish thing to admit.
“Then tell me you’ll stay awhile longer.
Stay a few weeks at least. Be with me. Don’t go running back into danger alone—not until you find a way to stay safe.
That’s the only thing that really matters.
” He spoke the words into her ear, and it made her body tingle as her heart pounded rapidly in her chest.
It was almost impossible to say no while she was nestled in his lap. “I’d love to stay. More than anything. But I have to go back eventually,” she hedged. If only he could come with her. But she’d never be able to get him a visa. Not unless they got married.
She pursed her lips, chastising herself mentally. While the idea of marriage was less absurd than it had been that morning, it was still too absurd to speak aloud.
“Stay for now, and you’ll return when it’s safe.” His arms were still encasing her, and he squeezed her gently.
“I’ll certainly stay for the night.” She smiled at her own dumb joke.
Brayden dug his fingers into her rib cage, making her squeal, and when she began to protest, turning in his arms to look at him, he twisted his face into a theatrical scowl, making her laugh.
“What were you going to tell me?” she asked once her laughter had died down. It was an obvious attempt to distract him, but he had teased her with something he wanted to say.
He relaxed his grip and pulled her back into his chest once more. “Do you remember Gwen mentioning North Stars?”
A hazy memory from the valor ceremony came back to her. “I’d forgotten, but yes. She said something about a North Star rune wanting to come through, right? What’s a North Star?” She put her hands on his thighs, and he placed his palms over hers.
“How do I explain this…?”
“Spit it out.” She squirmed in his lap, wanting to see his face.
“No—stay.” He circled her waist with his arms and pulled her tight against him.
She relaxed, surrendering.
He made a contented sound in his throat.
“That’s better. North Star runes appear for two people.
Never one person. And as far as I know, they’re always a couple.
Gwen seeing North Star runes for us means we’re twin flames.
Goddess-blessed, fated mates. If we get the runes at the temple, we’ll be able to hear each other’s thoughts and possibly be able to share valor powers. ”
Scarlett digested this in silence. Was that why he’d kissed her in the woods—because they were fated mates? “Is this like seeing someone in the mirror? Because Gwen said the mirror doesn’t always predict your true love.”
“No, it’s not like that,” he rushed to say. “This is real. We’re literally it for each other. And Scarlett, I told you when we kissed, I’ve had it bad for you for years.”
She flushed with pleasure at his words, but she still didn’t totally understand.
“I love hearing you say that. But I belong in Soleil, and you belong here. How does the North Star change things?” Desperate to see his face, she turned in his lap.
This time he didn’t stop her as she repositioned herself so she was facing him directly.
She sat back on her heels, still nestled in the V of his thighs.
His dark gaze met hers, and she saw the want in his eyes. Want and zero doubt.
He intertwined his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand. “You belong with me. That’s what this means. We don’t belong anywhere more than we belong with each other.”
His words reminded her of Alastair. “We’re forever linked,” he’d said. She hated thinking of him at this moment, but he’d said similar things, and he was so wrong. What if Brayden was wrong too?
“How can you say that when you don’t know what it’s like to be with me?
” she whispered. “What if you spend time with me in real life and you like me less?” It was the first time she’d spoken her deepest fear about Brayden out loud, and her throat grew thick, making it hard to swallow.
Scarlett put her fingers to his lips before he could speak.
“We’re close, but we’re not a couple. What if we’re not sexually compatible, or you want kids and I don’t?
What if you can’t stand how much I love to eat ice cream in bed?
” She smiled, trying to lighten the mood and make him see reason, but he stared at her, his expression defiant.
“How can you just accept that we belong together?” she said finally.
He shook his head. “That’s not how it works. You don’t get a North Star if you’re incompatible in a major way. Besides, I already know you want kids, so that isn’t a real issue.”
Her heart fluttered in spite of herself. Brayden being hers on a cellular level… It was too good to be true. How could she make him see how imperfect she was?