“Oh, really?” His earlier good mood returned in full force, and he grinned wide. “You’re forgiven.”
Forgiven, but not forgotten, as evidenced by the fact he continued to juggle his boxes solo.
Empty-handed, I turned to fiddling with my bracelet out of habit, drawing Asa’s attention like a magnet.
“We paid the owners to stock the fridge and pantry.” Asa stilled my hand with his. “You can bake to your heart’s content.” He bit his bottom lip, revealing a hint of fang I was certain hadn’t been there until now. Except in his daemon form. “I should have explained myself before I gave this to you.” He lifted his gaze. “I didn’t want to risk losing you. To someone like Nolan Laurens, who fits more easily into your new life.”
Those fangs were distracting. Sure, the daemon had them, but this was Asa. He made them look good.
“I could have said no.” I studied his earnest expression, a dangerous man with questionable morals who, for some reason, wanted me enough to get crafty. In more ways than one. The guy had impressive skills, and the credit belonged to his mother, which didn’t fit with how she policed his appearance. Unless that had been the point. Making him fae inside and out. Teaching him a lost art in order to hold him up as the ideal fae son, with respect for their heritage. Had she done it to combat his father’s daemon influence? No wonder Asa felt torn. His parents’ expectations were tearing him down the middle. “I had an inkling of what it meant, and I chose to accept it.”
To accept youwent unsaid, because I would have choked on those words.
Rolling his thumb over my wrist bone, he soothed the skin beneath the bracelet. “I can remove it.”
A twinge in my chest that he would suggest it left me uncertain. “Can we still do…this…without it?”
“Yes.” Heat simmered in his gaze when it clashed with mine. “We can do…this…however you like.”
“I’ll keep it.” I had to work to swallow when he looked at me like that. “For now.”
Oh, how the bracelet must have laughed as I stood there with the perfect opening to get it removed and turned down the one man capable of taking it off me intact.
Goddess bless, I was a mess.
“I’m glad.” He pressed his thumb against my racing pulse. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
“You’re sure rejecting the gift isn’t the same as rejecting you?”
“I’m sure.” He continued his slow caress up the inside of my arm. “How about I remove it while we’re on this case? I can put it back on you, or not, when it’s over. Your choice. No pressure. Take the next several days to decide how you feel about wearing it.” He hesitated. “And if you want to continue to do so.”
Without letting me overthink my decision, he unfastened the bracelet and dropped it into his pocket.
Immediately, my wrist felt naked.
After spending his absence griping about it, picking at it, itching under it, there was no sudden relief.
There was…an emptiness that spread like crackling ice through my chest until my heart stuttered once.
“Are you sure removing the bracelet isn’t the same as you rejecting me?”
“This is not a rejection.” He brought my bare wrist to his mouth, kissed the raw spot, and chills skated up my arm. “This is how I should have done it on Halloween, but I let the idea of spending weeks or months apart excuse me for a selfish act.”
As much as I wanted to blame the sudden flare of separation anxiety setting my pulse hammering on the bracelet, I wasn’t wearing it.
A cold sweat broke down my spine. “Does removing the bracelet cause any side effects?”
Magic could spark allergic reactions, withdrawal, nausea, itchiness, and tons of other fun symptoms.
A troubled line marred his forehead. “Your heart is racing.”
“Yeah.” I pressed a palm to my chest. “It’s going for Olympic gold in there.”
“This shouldn’t be possible,” he murmured, examining me with a deepening frown.
Afraid I might start blubbering at any moment, I pushed out the words. “What?”
“Are you sure your father was a witch?” He leaned closer, breathing me in. “He couldn’t have been…?”