I held her, my arms tight around her trembling form, the bond between us thrumming like a second heartbeat.
Mine,I whispered in her mind.
Yours forever,was her reply.
The words echoed between us, through us, binding us in ways that went deeper than flesh and was strongerthan magic.
We lay in the forest as our heartbeats slowed, as the world settled around us, as the reality of what we'd forged settled into our bones.
Whatever came next—disguises, courts, talismans—we'd face it as one.
Truly, completely one.
Chapter 14
Reyla
Icollapsed on top of him, my heart slamming against my ribcage so hard it hurt, my body shuddering with aftershocks. Every bit of me felt stripped down to the bones yet somehow made me more complete than I was before.
Lore kept his arms around me, one big hand splayed protectively across my back, the other tangling in my hair as if he couldn't bear to let me go. His chest heaved beneath mine, each rough breath rattling through both of us.
The bond thrummed between us, hot and new and searingly alive. It curled through my veins, binding us with every breath.
My broken laugh scraped across his skin.
That was effective.The thought flowed from my mind to his.
His hand slid down my spine.You bit me, Wildfire. Claimed me. Fucked me into the ground. Effective doesn't even start to cover it.If we're worried it won't hold, we could do it again.
I snorted.You. Are. Amazing.I smiled against his skin, stroking my fingertip across the place where I'd marked him.Mymark. I could still taste him on my tongue, his salt and heat andsomething deeper, something that screamed mine all the way down to my soul.
Lifting my head, I met his gaze, stunned by how different it felt to look at him now. Like I was seeing him through new eyes. Maybe I was. Maybe the part of me that had always held back, the part that feared love this consuming, was finally beginning to let go. I saw not only the man who’d saved me, but the man Ichose. The one I would fight beside. Adore, no matter what came.
His green eyes burned into mine, his expression stripped of all pretense. There was no hiding from each other anymore. No distance. No walls.
You’re alright with…this?Could he hear how tentative my voice sounded? Probably. This man knew me well.
His mouth curved into the kind of slow, wicked grin that promised trouble; the kind of trouble I wanted with every fiber of my being.
Alright?He tightened his arms around me until I gasped.Fates, Wildfire, I belong to you. Now. Always. I’m grateful you finally took what’s been yours all along.
Emotion clogged my throat, aching and terrifyingly beautiful.
I kissed him, feeling him smile against my mouth before he kissed me back with the same desperate, endless hunger.
When we finally broke apart, both of us panting and dazed again, he stroked my cheeks.You’re never getting away from me now.
I grinned.Good, because you’re not getting away from me either.
He flitted us to our bathing area and we sank into a hot tub. I sat on his lap, facing him. Stroking him. Unable even now to say I’d had enough. We didn’t have a lot of time. No time, actually. We’d need to leave as soon as we could.
But this was precious. Us.
A bonding.
Mine,I shouted in his mind.
A cocky grin rose on his face.Tell me when you’re ready for more.
