Not only am I failing; I’m failing with an audience.
“Stop relying on my magic,” Mateo says, for what seems like the hundredth time. “Reach inside and use your own.”
“I’m trying,” I reply, exasperated. “Right now, I’m more than ready to bring that paperweight crashing down on your head, damn it. But I can’t feel my own magic.”
Mateo is unfazed by my show of hostility. “Try again,” he says calmly.
Casius looks up. “Maybe she doesn’t have enough motivation to succeed,” he helpfully suggests.
Jerk.
I glare at him. “Because having a homicidal dragon mage gunning for me isn’t enough motivation?” Ooh. Snarky Aria is coming out to play.
Casius doesn’t look chagrined either. “Clearly, no.”
Mateo’s lips curl up into a devilish smile. Holy shit, he’s hot. If Bea were here, she’d be making some kind of joke about my girly bits tingling with desire. And she’d be right. “Casius has a point,” he says. “Every time you’ve successfully used magic, you’ve been in danger. You can use my magic easily enough when the need arises. Now, find that same urgency to tap into your own.”
I sigh. I’m not in a life-or-death situation, and if that’s what it takes to make my magical abilities come to the surface, I’m screwed. “Well, which one of you is going to try to kill me?” I snap.
Frustration makes me a bitch. The moment I snap at Casius and Mateo, I feel bad about taking it out on them. They’re trying to help me, and I’m acting like a petulant toddler.
Instead of being angry, Mateo’s smile turns feral. “Let’s play a game.”
“The dragon prince in the library with a candlestick,” I quip. The sarcasm hasn’t really run its course.
Mateo’s eyes dance with amusement. “Not quite,” he purrs, stalking toward me in a way that sets my pulse racing. “Casius, are you in?”
“Sure,” the other dragon replies, rolling up his scroll and setting it aside.
My gaze meets Casius’. His expression is filled with heat, and it sends a flash of excitement through my body. I lick my dry lips. Whatever Mateo is planning, it’s much better than failing to lift a paperweight in the air.
“What are the rules of this game?” I ask, refocusing my attention on Mateo. He’s standing mere inches from my body. He’s close enough I can feel the heat radiating off of him and smell his spicy scent that always seems to have a hint of power behind it.
He leans into me. “Well, with any good game there are both rewards…” His lips brush across mine gently. “And consequences…” He sinks his teeth into my bottom lip, just enough to sting. “Every time you complete your task successfully, you’ll get pleasure.” He sucks my lip into his mouth, gently soothing the sting away.
A riot of need builds up inside me. When he pulls away, I’m breathless. What the hell were we talking about? Oh. Right. Magic lessons. A game. Mmm.
“And if I fail?”
His fingers lightly pinch my nipple through my clothing, and I gasp. “That’s obvious, isn’t it? If you fail… punishment.”
“O-okay,” I stutter. Forming words is hard. Mateo’s big body is pressed against mine, and his fingers are busily torturing my nipple. Casius is watching us with a slight smile on his face.
“Try again, tesoro,” Mateo whispers into my ear. “Use your magic and lift the paperweight into the air.”
If I stay where I am, I’m liable to jump Mateo’s bones. I take a step back, putting a little distance between us.
Taking a deep breath, I focus my attention inward. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the pulsing strands that surround Mateo. It would be so easy to manipulate those strands—they offer themselves up so readily—but that’s not the challenge. I’m supposed to find the magic that lives inside me.
Closing my eyes, I search for it.
Aah. There it is. My magic doesn’t feel like glowing golden threads. That’s why I’ve been missing it. It feels like a small, red ball of fire, deep inside my chest.
I take another deep breath and let my senses expand inward. Oh. My magic is made of strands too, but they’re knotted together in a tightly tangled red bundle. That’s why I can’t use it. It’s too messy.
I experimentally pull on the tightly coiled ball of red fire, trying to unwind the strands. It’s tedious and frustrating. Mateo’s magic hovers in front of me, tempting me to take the easier way out, but I can’t. Mateo’s right. I’m half-gemstone for a reason. I have to figure out how to use my own power.
Damn it. The threads refuse to cooperate. Worse than that, it feels like they’re actively resisting me.
If there were spirit animals for magic, mine would be a cat. Lazy, stubborn, and waiting to push things off the table just to be an asshole.
“You’re thinking too hard.” Mateo’s voice slices through my concentration. “Quit fighting against it. Use your instincts.”
I huff out an exasperated breath and try again. I finally work one of the flaming threads free and send it hurtling toward the paperweight. The globe-shaped stone wobbles, and then raises a foot off the desktop.
“Good. Now pull it toward you.”
I lightly pull at the thread of red-tinged magic, asking it to bring the object to me. Instead of listening, the strand snaps back like a rubber band sending the paperweight crashing to the floor.
Fuck.
Casius tsks from directly behind me. I hadn’t even noticed he’d moved. “Too bad,” he says with mock sincerity. “I had hoped to give you your first reward. But it looks like it’s time for your first punishment instead.” He doesn’t sound repentant in the least. “Take off your shirt, Aria.”
I consider arguing that I did better than I had before, but I hold my tongue. This is a new side of Casius, one I certainly haven’t seen before. I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy this game, punishments and all.
I tug my shirt off, letting it drop to the floor.
“Bra too,” Casius adds.
I comply without hesitation. My nipples pebble to tight peaks when the cool air of the library meets my skin. I hardly have time to grumble about winter because Casius’ big hands cup my breasts from behind. My head falls back on his shoulder as he pinches and pulls at the sensitive tips.
“The next punishment will be significantly more intense,” he murmurs. “Try again, Aria.”
This is ludicrous. Casius continues to tease my nipples. How am I supposed to concentrate when his hands are roaming all over my body?
I grit my teeth, close my eyes, and reach for the knot of magic again. Come on, red ball of fire, I plead. I’d be super grateful if you cooperate.
Something changes. Instead of a tightly coiled ball, the strands feel pliant. They’re still tangled together, but they appear slightly readier to respond when I tug at them.
Huh.
Maybe my crazy mates were on to something. Maybe I have been trying too hard.
This time, instead of yanking at the fiery strands, I coax them free. Stretching my hands out toward the paperweight, I imagine the magic wrapping around the fallen globe and bringing it to me. It’s just a ball of string, little magic-asshole-cat, I encourage, thinking of the way Madam Buttface bats wool all around Silas’ apartment. Roll it my way.
My eyes pop open, and at the same time the paperweight falls to the ground two feet away from me. “Very good, tesoro,” Mateo praises. “You definitely pulled it toward you. Next time, you’ll need to catch it though.”
That’s next time. I’m more concerned with right now. “Do I get a reward?”
“If you want one,” Casius replies.
Hell yes. “Of course I do.”
Casius’ lips curl into a smile. “Okay,” he says. “Pants off.”