Page 84 of Ocean of Silver

We didn’t complete the bond—we didn’t have sex—but I wanted to. An uncontrollable need for him kept seeping into me. I knew with certainty that this was real. That once we did sleep together, we would be bonded. Every time our bodies connected, an electric pulse raced through me. It wasn’t painful but felt more like a wake-up call. Like my whole life had been gray and I was only now seeing everything in color.

All of my senses were in a furor that it was difficult to not complete the bond. But I didn’t want it to happen like that, not with him still in agony. Not when he still had an open wound on his thigh. The dagger had pierced through the entirety of him. Brock had healed it enough to scab over on both ends, but I knew the pain lingered. I saw the way he stifled a wince every time he kissed me.

We stayed in the bath until I washed all the blood off of him. I emptied and refilled the water seven times and was surprised by how easy I found it. Each time I refilled the tub, each time I saw the bottom tile, I didn’t freak out. I didn’t lose control. The tub no longer scared me as long as I focused on him.

Once I convinced him to stop kissing me—temporarily, at least—he agreed to let me finish bathing him. I went through about a hundred rags, slowly dipping them into a soapy bucket I kept on the ledge. I gently pressed each cloth over every inch of his skin, removing the blood as if I could take away the horror from what he’d just been through.

The lower half of him was a lot worse. I wasn’t sure how long it took for me to wash everything off. Especially when I got to his thigh. I tried to be gentle, to barely touch the area, but there was too much blood. He gripped the edge of the tub so hard that I was worried the porcelain would break. Besides his thigh, he remained still the entire time, watching me bathe him. Neither of us spoke until I finished, until every drop of blood was scrubbed off his body.

When I finally finished, he gently pressed a kiss to my forehead before finding my lips again and pulling me back down onto him. I felt him harden underneath me, felt him throbbing between my legs. I tried not to focus on the fact that we were both utterly naked. How all he had to do was lean forward and push the length of him inside me. The feeling went beyond a want. Ineededit.

Tezya’s hands rested on my sides, his thumbs moving gently over my hips. His kisses were light and soft and gentle, nothing like the aggression from when he was under Athler’s abilities. This was our own doing, our own choice. He made it seem like we had all the time in the world together, like he would savor every second of it. My lips were swollen by the time I forced myself to pull away.

“Don’t stop,” he murmured, wrapping his hands behind my neck and trying to bring my head back down to his.

“We need to,” I managed back, even though I didn’t want to say it. His moans of pleasure were mixed with pain, and I knew his thigh and back were bothering him more than he was letting on.

Only I didn’t get off of him right away. I was still straddling his good thigh, his arms wrapped around my back, pressing me into him. He leaned his forehead into mine as he whispered, “Be mine Scotlind Mae Rumor. In this life and in the next.”

A smile broke my cheeks as I murmured yes. He kissed me again, capturing the word in his mouth with a longer, deeper kiss.

Tezya protested a bit more, but eventually, he helped me out of the murky water. Once we dried off, taking way too long to do it, he walked me back to my room, saying that it would be safer for me here, that if the King found us together, things would be worse.

But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be apart from him. Some invisible cord kept tugging at my center, begging me to be near him. With him gone, I felt as if half of me was missing. I couldn’t explain it… why this feeling was so strong all of a sudden.

I stared at my palm. At the two lines across it—one a thin scar. One a fresh cut, just barely scabbed over—the blood bond. My finger trailed over the cut Tezya made. It hurt to touch, but I still felt a surge of energy through the pain. I hadn’t felt that with Sie. When Tezya’s and my hand clasped together… I felt him. All of him. For a brief moment, snippets of his life flashed before my eyes. I felt his emotions. I saw myself through his eyes. It was as if our bodies were joining. As fast as it came, it was gone. The only thing that lingered was the jolt and rush of energy each time our hands came together.

I halted outside his bedroom door, about to knock and tell him I didn’t care about the risks, that I wanted to be together, when I heard voices.

“Tezya, what have you done?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“None of my concern!” a female voice shouted. “Of course, it’s my concern. You’re my baby brother. How could you be so stupid? I told you to stay away from her, and now look at you.”

“Dove, this isn’t her fault.”

“What do you mean? It’s all her fault! If you hadn’t lied to protect her, you wouldn’t have been punished in the first place. I told you to tell the King the moment you found out that she had enhancement.” There was a pause. “I was worried sick. I came looking for you in the dungeons afterward, but all I found was blood.”

“I’m okay, Dovelyn.”

Muffled cries sounded through the door. “Tez, one of these days, you aren’t going to be. His punishments for you are getting worse and worse. What if he doesn’t call a healer. What if he takes it too far? I can’t lose you too.”

“You won’t. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Just stay away from her. She’s only going to bring you more trouble.”

“Dove, please,” Tezya winced. “Stop blaming her. I chose to lie. I chose to protect her. I made the choice myself. I will always protect her. I know the consequences of my actions. I lo—”

“Don’t finish that sentence. Don’t you dare say it, Tezya,” Dovelyn snapped.

“Dove, we’re bonded.”

Silence fell, and I leaned closer to the door. I stared down at my own bloodied palm, assuming that he was showing Dovelyn his. Proof of what we had done.

“Don’t you dare, Tezya. You know you can’t be with her. The King willneverlet her go. Now that he knows he can use her to make himself stronger, she will always be his prisoner.”

“I’m working on it. I have a plan.”

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