Page 78 of Luca

“Precisely.”

* * *

“I don’t want to leave,” my mate grumbled as he stuffed piles of books into his backpack. They weren’t the tomes he had arrived with or the ones he’d purchased at the market, so either Zadok had gifted him half of his library or Luca had developed light fingers. Perhaps both. “But I know we have to.”

I paused in my own task of folding our clothes to thread my fingers through his curls, smiling softly. “We will come back as often as you wish, pet.”

He glanced up at me. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

With a nod, he returned to packing, a musical hum vibrating in his throat. A plant appeared out of nowhere and was added to the bottomless bag alongside his mini archive.

I huffed a laugh.

We’d lodged at Rosewood Creek for a little over a month, and we’d made the decision to leave that afternoon. Physically, Luca was fully healed, and the quiet and rest had done wonders for the both of us, but with the threat of my father looming, it was time to depart. My mate was understandably disheartened. Six weeks was not enough to bond with the male his curiosity had chased for twenty-seven years, but he felt more at ease with the knowledge that he was welcome to return. Zadok was no longer a stranger, and now knowing the circumstances of his absence, Luca was keen to make up for lost time, to build the relationship they’d missed out on all those years. They were unbelievably alike in many ways, to the point that my blood pressure would spike whenever they wandered off together as there was every chance they’d find something mildly dangerous to invest in—a lack of self-preservation was clearly a family trait. They had much in common, similar interests, and of course, their shared gift, so I doubted they’d take long to navigate their way to a healthy kinship.

They were already bounding down the right path.

He had also made incredible progress with his magic, and I was convinced he had devoured every book his father had offered on the subject. He was dedicated, determined to hone his skill and eager to enhance his means to defend himself—to defendus—should the need arise. I was more proud of him than words could describe. He was the most talented and intelligent creature I had ever met, and I knew he would make a difference in this world.

Even if he didn’t yet believe it himself.

“I want to check on my apricot tree before we go,” he spoke again, his excitement evident in his tone. “I finally managed to get it to the seedling stage, so I’d like to ward it, make sure it’s protected until I come back. Not that Zadok will let anything happen to it, but I want it to be my project and my project alone, y’know? I want to see what happens, good or bad.”

“Of course.”

Suddenly, he let out an exclamation, and green light gathered in his palm. He held it out, making a beckoning gesture with his fingers until a scroll from the shelf at the other side of the room came floating toward him. He snatched it out of the air before wrestling it into his pack.

I raised an amused brow in his direction.

It took him a beat to sense my stare, but his movements faltered, and he peered up at me. “What?”

“I believe you are showing off, sweetheart.”

“I am not.” He scoffed indignantly, then he thought about it. “Well, maybe a little. Are you impressed?”

“I am,” I said easily. “Youimpress me, sweetling. In everything that you do.”

He scrunched up his cute button nose, blushing at the compliment, before a thought seemingly popped into his head. “Oh my God, I wonder if we could use my magic in the bedroom! Why have I not thought of that before? I bet there are specialized books on the topic. It would totally heighten the sensations,andbe like an extra set of hands.”

The thought stirred me. Tendrils circling my cock, stroking me as I fucked Luca with my tongue. The fizz of magic tickling my skin, adding vibrations to each twist from hilt to tip. A devilish expression gradually spread over my mate’s face, and he drifted toward me, rising on his toes to loop his arms around my neck.

“Does that turn you on?” he purred, already knowing the answer. “I could restrain you, have it bind your arms and legs while I had my wicked way with you. I am pretty powerful, you know. You wouldn’t be able to move.”

His sultry tone and teasing smirk had heat rising in my belly. Had we the time to play out his fantasy now?

As we’d discussed, I hadn’t fully taken him after our interruption in the stables. We’d used our fingers and mouths when the need became too much to bear, even rutted against one another in the hallway whenever his father and Flick left for a stroll in the woods. But I was aching to sink my cock into the hot clutch of his body. To bury myself in the spot created only for me and claim him again, over and over, until he could only babble an incoherent chant of my name.

Now that I felt more comfortable within myself to take that step, it was a challenge to resist the delicious little creature. Especially in instances such as this, where he’d do whatever he could to torment me. However, I knew that waiting until we could go for days uninterrupted would be worth it.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t have a taste.

“I would be amenable to that.”

To my utter dismay, Luca chuckled like a little shit, and retreated. The impulse to reach out and haul him back flared in my gut. To pin him against the wall, tug down his trousers, and use his thighs like a sleeve, but I refrained. Only just. “I mean, I might singe your dick off by accident because I’m not totally confident in my abilities yet, but it would absolutely be worth a shot.”

Ice water trickled down my spine, and my cock rapidly deflated. “Hm, perhaps stick to your lessons, pet. We can keep it in mind for the future.”

---