Page 45 of Witch’s Ruin

He claimed her.

When he had the strength to pull away, he did it slowly. She cursed when she noticed the bite. “Do not apologize,” he warned. He moved to the opposite side of the bed, far enough away that she couldn’t heal him. This marked him as hers, and he fucking loved that.

“Wasn’t going to,” she said, lifting an eyebrow. “I wanted to make you hurt.”

“Why is that?” He tried to hide his eager curiosity, and failed.

“Because Trudy Holland thinks she’s going to marry you. You belong to me, Aleksander Rixon Kozma. You are mine, and no one will take you from me.”

Something broke inside him, a dam of relief bursting open. He’d waited to hear this from her, to see more than she’d given him the last time they’d discuss it. To see jealousy instead of calm assuredness.

Fucking finally.

She hesitated, head tilting, then added, “I want to hurt you for that—even if it isn’t your fault.”

He blinked at her. Just blinked. Fuck.

When he tried to speak, he had to swallow first. “I will always be yours, Mina.”

Slowly, so very slowly, the blackness in her eyes receded. He caught a flash of something, there and gone. Doubt? Fear? As if the mere thought of him marrying someone else terrified her.

Secretly, he preened knowing that.

He crawled forward, capturing her lips in his. This time, her teeth were blunted. He explored her mouth, then nipped her bottom lip. “I will always be yours,” he repeated, pulling away.

Finally, she nodded.

He stood, rising slowly from the bed, eying her. She flopped onto her back, sighing up at the canopy. He struggled to tear his gaze away, to release the sight of her naked and sprawled, the glisten of his seed smearing her inner thighs. He resisted the urge to lean over, to spread it around her cunt, to massage it into her skin.

Instead, he stepped into the bathing room and cleaned himself up. When he stepped out again, he found Mina had cocooned herself beneath the blankets. “You’re going back to sleep?” He couldn’t decide how to feel about that. Jealous? Slightly. But the sight of her there in his bed had his chest expanding.

“The door is warded against everyone but you and I,” she managed through a yawn. “You can come and go without my needing to fuss with it. Enjoy your meeting with your father, Rixon.”

“Unbelievable,” he muttered, searching for his clothes. He dressed quickly, then went to her, smoothing her hair from her forehead. He drilled into her eyes, searching for the depths of her soul. “I love you, Mina. I love you so very much.”

Her expression softened. She bit her lip, then nodded. The look on her face was so fucking open. “I love you too,” she whispered.

He rubbed his nose against hers, affectionate, then kissed her on the forehead. There was still a trace of the bond in place, the one that would force him to stay calm and collected around his father. And thank fuck for that, because he was this close to finding the courage he needed to kill the asshole. Instead, he took a final look at his sleepy witch. He let the sight of her bolster him, then strode from the room, bracing himself for the day ahead.

Chapter 15

Mina

The library smelled exactly as it ought to. I turned in place, eyes trained towards the vaulted ceiling. The central dome was glass, tiny pieces cased in black diamond mullions. It cast light patterns on the floor below—

“Welcome, Lady Witch, to the Great Library of Corinna.”

My muscles stiffened and I spun around. A woman stood before me, her gray robes the same color as her hair, pulled back into a tight chignon. Her features were timeless, slight and delicate. She was aging, but the fine lines did little to hide her beauty.

“I…thank you. This is…” I hardly had the words. The librarian gave a curt nod, as if this was the sort of reaction she gave to everyone that came here. “There must be thousands of books.”

“Hundreds of thousands, Lady Witch. And many aren’t on display.” My lips formed into an ‘oh.’ “You must be our new guest, here with Prince Aleksander? Yes, well then. Welcome. I am Nadia, high keeper. There are other keepers about, all of whom would be glad to help you in your search. Assuming you are here for something…specific?”

I hesitated. “Just…browsing. I am a great lover of books.”

“As are we all.”

“Do you have a section on the history of Corinna?”