Page 68 of Plug and Tame

Which had brought him no joy. But he’d promised Kira he would arrange the initiation to go ahead.

And he’d delivered.

Kira did not respond the way he expected. She looked shocked…and angry.

“What is it?” he asked.

She exhaled through her nostrils. “I feel a little jealous,” she admitted.

Before he could process that, she asked, “How did you convince them I’m a virgin, anyway?”

“I didn’t. They can scent your heat a mile away, apparently. Their words, not mine.”

Even with her dark bronze complexion, he could see the glow of her blush, and thought her rather pretty.

“What are you two lovebirds whispering about?” Victoria interrupted loudly. “Get a room.”

The others laughed.

“This room is adequate,” Nathaniel said, his gaze never leaving Kira’s. Without raising his voice, he said, “Leave us.”

A hush fell throughout the common room. Everyone filed out with haste, even the students in the kitchen, leaving him alone with Kira.

“Are you sure you want to go ahead with the initiation?” he asked.

Say ‘no’. Tell me you only want me and I will make love to you right here by the fireside.

“I don’t want to go ahead with it,” Kira said softly, as if he were the one who needed consoling. “I have to go through with it. Apparently, I don’t have a shred of magic in me, so…”

“So, this initiation is the only way you can become the Poplarins’ leader. By ascending their ranks legitimately.”

“Exactly,” she whispered, her answer barely audible this time.

Don’t do it. Stay with me.

Be mine, forever.

Words swirled round in his head. Just as he began to speak, Kira asked “Does this mean it’s our last night together?”

Nathaniel blinked, and it took him a moment to focus on his question. He’d been on the cusp of urging her to abandon everything. “Yes,” he answered. “Tomorrow night, after the initiation ceremony, you will officially be a Poplarin. I will lose all claim to you.”

He tried to gauge how Kira felt from her reaction, but her face was carefully blank.

“So…do I meet them in the gymnasium after school?” she asked.

“No, pet. I will escort you to the initiation myself. It is not at the school’s gymnasium.”

“Oh?”

“It was one of my terms. You deserve to be wooed and bedded in luxury. So I’ve arranged for a suite at the Haxby Hotel in the city.”

“Oh, wow,” Kira said. “That’s…nice. Thank you, I guess…?”

He smiled sadly. “I wish I could have taken you there myself. If we had more time…there are many things I would have liked to show you.”

Kira returned his smile. “I would have liked that.”

Together, they took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Their eyes met. The urge to kiss her was strong. His body immediately responded to that hope, his abs aching, his chest tightening, his breathing turning shallow. But did she want to be kissed?