She lifted his chin with the tip of the blade. “You have three seconds to drop the barrier before I slit your throat.”
Every word dripped with venom. She was a gorgeous fury, and he would have happily died in her arms if she were the last thing he saw. But at the tremble of the blade against his pulse, he knew that wasn’t his fate today.
“You won’t kill your mate,” Cassiel sighed. “You can’t.”
“I am not your mate!”
The rejection punched him in the gut, yet he could only smile miserably. To simply be in the same room as her sent currents through the bond and the brittle remnants of his soul. It sang weakly in recognition and plea.
“This hum in my chest says otherwise.”
Gritting her teeth, Dyna let out a frustrated groan that was part scream.
Cassiel didn’t bother bracing. He was desperate to feel any other sort of pain other than the constant agony of the dying bond in his chest. “Do it,” he whispered.
Backing away from him, Dyna’s mouth trembled with shaky breaths. They stared at each other as she clenched her jaw tight.
Then she said, “As you wish.”
Setting down the knife, Dyna tore off her corset and began to unbutton her tunic and kick off her boots.
His eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
The tunic dropped with a flutter at her feet. She pulled at the stays of her leather trousers next.
Dyna smiled shrewdly. “Torturing you.”
His pulse climbed at the sight of her bare legs and the glimpse of soft cleavage from her white camisole and undergarments. Crimson locks fell in soft waves around her shoulders dusted with freckles. Cassiel swallowed, this throat drying.
Picking up the knife, Dyna returned to him and ran fingers up his chest over his racing heart. “Where should I start?”
He inhaled a ragged breath at her familiar honeysuckle scent. The bond burned with want. To have her so close after so long arousal instantly swam through him.
“Here?” Dyna traced the knife’s cool hilt over his collarbone, making goosebumps sprout on his skin. “Or here?” She tapped the flat side of the blade against her thigh.
Cassiel blinked. “What—” She jabbed the knife into her flesh, stifling a scream. “Dyna!”
She ripped out the knife with an angry whimper. “Where else?”
Cassiel shuddered with panic breaths as her pain echoed through him. “What are you doing? Stop this!”
Holding his gaze, Dyna winced as she drew the knife above her belly button. Bright red rivulets dripped down her pale stomach.
“Dyna, stop!” The chains clanked as Cassiel jerked wildly against them to get to her. “Please, stop!”
He watched helplessly as the blade sliced down the outside of Dyna’s left shoulder to the top of her wrist. Next, she cut herself from her ankle to her thigh.
His stomach churned when he realized she was cutting herself in every spot he had written a vow.
“No more!” He strained against the chains. “Please…”
She lifted the knife to her neck. “Do it!”
Cassiel winced from her scream. “All right,” he said shakily. “You win. Come here.”
Dyna hesitated to get any closer. She didn’t trust him. How could she? The question only made him feel hollow inside.
“To remove the barrier, I have to touch you…” Cassiel lowered his gaze to the floor. “…in the same manner in which it was placed.”
