Page 20 of Shadowbound

“Good. Then learn your oath by the time I return,” I tell him.

Then I leave him, kneeling naked in the center of the room as he reads the words written in the air.

10

Alaric

What the fuck am I doing, kneeling naked on a pillow and waiting for Sylvanna? I ought to be forcing my way upstairs to see her “collection” as she calls it. What if The Heart of the Eclipse is there after all—what if she’s lying to me?

But somehow I can’t bring myself to doubt her. So far she’s spoken only the truth to me. And besides, I want to know what comes next. I tell myself that’s the only reason I’m willing to kneel this way and wait for her. I try to ignore the way my cock is leaking precum and my balls are aching. Why does obeying her affect me this way?

I read the oath she wrote in the air several times to be sure I have it right. I can’t believe I’m going to say this! It’s too fucking much…and yet, I’m not leaving. I tell myself this is the only way to get to The Heart of the Eclipse. I have to go through this in order to get there. It’s all part of my quest. It’s not like I’m here because I want to be.

After a while, Sylvanna returns. She’s carrying a velvet pillow with two blackened silver circlets laid upon it. The larger one bears a ruby as big as my thumb. The smaller one has a gem as well, but I can’t tell what it is. She lays the pillow carefully on the altar at the back of the room and turns to face me.

Her beauty takes my breath away all over again. Her full curves are barely covered in the black lace robe I helped her into. I can see her tight nipples pressing against the thin fabric and the curls on her mound as well. Her long dark hair, still damp from our shared bath, falls to her hips and her glowing eyes are resting on me as I take her in. I feel like I could look at her forever.

“Have you learned your oath, Paladin?” she asks me.

I nod.

“Yes, my Lady.”

“Very good. Then we can begin.” She waves, dissipating the magical letters.

She picks up the dagger again and for a moment I wonder if she’s going to stab me. Instead, she thrusts the dagger, point down, into the silver chalice etched with runes. She draws it out and I see that it’s dripping with some thick, viscous liquid as dark as blood but the scent in the room isn’t coppery—it’s spicy like myrrh and cinnamon.

“By the powers of Dark and Light

But the veil ‘twixt Day and Night

I Bind thee in my Circle Tight

I summon thee to serve my Might.”

As she chants, she draws a circle with the tip of the dagger on the flagstone floor. It encompasses both of us and I begin to feel her power building. The Shadow Power that held me in check so effortlessly is here in this room, forming a barrier around us.

The small hairs on the backs of my arms and at the nape of my neck stand up as they do sometimes when lightning is about to strike. For the first time, I feel apprehension—whatever the fuck this ritual is, there’s real power behind it. I have a feeling it won’t be easy to break the oath I’m about to take—not that I would. I am no oath-breaker. If I bind myself to Sylvanna, I will be well and truly bound with no escape.

Part of me wants to get up and run—to get as far away from her tower as I can. But I remind myself again that this is the only way to reach The Heart and I can’t go home without it.

Besides, maybe there’s a part of me—a small, secret part—that wants to be bound to her, that wants to submit. I try not to look at that part of myself—I try to keep it buried. But somehow Sylvanna has a way of bringing it forward, into the light, which is fucking ironic since she’s a wielder of Shadow Magic.

When the circle is drawn, she puts the dagger back on the altar and opens her robe. I suck in a breath as I see her full breasts and soft little pussy revealed. Gods, I’ll never get used to that sight—she’s so fucking beautiful and her body calls to mine. My cock aches as I watch her work.

Lifting a small, silver pot, she dips a kind of brush in it. When she withdraws the brush, I see that it’s dripping with a clear, deep purple, viscous liquid. Using the brush, she paints circles around both tight nipples and then she dips the brush again. As I watch, she uses the fingers of one hand to part her outer lips, revealing her inner folds. I catch a glimpse of her pleasure pearl—the part of a woman I’ve always wanted to taste. My cock surges as I watch her paint the sticky liquid over and around it. I can see by her face that this gives her pleasure—the same way I want to give her pleasure. Gods help me, I can barely make myself hold still I want her so fucking much!

At last, she puts the pot and brush back down on the altar and faces me.

“This is Binding Honey, Paladin,” she says to me. “It will bind you to me and seal your oath when you lick it from my flesh. But first you must wear my collar and my ring.”

At this point, I would do fucking anything to taste her soft, curvy body.

“Put them on me,” I say, and my voice is hoarse. “Do it now.”

“Such things cannot be rushed,” she cautions me. “First, the collar.”

She lifts the blackened silver collar with the thumb-sized ruby from the velvet cushion and brings it over to me. I lift my hair so she can fit it around my neck and as she does, she chants again.

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