Page 37 of All the Chaos of Constellations
Once they were fully concealed, he hauled her along deeper into the forest. The path here was sodden and uneven, but he kept his stride at a clipped pace, determined to get Novalise as far from the party—and Drake—as possible. They climbed over hollowed-out logs that had fallen across the dirt path and dodged bushes filled with fluttering wildlife and whispering branches.
“Where are you taking me?” she finally demanded, her breathy voice sending a rush of desire straight to his cock.
“Away from him,” Asher snapped, refusing to look back at her.
“Oh, really?” Novalise wrenched herself free from his hold. “I don’t think you’re entitled to make that kind of decision. I am perfectly capable of choosing the company I keep.”
“I’m more entitled than you think,” he muttered, stalking off ahead of her. He couldn’t bring himself to face her, not yet. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the hope he might see reflected in her gaze, or if it would be something worse. Like resignation. “Is this your decision, then? Is that who you’re choosing to marry? Prince Drake of Brackroth? The fucking Shadowblade Assassin?”
“What do you care?” She huffed and her magic crackled, causing his to damn near combust. “I don’t see why you’re so upset. I’m doing exactly as you suggested, aren’t I? I’mdefying the stars. And since you’ve made your stance on the matter perfectly clear, who I choose as my husband is none of your concern.”
He whipped around on her then, consumed with desire and rage, his mind and his heart at war with one another. “So long as your soul is bonded to mine, so long as your magic calls to mine,everythingyou do is my business.”
She fisted her hands on her hips, chest heaving. “You don’t want me, remember? Yourejectedme.”
Gods, she was infuriating.
Asher turned back, heading deeper into the woods where the moonlight sliced through the treetops like blades of glass.
“Go ahead and walk away then, just like you always do. I’ve noticed that about you.” She was panting now. He could hear it in every sharp inhale, felt it in the rapid beating of her heart. But he didn’t stop. “You walk away from situations you think you can’t win. You hole up in your house, inside the safety of your study whenever things get hard, whenever there’s something you don’t want to face. You’re a coward, Lord Firebane.”
His nails bit into the roughened palms of his hands, but he didn’t care. If he faced her now, there was a good chance he’d explode, unloading all of his barely contained fury, all of his anguish and hurt, all of his raw power on her. He would lash out at her. Kiss her. Then fuck her, if she let him. There would be no recovering from it. He would be lost to her forever.
“Can youpleaseslow down?” From behind him, she sucked in a ragged breath, but it was edged with anger. “I can’t keep up with you in this dress.”
“Then perhaps you should take it off.”
Her stunned silence was deafening.
At least that shut her up long enough so he could figure out what the hell he was doing. But he did slow down, glancing back at her.
Novalise trudged up the small hill behind him. The hem of her dress was caked with mud, and the heels she wore dug into the soft earth and stuck with every step. Her cheeks were flushed, and a scowl marred her brow. Pieces of her lavender hair had fallen from her braid once again, curling in the thick heat. She looked exhausted. Agitated. And downright miserable.
A twinge of guilt stabbed at him. He should’ve been more mindful of her. She was a lady, after all, and he was completely disregarding her well-being.
“Why are you carting me off into the woods?” Novalise spread her arms wide, annoyance flooding her once more. She huffed, attempting to smooth away the wrinkles of her silk gown. “This is absurd. We’re far enough away now, no one will be able to hear you confess that you’re horrified by the idea of being my soul mate. Even if you made a mistake, which we both did?—”
Asher crossed the distance between them in two strides. He gripped her by the waist and tugged her against him. Her eyes widened when he pulled her close, but he didn’t kiss her. He couldn’t. Not again. His gaze betrayed him, dipping down to her mouth.
“Would you just be quiet?”He slid the words into her mind, and a frown furrowed across her brow.
Novalise shook her head, absently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “No. I’m tired of being told what to do, where to be, and how to act. I’m never allowed my own opinions, I’m never given an option or a choice. And I’m tired of it, Asher. I’m sick of letting everyone walk all over me while I stand here and take it. While I simply do nothing.”
Tears pooled at the corner of her eyes, and he held her closer, fighting against his better judgment.
“And more than anything,” she said, her bottom lip quivering, “I’m sick of wanting you.”
“You don’t want me, my lady.” She opened her mouth to object, but he kept going, refusing to let her get another word in, unable to let her smart little mouth wreck him further. “The bond is the only thing tying the two of us together. What you feel is purely physical. There’s no hidden emotions there, no intimacy. The tether between us is magical, wrought together by powers beyond our control. Hell, you don’t even know me.”
“That’s not true.”
A single tear slid down her cheek, and though he longed to wipe it away, he let it fall.
“I know you hate the idea of love, though I don’t understand why. I know you think you want to be alone, but your isolation keeps me up in the late hours of the night, leaving me wanting to do nothing except comfort you.” She arched into him slowly, grinding her hips against him. Her palms slid from his forearms up to his shoulders, locking behind his neck. Her scent teased his senses, rolling over him, layering and melding with his own. “I know you have a brilliant mind. I know you look for logical explanations everywhere, including why you were somehow bonded to me. And I know it scared you. So much so that because it was something beyond your understanding, you felt the need to reject me instead.”
“There’s no love here, Novalise.” His words were quiet, lacking conviction.
“Then why does it ache when I’m not near you?” She rose up on her toes, leaning into him. Her eyes were like pools of liquid starlight, flecked with iridescent rainbows. They owned him. “And why does it feel like my soul is on fire whenever you’re by my side?”
