Sense, something he hadn’t had in two months, appeared, as though it had never departed. Reeve dropped her with a growl, letting her lips rip away from his. She wobbled as she landed, bracing herself on a marble pillar. His back was already to her, making for the door.
Maeve’s fingers moved to her slightly swollen lips as his departure, as the desperation in his touch, clearly washed over her. “That wasn’t a first kiss. That was a last kiss.”
He did not stop. Just a few more steps and he’d Obscure away from her. Just one more step and he’d force himself to do it.
“Reeve.”
He halted. How could he not when she called his name? He turned on her, ready to fire whatever insult or cocky bullshit at her was necessary for her to accept their circumstances.
“We come from different worlds, Maeve. You live here on Earth, and have duties here on Earth. You should uphold them.”
Magic zapped across his mind. He nearly recoiled as she tried to slip through his thoughts in one quick motion. He laughed in amazement and horror. She’d nearly succeeded.
But his voice was mocking as he said, “Surely you can do better than that.”
“Kiss me again,” she said, stepping towards him.
“No,” he breathed and shook his head. “I have tasted all I can handle without losing control.”
It was a dream, a fleeting one at best.
Maeve Sinclair was part Dread Magic and part Shadow Magic.
A fact he could not and would not escape.
Her Dread, he could handle, dominate, and understand.
Her Shadow Magic was another dilemma completely.
Shadow Magic, she didn’t even understand. Everyone was convinced that her ability to traverse minds was unique. But he knew better. He knew to fear her unclaimed Magic.
But her smile created a void of emotions, negating anything that wasn’t one singular thought that lingered in Reeve’s mind:
He had to have her.
But he could not, and would not. . .let himself have someone with the same power as Shadow.
With inhuman speed, he was on her, his hands transporting them to them far from the house, down the jagged cliff-side and onto the rocky beach. His hands gripped the sides of her face, forcing her an arm’s distance away as water crashed around them, thickening the hazy air.
“There is no future for us,” he said harshly, a low growl slipping into his voice.
Maeve shook her head in his grip, her own temper flaring. “You are a god. There is any future you desire.”
“You speak as though you could possibly know what it is I desire.”
She yanked herself free from his grip. “You’re unbelievable.”
Reeve didn’t hesitate to wound her further, to create a barrier between them.
“I hope the best for you, Maeve,” he began, his voice reserved.
The tone caused genuine hurt to flash across her face. “Fuck you.”
Reeve smiled softly. He couldn’t help it. She was so perfectly fierce. He had been denied many things in life. What was one more? Fair was an illusion to him.
Reeve stepped back from her. Her heart rate skyrocketed. It took all his strength not to place his hand over her chest and slow her frantic breathing as her eyes liquified.
“Please, Reeve,” were the last words he heard before darkness surrounded him, and he Obscured away from her.
