Page 70 of A Lesson in Obedience

He tentatively reached my arm and I shuffled away from him. “Did you…”

“Did I what?”

“D-did you do whatever it is that you do? What I saw, did you?—”

“No!” He looked over his shoulder up the stairs, then lowered his voice. “No. Why the fuck would you think that?”

I shook my head, retreating further into the side of the couch. “I d-don’t…I don’t know.” My hands were shaking so I pressed them underneath my thighs.

Asher sighed. “You don’t trust me enough to believe I wouldn’t hurt you like that.” He said it as if it was fact and as much as it stung to admit it to myself…it was the truth. It was an odd thought, since I trusted him with my body but not with my well-being. I was a fucking mess.

Soft snoring sounded from the floor. Beau was fast asleep still curled up, his tail twitching. My mouth moved but no words came out. Asher glanced over at my familiar. “I came downstairs and you were passed out on the couch. I wasn’t going to bother you and then you started to have a fit. I knew Beau would get loud and wake the entire house, so I sent a little dream sedative to his system. I’m sure he’s chasing all the squirrels he can in his head right now.”

I furrowed my brow at him, maintaining my distance.

He nodded, clearing his throat. “It’s the truth, Riley.”

“Why didn’t you just ease my dream. Use your sandman magic on me like you did before?”

He placed his hands on his thighs, squeezing his eyes shut. “I tried.” He wiped under his nose with the back of his hand. Small drops of blood decorated his skin and more trickles came from his nose. I blinked and without thinking, scooted over to him and used my fingers to wipe away the blood that was finding its way to his upper lip.

“What the hell, Asher?” The thick liquid stained my fingertips.

Asher tugged on my wrist, moving my hand away from his face. “It’s nothing.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t treat me like I’m dumb.”

His expression softened just a little. “It happens when I push too hard. It’s a common side effect for any heavy use of magic. When I said I tried, I meant it. I could get into your head and help you out last time but whatever just happened wasn’tyou. It was someone else who has magic just like me, but it seems like they are much stronger. I couldn’t?—”

I watched as he wiped the rest of the blood from his nose and lost his words.

“You couldn’t what?”

He ran both his hands through his hair, saying under his breath, “I couldn’t help you.”

I reached out and touched his knee. “You really didn’t cause any of this, did you?”

He grazed his hand down my forearm and placed it on top of mine. “No, Riley, I really fucking didn’t.”

Asher wasn’t the kind of person who threw out his affection so openly like River and Grayson. You had to look through his steel-coated exterior to get to even a fraction of something soft and warm. He showed his cards sparingly and you were lucky if he bestowed you with a smile that wasn’t condescending. Despite knowing all those things, right now, I liked being with him. I could even admit that I liked him a little mean. He was a delicious contrast that challenged me, but I was honored to be one of those people that got his softness on occasion.

“Riley, we should?—”

I inclined my head towards him and found his mouth. Unlike the last time we were alone and kissed, his body didn’t stiffen. He embraced what was happening and kissed me back. He brought his hand to my face and cupped my cheek. He pulled me in a little closer, deepening the kiss, then a vibration from within the couch cushions stunned us both.

He wiped his mouth, sticking his hand in between the cushions, pulling out my phone. “A little late to be getting text messages.”

I took my phone from him and looked at the screen. It was from Corrin.

CORRIN

I tried to sleep but I couldn’t. Ike may be annoying as fuck but he’s the best little researcher. We found her.

I took in a breath and peeked over at Asher, who was watching me intently.

And?

CORRIN