She looked up at him. “But you’ll be near me. That’s all that counts.”

“Stefan undoubtedly thinks you’re beautiful. That won’t hurt your cause at all. Even if they let me in to the Duskoff, I won’t be able to protect you all the time because he’ll try and keep you close and me away. He’ll want you to himself.”

“Beautiful?” She blinked. “What an odd thing to say. Why do you think Stefan would consider me beautiful?”

He said nothing and made sure to school his expression. Fuck. Had the woman never looked in a mirror? She was light to his night—fair of skin, hair, and eye. Her body was fragile, delicate-looking, but he knew just what a wallop she packed, not only magickally but physically. He loved that dichotomy in her.

And she was small. So small and light that he could pick her up with no problem. The sexual possibilities of their difference in sizes had not gone unexplored by him. He bet anything he could lift her, press her against a wall, and fuck her with no difficulty at all. It was also likely that he could easily flip her while they were having sex, bringing her to her knees so he could take her from behind with hardly any effort.

Fuck if he didn’t want to try that sometime.

Sarafina arched a fine blond brow. “Have we gone silent once again?” She made a mock moue. “And you were doing so well.”

He shook off the fantasy playing out in his mind. With Sarafina it was hard for him to keep his thoughts on business. He wanted her. That want was growing worse every damn day and it was becoming distracting.

She rolled her eyes and tried to push past him again. He tightened his grip, staring down at her. Words about how pretty he thought she was wouldn’t come. He wasn’t good at saying things like that.

Anyway, he shouldn’t say them.

Their relationship didn’t have room for bullshit like that. Still, he had trouble letting her go. They stayed locked that way for several long moments.

Finally, Sarafina ripped herself away from his grasp. “God, Theo, what’s your deal? Let me go.”

He watched her stalk from the room and fisted a hand at his side when the door closed behind her.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF HIM,” SARAFINA said to Mira. “He’s so odd.” She sipped her iced tea. “How can a man so gorgeous be so odd? It’s like a crime against nature or something.”

She, Claire, and Isabelle were in the Conservatory, sitting at one of the tables in the communal area after dinner. It was late and darkness had closed like a fist around the Coven.