Page 164 of Gift from the Stone

Her teasing is exactly what I need, and when she stands and offers me her hand, I take it willingly.

Thankfully, my air shield did hold off damaging Gaster’s room, other than the space where I was kneeling, so with a wave of my hand and command to my earth element, I fix his rug, like it never even happened.

“You’re going to be in so much trouble when you walk out of here,” she picks as she links her arms with mine and steers us toward the door.

“I know. You may want to get out of the way when we step out.”

I halt our movements right as we reach the end of the brick hallway. I know they’re about to be worried, upset, concerned. Even through the vast fabric of the pocket dimension, I feel it keenly.

Fuck, I have nothing to say to explain.

“They understand,” Oakly whispers, answering my silent worry.

I nod and press my hand to the doorway.

Gaster’s magic fades from my skin as I make my way out of the threshold, one step…two steps…

Blackness like the dead of night steals my sight as I’m shrouded in shadows. The freeing weightlessness that comes with his protection encases me, sweeping me off my feet.

“Cas—”

He slams me against the wall of his shadows, cutting me off. Our bodies take shape once again and my legs wrap around his waist for support. I feel the tendrils fluttering around my body like clouds of smoke, yet they’re as solid as brick against my back. When he places his forehead against mine, I place my hand over his pounding heart, letting its wildness seep into me.

Sliding his hand up my stomach, through the valley of my breast, he wraps his fingers gently around my throat, his thumb rubbing circles around my erratic pulse.

“Don’t, Primary,” he growls.

“What?”

“Don’t, Willow,” he shouts, his hand flinching, tensing slightly before he relaxes again. “Don’t you fucking do it. I don’t know what you saw, but I saw the darkness slithering through your eyes. There’s a choice you have to make. Choose yourself, choose us. Fuck this realm, fuck them all.” He pants through his anger.

My dark and damaged protector.

“Caspian,” I breathe his name like it’s my tether. Like he’s the only thing keeping me from floating away in the darkened void filling my mind.

Grunting like he’s in pain, he lifts his head and locks his eyes with mine. The darkness, the lingering, haunted veil that obscures their amber color is nowhere to be found. Right now, they’re akin to whiskey poured over ice, swirling with depth and clarity. It’s alluring, captivating. I feel like I’m seeing him for the first time.

Just as my lips part to say something, he slams his mouth to mine, stealing the words and my breath.

I gasp at the sensation. The hot and cold of the two of us mingling together. I feel him pouring his everything into this kiss and I pour all of me back. I give myself over to him fully, completely.

Every stroke, every nip at my lip, every slow peck, I find myself being more and more swept up in him. For the first time, his emotions flow freely through me. There’s no block, no kink in our bond, just pure, unfiltered emotions.

“Caspian.”

“You are mine, Primary. Don’t do whatever it was that put that look in your eyes,” he breathes against my lips.

There’s nothing I can do but fight back my tears. I can’t say anything. I can’t promise him anything.

“I’ll darken this realm. I’ll block out the sun until the end of time. Flood every territory until there’s no one left but us. You are my light, my only light, Primary. I’ll protect you from the darkness, even your own.” His words chase away the nightmares lingering in the corner of my mind. The demons that wait to pounce on me when they see me at my most vulnerable. They don’t stand a chance against him.

“I’ll meet you in the dark,” I swear.

I’ll never let him fade to black completely. Despite the growth, the long way he’s come, I know in my soul there will always be a darkness that stains him because the same darkness stains me. But I’ll guide him home. I’ll guide him back to me, back to us, every time. Forever.

I have no clue the time that passes as we sit here embracing one another. The fear I usually feel that one wrong breath will send him sprawling away from me is nowhere to be found. Somehow, I know, my bond knows, we just took a massive leap.

I sigh deeply when three more bodies press into me, cushioning me protectively. The tears begin to flow when they all put their hands on me, stroking and caressing me like I’m something precious.

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