Sorren traces me with his eyes, smiling softly. “They like you too.” He points as a tiny butterfly lands on my bent knee. Its wings are aqua and iridescent, with black dots that look like a second set of eyes.
I hold still, not wanting to scare it away.
“It’s so beautiful,” I breathe out, wishing I could touch the tiny creature but knowing I would only harm it. Wipe away some of the powder on its wings that helps it fly. Like fairy dust.
“It is,” Sorren agrees. “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
I glance up to see his eyes are on me.
Not the butterfly.
My breath catches. We move toward each other, while the butterflies startle. They lift off us and scatter into the air. Fly into the rafters and trees that arch over our heads.
My mouth finds his, warm and soft. His hand comes around my waist, pulling me closer.
I lean into the kiss, suddenly desperate for him. Overwhelmed with a need to know him, every detail. To feel him. I want to touch him, kiss him everywhere.
His lips part against mine, answering with the same passion. The same urgency.
“Why do I feel this way?” I pull back and ask softly, “Consumed with wanting you and yet strangely comfortable around you? Like I’ve already known you a lifetime?”
I’ve been wondering about it all day. Turning it over and over in my mind during the boat ride away from the hunters, when he was still a rabbit in the bag at my feet.
“It’s the bond,” he says, pulling me into his lap.
He settles me there with my back to his chest, the heat of his body warming me. I can feel the steady beat of his heart vibrate against my spine.
“I know how this sounds. How rushed it must feel to you,” he says quietly. “We met two days ago. By any reasonable measure I should barely know you.”
He presses a kiss to the tender spot where my shoulder meets my neck.
“But the truth is that your soul recognizes mine. It always has. Some part of you has known me for much longer than today.” His voice lowers. “I’ve bitten you five times. With every bite, the bond deepens. With every bite we fall further in—”
His words stop abruptly, as if they’ve run into a wall.
The unspoken word lingers between us until I give it voice.
“Love?” I whisper.
I’m glad I’m facing away from him. I’m scared to see his expression. Afraid I’ll find regret there. Or doubt.
“The bond says I should love you, and I do,” he says quietly. “But not because the bond commands it.”
His hands slide under my hips, turning me until I’m facing him.
“I know we still have a lot to learn about each other, Nora, but I’ve already seen your strength. You didn’t freeze when the hunters chased us. You didn’t falter.”
His thumb brushes along my arm.
“I’ve seen your kindness too. The way you teach the children. The way you hug them when they cry, encourage them when they’re scared.”
His eyes soften.
“And I’ve seen your loyalty. How you love your mother. The way you’d do anything for her.”
I open my mouth to respond, but he raises a hand gently.
“I don’t expect you to feel the same,” he says. “But if we fail inside the egg…” His voice lowers. “I didn’t want to leave this world without telling you.”
