Page 101 of Happily Ever Witch
“Iamalways in control.” He interrupted. “I’m a ninety-eight-percent-evil dragon. If I ever got out of control, I would do things beyond even my tolerance for Badness.”
She nodded in agreement, but went on “I think-ing” and “maybe-ing” this strange conversation. “But, what if maybe your teacher was the one in control and she used it against you? I’m trying to imagine whatIwould have done, if my algebra teacher came on to me. It seems like that would be…a lotto process.”
Trevelyan’s first instinct was to dismiss that rush of words out of hand. “Dragons are very sexual beings.” He argued without even stopping to consider it. “We mature quickly.”
“I don’t think you should have maturedthatquickly. I think maybe everyone --you included-- sometimes forgot you were a child. And I think your predatory teacher should be in jail. Or dead.”
“She is dead. A house fell on her.”
Esmeralda frowned. “She was a witch?”
“No, but that kills just about anybody.” Trevelyan waved a hand. “Anyway, I didn’t fight the idea of sleeping with her, so…”
She cut him off. “That has nothing to do with it. You were too young to consent. Just likeIwould have been, at thirteen.”
He considered Esmeralda’s words, picturing a much older man getting her alone, when she was a small girl. Fondling her delicate skin. Maybe forcing her to do things she didn’twant to do. His mate feeling the shame and degradation he’d felt when Snow White had touched him in prison.
“Alright.” Trevelyan allowed, with a slow nod. “I see your point.”
Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how closely he related Mrs. Clyburn and Snow White in his mind. The resentment and the coercion underpinning the sex suddenly struck him as similar. That probably meant something, but he preferred not to examine what.
“I just wish I had found you sooner.” Esmeralda met his eyes. “Like, in high school? I definitely would have kept you safe. …Even though we have separate lives and agreednotto keep each other safe. I would have made an exception.”
His chest warmed in some weird way that he couldn’t quite describe. It felt like a spark lighting in a very cold room. It made it easy to shove aside all the shit he didn’t want to think about and focus on his beautiful mate. “Would you?”
“Yep. You probably took yourself too seriously, even back then. I could have shown you how to have way more fun. You needed that.”
He neededher.
Trevelyan didn’t like needing anyone, but there was no getting around the fact that Esmeralda was vital to him. It was astonishing how calm he felt in her presence. Howrightit all seemed. He was himself again, in a way he hadn’t been since before the WUB Club.
The hungry, prowling dragon inside of him had never been so satiated. Restless anger that had been building for years was soothed by his mate. The dragon purred whenever she smiled. It wanted to rub up against her, basking in her scent.
“Of course, you were forsurethe handsome, popular, cool guy in class.” Esmeralda wrinkled her nose. “All the girls liked you, huh?”
He shrugged. No one ever liked him. He’d ruled his high school, but none of his terrified followers hadlikedTrevelyan. They’d just known better than to challenge him. If the witch had been there, she would have challenged him, though. And he would have been delighted by her fire.
“I wasn’t very popular.” She confided. “I was like those arty kids, who skip class, smoke hexed herbs, and do magical graffiti on walls. So, you wouldnothave been thrilled to be seen with me.”
It didn’t matter which clique she belonged to, he would have joined it and seized control. Anyone who stood in his way would have fallen, screaming in agony and praying for death, until he held her in his clutches. Even as a boy, Trevelyan would have known his mate.
“And I’msureyou were a much better student than me.” Esmeralda continued blithely. “You aced all the tests, am I right?”
“I was valedictorian.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nerd.”
“Some studious wizard-ling came within a few decimal points of me, so it was a close contest. …Until he tragically disappeared.”
Esmeralda positively beamed at that sad news. “I got terrible grades, because I hated all the rules. I was kind of rebellious. I would have led you down the wrong academic path and wrecked your GPA.”
The corner of his mouth curved at the idea of Esmeralda luring him into disrepute. “My darling, there has never been a time whenyou’dbe the Bad influence in our relationship.”
“Yeah, I would have been good for you, back then.”
She was Good for him, now. Trevelyan had always scoffed at Goodness, until he’d been washed clean by Esmeralda’s extraordinary magic. It was worrisome, how much he needed her. He’d never needed anything before, but now every single part of him needed his mate. He couldnevergo back to not having her in his life
His contented thoughts grew darker.
