Page 58 of Fury of the Bound
Well, someone wasn’t happy to see me.
“Darian, don’t start.” Ronan glanced between us both as I slowly stood, careful not to touch him.
I could feel the darkness as I looked at his face; it was small, but it was there, deep in his skin. The room fell silent, all eyes shifting to him as the air thickened with unspoken tension. Kieran, without breaking his gaze from me, snagged a whisky bottle, poured himself a glass, and took a long, deliberate sip.
“I am fucking starting Ronan,” he snapped. “She shouldn’t be here. Not near my family.”
Darian stepped closer to me, “I don’t want you here, I will never want you here. I don’t care what happens to you. Now get out before I drag you out myself. Piece by fucking piece.”
Prick.
Nobody moved, and Darian’s patience snapped first. He had his gloves on, which I guessed helped with his OCD, but I didn’t know if it stopped his power.
“You won’t touch me,” I tell him, gesturing to the gloves.
“Try me, I don’t mind as long as it gets you the hell away from me.”
I stood up, careful not to touch any part of him. “Go on then, and see what happens.”
Darian doesn’t scare me, never has. There’s just a sadness there when I look at him. I still see the boy I once knew… but he's not entirely him anymore.
I could see him thinking, the crease between his brows deepening as his anger simmered. His eyes scanned my face as if he was searching for something.
Before he could touch me, Ronan was there, stepping in front of me. One hand pushed Darian back, the other found my hand. Darian stumbled, then straightened, nostrils flaring, his fury simmering just beneath the surface.
“I love you, man”, Ronan said, voice calm. “But if you ever speak to her like that, or try to touch her again, I will break your fingers.”
Darian's eyes flicked between us, his expression torn between disbelief and barely contained rage. For a long, heavy moment, no one spoke. The only sound was Darian's sharp inhale before he turned and stormed out, the door slamming behind him with enough force to rattle the frame. Kieran barely reacted, twirling his drink around before drinking the rest.
“You’re really choosing her over Darian?” He asked Ronan, voice calm but testing.
I lifted my free hand and pressed it against his back, feeling the warmth of him beneath my palm. It wasn’t something I thought about—I just did it, and it felt right. He had defended me. Stood between me and someone he called family.
I want him. I need him. I’m done holding back, done pretending I can ignore the pull between us. Every nerve in me screams for him, and I don’t want to fight it anymore.
Ronan didn’t hesitate. “Right now? Yeah. You’re the one being a dick, man, and I trust her. Especially after last night, I always will.”
Drew stood up with his sister and grinned at me. “We do too, Kieran. She saved Daleyzas' ass last night, and she didn’t even know who she was. So, unless she’s playing some really long game to con us or something, I’d say we’re all good.” Kieran looked at all of us, and when it landed on me, I met his stare.
It was calculating; he couldn’t quite figure me out, couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t taking Darian's side in all of this. He would never believe me if he knew, none of them would.
Finally, he rolled his shoulders and nodded. “Alright. I trust you, Ronan.” His lips twitched. “You two can help me find your brother.”
With that, he turned and headed toward the front door. Drew followed but paused in the doorway, smirking as he threw a wink over his shoulder.
“Have fun, lovebirds. Bye, best friend.”
Then they were gone, and I was suddenly aware of how close Ronan was, the warmth of his presence wrapping around me.
He turned and looked down. “So, just us now.”
I nodded. “You’re not leaving?” I felt like I was suffocating from the sexual tension between us, the way he had been looking at me through breakfast, and the way he had defended me.
He smirked at me, a playful and dark edge to it. “Not a chance, Cherry.”
Then his lips were on mine, and every thought in my head vanished—there was only him, only this, only the pull I’d been denying far too long.
Heat flooded through me, a slow-burning fire that caught and spread the moment his lips met mine. I missed his lips, his touch, his everything.
