Our connection did that. Destroyed the barrier that dared try to block him from me. Because our bond is so much stronger than anything else. Than distance and time, than magic and threat.
So I count his heartbeats, and I savor.
Thump.
Three thousand
Instead of hearing the next one, I’m startled when he speaks. “You’re awake.” His voice is low and sexy, weighed down from sleep.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” I murmur. “You needed your rest.”
His hands come down to grip both of my arms, and then he drags me right up so we’re face to face, my entire length on top of him like the icing on a layered cake.
“You did have me quite exhausted,” he says with a playful smirk. “You wereinsatiable.”
I flick him on the nose. “That was the bond.”
His chuckle warms my entire self, inside and out. “Oh no, don’t go blaming all of it on the bond. Some of that was all you.”
He’s right.
My finger traces over the subtle scales on his cheek that are now edged in gold, and the black lines I can see through his stubble. “I like seeing you like this,” I say. “Rot and Rip together.”
“You made me whole,” he says. “Fixed how I’d been ripped apart.”
I was ripped apart too. But his presence, his aura stretching out to meet mine, it burned through every thief in my head. And my ribbons seemed to come even more alive as I looked at this spiked, scaled, terrifying male, and yet, I wasn’t afraid. Because I knew innately, he’d never hurt me.
“You fixed me too,” I tell him.
I can’t help but touch and stare at all these changes in him. I can’t get enough of him at all. Which is why even when my body aches deliciously, the space between my legs starts to tingle again as my hands rove, still seeking connection.
“You knew,” I say, eyes flicking up to his face. “You knew we were a päyur the moment we met.”
His head tips. There is no denial. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
His hands stroke gently up my arms. “You weren’t ready for that. You didn’t deserve to have such pressure put on you. You deserved a choice.”
I take in his words, my brow furrowing. “But we’re fated.”
“Yes, but fate shouldn’t be a noose. Bonds shouldn’t be a shackle. You needed your freedom. You needed to have the opportunity to stand on your own two feet and decide.”
I hum in thought, considering his words, and I know there’s logic in what he’s saying. If the spiked and frightening Commander Rip had told me right away that I was supposed to be his, I would have fought against it. Rejected it.
He’s right. I wasn’t ready.
“Why didn’t the bond start to connect until we were apart?” I ask.
His shoulder lifts. “I don’t know for sure. But päyur bonds don’t always complete. There is a choice in it, if the fated chooses to stay apart. Our bond must’ve been growing stronger over time.”
Now, I can sense the bond steadily, like a solid foundation to prop up my soul, reassuring me that I will forever be grounded. It feels like him. Protective. Safe. Fierce. And through it, like a string connected from his heart to mine, I can also sense his love for me. His utter devotion that fills my chest with flutters.
“Part of me wishes we were still consumed with the bond magic,” I admit quietly. “That we could just…stay here. Together. Without anything else. No troubles or worries or threats. Just you and me.”
After a pause, he tilts my face and kisses me tenderly on my forehead. Each closed eyelid, my cheeks, and then a gentle one left upon my lips. When he pulls away, I can see in his greeneyes that the fire has calmed for him too, and in its wake, the rushing waters of reality.
I don’t want to get swept away in it. But I know we have to.
