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I hold a shadow of power in my palm, prepared for her attack. “I will never strike at you.” How could I ever truly fight against the one person who unknowingly holds my heart, my life, in her hands? I would forever silence my own heart before ever truly harming her.
Her eyes sharpen on me with a wicked twitch to her lips. “Shall we put it to the test?”
She doesn’t miss the deep V that furrows between my brows at her question. All I know is that she wants a challenge. This feisty mate of mine always finds a way to challenge me, even when she is lost within herself.
Her head tips back with outstretched arms, and suddenly, the shadows of the night start swarming around the two of us, stealing my sight. I stay perfectly still in the dark, but even calling on my dragon side, I can’t see through this level of power she’s wrapping around us. I weave my hand through the air, feeling its caress and the cadence of her power. It’s astonishing, but I strain my focus on my other senses and force myself to be alert.
“Time to play a game, prince,” her taunting voice echoes around me as I stand in the midst of her shadows.
She must remember those very words leaving my lips months ago, when her skin was warm to the touch with a slight pink tint and her needy body arched beneath me. Fuck. Not the time to replay the night we shared or my cock’s going to swell painfully hard since I haven’t been able to give myself any relief since she’s been gone. The emptiness I’ve felt when she became lost to me has consumed every fucking part of me. Numbing me.
Getting lost in my thoughts, I almost miss feeling the strength of power rise to my left. I faintly hear the energy cutting through the air before I twist and jerk my body back in one swift movement. I hiss as a sliver of skin starts burning near my shoulder. I was a second too slow, allowing her attack to cut right through the material of my clothing as a hint of metallic scent wafts in the air.
I hurry and steady my stance as I feel more energy growing for another round of blasts coming my way. My eyes shut, drawing all my other senses to the forefront and begin firing back, knowing each one is hitting with perfect precision. They seem to be coming from every angle as I duck, spin, and sidestep to direct my aim to the closest target. She truly wants me to miss, grow angry, and start targeting her. But I never will.
Her attacks are slowing, allowing me to destroy one before spinning around in time to leap in the air and let the final one spear beneath me. She thinks she can hide and fight me blind, but I can physically feel her. Completely aware of her and the bond, like a rope pulling me to her.
Midair, I flare my wings out and land right behind her. Snaking my hand around her waist, I jerk her sideways and pin her back against the trunk of a tree. My hand is already holding both of her wrists above her head to prevent her from striking again. With each wild breath, my chest rises and falls quickly from being this close to her. I can’t help the small rasp of a chuckle that escapes from how familiar this position is to when we first met in the alley.
“Did I win?” I ask, letting my breath fan across her cheek as I feel her body shiver before me.
“How did you find me when you couldn’t see me?” she asks in one solid exhale.
I’m standing so close to her, with only an inch keeping my body from brushing against hers. The sound of her racing heart sounds beautiful to my ears. A drastic change from the hard, cold beats earlier.
Not being able to hold back, I drag my nose up the curve of her neck, inhaling deeply. “I don’t need to see in order to find you.” Her spine arches towards me and I don’t even think she realizes how her body is betraying her.
Her shadows let up slightly, letting me see the damp nightgown that molds perfectly to her curves. A growl vibrates low in my chest. “You could blindfold me, restrain me, or anchor me to the bottom of the fucking ocean. So long as you exist in this realm, you cannot hide from me. Your scent is etched into my being, and the melody of your soul calls to mine no matter what shade of darkness it dances in.” My palm engulfing her wrists tightens as I bring the other hand to cradle her jaw, letting the pad of my thumb trace her lower lip. “And in case you require more clarification, my heart desperately yearns to beat in tune with yours.”
The shadows of her power slowly lessen even more, allowing me to gaze upon her more clearly. My hand falls from her face and I gently place it over her heart that’s beating inside its blackened cage. Her body tenses under my touch, her chest stilling as she holds in a breath. My gaze slams into hers then, the silver in my eyes glowing brighter to crash against the dark abyss flooding in hers. Both of us locked in this moment, unable to look away.
I call on my own shadows to wrap around hers, intertwining as our energies merge together. They caress each other like two lost lovers finally reuniting. Sensing I’m not in harm’s way at the moment, I release my grip on her wrists and flatten my palm on the rough bark above her head.
The air in her lungs slowly releases. A small spark warms within the bond and for a moment, the cold gates blocking her from me flood open. Along with a vision sparking of her hand covered in crimson placed directly over my bleeding chest when I freed her from Whiro’s cell. Over my scar that is marked solely for her.
Her head shakes, and the memory fades, making me believe that I just saw what she did. The shield to her mind openly connected to mine, pushing that memory through the bond even though she doesn’t realize it.
“Emma—” I go to speak, but another memory flashes behind my eyes. The moments the darkness consumed her. When I was running towards her, with her looking down at me and placing a hand over her heart. A meaning, one so clear then. It was a show of love.
Now, she mimics the memory. Her hand slowly covers mine on her chest and my eyes follow the movement. “I’m feeling…” she whispers.
My silver eyes cut through the dark as they snap back up to implore hers that are pinned on me.
She gingerly places her other hand on my chest, right where my scar lives beneath my shirt. Feeling both of our organs beat in sync with the other, her fingers dig hard into me. “I’m feeling.”
The air around us grows tangible with the rise of our power swirling as one, causing my wings to flare out and cage us in. In one swift movement, I grip her waist and pull her flush against me. “There you are, little demon.” My body radiates more heat against her skin that’s beginning to warm. The black pools of her eyes start swirling with grey, as if the poisonous fog is trying to clear. And the sight of her in my arms feels like the clouds are finally parting, allowing me to walk under the sun after a storm of desolation.
She tenses against me again before her muscles relax, knowing a sliver of her darkness has cleared and I can see the question she wants to ask that’s causing her eyebrows to dip. “Nothing is more powerful than the bond of fated mates.”
She sucks in a shaky breath and takes her eyes off my chest, tipping her head back to look up at me. I’m sure she will see the black slits of my pupils slightly larger than before with the beast in me wanting to claim her in every way.
Her eyes dart back and forth between mine. “But you and I aren’t—”
I slam my mouth against hers to stop any other words from leaving her. My lips against hers create a spellbinding pulse to build around us that makes me internally groan. I can’t get enough, and just as I swipe my tongue against her lips, wanting her to let me in…she does.
That’s my good fucking girl.
She doesn’t protest as I push my tongue against hers, tasting her with a ferocity that can’t be tamed because I’m fucking starving for her. A soft moan comes from her, and I swallow it down, growling into her mouth while roughly sucking and tugging on her bottom lip. The bond tightens between us, buzzing with a mixture of lust and forever.
