He kissed a path down my stomach, slow and reverent, like every inch of me was sacred.
“Look at you,” he murmured, gaze flicking up.“So damn beautiful.”
My thighs trembled as he knelt between them, fingers ghosting over the inside of my thighs with a maddening softness. He hooked one finger into my black lace panties and pulled them to the side. My lips parted as I watched him lean forward and press a kiss to the most sensitive part of me. I fought to know what to do with myself as he leaned back on his heels with a mischievous smirk.
When he lowered his mouth back to me, I was gone. Completely lost to the pleasure he inflicted on me with each flick and press of his tongue.
My hips bucked instinctively, but his strong hands pinned me gently, holding me in place while he worked me apart with calculated care.
I whimpered, fingers tangling in his locs as my back arched off the desk.
“Rune—” His name was a plea, a gasp, a surrender.
He groaned against me, the sound vibrating through my entire body. “Say it again.”
“Rune.”
“I want to see your magic when you finally unravel. I want to see every single spark you’ve been hiding inside of you.”
Instead of letting his words ruin the moment, I ignored them and focused on the pleasure he started up again at my center.
He didn’t stop until I shattered—coming undone on his tongue, my thighs trembling as I cried out, helpless against the waves that overtook me.
When I finally opened my eyes, he was already rising, kissing a path back up my body—my hips, my ribs, the valley between my breasts—until his mouth found mine again.
“You okay?” he whispered, voice rough.
I nodded, unsure of whether or not I trusted my voice.
“Was it good for you?” I frowned at how uncertain he sounded.
“What do you mean? Of course it was!” How could I reassure him?
“I mean, your magic didn’t manifest or anything, and that’s a common thing…”
The blood drained from my face at his words. Of course… of course that’s what he meant, it wasn’t just words spoken in the heat of the moment. It was an actual thing that I’d never been prepared for.
Stupid.I was so stupid.
He toyed with the edge of my dress as he watched me with concerned eyes. “What’s going on, Maple?”
There was no denying it. I couldn’t deny it. I couldn’t do anything but be honest because if I wasn’t, he was going to find out on his own and it would be so much worse then.
I closed my eyes for a beat. “I’m a null.”
My dress dropped from his fingers, and he stood abruptly. “A what?”
“I don’t have magic.”
His face was void of all emotion for a beat, and then anger bled into his gaze. “You’re joking.”
There was nothing to say. His tone of voice told me that he knew I wasn’t joking.
Rune backed away from the desk like he’d been burned.
“You don’t have magic?” he repeated, voice low—but this time, not with desire. With disbelief. With betrayal.
I sat up, arms curling protectively around myself. The chill that swept over me had nothing to do with the air.
