I need to tell you.” She moved his hand back, out of her panties and he acquiesced, but stayed close.
“In a very real way, we’re drunk on each other. I’m certain about this bonding between you and me. I was raised in a world surrounded by people with bond-mates. I know it exists because I see it every day.
“But you didn’t grow up in a clan and you don’t seem to know a lot about us. So while I’m sure of the bond, I want you to be too. If we do this tonight, you’ll wonder one day and that would break my heart.”
At those last words her bottom lip trembled just a bit and he ached to make it better.
That and he had to admit he understood her point.
“You’re going to kill me.” He moved her so that she fit against his side, not willing to not be touching her. “It’s going to be midnight shortly. Does that count as not rushing?”
She frowned at him, but then shook her head with a slow smile. “You’re going to be trouble.”
He laughed, surprised by her.
“I want to fuck you.” He sighed and then that intensity of his focus was back and she shivered. “And just so we’re clear, I will fuck you. But I understand your perspective and it can wait. Not a long time or I’ll explode.”
She snickered and he didn’t resist the urge to play his fingers through her hair. He liked being around her. She was the kind of woman who had her shit together. The calm and hyperefficient type he rarely ended up with and now he wondered why. He dug the self-sufficiency and the desire to ruffle her feathers and see just how wild she could be once he got down a few layers was nearly overwhelming.
“Why don’t you tell me about the bonding?”
“All right, I will.” She sniffed, slightly snotty and he dug it. “I’m going to give you the basics. You may know some of this so cut me some slack.”
He didn’t know much, he admitted inwardly.
“In every clan you’ve got two types of witches. Commonwealth witches, essentially ninety percent of the clan. And council witches.”
“Why the disparity? Why so many of them and so few of you?”
“ Us. We’re freaks of nature.”
He narrowed his gaze. “What?”
“Most science points to a genetic anomaly. And a percentage of that percentage is compatible with each other. And when they connect their magick with the ascension—a spell that’ll unite our magick—they rise to an even greater level of power by several orders of magnitude. It’s our function, and our honor to use that extra power to run and protect the clan for the benefit of its members.”
He tended to see that point and yet it bugged him that the few ran the clan for the many. And he said so.
“The wards at Heart of Darkness? I’ve seen only a handful of witches who can work spells like that. You’re already powerful and unique. Now, me? I could have done it and not tapped into the font. Because I’ve been trained. If you choose to ascend, you’d be able to do it ten times over without much of an effort. So it’s not much of a surprise is it? That witches with that sort of power end up running things?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, I get it. But it seems undemocratic.”
She shrugged. “It is undemocratic. We’re not a country, we’re a voluntary membership organization whose sole mission is to protect and enrich member witches.”
“Did you get training to rule then?”
“It’s easy to be flip when you don’t know anything. Yes, as a matter of fact. I’ve been in training since before I took my first step. I work, on average, nearly eighty hours a week.”
“So do I.”
She raised one brow, very slowly. “And yet, I’m not attacking your life. It’s the other way around.”
“I’m not attacking anything.” Well, he supposed, it might appear that way. “Did you know your whole life you were meant to be full-council? I mean, because your mom is, you are too?”
She let him get away with his statement, but they both knew she did. “Your mother
“In a very real way, we’re drunk on each other. I’m certain about this bonding between you and me. I was raised in a world surrounded by people with bond-mates. I know it exists because I see it every day.
“But you didn’t grow up in a clan and you don’t seem to know a lot about us. So while I’m sure of the bond, I want you to be too. If we do this tonight, you’ll wonder one day and that would break my heart.”
At those last words her bottom lip trembled just a bit and he ached to make it better.
That and he had to admit he understood her point.
“You’re going to kill me.” He moved her so that she fit against his side, not willing to not be touching her. “It’s going to be midnight shortly. Does that count as not rushing?”
She frowned at him, but then shook her head with a slow smile. “You’re going to be trouble.”
He laughed, surprised by her.
“I want to fuck you.” He sighed and then that intensity of his focus was back and she shivered. “And just so we’re clear, I will fuck you. But I understand your perspective and it can wait. Not a long time or I’ll explode.”
She snickered and he didn’t resist the urge to play his fingers through her hair. He liked being around her. She was the kind of woman who had her shit together. The calm and hyperefficient type he rarely ended up with and now he wondered why. He dug the self-sufficiency and the desire to ruffle her feathers and see just how wild she could be once he got down a few layers was nearly overwhelming.
“Why don’t you tell me about the bonding?”
“All right, I will.” She sniffed, slightly snotty and he dug it. “I’m going to give you the basics. You may know some of this so cut me some slack.”
He didn’t know much, he admitted inwardly.
“In every clan you’ve got two types of witches. Commonwealth witches, essentially ninety percent of the clan. And council witches.”
“Why the disparity? Why so many of them and so few of you?”
“ Us. We’re freaks of nature.”
He narrowed his gaze. “What?”
“Most science points to a genetic anomaly. And a percentage of that percentage is compatible with each other. And when they connect their magick with the ascension—a spell that’ll unite our magick—they rise to an even greater level of power by several orders of magnitude. It’s our function, and our honor to use that extra power to run and protect the clan for the benefit of its members.”
He tended to see that point and yet it bugged him that the few ran the clan for the many. And he said so.
“The wards at Heart of Darkness? I’ve seen only a handful of witches who can work spells like that. You’re already powerful and unique. Now, me? I could have done it and not tapped into the font. Because I’ve been trained. If you choose to ascend, you’d be able to do it ten times over without much of an effort. So it’s not much of a surprise is it? That witches with that sort of power end up running things?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, I get it. But it seems undemocratic.”
She shrugged. “It is undemocratic. We’re not a country, we’re a voluntary membership organization whose sole mission is to protect and enrich member witches.”
“Did you get training to rule then?”
“It’s easy to be flip when you don’t know anything. Yes, as a matter of fact. I’ve been in training since before I took my first step. I work, on average, nearly eighty hours a week.”
“So do I.”
She raised one brow, very slowly. “And yet, I’m not attacking your life. It’s the other way around.”
“I’m not attacking anything.” Well, he supposed, it might appear that way. “Did you know your whole life you were meant to be full-council? I mean, because your mom is, you are too?”
She let him get away with his statement, but they both knew she did. “Your mother
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