Page 18 of #Resort Love
My hand paused on a worn book, my mind flashing back to earlier in the day. Ever since I ran into Sybil in the middle of the street, it was a continual fight to shut down the urge to seeher, to be near her. Even now, I could feel my soul begging to cross the short distance to her room and hold her close. My hand tightened around the book, and I pushed back the need to be with her.
She’s too new to this world, to her magic.
I repeated that to myself over and over, hoping that it would calm the force pushing me to her. It would be too dangerous for us both if I acted on my wants, if I lost control of myself and followed my heart’s demands.
I knew she could feel it too, this link between us. I could see it in the way her eyes always found mine, in the way her body reacted to my touch. She could feel this pull as much as I did, though I knew she didn’t understand it, couldn't comprehend why or what it implied. Which meant that I would need to keep a firm hold on myself, possibly even a barrier to stop Sybil from acting on her emotions.
Letting my hand fall from the book, an idea popped into my head, though not a very good one. I cringed, knowing the lashing I was about to receive, but I pulled on my magic, transferring myself to a brightly lit office.
Standing behind the female, hunched over, lost in her thoughts while reading her research, I braced myself and cleared my throat.
Aster leapt from her chair, gasping, launching a thick book toward my face with a curse. I caught it before it could do any damage and gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Are you insane?” Aster hissed, her face pinching in anger.
“I need a favor, and I didn’t want anyone to know I was here,” I shrugged. “It was the only thing I could think of.”
Aster glared at me, her gray eyes piercing and cold. “And you think I’m the one that would help you with this favor?”
My smile widened, but before I could laugh, Aster flung her sharpened pen in my direction. I stepped to the side, the edged point lodging itself into the wall behind me. “It’s just a small favor, I promise. You wouldn’t have to do anything really.”
Aster’s brows pinched, her lips thinning. She stared at me with such cool regard that I could have sworn she was the one with ice magic instead of Ambrose. Finally, Aster let out a quick breath. “Tell me your favor andthenI will decide whether to help you or not,” she grounded out.
Drumming my fingers against my leg, I considered my words carefully. “I need you to pretend that we’re together,” I said slowly.
“Excuse me?” Aster balked, appalled by the words that escaped my lips.
“You don’t have to do anything,” I said quickly, holding my hands out in front of me. “And you just need to pretend in front of one person in particular.”
“Andwhydo you want me to do that?”
“The woman I would check on in Mide? She’s here.” I forced out the words, my stomach twisting in the process.
Aster raised a brow, her nose lifting in the air. “And?”
“And,” I breathed. “I need her to believe that I am unavailable.”
“You’re not giving me much to go on, Samian,” Aster pointed out, annoyance making her words sharp.
I let out a shaky breath and found a chair to settle in. Running a hand over my face, I leaned back, letting my head fall back against the wall behind me. “I can barely control myself around her. I need her to think I’m inaccessible because if she makes a move toward me, I don’t know if I would have the strength to stop myself. I needherto be the one who holds back.”
An unreadable emotion flickered across Aster’s face as she studied me, though it doesn’t take long for realization to dawn. “She’s your?—”
“Don’t say it,” I hissed, straightening in my chair.
“I don’t understand. Why are you avoiding it? This is a good thing, Samian.” Confusion filled those steely eyes of hers but quickly shifted into alarm.
“Exactly,” I pressed. “If Ambrose finds out, I don’t even want to think what he would do to her.” I swallowed, memories of Aster’s detached eyes finding mine when I found her lying so still in the middle of a dark room flitting across my mind. I pushed the thoughts away, not wanting to relive those moments of me holding her brutalized body to mine as I rushed her to the closest healer I could find.
Aster’s eyes remained distant for a moment, until she blinked away the flashbacks of Ambrose.
“Sybil is new to this world, to her magic. She just lost her fiancé. I don’t want to push this onto her, and I can’t allow Ambrose to find out. He already has some plan ready for her. I can’t allow him to have that too.” My stomach dropped at the thought of Ambrose hurting Sybil, of doing the things he did to Aster just because he saw how close we became. I wouldn’t allow another person I cared for to become his plaything.
“Fine,” Aster sighed, her sharp eyes finally meeting mine. “I’ll play along.However, I will not lie if she asks me any questions. Understood?”
Relief flooded through me, my body relaxing into the chair. “Understood.”
Aster rolled her eyes and returned to her desk. “Go away, I’m busy.”
