Page 33 of Sunder

But the bond still whispered she had the right of it. That it had picked well, and she should stop her worrying.

“I do not know if that is wise,” Athan answered, his words slow and carefully chosen.

“Oh,” Orma whispered, nodding to herself. She’d known he’d refuse. Was glad of it.

Better to sleep here alone. Far better.

She’d offered, and that’s what counted. A bit of bravery when she’d proven herself anything but.

Orma waited for the indulgent smile, the murmured goodnight. The one that would leave her feeling like the child she’d been. Even mated, even with the bondfinallywhere it rightfully belonged, nothing had truly changed.

Just as she knew it wouldn’t.

He stared at the floor a moment, then seemed to come to some sort of decision.

“I’ll have you know, this is most unusual.” He made his way first to the lamp and lowered it as much as he dared without the flame disappearing entirely.

So he might check on her. As if the bond would not alert him if something was wrong.

She didn’t argue, her words stolen along with her breath that he was staying.

With her.

Because she’d asked him to do so.

“I shall be flattered, then,” Orma assured him, her heart racing as he shimmed beneath the linens beside her.

“Quite.” A little bemused, a bit... relieved.

She was careful with her wings, kept them tight so they would not accidentally catch him unawares with unconscious flailing.

“Orma?” he asked, seeming very far away and a great deal too close all at once.

“Yes?”

She waited for him to ask her to hold his hand. To kiss him. To do anything at all to test the affection that was meant to flow so freely with their new tethers.

“Who was that man with you? The one trying to pull you away?”

She had not considered how it looked, and she could not abide what conclusions he must have reached now that she pondered the matter. “My cousin. I... I can only imagine how it looked, but he was helping. He’d... he’d made me a promise, and I...”

She was the one that had failed him, not the other way around.

Had he gone to her parents? Explained to them? She hoped so, in more of her cowardly nature. Let him endure their worries and disappointments.

She hated herself for even thinking it.

“You did not want to find me,” Athan finished for her.

“I did,” Orma hedged, her head throbbing and her eyes burning. “I just wanted to know of you first. Before. But the bond... got away from me.”

He shifted, and she knew because the bed moved with him. Not a lot, but enough. Could she sleep through that? Would her bed at home have done the same, or was his frame of a lesser quality than hers?

Or maybe this was simply the nature of sharing a bed.

Which she was doing.

With her mate.

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