It was hard tearing herself away from her sister, but she had been confident it was for the best for both of them — though a part of her knew it would be harder for Clementine, who never saw a problem with their lives to begin with.
It was necessary, though, she’d told herself with absolute conviction.
Except nothing had turned out quite like she’d hoped. Clementine was happier than before with her own damn island and her mate and career. Her sister was flourishing, and although it made Nelly feel slimy inside, she was bitter about it.
But as she stirred the batter with ever more aggression, she didn’t feel bitter. She feltpanic.Shame. The full body awareness of an impossibly stupid action and its correspondingly catastrophic consequences.
She wouldhaveto tell her sister about everything. She wanted to, on some level, because she truly had no idea what she was going to do and desperately needed advice.
But she also couldn’t bear to do it just then, when the humiliation was so fresh it burned her from the inside out.
’Specially wouldn’t kissyou.
Batter splattered the counter. Nelly released the spatula in favor of gripping the lip of the counter top with both hands and bowing forward, her eyes squeezed shut.
Emphasis on the you. Like kissing me is the worst possible thing he could imagine.
Maybe it was.
She certainly didn’t fit the orcish ideal of beauty. Orcs were renowned for their looks and Clark was basically a poster child for why. Compared to an orcish woman, she was gangly, scrawny, weak, and plain.
And what had she done? Bonded her gangly, scrawny, weak, plain, magically messed up self to the most outrageously attractive orcish rancher in the Orclind.
Someone else might have felt a tiny bit of triumph at that realization.
Not her.
Nelly stared down the barrel of a lifetime being bonded to someone who didn’t want her. It was a funhouse mirror image of her relationship with her sister and exactly the kind of thing she’d been running from.
Her eyes smarted with unshed tears.I didn’t even know accidental bonding was a real thing. I thought that was just a stupid cliche from even stupider romcoms!
Was this yet another thing she and Clementine didn’t understand because their parents refused to expose their daughters to government oversight? Did everyotherwitch know that it could happen with zero consent of either party? She wondered if there was a pamphlet passed out in middle school she’d missed, one with a whole section labeled,“Accidental bonding: No, it’s not just in movies!”
“Smells real good in here. Whatcha making?”
Nelly jolted. She was so lost in her misery that she hadn’t noticed the sound of the shower turning off.
When she turned around, she found Clark standing a few feet away, squeaky clean and gorgeous. It was a small relief to see that he was dressed. Not wanting to risk him having to walk around in nothing but a towel, she’d thrown his clothes in the wash and had them ready by the door.
His flannel, deep blue shot with lines of gray, white, and burgundy, looked soft and warm against his dark green skin. The crest of his hair, a little shaggy on top, had been carefully finger combed down and to the side, giving him a boyish look that drove her a little crazy.
He stood in a casual, wide-legged stance, hands tucked into the back pockets of his jeans. She noticed that his toes were bare. They stood out starkly against the warm wood floor of the kitchen.
The skin of his feet that had once been as green as the rest of him was now a deep, iridescent black. Just like his hands.
As fast as she turned to see him, Nelly whirled back to her task. Her hands shook as she moved to pour the batter into the greased pan. “Um, breakfast,” she finally answered. Had her voice cracked?Gods, kill me now.
Nelly hadn’t been able to stay awake much longer than Clark had after she bonded with him, so she didn’t know what to expect from the magical connection that now tied them soul to soul. So far, she really hadn’t felt much different — besides a dull headache and overall body soreness from passing out on the couch, of course.
Sure, she felt… aware of him in a distinctly magical way she hadn’t previously. And yes, maybe there was a peculiar sort of lightness, a sense of some burden being removed, that made her feel all fluttery and soft inside. She was also willing to grant that there was definitely a compulsion to be near him that was new.
Well, newish.
She’d certainly had thoughts about being very, very near him when she watched him ride over the hill every day, shirtless and sweaty and lickable.
All the same, Nelly really hadn’t been sure it was all that her parents and other witches had made it out to be until her bondmate stood right behind her, his fingertips skimming the back of her arm in a featherlight caress.
His touch, even through her clothing, made her magicsing.
