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The bond.

As if being called out, his palm itched, something running inside his veins like a live wire.

Fingertips slid down his spine to the curve of his ass, and Daven murmured, “You passed out when I got you home last night. How’s your hand?”

Ryneth’s gaze swept over his palm. The skin looked smooth, with the faintest of symbols pulsing. “It aches, but it doesn’t really hurt. Yours?”

“Same.”

Ryneth bit his lip as he gazed back outside. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know.” Daven’s lips pressed under his ear, his hair tickling Ryneth’s throat. Goosebumps scattered all around his forearms. Nip. “And I don’t care.”

Ryneth shivered and looked down. He was naked, his cock hard as it lay against his thigh. “It feels early,” he said weakly.

Daven chuckled. His fingers traced one of Ryneth’s ass cheeks and squeezed, spreading them until Ryneth felt the weight of Daven’s erection teasing his rim. “It’s the perfect time.”

“For what?” Ryneth whispered, but heat pulsed low in his body at the sound of Daven’s voice turning hoarse.

“Your mind might still be fighting me, but your body knows.” He slid his palm around Ryneth’s cock and squeezed.

Ryneth gasped, bucking his hips without approval.

“You see? It welcomes me.”

“My mind…” Ryneth glanced back at him. “It feels strange. My hand won’t stop humming. It doesn’t hurt. It just feels… wrong. What did that ceremony do to us?”

Daven rubbed his thumb over the faint mark in Ryneth’s palm. “I don’t know exactly,” he admitted. “I’ve never done it before.” Then his mouth curved. “Don’t look so shocked, baby.”

Their palms pressed together, and heat moved between them again. The tightness in Ryneth’s chest loosened without his permission.

“That,” Daven murmured. “That wasn’t there before. Every time I touch your hand, I feel it. My body knows where yours is. It settles.”

Ryneth swallowed. “I feel you too,” he whispered.

Daven’s lips brushed under his ear. “Yeah. Weird, isn’t it? Hm. But I like it.”

Ryneth quickly turned back and stared outside, but his lips parted anyway, and a soft sound slipped out before he could stop it. “You’re too much,” he muttered, voice rough with sleep and embarrassment. His gaze caught on the fading planets in the distance, then dropped. “And you look…” He swallowed. “Like that.”

Daven chuckled behind him. “Don’t get sentimental now, baby.” His hand closed more firmly around Ryneth, drawing another helpless reaction from him. “You know exactly what you do to me. Now give me your hand.”

Their palms met, Daven’s larger hand wrapping his ringed fingers over Ryneth’s. It felt as if the blood in his veins heated and created a soothing rush through his insides.

Ryneth’s body relaxed and he felt his eyes flutter closed. “So tired.”

“Then sleep. We’ll talk later.”

“I can’t. I—I feel you. Inside me. How do you do that?”

“I don’t know. I just can. You can too, when you stop being stubborn and start figuring it out.”

Did that mean he didn’t have to carry it all alone anymore?

Ryneth wanted to shake the weakness off, but he was too tired to fight. His throat locked with emotion.

“I don’t know how to stop fighting,” he admitted. He meant for the words to come out sharp, but they only sounded tired.

He was.