Page 79 of Knox
Adrian felt Knox’s breath warm against his lips, sending shivers down his spine. Knox’s hand cupped his cheek. Their lips met, and Adrian felt an immediate spark—a jolt of electricity that was both familiar and strangely new.
His body responded instinctively, leaning into Knox, craving more. He should be used to kissing Knox by now, but something about this kiss was different. There was an undercurrent, a strange sensation threading through the kiss, as if magic itself was woven into their connection.
Knox’s other hand found its way to the small of Adrian’s back, pulling him closer. The kiss deepened, and Adrian’s senses were overwhelmed… and his heart pounded with a question he didn’t know how to voice.
Knox must have sensed the shift in Adrian’s emotions because he pulled back slightly, their foreheads resting together. His storm-cloud eyes searched Adrian’s, as if reading the questions written there.
"There’s magic here," Knox confirmed.
Adrian’s breath hitched. "Are you… using your powers on me?"
Knox’s thumb brushed against Adrian’s skin. "No," he said, his eyes sincere. "I’m not manipulating you. What you’re feeling—it’s not me controlling you."
"Then what is it?"
Knox’s gaze softened, and he smiled, melting some of Adrian’s apprehension. "It’s our connection. I’ve opened my soul to the possibility of what we could be, and my magic… it’s responding to that. It’s trying to claim you, but not in a way that takes away your will. It’s a bond forming between us, something deeper and more real than anything I’ve experienced with anyone else before."
Knox’s magic was reaching out to claim him?
Adrian’s mind reeled, struggling to process this revelation. He’d read about magical bonds in countless novels, but experiencing one firsthand… to be part of that kind of relationship… He hadn’t thought that was possible for anyone in reality, least of all him. His heart raced, and he found himself acutely aware of every point where Knox’s skin touched his own.
"Why me?" he whispered.
"I’ve told you before," Knox replied, still with that smile. "You’re the only one for me. The right choice." His thumb traced the line of his jaw, sending sparks of sensation through his body. "You see me as I am, and now I want to help you see yourself in a better light."
That sounded so good it was scary. So good Adrian had to make himself ask the question that could spell death for whatever was growing between them. "What’s going to happen when you have to return to Veridia?"
Knox shook his head slightly. "Whatever problems lie ahead, we’ll face them together."
Adrian felt a rush of warmth at Knox’s words. "You mean it?"
"It’s just like I told you before. Couples should find solutions for their problems together."
Adrian’s breath caught in his throat. Couples. Knox had called them a couple. And he’d said it with such certainty. Adrian had never dared to consider that Knox might want him for anything more than the magic he could take from Adrian.
"You’re serious?"
Knox’s expression grew very serious at that. "I’m not going to abandon you for any reason. We’ll face whatever comes next together. As mates."
Adrian’s mind buzzed with everything Knox had said, but a stubborn fear gnawed at the edges of his thoughts. The lore of the incubi inMonsters of Veridiawhispered through his memory.
Adrian pulled back slightly, needing to put some space between them to think clearly. "Knox," he began, "I know what it takes for an incubus to claim their mate."
Knox glanced aside only for a second. Long enough for Adrian to understand that Knox knew what he was getting at.
Adrian would have to bottom for him. No way around it.
"You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with," Knox said.
Adrian shook his head. This was not the time for Knox to baby him. Adrian had done this for Chris, who’d never deserved it.He could do it for Knox as well. "We won’t be truly bonded unless we do it right." And that was what Adrian wanted more than anything. A connection that couldn’t be denied, couldn’t be broken.
Safety.
He looked straight at Knox. "You changed Chris’s desires," he said. "Can you change mine?"
Knox’s eyebrows rose. Obviously, he had not expected that request. "I wouldn’t do that to you."
"Why not?"
