My whole body heated when I remembered what an intimate act it was to touch a male’s wings. According to Kaden, his wings were just as sensitive as another part of his anatomy. But I’d been so focused on removing the splinters that I hadn’t considered how his body might react.
“Sorry,” I said, quickly withdrawing my hand and feeling like a fool. Kaden had barely touched me last night after his little declaration. He clearly wanted to keep some physical distance between us, and here I was fondling his wing.
“Don’t be sorry,” he rasped, the muscles in his neck clenching with self-restraint.
Throat suddenly dry, I leaned to one side to get a better look at his face. Kaden’s eyes were closed, his jaw tight, and his hands were fisted at his sides.
“It feels . . .” His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he let out a moan of frustration. “Let’s just say that if you keep touching me like that, I’m going to have you out of your clothes in about five seconds flat.”
I sucked in a gasp, my thighs clenching as I imagined Kaden losing control and ravishing me right here, right now.
“Stop thinking,” he gritted out, though his tone was laced with amusement.
I tensed. Could hefeelmy desire through our bond?
My face burned, though my core ached with need. Ilonged to reach out and touch him again — to run my finger under the sensitive ridge of sinew and make this powerful male come undone.
But Kaden had made his intentions clear, and provoking him wouldn’t be right. So I rose to my feet, sheathed my dagger, and climbed down the ladder.
“Glad to see you two finally made up,” said Sorsha when I appeared on the stairs. “Here.” She tossed me a small linen pouch, which smelled strongly of the contraceptive herbal tea Kaden had made for me after our first night together at the Forest House. “You should probably take that.”
She waggled her eyebrows in a knowing fashion, and I didn’t bother to tell her I didn’t need it. Not yet.
I was also too relieved to feel embarrassed. Kaden’s mind might not have been his own, but he was still mine.
Adriel didn’t say a word, though I thought I caught a glimpse of a smirk as he lifted his mug to his lips.
Despite the awkward way Kaden had banished them the night before, the mood was lighter than it had been in days. Sorsha had some sausages hissing in a pan over the fire, and I found I was suddenly ravenous.
Despite my rumbling belly, breakfast would have to wait. Sorsha and Adriel had risked their lives to rescue Kaden, and he’d agreed they deserved to know the truth.
“Let’s go outside,” I said, jerking my head toward the door.
Adriel and Sorsha followed me out of the cottage, pulling on coats and moth-eaten furs to stave off the damp chill.
In a rush, I relayed everything Kaden had told me. How Velisara had opened the sire bond; the reason he hadkept his distance since we’d rescued him from Dorthus; why he could not trust himself fully.
When I finished, all traces of smug amusement had faded from Adriel’s face. His mouth was set in a grim line, and his chaotic hazel eyes seemed to burn with fury. “Gods, that explains it,” he muttered, raking a hand through his messy locks.
Sorsha’s cheeks were stained with tears, but she merely shook her head.
“How do we break it?” I asked, looking from one to the other. “This connection between him and Semphrys.”
“I don’t know,” Adriel growled. “I’m not sure it’s even possible.”
My heart sank. Therehadto be a way. I couldn’t accept the alternative.
“It isn’t like your connection,” Adriel continued. “A mating bond must be accepted by both parties and solidified through intimacy. A sire bond, like the one between Kaden and Semphrys, is rare. I’ve never evenheardof a demon siring offspring. It isn’t supposed to be possible. The link between Kaden and his father was likely formed at conception.”
I let out a huff of frustration.
“But when I kill Semphrys, surely that will sever the bond between them.”
The demon king might not have been mortal in the traditional sense, but surely he could not torment Kaden in death.
“If it doesn’t kill Kaden in the process,” the royal guard amended.
Fresh horror unfurled in my gut, but I shoved thatpossibility aside. It had started to drizzle, an icy rain soaking through my thin linen shirt and chilling me to the bone.
