Page 30 of Bound By Crimson
“And then I saw you.”
Her breath caught.
His honesty startled her.
“I didn’t understand it at first,” he said, voice raw. “It felt wrong. Impossible. But every time I saw you, I felt that same stillness. That same pull. I thought it was obsession. Madness maybe. When I saw you that day, on the street… I couldn’t look away. I gave in.
But after the masquerade… I stayed away. I had to. I told myself it was for your sake. Until I couldn’t anymore.”
His voice dropped.
“…it wasn’t madness. It was you.”
Lyric’s throat tightened.
She nodded, slowly.
He leaned in, voice dropping to a near-whisper.
“That night nearly broke me. I wanted you so badly, I couldn’t sleep. I saw you everywhere. And I told myself I’d wait until you were ready. Until you could choose me.”
She blinked, heart hammering.
“I need you to know,” he said, his voice velvet-wrapped steel, “this isn’t a game to me. You’re not a fantasy, Lyric. You’re everything… everything I need.The final piece of a legacy.”
He looked like he meant it.
Like he was barely holding himself together.
And maybe—maybe she was barely holding herself together, too.
For one reckless moment, Lyric wished she could text Rowan.
Tell her everything.
The whirlwind. The madness. The way her life had cracked open overnight.
But the thought froze her fingers.
Rowan.
The friend who had stolen Eric.
The friend who had left her standing in ruins.
She swallowed down the ache and tucked it away.
Rowan didn’t deserve this part of her.
Kai reached for her hand again—this time slower, almost hesitant—and laced their fingers together like he needed her just as much as she needed him. The heat of his skin sent a shiver up her arm.
“I want you to know everything about me,” he promised, voice trembling at the edges. “But not just yet. I want to make sure you’re ready for it.”
Lyric nodded, breathless.
Heart full of questions.
But already choosing to follow him into the unknown.
