I wake up to the feeling of featherlight kisses along the sensitive skin of my inner thigh and when those kisses travel higher, any remnants of sleep clouding my senses disappear completely.

I’m fully awake when Raph’s sensuous lips meet that sensitive bud at my center. He positions my legs wider on top of his shoulders and my back arches at the sensations that it causes.

I can feel his lips curve in a smile against the most intimate part of me, as I cry out his name over and over.

So loud, that I don’t hear the door open.

A cough alerts me to the presence of someone in the room and I almost scream, as I frantically grasp at the blankets to cover my body. My very naked body.

I gape in shock at Magnus standing at the threshold of my bedroom door and I think I’m dying with each second that passes, as he assesses the scene.

Me naked in bed. Raph in between my legs. I don’t think I’ve ever been so mortified in my entire life.

Magnus, to his credit, is completely calm. But he looks far from pleased.

I can’t even bring myself to look at Raph for fear that I’m going to burst into flames from embarrassment.

“Raphael,” Magnus says, finally.

Raph, to his own credit, keeps his facial expression completely neutral. So it’s only me who’s dying of embarrassment here, clearly.

“Magnus,” Raph replies, evenly.

“Jazmine, I’ve just come to let you know that breakfast is ready downstairs, if you’re hungry.”

Magnus’s eyes travel to Raph then.

“Judging from what I’ve just seen, I doubt you’re still hungry, Raphael,” he adds dryly.

Someone kill me now.

Before either of us can respond to that. Magnus makes his swift exit.

Raph bursts out in laughter an instant later, but I’m not laughing. Not at all. I swat him away as he tries to kiss me. Without another word, I fly into my walk-in closet and throw on some clothes. I go for the most modest clothes that I can find, although in light of what Magnus has just seen, I doubt it will make a difference.

Thankfully, Raph’s fully dressed when I come out but he’s still wearing that shit-eating grin.

“Well, that’s one way for people to find out,” he says, flashing me a wicked smile which earns him a solid punch directly to his mid-section.

* * *

Magnus says nothing and I’m equally silent as I eat my breakfast as fast as I possibly can. I have no doubt that I’ll probably get indigestion after this.

But I’d rather that than having to withstand Magnus dissecting me with that those all-knowing eyes for a second longer than I have to.

I’m glad that I managed to send Raph on his way, even after he tried to insist that he should come to breakfast to explain to Magnus. I couldn’t think of anything worse. But this deafening silence is ten times worse. I’ve never had to deal with this awkward parental disapproval after being found in a less than innocent position with a guy. I almost feel like a normal teenager. But of course, I’m not and even more so, neither is Raph.

Magnus finally speaks, and when he does, I find myself wishing for the silence again.

“Do you know what it is that you’re doing with Raphael St. Tristan?” he asks calmly.

I stare at him blankly because there’s so much in that question and I don’t know what he’s actually asking. So I go for the simplest answer that I can.

“Yes.”

Magnus raises an eyebrow.

“You can’t possibly know, Jazmine,” he replies simply.

“What is that supposed to mean, Magnus?” I retort. But he keeps that unshakeable calm. Damn he’s good.

“It means that you have no idea of the full implications of your and Raph’s actions.”

I bristle at that.

“Is this you trying to have the sex talk with me?” I snap. “Because I’m a little too old for that, I think. Maybe you shouldn’t have waited until I was seventeen to bother to find me.” I know that last part isn’t true—Magnus has told me that he didn’t found out about me until just before my father’s death. But still, I’m trying to distract him from digging deeper into this thing between Raph and me.

He doesn’t take the bait.

“No. I expect that you have adequate knowledge about such things,” he replies dryly.

“This is about something far more serious. I told you before that the St. Tristan Dynasty and the Evenstar Dynasty are the two sovereign Dynasties. The rule of Eden has always fallen to one of the two.

“As such, these two sovereign Dynasties have always been the furthest apart, just like the elements that they lord over. Night and day, the sun and the moon. Opposites and rivals in almost every way. You’re playing with fire here, Jazmine. You have no idea of the full implications,” he says again.

“Well, why don’t you tell me then?” I snap. I’m sick of Magnus’s cryptic words and for once, I just want him to tell me the whole damn truth, whether he thinks it’s the right time or not. But of course, he doesn’t.

“All you need to know is that you cannot trust Raphael. He is a St. Tristan, heir to the St. Tristan Dynasty no less, and he is his father’s son.”

These last words echo Layla’s and I feel my blood turn cold at hearing them. I force myself to block out the whisper of doubt racing through me. Because I do trust Raph. I hadn’t realized just how much I’ve come to trust him until now, as Magnus forces me to question it.

“Raph is not his father’s son. He’s his own person. You don’t know him,” I reply evenly.

Magnus’s eyes grow troubled then.

“No, Jazmine. It’s you who doesn’t know. Raphael’s … allure when it comes to the opposite sex is no secret. But not everything is as it seems. The St. Tristan Dynasty is toxic.”

His words make my temper flare. The only other member of the St. Tristan Dynasty I’ve met is Jethro and I couldn’t agree with Magnus more when it comes to him. But he’s wrong about Raph.

“Is this the part where you take away my cell, ground me for life and tell me never to see Raph again?” I ask flatly, although I’m fiercely hoping not.

Magnus just shakes his head wearily.

“I have no right to exercise that kind of authority over you, Jazmine.”

“Damn right,” I retort.

“But I can only hope that you’ll listen to me. You cannot trust him, Jazmine. The St. Tristan Dynasty is poison and every single member of it is a snake.”

I don’t excuse myself as I get up, shoving my chair back as I walk away. I can’t listen to another word from Magnus and I tell myself it’s because I trust Raph and nothing that Magnus says can ever change that.