Page 22 of Chains of Love

My hands find her waist, fingers pressing into the soft fabric of her robes as I pull her against me. Her eyes widen, green irises flaring bright with magic, lips parting in surprise at my sudden boldness.

I capture those lips with mine, swallowing her gasp of protest or pleasure - I'm not sure which. The bond flares between us like a struck match, hot and bright as summer lightning, crackling with an intensity that makes my skin tingle. Her mouth is soft, her lips as plump as they look, tasting faintly of the herbal tea she favors. The scent of her - wild herbs and moonflower - fills my senses.

I pull back, my heart thundering against my ribs like a war drum as I meet her startled gaze. The bond has shifted between us, alive with something new and dangerous, something that threatens to consume us both. Her silver hair has come loose from its careful arrangement, and my fingers itch to run through it, to pull her close another time.

"Are you going to spit on me again?"

Her lips—still pink from our kiss—part and close like a fish out of water. "I haven't decided yet." She touches her bottom lip with trembling fingers. "Why did you do that?"

The bond hums, electric and insistent. I ignore her question, because honestly, I don't have an answer I'm ready to give. "Strengthen the bond with me."

"Fine." She drops her hand, reaching for her pack. "But I need materials."

The firelight catches the silver in her hair as she pulls out several white candles. She arranges them in a circle around us, her movements precise and practiced.

"The strengthening ritual is different from the initial binding or sealing the binding." She lights each candle with a whispered word. "It requires both participants to be willing. You'll need to match my energy with yours."

"How?" The bond tingles across my skin, making it hard to focus.

"Remember how it felt when you helped stabilize my magic?" She kneels beside me, close enough that her knee brushes mine. "Like that, but deeper. More intentional."

I shift, uncomfortable with how aware I am of her proximity. "And you're certain this won't make the bond permanent?"

You were closer to her last night.

"No." Her green eyes meet mine, honest and open in a way that makes my chest tighten uncomfortably. There's avulnerability there I'm not used to seeing from her. "I'm not certain of anything anymore."

The candlelight flickers across her face, casting dancing shadows that highlight the scar I gave her - that thin, silvery line marring her left cheek. My stomach twists at the sight of it, a reminder of how quickly things between us had changed from hunter and prey to... whatever this is now.

She holds out her hands, palms up, waiting. The soft glow of her magic already shimmers beneath her skin like moonlight through water. "Let's begin. Unless you've changed your mind?" Her voice carries a hint of challenge, but there's something else there too - uncertainty, perhaps even fear.

I shake my head, putting my large hands in her delicate fingers, not oblivious to the tingling. "No. I'm ready."

Let's do this.

12

LIRIEN

The circle around us pulses with a faint green light, but my magic refuses to flow. Every time I try to focus, his lips brush against mine again in my memory, and my concentration shatters. The herbs burning in the copper bowl fill my nose with sage and moonflower, but even their calming properties can't settle my racing thoughts.

"You're distracted." Darak's hands tighten around mine, his ash-gray fingers pressing into my skin with a warrior's strength held carefully in check. "The bond won't take if your mind wanders."

"I'm not wandering." My voice comes out sharper than intended, brittle as winter frost. "You're the one who decided to—" I catch myself, cheeks burning hot enough to rival the herbs smoldering between us. "Never mind. Don't tell me how to perform my own ritual."

"To kiss you? Is that what you were going to say?" His thumb traces circles on my palm, each movement sending shivers up my arm and making the magical circle's light flicker erratically. "Would you prefer I hadn't?"

There's a hint of challenge in his voice, those crimson eyes studying me with an intensity that makes focusing on the ritual nearly impossible.

"I'd prefer you pick a side and stick to it." The words tumble out before I can stop them, sharp and bitter as nightshade on my tongue. "One moment you're flirting with Serra, the next you're—" My voice catches on the memory of her perfect smile, her curves, everything I'm not.

"Jealous of a married woman with a Minotaur child?" His voice holds a note of incredulity that makes my stomach twist.

"That's not—" I pull my hands away, fighting against his grip like a trapped animal, but he holds firm. His calloused fingers are warm against my skin, a reminder of every confusing moment between us.

"I'm sorry," he says sincerely, and the genuine regret in his crimson eyes makes it worse somehow. "I shouldn't have brought that up again."

His thumb brushes against my wrist, a gesture that feels too intimate for whatever this is between us.

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