Mathilda, SuperWitch (Mathilda's Book of Shadows #1)(55)

He was back with two tall elegant glasses of champagne.

Champagne.

On my birthday.

I loved champagne.

He was so smooth, so handsome, so everything.

He handed me a glass and I dropped Daphne so she could explore.

Then he got close and whispered, “Happy Birthday.”

Then he kissed my lips softly, saluted me with his glass and then I blurted…

(Perhaps stupidly but I didn’t know how to go about it. You try being in this situation.)

“I’m getting married to Ash.”

His glass stopped halfway to his mouth.

Gone was flirty, charming Aidan.

In the blink of an eye… vanished.

I could swear he looked…

Well…

Dangerous.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked low.

Ack!

Definitely dangerous.

“Um, well, Ash and I were…” I started.

His eyes narrowed.

Eek!

I kept trying. “That is we, er… had a little conversation, um…”

I trailed off.

And I did this because Aidan had started walking toward me.

Not exactly walking…

More like…

Stalking.

And I started moving backwards.

Then I tried again. “The thing is, we… he, well… um… he told me that we were prophesied to get married and have three kids.”

Aidan stopped stalking.

And then he turned and threw his champagne flute into the fireplace where it shattered into a million pieces.

I stood stock-still and stared in the fireplace.

“Is that so?” he asked.

Eek!

Getting the distinct impression that Aidan didn’t like the idea of me married to Ash.

“Yes, er…” I kept looking at the fireplace, “two boys and a girl.”

Heavy, awful silence.

Then, he said, “Well, that is surprising.”

I dared a glance, considering his voice had gone weirdly calm.

Voice may sound calm but his eyes seethed.

* * * * *

An aside: Somehow – due to my scary Bad Choice in Men Gene – Aidan was turning me on now more than he’d ever turned me on before.

And he turned me on a good deal before.

Great.

Lovely.

Just what I bloody-well needed.

* * * * *

“I was under the impression it was two girls and a boy,” he stated conversationally.

What!?

“What?!”

“Oh yes, as the Mathilda Scholar, I’m pretty sure I have it right. Let’s see, I remember and, of course, I have a photographic memory, it was in 1457 when Baroness Simone de Clare, a great prophetess, said, ‘Mathilde will bind herself to an intelligent man who watches and protects her… he will give her three children, one male, two females.’”

He was stalking again.

And, in my retreat, I was running out of room.

I knew this because my back slammed against the wall.

He kept coming.

“Well, if you know then why are you so angry?” I asked softly.

Uh, not the right thing to say.

“And in 1065,” he said in a voice that can only be described as glacial, “Althreg of Thanet said, and I’m paraphrasing, no need to get into Beowulf territory, ‘Three children, The Chosen One called Mathylde will have, two wytches and a protector, sired by a man of great words, a man who sees, a man who guards.”

He’d made it to me and put a hand on the wall on either side of me.

“Okay then,” I whispered, head tipped up to look at him.

“And it was the Sorceress Gertrude who said –”

“Okay then!” I shouted this time. “I get it. I get it. Two girls and a boy. Jeez.”

I mean, this was hard enough already!

Aidan stared at me, clearly pissed off.

“You see, Mathilda,” Uh-oh. He never called me Mathilda. “It isn’t Ash who will father your children… it’s me.”

Ack!

Ackity, ack, ack.

Then he stepped in that eensiest bit more so I could feel the heat of his body, his chest brushed mine, his hand came up and he lifted my chin gently so I’d look at him.

“I’m prophesied to marry you and give you three children, two witches and a protector, Société-speak that, better known to you as a boy.”

I gulped.

How to handle this?

Um.

Um.

Think, Matty, think.

“Um, well, Aidan…” I hoped my voice was sweet, conciliatory, “it kinda sounds like it could be either you or Ash.”

“Mm,” he murmured, so close, I could feel the vibration.

Oh me.

“Yes, that’s right.” His voice was getting warmer – almost, one could say – hot. “It does sound that way.”

Oh my.

“But, I prefer to believe it will be me.”

At that moment, I kinda did too.

He smiled.

It was a fan-f*cking-tastic smile not because it was Aidan’s usual flirty grin but because it was very scary, very sexy and very dangerous.

I was f**ked.

“Wilding and I, not to mention the Directors and the Elders, agreed –” he started.