‘I think they’re cute.’
Felix gritted his teeth. ‘That’s all people want out of magic. Somethingcute. But it can do so much more.’
Asta came around to his side of the counter and took his hand, running her thumb lightly over his palm. ‘Oh good, I’ve missed your nerdy lectures. Tell me what else magic can do.’
The flush in Felix’s cheeks sent a trembling excitement through her. His eyes were the color of char and earth and sere grasses at the end of summer. Every time she looked at them, it went to her head like a shot of vodka.
He took his hand back to work the magic and began whispering words she could not make out, his lips parted and barely moving. Little flashes of his tongue appeared behind his teeth.
‘It can do this.’ He had conjured a glowing ball of light between his fingers, the size of a marble. The magic in it was dense and complicated, swirling like the surface of a little sun.
‘What is it?’ Asta whispered.
‘Hold it in your mouth.’ He offered the little sun to her lips. ‘It will let me feel what you feel.’
‘Like doctors use?’ No one she knew had ever had the procedure done. It was wildly expensive– only trotted out for the most difficult diagnoses. The force of concentration to power it, as Asta could see, was immense. Felix’s chest was rising and falling with the exertion.
‘Better than that,’ Felix grinned. ‘Just hold it on your tongue. I’ll do the rest.’
She opened her mouth and took the magic from him. The magic felt hot and effervescent, like she was holding a sparkler in her mouth. Sharp little bursts traveled through her body– crackling in her chest, her thighs, her hands, her feet– then faded. Asta felt for the ball of magic in her mouth, but it didn’t seem to be there anymore.
‘What now?’
‘Kiss me.’ Felix stepped closer. This was real. It was happening.
Asta leaned into him and opened her mouth to his. His kiss was sweet and soft. The intensity of it grew, and he ran his hands around her back. Asta’s body tingled in the wake of his touch.
Felix gasped quietly, as if it was his skin on fire.
‘You felt that?’ Asta asked.
Felix nodded. ‘Everything you feel, I feel. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to it. I am not done with you.’ He turned his attention to her suit, unclasping the snap at her throat and running the zipper down as far as it would go. ‘Sit down,’ he said, backing her up to the chair. He took off her boots and worked her out of her race suit, leaving her in her T-shirt and shorts.
Asta caught his hand as it passed down her side. ‘Felix,’ she murmured, a smile tugging at her mouth, ‘you do remember you said you wanted to befriends.’
‘I’m a very friendly guy.’ He pushed her to sit back and crouched before the chair, wincing at his knee as he did so.
He ran his fingers over the skin of her left arm, following the progress with an intense stare. Bursts of electricity followed everything he did. He chased the sensations up her shoulder and across her collarbones, as if he knew exactly where they were leading. He did, Asta reminded herself.
‘But are you sure? What if we—’
He lifted his face to meet her eyes. ‘Oh, I’m sure. Are you?’
Asta thought about this question. She had wanted this from him– with him– for so long. Even when she had been angry with him, hurt by him, she had daydreamed about one day finding herself right here. She didn’t know what would happen if she let herself finally follow this longing to its end, but it wasn’t about knowing. For once, it wasn’t about having a plan. It was about loving this person in front of her. And she did love him. So much.
She nodded. ‘Yes.’ She grabbed his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. His stubble rasped on her chin.
He broke the kiss and laughed to himself. ‘I should have shaved this morning.’
Felix moved in front of her and began to run his hands up her legs in fleeting touches. The current that pulsed through her body was almost more than Asta could handle. Felix watched her– his breath catching with hers when his fingertips skimmed over her ankles and the backs of her knees, his body flinching with hers when his hands brushed the bruises on her hamstring, his eyes softening as hers did when he flirted with her inner thigh.
Asta wrapped her legs around his back and pulled him closer to her, drawing another kiss from his lips. ‘I want to feel your feelings, too. Can you do that?’
Felix worked his hands, speaking the incantation to produce a second light marble. He was panting, his eyes bright with anticipation.
He lifted the glowing ball to his mouth. ‘Ready?’
Asta nodded. He placed it on his tongue.
