Page 40 of Finn's Solace

I hesitated, and Levi smiled, then leaned down to kiss the tip of my nose. "It's okay. You can keep them on."

Feeling the sudden need to explain myself, I sat up, making Levi slide further back on my legs. "It's just...my powers. I don't want to accidentally turn you to stone if I get too caught up in...feeling."

Levi blinked, then smiled. "Give me a sec."

My brows furrowed as he climbed off my legs, then walked over to the nightstand. After digging in the drawer for a few moments, he returned with a flat rock in the palm of his hand. My confusion mounted as he climbed onto the bed beside me, the rock still in his hand.

"Uh, Levi?"

"Watch."

I watched. Levi folded his hand over the stone, and I sucked in a breath as his hand slowly turned to stone. I ran my fingers over his skin, and a gasp escaped my mouth when I concluded it didn't just look like stone—itwasstone.

As I kept watching, his hand slowly became skin and bones again, and he dropped the small rock on the mattress and showed me his completely human hand.

"If you do ever turn me to stone, I'm sure I'll be able to turn back. Earth mage, remember?"

"This is...I didn't think you could do that."

Levi made a face. "While there are a lot of things I dislike about the people of Ravenshire, I can't say they didn't train me well." Which explained why Amelia couldn't do stuff like this. She'd grown up thinking she was human, and she'd only started figuring out what she could do once we got to Mistvale and started healing.

"Thank you," I murmured, taking his hand in mine and giving it a squeeze. There were still faint scars around his wrists from when they'd drained our blood, and I found myself tracing the marks. Dad had removed mine and everyone else's at our request. I wondered if Levi would like his removed too.

"What for?"

It took me a moment to remember I'd been thanking him, and I smiled, then picked up the stone he'd used. Why he had it in his nightstand was a question for another day.

"For stopping things to take the time to show me," I said, then shrugged. "I would've been okay if you'd told me later."

Levi smiled, then leaned forward to press a soft kiss on my lips. "We have all the time in the world, Finn. If taking five minutes now makes you feel more comfortable and relaxed with me, then why wouldn't I?"

Levi

Finn smiled at my declaration, then threw his arms around me and pulled me into a kiss. I pushed him until he was on his back again, then slid my hand under his t-shirt, resuming my earlierexploration. His skin was smooth, with just a hint of hair on his chest. I tugged at his nipples, and he gasped into the kiss.

Pulling back, I turned my focus to his neck, kissing the soft skin before moving lower.

Sitting up, I reached for the waistband of his sweatpants, eager to see the rest of him, but then he did something that turned my brain to goo.

He took his glasses off.

Honestly, it didn't make him look that different. He was hot with or without his glasses.

No, it was the trust in that gesture that got to me, the faith he was putting in me by revealing his eyes to me when he probably hadn't done it with anyone around in years. Except maybe his siblings if basilisks were immune to each others' eyes. I'd have to ask him later.

"God, Finn. You're beautiful."

Predictably, his cheeks turned red at my words, and I grinned, then kissed both his cheeks, then his eyelids. When he opened his eyes, they flickered and turned yellow for a moment before returning to their regular green, and Finn sucked in a breath, going still.

"Hey, you okay?" I murmured, and he blinked again. This time, the yellow of his eyes lingered.

"I can see it," he said, a hint of awe in his voice.

"See what?"

He smiled, a wide, brilliant smile, his eyes still yellow and snake-like. "That you're my mate."

I smiled at the happiness in his voice, then traced the edge of his right eye with my thumb, and he exhaled a shuddering breath, his eyes still on me.

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