Page 76 of Twisted Bonds
“Jealous, Tairyn? You could join us if you want.”
The invitation is both real and a taunt. The smirk that dances on my lips is very real.
“Careful, Mira,” he warns, stepping closer to me. “Your tongue is sharper than the daggers you’ve yet to learn to wield properly.”
The mischievous imp inside me is waking up, calling for me to play with him. Push him over the edge until he grabs me into a passionate kiss before bending me over his knee. Desire flutters low in my belly as his eyes brush over my face.
“Maybe you should show me how to properly handle a weapon,” I retort, feeling the tension coil in the space between us like a living thing, hungry and unpredictable. His eyes darken and I watch them, mesmerized. He laughs low in his throat, a sound that is as sensual as it is challenging.
“Perhaps I should,” he says, his words dipping into an octave that sends shivers down my spine. He moves around me like a predator, circling. The intensity in his gaze and the calculated way he’s slowly backing me up against the edge of the desk…
But Tairyn isn’t Sunder or Bobble. He’s both a threat and a promise wrapped up in an enticing paradox. He moves closer, his eyes fixed on me with an intensity that both scares and excites me. But just as I brace myself for what’s coming, he suddenly stops, a flicker of hesitation in his stance. Is he having second thoughts? Or is it just another one of his mind games? Either way, I can’t help but feel conflicted.
“If you’re done with your little performance, we have matters to discuss.”
I swallow my nerves, replacing it with an air of nonchalance and feigned innocence. “Lead the way, O Great Shard of Dan’thiel,” I say, injecting enough sarcasm into my voice to lighten a moment that is too intimate. But inside, my anxiety simmers—a perpetually unwelcome guest.
Tairyn’s eyes fixate on me, a storm brewing in their green depths. “You take too much pleasure in this,” he mutters, though the ghost of a smile threatens to betray his act of indifference.
“Someone has to keep things lively around here,” I quip, tracing the spine of a leather-bound tome on his shelf. “Besides, your vexation is oddly endearing.”
“Endearing?” His voice is a low rumble, and I sense the shift in the air as he moves closer.
“It’s something you and Sunder have in common, actually.”
The words die in my throat as he draws near, close enough that I can count the faint lines that crease the corners of his eyes. There’s a predatory grace in his approach, one that sends shivers skittering down my spine. I swallow the heart beat dancing in my throat.
“Don’t compare me to him. Any of them. Perhaps I should provide you with a more… direct lesson in manners,” he says, his breath warm against my cheek. The air between us crackles with a tension so thick, I’m almost convinced I could reach out and twist it in my fingers.
“Direct?” I tilt my chin up defiantly, refusing to show any sign of submission. His proximity is overwhelming, his scent a heady mix of pine and spice that makes my head spin.
“Indeed,” he murmurs, his fingers brushing lightly against my arm. A memory flashes through my mind—his Chroma coming down hard on my backside, a punishment that had been both shocking and shamefully stirring. The heat that had pooled in my belly then surges once again, mingling with a cocktail of fear and fascination. Tairyn’s gaze pins me down more effectively than any physical restraint ever could, the weight of his desire heavy upon me.
“Tell me of your visions,” I manage to squeak out, despite finding myself quite intrigued by these impending manners lessons. The surprise on his face at the sudden change of subject almost makes me laugh. Maybe he’ll actually open up to me if he’s caught off guard.
His eyes darken and narrow with suspicion. My pulse throbs in my ears, a rapid staccato beat that syncs to the ranting alarms going off in my head.
“Is that what this is about?” He leans back, a flash of something close to hurt crosses his face before disappearing behind his mask of indifference. “You want information from me?”
“I want you to open up to me.” It’s a bold statement, bolder than I expected to make. But it’s also true. I’m tired of the walls, the secrets. I want more of him, the bits and pieces that I glimpse in those small moments between us. “I want us to trust each other.”
He scoffs, attempting to maintain his aloof façade, but the pain in his eyes is unmistakable. “You can’t trust me, Mira.”
His words cut through me, leaving a chill that settles in my bones. I watch him for a moment, his stoic expression failing to hide the conflict raging behind his eyes.
“I can,” I insist, my voice shaking under the weight of my words. “I can and I want to.”
Tairyn’s mask cracks, a small frown tugging at his lips before he quickly dismisses it. We sit in silence for a moment, with my innermost thoughts laid bare before him. When he stammers a response, his voice betrays a deep sense of unease full of hesitance.
“No, Mira. I- I’m-”
His words are severed by a sudden intrusion, a shrill voice that slices through the fog of our charged atmosphere.
“Tairyn?” A woman calls out from the now roaring hearth, her tone casual. The spell is shattered; the bubble of our private world bursts, leaving me gasping for air I didn’t realize I’d been holding. I crane my neck to see a face forming in the flames.
“What the fuck?” I breathe.
“Dammit,” Tairyn hisses under his breath, a soft sound that barely reaches my ears. In a fluid motion, like he’s been trained for this all his life, he guides me towards the book-lined wall away from the fireplace. He looks at me, something frantic in his eyes, as he places a finger of his lips, telling me to stay quiet and out of sight.