My cursed, forbidden longing disguised as hate crashed into me.
But the long seconds passed. And I didn't move. Instead, I lunged at him, my fist snapping toward his face. He caught the punch effortlessly, his grip strong and unshaken, as if he’d expected the blow all along.
"How dare you ask me to kiss you, Moonveil?" I said, voice low and tense, even if it hadn’t happened.
“I wouldn’t have asked you that if I thought it would work,” Lorik said, letting my arm go and stepping back. “When you kiss me, you will do it with all the will of your heart.”
“I will never kiss you, you are a Moonveil. We would…” I said, stopping while realization hit me like a jolt. His command hadn’t worked on me at all, I hadn’t obeyed. I had done the opposite. I had actually tried to punch him for giving an inappropriate order.
“You knew it wouldn’t work? How?” I added, my eyes searched for his with less fury this time.
“You didn’t have your protection heirloom when you walked into Elarion your first day,” he said. “I tried to get into your mind the moment you stepped inside. It was a wall,impenetrable. Then, we confirmed it when the wildweaver bent Rory’s mind but wasn’t able to touch yours.”
I swallowed hard. The wildweaver noticed that. He told me I was strong-minded.
“You knew all this time?” I asked with no judgment, just stating a fact. I would not have believed him if he had told me, or worse, I would not have even listened to him. Lorik just nodded in response.
“You tried to get into my mind? How?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you another secret. I don’t need to touch to bend the mind as most mind-benders.” Lorik said with a smirk. “I know your secret magical trace, you know mine too.”
He had touched me simply because he wanted to. In fact, he still was, his hand resting warm against my neck. His touch tingled where his fingers pressed lightly into my skin.
And then I understood, he had just shared another deep secret with me. One more piece of himself he never gave freely.
And I knew his little potion trick as well, his hidden magic, a secret I had all the intentions of keeping, especially since I owed him my life.
His voice softened. “The Gods give special magical traces only to those who deserve them. If you have this rare, forgotten trace… It’s for a reason. You will have a purpose, an important one, no doubt. And I am sure you will keep discovering more of yourself.”
For a long, suspended heartbeat, neither of us moved.
His fingers were still on my cheek, warm, steady, too intimate for someone who was supposed to be my enemy. His command hadn’t worked, but the echo of it still trembled inside my bones.
Not because of his magic, but because it was him.
And inside me, something unfurled. Something I’d been denying, choking down, burying beneath pride and fear and duty. Something dangerous.
Gods… I wanted him.
My pulse stuttered violently. A war raged under my skin, logic screaming one thing, desire whispering another, louder, louder, louder.
Lorik watched me like he could feel that war, like he could sense every breathless beat of it. His silver eyes were steady, unguarded in a way I had never seen.
“Thea,” he murmured.
My name sounded from his mouth again, like a secret he wasn’t supposed to say.
“Thank you,” I said, stepping back in slow motion, my heart pounding hard. I turned away as gracefully as I could, trying not to make it obvious I was practically fleeing. I tried to look composed, but I would’ve sworn he could hear my accelerating heartbeat from several feet away.
I barely managed a single step before his hand closed over mine, rough, steady and pulled me back toward him. In an instant, I was in his arms, our bodies only inches apart. My heart pounded, and his warm scent hit me with dizzying force.
My whole body trembled, and the only thing keeping me upright was his hands anchoring me in place. He leaned in, silent, breath brushing mine.
My hand slid up his chest, feeling the heat of his skin, the sharp rise of his breath. Then my fingers curled into the back of his mussed hair, thick and warm against my palm, and heinhaled sharply, and I broke
My lips found his, fast, reckless, helpless. Our mouths collided with a heat that stole my breath. He kissed me back, deep, and hungry, as if he had been waiting for this longer than I could imagine.
He gripped my hips, then my waist, then the small of my back, pulling me flush against him until every line of me pressed into every line of him. Heat roared through my veins.
