“It’s not broken. The bond,” I gasped, the multitude of physical and emotional sensations overwhelming me, but in a delicious way.
Chrome tilted his head forward, his eyes clashing with my own as he kissed the inside of my wrist. An elated smile overtook his face. The smile I’d kill thousands just to see. The one that had haunted my dreams since he’d been gone. “Don’t lose faith in me.”
“I won’t,” I whimpered, shaking my head.
Chrome began thrusting in and out, slowly at first until he worked up a quick pace. He cradled my cheek in his palm, desperately holding my gaze with open vulnerability. “I don’t want this to end.”
“I know,” I responded, my breaths coming in unevenly. “Me neither.”
“Stay strong for me. Don’t let them win.”
“It’s you and me against the world,” I said, tears burning my eyes and sadness clogging my throat.
“I’m so sorry for everything,” he said, thrusting hard before pausing his movements. “Any apology feels empty, but I’ll spend the rest of our lives making it up to you if I make it through this.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that it didn’t matter, but he cut me off by lifting my hips, then pushing and pulling my body along his shaft. My hands slid down to his shoulders, my nails digging into the taut muscle and bulging dark veins. He ensured to hit the spot that sent me soaring with every stroke, and this angle made it even easier. The buildup climbed higher, making me tremble and writhe in his arms.
“Come, Gray,” Chrome forced out, his voice hoarse from exertion. “Send me to the heavens and make me a fucking god.” He was approaching his release—I could feel it through our connection, and it was enough to send me over the edge.
I clenched him tight, our ecstasy robbing me of breath. The release crashed into me, and I sailed through the ether as I rode the blissful waves Chrome brought me.
“I love you,” Chrome said, staring into my eyes as I came down from my high. He thrust inside me a few more times, each one more disjointed than the last, and pulled out. With a shadow, he snatched up his torn shirt and released himself into it.
Without hesitation, he captured my lips with his own, projecting his love for me through our bond.
I didn’t want it to end, because I knew the moment it did, he would be consumed again by the dark magic controlling him.
“I wish I could stay here and free you. But it’s only a matter of minutes before Forest comes in here. I can feel Celanea trying to summon me as we speak,” he confessed, defeated. “I’m so sorry...”
My heart rate spiked. “Don’t give up. Okay?”
Chrome met my eyes once more. The quicksilver had settled, and he gazed at me with broken dejection before he lowered me to my feet on the cold floor.
With his arm twined around my lower back, he trailed his fingertips across my skin as he pulled his hand back to himself.
I couldn’t fight off the tears as his pain and my own melded together, almost indistinguishable from one another. “I love you, too.”
The moment his hand left my body, the warmth from his touch fled, leaving me feeling as if I’d just been dropped into an ice bath. The connection between us went quiet once again, and I collapsed to the floor at its absence, my arms once again suspended above my head.
Chrome bent down to retrieve his boxers and cargos, followed by his black combat boots. I could tell the Syphon Bond had strippedaway whatever effect I had on him by his apathetic demeanor. As if realizing he still held the torn and ruined shirt in his hand, he shrugged, stuffing it in his back pocket without giving me another glance.
My heart splintered into tiny fragments. Closing my eyes, I squeezed them tight, fighting against the urge to breathe as I lay bare and cold on the icy floor. He was gone again.
“I’m going to guess you haven’t read the letter?” Chrome taunted. “If that’s the case, I’m gonna need it back…”
“No!” I argued, desperation constraining me more than the cuffs on my hands and feet. “Wait,” I pushed, hoping to distract him from taking it back. “You told me that you didn’t take it.”
“Actually,” Chrome corrected, walking closer to where he stood a few inches from my feet. When his eyes met mine, I saw a hint of quicksilver swimming in his black irises, trying to fight through. “The old me lied to you. But, because that version of myself had his brief moment of triumph the other night, he figured it was time for you to have it back.” He walked to my discarded clothes, rummaging through the pockets.
Panic choked me when he picked up my ripped hoodie. “No!” I screamed, crawling to stop him, but the chains yanked me short as tears flowed down my cheeks.
Chrome grinned wickedly as he reached inside, but the smile vanished when he turned out the pockets, only to find them empty. Slowly, he looked at me, eyes narrowed to appear like a feline predator. “Where is it?”
My heart disintegrated, a teardrop splattering on my exposed thigh. I shook my head frantically. “ I-I don’t know.” My organs seemed to be suddenly dipped in glacial water, the iciness radiating from my chest to my toes. I fought for a breath, my throat locking up. “I had it!”
Chrome’s sinister laugh felt like spikes skewering every inch of my heart. “Problem solved then.”
I yanked my arms, the chains denying the instinctive urge toclutch my chest. “Where is it, Chrome?” I wailed, my eyes strained from the sobs.
