Page 80 of Court of Lies and Deceit

The experience is so intense that I gasp and stagger a step back.

Emotions flood my chest.

And not all of them are mine.

Pressing a hand against my chest, I stare down at it as if I can see all the emotions swirling in there. My heart pounds underneath my palm. I can feel my own emotions. The thrill, the vulnerability, and the utter relief of finally having admitted, both to Draven and to myself, how I really feel. The searing love for him that threatens to consume me. The excitement and nervousness about the future.

But I can also feel…him.

There, deep inside, I can faintly feel the echo of another set of emotions. Shock. Disbelief. Hope. And love so deep it could burn the world down. And from it all is an invisible thread. A physical tug more than something visual. Raising my head, I look up towards where it leads.

Straight to Draven.

“This…” I begin, trying to think through the shock of this realization. “Thisis the mate bond, isn’t it?”

He smiles then. And the smile is so bright and so full of devastating hope that my heart squeezes tight.

“The mate bond finally snapped into place for you too,” he says.

My head is spinning. I realize that I’m still pressing a hand to my chest, so I force myself to remove it and instead rake my fingers through my hair. My heart beats hard against my ribs. Blowing out a long breath to steady myself, I let my hand drop back down before I meet Draven’s gaze again.

“But if this is the mate bond,” I begin, staring at him with wide eyes. “Then everything I felt before…”

“Was all you.” His gaze is serious as he looks back at me. “The mate bond only snaps into placeafteryou have already fallen in love with the person.”

“After,” I echo, feeling shellshocked.

Amusement tugs at his lips, and his eyes glitter, as he adds, “Though you have apparently been fighting against it for months now.”

Shock still clangs inside my skull like a bell. After. The mate bond only snaps into placeafteryou have already fallen in love with the person. It doesn’t draw you to them. It doesn’t force any feelings onto you. It happens afterwards.

My heart beats so hard against my ribs that I fear it might bruise them.

But nothing can stop the sense of relief that washes over me like a warm ocean wave.

My emotions are my own. His emotions are his own. We have, and we always have had, free will to choose on our own. It’s real. Everything he’s said and everything he’s done for me. It’s all real.

Looking up, I stare at Draven again, my soul feeling both full and cavernous at the same time. “Why didn’t you tell me? You knew that I hated the thought of not choosing on my own. Why didn’t you tell me that it only happens after you’ve already fallen in love?”

“Because I wanted you to choose me too.” He glances away for a moment, looking uncharacteristically uncertain, before he meets my gaze again. “I didn’t want you to settle for me. I wanted you to choose me. Despite it all.”

“Settle?” A stunned laugh escapes my chest. Staring up at him, I shake my head in disbelief. “Do you seriously think it would be even remotely possible for anyone tosettlefor you?”

“Anyone? No. You? Yes.” He steps closer, his eyes searing into mine as he slides a hand along my jaw. “How could I possibly be enough to deserve you when the gods themselves would go to war to have you?”

My heart stutters.

Yanking my hand up, I slide it behind his neck and pull his perfect mouth to mine.

A moan rips from deep within his chest as his lips crash against mine. His hand slides down from my jaw to instead rest against the side of my neck, his thumb underneath my chin to keep my head tilted back as he claims my lips. I tighten the grip on the back of his neck and draw my other hand up his chest, wishing that I could feel his warm body against my palm.

The mate bond thrums inside me, and that tug I feel towards him intensifies. I moan into his mouth as he slides his other arm around my waist, pulling me tight against his muscular body.

Desire burns through me like wildfire.

I want him. I want all of him. All the time. Forever.

That storm of emotions, finally free of its shackles, rages inside my body and consumes everything in its path. Rages like wildfire until the only thing that remains, the only thing that will ever matter in this whole universe, is me and him.

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