The room suddenly feels smaller, the walls pressing in. This is so much more than I understood when we made that Bond. So much more permanent, more dangerous.
But also …
I look at him, at the concern etched in his face, the way he’s watching me carefully, waiting for my reaction. This Fae whojust took his father’s torture because of our Bond. Who would do it again without hesitation.
“Say something,” he whispers.
“I’m trying to understand what this means.” My voice is steadier than I feel. “Your father could have killed us both today.”
“I know.”
“And you knew this already. Before today.”
He nods slowly. “I suspected. The book confirmed it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would it have changed anything?” His green eyes search mine.
The answer comes without hesitation. “No.”
Relief floods through our Bond, warm and golden.
“My life is yours,” I whisper, the admission a quiet surrender that leaves me breathless. “I’m done hiding in the dark. I’d rather burn out beside you than live a second in the shadows without you.”
Kiernan’s smirk doesn’t just flash, it ignites—a hungry, predatory heat blooming in his gaze that sends my pulse racing. He leans forwards, his voice a low thrum against my skin.
“Careful,” he murmurs, his thumb catching my bottom lip. “I’m greedy enough to hold you to that. I’d hunt through a dozen lifetimes just to hear you claim me like that again.”
The weight of what we’ve just discussed—the danger, the permanence—settles over me, but so does something else. A rightness. We made this Bond for love, not just duty. And knowing our lives are truly intertwined only makes that choice feel more real.
I crawl onto his lap, pushing him back, my knees on either side of his body and lean on his shoulders. His hands grip my waist, pulling me close. My hand traces the line of his jaw, andI study his face—every angle and plane I’ve memorised, every feature I’ve missed.
“I didn’t forget a single curve, a single line. You’re exactly as breathtaking as I remembered.”
“I want to explore every inch of you, like I’m discovering you for the first time.” He smirks.
His hands move up over my back, and he slowly eases the zip down the back of my dress so that he can run his hands on the bare skin of my back. I shiver with pleasure, and he leans in slowly, his lustful gaze asking me to meet him.
I don’t hesitate.
Our lips meet, soft at first, a quiet affirmation. The kiss deepens as he tilts his head back and his arms tighten around me, pulling me flush against his chest. It’s slow, thorough, full of a familiar tenderness that makes my chest ache. His tongue lazily explores with mine, slow and sensual, savouring the taste of each other.
His hands part my dress at the back and slip the straps down my arms. I let out a moan when we break the kiss and they slide off, my breasts tingling as my nipples brush his chest.
“Mmmm, hello, beauties,” he purrs, looking at me with unguarded desire.
“They missed you.” I laugh.
“Well then, we need to get reacquainted.”
He kisses down my neck, and I arch my back towards him as he moves downwards, my pleasure at his touch starting to burn and the anticipation of his mouth on my breasts making me tingle.
But when his mouth, hot and wet, covers my nipple and his tongue encircles, teasing, a sudden flash of memory crashes through me.
Reth.
The same sensation but different—the smell of sweat and grass, rough hands gripping my hips, the strands of his white hair tickling across my skin as he bent to taste me. His deep voice rumbling with pleasure.
