Page 88 of Thorns & Fire
Wren stared at him, shaking her head.‘And whose fault is that?’
It was only when Torj pulled his hands from her grasp as though burned, when he had walked away, that Wren realized...
He hadn’t spoken those words aloud.
CHAPTER 33
Torj
‘The culmination of a soul bond is much like death...inevitable’
– Tethers and Magical Bonds Throughout History
THE ADJOINING DOORburst inwards after him, and Wren came charging in.‘Do you know what you just did?Whatwejust did?’
Torj stared at her, still trying to recover from the storm that raged within.
Wren didn’t back down.She never did.‘You spoke into my mind, Torj.Into my fucking mind.And Iheardit.’
‘What?’He blinked at her, certain that she was speaking a language he didn’t understand for all the sense she was making.
But Wren was a living storm before him, power crackling all around her.‘You spoke into my mind,’ she said again.‘And don’t you dare tell me that you don’t know how.’
Torj had to brace himself against the back of the chair at his desk.Impossible.The word vibrated through him.Panicking, he wondered if she could hear that too.But hedidn’tunderstand how.Not at all.Not when he’d destroyed the bond—
Suddenly, Wren was standing before him, close enough that hecould scent the jasmine in her hair, could see the heat in her gaze, the certainty.
He drank in the sight of her, overwhelmed by the storm growing in his chest.‘Furies know I have tried to stay away.I have tried to protect you from this.But the force of it, the force ofyou...’
His body heaved, and something inside him snapped – the last remnants of his restraint.
He seized Wren, gripping her behind her thighs and shoving her up onto the desk.‘I can’t take it any more.I want you, Wren.I want you so badly I can’t breathe.’
‘Why?’she demanded.‘Tell me why it’s like this, Torj.Tell me why I can feel you in my blood, under my skin.Tell me why I can see your memories and share your dreams.Tell me why I can hear your thoughts.Just tell me why—’
‘Because we’re fucking soul bonded,’ he roared.
Wren’s expression was triumphant, a queen grasping her hard-won victory.
‘At least...we were,’ he said quietly.
‘Were?’Wren echoed with a laugh.‘This doesn’t feel likewere.’She grabbed a fistful of his shirt.‘I’m not going anywhere.I know what you are to me...And what I am to you.’
Torj couldn’t take it any more.Couldn’t hold back all that he felt.‘You are everything to me.’And then he covered her mouth with his.
Torj cupped her face in his hands, threaded his fingers through the hair escaping her pin, tilting her to him for better access.She opened for him, allowing his tongue to sweep in and explore, to brush against hers and elicit a gasp of pleasure from her.
Her legs parted around him, and he eagerly closed the gap between their bodies, pressing his cock into the heat between her thighs.Wren arched her back, grinding against him, seeking friction before she dragged him to the floor.
His lips found her throat, sucking the sensitive skin there, lickingover the hurt before moving over her mouth again.The kiss was hungry, desperate, and he couldn’t get enough.
Wren’s hands were in his shirt, tracing over his skin in a fever, and he was molten beneath her touch.He grabbed the hem of her skirt, drawing it up over her legs, bunching the fabric around her waist while Wren fumbled with his belt.She made a delicious noise of frustration that he covered with his mouth, a noise that turned into a moan as he brushed the centre of her with a single knuckle.
She spread herself wider, baring herself to him.‘I want to feel you inside me.I want to feel you dripping down my thighs.’
Her filthy words, the image she painted, sent a frisson of longing straight to Torj’s cock, ricocheting up his spine.He licked his lips as he looked down at her, glistening and perfect.Together, they watched as he circled her clit with his thumb, as he pushed two fingers inside her, feeling her walls clench around him.He pumped the digits in and out, his cock begging to be freed from the confines of his leathers and sheathed inside of her, that hot, wet feel of her taunting him.
‘Gods,’ he murmured into the crook of her neck as she raised her hips to meet the thrusts of his fingers, her desire soaking his hand.Torj brought his mouth back to hers, stroking her tongue with his, coaxing desperate whimpers from her.
