Page 117 of House Ignis

Oh.

Oh, fuck no.

Alayna described the resulting need as all-consuming. Touch. Skin. Proximity. The instinct to protect and possess one another intensified, and separation could become increasingly difficult as the bond deepened.

One final line sat beneath the passage.

Once blood, magic, and body recognize another as their own, instinct does not easily surrender what it has claimed.

I stared at it.

Then slowly slid my hand over the words.

Nope.

Asher did not need to fucking read that.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’ve been staring at the same paragraph for a while.”

“Have not.”

“Darling.”

“Ancient blood rites,” I blurted, turning the page before he could lean closer. “Very boring. Moving on.”

One dark brow rose.

I ignored it.

He gave me a look but continued reading, mumbling something from the next page. I wasn’t listening anymore. Not really.

Because he was right there.

Close enough that every shift of his body registered against mine. Close enough to breathe him in, woodsmoke and an oncoming storm. Close enough that the awareness of him became impossible to ignore.

And now I knew why.

Or at least why it felt so fucking intense.

The blood bond wasn’t creating this.

It was magnifying something already there.

Something tightened deep in my chest.

Not a thought.

An instinct.

My magic stirred beneath my skin, restless and hungry. The blood bond pulsed between us, once, twice, each beat stronger than the last.

Then it surged.

Heat tore through me.