Page 56 of Bound to the Dreadlord

The moment we crossed this line, we burned the path behind us.

There is no undoing this.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

I release her.

Step back.

She does not move.

Only watches me with something I cannot name.

I drag a hand through my hair, inhaling deeply, forcing breath into my lungs.

"Go to bed, Sera."

The words come out lower than I intended.

Rough.

Commanding.

She lingers for a second longer.

Then—she obeys.

The door closes behind her.

I remain standing in the dim candlelight, fingers flexing at my sides, the taste of her still on my tongue.

I close my eyes.

What have I done?

22

SERA

Ido not sleep.

How could I?

My skin still tingles from his touch. My lips still burn from his kiss. The memory of it thrums beneath my gut like something alive, wrong, inevitable.

I lie there, staring at the ceiling, my heart thudding too fast, too loud. I tell myself that what happened meant nothing.

A mistake.

One we both should regret.

Yet I still feel him.

The way his grip branded me. The way his hunger devoured.

The way I let him.

I close my eyes.

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