Page 53 of All the Chaos of Constellations
Healmostsmiled.
“Alright, my lady.” Asher folded his arms across his chest and Novalise ignored the way his ivory shirt stretched and pulled over his muscled arms. Those damn spectacles were still pushed back on top of his head, and every lustful nerve in her body came undone at the sight of him looking so incredibly composed. “Enlighten me.”
He was going to hate himself when she told him the news.
“It’s because we’re mates, Asher. Because our magic chose one another.” She didn’t look at him when she said this, instead she fixated on the glimmer of the frostfire, watched as it almost sputtered out completely. A bead of crimson wax slid down the side of the candle, pooling at its base like a small puddle of blood. “It’s impossible for you to physically hurt me. Just like this?—”
She flipped her wrist like an afterthought. Magic coursed through her and she hurtled a bolt of shooting stars directly into his chest. He staggered back, grasping at his chest on instinct. They ricocheted off him, cascading around the cellar like bits of iridescent glitter.
“Doesn’t hurt you,” she finished, lowering her arm.
“Fascinating,” he muttered, catching flecks of stardust in his hand.
If only he’d look at her that way.
Novalise stepped closer toward him and the bond fusing them together flared to life. His thoughts were a torrent, a jumble of doubts, worries, and fear. She longed to soothe him. To comfort him. But she held fast to her resolve, however much it dwindled.
“It’s interesting the things one can learn when they open their mind to new ideas.”
Asher stared at her, a tumultuous emotion darkening the slate of his eyes.
“For example,” she continued, refusing to be dissuaded by the power banking deep within his gaze, “I thought all hope was lost for me the night of my star reading. But then someone mentioned I should defy the stars…and that gave me an idea.”
“Novalise,” he warned, but there was no vehemence in his voice.
“A wonderful idea, like choosing my own mate.” She shimmied her shoulders, flippant. This was her opportunity to make him realize he was meant to be with her. “Either that, or Ariesian will choose for me. And with the arrival of Prince Drake, I feel like it seemed serendipitous that?—”
“No,” Asher growled. He shook his head, violence and magic bubbling around him, building, cracking through to the surface of his once calm exterior.
“Honestly,” she drawled, shrugging off his concern. “I think you’re being dramatic, my lord.”
“Stay away from him, Novalise.”
“Easier said than done.” She sighed wistfully. Asher’s jaw ticked. Tension pulled taut between them, like the strings of a violin stretched to its limit. Ready to snap. And Novalise was going to pluck the final chord. “He’s handsome, wealthy, a prince…oh, and how could I forget? He rides a dragon.”
Magic erupted around them, an explosion of power, a force of black and silver flames. All the air was pulled from Novalise’s lungs as she was thrown backwards. She winced, bracing herself, but she never slammed into the stone wall. Asher was there, faster than lightning. One arm wrapped around her waist, the other tucked behind her head, protecting her. His chest rose and fell, each breath he drew harsh. Painful. A blaze of frostfire danced around them, sparking and glinting as every other glowing light in the cellar was snuffed out completely.
There were only the two of them together, surrounded by a storm of flames.
Pulsing. Glowing.
Asher lowered his head, his forehead coming to rest against hers.
“I’m warning you, my lady. Prince Kalstrand is dangerous. If you think to court him…” His words were gritty and raw, like he’d spent hours screaming. His gaze latched onto hers, then dipped to her mouth. “You’re playing with fire.”
“No.” Novalise raised her chin. She wouldn’t back down, not from him. Lifting one hand, she floated her fingers through the flames like a lover’s caress. Capturing a tiny spark of frostfire, she cupped her hands together, blowing lightly. The sphere encircling them wavered, throbbed with a life force all its own. She smirked. “Now, I’m playing with fire.”
Asher squeezed his eyes shut, a line of pain marring his brow.
The bond amplified, anchoring them to one another. She knew he fought against its control, struggled to shutter his thoughts from her mind, to block his emotions, to close off his heart.
Novalise reached up, trailing her fingers along the underside of his smooth jaw. “You’d really stand by and watch me marry someone else?”
His eyes flew open, dark and fierce. His hand slid from the back of her head to her neck. He grazed his bottom lip with his teeth, then said, “If it meant they would love you unconditionally, then yes.”
“Even if you knew it would be another male touching me. Kissing me.” She rocked her hips forward, grinding herself against him. Rising onto her toes, she pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth, then lingered. “Making me beg until I scream his name and not yours.”
A noise erupted from him, like nothing she’d ever heard. Part anger, part agony, she couldn’t be sure. But Asher reared back and slammed his fist into the wall next to her head. Novalise jumped, her eyes widening as she stared at him in surprise. She never expected the broody Lord Asher Firebane to be so…violent.
