Hex Girl | The Dark Child Prophecy Series

Chapter Three: What the Water Gave Me

I stretched my arms over my head, arching my back and pulling my muscles as far as possible. It was barely dawn and I had yet to go to bed again. All week I had been fighting to keep Adrian and Luce from going off on one another during our lessons. The frustration between the two was evident to everyone. Avalon was getting impatient with them during the drills. Two nights previous, he demanded the boys go work it out in the gym. Luce had gone, determined to follow orders. Adrian had rolled his eyes and walked away. I knew it was going to be a matter of time before Elizabeth stepped in and commanded them to work it out. AJ had never disobeyed her.

I sighed and bent down to touch my toes and then pushed into a long lunge. My calves and thighs protested. I looked up at the graying sky, still showing a few late twinkling stars amongst the traces of navy and pale gray. Soon it would change to pink and purple.

"You sure you want to go by yourself?"

I turned around to find Luce watching me from the shadow of the open patio door, protected from the weak daylight. I smiled and nodded. "It's the first time this spring that it's this warm this early. I'd like to take advantage of it before I pass out for the day. And why do you always have to sneak up on me?"

He chuckled. "Because I think you like it when I do," he answered smartly. "I don't think you should go alone. I can come with you. My tolerance to sunlight is good for another hour."

"Not a chance. It's gonna be a short run, anyways," I answered.

"C'mere," he said, making me push up into a stand. When I walked over to him, he gripped my shoulders gently. "You sure? I'll go with you."

"Luce, I can do this. I'm a big girl. I go running all the time without an escort. And I have my magic if I need it."

He sighed and nodded in defeat. "Alright then." He leaned down and placed a kiss on my forehead before kissing me on the mouth. A little sound of satisfaction left me when the kiss turned deeper. His hands ran down my back, pulling my body into his. I pressed against his front, my hands gripping the material of his shirt in my fingers tightly. He cupped the back of my neck, his fingers intertwining in my hair. I went up on tiptoe, chasing his mouth. Luce turned his body, pushing me into the doorframe. I wobbled slightly, but kept on my toes in my tennis shoes. I unconsciously arched my hips into his, away from the doorframe. His hand went down to the small of my back, pressing them harder into his.

I whimpered, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulled back from our kiss and began to trace my neck with his lips and tongue, nibbling gently on the sensitive skin. "Oh god, Jenny, what are you doing to me?" he murmured, making me shiver as his warm breath tickled my throat. "You sure you want to go?"

"No," I whispered hoarsely. "But I need to. We can't... AJ's still awake."

"We can go somewhere else," he breathed, still kissing my neck. "This coven house is huge and not all the rooms are occupied."

I sighed, wanting to give in and say yes. We had never gone all the way, but we were both getting tired of waiting. At first, it had been out of respect to my age, but now I was far over eighteen; and then I hadn't felt safe enough to give in after my near-death experience in that dungeon a few months ago.

"Luce," I breathed, unable to say anything else.

He exhaled and placed one more kiss on my neck before coming back up to my mouth. He kissed me gently and then stepped back, breaking the spell that had come over us. "I know. You're not ready."

"It's not that," I said quietly. "I just want to do this when we have more time and we're not sneaking around like it's shameful."

"Then let's make it official. We can finally tell people we're ready to take a step forward in our relationship. I'm not seeing anyone, and neither are you. Who cares what my brother has to say? You don't have feelings for him," he said softly, echoing all of our previous conversations on the subject.