My heart stops.
Svenn is there. The real Svenn is trapped inside a crystalline chamber, watching us.
Locked there. Forced to witness my pleasure-filled face. To see exactly what the unleashed bond is doing to me.
"This is how she likes it," the bond tells him.
I can see it in the reflection. My own tear-streaked face. My glazed eyes.
Embarrassment floods through me. "No," I whimper. "Please, not like this—"
But the bond just laughs.
"Go on, come for me again," he urges. "Show him just how much you love this. How much you love me."
My body betrays me anyway. The pleasure crests despite my resistance. It steals the breath from my lungs. I'm staring directly at Svenn through the crystal as my vision frays and pleasure destroys me. My body convulses and I can't stop it.
When I can think again, I'm trembling in the bond's arms.
The crystal chamber shatters.
Svenn steps through, freed. He says nothing. Just looks at me with dark eyes that see everything.
I try to hold on to some dignity but it's impossible. I'm boneless and shaking and thoroughly claimed.
The bond releases me. Svenn catches me before I can fall.
His arms come under me and he lifts me from the floor like I weigh nothing. I press my face into his neck.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I didn't mean—"
"Shh. Don't apologize for wanting."
He carries me to the bed and sets me down gently. I think that might be the most undone I've ever felt all night despite whatever the bond did to me.
I look between them. Svenn and the bond. Two halves of the same man.
My chest aches watching the tension between them crackles in the air. The distrust and resentment between them are too strong.
"Please," I whisper, reaching for them both. "Please stop fighting."
They both turn to me.
"I love you," I say to Svenn, my voice breaking. Then I turn to the bond, tears spilling over. "And I love you. Both of you. I don't want you to hate each other anymore."
I pull Svenn close and reach out to touch the bond's face. He leans into my palm, eyes closing briefly.
"You're not enemies," I tell them. "I love every part of who you are."
Svenn kisses me then, deep and claiming. When he pulls back, the bond takes his place, his kiss just as consuming.
Svenn lies back on the bed and pulls me on top of him. I'm exhausted, wrung out, but I need this. Need him. His hands guide me, steadying my hips as I settle over him. I sink down slowly and he fills me completely. A shudder runs through us both.
"That's it," he murmurs, his voice rough. "Take what you need."
I try to move, but I'm still trembling after what the bond did. His hands grip my waist, helping me until I discover a rhythm. The bond leans down, his lips finding mine in a claiming kiss that steals what little breath I have left. Pleasure ignites through every inch of my body, from head to toe. My hips move faster, chasing it. When it crests, I cry out and collapse forward onto Svenn’s chest.
I love Svenn so much I feel like I can explode with all the feelings inside me.
