MagicalMistakes by Victoria Davies

with her.
    Choose me , she thought as his lips crushed down on
hers.
    If only he would.
    She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him
closer.
    Ciar waltzed her backward until her back hit the hard brick
wall. He trailed his lips over hers as his hands explored her body.
    Mikayla’s fingers raked down his chest, pulling at the shirt
that hid his skin from hers. She wanted what she’d had last night. His
closeness, his heat, his ability to give her mind-blowing pleasure.
    “What are you doing to me?” he demanded in a harsh whisper
against her lips.
    “Nothing,” she murmured, trying to get closer.
    “No,” he said, stopping her. “The last time I felt this
way—” His words cut off abruptly.
    She froze in his arms as if cold water had been poured over
her head. “You were with Alina,” she finished for him.
    He met her gaze straight on, not hiding the truth from her.
    Mikayla shrugged out of his grip, hurt more than she wanted
to admit. Was what he felt for her just a poor imitation of what he’d once had
with someone else?
    “She told me about her past,” Mikayla said, not meeting his
gaze.
    “Her past?” Ciar replied sharply.
    “And yours.”
    “What did she say?” he demanded.
    Mikayla swallowed hard. “That she left you for your
brother.”
    Ciar laughed bitterly. “Alina never could keep her thoughts
to herself.”
    “I can’t understand why she would make such a choice.”
    He raised a mocking eyebrow. “Teivel was the heir. Surely
she told you that.”
    “But it doesn’t make sense,” she replied. “Had I been in her
place, I never would have let you go.”
    Surprise flashed across his face. “Not even for power?”
    “Why would it matter?”
    He smiled at her words but there was no pleasure in his
eyes. “Ah, Mikayla. If only I’d met you in a different time.”
    The hollow smile hurt her heart but his words gave her hope.
His hostilities were lessening a little, if only temporarily. It might be her
only chance to say what had been weighing on her mind. Taking a breath, Mikayla
chose her words carefully. “Alina told me what happened to your brother,” she
said. “I’m sorry, Ciar.” He made no immediate reply but Mikayla saw how his
shoulders stiffened.
    “Demons are bloodthirsty. Ruling them is dangerous.”
    “That doesn’t make it any easier to lose someone you love.”
    A sardonic smile twisted his lips. “Demons don’t love.”
    “Teivel was your brother.”
    “So?” Ciar looked up at her with emotionless eyes. “We learn
as children that emotions are a liability. We shared blood but nothing else.”
    She studied him for a moment before reaching out to touch
his cheek. “I don’t believe that,” she told him. “And you have my sympathies
for losing your brother. I can’t imagine a world without my sisters.”
    For a brief moment he leaned into her touch. “The
relationship you have with your kin was nothing like the one I had with mine.”
    “Okay.” She stood close, offering what support she could.
    “I could have rivaled my brother in terms of power. He
rejoiced the day I left for this world. I was one fewer challenge he’d have to
fight to win the throne.”
    “But you didn’t challenge him,” Mikayla said. “You left
because you didn’t want to fight him.”
    Ciar said nothing.
    “I’m right, aren’t I?”
    “You ask for answers from me, Mikayla, when you won’t return
the favor.”
    Mikayla inclined her head. “I’ll tell you anything you want
as long as it’s not about Alina or the spell.”
    “Really?” he murmured. “Then match me an answer for an
answer.”
    Mikayla hesitated only for a moment. If he was willing to
help her solve the riddle of his life, it’d be worth confessing to a secret or
two. “All right.”
    “Hmm,” he said, walking around her in a slow circle. “Is
this my chance to find out all your secrets?”
    “I don’t have many for you to discover.”
    “Ah, lady,” he murmured in her ear, stopping