“Agreed. Now hurry before it’s too late.”
I stormed to the gasping woman’s side. Too infuriated to be gentle, I wrapped my fingers around her throat, dragging up her head. “You better be worth it,” I snarled into her upturned face.
Heat rose from my center, swelling in my chest until my ribs threatened to crack under the pressure. The fire magnified, growing hotter, heavier, filling me until my body burned with the strength of a thousand suns. Just when I feared I’d combust from the strain, I crashed my mouth to her chilly lips.
The sparks leapt instantly. Magic rushed from my core into her. Her frigid lips softened, warming beneath the onslaught. I ground my mouth into hers.Open. Open to me, damn you.Live! I shoved the command into her psyche.
She moaned, chest heaving, then gasped. At last, her lips parted.
The fire surged like a tidal wave. Power rushed from my throat into hers, searing her broken body. It ignited her cells. Invaded her senses and filled her with my flame. With life. With strength.
And then I saw it. Between us, a single golden thread shimmered into existence. Binding. Eternal. Until death do us flarking part.
Slim hands snaked up my chest, cupping the back of my neck.
I stiffened. What was this?
Her once frigid lips were now hot and commanding, moving against mine. Hungry. Taking.
Sparks of a different kind ignited in my bloodstream.
Desperate fingers grasped at my shoulders, sliding over my back with surprising strength. She clung to me like a drowning soul to a lifeline. Dragged me closer. Pulled me under her spell.
Heat swelled, not only from my dragonflame but from her. Her mouth parted willingly now, lips moving with mine, greedy for more. And curse me, my body answered. My blood flared, my chest tightening as passion slid like lava through my veins. Against all reason, I pressed closer, feeding her fire and passion alike.
For one reckless heartbeat, I lost myself. Her warmth bled into my skin, her taste consumed me, and the golden thread between us throbbed like living fire. Nothing had ever devoured my sanity like this. I wanted more. I craved more.
A sharp, angry grunt demanded my attention. Alaric?
Reality struck, ice stealing the warmth.
A growl ripped through my throat as I wrenched free, tearing my mouth from hers. Breath sawed from my lungs.
She gasped, her glowing eyes opening, peering into mine as though she could see straight into my soul. I was stripped bare before her, exposed in ways I swore nobody would ever touch.
I snarled, ripping myself from her grasp. “Enough.” My voice was raw, hoarse with something I couldn’t name.
She’d get nothing else from me this night, nor any other.
“Rest now,” I ordered, shoving her onto the table.
Her head fell back on an exhale, and her eyes drifted closed. Color bloomed in her cheeks, the shadows fading. The soft glow of my flame flickered in her chest before it dulled. Proof she’d accepted my claim without objection. Which was ironic given the Puritans’ hatred of magic.
“It’s done.” I turned on my heel, storming past Alaric, who still hovered over the little heathen.
“Thorne…”He had the audacity to almost look contrite now that he’d gotten his way.“Thank—”
“Don’t,” I snapped on my way out of the dining hall. “Andwhen she wakes, you will not speak of this. Not to her. Not to me. As far as I’m concerned, it never happened.”
The last thing I needed was some clingy female mistaking our bond for anything more than what it was. A violation.
“Where are you going?”
“To retrieve another case of Ambrosia.” I didn’t look back. “If I’m bound into this madness, I’ll need it.”
Chapter Eight
SERAFINA
