Page 35 of Bonds of Magic
Hesitantly, Crystal stepped forward. The sphere of light was back to its original size now, and the necklace hung limply inside it.
“Go on,” he said, nodding at her.
Tentatively, she reached her fingers into the sphere. Then she snatched the necklace and brought her hand out quickly, like she thought the sphere might bite her.
“Excellent, excellent,” Karve said. He turned the crystal knob to the right, and the sphere of light disappeared. A final whistle of steam emitted from the vent on the top of the gun, and then it went silent. The wholeroomwas silent, all of us too stunned to speak.
Karve dropped the gun to one side, then beamed at the class.
“So, who has questions?”
***
Four nights later, I had my next lesson with Noah.
I decided to shower beforehand. I would have preferred to do it after, but I was always so exhausted after my lessons that I justcollapsed into bed. I was rushing a bit, because I’d stayed late at dinner talking with my friends, and I needed to get clean before Noah met me at my room.
His face filled my mind as I showered, thinking about how he’d looked at the end of our last lesson. Shocked. Amazed. Wanting.
I knew it wasn’tmehe wanted, but I couldn’t help thinking that would have been nice. Noah had seen me in that dream, after all. Once the initial surprise had worn off, I’d found myself feeling less embarrassed and more curious. And, okay, turned on.
My cock grew hard as I thought about it. I didn’t know much about Noah’s preferences, but I remembered what I’d seen at the Balsam Inn. How commanding he’d been. How strong.
Would he have wanted me to suckhimoff, after watching me do it in the dream? Had he even seen that part? He said he looked away.
Would Noah ever want me to touch him? Or was that going to remain a fantasy for the rest of my life?
Of course, hehadtouched me. Touched my hand, at least. He’d always been so standoffish, but he’d been sitting right there on the edge of the couch, his hip pressed against my thigh, his hand over my own. What had drawn him there?
Using Noah as my anchor had worked again that night. I’d remembered who I was, and I’d been thinking of him the whole way through. Finding out he’d been watching for a little bit of it? A shiver went down my spine. That was kind of like hooking up with him, wasn’t it?
I knew I was pushing the clock, but I leaned back against the tiled wall of the shower stall and stroked myself. I still felt ashamed, but I was so hard. I wanted relief.
I closed my eyes and let my mind dance over images of Noah touching my hand, my face, my hips. Noah laying me down on the couch and covering my body with his own. Noah tearing my clothes off, desperate to get to my—
A gust of cold air blew into the shower stall, and I opened my eyes to find Sean staring at me.
“What the fuck?” I grabbed at the curtain, pulling it in and wrapping it around my waist, but not before he got a good look at what I’d been doing. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I could ask you the same question,” he said, a lazy smile on his face.
I glared. “Do you open random, occupied shower stalls all the time, or are you stalking me specifically?”
“You wish,” he scoffed. “I thought someone had left the water on.”
“‘Cause you’re so concerned about the environment?”
“Relax. I couldn’t see your feet. And I didn’t think anyone would be in here at this hour.”
I frowned. Could that be true? I had been standing to one side, so maybe my feet weren’t as noticeable. But it still seemed weird that Sean had barged in.
“I should have known it would be you,” he said, that lazy smile growing wider. “Should have counted on you being a freak who jerks off in public.”
“It wasn’t public, it was a private shower stall,” I said, my cheeks heating.
“That other people use when you’re not in it.” He arched his eyebrow. “Maybe that was your plan. Maybe you were waiting for someone to come in and join you.” His smile looked downright predatory now.
“Whatever,” I said, letting the curtain fall. “I’m leaving now.”
