Page 106 of When Storms Ruin

“Even before your reconciliation?” Tess moved to the window and pulled the blinds open, letting the sun stream in. I squinted against it, but moved to join her. There would be plenty of time to wallow in my self-pity later.

Today, we would bind my magic.

Today, I would become the fierce storm witch that Donika had no hope of defeating.

“Yes, even before our reconciliation,” I replied.

“I think you forgave him before you even realized you had,” Tess pointed out. “Binding your magic to his? That’s serious.”

I nodded. “He is quite possibly the strongestwitch I know.”

“He isdefinitelythe strongest witch we know. Other than you, of course.”

“Of course,” I replied with a laugh.

I changed out of yesterday’s clothes and splashed water on my face to help wake me up. I avoided my reflection in the mirror, pulling my hair back away from my face into a ponytail. I wasn’t ready to face Annelise and Zion, but as Tess had said, I had no other choice.

We found Puck and Nik in their rooms, and they joined us in the hallway. Without a word Nik wrapped me into a tight embrace and I let myself sink into him.

Things had changed between us, but I still had an important question to ask him. If he didn’t agree to bind his magic to mine, I wasn’t sure who I would turn to. He had every right to deny me, holding half of my storm magic would be no easy feat, and it would change both of our lives forever.

“Can we get a minute alone?” I asked Tess over Nik’s shoulder.

He still held me tightly against him.“Of course. Meet you in Zion’s office in ten?” she asked as she moved towards the spiral staircase that would bring them up out of the cottage underground.

I nodded in response, and Tess and Puck left us alone in the hallway. I dipped into the library and Nik followed, wanting more privacy. I moved towards the table in the center that still had our books stacked atop it and shuffled onto the desk, resting my feet on the chair.

“There’s something I want to ask you,” I told him, meeting his gaze. He stood across from me, leaning over the chair I rested my feet on.

“Anything, firecracker.” His eyes were a soft blue in the dim lighting of the library, and for a moment I was almost lost in them.

“You can say no, if you want to. I don’t want you to feel any pressure to say yes or feel obligated in any way.” I was rambling, fidgeting with the hem of my shirtsleeves.

If he said no, I would have to turn to Zion or even Warrick. I wasn’t sure I wanted my magic bound to either of them for an eternity.

“I understand.” He smiled softly, reaching across to rest a hand on my knee. “You can ask me anything, Diana.”

“I’ll just get it over with then. Will you bind to me? I need a powerful witch to bind my magic to, and there isn’t anyone else I would rather share this burden with and—”

“Yes,” he cut me off with his simple reply, as if he had already known exactly what I was going to ask.

“Yes?” I asked, holding his gaze.

“Yes, Diana. I would doanythingfor you. You still doubt that?”

“No. I don’t doubt that I just—” I shook my head back and forth, unsure what I had been thinking, exactly.

He moved closer, his hands resting on my knees as he leaned over me. The scent of his body wash wafted off him, and it took everything in me to keep my eyes on his.

“I would happily bind to you, Diana. It’s you and me. In this life and the next.”

“In this life and the next,” I whispered against him as my hands found his neck, bringing his mouth down to mine.

He kissed me softly at first, tentatively. He knew I was fragile at the moment, the news of my mother being alive still had me reeling. I kissed him back hungrily, and he quickly matched my intensity.

He pulled the chair away and my legs fell back against the table before his hands found the inside of both of my knees, spreading them apart. He stood between them and I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him closer. My hands moved to his back and up his shirt, running over the taut muscle there. I wanted nothing more than to forget everything else, to melt into him.

He nipped at my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and I arched into him, my fingernails digging into his tanned skin as I groaned into his mouth. One of his hands was buried in my hair, the other on my hip, holding me against him. His mouth moved to my cheek, my jaw, my neck, and further down under the collar of my shirt. His hand moved from my hip to dip under the hem of my shirt, traveling over the bare expanse of skin on my stomach.

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