Page 49 of Volik

I no longer feel big.

I lean down and press my lips to his, enjoying the high ground.

The fingers on my hip flex, and I grind into him.

It’s been one minute, and I’m already climbing Volik like it’s my divine purpose.

He’s the drug.

My heart is racing.

Our hearts are racing.

I slide one hand around to the side of his throat, feeling his matching galloping pulse.

Volik tips his head forward so our foreheads are touching but our lips are not. “Nix. Ma Fleur. Put your hand here.”

Lifting my head, I look at his mouth. “What?” My voice is breathy.

“Replace my hand with yours.”

My brows furrow. “Replace…” I glance down, and instinct makes me jerk away when I see the giant knife in Volik’s hand.

I tip backward, off my perch on Volik’s arm.

“Nyet!” Volik’s lips pull back as he says the word like a command.

My body halts as the rope wound through my ribs stops me, then pulls me upright until I’m pressed against his side again.

What the⁠—

“Do not hurt yourself,” Volik growls.

I grip his shoulder with one hand and press the other against the base of my throat, as far away from the weapon as I can get it. “You don’t hurt yourself. You’re the one with the knife pressed to—” I choke on the statement, unable to finish it.

He looks down to where the knife is pressed, point first, against the skin of his chest, over his heart.

“I do it for you.” He lifts his gaze back up to mine.

“Do what for me?” I whisper, not understanding any part of what’s happening.

“We cannot stop the bond.” He leans his face closer to mine. “I do not want to stop the bond. But I will not rush you.”

“What bond?” I roll my hips, grinding myself into his warm, melty-hot side.

That drugged, hazy feeling is coming back.

I can’t keep my thoughts straight.

“Nix…” He drags out my name as he presses his forehead against mine again. “The mate bond, Mea Unica. Our mate bond.”

My eyes close. “I-I don’t know what that means.”

“It means you are My Only. The other half of my soul. You are my fated mate.”

I can taste his words.

And they taste… true.