Regius by Nastasia Peters Read Free Book Online Page B

should. You already had it
back then, Cali. It's gotten deeper now." The tip of his index
finger traced the skin beneath my left eye. "I was determined to
make it go away."
    "I need you to count on me
as I count on you." I told him firmly. "I'm not going anywhere." He
released a half sigh, but smiled all the while. I felt his arms
come around me, pulling me closer so that our foreheads and noses
bumped into one another.
    "Why didn't you just tell
me?" I whispered. The embrace had my heart racing and my blood
pumping, but however shaky I felt, I wasn't going to give it
up.
    "Would you have believed
me?" His voice sent shivers down my spine, and wherever his hands
touched, it set my skin on fire. "I needed to have you trust me
before I could reveal any of that."
    "Or find a way to break the
barrier." Blood rushed up to my cheeks when his lips gently kissed
the tip of my nose. "Did you know Vervaine could?" I asked shakily,
finding it hard to concentrate as his mouth connected softly to my
temple, my forehead, my eyelid, the corner of my mouth.
    "I didn't." He whispered.
"Thank you for waiting for me."
    "Right back at you."
Swallowing nervously, I tilted my head further back so I could look
properly at him and with this gesture, my neck was exposed and he
took advantage, placing his palm against my throat, his thumb right
underneath my chin. He dipped his head down and when his lips
touched my skin, my heart skipped a beat and a noise of pleasure
escaped me.
    "You are not pulling away."
He said against my neck.
    "Once I make up my mind, I
don't change it back again." I assured him. His lips left me and
his hand on my neck moved so his fingers could grip my
chin.
    "You are absolutely certain
you want this?" He asked. "Because if-" I cut him off by kissing
him. No warning or no words, not much flourish either. The only way
he could understand just how serious I was about him was if I could
make him feel it. His body pressed against mine and he responded by
letting the tip of his tongue slide between my parted lips. When I
placed my hands on his upper arms, I had every intention of just
clinging to him and let him take the lead, rather sure I wouldn’t
be able to keep track of everything I was feeling right now.
Instead though, this quick rush of need led me to thread my fingers
into his hair, gently tugging and kissing back feverishly, tasting
and teasing as much as he.
    His hands fisted into my
shirt above my hips, squeezing before one of them slid down over my
butt. I broke away from the kiss, a noise escaping my swollen lips
and it didn't take me too long to understand I'd just moaned loudly
enough to give away our location, say there were enemies lurking on
the green hill neighboring us. I saw him grin in satisfaction
before he leaned in and let his mouth pay attention to my jaw, neck
and that spot that connects your throat and shoulder.
    Opening my eyes, I vaguely
noticed a change.
    "Datura." I panted
out.
    "Hmm?"
    "I'm seeing
grey."
    He chuckled. "I promise
we're safe."
    "Then why?"
    His grin grew wider. "It's
because you're turned on. Your control isn't as focused and so it
turns on and off."
    "How traitorous." I
commented absently.
    "You sound very upset about
it." He laughed. I had never seen him this way before, as though he
didn't have a worry on his mind. It suited him.
    Letting my fingers toy with
his braid, I asked. "When did you start having feelings for me?"
Out of all the memories I'd retrieved, there wasn't one that had
shown he'd told me about this. So I deduced that he
hadn't.
    "When we met again on the
second floor." He smiled. "It might be best that our once upon a
time friendship morphed into something different. I wouldn't have
wanted to compete with Solenum."
    "You don't have too." I
said softly. "I have space for both of you in my heart." He
surprised me by pulling me into a tight hug, his face pressed into
my neck.
    "There were times I was
tempted to use the Sunken Tree's memory dust on myself."