His body was pressed against hers from behind, his hands cupping hers. Adilynn couldn’t help but tremble a little, nervous and anxious between what he was asking and the sheer proximity. 

“Focus,” Robert murmured, his breath hot on her neck as he guided her hands to encase the small seed. 

The girl didn’t answer, not vocally, as she closed her eyes and tried to do as he said. She had been doing this with smaller plants for months now, the nosebleeds and headaches had stopped, and now he wanted to push her limits again. 

“I’m just trying to help you grow.”

The words of the guy she had met at the shop came back to her, about how most witches draw energy from around them and not from within the way Robbie made her do. He said it was less tasking, but she wasn’t sure what to believe. 

She let out a long and shaky breath, pulling energy from her core and feeding it into the maple seed. 

When the roots began to sprout, Robert moved her hands again, forcing her to pick up the seed, his lips mapping the side of her neck as he felt her power continue to mount. 

A small green stalk began to break free from the hard shell, the roots tangling around both of their hands and crawling along their wrists. Still, Adi didn’t open her eyes. It was hard to ignore his lips on her skin, but she knew he always got a little excited when he was getting her to push past her limits. 

It wasn’t long before her head began to ache. It was short bursts at first before growing into something sharper and she could taste copper in her mouth. 

With a pained whimper, her hands sagged, the power beginning to recede, the sapling still encased in her palms. Robert was the only thing keeping her upright.

When she stopped, Robert was gentle to move the sapling, keeping from damaging the roots. He would give her a little recovery time before making her continue with the tree. 

For now, however, he was turning her in his arms and pressing her against the table, his lips pressed hard to her. It didn’t matter to him that the spell had left her weak and exhausted, he delighted in having her like this.