When I kissed her, it was hot. She was hot…. sexy and irresistible. And there would never be another feeling that rivaled her body pressed against mine. But standing in the night air, enjoying a comfortable silence, with her just holding my hand like she was happy to stay there forever…. like she trusted me to let her stay there forever…. was a whole new kind of feeling I had never experienced.
Ever.
My magic swelled the longer we stood there, so that it was a shield around us, covering us both. Her magic didn’t stand a chance as mine took hers inside of it, consuming it, melding it to one energy field. She never looked at me, never even acknowledged me standing next to her, save for the easy touch between us. Then she let out a soft sigh, almost quiet enough that I didn’t hear her. But I did hear her.
I turned to face her, I needed to know how she felt, if she would give me a chance. But then staring down at her, I couldn’t find words to break the moment. And I wasn’t even convinced I wanted to. Hell yes I wanted to know if she would give me a chance. But if she was still so set on denying there could be something between us…. at the moment…. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear it.
Her face tilted to mine, slowly, tentatively. Her deep brown eyes grew big as our gazes met and the wind was knocked from me in a whoosh of breath. She paralyzed me, there in the dark, in the middle of the country, she immobilized me with that big-eyed stare. In that moment I knew the rejection would be worth it, the chase, the effort, the time I would put in to pursuing her would all be worth it.
She was worth it.
“There you two are,” Sebastian huffed from behind us. The spell was broken and embarrassment muddled with fear flushed her face. Amelia immediately dropped my hand and shook hers out like I had burned her.
Great.
Damn it Sebastian.
I turned around and glared at him through the dark. He either couldn’t see that well through the night or he was pretending not to notice me. I swallowed back the “king card” not even sure what reminding him of it would accomplish. Amelia had shrunk back into herself again.
Damn it.
“Let’s go ahead and go. Titus seems to be fine now and Eden is still managing things in the house. Kiran says they might be here for a while,” Sebastian explained. “I don’t want mother and father to have to wait for us much longer.”
“Alright,” Amelia agreed and walked off with her brother without even giving me a glance back.
I had planned on riding back with Amelia, but none of those plans included Sebastian. I started plotting as soon as their bags were loaded and we climbed into the car. I decided to take things especially serious when Amelia climbed into the backseat and Sebastian sat down next to me.
I had no problem with Sebastian. He was a friend, even a good friend at times. But I could more than understand his overprotectiveness for his sister and I really hated feeling empathetic when I had my own agenda.
Hell, it’s not like I had been Kiran’s biggest fan. In fact, it wasn’t until I saw how far he was willing to go to protect Eden, how easily he would have given up his own life to save her that I even granted the guy the time of day. Those were extreme circumstances though. And I would never be willing to put Amelia in those kinds of dangerous situations to prove my feelings for her to her brother. I would protect her from ever having to go through anything like what Eden went through. Sebastian was going to just have to get over this. I had enough of an uphill battle trying to convince Amelia I was a decent guy, I didn’t have time to woo Sebastian too.
Or maybe Sebastian had the right idea. Hadn’t Amelia said it? Whoever I chose wouldn’t just be Queen, she would share the burden of living forever with me. I knew I could be a prick, but more than putting up with me, living forever was a hell of a lot to deal with. It wasn’t fair to assume she would want that life even if I did convince her she had feelings for me.
Still, when we pulled up to the Cartier’s estate in the middle of Paris, after a silent drive from the country I had firmly resolved to let Amelia go, so I was surprised by the instinct that flooded my senses and took over my will completely.
I pulled up to the drive with the intention of letting the siblings out at the door before I pulled the car around to the back of the house. However, as soon as Sebastian stepped out of the car and became distracted with a Titan that was asking about bags, I slammed the passenger door shut with my magic and took off onto the streets of Paris like I was running from something.
I smirked at the wide-eyed reflection of Amelia in my review mirror and felt the surge of adrenaline for what I had planned.
“What are you doing?” she gasped, clutching at the seat around her.
“I uh, I thought we would…. sightsee,” I shrugged my shoulder casually, whipping out my phone to text Sebastian a half-assed explanation so he wouldn’t worry.
“Sightsee?” Amelia asked slowly, her eyes still as round and big as ever. “I think you just kidnapped me.”
I chuckled. Ok, maybe she was right. Kidnapping was definitely not a smooth way to go about this. And this was in absolute opposition to the argument I had just worked up on the drive here.
But clearly I wasn’t thinking with my head right now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Amelia stayed quiet as I drove through the busy Paris streets. I half expected her to jump out of the vehicle at any of the places I had to stop and wait, paused in standstill traffic even this late at night. But she stayed still in her seat. Her magic snapped around her with an irritated edge, but at least she didn’t try to escape the car.
Which stupidly gave me hope.
I parallel parked on a side street off the Champs de Elysee, squeezing in between a Mini Cooper and a Smart Car. I shivered at the sight of the Smart Car. So. Ugly. Every male bone in my body rejected the idea of something so weak and powerless.