I wave an arm over the water. “For accompanying me here. For being my date.”
There’s silence for one long second as we stare at each other. I have no idea what he’s thinking. “Nia,” Jax says finally. “I would accompany you anywhere, at any time. It is my honor.”
I bite my lower lip, my breath catching in my throat. Jax watches me as if entranced. But before I can even think of aresponse, I’m interrupted by a swell of cheering behind us.
The others in the group are clapping and wolf whistling and yelling and it takes me a minute to realize the blood moon has finally crested. Suddenly, Jax and I are bathed in its crimson-silver light, his bronze hair almost aflame in it.
“The blood moon,” he says, gazing up at it and then at me for a long moment. “Beautiful.”
I feel like I can’t breathe. I don’t know if he’s talking about the moon or me or what’s happening exactly.
“Everyone, kiss your love to seal it!” Lilian calls out, laughing as Pryor picks her up and swings her around, steamy water spraying in a glittering arc around them. “That means you, Jax and Nia!” she adds, and everyone laughs and whoops. I guess we’re a little obvious, removed from the rest of the group, in our own little cocoon.
My pulse is suddenly the loudest thing on planet Earth. The tips of Jax’s hair are sharp wet lines on his smooth forehead. His chest is bare, sculpted like marble, dusted with droplets of sparkling water. And he’s staring at me as if he doesn’t see the rest of them at all.
I lick my lips. “They’re all looking,” I whisper.
“Can you blame them?” he says, and I don’t understand what he’s talking about. Unless he means... no. He doesn’t mean that they’re looking at me, does he? Before I can think of what to say—all the thoughts funneling to form a tornado in my brain—he adds, “I would hate to keep them waiting.”
“Yeah.” My voice is a croak. I am burning up. “Me too.”
He bends his head toward me, just the slightest bit, askingpermission with his body. His big hands hover an inch from my waist, and my skin is screaming out for him to close the gap. “May I kiss you, Miss Porter?”
“Yes,” I whisper, unable to look away.
His hands are on me then, possessive and strong, gripping me tight and pulling me close, pressing my small body against his. He brings his mouth down to mine, his lips soft and firm, sure and tentative all at once.
I react like a starving person might react to the smallest sliver of cake. Gasping, I wrap my hands around his neck, one leg curling around his. I can’t get close enough to him; I want to crawl into his rib cage and nestle beside his heart. Never in my entire eighteen years have I felt desire like this—anddesireisn’t even the right word. Yearning might be closer. This yearning is so deep, so ancient, it must be part of my DNA.
Jax pulls back a little and gazes into my eyes. He smiles and gently runs a finger from my cheekbone to my lips. “Do you feel that, too?” he asks, his voice husky.
“Yes,” I gasp. I put a hand on his chest, right over his heart. I know exactly what he’s talking about. “You and I... we... There’s something there. We’re meant to be together, aren’t we? I felt it. In my marrow, in my blood.”
Jax holds my face between his hands like a cherished prize. “Yes. Centuries ago, they would’ve called us ‘destin.’ ” The French word is like a sparkling gem in his fluted voice.
“ ‘Destin,’ ” I repeat. “What does it mean?”
“Fated. Destined. Meant to be.”
I can feel that the answering smile on my face is brilliant; I’m afraid my heart might catch on fire.
But Jax caresses my cheek and shakes his head. “When dawn breaks, Nia, I will be gone. Banished once more, to live out my curse for all of eternity.”
Tears rush to my eyes almost immediately. “But I summoned you once. I can summon you again.”
“You accidentally summoned me. It was a mistake that cannot be repeated, no matter how much we wish it.” Jax smooths my wet hair back. “The actual spell has been lost to the ages. Perhaps we should be grateful for what we have tonight, rather than distraught about what could never be.”
I want to argue. But after a moment, I sigh and leans my cheek against his chest. His warm skin is the most perfect thing I have felt in my life. Jax holds me closer. “I’m grateful,” I whisper.
“As am I,” Jax says, tipping his head back to look at the blood moon.
We sit in twin velvet armchairs by my bedroom window, watching the sky lighten by degrees. We’ve been here at least an hour now, neither of us saying anything. But our hands are clasped firmly between us, my fingers digging into his skin. If Jax minds, he doesn’t say.
“Dawn is almost here.” His rich voice breaks the silence, and the sadness in it can’t be mistaken for anything else.
We stayed in the lake for as long as we could, talking,kissing, holding each other close. When the party broke up, Lilian hugged me and told me to call her later to tell her all about how Jax and I met. I should’ve been ecstatic—it seemed I was finally being given an invitation into the golden group. But all I could think about was Jax, how little time we had left, how unfair it is that I—no, scratch that, my soul—finally fell in love, only to have that love ripped away from me.
I look at him, his face shadowed in the dim light coming in the window. “If I had the summoning spell, could we make your presence here permanent? Could we somehow break the banishment curse?”
