The Beast And The Blessed

Twenty-One: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

It amazed me that his walking away from me made me feel giddy.

After what we experienced together the night before, I had expected him to want to either pick up where we left off or to be done with me. I never, in my wildest dreams, expected his declaration that he wanted me for me and wanted us to be mentally prepared to start something deeper before moving forward.

No man I had been with before had ever thought about me on that level.

I felt like I should be annoyed that he left me high and very wet, but I couldn't. He chose me tonight. Not my body and not my power.

Me.

That meant more to me than anything.

I would have let him have his way with me if he had tried to. I would have loved every second of it too, but it wasn't the right step for us tonight. He knew it and respected me enough to stop.

My hand moved up to my lips, pulling the bottom one down slightly as I giggled. The sound was startling as I hadn't made a noise like that in a long time, if ever.

I felt ridiculous chasing after him, but I couldn't help it. The door to my tower flew open, and I rushed down the hallway toward his retreating figure. Tobias froze, turning to face me just as I collided with his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He looked stunned as I smiled widely at him before kissing him with everything I had. His arms wrapped around the small of my waist, and he picked me up off the ground as he kissed me back.

I wanted him to feel it, to show him how much I loved him and appreciated his choice.

This was different than any kiss we had ever shared before. It wasn't a kiss of lust and desire. It was love. I pulled back, still smiling widely as his eyes trailed over my face, reflecting the same happiness. His smile made my heart skip a beat as he set me back down on the ground.

"Soon," I whispered in agreement before stepping back. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked back to my tower, looking over my shoulder to catch one last look. He was standing with his suit jacket unbuttoned and his fingers in the front pockets of his pants, the smile never leaving his face as I closed the door between us.

The following day did not come soon enough. I was eager to see Tobias again, but I still had a job to do.

and I rushed to hide away the sample

on the other side of the door was stronger than the others on the council, and I let out a breath of relief that she

knowingly at me as she looked over my shoulder. "

her anything. I would never know how she knew I was dabbling in a bit of blood magic before the sun

walk." She turned and began walking away, her ebony black hair hanging down her back in a loose braid. I jogged forward to catch up with her, closing the door behind me and knowing that the ward I had in place would keep even Aurora, a Descendant of the Moon Goddess, out

that bothered me, Joselin." The double doors leading us out to the back garden opened

for touching me, I immediately had my

was met with a look of amusement before she cleared her throat and reached out to let her hand run along the tops of

we were all injured. I had suspected that was why we went into that realm of darkness and shadows, but Holden informed me that is

a powerful witch examining my abilities. Still, I had already planned on talking to her about

easy, while mine was

she would a daughter or a niece.

previously held my job as the royal advisor and was very close to the previous queen, Lillian.

had been short-tempered, vindictive, and petty, but when she found someone she felt was worthy, she

been one of those

royal advisor, Talia. At first, she didn't know what to do with me. Everything was a fight or power struggle between us. She didn't know how to

years, we bonded, but when Killian ascended as the new king and chose me to be

enact revenge, but I never expected she would help the prior queen lead an

she taught me most of

rest of it I had learned in books and from other witches when we crossed paths during

She loved

turned to me, stopping us from moving forward as she reached for my arm. I jerked away. There were very few people I allowed to touch me, and witches were not on my

had learned that

several vials of blood I had in my safe

should be like." She held her hand out, palm up, and I stared at it blankly for a few seconds. This was one of the reasons I had wanted to seek her out upon her return, but who knew what would happen when light

the world around us faded. It was different. Traveling into this realm was

felt thinner. I couldn't see anything in the empty white space surrounding us, but I could feel