Jaded Jewels (The Coveted Saga 2)

Her smile only grew. "That's what makes you so powerful. The magic just flows through you differently than I've ever seen. You're more special than you realize. What you see as a handicap, is actually something truly amazing. You'll be just fine, my dear."

She kissed my head and walked away. I turned to walk up the stairs, unsure of my future.

I took a deep breath before turning the knob on my door. When I stepped into the room, I found Tallis staring at the gifts Jared brought me from his travels. He was holding the four-leaf clover.

He turned and smiled at me. "What's this?"

I squirmed uncomfortably as I said, "It was a gift for my birthday."

He frowned as he looked back down. "I'm sorry I missed your birthday." Then he looked at the bottles and the tea leaves. He smiled as though he was amused. "Odd gifts."

I grinned fondly, thinking of how cool they all were. "The four-leaf clover is from Ireland."

He laughed. "Oh. The luck of the Irish is on your side, then." He put the clover back on the stand and picked up the sand. "Who got you all of these?"

Ah, crap. Couldn't we just have this conversation tomorrow? This was the last thing I wanted to discuss tonight.

"A friend. He's part of the militia, so he brought me pieces of the world that I can't see just yet."

His lips almost disappeared into a thin line. "He? Did he mean anything to you?" he asked tightly.

I didn't know how to respond to that, and I didn't want to lie. But I also didn't want to ruin this on our first night as more than we have been.

"He was just a friend to me, but he felt more for me than I did him. I told him I could only ever be his friend because of how much I love you."

That was true enough.

He smiled and flashed to me, taking my breath with a kiss I hadn't expected. "I love you," he said against my lips, forcing me to smile during our kiss.

/> "I love you."

I didn't want to be distracted right now, or sour the moment, but the words were leaving before I could stop them.

"I'm worried I won't be ready."

He didn't say anything right away. Instead, he pushed me down to my bed and covered my body with his as he slowly kissed away my dread, making me feel as though I could do anything in the world at that moment.

I could finally kiss him, and I never wanted to stop.

Gear, Alvin, George, and Jay weren't too crazy about him staying in my room now that we could be together. Passion was intense between soul mates—but it's painful to separate them after they've both accepted the bond. Our connection was far more intense than I had been expecting, I thought as his tongue played with mine.

I had thought our connection was amazing when I was mortal, but now... wow. I was so much younger than my siblings had been, though, and it was eating my father and brothers alive. They knew what would eventually happen.

They had all huffed and puffed the rest of the night. My dad, Alvin, had even let out a groan as I told them goodnight.

At least everyone loved Tallis.

Tallis grinned as he broke our kiss, prompting me to pout over the lost contact.

"We'll work hard, starting soon. Training will be intense. We'll work from sun up until bedtime—only stopping to eat."

I kissed him, smiling foolishly while our lips touched, and then pulled back. "Only to eat? What about this?" I kissed him again, delighting in his smile.

"We will have to sneak this"—He leaned back in to kiss me quickly, and then pulled back enough to speak—"in when we can. It's going to be hard to be newfound soul mates, and train for a battle. But we have to prioritize, and your safety is more important than anything else.

His dark hair swept his brow, and his beautiful face finally seemed at peace—no more guilt or inner war going on. His blue eyes pierced me to my core, staring at me with more honesty than he'd been able to give since I met him. And this was real. Not a dream.

I couldn't help but sound so excited and relieved all at once as I spoke to him. "This is perfect. You don't know how painful it was to feel like you had found someone else." I felt a tear escape from my eye as I continued. "Yastine could have crushed me into oblivion and it still wouldn't have hurt me as much."