Page 51 of Twisted Bonds
“Fuck. I’m sorry. That was so rough and selfish.”
I rub the back of his head with soothing shushes. “It’s ok. I’m here. I’m ok.”
His ragged breath shakes his chest, and I know he’s letting out that pent up rage that’s been keeping him going these last few days. “Shhh. It’s ok. I’m here.”
My sweet Sunder. He tries so hard to be what he thinks everyone needs. A steady rock. A protector. He won’t accept the softer parts of himself. That sometimes he needs someone else to take the lead. To be his protector.
This time he pulls back, and his tear-stained lips capture mine in a passionate kiss. His head runs through my hair, and I dig my nails down his back.
“You’re such a good boy,” he whispers into the sensitive skin of my neck, and a shiver runs down my spine, right into my balls. They tighten and squeeze inside me as my breath hitches in my throat.
He paws at my pants, where my erection would gladly take some attention, but I stop him. “Can you just hold me?”
His eyes are dry now as he wraps me in his arms. The tension in his shoulders is gone, for now at least. And I feel satisfied. I let out my rumbling purr, radiating from my chest as he tugs me close to the hard walls of his body. I usually only purr when Mira holds me, but something tells me he needs to hear it as much as I need to make it.
He plants a kiss on my forehead and we settle on the ground, my head resting on the soft spot between his shoulder and chest.
I melt against him, but more surprisingly, he melts back into me. He wipes the back of his hand over his eyes, clearing the last evidence of his emotional response. “Damn this Blue Chroma. I’ve never cried this much in either of my lives.”
I smile against him. “I like this side of you.”
He plants another kiss against my forehead and whispers, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m ok,” I say again with a soft laugh. “I promise. You didn’t hurt me. I wanted you to let loose on me. I needed that as much as you did.”
He pulls back to look me in the eyes. The stubble on his cheeks showing the days we’ve spent haunted by her absence. Soft eyes hold mine. “Thank you. But honestly… I just need you. I’m glad you’re here with me.”
He hugs me tighter, and I feel the weight of things shifting between us. At first, we were reluctantly sharing. He was, at least. I didn’t mind too much.
Then we became friends, allies, even sometimes to Mira’s playful dismay.
And now… now what are we? I lay my head back on his arm. The sky turns from dawn to day and the clouds roll across the blue sky.
His breathing is slow and heavy, and I’m not sure if he’s awake or asleep. But I whisper anyway, “I need you too.”
twenty-four
Tairyn
Days after our little chess match, I still find myself smiling at her triumph. Yet as she sits before me now, unshielded and channeling Chroma, there’s nothing but tension running through me. As much as the game helped distract me, Malicryn’s words are a heavy cloak draped over my shoulders, weighing me down with its somber burden. It presses against my thoughts and settles like a dark cloud, casting a shadow over everything.
“Like this?” she asks me, her voice strained from the effort of holding the threads of Chroma with such a delicate hand. I pinch my fingers over the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh. It’s actually impressive how quickly she’s picked up my teaching, but this frustration isn’t about her. Not really.
“Take the red thread in your mind. Now imagine that you are wrapping a noose of fate around me. Go ahead. Give me bad luck. Maybe it will work in your favor, yes?”
It’s a temptation and a challenge. I know she’ll be motivated to see my demise, but her power won’t be strong enough to truly affect me, if she can even get it around me.
“Bad luck, huh?” She grins, her eyes twinkling with mischief. Her lips curl into a wicked grin. “Be careful what you wish for.”
She closes her eyes, brow furrowed in concentration. The threads of Chroma shimmer around her form, flowing like a red river of blood. It gives me pause, considering the Great River and the part she’ll be forced to play. A twist of something unfamiliar settles inside me. Something much too close to guilt.
My thoughts refocus, far away as I feel the chords of her power wrap around me.
Eyes wide in surprise, I’m yanked back to her. To Mira. A triumphant grin, much like the one she wore during our chess game.
“Caught you.” The threads around me pulsate and glow brighter with her excitement. I can’t stop the grin sneaking onto my lips. Her smugness is both infuriating and, dare I admit, endearing. She leans back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“It’s not like I was running from you. This is a very controlled environment. Besides, a touch of bad luck isn’t going to see you released, nin anto anna.”