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“Good,” Rhett replied.
But I could tell that there was something my friend was holding back.
“Justgood? What’s the matter? Your game goingsoft, old man?” I teased.
James was older than me by many decades but still closer to me in age than she was to Rhett.
“Mygameisgreat. As good as it has ever been, and I’ll prove it to you if you call it soft again,” he said with a threatening, feline grin.
I held my hands up in concession, giving him a disarming grin.
“It’s just… Well, Al, it’s James. She won’t let meproveit to her,” he said.
“You mean you two haven’t…” I spluttered in disbelief.
What were they up to the hours they stayed locked inside his room together? No. I didn’t want to ask. If I asked, Rhett would be more than happy to tell me every little detail.
“Nope. I mean, we do other fun stuff,” he said, wagging his eyebrows exaggeratedly up and down. “But she doesn’t believe in sex before marriage, and, well, I don’t believe in marriage before sex.”
“Woah, Rhett! Marriage? Does that mean that you think she is, you know, your mate?” I asked.
“I…” He tilted his head back and forth. “Yeah, I kind of do, Al.”
I gasped in a small, surprised hiccup of air.
“But with my power in its diminished state, I can’t trust my judgment. I have to know for certain, Al. I can’t risk it.Not again,” he whispered.
I couldn’t blame him for wanting to be sure after how things went with the last woman he thought might be the one. It would have been too personal of a question if it were anyone but Rhett. But Rhett had always beenveryopen about his magic…and sex.
“Rhett, how does sex fit into finding your mate? Other than the obvious reasons, I mean. Can you really tell just by having sex with someone whether they are your mate?” I asked.
“There is just one out there for me, Al. One incredibly lucky ass woman waiting for me to find them and claim them as my own,” he said with a disarming smile. “Sex and magic, for some, have always been closely aligned. Lovers let their guard down during sex making it easier to be exposed to another’s power. For me, it is even more so. When a woman opens herself to my magic during sex, this enables me to tell if they are my mate,” he explained earnestly.
“Does James know all of this?” I asked.
“Yeah, she knows.” He sighed. “But even when we do, ya know,” he said with a raise of his eyebrows, “she doesn’t let her guard down enough for me to be able to truly judge. My reputation around the Court on this front, as you know, isn’t great. She knows she wouldn’t be the first woman I’ve told something less than true to get into bed.”
He gave me a self-deprecating grin that would drop the pants right off most women.There was the charming bastard I loved.I gave him a small chuckle. I still had a morbid curiosity regarding how I would hold up against Rhett’s abilities. I had witnessed first-hand how he turned almost every woman around him into a googly-eyed, giggling mess. I was thankful to be spared from that indecency due to a combination of both Rhett and Luke using their powers to protect me. But I still wanted to know…
“Rhett, just let me see you.All of you. Just this once. Before all your powers really do come back and it’s truly overwhelming,” I solicited.
“Well, first of all, I have no idea if my powers areevergoing to return to their full capacity. And second, Al… I don’t know,” he replied reluctantly.
No doubt, he was thinking if Luke were here, he would thoroughly be on teamno way in hell.But Luke wasn’t here, and he wasn’t my keeper.
I knew it might be a bad idea, but it couldn’t hurt for just a moment, just to see. I stared at him obstinately, waiting for his final answer.
“Okay, okay,” Rhett conceded.
It was like he removed a damper from over his entire body. His features came into a sharp focus, making him more beautiful.Too beautiful. I stared at him like I could peer through whatever it was that made him seem so different from my friend, who I was used to. I had always thought Rhett was perfect, but whatever he had done had made his face seem even more perfect. He was gorgeous. He was compelling. Butthat was it. That was all I felt. I made an exaggerated effort out of patting my body down, checking myself over to make sure I was okay.
“Well, good try, anyway,” I joked.
Rhett arched a single eyebrow at me and slid the damper on his power back in place.
“Interesting,” he murmured, giving me a suspicious overly cheerful smile.
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