Page 63 of Gift from the Stone

“We’ll just have to wait, like Elementra said. For now, my little wanderer is out of the bath and getting lonely, so I’m out. See you in the morning,” Draken declares, hauling ass out of the room, rubbing his chest, obviously picking up Willow’s emotions from the bond.

I can’t help but stew in jealousy. I want that so bad.

“I’m heading to bed too,” Corentin announces, standing from his seat. He’s been awfully quiet tonight, and he’s got his mental lock in place tight, keeping me out.

“You plan on creeping from the shadows tonight or you’re actually going to make your presence known?” I ask Caspian as Corentin walks out.

“Shut up. She hasn’t called me out or hasn’t noticed me yet, so don’t bring it up,” he growls before drifting out of the room through the walls, leaving me there laughing at him.

Fucking ghost boy.

I laugh the entire walk to Willow’s room, thinking about the little mental nickname she gave Caspian. He’d fucking flip if he knew she called him that, so I keep that a secret between the two of us.

Walking through Willow’s door, I smile at the sight. Dressed in a tiny, teasing little black nightgown, she’s leaning against Draken’s chest, reading her journal while he runs his fingers through her hair. Her hypnotizing silver eyes peer up and meet mine before she runs them down my body, watching as I pull my shirt over my head.

She’s so perfect.

“He’s so yummy.”

I chuckle heatedly at her thought.

“You’re fucking delicious too, Will.”

“How often do you spy on my thoughts?” she asks, raising her eyebrow, laying her journal on her chest.

“More often than not,” I tell her honestly.

“I need you to teach me how to block you out. You or any other mind reader I come across,” she tells me seriously as she sits up and stares me down.

My heart stops beating.

“No. Nope, I can’t do that, Will.”

“Why not?” she asks, crossing her arms, plumping those perfect tits up, and I damn near give in and give her whatever she wants.

“I need to be able to hear your thoughts. It gives me peace of mind,” I plead. Her eyes gloss over, on the verge of crying, so I climb into the bed and pull her into my lap.

I won’t lie and say I don’t snoop on her thoughts—I one hundred percent do—but I can tell when she’s deep in a thought that’s none of my business and I stay out. But I need the peace of mind to be able to check and make sure she’s okay.

“You can’t stay reading my thoughts, Tillman. You can’t hear or see what I’ve seen in my visions. It’ll mess up the possible positive outcomes.”

“I know. I don’t ever pry if I can tell you’re deep in your thoughts. I promise I’ll never look for what you’ve seen in your visions.” I swear to her. I’d never jeopardize the outcome of her visions just for my selfish need to be able to hear her, but I need her to let me have this.

“Okay.” She sighs defeatedly, making my chest fucking hurt.

“Don’t be upset, please.”

“I’m fine, but if you aren’t going to do that for me, I need you to do something else,” she grumbles, letting me know she is, in fact, upset.

“Anything.”

“You say that now. I need you to go tell Corentin I’m upset and need him to come lie down with us,” she admits hesitantly, sniffling as her tears start to fall.

“What’s wrong, Will? Why don’t you want to ask him?” I ask softly, wiping away her stray tears.

“I can feel his unease and jealousy. It’s making my chest hurt, making my bond feel so torn, and I just want him to hold me, but if I go and ask him, he’ll know I felt his emotions and he won’t come because of his weird sense of ‘I need to take care of everyone, no one can take care of me’ thing he has going on. If you go and tell him I need him, he’ll listen. I wish everyone just slept in here every night, but I don’t want either of them to reject me.” She sobs, her bond taking full control of her emotions.

Shit.

---