The RavenFlight Witches

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ella walked with Adrian to his car. It was getting late, and Ella was tired. They had spent a bit more time kissing, and Ella had been surprised at how gentlemanly Adrian had been about it. His kisses had stayed soft and sweet, and his hands had stayed on her arms and shoulders. If she was honest about it, she'd been a little disappointed.

When they got to his car, he turned to her and took her hands in his, pulling her close. He kissed her again, his lips pressing just a bit more firmly to hers, his arms going around her waist. She leaned into the kiss and slipped her arms around his neck. The kiss went on for awhile before they finally broke from one another.

Ella looked down at their entwined hands. "Adrian," she said. "This can't happen again. You know that, right?"

He sighed. "I only know what you tell me, Ella," he said. "I may be arrogant, and I definitely don't lack confidence when it comes to girls. But I'm not an ass. And I don't want any girl who doesn't want me back one hundred percent."

Ella looked up into those incredible green eyes. "It's not that I don't want you...but it's not right. I'm with Sam."

Adrian nodded. "I know," he said. "So this was nice. You're a really great kisser." He grinned at her. "I have a feeling you're pretty great at all of it. But I won't move in if you don't want it."

"It has to be this way," she said, but it made her stomach hurt to hear it out loud.

"I don't think I can be near you then," he said. "It's gonna be too hard. Because I don't want it to have to be this way."

Ella furrowed her brow. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I know I'll have to see you during coven stuff. But I don't think I can spend time with you outside of those times. I just want you too much, and I'm not dumb enough to put myself through that kind of torture."

Ella pressed her lips together and looked down, nodded. "I guess I can understand that." She looked back up at him. "So...take care of yourself. And I guess I'll see you at the next Circle."

"I guess so," he said softly. He kissed her once more and then he got into his car. He rolled down the window and leaned his head out. "You take care, too. With Lamoreia. 'Bye, Ella." With that he started the car and drove away.

Ella walked back up to her house, went inside and up to her room. She opened the door and was startled to find her mother sitting on her bed.

"Mom!" she said. "What are you doing here? I thought you were asleep."

Julietta shook her head. "No, I wasn't," she said. "I thought we should probably talk. About what's happened between you and Sam." She paused. "And you and Adrian."

Ella was aware that a typical teenage girl would likely get both embarrassed and angry and throw her mother out. But Ella had always been so close with her mother and was suddenly so glad. She sat down on the bed next to her. "It didn't have anything to do with finding out I'm a witch or anything. I really just wanted to be with Sam."

Julietta nodded. "Okay," she said. "I trust your judgement. I mostly want to know if you're okay. That Sam was...well, good to you. He didn't pressure you or anything?"

"Of course not," Ella assured her. "You know Sam, mom. You know how great he is. It was...well, it was not what I expected. I mean, I don't know what I expected but it was...yes, he was good to me. Gentle and sweet and it was perfect."

Julietta smiled a sad smile. "I'm happy for that, Ella," she said. "It's hard to believe how fast you're growing up."

"It's weird," Ella agreed. "How much my life has changed in the last forty-eight plus hours. But being with Sam would've happened anyway. It's what I wanted. What we both wanted."