Told from Rowena's POV

The more she squirmed, the more I pressed her back into the wall. Her azure eyes flitted from left to right before resting on what I assumed to be the mirror. I say assume because her blushing face went from a bright crimson to a sheet white. Ava despised her appearance, and for some reason, even more so when she was turned on. I didn't understand why. Although we're the same height, she has more curves than I do. I love that. I love that her eyes are such a deep, bright oceanic blue. I love that her hair is a flaming red. Everything about her is perfect to me, but she hates it.

I squeezed her breast to try and get her attention off the mirror and back onto me, but it didn't seem to work. Her eyes shut and she twisted her head in the other direction, moving her head in a way that caused a lock of her hair to fall in front of her face. I loosened my hold on her and slid my hand out of her shirt, grasping onto her hips and pulling her into me.

We didn't speak for a few moments, she just pressed her face into my shoulder and I kissed the top of her head. I hated when she got like this. I felt useless, like I could do nothing to bring happiness to her although she swore I did. I wanted to believe her, but I wasn't sure if I did. She'd told me through school she struggled with learning magic, and her ADD made her doubt herself. It started with her intelligence and ended up making her hate everything else too.

The first time I'd made love to her, we were in my old place. The ceiling and walls were made of mirrors and glass, and that was when I found out just how much she hated looking at herself. She always spent I don't know how long on her hair and makeup, even if we just stayed home. She didn't need to do that for me, but she felt terrible anyway.

“I wish you would stop hating yourself so much. I love you and everything about you.” I whispered in her ear. My shoulder felt wet, and I knew she was crying.

“I know, I just.... I can't stop it.”

I held her tighter. “I love you,” I repeated. “You don't need to feel uncomfortable with me.” I've said it before, but she always did. And maybe always would. But it didn't matter what she thought she saw; I knew the truth. All I could do was keep trying.

The truth is, I love to watch myself. I'm not really vain, I just love the excitement of watching myself be intimate with someone. I want to be able to observe myself making someone feel good. I especially want to with Ava. But love doesn't come without sacrifice and I'd give anything for her. When we moved in, I bought a canopy made of a blood-red, opaque fabric to put over our bed. Even if she turned her head in the direction of the mirror, she couldn't see herself clearly. But I still got to see her.

And now I pulled her to the bed, both of us laying on our sides, facing each other. Legs tangled together, I played with a strand of her hair, my gaze never leaving her sad eyes. I would never admit it to her, but she was my weakness.

“Ava.” Her eyes flicked up to me when I spoke her name.

“Yes?”

I let go of her hair and slid my arm slowly down her arm and side before resting on her hip. I scooted closer and nuzzled her, kissing the tip of her nose. Ava nudged her head into my chest and I pressed my lips into her hair, the scent of lavender filling my senses. My fingers trailed downwards, softly caressing her thigh. I felt her body tremble and I smiled as I slipped my hand beneath her skirt and repeating my movements.

I propped myself up on my elbow and stared at her, my heart rate speeding up. “I want you.” She shyly looked at me and didn't respond. She didn't have to. I knew her well enough to know she wanted me too.