Page 48 of Our Covenant

“Anger and hatred are just as powerful.”

“Watching your most hated rival writhe at your will is the same euphoric release you get while being ravaged and worshipped until your legs are quaking.”

“I-I guess that’s true.” Her breathy words stir my core.

Magic heats my damp skin as if preparing to unleash itself on her the same way I have other women: taking her to the edge of ecstasy and having her scream my name for hours. She’d look so pretty spent and panting beneath me.

My sight drifts low as my mouth invades her breath until I know she can feel the brush of my anticipation over her lips. I watch in triumphant marvel as whatever line she’s drawn between us blurs. Her eyelids hood. Her legs tentatively tense around my hips. And finally her perfectly plush lips part for her tongue to wet them.

I’d stand to wager that if I edged closer, more than my swim trucks between us would be soaked. I take one last longing look at her mouth and know what I have to do.

“If you need any more truth, you know where to find me,” I tempt, and in a single splashing move, I push my lower half out of the water and get to my feet on the edge of the pool.

Her head whips up and the look of disappointment and embarrassment shoots daggers into me before she scrambles to her feet.

I grab my towel from the nearby chair and wrap it around my waist, hiding my glaringly obvious boner before she can wipe the water off her face. “Thanks for the insightful discussion. I needed it more than the swim.”

I hear her say “asshole” under her breath as I walk straight into the house without looking back.

Fox is waiting for me in the shadows of the long hallway.

“Tracking our prisoner?” I brush past him, shaking my head to send droplets of water flying toward him.

With a smooth flick of his index finger, my assault hangs motionless an inch from his face then drops to the floor.

“You could say that.” His words hang between us, but not loud enough to travel to any ears nearby.

I look beyond him to the white and blue lights refracting off the water onto the walls around us. How much time will she decide is enough before she comes back inside?

“Do you have any idea what she’s looking for?”

“Not a way out.” He pauses and looks over his shoulder as if she’ll come out and tell us herself. “She passed two of them to get into the natatorium.”

“Perhaps she was looking for a good time.” I wink at him and his eyes roll. “She wouldn’t be the first to tie herself to a metaphoric railroad to get our attention.”

Plenty of women outside of the coven have thrown themselves at us over the years. We were swimming in pussy through high school and undergrad. But when you’re young and told that your sexual hunger should be saved and savored for the grace of the old gods, you learn how to ignore temptations.

Elsbeth has made herself very hard to ignore.

“Are we the train in that scenario?”

I choke back a laugh. “Aren’t we?”

He pinches the bridge of his nose but shakes with silent laughter. “We’re so fucked.”

“I’ve been worst things.”

“You’re right. You’ve been a smartass your entire life.” He points a finger at me and follows me into the kitchen.

“And aren’t the three of you lucky to have to live with me forever.” I open the fridge and grab a protein shake to hold me over until lunch.

“At least until one of us gets married or Elsbeth kills us all. Whichever comes first.”

I swallow down several chalky gulps. Fox never talks about our impending expiration dates of bachelorhood. As kids, he always questioned traditional marriage practices in our coven. If it is the job of the legacies to bring through the wealth of magic, then why split us up into monogamous pairs for the sake of reproduction? Now, though, we are grown men who can ultimately make their own choices, and that would mean the extinction of our entire coven.

So, like the dutiful legacies we are, we prepare for the day that our families present us to our betrotheds. At least then the popularity contest would rest until the next legacy generation is born.

I grab up a bag of potato chips on my way to the third floor. “I’ll be in the media room. Come get me if the engagement party arrives or Elsbeth finds a hatchet.”