Page 72 of A Cruel Kindness

“Bell, you need to stop,” Soren said, his words no louder than a low growl.

I shook my head against his neck, pushing myself against him again. “I feel like I might die,” I said against his skin, uncaring how dramatic that sounded.

Those words seemed to do something to Soren, triggering the more primal side of the Bond that only cared about keeping your Match alive. His hand traveled up my spine to tangle in my hair, gripping the strands in his hand as he pulled my head back so he could look at me.

His eyes had turned a darker shade of blue, shadowed by the dark expression in his eyes. “Baby, you have to tell me what you need.”

Now that I was looking at him, watching him speak, my gaze zeroed in on his lips.

Right there. The Bond’s voice was a near-yell in my head.

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t pull my eyes away. The answer to all my pain, as ridiculous as it sounded, seemed to be right there, on his wonderfully curved mouth.

“Goddamnit, Bell,” Soren said, his forehead dropping to mine. “We said we wouldn’t.”

“Remind me why again,” I found the voice to say. My hand slipped from his shoulder and trailed up to his face, my fingertips tracing the soft brush of his shorn hair then pressing down on the edges of the bandage over his brow, making sure it was in place.

The feeling of Soren’s nose pressing against mine was almost enough to undo me. “We can’t go back.”

Once we crossed the line into the physical, there really was no going back. The point of all this was to keep it so that we could stay apart, accomplish our individual goals. That didn’t seem so important right now. Not when Soren’s lips were finally inches away from mine.

There had to be a way for us to have both, because I didn’t think I could survive any other reality. I owed a duty to our people to do something with this position, to try to prevent any more baseless casualties if I could.

But surely, the Goddess wouldn’t have cursed me this thoroughly. If she gave me Soren at all…

My chin pressed up on its own accord, my decision made. I had to have him. I couldn’t suffer this any longer. Soren must have thought the same, I would know deep in my bones if he didn’t, because his lips brushed mine ever so slightly.

Just that lightest brush and a wildfire erupted in my chest. Soren’s hand tightened in my hair and he slammed his lips to mine, sending the rage still in my chest fleeing.

Yes, yes, yes, the Bond chanted, finally satiated after all this time.

“Excuse me.”

I had no longer than three seconds to feel the press of Soren’s lips, not even enough for me to feel the warm slide of his tongue across mine, before someone interrupted us.

The growl that released from Soren’s throat as he whipped towards the intruder sounded like an animal who was about to get a fresh kill stolen from them. He lunged, taking me with him like I weighed nothing, before stopping short when he realized who it was.

Peter was perhaps the one person who was safe from him. Soren didn’t let me down—in fact, he tightened his grip on me—as he barked, “What?”

Peter, to his credit, barely reacted. He just crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Did you not hear the alarm?”

He was right. There was an alarm blaring through the camp, signaling an impending arrival of Muli troops, and we’d been completely oblivious to it.

Soren reluctantly released me, my boots hitting the muddy ground with a squish. “I swear to fucking God, Peter, I will not be liable for what I do if you try to put her in harm’s way right now.”

I wasn’t sure we could avoid that entirely, but there was no arguing with the iron in Soren’s tone.

Peter’s lips curled to hide a smug smile. “She’ll be fine. A Muli general has requested an audience with a Royal emissary, and you two are the best we have.”

Soren and I looked at each other, knowing what that meant. Elijah.

Shit.

Peter turned on his heel and strode away, wisely giving us some privacy. Before he turned the corner, he called over his shoulder, “If I don’t see you in twenty seconds, I’m separating you two tonight.”

“The fuck you are—” Soren cut himself off, blinking as if the rough words had jumped from his throat without his knowledge.

My hand tightened in its grip around his bicep, if not to remind him that I was still standing next to him.