Page 16 of A Bond with the Dark

My heart is pounding so hard he probably hears it because he senses that he's no longer alone and turns. My body quivers, and my knees shake.

As soon as I meet those crystal blue eyes, I won't be able to refuse him anything.

When his eyes meet mine, I freeze. My breath catches in my throat, tying knots around my ribs.There's a blackness about his aura, so dark it's like light itself has curled up to him and died.

I feel the terror radiating off him in waves, and it shivers in delight while his bright eyes illuminate even the most unforgiving dark.

I should run.

But where?

I'm surrounded by dense forest, its dark gnarled trees offering no escape. With no sense of direction, running seems futile—I could easily get lost in this labyrinth of shadows. Yet staying here is a guaranteed life sentence.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot lift my feet from the deck floor. They're so heavy. I can't move, let alone run.

His destructive blue eyes search my face, glittering with darkness, and he gives me a wistful smile that's laced with fatality. He's tall and spare and deadly elegant.

Something in his gait changes, his body softens, muscles relax, and as he enters my space, the terror I felt before slides off me and into the water below. I fall in love with him the moment he lets the terror ebb, like a tangible force he can wax and wane at his whim. I love him so much, and I don't know why. I don't even know whoheis.

He walks toward me, and I steel myself, knowing the fire comes next. Anticipating the warmth that sweeps up my body when he gets too close, I clench my teeth to brace it.

He's almost upon me.

It's as though his lips were designed to unhinge me.

I want him to pick me up so I can run my fingers through his hair and feel that fire take over my body. I want him all over me—in any capacity.

In movements faster than I can see, he's in front of me, his hands on my neck, pulling me toward those lips. I want this more than the air to fill my lungs. There's a soothing reassurance in his eyes that speaks to the depths of my soul; something ancient and older than civilization floating between us.

When his lips meet mine, I forget how to breathe. He feels like the rush of jumping off a waterfall, invigorating and fatal, exhilaration and destruction colliding in the mist. His tongue enters my mouth, and I lick the darkness from him. He tastes like magick and shadows.

He gives a martyred sigh, his breath erratic; his darkness drinks from my light. He pulls back, and I miss his lips instantly; the features of his face cracking as though he's in pain like he knows what he's about to do and doesn't want to do it.

An otherworldly white leeches the blue from his irises, contracting them vertically as he opens his jaw wide with a growl. The fangs protrude, and panic hemorrhages from my skin, but I can't move; I'm captivated by the ferocious elegance of his fury.

I can't breathe; he's so beautiful in his darkest form. I don't care if the world burns down around us as long as I get to look at him while I burn.

In a mesmerizing tempered fury, he pushes my head to the side and bites my neck. Along with the crunching sound of my skin breaking open, the fire engulfs me again.

He falls back into the night, his darkness. I watch him through a ferociously burning veil, contorted with a saddened fury, as I burn alive in front of him once again.

The following day, when I open my eyes, the cut-out holes shaped like stars make my dark curtains look like a constellation, morning light lancing through them like they're glowing.

The color of the drapes is reminiscent of the fathomless blue of his eyes.

I jolt up.

Touching my fingers to my lips, the impression of him still burns there. If I press hard enough, I can almost feel him there again when I close my eyes.I yearn for him, feeling my core light up when I think of him draping over me on this bed, licking at his darkness as he laps at mine.

Fuck.

Why can't he be real?

Swinging my feet to the side of the bed, they dangle in the air a few seconds before I hop down and throw on some sweats and a tank top.

As I descend the stairs, I twirl my long hair into a messy bun, careful not to trip on my black cat, who is always lurking in the shadows.

Nox rushes past me as I enter the kitchen and perches on the table. He meows as I scratch behind his ears.

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