I shrug, more focused on that hand touching mine than on cards. “If you wouldn’t mind showing me.”
“I would love to,” she gushes, and then straightens, pulling her hand away. “But you’re going to have to eventually buy your own cards. I don’t have a lot of them, because I never have much money.”
She’s hinted at financial troubles before, and her clothing is all castoffs. I wonder just how badly she’s in debt, but it seems a rude thing to ask and I don’t want to ruin the moment. I’m going to have to find out where these cards are sold and purchase some just so I can learn how to play. Just so she can reach over and touch my hand again.
Forbidden fruit, thy name is Reggie.
I force myself to concentrate on the wick in my hands, the careful braiding so the hair entwined burns evenly. “I haven’t played cards in a very long time.”
“No one to play with? Even back home? What about your friends?”
Her question is innocent, but it makes something sour inside me anyhow. “I’m a warlock, Reggie, of House Magnus. I don’t have friends.”
“Oh.” Reggie pauses, her hands going still. “That makes me sad, Ben. Everyone should have friends.”
I shrug. “Don’t be. I gladly chose power over friendships a long time ago. I’d choose it again today.” Especially if it meant being bosom buddies with people like Aulus or Titus. The only one I can tolerate is Willem, and that’s for short periods of time.
Reggie makes a sympathetic noise. “Well, everyone needs friends. You’re welcome to play cards with me at any time. You’re even welcome to come to the next Friday-night cards, but you’re going to have to endure Nick and Diego all over each other all night.” She makes a face. “I’m happy he’s happy, but I could do with a little less PDA.”
“Nick is your roommate, yes?” I pounce on the opportunity since she brought him up.
“Yes, and before you ask, we’re like brother and sister.” A wry smile curves her mouth as she maneuvers her fresh candles over to the wire rack and hangs them. “Nick has never been interested in girls, and I have never been interested in Nick. But I love him like a brother, absolutely.”
For some reason, I feel a strong surge of satisfaction at hearing that. “And how did you two meet?”
“We worked together at a gym for about three months. I got fired, Nick did not. We remained friends and eventually moved in together when he needed a roommate and my parents left town.”
“Left town” seems like an odd way of mentioning family leaving, but I don’t ask. She looks as reluctant to talk about her family as I am to talk about mine. “Why did you get fired? You seem a very . . . enthusiastic employee, let’s just say.”
Another blinding, sunny smile creases Reggie’s face. “Well,” she announces. “I couldn’t help but notice that the gym had very little workflow.”
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes,” Reggie says. “I spent all night one night rearranging extremely heavy treadmills and stair-climbers and anything I could move with a dolly. I was positive my boss would love my changes, since they just made more sense, you know? Instead, I came in to work, and he handed me my check and told me to get out.”
I don’t laugh. She’s smiling brightly, but I just imagine her disappointment. How many times had I worked tirelessly on something to impress my parents when they returned, only to find out that they weren’t coming home at all? I remember that bitter disappointment as if it were yesterday and not five hundred years ago, and it sours my mood. “Why do you meddle in things like that? Why do you rearrange everything?”
“Because it’s better,” Reggie says stubbornly.
“Obviously. The library is clearly better right now.” I nod. “Well done. I particularly love the ambiance of having all the books in piles on the floor. Very convenient.”
She stiffens, but when our eyes meet, another smile cracks her face. “You’re teasing me! You bastard.”
I find myself smiling. “Maybe a little.”
She throws her head back and laughs, full of delight, and that hot yearning rushes through me again. What would it be like to have someone like Reggie at my side, as my familiar? Someone unafraid to needle me? Someone who enjoyed spending time with me?
Or maybe not just as a familiar . . . I clamp that thought down before it gets away from me.
Reggie’s laughter dies and she goes quiet. She stares at the tray of wax in front of her. “Ben, I have a confession to make.”
My curiosity is piqued. “Go on.”
She doesn’t look me in the eye. Doesn’t reach for another candle. Just nudges the tray with her finger over and over again. “I . . .” Hesitates, then continues. “I used the crystal ball last night.”
I wait for her to continue. When she doesn’t, I prompt her. “And . . . ?”
Her expression is pure mortification, her cheeks pink. “I watched you. I didn’t think it would work, though,” she blurts quickly. “Until, well, it did.”
I frown, trying to follow along with what she’s not saying aloud. She watched me? She watched me what? And then I remember that after rescuing Reggie, my mind was still full of her smile, the way she nestled against me, her long, bare legs . . . I jerked off before bed.
Hard.
And it was thoroughly unsatisfying. It did nothing to take the edge off wanting her. Wanting to walk down that hall, use magic to bust open the locks, and sweep her into my arms again. But I will not, because she’s my aunt’s familiar. She’s young. Most of all, she just deserves better than to get caught up with someone like me.
Even so, I can’t resist the uncomfortable expression on her face. Reggie is a unique sort of person if she spied me self-pleasuring and decided to tell me about it.
My silence apparently distresses her, because she picks up another wick and drags it through the wax. “I didn’t realize what I’d be seeing. I think it was just bad timing, and you know, I wasn’t sure it would work, and . . . yeah.”
I put down the wick in my hands and lean on the counter, fascinated by her reaction. She’s squirming in her seat, her cheeks bright red. If she thought of me like she thought of this Nick guy, her reaction would be different, wouldn’t it? She rolled her eyes earlier at the mention of Nick’s PDA, but when she talks about me touching myself, she turns into a schoolgirl.
I can’t resist pricking at her. “And what did you think?”
Reggie’s gaze jerks up to mine, her eyes wide. Her lips part. “Wh-what do you mean?”
I lift my chin in her direction. “Did you find it pleasing?”
Her mouth opens, and a wordless sound comes out of her. She recovers and then shakes her head, chuckling. “I’m not going to tell you and feed that enormous ego of yours.”
So she liked it, then. The forbidden lust for her roars through my system. I should turn around and walk away. Turn and pretend we never had this conversation. Instead, I saunter around to her side of the kitchen island, and I laugh. “I have had hundreds of years to get over any sort of modesty I might have had.”
And then I lean over her so I can whisper in her ear.
“I know I have a big cock.”
I saunter away as she makes another incoherent noise. “W-wait,” she calls out. “Where are you going?”
“You finish those candles for me. I am overdue on a very big offering I need to make to Mercury.” Plus, I need an excuse to get out of the room, because if I stay next to her for much longer, I’m going to steal my aunt’s familiar, and I have enough scandal following me around.
18
REGGIE