A bond as dark as the obsidian of his gaze.
Arcas sucked in a breath through his teeth, close behind her as he mumbled as much into her shoulder. Lunelle wrestled with herself, wanting to feel his release within her, but her head won out over her body. She slid off him, kneeling beside him and taking him in her mouth as he stroked her hair—her name left his lips in an exhausted sigh as she took everything he had to offer to her.
Arcas leaned his head against the headboard, fighting for breath.
“You do not have to say it,” he whispered, running his hands through her hair. “But you will always feel it between us, braided between the wisps of our Shadows.”
Lunelle sat up, the stretch between them palpable. Her eyes widened as she felt the tug within her, nothing like the Tether she held between the king, but an attachment all the same.
“What is that?” she gasped.
Arcas sighed. “You and I… we may not be bound by Fate. But we are bound by certain dark things that, try as we might, will always seek one another out.”
She pressed her hand against the space between her ribs and her stomach, the space she’d hidden him away in.
“Did you know that would happen?”
His sharp gaze narrowed. “No more than you.”
Lunelle reached between them, desperate to understand, but nothing buzzed or hummed.
It slithered.
“I do not believe you,” she mumbled.
Arcas winced. “Who chasedwhomthis evening?”
Lunelle shook her head, attempting to clear the strange sensation away. She crawled overhim and off the bed, snatching her dress from the floor, the darkness in her chest delighting in her ire.
“Lunelle,” he breathed, leaning over to grab her, but she was already too far away.
“I cannot love you, Arcas. I cannot love anyone who would let their court rot when the right thing to do is within their grasp.”
Lunelle ran from his room, burying herself in the king’s bed, each breath pulsing withtwo very distinct, very strange responses.
One that sparkled and begged her to bury deeper within the soft silk of Mirquios’s bed, and another that steeped her in ceaseless darkness, drenched with questions she desperately wanted answers to.
She awoketo two strong arms wrapping around her shoulders, sweeping her hair off her neck as Mirquios pulled his quilt over them.
“You’re home,” she sighed as she rolled over and wrapped her arms around his neck.
His lips tightened into a half smile.Homewas a loaded concept.
“Is Astra doing all right?” he asked, rubbing her shoulder.
“Well,” Lunelle laughed, though the sound was hollow. There was so much within her that ached. “I went to check on her, but it seems the commander was… tending to her needs.”
Mirquios closed his eyes and sighed. “Good for him, I suppose.” He pressed a kiss to her lips.
“What time is it?”
“It’s early, but people are definitely awake. You’ll have to be careful.”
“Or,” she mumbled, snuggling further into him, letting the light of them warm her. “I could stay here forever, and we don’t have to deal with any of the nightmares awaiting us.”
“Flawless plan,” he agreed and brushed her hair away from her face. “I see no issues at all.” He eyed her as she inhaled slowly. “Are you well?”
“How do you mean?”
