“I was going to wait until you were ready to tell you,” Ezra started, hands coming to rest on my arms.
I shook them off and stepped out of reach. “I thought you brought him here to help with my magick, but it was all just a setup?”
True panic grew in my gut. This was another surprise attack. It felt like the universe once again hit me over the head with the shit stick. Why me? The oxygen coming into my lungs felt thinner somehow, less potent. I held on with all I had left in me, refusing to give in or pass out. There was something important I was forgetting. Something about bonds.
What was—I could say no.
“I can say no!” The shout left me on my last deep breath, but with the words out, I was able to take in another. And another. “I can say no to the bond!” I said more firmly.
Refusing to be a coward, I looked right at Cova. His eyes were wide, and even his mouth had dropped a little, like he was surprised I knew my rights. Or maybe it was that he was surprised I’d deny him. Either way, it made it easier to say it again, “I’m not interested in bonding with you.”
Cova’s eyes flicked from me to Ezra and then back again. His mouth opened and closed multiple times before releasing a laugh of disbelief.
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” he finally said. He then glanced at Ezra and smiled the first real grin I’d everseen from him. It was full and wide, showing all his pearly white teeth. “Good luck.”
He left the room with a pep in his stride. Not even one glance back. Left alone with Ezra, the room somehow felt smaller despite there being one less person in it. Maybe it was because of the way he was watching me, like he could pick apart each of my emotions from just the expressions on my face. It was a very intense stare.
Goosebumps rose on my arms at the intensity of it, and I found myself talking just to distract from the feeling.
“Huh. That was easy,” I said with a slight chuckle. “Eryn made it seem like my bond would be more determined to stick around.”
“Oh, he is,” Ezra replied.
Was he closer somehow? I hadn’t seen him move, then again, I wasn’t exactly paying attention to my surroundings all that well. My brain was too focused on the newest supernatural bomb dropped at my feet. I moved back a step, closer to the kitchen.
“What else did Eryn say about bonds?”
My cheeks heated at the immediate facts that came to mind, and I glanced down at the tiles to hide my blush. I quickly pushed past the more embarrassing details Eryn told me and focused on the less indecent ones.
“She said that Kai was super demanding, overprotective, and always around.” And apparently, all of that was an understatement. Even I noticed the guy seemed to pop up wherever we were. Ezra usually right along with him.
“Was that all?” he asked.
I shook my head. “There was plenty more. She said he made up excuses to be around her and that she always knew he was nearby because of a feeling in her chest.”
I paused, and my head snapped up. Ezra was once again close enough to touch, one hand resting casually against the counter.Heat radiated off him in a faint pulse that I felt within my own body. Specifically in my—no, I was just overheated from all the arguing. I moved away, sure that I was blocking him from getting to the fridge, but he followed, turning around the island just as I did.
“She, um,” I coughed, my throat suddenly dry. “She also said he looked at her like…”
Oh God. The drawers were digging into my back, but that didn’t distract me from the steady hum in my chest. Because there was no ignoring it now. No brushing it off. It wanted to be acknowledged. That wild tether between us came to life like an electric livewire that wound through my ribs and sparked each time my heart thumped.
“Like what?” Ezra purred, stalking closer.
His eyes seemed to glow with the same fire, and they never left my face. They dipped down to my mouth, to where my lip sat trapped between my teeth, then flicked back up to ensnare me again. Each step he took was an echoing throb in my chest. Lower. This wasn’t possible.
“No,” I whispered. “Absolutely not.”
He cocked his head, moving that final step until I was trapped in the corner with both his arms caging me in on either side. “What’s wrong, little siren?”
“I-it’s you?” I stuttered. “You’re my bond? How?”
I felt faint. Between the absolute firestorm raging in my chest and the tingling, hyper-awareness of him being so near, I was sure I was about to pass out. My mind was moving faster than my body. It cycled through every memory of us together, isolating every minute detail of how we interacted to try and find any clues that might have led to me figuring this out sooner.
The results: I was an idiot. A blind, foolish idiot.
My skin tingled where we touched. I was swaying, and each time I fell forward, I met his hard body. To his credit, he didn’treach out and grab me or even comment on my obvious inability to function. The veins in his arms stood out as he locked all his muscles, as his body warred against his demand to stand down.
What the hell was wrong with me that I found that attractive? The absolute control he had over his impulses and the knowledge thatIwas the one making him strain against them. It was the hottest thing, and my own hormones reacted accordingly. My nipples hardened under my sports bra and nearly brushed against him with each breath.
