Page 175 of Savage Crown

Because this is our eternity.

We belong to each other.

59

SERAPHINA

The bond settles between us like a second heartbeat.

Thick, pulsing, alive.

I feel it in my bones, beneath my skin, in the slow, curling heat winding through my veins.

It is not a chain.

It is a fire.

A searing, perfect weight pressing into every part of me, into him, tying us together in body, in soul, in eternity.

Rylan’s breath is ragged, his forehead pressed against mine, his fingers still laced with our blood, gripping me like I might still slip away.

Like he still doesn’t quite believe I’m his.

The crowd watches, waiting.

For us to step away from the altar, to return to the great hall, to drink and feast and celebrate the night.

But Rylan doesn’t move.

Neither do I.

Because this is not over.

Not yet.

The bond is not complete.

Not until I feel every part of him, not until he stains himself into me, until there is no part of me that is not his.

The magic demands it.

We demand it.

Rylan’s eyes burn as he looks at me—raw, hungry, filled with a storm that has nowhere left to go.

He lifts me in one swift movement, my legs wrapping around his waist on instinct, my breath catching as he turns from the altar.

A door stands at the edge of the ceremonial grounds—leading into our chambers, into the night that is meant only for us.

He doesn’t speak.

He doesn’t have to.

I feel it through the bond?—

His need. His claim. His war.

And I want it all.

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