“That's not true.”
“I’ll hurt you.”
“No, you won't.”
“What if I do?”
“I don’t care.”
He leaned forwards, dipping his head to make it level with mine. He took my hands in his, pulling them up to rest on his shoulders. My fingertips roamed the back of his neck, and I didn't have time to think before his lips brushed gently against mine, teasing a kiss.
The faint touch sent a rush of sensation straight to my core, but before either of us could deepen the contact into a true kiss, I pulled away from him. I wanted him more than anything in the world, but not like this. Not when his emotions were in such disarray that it was unknown if he was even thinking clearly. Now was not the right time.
I shook my head subtly, and he released a breath as he straightened his posture. “I know,” he murmured, as though he could read my thoughts.
My lips smiled gently and his did the same, although his face was still laced with traces of sadness.
“I should go,” I squeaked out, shuffling a step back from him. I had a feeling he’d be okay with me breaking the rules and walking back to the dormitory on my own.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, and didn't argue my leaving as he removed his hand from my waist.
“I assume that I’ll be seeing you tonight for our wielding session?” I asked, putting air quotes around thetail end of my sentence. He knew as well as I did that I needed a night off after the week I’d had with Sawyer.
He nodded in reply, then I backed out of his room. I didn’t break my attention from him until he turned from me to return to his desk.
I closed the door and pressed my back against it, shutting my eyes and releasing a puff of passion filled breath from deep within my chest.
When I blinked my vision open, I was met by Pia’s cheesy grin and Kohen’s suspicious brows.
“Not what you’re thinking,” I shot her assumption down.
She scowled. “Damn it.”
Chapter
Twenty-Two
It took a few days for Sebastian’s mood to improve after his experience in Craterra. We still hadn't discussed ouralmost kiss. I wanted to, but it likely only happened because emotions were high. At least that was the bullshit excuse I kept telling myself.
Sebastian met me at my room at a little after seven, and we made our way to the castle for ourwielding session. We decided on the archives tonight which pleased me. I wanted to study the book on Blythe again. With everything going on, I had forgotten about trying to discover why I was given my constellastones in the first place. Although considering the fact that I could barely wield without knocking myself out, I was leaning towards the idea that Blythe just made a really big mistake.
We stepped into the cylindrical room, the shelves lined of manuscripts ranging from fables to bibles. The bookkeepers dimmed the lights in the evening, adding an alluring ambiance to the space. I inhaled the smell of dusty parchment and snickered to myself as I remembered the joke I made when I was here with Pia.
Sebastian gave me a sideways glance. “What'sso funny?”
I waved him off. “Nothing.”
“It's clearly not nothing.”
“I can't repeat it in front of you.” I sucked my lips in to prevent my laughter from breaking free.
“Why not?” he asked as we ventured further into the library.
“It's just a dumb joke.”
“I like jokes,” he replied, starting his ascent up the stairs.
