realize they were overstaying their welcome and quickly finished what they were doing, and it wasn’t long until the café was empty, aside from Markos and I. I took off my hat and put it on the table, and he brought me a steaming cup of dark caramel-brown tea. I took a sip and watched him put the rest of the chairs up and lock the front door. A bundle of anxious energy was knotted up in my stomach. I was so excited to see him again.
“Slow day today,” he said, walking over to me. “You know, I couldn’t—”
The knot had wound too tight, and I wasn’t able to stop myself from jumping up and nearly tackling him to the floor. He dropped the broom and caught me in his arms, and I satisfied my need to taste his lips again. I could never have imagined kissing an alpha would feel this good.
Markos held me tightly and returned the kiss, moving quickly to my neck. I felt him breathing against my skin, and he kissed me lightly.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he finished.
My glasses had gone crooked, and I put them straight. “I couldn’t either,” I said, and I managed to find some self-control and sat back down. He smoothed out his shirt and set a chair down adjacent to me.
“Elise do okay today?” he asked.
“She did fine,” I said with a nod. I held the warm teacup to keep my hands busy—I had the strongest urge to reach over and grab him, to feel him respond to my fingers, and…
I sipped my tea and squeezed my thighs together, anything to stop myself from being too obviously excited.
“I had a talk with her about doing readings at school. I think we have an understanding. Her abilities might be more advanced than I realized, though.”
“That’s great! That’s wonderful news.”
“It could be a double-edged sword. I’m trying to guide her as much as I possibly can, but things will become more challenging for her if she isn’t able to go to the Academy.”
“She’s trying harder at school,” he said. “And if she’s as talented as you say, then…I don’t see why she wouldn’t have a fair shot.”
I gave him a gentle smile. “Because it’s incredibly rare for the Academy to give out the scholarships you need. She’ll be competing against others across the entire world for it. Kids who have been training for their whole life.”
Markos considered my words, and then reached across the table and took my hand. I tried not to look so excited about it, but I knew he could probably tell.
“I think she can do it. I know her troubles and difficulties, and I know her strengths. I know she won’t give up on this. And thank you for looking out for her. You came into her life just when she needed you. Our lives.”
I picked up my teacup and took a deep sip from it to hide my face. Such a compliment shouldn’t have made me so happy. “I’m pleased to have found such a great student,” I said. “I feel the exact same way. I didn’t realize it until now, but I think I was meant to teach my skills to someone. To find a protégée. It must’ve been fate for Elise to come into my life.”
And you, I thought, though I stopped myself from saying it. There was a threshold I couldn’t cross, and I knew I was skimming hazardous territory. But it was so hard to help myself. All I could think about was going back to that place with Markos and feeling that incredible connection in the spectral realm.
“More tea?” he asked when I put down my finished cup, and I nodded. He walked to the back, and I got up and followed him with my teacup. When we were around the corner, hidden from view of the big front windows where anyone passing by could see into the café, I put the cup down on the counter and pounced on him again, pushing my chest against his broad back.
“Whoa.”
“Is this alright?” I asked.
He turned around to face me and held me by the shoulders. Then he leaned in and kissed me. I couldn’t help it—I was completely hard and I knew he could feel it.
“So, when am I gonna get that reading?” he asked.
“Soon,” I said. “But there are things I want to try.”
“Things?”
Heat blazed inside of me like I’d never felt before, a furnace right below my stomach that put