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He took the chair my father had occupied, poured himself some water, leaned back, and said, “Tell me what happened after you broke my head.”
I cleared my throat. The teeniest amount of guilt was poking at me. “I actually am sorry about that. I wasn’t aware of what I’d done until Hugo told me.”
“Think nothing of it. You were unconscious. Besides,” he purred, “what’s a little foreplay between soulmates?”
I blinked. My mind began flipping through all sorts of naughty scenarios. The flex of long-neglected muscles took me by surprise.
Casimir took a long drink. I watched his throat swallow and I wanted to press my lips against his neck. I wanted …argh!I wanted. Plain and simple. I had no idea how to handle it. The confounding male seemed to be handling it fine, which only irritated me. Not two minutes ago he charged in here like an enraged bull and now he was acting smooth as silk.
Focus, Raven.I reached for that detached place I went whenever I was overwhelmed or in pain. The two halves of me silenced and I was wholly functional again. Logical. How I tried to be most of the time. I prayed I could remain so.
“I used a spell to dull the feel of the thread.”
“Thread?”
“I suppose you would call it a bond. When I use my witch’s eye, I can see the threads that connect mates. I saw it, after I got my bearings, I could see it connecting us.”
All mated pairs were connected in such a way. The difference between the string connecting me to Casimir was color and size. Soulmates had an automatic soft gold connection that altered in size and texture if they both willingly committed to the soulbond, linking their life forces. Chosen mates were joined by a dark red weave as if bound in blood.
“So you tried to hide it?”
“There’s no hiding it. I only lessened the feeling. It was …”
“Too much too soon.”
“Yes.”
“So you aren’t going to deny it?”
I had the feeling he was really asking if I was going to accept my place at his side. I wasn’t prepared to answer so instead I said, “The fae cannot lie.”
“I’m thinking you could work your way around it given that you’re not wholly fae.”
In reality, I could, but only barely. He didn’t need to know that quite yet.
Casimir flipped his hand over. “There’s a faint sensation here. Do you have the same? Or a mark?”
Lifting my hand, I held it out. “No mark. And I don’t feel anything specific. Though, most of my skin feels like it just got scrubbed raw thanks to the power boost from Kree.”
“If you remove the spell, will I see the double daggers on mine?”
“Threads don’t mean our souls have bonded. They simply mean we’re connected as mates. Soulbonds look different, anyway.”
“How so?”
“They’re thicker and have a pattern, almost like a chain or series of infinity loops. Our connection did not look like that.”
Leaning on his forearms, he asked, “You’re certain?”
“Absolutely. A soulbond is an unbreakable covenant, stronger because it is achoicemated pairs make in addition to being destined mates. What’s connecting us is nothing more than a fine thread. It signifies compatibility. It’s basically a suggestion of something we might choose. Or not.”
A light burgundy hue quickly advanced up the sides of his neck. “Bonds between soulmates arenotmere suggestions, Raven.”
His unyielding intonation scratched at my heart. There was no mistaking his disapproval. Telling him I could possibly break an unbreakable bond would not be prudent at this juncture.
Part of me–the fae part–wanted him to desire me beyond reason, to rejoice in finding someone who could potentially be everything I needed. The other part wanted to make sure he knew I didn’t have to bow to the Fates.
“To a witch they are,” I countered. Mother’s teachings were hard to shake.
