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“Had sex after he chased us from the castle and we nearly died.”

“He also rescued us, lass. Don’t try to convince me you don’t feel the mate bond. I know you do.”

I couldn’t lie to him. One, his power allowed him to crack open my mind and read my fantasies like a fortune cookie. But also, I didn’t want to lie. After so much confusion and frustration, I wanted to figure things out. I wanted to understand Graeme. For a moment, I’d thought we were headed in that direction. Then he’d grown angry and fled like he couldn’t wait to get away.

“Has anyone ever rejected the mate bond?” I asked Callum.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Are you sure? You’ve researched it?”

He frowned. “I don’t need to. If any dragon had ever rejected fate, I’d know about it. Everyone would.” Callum pressed me down gently and levered his body over mine. “Graeme is an ice dragon—”

“That’s what I mean. His heart is frozen. If he can’t feel, he can walk away from us.”

“He felt plenty,” Callum said. “But you make a good point. Graeme isn’t an ordinary dragon. He took vows to protect the Oracle, he’s been alone in this fortress for hundreds of years, and he lost a mate. Of course he’s conflicted. But he’ll come around, lass. I’m sure of it.”

I gnawed at my lip as worry twisted through me.

“It’s sexy when you do that,” Callum murmured, his dick growing hard against my thigh.

“How can you think about sex at a time like this?” When his eyes lit with mischief, I covered his mouth with my hand. “Never mind. I forgot who I was dealing with.” His smile curved against my palm, and I lowered my hand. “I wish I had your flair for optimism.”

He grabbed my fingers and kissed them. “You worry because you don’t like to feel out of control. And you think if you plan for every possible negative outcome, you’ll be protected. But dwelling on our fears only gives them power over us, witchling.”

My heart raced as his words sank in. Gods, was he…right? My entire existence was about lack of control. Maybe my problem with my magic wasn’t an absence of skill. Maybe it was my personality.

“Here’s what I think we should do,” Callum said. He kissed my fingertips one by one as he spoke. “Sneak down to the caldarium. Then come back here and eat a bunch of protein bars. Gross, I know, we’ll burn them when we’re back in Scotland. Then you let me eat your pussy. Then we sleep.” He nipped my thumb with his teeth. “And we’ll worry about Graeme in the morning.”

That playful lock of hair had fallen over his forehead. When I smoothed it back, it sprang forward again. And I lost the smile I’d been fighting. “All right. We’ll go with your plan.”

Chapter Sixteen

GRAEME

Sunlight flooded the study. Water dripped somewhere, thick plops beating a steady rhythm.

I sat at my desk with my head in my hands and the scent of Georgie and Callum in my nose. On my body. Under my skin.

I am forsworn.

I am forsworn.

How could I have succumbed to temptation? How could I have been so weak? It was my fault. I couldn’t blame the lad…or even the witch. That would have been easy.

And I didn’t deserve easy. Remorse seared my gut. Shame burned my eyes and put a lump in my throat. Sorrow was a weight across my shoulders. So heavy. But in the chamber at the top of the North Tower, I’d felt light.

I’d…felt. When I knelt before Callum. When I watched Georgie bare her sweet curves. When Callum’s ass flexed as he thrust into her. When I thrust into him, fucking them together. I’d felt so light I thought I might float away. And I had for a moment, when I pumped my release into Callum’s tight passage. For one bright, blissful moment, I’d been untethered. Unburdened. Undone.

Plop. Plop. Plop. The water dripped its unwavering beat. The storm had passed, and the temperature was mild.

He never came when the weather was warm.

He might never come again.

My shoulders shook, and a low sound broke from my throat. The shame in my eyes overflowed and streaked down my cheeks. Diamonds dropped to the book I’d opened but hadn’t read.

Plop. Plop. Plop.