must be either a lie or a total mystery.”
“I think it’s amazing that you have a force like that in you. You’re even more special than I already realized.” He pressed a light but possessive kiss to the top of my head. “But not knowing if you can control a power, one that could also hurt people… It feels pretty horrible, doesn’t it? I believe Omen only wants to help you learn how to find that control. Or I could help, if you’d rather that. I’m not sure how to, but I’d try.”
The lump in my throat returned with a pang of affection. I hugged him even tighter. “I appreciate that. I’ve never been scared of you, you know. No matter what power you have that you’ve decided you shouldn’t use, it’s obvious you can control it. I’ve never worried that you’ll hurt me.”
“I’m glad,” Snap said, “but I hurt people before, and I can’t forget that. That’s how I make sure it doesn’t happen again. I don’t think you would in the first place, though.”
His faith in me made my heart ache even if I couldn’t say he was right. There’d been plenty of people I’d wanted to hurt over the years. In the heat of the moment, if I knew I could with barely any effort at all… but then, that was all the more reason to learn what the hell I was doing from beings who were experienced in the supernatural arts, wasn’t it?
Maybe dealing with this puzzle wouldn’t be so bad with Snap by my side. And Ruse… and Thorn…
My thoughts slipped back to the delicious dream Omen had woken me from, and then to last night when I’d been ready to give myself over to Ruse yet again. Was my greediness fair to the guy holding me right now and all his passionate devotion?
“Snap,” I said. “Does it bother you that I might hook up with Ruse again, or even Thorn? It’s not that I don’t want you—I do, a hell of a lot. I just…”
I wasn’t sure how to explain it. But Snap seemed to already understand that too. He shifted against me, fitting me even more perfectly against his body.
“I’ve seen you with them,” he said. “And I can tell—the energy you have with them is a little different than with me. There’s something you get that’s different.” He paused, his embrace tightening. “I wish very much that I could give you every conceivable thing, but I’m not sure that’s possible. And if it’s not, I don’t want to take anything away from you. That would be incredibly selfish, wouldn’t it?”
“For a lot of people, wanting to keep a lover to yourself would be a pretty normal feeling.”
His hum reverberated from his lean chest into me. “I’m not a person, and I don’t want to be like those sorts of humans. What I like the most when I’m around you is seeing you happy, and if they bring extra happiness that I can’t, then that’s a good thing.” He ducked his head, his lips grazing my forehead. “As long as you’re still mine.”
I wouldn’t have thought I’d ever agree to that kind of claiming, but who was I kidding? The possessiveness in his tone only set off a warm glow around my heart. The devourer had made an indelible mark there, one I suspected no supernatural voodoo could ever erase now.
“You’ve got me, all right,” I said.
I felt his smile against my skin. “At least I know the two of them—I know they’re worthy of having you too.”
A better question would be whether I was worthy of any of them. Snuggled up against Snap, I wanted to be. I wanted to be a woman who could not just stage jailbreaks and sway fire to my will but also handle the hearts of those who cared about me with the care they deserved in return.
That kind of cherishing might be hard, like Ruse had suggested last night. It might even be impossible. But an hour ago I’d thought it was impossible that a human being like me could manipulate fire with my mind, so maybe I shouldn’t draw any conclusions just yet.
If I was going to be that woman, I knew where I’d need to start. Hiding under a blanket wasn’t going to cut it. I couldn’t stand by my lovers properly if I was denying who I even was.
“Let’s hope you’re right about that,” I said, tugging Snap upright with me. “I’d better