Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“I looked it up and found the books on it.” His lips traveled to the other side of her throat
Her eyelids fluttered closed. “Not the manipulation. How did you know it could work with ley lines? That it could tap into them, feel them.”
His hands flowed over her hips and up, spread across her sides. “I didn’t know that. I thought it was the energy manipulation. I’ve heard some magics can do that, and when I saw and felt your energy coaxing me to do as you wished, I went searching. It was easy to find. This new facet…”
He dragged his lips up the center of her throat and then let them hover over hers. His lower half pressed into her deliciously, sending a shock of pleasure coursing through her body.
“I didn’t want to intrude on your discovery,” he said, licking her bottom lip.
She groaned as his hard bulge pushed against her core. “Why?” she whispered.
“Because I worried it was a level above and you’d be crestfallen when it didn’t apply to you.”
He pressed his lips onto hers, opening her mouth and then running his tongue inside. His hands slid up the bottom of her shirt, his skin on hers. He pushed against her slowly, rhythmically.
“You’ve been dealing with powerful mages most of your life,” he murmured, “always thinking you’re not like them. That your skills are only in admin. In organization.”
He backed off until he could look into her eyes. She latched on to the beautiful, glowing amber, so deep and open.
“I’ve always thought you were so much more. Espionage is a skill far above basic admin and organization. Spying. Keeping your family alive. That is all exemplary. But you didn’t see it. You only saw the negative parts of the job. The parts you thought made you a monster. I looked up the energy magic hoping it would be an avenue of pride for you. That you’d feel more included in the mage world.”
Heat prickled the backs of her eyes. He’d never told her this before.
His gaze roamed her face, one hand braced against her jaw now, his thumb tracing her bottom lip.
“You finally had something with the manipulation ability.” His eyes came back to hers. “You had something to work on—your own magic. I was scared you’d get an inkling of some greater power, not reach it, and it would diminish what you do have, which is pretty damn fantastic. I gave you space to explore what you’d found, prepared for the letdown should it happen. I’m still prepared, Natasha. If you can’t do whatever this thing is with the ley lines, it doesn’t matter. You have so many skills you bring to the team. You’ll still be a valuable member. You could bring nothing but your love and desire to help everyone succeed, and it would be more than enough. You are more than enough.”
A hot tear trailed down her cheek. He didn’t even know what the ley lines magic was. She could tell in the way he talked about it. She’d thought the worst of him, and he only thought the best of her.
More tears fell.
“Let me see,” he implored her, kissing her tears away.
She did, releasing it, but that didn’t ease her guilt, so she shared her thoughts with him on the way over. Her suspicions.
“Those aren’t suspicions,” he murmured, his gaze roaming her face again. “They’re fears, Natasha. And you are perfectly justified in thinking them. You know nothing about me, while I know everything about you.”
Not everything, she thought, but she couldn’t will herself to say it. He’d just said so many beautiful things about her; she didn’t want to ruin it. She wanted to live with the rose-colored glasses for now and pretend he wouldn’t leave the moment she proved that she really was a monster. The demon in their midst. Her sunshine personality was fleeting. She didn’t dare learn more about his past only to realize he was sorely mistaken, and it didn’t hold a candle to hers.
His eyes moved as he read the air around her. She didn’t know what her energy was saying, but her body didn’t lie. She started to tremble with fear again. With uncertainty. Her lips quivered.
His gaze moved back to hers, and he reached around her, leaning against her as he did so. His fingers danced down her forearms to her wrists.
She thought he would untie her, but instead he grabbed the strings and yanked. The bindings tightened, cutting into her skin. The pain cleared away the haze in her mind.
“This time there is no escape,” he murmured, his hands now heavy on her sides. “There is no running. You will beg, or you will suffer.”
He ran his tongue across her bottom lip as his hands pushed under her shirt again. This time, they didn’t stop on her stomach. They flowed up and over her breasts, kneading. He pushed against her harder now, working his hardness against her center.