Page 99 of Kiss the Filthiest King

A short chuckle escapes him. "It was, yes. But you were forced into this. I bound you to me when you were dead," he reminds me. His chin tilts to the book in my hand. "This is your way out."

I look down at the unassuming volume.

"It's close to midnight. We could perform it today."

"Stop," I demand. "Please, stop talking."

I'm doing my best to prevent myself from throwing the book as far as I can, into the lake no one else can touch, or burning it, forever erasing the terrible spell inside.

But while this book is my enemy, it might serve someone else. Who am I to completely remove the possibility of an escape for someone who actually needs it?

I make myself swallow, and turn back to Ryther. "If you need this—" My hands are shaking. I tuck them behind my back, clutching the damn book. "If you want to break the bond," I try again.

Except I can't say it. It's the logical, fair thing to say. If he doesn't want to be attached to me for the rest of time, we should absolutely break the only thing that has felt like safety, and home, since I was taken from my world.

I don't notice the tears falling down my cheeks until his thumb brushes them aside.

"This was for you, my little queen. Part of you, however small, however conscious, asked for a choice in your fate. Options. That's what I'll give you. What you need."

I only cry harder. "Don't leave me. Please. I'll do anything." I'm fucking pathetic, and I cannot care. "This is the last thing I want or need. This is poison."

I do throw the damn book, though not in the direction of the lake. I wish I could.

Feeling like I'm throwing a temper tantrum like a child, I struggle to put words into my desperate plea. "I know we're dangerous together, but this world is awful, and scary, and completely crazy, and the only thing keeping me together is knowing that you're on my side.Please. If you need to be in the wild, can't I come with you?"

"Darina," Ryther says, tugging one of my hands first, then when I'm close, tilting my chin so I stop evading his gaze. "The spell was for you. I was fully conscious when I clutched your soul with mine and held it with all my will. I chose you. I told the sky, and stars, and fate, the gods from all corner of the world, that I wanted us to spend eternity together. I meant it. The only thing that could keep me from you is you."

It occurs to me that I'm a bit of an idiot. "I said I'd swap you? That makes no sense."

"It was a joke, I think. I did not laugh."

I shake my head in disbelief. "And you've been looking for this since?"

He shrugs. "I don't think I would have survived distance without breaking our bond first."

I feel his heart right against mine, beating just as fast as my own.

It's startling. I would have thought his would beat in a constant, controlled rhythm, without any variation. He feels so steady, and strong, and unbreakable. But for all this, his heart's racing. My hand presses against it, and I press my lips against his collarbone.

Ryther groans. "We're not supervised," he reminds me.

I remember the panic and fear when I woke to his hands around my throat, dark magic pulsing.

"I don't care."

I bring my lips to his.It's hardly the first time I've kissed him, but this time, I feel it to the tips of my toes, electrifying my entire being. His mouth and hands are slow, tender, rather than his usual demanding, claiming touches, as we slide to the ground. I lie back on the grass, and as he hovers over me, in that very moment, I seem to see a million days, a million lives. All of them with his hand in mine.

There are laughter and tears, nights by the fire, days on the open sea, and in the endless sky. A million kisses, so many screaming orgasms, and an infinity of love. That's what I've agreed to. And all of a sudden, I see the scope of it.

The mark dancing on his neck seems brighter for the blink of an eye, and then, it stops.

For as long as we've both had that mark, it has seemed to slither across our skins, always in sync and at the exact same spot, but constantly moving. I thought it was the norm, that it would never stop flying across our bodies, but it remains right there, on his neck.

One glance shows me mine was immobilized at the exact same place.

A sudden, incomprehensible jolt of pure joy and sunshine and adrenaline pulses through me and I know that if he's not inside me right now, I willdie.

Ryther roars, shedding his clothing at record speed as I do my best to remove mine, needing all of him against me.

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