“But you said, ‘our bed’ in the café.”
“I did. I want, I need, others to believe that hot-headed fool and I are a serious pair,” she told me.
“You haven’t been with him?” I asked her.
Her hand at my jaw held me still as she leaned forward to kiss me softly.
“I have been only with you since I took you for my own,” she told me when she released my jaw. “But one day, I will be with him to seal the marriage union. And when that day comes, you will not turn from me when I come for you.”
13. Study Buddies
Persephone Flores
My weekend started slowly. Selene was busy talking fabrics and colours and measurements on a call. We didn’t have telephones back home - we hollered or went to find each other when we needed to talk. Before my time at the Academy, I had only seen telephones when visiting the town closest to our village. Every building at Sanguis Academy had a telephone, and Selene had one that was not attached to a wall or anything. It seemed like magic to me, but I knew it wasn’t anything so complex; it was science, no witch required.
“Sweetheart, come here.” I looked from my healing textbook and the section on the dangers of dehydration from sickness to Selene. She had put her phone down and was holding a measuring tape in her hands. She looked at me impatiently and I got up from my seat at the small kitchen table.
She pulled me towards her and embraced me, her head dipping to kiss my crown.
“Are you studying hard?” she asked.
“Yes, Ma’am,” I told her, pressing myself against her, my head against her chest, breathing her in. “I like this,” I said, enjoying how her warmth seeped into me.
“You feel a little cold,” she mused, “You must tell me if you’re uncomfortable, pet. You cannot regulate your temperature as I do. I will have the air-con adjusted.”
“I’m okay,” I told her. She hummed above me before releasing me from her arms.
“Strip pet. I need your exact measurements. I’ve been able to eyeball you for sizes so far, but I want your dress for the ball to be a perfect fit,” she said, her fingers already lifting the edges of my vest top.
She had commanded me to strip, but she undressed me, carefully folding my shorts and top after removing them.
Her eyes ran down and back up my body appreciatively.
“I find you so appealing, darling. I almost want to ignore my task,” she said, her voice low. “Sadly, I must get these measurements to Lasinda today, and you have to study,” she huffed, and her visible disappointment was cute, a word I didn’t associate with her often. She was beautiful, powerful, breathtaking and regularly absolutely stunning, but I rarely thought of her as cute.
“You’re cute,” I told her, and she grinned.
“Did you say I was ‘cute’, pet?” she asked with a playful rumble in her chest.
“Yep, you’re adorable with that little scowl of disappointment. Too bad you’re so responsible, and we have soooo much to do,” I replied, poking her brow and watching her annoyed reaction, “We couldn’t possibly find any time to have any sort of fun,” I teased and took a bouncing step backwards away from her when she reached out for me.
Her playful growl turned loud as I moved out of her reach.
“What are you playing at, little pet?” she asked, taking a careful step forward, and I took more back in return.
“I don’t feel like being measured for a dress,” I told her.
“Whether you feel like it or not, it’s happening,” she answered, her grin growing, almost a full smile.
“I think that’s up to me,” I answered confidently and moved around to the other side of the coffee table. All the while she followed me with slow, careful steps.
“And what makes you believe that you have any say?” she asked me, her liquid silver eyes beginning to glow. I knew my behaviour, challenging her, and staying out of her reach, was speaking to her instincts. The realisation thrilled me.
“You can’t take my measurements if you can’t catch me,” I told her and immediately turned to sprint across the room.
I knew she would catch me, could catch me easily, but there was something instinctively exhilarating by the idea of her chasing me, catching me. I was prey that did not want to escape.
Her arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me from the ground just as I made it to the safe haven of the bathroom threshold, where I had big ideas of locking the door behind me.