CHAPTER 21 #3
Reagan had removed his navy-blue jacket, leaving only the black button-up to cover the tall length of his torso.
There were more people dancing now, but my eyes were locked on him, watching me from just outside the tree, with a tilt to his head and a curl to his lips.
His mouth distracted and anchored me as I twirled in place.
I didn’t know why I was fooling myself. It felt almost like a punishment to deny how obviously attracted I was to him.
The thought that our time was limited—that I would soon forget him—no longer felt like a good reason to resist. Instead, I savoured every second of him looking at me like that, as if I were the only thing under the oak.
My move became a step that followed another, my legs taking me where he stood, with Finnegan by his side.
Those lips were faintly parted when I stopped in front of him, eyes curious and filled with awe.
He leaned over, his hands in the pockets of his trousers.
“You look even more magnificent when you’re dancing. ”
My heart was already drumming inside my chest. There was no more space inside me to swell.
“Why did—” Then he stopped, eyes narrowing towards my face as he inched closer. Something instinctive and primal inside me hoped he would kiss me. His mouth gaped. “Did you have elven dust?”
My jaw slackened.
Finnegan tilted his head to see me better and grinned. “She most certainly did.”
I hadn’t even said anything, but they must have figured it out with some clue in my face. “How did you know?” I asked, my voice muffled by the music.
Reagan spoke directly into my ear, “You have thin golden lines around your irises, typical of velmoria flowers.”
I blinked, as if that would miraculously remove the golden lines from my eyes. Neither Gwin nor Alameda had answered when I asked if others would know what we did. For a moment, I felt embarrassed, not because of them, but because of my own self-reprimand.
The feeling went away as quickly as it came when Reagan asked, “How are you feeling?”
I stared back at him, my eyes falling to his perfectly shaped lips and the brawny shape of him. “Fantastic,” I answered with full honesty.
Reagan’s lips curved in a grin. “Come. I want to show you something,” he said, taking hold of my hand.
We crossed the massive gathering of people, leaving Finn to look after Gwinifer, who was still dancing. Reagan cut through the guests, his grip firm until we were far away from the centre tree and the loudest part of the celebration. We stopped near the first line of pines near the entrance.
“You see there?” He pointed to the sky above the oak tree. “When it’s time, we will start the ceremony of the Rite. The lights will come from there.” He placed a hand on my lower back. “You might know about the aurora lights. Well, it’s the same, except that in mage lands, we actually feed it.”
“When does it start?”
“Soon. I’ll need to go to the tree to start the ritual, but I’ll come meet you after,” he said, his hand stroking my back in a tender touch.
My eyes fell from the sky to him, and I found myself appreciating Reagan.
Such a simple thing. I’ll come meet you. Yet it undid me.
“Kiss me,” I murmured.
His head snapped back to me, his eyes dropping so quickly to my mouth that I thought he wouldn’t waste a second. But Reagan hesitated, his fingers pressed more firmly on my back.
So I took hold of his collar gently to nudge him, and the intoxicating scent of him washed over and ravaged my senses until it felt like fire coursed through me. “I mean it. Kiss me.”
“I know,” he whispered.
“So do it,” I urged, so filled with want that my hand slipped inside his shirt, touching hard muscle. “And I don’t want just a kiss. I want everything.”
I saw the flash of desire cross his eyes. My hand slipped to the nape of his neck to gently guide him to me. If his scent was this intoxicating, I could only imagine the taste of him. So I traced my tongue along the hollow of his throat. A glorious, wicked indulgence.
“Jan,” he murmured roughly. Reagan didn’t move, except for his fingers that dug into my lower back.
I pulled away to look at him. He was grinning.
“Don’t you want this?” I asked.
He snorted. “Please. It’s taking all my self-control not to rip that dress off you.”
His words felt like wood thrown into the fire burning in me.
“Then why?”
He tilted his head. “I don’t want you to regret this. I won’t take you with the elven dust. When I take you, I want you to be sure.”
I was about to say that I was sure, that he didn’t have to worry. But the fact that I would have let him strip me naked in the middle of a celebration was my first indication that maybe he was right. I had just licked him, and people could have seen it. Did I care? Should I care?
He must have read the struggle in my thoughts, because his hands rose to my cheeks, drawing my gaze back to his.
“The moment your eyes are back to their own colour, I will have you, Jane.” He leaned closer, his lips brushing mine. “As thoroughly as you want. For as long as you want.”
It would take an ice storm to smother the scorching heat inside me. But Reagan suggested something that might distract me just enough.
“Let’s see you dance.”