“You can’t take back what you said, Cassiel Soaraway.” Dyna’s teary gaze met his, her lips quivering. “Say it again.”
He closed his eyes, and his voice caught as he whispered, “You are my dawn.”
Her gentle fingers wiped the wetness from his lashes, and relief washed through the bond from both ends. Blood may bond them, but she was choosing him. Shechosehim. Acceptance. Being wanted. It was the most glorious feeling in the world. Well, perhaps the second-best feeling. His eyes fell on her lips, so close and soft, he wanted to feel them again. That yearning had remained with him since that day on the cliff.
He guided her back under the willow tree. The soft rustle of rain trickled like drops of glass from the branches. He slid his hands up her arms, his fingers gliding along the satin sleeves of the maroon dress she wore.
With a gentle nudge from his wings, he drew Dyna closer. The sun streaming in through the branches caught the radiance emitting from her skin. He finally realized it was because she was tied to him. They stood mere inches apart. Her breath mingled with his, intoxicating his senses. Her honeysuckle scent filled his every thought. There was so much he wanted to say, but it was as if she already knew. There was nothing he could hide now, and nothing he wanted to keep from her.
He brushed Dyna’s damp hair behind her ear and skimmed his fingertips over her collarbones, tracing the scars there, exploring every smooth curve. She shivered in response, and her breath hitched, stealing his with the next rise of his lungs.
Cassiel cupped her cheek and stroked his thumb over her bottom lip. Voice thickening, he asked, “Would it be forward of me to kiss you?”
“Yes,” Dyna whispered with a smile. Her bright green eyes held his as her hands settled on his chest, where his rotten heart thrummed. “It would be.”
She stood completely still as he skated his fingers along her smooth jaw, gently lifting her chin. The final distance between them closed as he leaned in, and her breath caught. A rush of anticipation rolled through him. Ever so slowly, he swept his lips over her cheek until he found the corner of hers. Their noses met, and he paused, checking if she still wanted this. Dyna gripped his jacket, assuring she wasn’t going anywhere.
As careful as the first time, Cassiel drew her mouth to his and grazed her full lips. Tentatively teasing. Exploring the soft flesh. Her pulse quickened beneath his fingertips, where his hands curled on her neck. Then his mouth met hers with a brief, gentle press. It sent an electrifying wave through him. But he leaned back and inhaled raggedly, still doubting he could really have this. He was so unworthy of her.
Dyna clamped her arms around his neck and yanked him to her. A surprised exhale rushed out of his nose. He took her supple lips in his, and it was enough to nearly take him to his knees. Every conflict and doubt faded as he wrapped Dyna in his arms and wings, and indulged in what they had denied one another for so long. His mouth moved over hers, memorizing the shape he yearned to learn, tasting the sweetness he’d been starved for. It was a kiss made of sunlight, and wishes, and unyielding impossibilities.
She clung to him with permanence in her grasp, as if afraid he would disappear. Impossible. Cassiel couldn’t imagine ever letting go, for one kiss was not enough. It would never be enough. He wanted all of her in every way. Endlessly. And so, he lost himself in each sigh and caress, branding every part of her on his skin. Nothing else existed for him but this.
Kissing her erased the world.
There was a shift, and he shuddered as something fell into place. It filled a vacant hole somewhere in his being, like he had recovered a familiar piece of himself he once lost. The bond blazed, and an ethereal power surged through his mind, weaving through his soul. He was soaring, ascending to a place where Dyna’s soul collided with his. It brought a tide of emotion and thought as the deepest parts of her unveiled. It engulfed him. Every part of him was searing as a power wove them seamlessly together in a way that shouldn’t have been possible.
They were the sun and the night sky meeting in the twilight.
Then he was devouring her mouth with reckless abandon. He pinned her against the willow, and her fingers tangled in his hair as she met him with equal urgency. There was no satiating the need. Her skin was silk beneath his hands, and every caress sparked tingles down his arms. He wanted to touch everything. To feel every dip, swell, and plane. To forget all else until he knew nothing but her.
Yet a nagging thought reminded him there was something else he needed to share before they could go any further.
Cassiel reluctantly made himself break the seal of their lips. He rested his forehead against hers as they tried to catch their breath. Fear swept through their connection. For once, he knew it was his own. A fear that he would lose her after finally having her.
Dyna sighed, feeling his toil. “I ask nothing of you but the truth. Always. Will you promise me only that?”
“The truth is, I want nothing more than to lose myself in these lips.” He brushed his thumb over her mouth and her cheeks bloomed pink. “But there is more I must tell you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Another secret? I cannot promise I won’t be angry but if you kiss me like that again, I may forgive you.”
A shiver of thrill and angst washed through him.
“Dyna, I think we—” Cassiel swallowed, his throat drying at the thought of explaining. It was best to show her. He gently took her face in his hands as he admired everything about her.“Ett haor sheli.”
She leaned into his touch, their breaths mingling between their mouths that were mere inches apart. “What does it mean?”
Maybe one day I will tell you,Cassiel said through the bond.
Her eyes grew wide, for she had heard him loud and clear. Then he felt exactly when she realized what it meant. They’d never had a simple Blood Bond. He should have known from the beginning, from the moment his soul led him to her in Corron.
A tear rolled down her temple, spilling over his fingers. Her watery smile lit something in his chest, and the bond softly glowed.
Dyna was more than his wife. More than a mate. She was his True Bonded.
Her voice fluttered through his mind.How?
There was only one simple answer.
